I’ve never had any problem admitting that I’m a hotel snob.  Due to the fact that I live so close to the Fairmont Banff Springs and Lake Louise, they’ve both become my second home any time I need to get away from the city.  That my friends is almost monthly.

But this past weekend, I was put up in the Delta Kananaskis and thought it might be time to expand my horizons.  And this was no regular weekend in the mountains.  Even though it was the last weekend in May, Calgary and surrounding areas got dumped on by heavy snowfall.  Kananaskis was no exception.  The trees and the mountains were covered with snow, which made for a perfect background for a weekend out of town.

Adding to the scenery, the whole resort wraps around a beautifully serene lake that is fed by a couple of different waterfalls. I took dozens of pictures, I could only imagine what it would have been like if you were able to actually see the mountains is not so distant background.

I’m not a giant fan of camping, but the Delta was nestled so thickly in the woods, that it felt like we were camping, (only luxuriously.) Our room was the perfect size, it had a working fireplace and over looked the snow-kissed trees.  For me, this is exactly how camping should be done.  I particularly noticed our surroundings when were eating dinner  and we were lucky enough to get a window seat, just a few feet away from the forest.  We felt like an animal or two was going to come out at any moment.

Since we didn’t see any animals, we decided to eat them instead.

Since I’m from New Brunswick, I have never found reasonable seafood in Alberta, nor would have I recommended you ever try it.  But the lobster bisque at the restaurant was ridiculously tasty.  We only ordered it as an appetizer, but we were stuffed even before the main course came.  Days later, I’m still dreaming about it.

In the morning I really enjoyed the french toast topped with fresh stawberries.  I could be biased though, I love any breakfast that includes ham.

Perhaps what I enjoyed most about the resort was that there weren’t tourists hiding in every corner.  Banff Springs and Lake Louise have advertised themselves as tourist attractions, which means any time you sit down to eat or find a relaxing corner to read (or blog), there is always a group taking pictures or laughing loudly.

The resort really felt like a tiny and private village.  We loved strolling and wondering around the grounds as the snow fell and the sun began to set.   I really can’t emphasize how quiet the whole weekend was.  As we sat on the bench around the lake, we imagined all the stars we would have seen on a clear night. All this was before we discovered the outdoor hot tub, which had definitely been calling our names.

As a personal aside, I’ve always been annoyed that the Banff Springs limits it’s access to the outdoor hot tub to their spa patrons only and Lake Louise doesn’t even have an outdoor hot tub.  And I know for a fact that they frown on attempts to swim (clothed or otherwise) in the actual lake.

I know I’m now picking on those other hotels, but really I’m just mad at my myself.  I’ve lived here for five years and I have obviously been missing out on this gem of a hotel.  It was quieter, more private and the room rates are cheaper than you might think.

If you are done pretending that you enjoy camping and you are looking for a secluded place to say, I highly recommend the Delta Kananaskis.

I don’t care what you say about Degrassi, but I freaking love this show.  Actually, I’m pretty sure that me and Chris from Out Is Through are the only fans over the age of 25.  As I typed that, I realized that I probably could have had a kid on that show by now.  Shudder.

All of this Degrassi ranting to say that the show has a brand new promo/music video that has been on repeat ever since I discovered it.

The video is set to the music of VV Brown‘s incredibly catchy Shark in the Water and it shows the cast taking over an old school carnival.  The clip is laced with hints and secrets of the show’s gigantic new season. I say gigantic because Degrassi will now air daily with over 40 new episodes.  Not many shows can make that claim in their TENTH season!

The end of the video teases the “Biggest Event in Degrassi History!” as the magic wheel slows down on the word lock down.  Not to mention the video’s hints at secrets, lesbians and domestic abuse!

While I understand the Degrassi may not be your cup of tea, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how the video is such a tease of the season to come.  It kinda reminds me of the trailer for season 3 of Grey’s Anatomy with The Fray‘s How to Save a Life.

Degrassi Season 10 Carnival Promo from NickPress on Vimeo.

When you think about Calgary in July, you usually think about Calgary Stampede.  But to be honest, that is just for the tourists.  Calgarians actually love and get way more excited for the Folk Festival, which takes place the week after stampede. Think less cows, more folk music.  It sounds nicer already, does it not?

The line up for this year’s festival was announced a couple of weeks ago and now that I’ve had some time to sort through the MASSIVE line up, I feel prepared enough to talk about the three acts I’m most excited about:

1. Swell Season (listen)
I watch the movie Once at least once a month.  Since it came out a couple of years ago, it has been the movie by which I judge all other movies.  The entire soundtrack is consistently in my Top 25 most played songs on Itunes. If their name isn’t ringing any bells, they won an Oscar a couple years ago for  Best Song (Falling Slowly).  Jon Stewart brought them back out after they were rudely cut off by a commercial.  The opportunity to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova live and in person is my equivalent of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

2. Dan Mangan (listen)
I’m always scared to talk about how excited I am to finally see him in concert.  I’ve talked about his music so much on this blog, that I’m worried his people have pictures of me that they hand out to security. Everytime I hear Baskets I tear up, I can’t imagine how I’ll react when I hear it live.

3. Michael Franti and Spearhead (listen)
A couple of months ago I went to the John Mayer concert.  He was a disappointment of epic proportions.  It was torturous  to see him be so miserable.  The show’s only saving grace was the opening act Michael Franti.  Far and away one of the most entertaining bands to ever still be an opening act, he  is deservedly headlining Friday night’s main-stage at Folk Fest.  I fell like that I get to see him again.

Calgary Folk Festival runs from July 22-25th at Prince’s Island Park.

It’s been a big week for the cult internet sensation Dr. Horrible Sing-A-Long Blog. On Tuesday, the BluRay edition of the movie hit shelves and just a couple of days later, the first ever production of Dr. Horrible Live opened up in Calgary.  Yes, not New York or London, Calgary.  I was surprised too.

Thanks in recent years to musicals like Avenue Q, Urinetown and Evil Dead: The Musical, the idea of a “cool musical” is becoming more of a reality, which is why a something as geeky as Dr. Horrible has been able to break into the mainstream.  So forced to battle against each other, which version of the would come out as the victor…or better yet: the villain?

Dr. Horrible Live

Going into the night, the show had one major thing going against it:  100% of the audience had already seen the web-series and were probably obsessed with it. Since debuting two years ago, the hit has been released on DVD and become an art-house fundraising staple.  But besides a few high-school or amateur productions, this was the very first professional run of Dr. Horrible Live.  And the fan-base is certainly rabid is enough to justify a live production, the show’s two week run is practically sold out and extra shows are being added just to accommodate the demand.

David Elder had the difficult task of playing the now idolized role of Dr. Horrible.  Originated by Neil Patrick Harris,  David he was able to capture the Dr.’s confusion over being in love and trying to rule the world all at once.  Easily the best voice of the show, Elder easily fit into the lab coat and infamous evil goggles.

The role of Captain Hammer was played by Evan Westwall.  While his vocals were also very strong, ff you are going to have someone play a super hero whose joke’s mostly consist of talking about how strong and big his muscles are, it would help if the actor had some.  Obviously every actor that plays Captain Hammer isn’t going to look like Nathan Fillion, it would have been great if Dr. Horrible’s nemisis was at least bigger than him.  It may seem petty, but whenever Evan Westwall pointed to his muscles, the audience became distracted just trying to find them.

The show’s biggest weakness was it’s technical side.  The whole set could have used one or two more coats of paint, many of the of the walls and props simply looked like they weren’t finished.  The stage lighting seemed unplanned and all over the place. During different points of the  show, characters were poorly lit or not lit at all. Whether this was a directorial choice was not evident to the audience.

As with any great show, the chorus was given equal opportunity to shine and they worked their butts off, often got the biggest laughs. They even opened the show with three very entertaining and new songs only found on the Dr. Horrible DVD.

Forced to sum up the show, I would have to Dr. Horrible has the beginnings of an okay off-broadway show, at the very least a great first or second draft. Crafting a show that has never been mounted before means starting from scratch, it also means this show has miles to go. It is still a blast to watch and consistently funny, and I think it has definitely set itself up to be our generation’s Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Fans of the series will enjoy seeing their favourite characters and scenes come to life, but unfortunately it will be too easy to also find flaws with the production.

Dr Horrible on BluRay:

When Dr. Horrible debuted online two years ago, part of the excitement was waiting each week for a new installment, now that the entire series is clumped together on one high definition disc, it thankfully still hasn’t lost any of it’s magic!

While the series itself is practically perfect, the special features of the disc really bring the production to a whole new and exciting level.  For me, The highlight would have to be Commentary: The Musical.  Instead of the usual commentary (which is another special feature), the whole cast gathers together for 42 minutes of new music.  With good reason, some of these songs were included in the live production.  Some of the funnier songs are $10 Solo and No One is Asian.

As with every time I watch Dr. Horrible, the disc makes me yearn for a much-rumored sequel. Though I suspect, at least for now, this Doctor will do just fine on it’s own.

Until June 4th, Calgary will be playing host to the 12th Annual Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival. The festival has been growing in popularity and quality in recent years and it has quickly become a top-notch film festival, regardless of the film subject matter. This is especially remarkable considering the often very conservative nature of Calgary.

On Thursday night, I attended the opening night gala where a great documentry was the feature. It was called The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls and it was about twin, lesbian yodelers from New Zealand. Yes, you read that right.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of the Topp Twins before this movie, but they are HUGE in New Zealand.  They regularly play sold out stadiums, they’ve had their own television series and this movie became the highest grossing documentary in New Zealand box office history!

Take a look at the trailer, I think it will give you a taste of how enjoyable the film was to watch!

CBC is hoping to continue it’s recent hot streak and on Thursday the network hosted a big, giant party to celebrate their new 2010-2011 schedule.  Paul Gross, Debbie Travis, Erin Karpluk, Rick Mercer, Peter Mandsbridge, George Stroumboulopoulos, Davic Suzuki, Kurt Browning, Don Cherry and Ron Maclean all made appearances and talk about their shows.  (It is days like this I HATE living in Calgary.)

I’ll run down some of the highlights.

Debbie Travis will be taking on the Donald on Sunday nights with her new show  All For Fun.  The design and decor guru will be profiling real-life unsung heroes from across the country.   I’m going to try to find out how you can nominate people for this show, so get your gear turning!

CBC’s biggest hit from last year Battle of the Blades will be returning for a second season.  It was announced that former NHLers Theo Fleury and Russ Courtnall will be some of the celebs being teamed up with the professional figure skaters.  The show never caught on for me last season, but 2 million canadians can’t be wrong.

I don’t really have anything to say about this picture.  Actually I do: drool, drool and drool. Hot damn, CBC scored some good looking stars.

By now you know that Being Erica is returning for a third season.  Some of the cast was on hand for the big announcement.  Notably missing was Tyson Leitso who played Erica’s love interest, he’ll be sitting this season out.  But I’m guessing he’ll definitely be popping up again sometime soon!

Interestingly enough, Being Erica is scheduled for Tuesday night, airing at the same time as The CW’s Life UnXpected.  This  could leave to a very awkward Erin Karpluk vs. Erin Karpluk battle royale. Here’s hoping Being Erica wins over the all too boring Life UnXpected

A tv version of the film Men With Brooms will also be hitting the airwaves this small.  Paul Gross starred in the movie, but will be showing up as the narrator for the new show.  While I never saw the movie, I’m intrigued enough to give the show a chance.  With any luck, they’ll get Cheryl Bernard to make an appearance!

Here is the full schedule:

SUNDAYS (beginning September 26)

7 p.m.               HEARTLAND
8 p.m.               BATTLE OF THE BLADES
9 p.m.               ALL FOR ONE WITH DEBBIE TRAVIS

MONDAYS
8 p.m.              BATTLE OF THE BLADES – RESULTS (begins October 3)
8:30 p.m.         MEN WITH BROOMS (begins September 20)
9 p.m.              JUST FOR LAUGHS (begins September 20)

TUESDAYS (beginning September 21)
8 p.m.             RICK MERCER REPORT
8:30 p.m.        22 MINUTES
9 p.m.             BEING ERICA

WEDNESDAYS (beginning September 22)
8 p.m.              DRAGONS’ DEN
9 p.m.              THE TUDORS

THURSDAYS (beginning September 23)
8 p.m.              THE NATURE OF THINGS
9 p.m.              DOC ZONE

FRIDAYS (beginning September 24)
8 p.m.             THE RON JAMES SHOW
8:30 p.m.        RICK MERCER REPORT – Encore
9 p.m.             THE FIFTH ESTATE

SATURDAYS
6:30 p.m. ET   CBC’s HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA
WEEKNIGHTS
10 p.m.            THE NATIONAL, with Peter Mansbridge (on-going)
10:55 p.m.       CBC NEWS LATE NIGHT (on-going)
11:05 p.m.       THE HOUR with George Stroumboulopoulos (begins September 20)

DAYTIME

7 a.m.             KIDS’CBC (on-going)
2 p.m.             STEVEN AND CHRIS (begins September 20)
3 p.m.             BEST RECIPES EVER (begins September 20)

Is there anything more fun than watching someone get really messy in a music video?  Get your mind out of the gutter, I mean with paint!  They always make for great music videos.  I thought today would be a perfect day to look at some of my favourite paint-soaked videos!

Up first is Lights and her new single Second Go.  This was just released the other day and it has already amassed more than 200,000 views!

Hedley is up next.  Now they don’t have a ton of paint in their video for Perfect, but jump to the 3:07 mark and tell me it wouldn’t be so awesome to throw paint at someone  in slo-mo like that!  (Especially at Jacob Hoggard!)

Of course, none of these videos come even close to touching the greatness of Garth Brooks and his paint soaked video for  The Red Strokes. Yeah, you totally forgot about that song didn’t you?  Watch it again and try to figure out the logistics of it!  Insane.

My newest column with Metro is out today.  You can pick it up in and around Calgary, or you can read it online.

This week, I tackle a nearly impossible subject: Defending Nickelback.

Check it out and make sure to leave a comment!

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for all you U2 fans who are still upset about the band’s summer Canadian dates being cancelled.

Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival has announced that they’ll be giving a very special two-for-one deal to the comedy shows for anyone that had tickets for the band’s July 16th show in Montreal.  Some of the comedians you can check out instead include Lewis Black,  Cheech and Chong, John Leguizamo and Christopher Titus.

Okay, so it is no Bono.  But Cheech and Chong?!  Sit in that audience for a half and hour and you won’t even remember what you were so upset about…plus, you’ll be really hungry!

When Conan O’Brien announced that his new show would be on TBS, you could almost hear the collective sigh of Canadians all across the country, who are stuck with the always dreadful Peachtree TV.

Well good news Canada, according to the always reliable TVFMF, CTV has acquired the rights for Conan’s new show!  They have not, however, announced when or where the show will be showing up on it’s schedule.  CTV’s late night schedule (National News, Daily Show, Colbert) is pretty tight, so I don’t think they’ll mess with that. It could show up on the Comedy Network, but I think Conan is deserving of a bigger audience.  Most likely, O’Brien will land on the /A\ channel, which in recent years has become a dumping ground for all things CTV and it’s crowded schedule (see: LOST).

No matter where Conan ends up, we can all start sleeping again at night, Conan will have a home in Canada and that is all that matters. (Somewhere in Canada, there is a very jealous Mike Bullard.)

Now seriously, how the hell do we get rid of Peachtree TV!