Ken Bolton is the former Co-Editor for What's Up Yukon. Ken is a passionate, hardworking, and dedicated freelance writer before and after his editor position. Currently Ken telecommutes from New Brunswick. Columns Include: A Little Off The Top, Behind The Curtain and Wasting Away in Geezerville.
Our goal at What's Up Yukon has always been to be a true reflection of Yukon's living culture. Before we started this little magazine, our family knew there was way more happening here than we could keep track of. Read more
Issue: 2019-08-21, PHOTO: Pixabay
I recently wrote about my new vocation as a DIY coffin maker. OK, strictly speaking it’s not a coffin. It’s a casket. On a draped bier. Read more
Issue: 2019-08-14, PHOTO: Pixabay
Things sometimes turn on a dime. Recently, with only three days’ notice, my summer job as a kiddie-train engineer suddenly vanished in a puff of steam-engine smoke. I won’t dwell on the details, except to say I was disappointed. Read more
Issue-2019-07-10, PHOTO: Pixabay
They say the fastest land mammal of all is the cheetah, capable of running as fast as 120 km/h without breaking a sweat. But “they” are wrong. Read more
Issue: 2019-07-03, PHOTO: Pixabay
Opinions are like belly buttons. Everybody has one. Except Adam and Eve, reportedly. Even a casual glance at Facebook, Twitter, or similar social media platforms confirms a disturbing fact: opinions are actually far more numerous than belly buttons. Read more
Issue: 2019-06-26, PHOTO: Danny Macdonald
The last entry in this space provided a platform for a more-or-less true tale of undeserved punishment recalled (and still resented) from the mists of time. Read more
Issue: 2019-06-05, PHOTO: Pixabay
Anyone who has ever worked in a printing shop, or who has helped teach a youngster learn how to print the alphabet, knows the importance of minding your Ps and Qs. And your Bs and Ds, for that matter... Read more
Issue: 2019-05-29, PHOTO: mvipond / everystockphoto.com
I was 12 years old in 1955 when my oldest brother, Robin, went away to university. As siblings in a close-knit family, we had shared many delightful (and less-than) hours around the dinner table. But the six-year difference in our ages meant we... Read more
Issue: 2019-04-10, PHOTO: Rick Massie
The German term zeitgeist is generally rendered in English as the spirit of a given time, as shown in prevailing thought or customs. (Think, perhaps, how Carnaby Street reflected the social values of mid-1960s Britain.) In 2019, are Yukon... Read more
Issue: 2019-04-03, PHOTO: Erik Pinkerton Photography
With the stage still in darkness, a disembodied voice expresses the speaker’s dislike for plays that require theatre-goers to interact with performers who break the traditional fourth wall. When the lights rise on the latest Guild Theatre... Read more
Issue: 2019-03-13, PHOTO: Pixabay
The allure of even a well-crafted, lightweight shovel begins to pale after days upon numberless days of snow upon snow upon snow. There is wisdom in the old saw that everybody likes to complain about the weather, but nobody does anything about it... Read more
Issue: 2019-03-13, PHOTO: courtesy of Katie Thiroux
A legendary bass player who died almost two decades ago indirectly influenced Katie Thiroux’s decision to inject a healthy dose of standard jazz content into her concerts and recordings. “I learned a lesson, by way of Ray Brown, that it’s a good... Read more
Issue: 2019-03-06, PHOTO: courtesy of the Yukon Comedy Festival
Ricard Eden makes no apology for putting the focus of the Yukon Comedy Festival on the performers as much as on the audience. “We obviously want to bring up talent that residents are going to want to see and we want to make our ticket price... Read more
Issue: 2019-02-27, PHOTO: Angela Drainville
Fawn Fritzen hasn’t always considered herself a feminist. The Whitehorse jazz singer/songwriter wasn’t using that term in 2013 when her first CD, Bedroom Voice, came out. Or in 2016 when she released her second album, Pairings... Read more
Issue: 2019-02-13, PHOTO: Sabine Schulte
Tomáš Kubínek was just three years old on the August night in 1968 when 250,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded his Czechoslovakian homeland to crush Alexander Dubček’s liberalization movement, known as the Prague Spring... Read more
Issue: 2019-02-06, PHOTO: Pixabay
Beyond the windows of my study/greenhouse, the temperature is still in deficit mode and falling. Another skiff of snow arrived overnight—the dry, fat, fluffy kind I have no trouble ignoring. It will either blow away, or it will not. It doesn’t... Read more
Issue: 2019-01-30, PHOTO: courtesy of Lonnie Powell
Lonnie Powell’s passion for percussion dates back to a childhood night in B.C.’s Kootenay region, when he attended a wedding reception with his mother and watched a “really animated” drummer strut his stuff... Read more
Issue: 2019-01-23, PHOTO: courtesy of Jodi Proznick
By her own admission, Jodi Proznick, an award-winning bassist and member of Triology, has enjoyed an “incredible performing career, and had opportunities really beyond anything I could have imagined for myself at the beginning of this journey.” Read more
Issue: 2019-01-16, PHOTO: Jason Westover
Laura McLean was a teenager when she first encountered Christopher Durang, using one of the American playwright’s monologues as an audition piece for acting roles. “I remember first reading his work and absolutely falling in love with his... Read more
Issue: 2018-12-19, PHOTO: Pixabay
The time-honoured English tradition of the Christmas pantomime (known affectionately as just “panto”) was not part of my childhood. My British father did grow up attending pantos, before going on to become an usher in post-Victorian music halls... Read more
Issue: 2018-12-19, PHOTO: James Moore
If you’re a budding comedian who’s burning to go on the road with Lars Callieou, pay attention to your appearance. Oh, and don’t forget to show up for the sound check. These are some of the signs of professionalism the Edmonton comic looks for in... Read more