The Other Side of Nowhere
Dateline: 08/09/99
The Other Side of Nowhere is a controverial new talk show on CJSR FM88, the radio station at the University of Alberta. Hosted by Rob Klebanov and Greg Toope, and produced by Sabrina "CJ" Poon, every other Sunday morning from 3:00 am to 6:00 am they take on various topics like love, sex, music, and social issues, give their own unique opinions, and open the airwaves to listeners across the city. I recently asked the crew some questions about their show and its format, and collectively they answered with enthusiasm and ambition.
Paula: How long have you been doing the show and what made you decide to get started with it?
The Other Side of Nowhere: We’ve been around since November of 1998 and are now in our 10th month on the air. We started out as an idea almost exactly one year before we ever made it onto the air, but we’re still going strong. Initially we started as two hosts (Rob and Joe), but Joe has gone on to pursue other interests. If you want cutting edge entertainment and never knowing what happens next, then tune in to us.
Paula: What topics have you covered so far, and which ones have had the most audience reaction?
TOSON: Not to take up too much of your readers time we’ll only limit ourselves to listing 5 of our previous topics. They are:
1) Modern Love
2) Personal Appearance
3) Sexual Fetishes
4) One Hit Wonders
5) Internet Romance
All of the above seem to have garnered a lot of interest and generally kept us hopping. It’s truly amazing the response we get at that late an hour. Mind you -- we are the Other Side of Nowhere.
Paula: What are some future topics you plan on doing?
TOSON: Once more, not to bog you down with our wacky ideas we’ll just list off five of our potential topics.
1) Exotic Dance Industry
2) Tribute to the Horror Movie Genre (to coincide with Halloween)
3) Most interesting professions
4) First date (recording and analyzing someone’s first date)
5) What is Love?(to coincide with St. Valentine’s Day)
Paula: How can people suggest topics to you or get involved with the show?
TOSON: We love audience involvement and participation. We’re ultimately here for our listeners. We greatly appreciate topic ideas, suggestions or any other form of participation. We can be reached at any time at our e-mail address nowhere@poweris.com and during our show at 780-492-CJSR (2577) to actually come on the air and comment.
Paula: What are your goals in terms of the future of your show?
TOSON: Our goals include getting a larger audience, we have a great show and want to share it with the world. We are going to be going on to Real Audio so those outside our broadcast range will still be able to catch us. We hope to move CKUA some day if they’d have us and eventually enter the wonderful world of syndication. We all can dream can’t we?
Tea for Two?
From big commercial chains to individual cafés, Edmonton's supply of coffee houses has mushroomed in the last few years. Coffee shops are great places to hang out casually, and it is much cheaper (and safer!) to go coffee shop hopping rather than to bars.
But where does this leave the lone non-coffee drinker? The person who dislikes any or all of the smell, taste, or caffeine of those Columbian beans?
Now there is a place just for tea lovers, a place with the artsy ambience of the coffee shop -- without the coffee. Steeps: The Urban Tea House opened up this spring at 12411 Stony Plain Road. Located near the art gallery walk on Jasper Avenue, Steeps offers a huge selection of hot and iced teas, with new selections coming in daily. All teas at Steeps are brewed fresh from the leaves, without tea bags which end up filtering flavor out of the tea. You can "sniff" teas before buying from the wooden drawers in the back, and there is a selection of fresh desserts daily. I recommend the carrot cake. Price wise, a pot of hot tea won't set you back more than the average cup of gourmet coffee, and a glass of iced tea costs even less.
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