Crosby or Ovechkin? Thornton or Getzlaf? Visnovsky or Gilbert? This year’s annual BT Hockey Pool puts your powers of prediction to the test!

We’ve partnered with the Sportsnet PoolExpert Hockey Pool Manager to present our most exciting season yet. After clicking here to register, you’ll choose 9 forwards, 3 defencemen and a goalie. Scoring is simple – one point for a goal or assist, two points for a goalie win and one for a shootout loss. If you played last season, you’ll be able to use the same email/password. The best part is, it’s still free to play!

Top spot will win an amazing hockey memorabilia prize pack at season’s end courtesy of Wayne Wagner at Wayne’s Sports Cards & Collectibles. Good luck!

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Rainbow's Reward

Nicky was out for dinner, and her evening may have started out wet rainy and dreary – but look at the reward!    Mother Nature took her paint brush – dipped it into the rainbow paint can, and swept the entire sky!    Here’s what Nicky saw:  “Taken early June of this year from La Ronde Restaurant in the Chateau Lacombe downtown Edmonton.”    La Ronde is a revolving restaurant, so we are incredibly fortunate that Nicky captured this moment as she made her 360 degree trip around the city.

DID YOU KNOW?    La Ronde is on the 24th floor of the Chateau Lacombe.    It takes about 90 minutes for a complete rotation of the city.

MAKE RESERVATIONS … BUT DON’T HAVE ANY ABOUT BECOMING OUR FRESH AIR PHOTOGRAPHER!    ON OUR MAIN WEBPAGE LOOK FOR “CONNECT WITH BT” THEN: “SEND US YOUR PHOTOS”.    ANYTHING SHOWING MOTHER NATURE OR HER CREATURES WILL DO!

A butt-kicking female straight out of EIFF flick "Clash".

That is just a snippet of the action I witnessed Tuesday night at the Edmonton Film Fest premiere of “Clash”.

It was a 90-minute, fast-paced, how-do-they-do-that action flick which certainly had its funny moments. (Whether you were laughing at them or with them is another story.) And after half an hour, you forgot you were reading subtitles for the Vietnamese movie.

Actors Johnny Nguyen and Veronica Ngo star in "Clash".

Juicy tidbit: the main actor and actress are a couple in real life. Everyone knows I love an on-screen/off-screen couple!

The film fest continues until Saturday, October 2nd. Check out the sched at http://www.edmontonfilmfest.com/. Be sure to let me in on what movie you checked out and what you thought of it!

Reflections on Summer

Welcome to Jasper National Park to a place some might say is off the beaten track.    Chris takes us there:  “Taken while hiking along Beaver Lake just past Medicine Lake”.    The peaks you see are the Colin Mountain Range … Beaver Lake is sandwiched between the Colin and Queen Elizabeth Ranges.

DID YOU KNOW?    If you would like to stand at this magical spot yourself, here’s how to get there:  From Jasper drive east on highway 16 for 2km and turn right on the Maligne Lake Road.    Cross the bridge and follow the Maligne Lake Road for 29km to the Beaver Creek picnic area at the south end of Medicine Lake.

WE OF THE FRESH AIR PHOTO NATION NEED YOU!    SHARE ONE OF YOUR KODAK MOMENTS WITH US & WATCH FOR IT ON BT AND ON THIS VERY BLOG.    OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!

photo: Phil DesRoches

He’s one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time. The man underneath that iconic top hat and (with apologies to Angus Young) pretty much the source of inspiration behind every move I’ve ever busted out on my air guitar. Naturally, I was pretty excited to spend a few minutes with Slash.

Check out the video below for our full interview with the former lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses. We didn’t get a whole lot of time (not nearly enough to ask when he and Axl plan to make up and tour together), but we did manage to figure out where he stands on the BlackBerry v. iPhone debate, how he really feels about American Idol (and Adam Lambert), where he found the inspiration for his new album (stacked with guest vocalists like Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne and Ian Astbury) and whether or not his mom had anything to do with that famous lid.

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Hey there internet! Oh how I have neglected you lately.
Here is a Video of Young Rival from Hamilton ON. that I took at Black Dog. Man how I love how Black Dog has awesome bands play free shows there! Young Rivals really rocked it out while they were visiting with Vancouver’s Pack A.D.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaXNuJ3AEZc
I believe the song is got what you need.

Here is a cool Chat Roulette video for their song Authentic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unoqbrBOmEM

Sigh. Sunrise.

Nancy writes:  “Hey Michele!    This is the sunrise I watched in the Hay Lakes area on the morning of Monday, September 27th.    BEAUTIFUL — GORGEOUS.    These have NOT been re-touched!”

We thank Nancy for connecting with us, and encourage you to do the same!

The EIFF organizers spend the entire year leading up to next year’s film fest watching, selecting and scrapping movies so we can catch all the must-see flicks and skip out on the duds.

So have you hit up the Edmonton Film Fest yet?

We’re halfway through so time is running out, but there’s still a jam-packed schedule of movies to catch.

Even if you have absolutely zero time to hit up the EIFF, spend your lunch hour at the movies. (I’m putting the “Lunchbox Shorts” in my calendar this week too.) For the rest of the work week at noon for 45 minutes you can catch international short films AND get lunch with your $11.75 admission fee.

Visit http://www.edmontonfilmfest.com/ for more details. See you at the movies!

James Van Der Beek and wife Kimberly Brook.

James Van Der Beek and his new wife Kimberly welcomed a daughter, Olivia, on Saturday.

The actor tweeted the news:

“Had the blessing of becoming a father over the weekend… Couldn’t come close to describing this bliss even if I had 140 million characters,” he wrote, adding “Olivia Van Der Beek, born 9/25. I apologize in advance for any obnoxiously precious new-dad tweets that may follow. I’m under her spell…”

While their marriage is just beginning (they said I do in Israel in August), another Hollywood marriage is coming to an end.

George Lopez, his soon-to-be ex-wife Ann, and their 15-year-old daughter.

Actor George Lopez and his wife Ann announced they’re divorcing after 17 years of marriage.

The couple released a statement saying the split is amicable and they will remain business partners.

Brad Womack, "The Bachelor" 2.0.

It was announced on “Dancing with the Stars” last night: Brad Womack will return as “The Bachelor”.

You’ll remember him as the Season 11 “Bachelor” who broke not one heart, but two when he rejected his final two Bachelorettes Deanna Pappas and Jenni Croft. (A move never done before in the show’s history.)

He believes this time he’ll find “the one”. Oh the headlines he’ll make if he picks no one. Again.

Up up and away!

It was an early Saturday morning in September.    Barb was at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton taking advantage of FREE ADMISSION DAY.    She recommends a visit to the museum ANY day, but on this particular morning, she saw the gentle giants floating by and  writes:  ”One of the few mornings when it was calm, a bit cool, yet hazy”.

DID YOU KNOW?    The weather has to be “pretty much perfect” for hot air ballooning.    Pilots only fly when the sky is clear and the wind is light LIKE:  Just before SUNRISE or SUNSET.    At sunset the weather is cooler, and the balloon flies better in cooler weather since the hot air gets a better “lift.”
PLUS — imagine experiencing a beautiful sunrise or sunset as you float silently through the air.    During the afternoon it gets bumpy in that basket when when different pockets of air are rising and falling.

WE OF THE FRESH AIR PHOTO NATION NEED YOU.    MEMBERSHIP IS FREE & BENEFITS ‘ENDLESS’.    UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO TODAY.