Dennis Allen
Issue: 2019-05-01, PHOTO: Gerald Lacroix / Pixabay
Homesick in Alberta
I was up in the Yukon last week working with Gwaandak Theatre on a series of radio plays based on legends from Old Crow. It was great to see all my Vuntut Gwich’in relatives and meet the famed Paul Kennedy from the CBC radio program, Ideas... Read more
Issue: 2019-03-20, PHOTO: WUY file photo/John Henderson
A raven conspiracy?
I was reading in the news the other day about the ice bridge in Dawson City and how $200,000 worth of engineers couldn’t figure out why there was no ice forming on their makeshift bridge in the middle of winter. It reminded me of a time back in... Read more
Issue: 2019-02-06, PHOTO: Pixabay
‘The greatest living history in the North’
I was walking through downtown Edmonton, the other day, when an old-timer in curled-up cowboy boots saddled up to me and bummed six bits off of me for a glass of draught. I was so happy to hear that particular vernacular that I almost gave him a... Read more
Issue: 2018-11-28, PHOTO: Pixabay
Percolating with ‘the guys’
I work with federal inmates at an institution in central Alberta. And of all people, you would think they would know how to make coffee in an old-style coffee percolator. You know the ones ... you put your coffee grounds in a round metal filter... Read more
Issue: 2018-09-26, PHOTO: Pixabay
Driverless cars, ‘all that and a bag of chips’
I was listening to the radio this morning as I was repairing my snowshoes. The host was trying to convince his listeners of the benefits of driverless cars. He was saying people will have more time to make use of, rather than driving. He gave... Read more
Issue: 2018-09-05, PHOTO: Pixabay
Moosehide – shining a light across the North
The 2018 Moosehide Gathering in Dawson City was, once again, a smashing success. The local Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in relocated to Moosehide, two miles north of Dawson City on the Yukon River, during the gold rush of 1898, to escape the insanity of... Read more
Elvert Barnes on Foter.com
One night, one stage, one amazing group of people…
The rough-and-tumble stories of country and western music was social commentary to our all-too-often tumultuous lives. Read more
Issue: 2018-07-25, PHOTO: VisitLakeland on Foter.com
A ‘real' Yukon man or woman (knowin’ how to pick a good one)
When I was playing music in the Gold Pan Saloon, I used to see all these young men and women coming into the Yukon. They were either coming back from university, or up looking for work. And I always told the women that if they planned on staying... Read more
Issue: 2018-07-04, PHOTO: courtesy of Elevation Pictures
Indian Horse
It was with some resignation that I went and saw the film, Indian Horse, the story of how a young Aboriginal boy survived his personal ordeal in residential school by focusing his energy on the game of hockey. Being an Aboriginal person, we get... Read more
Issue: 2018-06-20, PHOTO: Bonnee Bingham
“I’m gonna live forever”
I had the great pleasure of attending Cor Guimond’s party this past weekend in Dawson City. I don’t recall how long ago or what time, exactly, that I met Cor, but the moment I met him I knew he was going to be a lifelong friend. So, when his wife... Read more