The Unknown Studio

Ah promises. You know I love em. But I’m always skeptical of construction completion dates when it comes to infrastructure projects. I don’t care which order of government is the lead on the project, it almost never comes in on time or on budget. And as a note, I should say my experience in private sector capital work is the same. On-time and on-budget sounds nice, but the phrase is the exclusive province of marketers and communications types.

But, like in this video where Samwise Gamgee nearly dies trying to prove some stupid point about keeping promises to wizards — ’cause they’ll fuck you up — another promise is being kept, albeit somewhat late, by the City of Edmonton. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 16% [?]

The arrival of fall heralds all kind of interesting happenings here in Edmonton. The magpies scatter just a little bit further (though not far enough, as those insufferable beasts seem to stick around the whole winter), the leaves turn just a little bit yellower, and in the year of our lord, 2010, fall mean we’re that much closer to the re-opening of the Dawson Bridge, the causeway that links Riverdale to Forest Heights — and downtown Edmonton to the eastern part of the city.

Last weekend, as I drove down Rowland Road, past the “bridge closed” signs and into Riverdale, as I drove to within sight of the almost completely revitalized Dawson Bridge, I saw two kids totally breaking the rules, and driving over the recently paved deck of the bridge.

Now before you blow a head gasket over the safety of these children, who were clearly in defiance of the “road closed” signage at the west side of the bridge, let me talk to your about the significance of the phrase “recently paved.” Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s September, and you know what that means: that means that December is only a few months away. And despite the approaching snow, cold and darkness, I couldn’t be happier.

You see I’ve been a Riverdalian for about four years now. Fours years I’ve lived in this little place, a neighbourhood close to everything, and yet also far from everything in its isolation. And I can say it no other way: it sucks not having the Dawson Bridge open. Believe it or not, Edmonton, there are things to DO on the east side of the city. Amazing, interesting things.

But we won’t get into that right now. You need to discover it for yourself. Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to the third episode of the second season of the Unknown Studio with guest Chris Martyniuk from YegLive.ca! Here’s what this episode is all about:

• 0:00: Show intro (“Back to the Future!”)
• 1:40: Part 1 – Interview with the YegLive.ca’s Chris Martyniuk
• 5:56: An interview with Jeff and Sally, creators of TheEdmontonian.com and Saturday Night with Samsonow (music provided by the Mystery Ponies)
• 15:47: Part 2 – Interview with Chris Martyniuk
• 36:48: A look at the life of an International Street Performer
• 46:29: A Dramatic Reading with Scott C Bourgeois (Dawson Bridge Watch™ goes audio!)
• 49:26: Part 3 – Interview with Chris Martyniuk
• 1:09:22: The Fast Fifteen with Chris Martyniuk
• 1:12:56: Extro (“Naked interview”)

Thanks to Pixelens Photography for allowing us to use their image of Lex Justice on the show slider!

Let us know what you thought, everyone! Do you dig the new format? Hate it? TELL US!

Download episode 29 of the Unknown Studio directly to your computer.

The Unknown Studio is a proud member of the League of Extraordinary Media.

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EDMONTON JOURNAL STILL SPONSORS THE UNKNOWN STUDIO
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It’s true! After so much joking and tongue-in-cheek referrals to Edmonton’s newspaper of record on our show, the Edmonton Journal decided to put their money where our mouths are, by sponsoring the Unknown Studio this month!

We’re helping EJ to promote their Blackberry mobile launcher. You can check it out by clicking here on your Blackberry browser. If you have any comments about the mobile launcher or the Journal’s mobile site, let us know and we’ll pass it along!
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Work on the Dawson Bridge continues this month. And most recently the big news story is the fact that the project was granted a noise waiver — crews are working almost around the clock to ensure the bridge will open on November 26, 2010.

(As an aside, I’m hopeful they hit their target so I have a local watering hole I can hop and skip to. It’s called the Hilltop Pub.)

Given that I live three blocks away from the bridge myself, I have to note my own surprise at how late into the night these guys are working. I wouldn’t say it’s been disruptive to me, since I’ve learned to be able to sleep through everything — including those magpie jerks that insist on making a whole pile of noise first thing in the morning — but the noise is definitely noticeable, perhaps even more so because the River Valley is usually an exceedingly quiet place. This is, of course, with the exception of emergency vehicle sirens, but there’s a reason those things are really loud. Someone ought to point that out to Councillor Jane Batty. Read the rest of this entry »

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In last month’s edition of the Dawson Bridge Watch, I’d sent the city a list of questions… And they thought I was being a jerk. They thought I was being a jerk SO MUCH, that someone in the City of Edmonton traffic division on Twitter even referred to the content on this website as drivel. (His post to that effect has since been removed.) And though he may well have been correct, one thing is very very apparent:

I struck a nerve*.

And what happens less than a month following that post? They cover the bridge in a giant white tarp so we can’t see what’s happening inside. Kind of like cocoon, but much, much larger, sans old people, and without the witticisms of the now-washed-up Steve Guttenberg. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 12% [?]