The Unknown Studio

It’s true, scientists (not really) have discovered a new planet (sorta). A planet called Kikki. In this episode, we speak with Kathleen Smith (aka @kikkiplanet) about the launch of her new website this Friday. She’s an interesting woman, and she wants to share the interesting stories that make Edmonton a great place. Oh sure, she’s totally on our turf. But there’s lots of turf to go around.

We also have some excellent segments this episode. Here’s the show breakdown:

0:00: Marriage arousal
1:24: Kikkiplanet, a social media bright light
9:53: The 24/One Challenge, from the perspective of Team Awesome Video Club
27:30: The Kikki Persona
47:33: Digital Alberta relaunches to connect the province
52:26: September’s Edmonton Story Slam
1:08:19: Coke Zero Heroes
1:20:37: The Fast 15 with Kathleen Smith

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This past weekend, Scott and I had the opportunity to record an interview with Kathleen Smith, known to most as @kikkiplanet on Twitter. Kikki started out on Twitter a ways back just playing around, and it wasn’t until the constant and effective chiding of Jerry Aulenbach that she became more involved with the community.

Her notion of creating a personal website for her random musings soon faded and gave way to KikkiPlanet.com, which will be launching this Friday, September 30 at an exclusive party at the Daffodil Gallery (10412 124 St). And wouldn’t you know it, but Kikki gave the Unknown Studio two pairs of passes to giveaway to this sure-to-be bumpin’ shindig. And these passes? Hell, they get you food AND booze. Nice, right?

So here’s the deal. The first two people to email adam@theunknownstudio.ca and tell us Kikki’s favourite kind of booze will win the tickets. Sorry kids, we already have our winners. Have fun at the party, and if you feel like paying your own way, you can buy tickets on EventBrite!

Trust me, this isn’t a party you want to miss.

And stay tuned later on this week, when we post our show, which features a full-length interview with Kikki herself!

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Welcome back, listeners, to a bright, new and shiny season of the Unknown Studio!

[holds for applause.]

We decided to kick off the season with a guest who barely needs an introduction. You might remember her from such newspapers as the Edmonton Journal. You may have even read some of her blog posts over at Edmonton Commons. Yes, that’s right, everyone; I’m talking about Edmonton’s own Paula Simons!

[holds for raucous applause.]

We’ll share an episode breakdown with you later. For now, we’d just ask that you enjoy this extra-long season premiere!

[bows, then exits over thunderous applause.]

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A few weeks back, we got an email from Kathleen Ochoa asking if we could publish a review she did of Madame Butterfly, which she saw the last weekend in August. We meant to post this sooner, but then we got busy and it was pushed down our inbox list. Sorry Kathleen!

Enjoy her post, and read more about Kathleen at the end of the story.

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I’m not sure that many people attended Mercury Opera’s production of Madame Opera the weekend of August 27th, but, for those of us who made it out to this unique outdoor event, it was totally worth it.

I have to admit sometimes to being a “hater” when it comes to my hometown — mostly when it comes to the events that happen in parks. They always seem to have the look of empty festivals that leave you with the feeling of, “gee if we were just in a bigger city, this event wouldn’t feel so dead or empty.”

That being said, being a producer of events I understand how much work and money it takes to put on a well-conceived event, never mind all the work it takes to produce a successful show with high artistic talent. Read the rest of this entry »

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So long, you delightful scamps!

On Sunday morning last week, I received an email from Jeff Samsonow and Sally Poulsen, the creators of theEdmontonian.com, one of the city’s most beloved blogs. They said that two weeks hence, they’d be closing up shop. I paused. I yelled. I swore. I called my girlfriend over to the computer screen and we both read the message in disbelief.

“Other projects,” they said paraphrasically in their email, “are jumping around in our heads, and we can’t pursue them without moving on from the Edmontonian.”

“OUTRAGE!” I responded, frightening my girlfriend, and our cat, who both read on in dismay. Read the rest of this entry »

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