A.V. Club Recommendation

Strathearn cyclists continue to prove their worth during this June’s Community Bike Month Challenge. Great numbers team! If you need any help getting up for a ride check out this terrific single from the 2015 release Local Technique by Edmonton’s own Electricity for Everybody. Tourmalet a noisy, driving tune from one of the city’s best live bands. From their own description: “Tourmalet” celebrates the propulsive rush faced by high-mountain cyclists, compressing their gruelling task into four pop riddled minutes. The pounding rhythm and weaving guitars set a furious pace, driving until the tires pop. Electricity for Everybody have a couple new singles up on Bandcamp from an album slated for release later this year.  

Seeing as how we’re in the midst of a heated Community Bike Challenge this June, Strathearn A.V. Club is soliciting suggestions for favourite books, films, and songs about/for cycling. Recommend a tune you use to pump yourself up for a marathon ride or an inspirational film that makes you want to cruise the streets on two wheels (Hot take - unicyclists are for circuses. Come at me bro.) If you’re interested send suggestions and a couple reasons why to avclub@strathearncl.org or leave them here in the comments.

A.V. Club Recommendation

The community biking challenge continues apace. The leader board is populated by the usual suspects Ritchie and Bonnie Doon with their bloated populations and beneficial demographics. Strathearn continues to hang in there with our small but mighty contingent of dedicated pedal heads. Let’s keep up the good work. This week’s cycling recommendation from the Strathearn A.V. Club is the magnificent The Triplets of Belleville. This spectacular animated film tells the heartbreaking story of Madame Souza who has to rescue her Tour De France bound grandson Champion from French Mafioso. From his earliest toodling around on his tricycle to the heights of bicycle racing, Champion and Madame Souza encounter some of the strangest most delightful characters ever rendered for the screen. This 2003 Canada/France/Belgium co-production is a delight for the whole family. The soundtrack alone is worth your time.

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Seeing as how we’re in the midst of a heated Community Bike Challenge this June, Strathearn A.V. Club is soliciting suggestions for favourite books, films, and songs about/for cycling. Recommend a tune you use to pump yourself up for a marathon ride or an inspirational film that makes you want to cruise the streets on two wheels (Hot take - unicyclists are for circuses. Come at me bro.) If you’re interested send suggestions and a couple reasons why to events@strathearncl.org or leave them here in the comments.

A.V. Club Recommendation

This week's Strathearn A.V. Club Testimonial is slightly different. Kim MacLock is a founding member of Rock 'n Roll Bookclub and her entertainment suggestion... Join Strathearn A.V. Club!  

As a member of the Strathearn A.V. club for the past couple of years, I’ve had a chance to participate in, witness, and benefit from community based arts engagement in action. 

From intimate live shows serving great local beer, to lively debates about the merits of books about music written by musicians vs. those written by writers, to the occasional evening strumming up the makings of a decent rendition of Jolene, there’s no shortage of good times to be had. 

To top it all off, you’re likely to be served delicacies such as chips and dip, bread sticks (or is that Beer Cheese?), and Cooky Puss cake.

The Strathearn AV club has something for anyone who loves books, music, movies and Rip-Ls. Come out and join us in continuing to grow this community gem. You’ll probably even make some friends!

Signed: a Bonnie Dooner who happily moonlights in Strathearn

Terri, Cam Penner, Kim, Jon WoodCam Penner and Jon Wood are inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Bookclub after a terrific performance at Strathearn Hall.

Terri, Cam Penner, Kim, Jon Wood

Cam Penner and Jon Wood are inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Bookclub after a terrific performance at Strathearn Hall.

A.V. Club Recommendation

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Pam Amulaku first heard about Rock’ n Roll Book Club via Strathearn Community League promotions and though she had never been in a book club before, she thought this might be a fun one to try. It must be the case, because she’s been an active clubber ever since!  Here are a few of Pam’s audiovisual indulgences of late:

READING: My friend lent me CKUA – Radio Worth Fighting For by Marylu Walters which I’ve just started (and promise to return eventually, Jen!) I’m so surprised I haven’t already read this book given my obsession with the station.

WATCHING: I must say I’m quite impressed by the Work-from-home efforts that Saturday Night Live and other late night comedy shows have gone to in these pandemic times, and I am also a sucker for sappy specials like the Parks and Recreation reunion that brought the whole gang [virtually] back together again in this time of crisis.

LISTENING:  Some artists I highly enjoy are making new music, yay! The new Ron Sexsmith album ‘Hermitage’ is extremely cheery and light, a welcome offset to reality nowadays. A bit heavier content but still on sweet side is Lianne La Havas, who floored me when she played live at the Starlite Room about five years ago… her first new album since then is coming out this summer with a few advance singles already released. Speaking of the Starlite (though the venue itself kind of annoys me) my last pre-Covid concert was also there: the amazing Jerry Cans, hailing all the way from Iqaluit. I’m so sad the Junos were cancelled because they were slated to perform in support of their new album ‘Echoes’ and I bet that would have been a sight to behold (thankfully we can still rewatch their 2018 Junos performance- look it up). On a related note, I’m also a fan of an animated short film that features a soundtrack by the Jerry Cans – check out ‘The Great Northern Candy Drop’ on CBC Gem.

A.V. Club Recommendation

Arlene Oak is a founding supporter of Strathearn A.V. Club (Rock 'n Roll Bookclub), Prince superfan and scholar. Here are some of her faves for pandemic Friday.

What am I listening to? At the moment, on a recommendation, After Hours by The Weeknd (not convinced), a bit of the new Childish Gambino, and like the rest of the planet, I've had a listen to Fiona Apple's latest ... parts of which, oddly, remind me of Viv Albertine's The Vermilion Border. 

Last week I listened to most of Questlove's 5 nights of Prince: night 1 was Covers and Samples; night 2 was The Hits; night 3 was Deep Cuts; night 4 was Live Stuff; and Night 5 was Slow Jams. Around 2000 tunes over 20 hours of funky grooves. Although I'm not a mega fan of Questlove, I was very happy. 

Most of them are still up on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVORvwxI6Ws

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usEsWO9aWAE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twbw6evLLtw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zvH715TJd4

What am I reading? Mostly stuff for work - lately rather a lot of student papers and chapters - but also, for a paper I've been writing, quite a few articles on rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Weird to read about that particular disaster in the context of the global one we are in now.

What am I watching? Some movies: My Name is Dolemite (Eddie Murphy, doing an enjoyable riff as Blaxploitation actor Rudy Ray Moore); The Two Popes; The Death of Stalin; and, in TV-land, on Netflix I am FINALLY (almost) up-to-date on The Crown, which is excellent - Claire Foy (Elizabet II before 1964) is amazing. As a series based on the life of QE II, it seems like it would be dull, but the way the lives of individuals in the Royal Family are interwoven with relatively recent UK-based, and international events is fascinating. 

Oh! and on PBS I'm watching Call the Midwife's latest series, which is followed by the new World War II drama-series, World on Fire ... cause like what's a Sunday night without a good cry?

A.V. Club Recommendation

Sarah Pennell is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and founding member of Strathearn A.V. Club (Jam Club, S.O.S Night). Jam Club is an amatuer, acoustic Jam night for anyone 18+ interested in learning new songs.

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READING: I’m late to the party on this one, but since a handful of my dear friends are in Strathearn’s Rock n’ Roll book club I’ve been wanting to read the Beastie Boys Book by Diamond and Horovitz. A nice, light read in these darker times.


VIEWING: Just plowed through After Life season 2 on Netflix. I’m a huge Ricky Gervais fan. Also, since I’m almost 9 months pregnant I’m watching a lot of ‘how to deal with an infant’ videos. Since I somehow missed that boat with my first child, I thought I would try it again for the first time with my second. Really loving ‘Takingcarababies’- srsly, if you’re pregnant, check out her instagram/fb!


LISTENING: After a long wait, I finally received my brand new clawhammer banjo in the mail- handmade in Asheville, North Carolina. If you’re in the market for an open back banjo, check it out! Truly beautiful craftsmanship. It’s inspired me to get back into listening to lots of old time fiddle tunes. Also, since I’ve got a lot of time on my hands these days, I’ve finally found time to dive into Sam Harris’ Waking Up App. If you haven’t yet been introduced to Sam Harris’ work, check him out. He’s got a great podcast, but also has this meditation app. Highly recommended!

Rock 'N Roll Book Club Reminiscences

Musicians who perform at Strathearn Community League functions become honorary members of Rock 'n Roll Book Club. As such they get to choose a take home title from the Strathearn A.V. Club Rock 'n Roll library.

Here Party Jacket show off their picks after a stellar performance at Green Shack Shaker 2019. If you're interested in which titles Rock 'n Roll Book Club has read email events@strathearncl.org. 

**Next meeting of Rock 'n Roll Book Club is Thurs. May 7, 7pm - Acid For The Children by Flea. We're doing Zoom. events@strathearncl.org if you want to join**

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A.V. Club Recommendation

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Founding supporter of Strathearn A.V. Club and community garden OG (Film Club, Rock 'n Roll Book Club) Carla Meyer:

BOOKS: I’ve really fallen off the wagon for fun times reading these days. It is springtime and nature seems to only care that there is increasing hours of sunlight so there’s seeds to plant and trees to prune and garden to plan. Consequently, I’ve been busily distracting myself with the trusty help of my personal gurus Lois Hole, Lee Reich and Babs Damrosch.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1153056.Lois_Hole_s_Perennial_Favorites

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7949779-the-pruning-book?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=KvNEdKgvMP&rank=1

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1074160.The_Garden_Primer?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=xWCZOZt9ET&rank=1

VIEWING: On the boobtube, I dove headlong into a rabbit hole featuring dog whisperer Cesar Milan, Farrier Alex Ridgeway and his devotion to Formahoof TM and despite not generally being a big appreciator of sports, I am wholeheartedly #TeamHazer for this Marbula One season and eagerly anticipating the kickoff of the summer 2020 Marblympics.

https://youtu.be/BIbdFmr3w_A

https://youtu.be/55iTYdRDG4s

MUSIC and LISTENING: On the listening front, I’m feeling closer than ever to my DJ pals at CKUA and while I’m finding it tough to really align with a podcast that delivers interesting content in a way that doesn’t annoy me, I have been falling back on This American Life and 99% Invisible and the excellent Cocaine & Rhinestones.