UPDATE: Well, I guess it didn’t go so well
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I’m off to Edmonton tomorrow, where I’ll be speaking at this year’s CUP conference. I’m excited for two main reasons: First, I’ve never been to Alberta, except for a drive-through as an infant and a couple of afternoons spent at the Calgary and Edmonton airports. Second, one of the keynote speakers at the conference is Adrienne Arsenault, who I think is the best correspondent at the CBC, and one of the best journalists in the country, period.
Anyway, like most eastern bastards I have my own private Alberta, which is a mashup of the following favourites:
Politician: Peter Lougheed
Song, set in: Northern Wish, Rheostatics
Musicians: Nickleback. Ha! kidding. SNFU, I think, though I love kd lang’s version of Helpless.
Hockey team: Flames, obviously. It was impossible to like Gretzky and the Oilers when I was growing up.
Hockey player: I’d like to say the Sutter clan, but I have to go with Jarome Iginla.
Film: Is Kitchen Party set in Alberta? I can’t remember. If not, then this one, because of the cast.
Novel: The Trade, by Fred Stenson
Artist: Peter von Tiesenhausen, one of the most inspired, and inspiring, artists I have ever met.