http://www.vueweekly.com/ Vue Weekly: Edmonton's 100% Independent News & Entertainment Weekly Vue Staff MUSIC As 2009 gets off to a start, Vue’s writers have considered the options and named some of their favourite moments in music from 2008. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10685 Scott Harris / scott@vueweekly.com FRONT What a difference a year makes. As we bid farewell to 2007 at this time last year, talk of change was in the air as expectations ran high that Ed Stelmach would seek a mandate of his very own by calling an election early in the new year. The boom was in full swing, housing and gas prices were both soaring and the opposition parties, especially Kevin Taft’s Liberals, had as much of a swagger as opposition parties in Alberta get. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10654 Vue Staff ARTS For our year-in-review issue, Vue’s theatre writers share what they liked most and what they liked least about theatre in Edmonton last year. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10672 Josef Braun / josef@vueweekly.com FILM While several of the past year’s best films never graced Edmonton screens—see our DVDetective (page 35) for details—there was still an awful lot of superb film fare glowing up there on that magic rectangle—so many that I know perfectly well there are conspicuous absences from my best of 2008. Some I simply never got around to seeing, others couldn’t quite make my personal, no doubt idiosyncratic final cut. But I tried to consider just about everything. If it hit Edmonton during the calendar year, it was eligible, thus the handful of titles below that were originally released elsewhere just before the end of 2007, such as ... Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10676 Jan Hostyn / jan@vueweekly.com DISH Imagine having a job that makes you feel like you’re in the midst of one big party. Most of us dream about such a possibility, but Anna Muze, owner, general manager and jack-of-all-trades of Il Forno, actually lives it. “It’s like hosting a party all the time, but one that you don’t have to pay for.” And, for the most part, she loves it.  Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10658 Bobbi Barbarich / bobbi@vueweekly.com SNOW ZONE I prefer to support the underdog. Unfortunately, small family-run ski hills rarely generate enough cash or cred to compete with the big resorts. So I either end up resenting overpriced burritos at the posh lodge or questioning my principles as I struggle up a tiny T-bar. For 2009, I resolved yet again to ignore Whistler and seek out the little guy. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10660 Eden Munro / eden@vueweekly.com ALBUM REVIEWS It takes the Hold Steady’s singer, Craig Finn, just a few short words to break hearts as he sings, “Lord, I’m discouraged / The circles have sucked in her eyes / Lord, I’m discouraged / Her new friends have shadowed her light.” It’s not particularly romantic—not that Finn ever states that quite so explicitly, leaving his songs open so that they have room to breathe in and out—but there’s certainly a sense that love is at the heart of the song, “Lord, I’m Discouraged.” Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10687 Vue Staff COVER Remember all of that stuff that happened to you last year? If so—and especially if not—you'll love Vue Weekly's look back at the most interesting things that happened around the city, the province, the country and the world in 2008. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10696 Carolyn Nikodym / carolyn@vueweekly.com EDUCATION We’ve all met that person who, no matter what happens, can see themselves through the tough times, who always looks forward to the good times. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=10667