Seen and Heard in Edmonton

It’s Election Day in Canada, and while I’m grateful for democracy and the peaceful way we get governments around here, I’m also done with the rhetorical excesses of the past few months. Here are some less irritating things to pay attention to:

Let’s have some joy

• Brandon Schatz reached outside his comfort zone to participate in a 24-hour comic challenge, and he shares the delightful results with us.
• For his 52nd skill on his challenge vlog, Stephen Robinson made a Rube Goldberg machine composed of the previous 51 skills he has acquired during this project. The look on his face when it works is priceless.
• The Oilers’ first win of the season made the hockey bloggers so happy, and that’s nice to see for a change. Here’s Matt Henderson’s take on Oilers Nation, and here’s Copper & Blue’s.
• Jacqueline Jacek goes full Marie Antoinette for her latest collection of chocolate.
• Randy Talbot soaks up a beautiful day in the river valley.
• Stephanie Gonzalez is excited about some new, renewed or on-their-way restaurants.
• Nice to hear that the Edmonton Digital Arts College’s Enlightened Fall led Sarah Gardener to a job at Kick Point.
• Beverley Jackman continues her Edmonton Spaces series with another cool business based at Vacancy Hall: Art by PEKOE.
• Devin R. Bruce renews his love for a Douglas Adams classic.
• Jenna Marynowski finds a lot to love about The Good Bride, the latest production by Northern Light Theatre.
• Savanna Harvey interviews the passionate creators of the film Borealis.
• Karlynn Johnston is going to Christmas in November, which makes her pretty darned joyful. (Also, check out the new blog she and her husband Mike have launched about their blogger life.)

Helping out

• On the new Terra Centre blog, Danielle Higdon notes a few things we could do to help young parents get around in the winter.
• Robin Mazumder reflects on the connections between occupational therapy and city-building.
• Nicole Rowan offers tips on how to host a clothing swap. She also helps her husband apply the Konmari method to his garage.
• Laura Frey continues her ebook appreciation month with a look at One Book One Edmonton, in which the Edmonton Public Library is encouraging us all to read Etta and Otto and Russell and James.
• Two pumpkin recipes, one easy and one more challenging (but both no doubt yummy): three-ingredient pumpkin cuffins from Lori Godin, and pumpkin spice macarons from Lillian Tse.

Messages from the past

• Glenn Kubish receives a welcome but wisful dispatch from 20 years ago.
• Rev Recluse finds a treasure from the 1959 royal visit to Edmonton. He also found stories from 1949 about a prisoner’s wedding and the way dogcatchers operated that are pretty eyebrow-raising.
• Lawrence Herzog tells the story of the Mountifield House in Oliver.
• Colleen Murray notes the challenges of finding genealogical records at Canadian Protestant churches.

OK, a little bit of politics

• Ryan Hastman guest-blogs on Daveberta about the sacrifices made by the candidates.
• Rick Harcourt explains how an Albertan raised on hating Trudeau could vote Liberal.

You can find much more at ShareEdmonton. I collect my picks in a Flipboard magazine, and I share stuff on Twitter: @seenandheardyeg and @karenunland. Check out my podcast roundup on Fridays.

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