Update from Station Manager Chad Saunders

Well friends, here is the latest news on the flood of 2008 (not to be confused with the flood of 2001 or the orange syrup goo incident of 1996 or the kitchen grease-fest of 1990-something).

The cleanup of the CDs went very well. Everyone from CJSW staff and volunteers and random University of Calgary students passing by to the good folks listening to the radio and accepting our plea for assistance, came to the rescue. Their quick efforts helped save our library from being lost. Thank you all very much for your help. I also want to thank the University of Calgary and the Students' Union for their quick efforts in grabbing our computers and taking them to higher and drier ground.

The tally of what was lost is still being assessed by our dedicated volunteer librarian Devin. Most of the collection is back in the library and measures have been taken to deflect potentially future floods into the middle of the aisles in the library. Our pal local musician Matt Masters brought Jeff and Tynan to play some tunes for everyone helping to reassemble and put the CDs back in the library. Good times had by all!

We are meeting up with our insurance broker to figure out what our next steps are to replace the CDs and other equipment and such that was damaged by the flood. We are hoping to get the carpet ripped out of the offices and to do something about the strange gooey stains on the ceiling over the next few days.

In the long term, CJSW is working with our project manager to obtain a building permit to begin construction on the new space. Requests for tenders are scheduled to go out in January. If we can afford the total cost of the construction, we will start as soon as possible. The main objective for the past five years has been to move CJSW out of this space for reasons that have become clear. We will keep you all posted as best we can over the next few months on these developments.

Again - thank you all for your support over the past week. We all truly appreciate it.

Chad Saunders, CJSW Station Manager


Santa Red is your colour, buddy! The lovely and festive Matt Masters (L) & his rock'n' roll elves.

Soaked! CJSW gets hit by a messy, gooey flood.

On Monday afternoon, an enormous water pipe burst at the UofC's MacEwan Hall. Unfortunately, the pipe burst in the same area as the CJSW offices and studios and nearly every part of the station was flooded. Thankfully, the on-air booth was spared and no one was hurt.

While the burst pipe reportedly did not contain sewage water, by the time the leaked water spread throughout the aged ceiling, filthy water and other dislodged goo (leftover from previous mishaps in the building) were seeping through the ceiling. This filthy mixture rained on our library, offices, production room, engineering room, as well as all the people working in these spaces.

Thanks to our quick thinking staff and volunteers, plastic bags were quickly thrown on top of valuable equipment to protect them from the water and questionable gunk coming through the ceiling.

Unfortunately, massive damage has been incurred to nearly every work area at CJSW as well as a vertical section of the library and its contents. The carpet and parts of the ceiling are ruined. A section of the infamously well-stocked CJSW library will never be the same again. At this point in time, it is estimated that 4000 CDs have been soiled. Approximately 350 CDs are irreparably damaged and will have to be replaced.

Staff and volunteers are working around the clock to sanitize and reorganize the offices and library. Dehumidifiers and industrial strength fans have been placed throughout the station. Thousands of CDs and their soggy paper contents have been carefully spread out in the studio to air out and dry.

Friends, it is business as usual at CJSW. Despite the magnitude of the flood, CJSW is proud to have been able to continue our top-notch programming without any interruption whatsoever.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to dear listeners like Jordy, who heard about the flood and drove straight to the station with a shop vacuum and dozens of paper towel rolls in his arms. We thank him and many other generous Calgarians who instantly dropped what they were doing to come to our assistance. We cherish your affectionate support of CJSW. The love is mutual.

xoxo,
Your pals at CJSW

Volunteers quickly repairing damaged library items in the studio (above) while the lower level of MacEwan Hall is closed for clean-up (below).

Local filmmaker presents Rock Paper Scissors on Saturday night!

On Saturday, November 15th, Rock Paper Scissors: A Geek Tragedy screens at the Plaza at 9pm. Made by Calgary-based filmmaker Mike McKeown, Rock Paper Scissors is about how "the Walker brothers wanted to turn a child's game into a lucrative competitive sport, but when Rock Paper Scissors fanatics converge on the world championships, they find themselves caught between two sports networks, big business, talk show pundits, playmate mascots, and a battle of good versus evil that asks whether pure intentions can ever beat commercialism." The film will be followed by the first ever Rock Paper Scissors Cowtown Classic Pro-Am Tournament! It's a sanctioned RPS tournament with World RPS Society officials on hand. For more information, head over to www.rpsfilm.com. Happy weekend, Calgary!

Found Footage Festival reveals latest treasures to Calgary

On Thursday, November 13th and Friday, November 14th at 7pm, Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett will be screening their hilarious Found Footage Festival at the Plaza Theatre. The duo has compiled over an hour's worth of footage from videos found at garage sales, thrift sales, warehouses and dumpsters. Tune in to My Allergy to the Fans on Friday (2-4pm) to hear Chad talk with Nick & Joe about this year's goodies.

The Found Footage Festival was founded in New York in 2004 and has gone on to sell out hundreds of shows across North America. Both curators will be in attendance tonight and Friday night. Tickets are $15 or $12 for students.

For more information, go to www.foundfootagefest.com and http://calgaryundergroundfilm.org. Keep listening to CJSW for your chance to attend for free!

Together, we did it! CJSW loves you, Calgary!

...And the ladies love Jett Thunders

To celebrate another completely successful Funding Drive, rock'n'roll fans in Halloween costumes flocked to CJSW's Monster Mash Bash '08 at the Liberty Lounge. Two of Calgary's best rock bands performed -- Rotoflex recording artists, The Von Zippers, and four little ghosties called The Ex-Boyfriends. The Cobra 90.9 FM's Jett Thunders (not in costume... I repeat, not in costume) was circulating throughout the crowd to high-five attendees who pledged during this year's funding drive and to try to get their mom's phone number. Hope your mom has call display. Or a thing for vintage Van Halen. We love you, Jett!

The Von Zippers

The Von Zippers

The Ex-Boyfriends

The Ex-Boyfriends

Congratulations to our endlessly dedicated CJSW staff and extremely enthusiastic crew of volunteers for working around the clock to bring a funding drive to life. Disc jockeys spent countless hours thoughtfully assembling prize packs and libraries of mix discs to pass on to our dear CJSW listenership for their generous pledges. Other tireless volunteers repeatedly came in for overnight shifts and still made it to their full-time jobs or school day. The level of teamwork was inspiring, can't wait for Funding Drive '09!

To our beloved community -- THANK-YOU! Please hold onto something sturdy, it's going to be an amazing broadcasting year.

Prom Dates

Prom Dates
Originally uploaded by jaclin32

Look at what we dug up! This horrible photo at A Prom Night to Dismember
Thanks to the Marquee Room at the Uptown Theatre for putting on a fantastic blast from the past to haunt our memories to come.

Live Drive Excitement!

Uptown Stage and Screen, originally uploaded by Gunn ♪.

I've checked out a few live drive events so far.
General consensus:
- Stephen Malkmus (with Blitzen Trapper) was sweet
- Army of Darkness drew a huge crowd of cult movie (and beer) fanatics
- Chad Vangaalen's show was PACKED with psychedelic folk (music and people)
- Purple Rain had the a small, but extremely dedicated crowd. Lots of laughs and frenetic Prince dancing.

Dig the last few events while the 2008 Funding Drive lasts!

Have you called 403-220-5000 yet?

We're halfway home, folks, and we broke $100,000 this morning. Our heartfelt thanks to those of you who have pledged. For those of you who have yet to pledge, please think about dialing in your support sooner than later. Sizes and swag are going fast!

Love, your pals at CJSW... including the one and only, Nat Kaos.