FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1998 All Rights Reserved.
 |
| SPLICE Web watch With World Cup '98 starting up this weekend, you're bound to be accosted in a pub by someone with an incomprehensible accent drunkenly screaming soccer terms and names at you - "Karl-Heinz Ruminegger!!" they'll bellow. "Get penicillin," you'll offer helpfully, only to receive a head butt or a punch to the kidneys. While it would be easy to offer self-defense suggestions (from watching the sport, it's easy to surmise that a lazy kick to the shins will incapacitate a footballer for up to 15 minutes and actually make him cry!) or a list of Web sites that will help you navigate through the tourney with facts and figures (but that would just mean you'd be expected to watch some games afterwards), maybe you should just take a cue from Rob Silva. In an attempt to enter the world of international soccer fandom (although he was specifically looking for a team in the English Premier League), Silva set out to find himself a worthy club to support by starting the Rob Silva Fandom Cup. His journey, which is chronicled on the Adventures In Football site, began with a letter to six teams asking for reasons as to why he should support their club. Forsaking reasons such as "pluckiness" and "working class values," in favor of attractiveness of strip, ability to speak team's name with a straight face, and how much free stuff he could get, Silva's attempt is a hilarious read - from his non-responses to his threat-filled correspondences with English magazine FourFourTwo to his announcing the winner. You won't learn much, but at least it's not two hours of not much. Harley-Davidson Collectibles The image of Harley-Davidson is as big a part of Americana as apple pie and George Washington. The company has been manufacturing motorcycles the entire century, and the spread-eagle wings of the Harley logo are instantly recognizable. Over the decades the company has also made an art of promoting their machines through memorabilia ranging from belt buckles and calendars to guitars and knives (yikes!). In Harley-Davidson Collectibles (Raincoast Books), Michael Dregmo and Nick Cedar focus their attention on the items that surround the bike. The collection is extremely thorough with 200 color studio photos featuring items from the last nine decades. But It's a Dry Cold! Tornadoes are not considered a common occurrence in Alberta, but as recent twisters in the Calgary area indicate, they're not as rare as you might think. In fact, south-central Alberta is rated at moderately high risk, and Canada experiences the second-highest number of tornadoes in the world, after the US. Many Albertans will remember the famous funnel cloud that touched down in Edmonton on July 31, 1987, leaving a wake of destruction 40 kilometres long. The tornado, which reached an average speed of 35 kilometres per hour, is the second-worst natural disaster in Canadian history. When it was over, 27 people were dead, 300 were injured, 400 were left homeless, and damages totaled $300 million. But It's A Dry Cold! Weathering the Canadian Prairies (Fifth House) by climatologist Elaine Wheaton includes basic prairie weather patterns, statistics, legendary stories, weather and climate facts, record holders, anecdotes, photos and illustrations, and a sobering long-term forecast for the year 2040 which predicts even more severe weather for the prairies. Other fatal tornadoes in Alberta, prior to 1984, include (date/nearest settlement/fatalities): · May 1879, Saddle Lake - 1 · August 1907, Wainright - 3 · July 1907, Sibbald - 1 · June 1912, Oyen - 4 · June 1915, Grassy Lake - 1 · July 1918, Tolland - 1 · July 1927, Wetaskiwin - 4 · July 1927, Rocky Mountain House - 3 · August 1950, Morley - 1 · August 1960, Travers Dam - 1 · July 1961, Gooseberry Lake - 1 · July 1972, Bawlf - 1 · June 1984, Richmond Park - 1 Free stuff! Win a trip for two to see Bran Van 3000 play at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Just find the BV3 Bunny on the Fast Forward Web site (www.greatwest.ca/ffwd). This contest ends soon, so get your entry in this week. Name your top 10 albums of all time for a chance to win some great music memorabilia from The Roots of Music Show & Sale. Highlights of the survey will be published June 18. See the ad in this issue for contest details. Fast Forward has passes to the advance screening of "The Opposite of Sex," showing Wednesday June 10 at 7 p.m. at Eau Claire Market Cinemas. The film, starring Lyle Lovett, Lisa Kudrow and Johnny Galecki, takes a humorous look at life and sex in the '90s, while telling a serious story about human values. See the ad in this issue for details on how to win. We also have single, run-of-engagement passes to see Taste of Cherry at the Uptown Stage & Screen. This film, by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarrostami, won the "Palme d'Or" at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. To win, drop by the Fast Forward office with a donation for the food bank. We start giving away free stuff on Fridays unless otherwise noted. Only people who have not won free stuff (other than movie passes) within the last four issues of Fast Forward are eligible to win. Office hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. |
| |