August and Russell Cobb eating tiramisu in the Painter House, part of the Leighton Artists’ Colony at the Banff Centre. Once owned by Glen Sather, former player and coach of the Edmonton Oilers, the Painter was transplanted from Buffalo Street, in the town of Banff, to the colony a few years ago. Russell, a transplant from Oklahoma, teaches Latin American studies at the University of Alberta, and has been working on a piece of non-fiction at the Banff Centre. His amazing story, Heretics, about a preacher in Tulsa who became the subject of controversy within the church when he rejected the notion of Hell, appeared on This American Life in 2005. It is hard to know who likes tiramisu better—Russell or his four-year-old son August. Like many people, August enjoys dancing to the Daft Punk tune Get Lucky; unlike many of his fellow enthusiasts, both adult and pre-school, August can pull it off.
Nicholas Köhler 