by Dan Rubinstein
After unlimited's launch party in Calgary in mid-September, I was walking along a downtown avenue with my wife and a friend when we passed a street-level entrance to a basement bar. Three guys dressed mostly in black stood on the stoop smoking cigarettes. Despite the fact that we were wearing shiny shoes and dressed somewhat formally – a rare occurrence for me, I made sure to explain – they tried to convince us to pay $6 apiece and go downstairs for the show. The Refuse and Resist Tour was in town, and everybody was welcome. Two hardcore punk acts from Ontario were headlining, Nikki's Trick and Skull Device, the latter featuring a lead guitarist named Patrick Hart, an AWOL American solider who slipped across the border into Canada rather than ship out to Iraq. A local band called Starve The Artist was also on the bill.
After a 15-minute chat about American foreign policy and the impact of oil money on indie artists, things got personal. I happened to be holding a copy of unlimited and told them about the magazine and its mandate. One of the men, Starve The Artist's lead singer and guitarist, said his day job was in advertising; his life oscillates between boardrooms and underground punk gigs. And then the biggest of the three lads – he'd been standing silently the whole time, arms folded across his chest; I thought he was the bouncer – joined the conversation. "I own two small businesses," he said matter-of-factly, describing the events and promotions company he runs, and the extravagances and luxuries he's exposed to in that line of work. The extravagances that pay his bills, the economy that, in a sense, fuels shows such as the Refuse and Resist Tour.
We declined their invitation to head downstairs (we were in the mood for a quiet conversation, which could have been a tad difficult with a band named Skull Device on stage). Yet our exchange on the stoop resonated. For days. It reinforced – to me, anyway – the role of a magazine like unlimited. So many of us wear two or more hats (our day job vs. our moonlighting, one part-time job vs. another) and we're searching for ways to bring the spheres of our lives together. Or at least a way to reconcile our shape-shifting. To understand it, and to help others understand it. The time-tested moral of this story? Don't turn your nose up at that punk on the corner; she could have a university degree or two, and she might even own a business (or two). Or – gasp! – she could be an accountant.
Brian Boulanger, who's on the cover of this issue, illustrates this duality. By day, he's a corporate vice-president, closing multi-million-dollar deals in Calgary's financial core. In the evenings, and on the weekend, when not with his four young children, he volunteers, spending hour upon hour using his skills and contacts to help make life a little better for some of the less fortunate people caught in his hometown's staggering growth. Boulanger, 32, is the incoming chair of the Calgary United Way, the youngest in the organization's history. The theme of this issue is "giving," so it made sense to put him on the cover (just as it makes sense to mention the Refuse and Resist Tour, for it too is an example of giving). In his cover story, National Magazine Award-winning writer Chris Koentges explores how the two versions of downtown Calgary that Boulanger straddles might somehow fit together.
We wanted to approach "giving" from a variety of perspectives. That's why Lisa Gregoire's feature about a restaurateur in Edmonton fits the package (her holistic approach gives back to her community). And it's why a window into Russell McCaw's work as an industrial construction safety coordinator fits, too. Like so many Albertans, McCaw is givin'er. He works hard, makes money, and wants to do something meaningful with his life.
We want to do something meaningful with unlimited. Which is why, with two issues out the door, we've decided to start a reader advisory panel. In our ongoing quest for feedback, story suggestions and blue-sky thinking about the challenges and opportunities which define Alberta – our quest to make a magazine that addresses big questions head-on, in an engaging manner – we need to talk to you. So please send me a note, tell me who you are, what you're interested in, attach a resume if you want, and in the weeks ahead we'll select a group and figure out how best to coordinate conversations and solicit your input.
Magazines, at their best, are about establishing a community. About giving something back to the people we're trying to reach.
Dan Rubinstein
THE TRANSFORMATION ISSUE: coming up in January/February 2008
_The trade winds of change
_Pizza cowboy spills the beans
_Changing my religion (by starting my own church)
_Triumph of the video-game geek
+ Your letters! Tell us what we did right, wrong and what else we should be writing about; e-mail me at drubinstein@unlimitedmagazine.com
Category: Articles, Uncategorized
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