BT Edmonton Blogs

Aquila Productions' Don Metz joins guest co-host (and Oilers President/CEO) Patrick LaForge on a special edition BT.

His impressive resume already includes stints in the oil and gas industry and prominent positions with Alpine Canada, Molson Breweries and the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. But current Edmonton Oilers President and CEO Patrick LaForge had yet to include “Broadcaster” to the list…until Wednesday’s BT.

The born-and-raised Albertan shared stories from his childhood in Lac La Biche and provided some insight into his current role with the Oilers (along with the WHL’s Oil Kings and the GBL’s Edmonton Capitals). Patrick also brought along a few friends including PAAFE’s Kate Quinn, the Oilers Community Foundation’s Natalie Minckler, Norquest College’s Dr. Wayne Shillington, Koch Ford’s Duane Koch, Gasland Group of Companies’ (and former EIG Chairman) Cal Nichols and Aquila Productions’ Don Metz.

Attached below is just a snippet of Wednesday’s show. Check out BT Bites for a complete “highlight pack” of Wednesday’s show. Huge thanks to Patrick for spending a few early-morning hours with the BT team!

Keep it locked on Citytv – future guest co-hosts include former Chief Justice Alan Wachowich, former Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, country singer Brett Kissel and ”mover and shaker” Doug Goss. Not a “boring morning” goes by when you’re watching BT!

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Ladies: Have you ever felt that your upper arms were a little on the large side?

No worries! Here’s proof that all you really need is a great hair accessory to distract from the situation!

(Oh, if it were only this easy…)

xo Wendy

Love it or hate it, if you live in Edmonton you’ve no doubt been monitoring the progress of the new Art Gallery of Alberta at Churchill Square. The $90M project, touted as key to Edmonton’s downtown revitalization, is set to be completed by January 2010.

California-based lead architect Randall Stout has remained out of the spotlight throughout the gallery’s construction. We caught up with him at the Downtown Business Association’s annual fall luncheon for an exclusive one-on-one with the man behind the design. Click on the video below to hear Stout’s insight into the design process, along with his message to the critics.

Enjoy your weekend!

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‘Round here, he’s the Captain of Cool. In a city where a street bearing his name leads to legendary live music venue Yardbird Suite, we were thrilled when Juno and Gemini award-winning jazz performer, Officer of the Order of Canada and current Canadian Senator Tommy Banks accepted our invitation to join Bridget and I as a guest co-host for the morning.

Sure, the former talk-show host and renowned jazz pianist had performed for Her Majesty the Queen and President Ronald Reagan. Yeah, he was musical director for EXPO ‘86, the Commonwealth Games and the XV Winter Olympics. But would he be able to handle our fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants format?

(ahem.)

What a treat to spend a few hours with such a great Canadian. Senator Banks (”Tommy,” he insists. “That’s my name, afterall!”) can and will talk about anything under the sun – his candor added something special to Thursday’s show. Click on the video below for just a few of our favourite moments.

Special thanks to guests Hon. Lindsay Blackett, Stewart Lemoine, Denise Kantor, Bob Gilligan, Christine Rogerson, Maria Dunne and Tony Connolly. A huge shout out to the James Clarke Trio (representing the MacEwan music program) for doing a fantastic job as Edmonton’s coolest morning TV house band!

Keep it locked on BT over the next few weeks as we welcome more guest co-hosts including Edmonton Oilers President & CEO Patrick LaForge, country music star Brett Kissel, former Deputy Prime Minister Anne MacLellan, former Chief Justice Allan Wachowich and mover and shaker Doug Goss.

Oh, and Tommy…come back anytime!

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When the Edmonton Sun’s Graham Hicks appeared on Tuesday’s BT, telling us he thought the H1N1 virus was ‘much ado about nothing’ (my words, not Graham’s) and he would not be getting a flu shot, dozens of you took the time to check in.

“It was sad to see (Graham Hicks’) incredibly ignorant and uneducated opinion about not getting the vaccinations,” vented Travis.

“I side with Graham Hicks that (the H1N1 story) is blown out of proportion,” agreed Melanie.

“I haven’t had a shot before, so I’m afraid it could make me sick rather than prevent it,” said Ashley. “I also wonder if they’ve done any research into the effects of having the seasonal flu vaccine and the swine flu vaccine so close together. Am I putting myself at risk for some kind of super flu?”

We thought we’d better talk to an expert on this one. Click on the video below to check out our interview with Dr. Gerry Predy, Sr. Medical Officer of Health for Alberta Health Services.

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