Issue 415, February 12, 2015
“Destination: Fairbanks, Tales from the trenches of the Yukon Quest”
The best album I heard last summer, and probably all year, came out of Dawson City. Hope, the debut album by The Naysayers, totally rocks. Led by singer-songwriter Drea Nasager, the band fuels its folk rock songs with a heavy punk edge. Nasager’s lyrics are sung, snarled, and spat; they mix with Jonathan Howe’s lead …
When I reach Jon Mckiel he’s in the middle of a New Brunswick snowstorm. I’m in the Yukon, where the temperature has dipped below -30°C. We talk about what to expect when he arrives in Whitehorse to perform at the Available Light Film Festival on February 13. He’s never been here, and I’ve never been …
When I showcased my subpar dog handling skills in a race for the first time, it was the 2006 Yukon Quest. But I was no stranger to the Quest, because I had covered it five times before that as a reporter for the Yukon News. I figured I knew a thing or two (or three, …
Last November, Whitehorse entrepreneur Stephen Kwok Wai-Kan was in Vancouver in his part-time role as liaison officer between the Yukon and Chinese governments. When Her Excellency Lui Fei, China’s consul general in that city, asked if he’d be interested in having some Chinese performers come to Whitehorse to help celebrate the Chinese New Year, Kwok …
Imagine being able to pick out a child from an assortment of infants and toddlers, as easily as choosing a puppy from a litter or candy from a dish. You might even take two. It sounds like the plot of a fanciful children’s book, but that’s what people could do at certain convents in Ireland …
Thursday, February 12th The day kicks off with the festival’s final installment of the Fire Hall Film Talks, a series of free lunchtime discussions between filmmakers and artists about behind-the-scene development of projects. Thursday’s talk is on the changing face of music videos and narrative film. Panelists are singer-songwriter John Southworth; Violent director and member …
Judy Beaumont talks about the early days volunteering in the Yukon Quest office. The cramped space was shared with the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous in the (former) Regina hotel. “The office was in behind the bar, this little crappy office in the back,” she says. “We had to go through the kitchen and a plumbing room …
To descend the stairs into Bear’s Paw Quilts is to descend into colour. Quilts and colourful fabric samples line the walls. This is more than a fabric store. It’s a school, and a conduit to a world where quilting is the art of choice. Quilter, business owner, and teacher Ruth Headley attributes Bear’s Paw’s twelve years …
“There are two seasonal diversions that can ease the bite of any winter. One is the January thaw. The other is the seed catalogues” – Hal Borland, American journalist (1900 – 1978). Seed catalogues evoke memories of summer breezes and warmer times; they are wonderful to peruse on a cold blustery day. We often receive three, …
Many of us were introduced to dessert combined with music was through Tchaikovski’s Nutcracker. Imagery of Spanish chocolate, sugar plum fairies, lemonade waters, and a kingdom of sweets delights viewers while the orchestra plays on. Fast forward to the present day — another combination of dessert and music can be found in Whitehorse. Simply titled …
We don’t have a store so we’re really poor. We can’t even shop ‘cause they came to a stop. We could even die because we can’t buy. We can’t eat money and that’s not funny. Even if we have cash it’s as good as trash. We have more than enough but we can’t buy stuff. I …
November and most of December were mild in the Klondike this winter. Wondrously, it only took two-and-a-half days to warm up St. Paul’s Anglican Church enough to have a comfortable ecumenical Christmas Eve pageant. The building is primarily heated by a large, hungry wood stove. After the chill is off, and the temperature is up to …
Deep in the woods, mysterious trees grow. They have a deformity that makes them more valuable. No, the dark arts are not at work, but rather the magic of Mother Nature, and the growth of burls, roundish outgrowths in trees. Most burls are found in hardwood. Once the burl is split, unique artistry stretches from …
“Ice climbing is a cold, miserable activity to do; these days technology makes it more comfortable, but still, you’re climbing up a frozen piece of water.” Chris Grishler is doing everything he can to make ice-climbing appeal to the masses in Whitehorse. Grishler is the owner of Equinox Adventures, the company that erected six ice towers …
When I was a kid I rarely got mail. And when I did, it was usually a card from a relative or a note from a pen-pal. These letters came in packages of different shapes and sizes and would usually have an off-kilter, hand-written address adorning the centre of the envelope. Such addresses provided clues …
