Calgary in the Future

Skyline in 2012.

Calgary in Photos Today

Calgary in 2007

Calgary in Photos

Calgary in 1969

The end is near

In March of 2007, I started this blog..to talk about my experiences moving from Waterloo, Ontario to Calgary, Alberta. It took time to get to know this city..and indeed, it's got it's issues. I love this place, I had a great time out here, even if at times, the costs blow you mind

I found this on Youtube..it dates back to the early 80s in the last oil boom. The skyline 25 years ago was somewhat lacking compared to today..and the city looks so small. It's grown..and for the better.

Hello Calgary...you know that we love you.

Ducky's Pub Part 2

We arrived at Ducky's Pub, 4th and 21st in the Mission. Ducky's is in a small plaza next to the Great Canadian Diner.

When you walk up to Ducky's you're greeted by a pub with iron bars over the windows..and security along with 20 or so smokers out front. To the average passerby it probably looks like a dump.

Ducky's is a unique place. I've eaten there and I think they have 4 things on the menu. It's not a place you take the family for dinner. Ducky's has a clientele that's ..... well everyone that's not at the martini bar up the street. 50 year old guys talking about work...to pink haired glam rocker chicks..to girls having a night out...etc. In short, anyone goes there. The tables resemble the ones in cheap cafes you'd find in a truck stop. The decor..is a few very large TV's, tables, and a pool table with some VLT's.

But Ducky's..is a breath of fresh air in Calgary. It's a place where people go..to have fun. It's not pretentious...it's a place where you can be you. I was in the bathroom going pee & a female walked in to talk to the guy she was with. She..was trashed but saw me pissing and said "is it OK?". I replied, sure. I didn't attempt to walk in the female washroom..;-)

Ducky's is home to karaoke 7 days a week. It is...THE most bizarre place. The choice of music ranges right across the map..and it gets more amusing when the dance floor actually fills up with dancers, dancing to poorly sung Akon songs. The clientele of the bar (should I use that word) have a wide variety of musical tastes...I watched one table rock out to BackStreet Boys..then to Ozzy..then to Black Eyed Peas. The singing..is...terrible, but that doesn't seem to matter.

I don't know about the future of Ducky's pub. I had heard the plaza was going to be razed to put in more swank condo's, but I suspect with the market cooling off, this won't happen. All I can say is GOOD..because a neighborhood needs more than rich art stores and martini bars.

If you like karaoke, if you like dancing to karaoke, or perhaps you're just sick of the rest of the club scene in Calgary...try Ducky's. And if you smoke, you'll probably leave with some new friends. It's a pretty social place, no one seems to take offense to anyone & I've never seen any type of problems at the pub.

Five Stars for Ducky's, in a sick, twisted..but GOOD way. Beer runs about 7 bucks.

Ducky's Pub

Calgary is a place where many of the "dive" pubs have closed down or had their leases nuked..and been replaced by upscale night clubs. My neighborhood is full of them.

Saturday, I headed with a bud looking for some place to go. Our first stop in Mission was OJ's, which was packed full. Not a seat in the house as the hockey game was on. We headed up the street, second stop was Wyldwood. Someone had rented out the entire place for...a party. So..we headed toward downtown again and hit Joyce. It too, packed full. Unlike back East, pubs here FILL up early.

We jumped on the bus and headed downtown to Stephen Ave, then over to Palomino. I've written about this place before, but it's always cool. It's a dive bar, has great meat & that night had some crasy dancer in the downstairs area. Palo..is cool, it's busy, but not too busy and has a great cowboy breakfast. It's got interesting entertainment going on..from live rock music to..pretty much anything. The bathrooms also encourage you to write messages on the wall. Only problem is, it's on 7th Ave, the ;hood in Calgary.

Afterward, headed out to Stephen Ave..home of the "martini" club & a sort of place you go to dress up, look good and look at each other. Bleh.

So we caught a cab...

Food

One bone I have to pick with living in Calgary is the high cost of food. Every time I go to the grocery store, I feel like I've been mugged, especially by Safeway & CO OP. The prices on things can be outrageous at times, things like cereal & fresh fruit are at least twice the price that they are in other parts of Canada. This seems to be a Calgary thing...because in Edmonton, I find prices are far more reasonable. This could be because Edmonton has better choices for food stores & just more competition overall. As time passes and you live out here, you become conditioned to paying 7 bucks for a box of bran flakes or 3 dollars for a red pepper. Or the 3 dollar loaf of bread. Who needs those carbs anyways?

Eating out isn't much better. Typically now, lunch is going to run you 10 bucks, maybe 12 in some places. The pub up the street from my house has their Burger & Fries (sit down Irish Pub) for nearly 14 dollars. With a couple of beers at 7 bucks a pop, an evening out in Calgary pushes 60 bucks.

The better way to save your money is to sign up online to have the grocery stores send you whats on sale to your inbox. One thing about Calgary is that there is definitely a Safeway in your neighborhood, and most likely a CO OP, so going store to store isn't a big deal. Superstore (Loblaws) on the other hand is different..it's a evening long adventure in hell. I've grown to appreciate smaller grocery stores that make getting in and out quickly...part of the package.

I sometimes wonder how a family of 5 lives out here with both parents working. Their food bill must push 1000 bucks a month easily. And that doesn't include eating out.

The Great Canadian Diner in Mission

Another gem in the Mission is the Great Canadian Diner..in the old plaza near Ducky's pub at 4th and 21st. May's is owned by what appears to be an Asian family and open 6 days a week...from 7 AM to 4 PM. It's a classic diner...in every sense..including the fact it doesn't take debit. That annoys the hell out of me..but such is life I guess.

Nearly the entire menu which is mostly typical Canadian breakfast fare & some Chinese food for lunch is under 10 bucks. That sounds like alot..but in Calgary, anything under 10 bucks is a deal. I had Steak Breakfast which was about 9 bucks with a couple of cups of coffee. The food is good & the service is fast. Besides, where can you get a steak for less than 10 bucks for breakfast ?

I've heard a rumour that the landlord of the building isn't renewing leasing...leaving me to fear that perhaps that building is doomed to be dozed and rebuild as more high end condo's. With the declining real estate market..perhaps plans will be put on hold. Across the street, they're working on a new commercial/residential building between 21st and 20th Ave..and it will no doubt be expensive.

The Purple Perk

I've written about this place prior..but I have to again. I live in Mission, a neighborhood where 4th Street is the spin. It's an area that's sadly going through gentrification to a more "upscale" community. As if we don't have enough of that in Calgary.

The Perk..as it's called by locals..was formerly known as Beans to locals that have been here a while. It's an indie coffee house that sells all things java related, but also has some great food. My personal favourite is the Cuban Sandwich..and I'd love to make it at home but I still haven't taken the time to learn how to make pulled pork.

The Perk is just cool. In a city that's all about being "upscale" the Perk is a refreshing place where anyone can go. It's clientele is a mix of everyone..from the hipsters surfing on their Mac's..to seniors having a chat & to future punk revolutionaries planning their next protest against the oil sands. It also has unique music playing..satellite radio with whatever the guy working seems to want to listen too. The Perk has it's own patio, which is the sidewalk of 4th Street and is usually populated by people that stop in for a cafe..presumably on their way to work in the core. They've also got a daily saying out front on a sign, and the door reads something like "No Anarchists or Crybabies over the age of 18"

It's a kick ass place..and it's the kind of place you can go to just sit alone and not feel like an idiot

Bob the Fish

Bob the Fish is a pub at the corner of 17th Ave and 4th Street SW. It's a semi frequent haunt of mine because it's close to my condo & because it has cheap wings on Wednesday.

I was in there on a Wednesday pouring back some Big Rock with a buddy and checked out their new menu. The prices..are unreal. French fries for 5.99. Onion Rings were 7.99, Poutine was 10.99 and Nachos..were 18.99.

Now even in a city with overinflated prices & high salaries, it gets a bit tough to justify paying 6 bucks for French Fries. Think about it...you and your buddy go out for Nacho's, a plate each and you're at 40 bucks...before you even drink. I would expect really high prices at places like Living Room or BLVD..but not at a sit down plain old fashioned pub.

The pub is...just a pub. Nothing special about it, tho it has a nice view of the street corner at 17th and 4th which is the heart of "go out and have fun land"..or maybe I should say the beginning of it. I can't fathom why they increased the costs so much..but needless to say, I won't be going there for food anytime soon except on cheap-o night.

Calgary is a city known for it's large vehicles & is the home of the SUV. While some will say the SUV is the root of all evil, I must disagree. The root of all evil is the driver of the high end BMW/MERCEDES/LEXUS SUV.

I'm not sure what driving school that these people went to, but they apparently missed the class on "where you can park and where you can't park". Parking your 100K overpriced showpiece in the alley or in a lane of traffic while you're going to get a coffee just isn't cool. Nor is taking up 2 parking spots for fear of getting your car scratched. When I was growing up in the West side of Toronto, doing this ensured someone keyed your car. Some call it vandalism, I call it peer pressure.


And I don't really understand the point of these SUV's. I used to drive a Jeep. It had big tires and on weekends I'd drive 1000 kms into the north, then go down some logging road for 3 hours to go mountain biking. The idea of having a 4x4 that was tough enough to go off road made sense. It also made sense for the locals in small bush towns where it snowed 440cms a year.

But it seems to defy logic that you need your BMW 9 Series 4x4 in an urban city. It's not like your taking it off road because you might "scratch it". And you're claim about needing it in the "snow"? This is as un-Canadian and gay (with all respects to LGBT community) as having a hockey puck that glows on the TV screen. It's Canada for fuck sakes, learn to drive in the snow. We used to use back wheel drive Chevy Impala's and we still managed to get to Grandpa's house for Christmas. And before that we walked everywhere anyways.

The Election

I'm a sort of an apolitical person..which in lay people terms means I think they're all a bunch of idiots. Canada's a fucked up place when you realize that the most "honest sounding" politician is Gilles Duceppe & the mandate of the guy is to create his own country.

When Harper called this election, I suspected he did so because he thought he might eek out a majority, albeit a small majority. His competition is pretty weak...Dion is too academic & Layton is just the usual shrill annoying Layton. The Green Party..for all they do..is more a movement than a political party.

This campaign has been a train wreck for Harper. People used to criticize the guy for "muzzling" his party members, but now we why. Because he HAD to...because apparently some of them don't have the sense to shut up. My own riding is Calgary Centre and our MP is Lee Richardson. He recently stated in FFWD Weekly that the bad people weren't the ones that grew up next door (implying foreigners/immigrants were bad).

It's interesting how attitudes like this always group "cultures" together. If a Chinese guy is caught in a gang, then the usual cry erupts that "we shouldn't allow these people here" and "why doesn't his community speak out against this bad person'. And this thought process exists...for every culture expect 1 culture. White people. I'm a white guy, and when another white guy does something bad, does he reflect who I am? No. And I'm not expected to "speak out" against "white people" when they do something wrong. The Chinese community is supposed to speak out against the few members of it's culture that are in Asian gangs...but I don't see white culture speaking out the few white people that are pedophiles.

The world is full of different cultures. This is a good thing...and it's even better when they open up a cheap restuarant in my 'hood and I can eat there ;-)

But let's be clear, Lee Richardson needs to realize immigrants aren't the problem. Assholes are. There are two kinds of people. Good people and assholes....and to quote Chris Rock "The Assholes have Got to GO"

Hobbema

So I finally get around to talking about this....

So, heading out of Red Deer, one drives into the town of Hobbema. It's apparently the most violent area in Canada due to rival gangs that are at war. The town is tiny, consists of a few building that are bordered up and some businesses. Other than that, there isn't much to see.

It's around this area that the landscape of the prairie begin to change and it becomes more rolling with trees.

Mission - Cliff Bungalow

Snapshot of housing sales in my area in the past 6 months.

House - 1580 sq feet with average price of 706,000 dollars

Townhouse - 1858 sq feet with average price of 683,000

Condo - 765 sq feet with average price of 309,000.

Red Deer

This is one of the many trips I've made to this town. It's about 100,000 people, situated exactly between Calgary and Edmonton, so it makes for a good stop to go pee. There is an area known as "Gasoline Alley" which houses a bunch of restaurants, hotels and...of all things, a Harley Dealership. The better places to eat are on the south bound side of the highway. Usual fast food right through to sit down and eat food places.

Red Deer starts in the south with a massive block of chain stores, typical of most cities in Canada. It's a fairly large place & home to alot of people driving large trucks. I went through what I assume was downtown & it's not a terrible place. There is a college in Red Deer which seemed fairly large and the rumour is it's a city full of available women (the guys are all off working on the rigs).

At Red Deer, you start to notice the landscape of Alberta begins to change. The prairie ends & you get into rolling country side with way more trees. It's actually nice to see trees again, I like the open prairie, but it's a rather dull drive. Around Red Deer is where you stop being able to see the mountains. Red Deer seems to be the butt of jokes but I didn't notice anything unusual nor hear any wild banjo playing. Perhaps I've become accustomed to the western lifestyle (like how I don't think it's unusual to wear a cowboy hat to a mall....tho I would have thought that was insanity in Ontario).


Leaving Red Deer for Lacombe, Ponoka and a place called Hobbema

Carstairs - Olds - Bowden - Innisfail

The first small town I stopped in was Carstairs. To start with, it has it's own pirate radio station at 88.5 FM playing the best in modern & hick country music. I've no idea where the signal comes from, but it covers about 3 kms and was powerful enough to walk over my sat radio (and I have the old kind the FCC don't like). The downtown looks much like a 'western" town. A very wide main street with buildings that are very far apart. A few of the buildings are boarded up, the rest are populated by small independent businesses. I stopped to eat there in a bar at the edge of town. It's much like what you'd see in a country music video, the boys out for a beer after work & the waitress talking about her pregnancy with the customers. It was clear everyone knew everyone & they probably wondered WTF I was doing there. While in there, I heard a song called "International Harvestor"...a country song about a 3rd generation farmer that likes driving his combine on the highway very slowly to piss off the city people. I have to admit, I found the song amusing and it's at least genuine. The rest of the town is a couple of hundred new houses, presumably populated by people who live there & drive to Calgary to work (it's about 65 kms).

Olds

Olds is a small city much like Carstairs. The one thing that differentiates it is that it has a college (Olds College). The grounds look pretty nice & the building seemed nice, but I found it odd there wasn't any "scene" around the school. Perhaps I've grown up in cities for too long, but I'm not sure I'd want to attend post secondary education in such a rural place.

Innisfail

Not much to report here. I took 2A through this town which was a mind numbing mistake as it becomes a gravel sideroad for a while due to construction. It's like most Alberta towns, it has a few businesses and a CO OP. A CO OP is a grocery chain in the West that is locally owned and broken down into regions. You buy into the store & then at the end of the fiscal year, they calculate how much you spent and send a cheque back to you. I'm presuming it was Alberta's method of supporting it's "own". The one in Calgary I shop at is called the Midtown Market & it's really nice. I also buy all my gas there too, so I get 10 cents back at the end of the year (per litre).

Edmonton Bound

This weekend I went to Alberta's capital city. The locals call it "E Town" or "Edmonchuk". People in the east seem to believe it's the western cousin of Buffalo, NY. So now I shall bore you with my trip there & what I thought of the city

I decided to take Highway 2A rather than take Highway 2, just for the sake of doing something different. Plus, if I drive slower, I save gas ;-).

Just past Airdrie, which is essentially a suburb of Calgary now, you exit Hwy 2 and get onto Hwy 2A. Airdrie, if you're interested is just a large suburb of a city & I didn't find a specific downtown. Airdrie is about 25 kms from downtown Calgary and based on traffic, I would say it's the last "commuting point" for people. Pretty much everyone exits the highway in Airdrie.

Stop 1...

Misguided Masses

I am often amused when I read about the "witch hunt" going on to blame whoever for the rising price of oil. It's the government, it's speculators, it's Jesus himself, blah blah blah.

A few weeks ago oil topped out at 147 bucks a barrel. At that time there was serious "demand destruction" in the USA. Demand destruction is a term used when people stop buying something because of the high cost. The US is consuming 1 million barrels a day LESS of liquid fuel than it was just a few months ago. So..the price of oil has fallen to 118 bucks as I write this.

If you're blaming speculation for pushing up prices, you're misguided. Oil contacts can be traded "long" (where you wait for the price to go up) or SHORT where you buy high and sell low & you make a profit (yes, you can do that). If the run up in prices was because of the speculators, then obviously the decrease must be for the same reason. It's simply illogical to assume that falling demand has brought down prices /end sarcasm

The free market is an ugly thing sometimes. People love the free market...when it's on their side, but hate it when it's not on their side. You have to take the good AND the bad. The run up in oil has been constant over the past 6 years. In 1999 oil was 10 bucks a barrel & it's been increasing regularly excluding the odd pull back.

Why? Geologists (the people that understand fossil fuel extraction) call it Peak Oil. It's where you reach the plateau of production and afterwards it's a long ride down. And it's effing ugly. Google Peak Oil...then stop blaming the speculators. And stop buying so much gas for your giant SUV ;_

Unless you live under a rock, you're probably aware we're going thru an energy crisis. There are alot of people who blame speculators for the rise in oil prices...but oil contracts are bought both long & short...meaning speculators would have to be responsible for price increases on the up and downside. The real issue in the oil industry is the lack of easily attainable supply and the growing demand. The spread between what we can extract & what we're burning is tight. Of late.."demand destruction" is hitting the market as people just stop driving because they can't afford it. It's always interesting to hear an America feel that gas prices are a "crisis" at 4 bucks a gallon when a gallon of gas in most of Europe is 10 dollars.

I decided that living in the oil capital of the free world..I would go entirely green in my new condo. I started by buying wind power which is available either through Greenmax or Bullfrog Energy. They monitor your electrical bill and if you use 500 kw of electricity, they produce 500 kw using wind power & inject it in to the system on your behalf. You pay a minor fee on top of your power bill to cover the extra cost of wind. The cost for me was a whole 2 dollars in a month.

Aside from going 100% "wind", I bought LED lights for my house, ditched my microwave & decided I'd make a conscious effort to cook all my food from scratch. There are times it's annoying and it requires you plan meals, but the savings are surprising. The food also tastes much better than what you buy at the store.

I also ditched using paper towels and went old skool using clothes to wipe up things. Yes, I have to wash them, but my laundry load isn't any more than it was before I did this. Any types of paper I use are entirely recycled. I also try to buy local food & not drive my car unless I'm using it for work.

So far, it's working. It's taken a bit to get used too, but I actually find I'm less stressed & living simple makes your life incredibly relaxing. Now I just need to get a job where I don't drive and walk to work...a very viable option when one is living in downtown Calgary.

First 2 weeks I used 51 KW of electricity. My electrical bill for nearly 3 weeks was about 12 dollars.

Rain

Picture of a rainbow after a thunderstorm taken from the Safeway parking lot at 4th Street SW & Elbow Drive.

Stampede Time

It's Stampede Time.

Pizza comes to Mission

Here in the Mission (4th Street, Calgary), we used to have a place called CPU. It stood for Canada Pizza Unlimited. It's in a great location, sold slices & was easily accessible. Problem was...the people that ran it were the most negative folks I've met in business. More than a few times I watched them deride a customer for their choices or for ordering too much. Imagine, ordering 4 pizzas and getting a ride for that, as if it's some problem to do all that work.

The place closed up a few weeks ago and tada, I am happy to report that it's returned with new owners & will soon have a new name. I stopped by today for a slice and the slice was actually really good. The people running it are pretty nice & were very welcoming.

So if you live in the Mission, we now have a pizza place again. I haven't ordered a full pizza, just a slice, but it was much better than before. Having slices available for 3 bucks is great...it's cheap food that's gotten easily for people who are busy or just too damn lazy to cook

The difference a year makes

In the summer of 2007 the vacancy rate in Calgary was less than 1%. To find an apartment meant a mad dash to scoop up the place before anyone else. A 1 bedroom apartment typically around 1200 dollars a month & a two bedroom 1500 dollars or higher.

Today, 1 year later, the vacancy rate is 3.5% and finding an apartment is easy. A friend of mine went looking for an apartment and discovered a place in Mission...that was empty for two months. My old rental (I've also moved) took SIX weeks to fill. There were 1 bedroom units in the building that were empty for 3 months. I recently saw a bachelor apartment on 25th Ave that was for rent for 635 a month...and was available for nearly 3 weeks. 1 year ago, this would have been gone in 1 hour.

Number of "rentals" on rentfaster.ca in 2007 - 450 on average
Number of "rentals" on Rentfaster.ca in 2008 - 1700 on average

Condo prices are the same. When I moved to Calgary last year, prices averages about 350 grand in my neighborhood. Last week, I saw a retrofitted condo going for 189K. Given I live in a desired urban neighborhood, I suspect things are cheaper elsewhere. There are also a LOT of places for sale now, there are pages of listings.

I get the strong feeling people are leaving this city and going home. With Saskatchewan and BC having booming economies, people are returning to their roots where there are jobs & family. Saskatchewan was once a run down have not province & it's now an economic tiger thanks to farming, potash & oil. Prices for homes in Saskatoon have gone up nearly 100% in the past 2 years.

With oil at 142 dollars a barrel, Calgary is doing very well right now. Yet, I think people have left & it's made the job market even better & made renting easy. I'm seeing alot of Ontario license plates now. I assume the crap economy in the east is forcing people to move west ?

A year ago you could come to this city and find some kind of work within a few days. Now...the good part is you can come here and find an apartment within a day too. And have choice.

I do have to wonder where things will go tho. Oil is very high and in the past 6 months natural gas prices have doubled. This will increase drilling & that'll fire up the economy even more. High energy hurts everyone...but us...mostly.

The land of the SUV

When you move to Alberta, you'll notice two things. One is that it's normal to pay 7 dollars for a box of cereal & second is that about half the population appears to own an SUV or a giant Ford Pickup truck. In fact, I've seen a Ford F450, a truck I had no idea existed. It's big. You'll also see a whole stack of Hummers on the road or taking up two spots in the parking lot.

You know, if one was a farmer or tradesman, I can see the need for a large pickup truck. It's obvious you need that towing/hauling power..but exactly why does a guy living in the city core who works in an office need this thing for? I have a few friends who own large trucks and the high prices of fuel are making a top up of gas cost about 150 bucks PER WEEK. Imagine paying over 600 dollars a month just to drive a truck simply because you want one. Given that these things get about 15 mph, it's costing these guys 6 bucks (gallon of gas) to drive to the mall & back. And I thought it was expensive to fill up my Echo at nearly 50 bucks for regular gas. I've been mulling getting a Smart Car because I have no need for back seats & they apparently get about 600 kms per 22 litres of Diesel.

Found this sticker on a paper box outside the Purple Perk in Mission (where I live). Sorta sums up my feelings of the whole Big truck small dick thing

The City of Rain

It has finally stopped raining in Calgary. Rain is apparently unusual in Calgary but you wouldn't have known it this year. From about Mid May to the first week of June, it rained incessantly. I lived along the Elbow River until June 1st and had underground parking. The risk of rising rain water was so bad I started staying out of town figuring I'd come down to my car one morning to find it floating in a sea of sewage/river water. I came home one weekend to find everything sand bagged and the Elbow River about 13 feet deeper than it usually was. Even the ducks left town for the weekend. The Elbow River isn't large, but it does go thru some very wealthy areas of Calgary where multimillion dollar homes sit very close to the bank. I have...NO idea who built these houses here, or why but they had no sense in your head. I don't think you need a degree in Engineering to say "no..let's not put a house 5 feet from the banks of a river that fills up from melting mountain snow.

Mercato

Italian food store and restaurant in Mission called Mercato, so I made the trip out to see it for lunch. Took a couple of clients of mine simply to have someone to go with.

Nice airy atmosphere in there, the tables are a touch close together & it's a little bright at lunch (I like eating in the dark). Service was good & the food is very good. The portions are "normal" sized, meaning if you're hoping for a 6 layer sandwich and 300 pounds of fries...keep stepping homeboy, you ain't going to find it here. I'd think this would be a good place to take a date if she liked Italian food. They even offer parking (if there is any) if not, try one of the side streets.

The only catch is, this place costs a fair bit. Lunch for 3 cost me 130 bucks with a tip. Thankfully, after work I was able to walk around the alleys and collect bottles to recharge my bank account.

Off to the bottle depot...

Photo Radar

So...I managed to get 2 photo radar tickets...in the same area, in the same day. For over 200 bucks. *sigh*.

2.26

That's how much a venti coffee is at Starbucks. that seems normal to I realize I used to pay like...1.49.

Weird thing is, I don't like Starbucks coffee, but I drink it. And I'm the only one. The rest of the people order things with "chino" on the end

Lunch

One great place to eat lunch is CO OP at the Mid Town Market on 12th or 11th, or whatever. U go there, fill up this plate with food and pay for it by weight. It's good. For 10 bucks (a deal) you can have about 7 different things...and a can of CO OP pop. If you go at lunch, it's super busy tho.

Beer

After what seems like forever, I've weaned myself off the ale of Ontario and now like two local brews. One is Traditional from Big Rock...the other is all things Wild Rose. They're a small micro that's located in the old army area of Calgary. They sell this thing called The Party Pig, which is this fridge sized keg you get from them for 50 bucks. You'll drink it fast..and it's pretty easy to handle.

It sure beats taking empties back to the bottle depot here. That's THE most annoying thing you can do in life. The lines are terribly long and it's the most stinky place in the world. I usually give my bottles to the homeless people but I have so many now, I think I'm going to be greedy and keep them for myself.

Ducky's Pub

This is a pub on 4th Street...around 22nd. My first experience there was the assault of their karaoke....which consisted of the same 5 people singing 100 different songs.

Regardless, I've gone back, and I like this place. I took a buddy there for drinks...and it's not that bad of a place. Some things about it.

1. They have lots of hockey on TV screens
2. The customers are either young and sexy or like 50 and just having a pint
3. The food...well you have about 5 choices. I had their wings the other night which where...chicken legs. But they were good
4. The service...is slow. But the people are nice.
5. There is one small pool table in there.

All in all, a good dive bar. If you like "high class" places...this is not where you wanna go. If you like places you can sit in peace and just do your thing, this joint is OK. It's rather refreshing in a city that is all about the imagery of clubs.....

My flat tire

I have this slow leak in my tire. It's annoying. But it's more annoying that someone ripped off the cord to the air hose at the Petro Can on 4th. Now I have to go to the Shell on 17th. Or maybe I should get it fixed....I just never seen to find the time.

Purple Perk

Yes, I have written about this place before, but I have to again. This is probably the BEST cafe in this entire city. The coffee is good, but the food is awesome. I'm addicted to this "Cuban" sandwich they make...I'm not sure what is in it, but whatever it is, it tastes delicious. I've discovered they have parking in the back (always available) and they use brown sugar for their coffee. I love brown sugar.

You can also bring your laptop and camp out at the Perk. Least I think you can cause everyone brings their laptops into the Perk. The staff is also pretty cool and they're nice people. There isn't that "new rich" thing going on there. I way prefer this place over Starbucks (across the road) or Second Cup which is up the street.

They also have this kick ass MASSIVE cake which is like 9 inches deep. No word of a lie. I dont really like chocolate cake, but sometimes I just wanna buy a piece to eat it....or find a woman to take with me and have her eat it.

Places to Go

Tonight, after work, I stopped by Joyce on 4th. It's an Irish Pub and I think I wrote about it earlier. It has these weird ass harp chairs which are huge....

One thing about this place is that it's got cheap ass food during the week. On Mondays, you can snag wings for FOUR cents each. Now I've never gone, but at 4 cents a piece......even bad quality wings are OK. They sell Big Rock and Wild Rose pints for 5 bucks (now considered a deal to me) for Happy Hour. The place is kinda low key and you can go sit alone...or with 100 friends if you want. I was there tonight and some very loud dood was there....same guy I experienced weeks ago at OJ's in the Mission. Why....do you have to be a dickhead man ?

Joyce has good breakfast, it's 4 bucks for Eggs Benny and hash browns. And it's served till 1 PM for people that have trouble getting outta bed. It's worth it. I'm not sure how they make Eggs Benny, but it's pretty good.

Native Culture

In Ontario, I had little to no exposure to native culture. Growing up in Toronto, you're exposed to the 150 different cultures and languages, but you never really get to know native culture because it barely exists.

I find it absolutely interesting. For starters, you meet people with last names like "Goodrunner" & almost 100% of these people break the standard stereotype of natives being drunk bums. It's one thing I notice about Calgary....people are so galvanized on this issue. I'm really not sure how you can label an entire culture because of a few people that don't have their life together. I'm a white guy, the dood that did the Oklahoma bombings was a white guy...but we're not really the same. Dig ?

So it's been almost 1 year

I just spent the last hour re-reading what I wrote. It makes me laugh that I gave a shit about things like "how slow people drive". It makes me realize how fast my life in Ontario was...and how angry & bitter I was for a long time. Ironically, I work more out here than I do back home, but I'm more relaxed. Least I think

So 11 months have passed since I left Ontario. I guess the first question is, do I miss it? The answer...for the most part is no. Calgary is a positive place to live and pretty progressive. One thing that truly pisses me off is listening to people back home tell me how "redneck" it is out here. My answer is whatever and get over it.

Calgary isn't without it's problems...but generally it's a pretty positive city, maybe sometimes with a touch too much money. Regardless, if you want to carve out your dream here, you can. Over the past year I've learned to slow down when driving. I've learned to let people in. I've learned that when people say "hi" in the hall, you say hi back...because thats just normal behaviour. I've even learned to like the Calgary Flames & admit it's fun to pick on "Leaf Nation" doods back home. LOL, last place too.

Bar: Singapore Sam's

A few weeks back I was out late and went to Singapore Sam's with friends. It's on 11th Ave near 4th in a small strip plaza.

This is a great late night place....it's a sorta after party outlet where people go after they split from the bar. It's a Chinese restaurant..with a cheesy Canadian flare to it. When I was in there, they were playing bad disco and even worse dance music on the speakers, but it worked. It's also incredibly dark so you can barely see the person you are with. The food is decent, but it works for the after club thing. Only problem is, parking in the area sucks...so it's a bitch to find a place to stick the car if you are driving.

Back

Happy New Year.

Life has been incredibly busy for me over the past few months and I haven't posted at all. I'm officially set up in Calgary and....I'd never go back home. Calgary kicks ass.

I get out alot more & such...so I'll write about all things Calgary...even some of the stinky politics and stuff here.