Enter right now at events@calgaryisawesome.com for your chance to win 2 tickets to see “The Wooden Sky” plus a copy of their new CD “If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone.”  Don’t puttskie around on this one Calgary, enter NOW!!!

EMMEDIA’s Artist in Resident Program presents:

OX: A Crash Course on Loving Calgary

An Aural Lovefest on Saturday February 13th 2010 @ 7-9pm

OX: A Crash Course on Loving Calgary is a positive, participatory action to claim what we love about Calgary! A place, a feeling, a song, a building, a street corner, a memory, a recovery –stories about loving Calgary.

OX is a project to motivate and mobilize people to go out and capture the love of our City using participatory media art. It is an interactive, community mapping, up-loadable audio tour that will showcase Calgary OX spots as seen through the eyes and ears of artists, activists and Calgarians. Marking the spot with a flag designed with the OX logo, citizens are recording in some way – audio/video/stills/Polaroid – their ideal spot of Calgary.

For the past year, Stevens has been preparing the OX Calgary project in conjunction with EMMEDIA Gallery and Production Society to accentuate the positives of Calgary. She has recorded and filmed Calgarians from all facets of the City’s demographic talking about what they love about Calgary.  This includes an alderman, youth, shop owners, construction workers, writers, artists, homemakers and retirees, among others.

Stevens will be inviting Mayor Bronconnier to pronounce his love of the city when the project is publicly unveiled Saturday, February 13. The OX Calgary website (www.essense.ca/ox) will launch at noon that day so you can download an OX tour of your choice and walk, ride, or drive to EMMEDIA to share your love at a listening and recording party. The evening will also feature a 10-minute screening of OX: A Crash Course on Loving Calgary.

Join Stevens and guests to hear about the love other Calgarians express for their city while recording your own story by taking a photo, linking it to Google maps and uploading your love offering to: post@ox.posterous.com

Let me ask you a simple question, have you seen an MBF show?  Because if you answered no, you are missing something in your life.  I will tell you this, the amazing Calgary musician puts on a show of ‘Epic Proportions.’  He involves a wide spread music/art community, organizes, choreographs, then dazzles every part of your body with his monumental performance.  Buy them tickets fast, because there are not to many left!!  (www.ticketmaster.ca)

Michael Bernard Fitzgerald

Knox United Church

Feb 3 and 4, 2010

Looking for a way to make Monday’s a little bit happier? Sign up for Peasant! Locally handmade organic bread delivered every Monday to your downtown home or office… by BICYCLE!

Founded in 2008 as a fundraising challenge, Peasant has now expanded to a weekly delivery service, partnered with some great local chefs to offer ever changing accompaniments to go with your bread, and worked their way into some wonderful local shops like Sunnyside Market, Janice Beaton Fine Cheese and were recently spotted at Market Collective!

To get involved, sign up for Peasants mailing list- each Wednesday, an email is sent out with the upcoming weeks bread selection (along with any other goodies that might be available for purchase). If you want to order that week, just reply to the email. Simple as that! Fresh homemade bread hand delivered right to you each and every Monday. I am having a hard time thinking of what could be better than this!

This morning was so so fun! Our friends at CJSW brought us in to chat about Shot at the Dark, its past, present, and future. It was such an amazing time, and we couldn’t be happier! Thank you Ola Kowaleski for having us on the show!!

Stay stylish and on budget by discovering new finds on consignment. This is the second in a series of consignment store profiles – check out our first story on Rewind consignment here.

Sass Consignment Boutique
4803 Centre Street NW (One block South of McKnight)
403-288-8354
Hours: Mon-Fri: 10-5:30; Sat: 10-5; Sun: 12-4
www.sasswomenswear.com

Tucked away in a tiny little strip mall in the NW is a gem-in-disguise. Sass Consignment Boutique may appear rather non-descript on the outside, but the inside begets a warm and inviting environment with its diverse collections and displays and a colorful décor that hints of warmer climes than Calgary. The shop is filled with fashions for all shapes and sizes. Without having to step inside a mall, shoppers can find brands like Lululemon, Rock & Republic, True Religion, BCBG, Abercrombie, Bebe, and much more all under one roof.

Great finds can be had while shopping at consignment stores like Sass. While some people may hesitate at the thought of going through other people’s clothes, consignment is a great way to reuse and recyle clothing, save money on new fashions, and take something old and make it new again. “Sass receives hundreds of consigned items every week. Our buyers can expect great consignment clothes and our consignors can expect great buyers,” explains owner Tara Schneider. “The best part is that we offer brands for every budget.”

Tara assumed ownership of the store in fall 2009 and has included new touches to the store such as adding men’s clothing consignment to meet the increasing demand from her customers. She finds that Sass customers like to look for everyday casual wear and unique items and does her best to fulfill these needs. “Shopping can be so impersonal these days. At Sass, everyone is welcomed with a warm hello and it’s a place where our consignors and customers are known by their names, not as numbers.”

EXCLUSIVE:  All customers to visit Sass will receive 15% off their purchase with a copy of this printed article! Offer expires February 28, 2010.

For those interested in an alternative to traditional physical activity, Capoeira may be just the thing.  Calgary has two Capoeira organizations that I’m aware of.  The one I’m most familiar with is Axé Society for Capoeira.  Not only have I witnessed one of their incredible live performances at World Skills 2009 last September(photos below), but I also see and hear first hand from one of my good friends who’s been a member for the past 2 years.  She sings the praises of Axé almost every day, and I’ve come to appreciate the unique and incredible contributions Axé brings to our city. In their own words:

Axé Capoeira is an organization dedicated the celebration of Brazilian culture in Calgary, through the practice of Capoeira and Brazilian dance as a means of developing self-expression and personal identity.  Since May 2005, the group has been registered as Axé Society for Capoeira and has been performing and offering classes all around the city.  Axé has also provided educational workshops at Calgary schools and community organizations.

Musician and Capoeira Professor Elvio Dos Santos, known in Capoeira as Professor Tigrão, came to Canada from Brazil six years ago in order to work with Calgarians to advance their understanding and practice of diverse forms of Brazilian dance and the art of Capoeira.  With over twenty years of experience performing and teaching both Capoeira and Brazilian dance in his native country,  Professor Tigrão has now developed a creative and motivated group here in Calgary.

Developed over 500 years ago by African slaves in Brazil, Capoeira has its roots in Afro-Brazilian culture and was said to be both a form of cultural expression, and self-defense. During the last two decades Capoeira has grown immensely as an artistic activity that incorporates rhythmic and physical expression, and can now be seen in diverse settings across the globe. Played in the middle of a circle called a roda, Capoeira involves fluid movements that create a dialogue between two people. This dialogue is further influenced by music created by instruments, such as the berimbau, atabaque (drum) and the pandeiro (tambourine) and sung by all people in the circle. All these elements combine to create a Capoeira roda, or circle, in which various forms of communication converge to create improvised and communal expression.

Axé Capoeira currently teaches classes at 6 locations  (SAIT, YMCA Shawnessy, YMCA Crowfoot, BDB Martial Arts, Mount Royal University and Okotoks Recreation). There are separate classes for children (age 4 and up) and adults.Along with the classes, Axé Capoeira also performs at numerous events and fundraisers each year. You may have seen them live at Afrikadey, Canadian Red Cross Bridges of Hope, or World Skills 2009. Axé also hosts an annual Festival of Capoeira and Brazilian Arts at SAIT each year. This year  the festival runs from June 4th – 6th at SAIT and the Vertigo Theatre.

If you’re interested in checking out a class, or perhaps would like to book Axé for your next event, you can learn more by visting http://www.axecalgary.com You can also reach them by email axecapo@gmail.com or telephone 403-210-0269.

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As a self proclaimed music snob, its difficult to find a band that excites me enough to write about. However, ‘The Wooden Sky’ is the exception.  While I was conducting the interview below, I felt a great deal of sincerity and honesty from the lead singer Gavin.  The band is a guarantee sell-out event at Broken City on Feb 11.

Ultimately, the Wooden Sky is the sound of collective will; a group of individuals coming together to forge something bigger. It’s a sound that started in a garage in downtown Toronto and found its way into the hands one of the most respected studios and producers in North America. With a new record and new friends to help them play it, the Wooden Sky are poised to push “folk rock” into something new, exciting, and earnest.  (Excerpt taken from themusebox.net)

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Chow Down in Cowtown is an (almost!) weekly account of Calgary’s most awesome eats from Ceci n’est pas un food blog.

I’d driven past Jonas’ Restaurant on my way home out of downtown on 6th Ave many times, but never gave as much as a thought as to whether the restaurant was even open, let alone the signage on the window boasting that it served Hungarian cuisine. Fortunately for Janos and Rosza Jonas, the husband-and-wife team from Budapest who own the cozy, family-run hole-in-the-wall, there are Calgarians out there looking for some homestyle Hungarian cooking and after over 10 years, business is still going strong for the only Hungarian restaurant in the city.

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THIS SATURDAY JANUARY 30TH @ THE PALAMINO BIKELAND, FREE NUDE CELEBS, LABCOAST, THE POLY SHORES

&

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4TH @ REBUBLIK FRIENDO, LABCOAST, & BIKELAND