CJSR turns 25, and hopes this year's FunDrive is as monumental

88.5 CJSR's annual FunDrive is off to a successful start last Wednesday, which many volunteers and staff believe is due to the major changes seen over the past year.

Edmonton's only independent radio station kicked off their fundraiser on September 23, with key amendments put in place Lesley Vaage and Desiree Schell, the Fun Drive coordinators, after a rather unsuccessful event last year.

"We didn't reach our financial goal last year, which is always disappointing," Schell said. "Volunteerism was low because of issues with the station, and then you have the economy."

So with 2008 being a tough year for most charities, Vaage and Schell arranged for a drastic overhaul to structure the event to be more fruitful. Schell has arranged for bigger and better giveaways and swag to be ready for the donating public, as well as making sure all the volunteers have an assignment.

"Everything is a lot more structured. Everyone is more organized this year," Schell said. "If you can put more structures in place before the event, you can be more flexible during the event. Something will bite you in the ass, you don't know what, but something will. Being more flexible can help that out a lot."

Even many of the other volunteers can see the new changes and excitement around the radio station, including "25 to Life" hosts Aaron Levin and Andrew Keenan, who are participating in their fourth Fun Drive.

"This FunDrive, volunteers have come to the forefront. I wish we had this much volunteer support year round," Levin said. "It seems everyone is coming out of the wood work and stepping up to the plate."

The great start to the fundraiser is extremely important, because financially speaking, the station couldn't stand another poor year.

"We would be able to keep going, but at a drastically reduced level," Schell said. "I hate to say it, but less staff cost less money, and that means more work for everyone."

But with the continued growth of corporate broadcasting, Edmonton needs an independent station like CJSR to be working at full capacity, rather than a "reduced level." Volunteers like Keenan believe that the community needs an independent voice, for an alternative view.

"Aaron and I need a public forum. It's important for people like us to have a creative outlet and voice. It's really nice to have a space to be this creative," Keenan said.

Both Keenan and Levin feel very strongly about the role of CJSR in society, both stating that the station’s unique option has become a part of Edmonton after 25 years on the air.

"Every city needs an organization that can act as a counter cultural epicenter that brings people together on the measures of society," Levin said. "CJSR is the best for that."

The FunDrive runs from September 23 to October 3 and as of Sunday night, have raised nearly $48 500.

*** AND LISTEN TO YOURS TRULY ON AIR, THIS WEDNESDAY AT 9AM. MAKE SURE TO CALL 780-492-CJSR TO DONATE AT THAT TIME AS WELL***

Edmonton and Fashion go hand-in-hand

Many volunteers and participants in Edmonton Fashion Week are pleased with the event this past week in our city.

Most helpers and designers seemed impressed with the improvement of the event that took place from April 2 to 9 at the Transalta Arts Barn on 10330-84 Ave.

Fiona Fung, a participant in the Emerging Designers Contest and a volunteer was extremely satisfied this year.

“They definitely didn’t have as much funding, but they stepped it up from last year with more shows, with over 2000 people attending,” she said.

Fung believes that all the positives came out of how organized and professional the event planners were, and how they used their volunteers.

“They were really organized and creative this year, “ Fung said. “They found their new home at the Transalta Arts Barn on Whyte, which is a plus because in previous years, they have been floating around venues.”

Maggie Chan, a first time volunteer, said she found out about the event quite easily and had lots of work to do once she got there.

“I like fashion, and I found out about the event by just searching the Internet,” Chan said. “I helped out in front of the event with info, passing out pamphlets or raffle tickets. I also helped photographers in the back take pictures of collections and models.”

All though she had tremendous amounts of work to do, Chan didn’t feel stressed out or displeased with giving up so much of her time. She even hopes to take on more work at the next Fashion Week.

“I do plan to get involved next year, but I hope to do a larger role though, like help plan the actual event,” Chan said.

The volunteers don’t walk away empty handed though. The experience they get will help them greatly down the road, especially with Fung.

“I’m interning as a production assistant for Zac Posen in New York this summer,” she said. “They will be preparing for their Spring 2010 Collection and Edmonton Fashion Week really helped me understand the whole fashion industry and people in the community.”

Edmonton Fashion Week will be expected to elevate themselves again this Fall, as they set up the runway again from September 17 to 24.

Kweli does Edmonton

Talib Kweli showed Edmonton why he's one of rap's best lyricists last Friday at the Edmonton Events Center.

The 38-year-old Brooklyn native made a rare Edmonton stop on March 20th at the rather large venue in West Edmonton Mall.

Fans of Kweli had rather mixed feelings on the event. Although he finally added this city to his solo tour stop, he was only on stage for less than an hour. The crowd seemed confused when the stage cleared out as soon as it did, and left everyone feeling disgruntled because of how abruptly it ended.

But while on stage, he was quick to give the fans a taste of Brooklyn. Flawlessly performing tracks from albums ranging from Ear Drum to back to his Blackstar and Reflection Eternal days, Kweli gave a full Ed's what they wanted...a little "quality" music.

Many highlights of the night included Kweli's stage antics, as well as a great show put on by the city's Urban Metropolis.

Halfway through the show, Kweli told the security guards to back off and allow all the "b-boys and b-girls" to get on stage and dance with him. Before security could realize what had happened, three young men, with plenty of break dancing talent, were on stage. Edmonton fans are quick to let you know if they are displeased, as seen during any Oilers losing streak, but the fans in the crowd wildly applauded as these amateur dancers put on quite an impromptu show.

And an unusual surprise from Urban Metropolis was a great DJ show put on in between artists. More than your usual Saturday night club mix of the same old and mundane Top 40 music, DJ Kwake took the crowd on a vivd tour of classic hip hop tracks , and had the audience questioning "what ever happened to rap?" Spinning immortal hits from Method Man & Redman, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, The Notorious BIG and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, the in between artist show greatly outshone the sub par opening acts.

Urban Metropolis was also proud to announce that they would be bringing Chicago based rapper Common to our city at an unconfirmed date. That's right, everyone's second favorite rapper from the City of Wind is on his way here.

So even though the show was extremely short, Talib Kweli still rocked the venue to the best of his unique ability. The fans of Edmonton came out and supported a great artist who deserved the praise he recieved while on stage. But as a few members of the crowd complain about the short lived hour, we should remember what he's all about: quality over quantity.