I Am Crushing Your Head

....or city anyway. [This time with apologies to The Kids in the Hall.]

My friends think they are not far from downtown - but I beg to differ. Admit it, Nadira!

Downtown Calgary is not that small. In fact it is very large. But it doesn't look than way when you live in the next province.

But a dramatic view from their deck, nonetheless.

Hey, that guy took my parking spot!

Dodge City?

Tombstone?
Yuma?

Nope, just down the street from my place in the Condo Canyon, as the realtors like to call it, in Calgary.

Although the downtown has highrises and skyscrapers, you don't have to go too far to find a real small town (ghost town?) feel to the place.

Condo Canyon - about two or three blocks away. Different worlds.

Which one will gobble up the other......?

Whatcha Doing, Little Fella?

Can't ya read?

Great Starter Home

"Ground floor, easy access to street."

Who Is This For?

"Hey, where did you park?"
"Over in the flower bed, on third street."
"Oh yeah, I parked there last week."

A Pain In The.....

Since my knee has been getting all the attention lately, my back decided to go out on me.

So after repeatedly trying to fix it myself - which essentially amounted to just waiting - I had to seek professional help.

Boy, if those physios aren't sticking theirs thumbs where they don't belong, they're sticking pins.

And yowza, them are some spicy needles! 11 to be exact. 'cause I felt every one going in. Now some may call me a weenie for thinking this hurts. Well, good call.

Hey? Are ye looking a me bum? You cheeky bum looker. [With apologies to Mike Meyers, aka Simon.]

[Ed. note: Photography credits go to my multi-talented physioterrorist.]

Not Yet....

...them little darlin's ain't.

I've been able to slither away every time.

Okay, both times. Okay, I know I could if I ever had to. Okay, I doubt if I could. Go to the next post.

My Nice Neighbourhood - Part Deux

Here is a little panorama of an entire street, one block from my place. Starting with the always elegant "Moving Sale" store - from an earlier post. And walking along, taking every store, one by one.

This is one of the main downtown avenues in Calgary. With such an inviting street front, I can't believe they don't get more business....

Lovely broken glass windows.

Ah...even more (better) broken glass windows.

Very nice.

Nicer. Hey - open Sundays.

...really?....

Hmmm...where else can you get plywood right downtown?

Awww, Joannie.....

No wonder property values are booming in Calgary. And I get to walk by this everyday on the way to work.

Okay, so maybe I'm beating a dead horse here. But there are pockets of decrepitude everywhere.

Everywhere around me, at least.

Trouble....

It's never a good sign when these things come out. And this was no exception.

Luckily I spilt the last one (and broke the shot glass) so not that much damage was done - at least to me. But the clueless bartender looked at me like I was drunk or something.

"I'm going to have to charge you for that."
"Whaaaa?", I cleverly shot back.

But at least we were drinking the good stuff, my namesake, El Jimador tequila.

Although that same bartender said, with these shooters, you don't have to use the good stuff. You can't tell the difference.

I don't know if that was the general you or whether he was referring to me.

Either way, he was right. Erp.

One Hour Later

Weee......look at all the pretty bubbles.

And I got my money's worth.

This one's filled up above the....well....above the fill up line. Hmmm, I guess they all were.

Two Hours Later

Oops.....time to go.

But to which one?

As the old joke goes, if your stomach is having a party, everything's fine until the tequila shows up. Then it's "Everybody out!".

[Ed. Note: I just noticed that the "key" to this sign is in the red letters. Velly clever, Splooshman....]

Excellent!

The ongoing rain turned to hail yesterday - what a refreshing change. And the sandblasting effect knocked all the pigeon prizes off my balcony. Bonus.

But, like all good things, it's supposed to be back to regular old rain today (and tomorrow, of course). Right now, holding at a lovely 8^oC.

Ahem To That

What The.....

....heck is this thing?

The sign on the back says "Hippies Use Backdoor". Now although I certainly agree with this, I have no idea what it is doing there, attached to a box of wood.

I followed this....thing....a long way on the road and these shots were the best I could do.

It must be some kind of hippy collector truck. A two story jobber with cages of wood on the back and, apparently, hippies caged in the back.

And although I know talking on your cell phone while driving is no good - and I would never do it, obviously - so is, I realize, taking cell phone photos while driving.

But only because the shots turn out so crappy. I don't need any more help in the crappy photo department.

But I'm still wondering what the heck this thing is.

Be Still My Beating Heart

Coring and drilling? Who needs "Girls, Girls Girls!" when the Global Petroleum Forum is in town?

60,000 oilheads decended on Calgary to talk about all thing oil.

What a glorious week. No tree huggers, no global warmers, no families with small children. And I think the sun is even going to come out. Oh yeah, and no solar power goofballs.

I think I'm going to attend the "Why Isn't Oil At $200 per Barrel?" seminar.

This Just In....

....still raining. And holding steady at a lovely 8 degrees.

And the puddles are getting bigger. Hope that big ol' Bow River don't get any higher.

The next condo over had its bottom two parking levels (P9 & P10) flood a couple of years back. I park on P9 in my building. Gulp.

"A" For Effort

In Toronto every year they have a huge festival/parade called Carabana. In Calgary it called Caribfest. And the poor guys held it yesterday.

Whereas the Toronto parade literally takes eight hours to pass by one spot (it moves at a.....uhhhh....relaxed pace), what you see here is the Caribfest parade. Yup. About one block.

Now the weather likely had a bit of a dampening effect (pun intended) but it's not the only reason for the one-blocker.

A couple of year ago I saw the parade go by my window - a full two blocks long this time! I went out and asked one of the paraders, what's going on. He said, have you heard of Caribana? Well, this is the Calgary version.

I said, Oh I guess with the recent increase in Calgary population, this is fairly new. He said, no, we've been doing it 25 years. Uh huh......

I guess some things catch on. And some things don't.....

News Flash!

....it's still raining.

Ahhhhh....Summertime

Middle of June and a balmy 7 degrees to go with it. That's 45 in Yankee talk. And that's crappy, in anybody's language.

....and the same forecast for the next five days. Sigh......


"Sunshine Puddles of mud,
Nothing but sunshine puddles of mud
Coming Stuck in my way."

"What A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood"

Oh the day wouldn't be complete without some drug addled crazy getting arrested outside my condo. The real estate agents just love it when this happens. It's called local colour.

The owner of the cafe in our building, who doesn't love it so much, called the cops over after the guy was in the van.

I think he left his booze, he said, politely pointing to the bottle at the entrance to his place, as if it was a snake ready to strike.

In terms of damage, it may have already.....

Not Much Of A Happy Hour....

I'm thinking these guys need some marketing help.

I can see half full beer, 10 cents. Or maybe even day old beer. But I'd be going through a bunch of their beer without much to show for it.

Man, I'm broke but I'm still thirsty.

If Only It Were That Easy....

The guys above could learn something from these folks.......

Are Ya Sure?