Oilsands development threatens important boreal wetland
Environmentalists hopeful it can still be saved
By Amy Steele

Manufacturing sickness
Author argues pharmaceutical companies are marketing bogus drugsBy Amy Steele

VIEWPOINT

The cost of what’s lost
Paying for the oilsands extravaganza
By Gillian Steward

COVER

Battle for the boreal
Conservationists fighting to protect Alberta’s fragmented, threatened forest
By Amy Steele

ENVIRONMENT

Why we fight
Photographer Wayne Lynch on the value of the forest
By Ian Doig

SOS: save our saplings
A boreal forest resource list
By Adrienne Beattie

BOOKS

The aftermath of murder
Rebecca Godfrey finds Reena Virk’s murder still haunts Victoria
By Bryn Evans

A loving kind of discomfort
Jonathan Franzen’s new memoir a tragicomic treat
By Bryn Evans

Celebrating female artists
Stellar Femme Fest features poetry, visual arts, dance and music
By Mark Hopkins

MUSIC

Warning! Explicit band name
Dance band’s sonic mess brings the F-bomb back into the forefront
By Chris Vail

Mama’s boys
Junior Boys use their Hamilton advantage
By Jane McCullough

The importance of being instrumental
Chicago metal band Pelican forsake lyrics
By Peter Hemminger

Horn man hat trick
Chris Botti gives his three tips for success
By Dennis Slater

Local musicians lift a glass
A tribute to well-loved music writer James Muretich
By Mary-Lynn Wardle

Blowin’ sunshine up yer arse
Bagpiper Scruffy Wallace brings the boys home
By Christine Leonard

Six Feet Under and digging fast
Blind Assassins take a shot in the dark and release their debut album
By Christine Leonard

CD REVIEWS

Heartbeat Records will make your blood flow
CD Reviews:
Alton Ellis’s I’m Still In Love With You, Delroy Wilson’s The Best of… Original Eighteen Deluxe Edition, John Holt’s I Can’t Get You Off My Mind, and Various Artists’ Version Dread: 18 Dub Hits from Studio One
reviewed by Red Eye
Basement Jaxx’s Crazy Itch Radio
reviewed by Sean Marchetto
Emily Haines and The Soft Skeleton
reviewed by Jennifer Abel
Heartless Bastard’s All This Time
reviewed by Jason Lewis
TV On The Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain
reviewed by Chris Vail

VISUAL ARTS

Hot road and machine guns
12 Midnite splatters ‘50s kitsch with his punk rock, cowboy esthetic
By Hugh Graham

Painting outside the cave
Andrew Gable’s eager debut brings new paintings to light
By Anthea Black

THEATRE

A Meditation on lonliness
Ronnie Burkett’s 10 Days on Earth is strikingly beautiful
By Jeff Kubik

Puppets, a cabaret and booze
Theatre Junction’s Die Wilde Nacht brings ‘20s Berlin to Calgary
By Jeff Kubik

Anthony Curtola survives pudding dysentery
OYR’s Down With Up With People rocks the Big Secret Theatre
By James Dangerous

DANCE

Secrets revisited
W&M Physical Theatre leaps cross-cultural boundaries
By Jocelyn Grosse

Alberta Ballet turns 40
New season celebrates history with Carmina Burana and old favourites
By Natalie St-Denis

FILM

New take on traditional tale
Follow-up film doesn’t hold as much weight
By Ryan J. Noth

Not much risk involved
Coast Guard film treads familiar water
By Andrew Aitkenhead

School for screenwriting
Scoundrels lacks a comedic identity
By Shaun English

Stuffing the ballot box
Sean Penn stumps for Oscar votes in the dramatic All The King’s Men
By Jaime Frederick

VIDEO VULTURE

In The Zone
Video Vulture rediscovers the Sixth Dimension
By John Tebbutt

MY MESSY BEDROOM

Shocking sex statistics
Misleading media reports create teen sexuality panic
By Josey Vogels