DON'T LEAVE US, SKINNY

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Who are these sex panthers? The Skinny, of course, from left to right Kyle, Penny Dreadful and Motorjoan (Gravy is hiding), who played a reunion/farewell show recently at the ARTery.

We are begging them not to quit, of course, including in print here.

This was a SEEN photo.

LIFE AFTER GRETZKY

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This is Wayne Gretzky, or rather, the back of a metal representation of Edmonton's uncontested most famous and popular onetime citizen.

When Gretz was traded away to L.A. in 1988, our city suffered a nervous breakdown of sorts, but ultimately grew to dilute and spread our reasons for civic pride.

As part of my writer-in-residence duties, I used this image to illustrate an article about the familiar tactics the Oilers' current owners are using to divert public money into a needless new arena.

OIL'S WELL AT THE AGA

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Here's Sarah Patterson's balloon-drop instalation at the Art Gallery of Alberta as we DJ'd the latest Refinery party in November.

The black balloons riffed off Burtynsky: Oil, a show with special pertinence to we polluted Albertans.

LIKE MOTHER LIKE SON

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At his show at 29 Armstrong, Geoff Lilge shows off some of the work his mother made which inspired him to be a designer.

Lilge's show was part of the 10th annual M.A.D.E. festival. This was a SEEN photo.

OUT WITH THE AWESOME

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The staff and DJs of the Empress Ale House, all of whom unanimously left in protest over the majority shareholder firing of part-owner/manager Sue Kiernan, gather together to watch a support concert featuring Falklands, Dirty Dudes, Pot Cop, Paul Coutts + Cowls and others.

This week's SEEN and a warm and inspiring show of individual action creating a warm whole. Wait, that sounds dirty!

SEPTEMBER BABIES

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The debut of April + the Other Months at Mill Creek's creaky House of Boom included a femmed-up version of "I'm of Fire."

Nice stuff, the band graciously putting up with my wheelchair front and centre ...

I MIGHT LIKE YOU BETTER IF WE SLEPT TOGETHER

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The Edmonton Arts Council is pushing really hard to pretty its city. This new mural by Josh Holinaty and Luke Ramsay ~ seen here before completion ~ is one of my favourite additions, the photo illustrating this story.

I HAVE TO LEVEL WITH YOU ...

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A still from The High Level Bridge, a Trevor Anderson short film currently on the circuit. I carried around a Sony HD Webbie for a couple months, ultimately dropped off the bridge in a metaphorical suicide gesture that still gives me goosebumps. Want to know how long it takes? Watch the film.

THLB is playing at TIFF this month, the Atlantic Film Fest in Halifax Sept. 19 and Edmonton's fest at the end of the month!

FAWN HER OWN

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Lily Fawn tries her solo thing out at ARTery in Edmonton following a tornado summer. This was a SEEN pic, much prettier here in its original minty dignity.

DAUGHTER AND BRIDE

This was an extremely special ceremony at St. Vladimir's Russo-Greek Orthodox Church ~ Father Andrew was performing his own daughter's wedding ceremony! The crowns, the candles ... and the couple themselves were all so beautiful.

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CANON DEL SUMIDERO

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The Mexican government graciously sent me down on four trips to do travel features about their beautiful country, for which I'm extremely grateful. This is the Christmas Tree formation in Canon del Sumidero, a dazzling waterfall which smells like a rainforest. It's north of Tuxtla Gutierrez in central Chiapas, just west of Guatamala.

DONE DIRT CHEAP

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Al and Curtis in AC/DC tribute band, Dirty Dudes. Just an off the wall show at the Black Dog, this week's SEEN photo.

SOMEWHAT PLASTERED

Paul Matwychuk came up with the idea of writing up the first Edmonton Canon, an attempt to periodically lay out the foundations of our city's music scene and its history and players. Raymond Biesinger had done this visually with The Chart, but a writeup like the Canon allowed for some details.

As with any such list, there was a bit of hectoring, accusations of nepotism and so on, but I really dug the idea.

For the cover photo, elaborate plans to have a plaster fist rising from a lake of fire gave way to this simpler museum setting. The right hand is Norm Omar's, speaking of museums, which in his delicate care has since shattered to garbage.

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BURNING BRIGHT ENOUGH

This is Batali, the tiger who attacked when two drunken Calgarians snuck into his space at the zoo in October. I happened to have been there the day before, so this photo ended up in a couple regional papers.

Having a small-scale cat with a vicious streak when it comes to things smaller than her, I assure you I didn't get too close to this fellow.

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FABULOUS RUINS OF LONDON

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Highgate Cemetery in north London is a breathtaking ruin.
While the central rings housing Douglas Adams and Karl Marx are well-tended, the perimeter has been left to the eternal hunger of undergrowth rising.
This ended up being a photo feature in the sustainability-themed Display. The magazine will have a new issue discussing design in music in the coming months.

DEEP TOKYO

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If you happen to have some red-green 3D glasses lying around, enjoy!
This is looking towards Yokohama, where I first penetrated Japan in 1987.

The image was part of a show with Tim Rechner called The Experiment.

TUTU PONIES I

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This is Norm Omar, a dancer in Trevor Anderson+aAron Munson's recent film, Figs in Motion. The short ran at the Art Gallery of Alberta, along with photos from this series. If you're looking at this before April 29, 2010, there will be another screening of Figs coming up at Metro.

LOVING THE ALIEN

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Sony hired me to shoot David Bowie in the bowels of the Coliseum after his 2004 show. I was understandably happy.

SNOW CROW

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This handsome devil flew by me this morning over the Groat Bridge.
I sent it into the Sun as a spec shot.

SORORITY OF ROCK

A shoot for the Secretaries in the 1915 Chicago-style McLeod Building. Happily enough, this ended up being VUE's cover.