Spare No Expense, Amigo!

Are we in Mexico?

I can only imagine how good the food will taste.

The Dark Side Of Birthdays

Karaoke!

And it's especially tough when the karaoke'ers are the birthday couple, and our hosts.

"Uhhhhh, yeah, it sounds great. When do we eat?"

Good grief, now everybody's getting into the act. Good thing there was no booze involved. Har har.

Here are two wailers taking their props.

Hey, I guess there is a good side to karaoke.

[That's supposed to be a compliment, nameless girls.]

[And not bad shots, either, considering these were taken in the dark (Earth Hour, you know) with no flash.]

Where Have All The Gould Times Gone?

A chum farther down the dial posted an actual shot of this Glenn Gould statue yesterday. Taken during the the aforementioned one-per pub crawl, as each stumble bum took turns sitting next to him.

So with the CBC cuts, we may have been some of the last chumps to plunk our assets down next to his.

Looks like he's taking the cuts pretty hard. Or maybe it's just the memory of drunken buffoons.

The Grand Old Lady

She's still got it!

The Banff Springs Hotel's grandeur has endured for many, many years.



And is certainly a dramatic presence against the Rockies landscape.



And not to shabby a view, either.

No wonder it costs four hundred freakin' dollars a night to stay there.

What Comes After Happy Hour?

Stupid Hour. Or longer.

Good boys sports weekend, though. Our newly minted, but likely to be repeated, "one-beer-per-bar" rule was a good one. But you certainly get tired walking to that many bars.

We eased in to Saturday with some smooth Guinness.

Oh oh.....
It's always fun til the martini's come out. I guess that's one way of getting around the one-drink-per rule.

I Called It
Martini down!

Now how did that happen?

Bad Idea....
When you spill your "Godzilla" martini at two in the afternoon, you should go home. Now. Not order another one.

Although in the lad's defense, he did ask, "can I just have half a Martini this time....?".

I won't bore you with the usual shots of boys at a lacrosse game, drinking more beer.

But leaving Air Canada Centre, didn't like this fellow's attitude, laughing heartily at us as we stumbled to our next destination.

You Can Always Use One Of These

Mountain Equipment Coop sure has a lot of cool stuff.

Here is a German folding kayak. Very popular

Here is the interesting, but likely not so popular, upside down kayak.

Okay, so this was in the middle of our one-drink-per pub crawl. It seemed funny at the time. We thought it was then a good time to leave. "We" being the management at Mountain Equipment Coop.

I'm The King Of The World!

Yowza, what a view from the top of the world, as seen from Sulphur Mountain. Not too shabby.

Good Advice.....
I initially pooh-poohed this sign, but as we trekked from one peak over the next, the trail was snow covered and slippery. With often just a couple of wires separating you (or more importantly, me) from an instant 7,400 foot rumbly tumble.

Probably looking much like the fellow in the warning.

Hey, Little Buddies

While up in Banff, had some interlopers come by to try and eat the scenery.

And apparently, by their friendliness, they would have eaten the camera out of my hand if I hadn't been so quick [Ed. note: ....or scared? ]

Hey, that baby looked pretty hefty. And right now he's thinking, I wonder if I can eat what he's holding.

They've been known to head butt you in the gut if your snacks aren't up to par. As a guy last year found out by trying to feed them broccoli. They don't like broccoli.

You think there might be more eats on the grass area. But I'm no deer.


Hey! I'm Trying To take A Dump Here
Sorry......

Go Back To Toronto?

Just got back from another week in Western Canada. Banff this time. What a beautiful city.

But the apple in the welcome basket of goodies was less than welcoming. Were they sending a message?

"This friggin' guy is from Toronto."
"I know, but you still have to leave him a welcome basket."
"Okay......"

Go Back To Toronto - Part Two

Maybe the weather gods were also trying to send the Tranna guy a message. Very ominous voyage on the way to Banff.

Especially coming from +10, or whatever, on the temperature scale to -25 for the whole week.

Here the sun, shrouded behind fog and clouds, seems to be saying, I will not appear for the likes of you.

But if I do, I will blind you! Bwaaa ha ha ha ha.......

But a cool series of views as we rode into the valley of death. Or so it seemed. More below.....

The sun, lurking menacingly, behind the mountain range.

Sun starting its leap across the gap. Centre of the gap, above - blinding me.

And reaching the other side.

Now fully hidden behind the range.

The mountains look as though they have extinguished the sun and are now burning hot, with steam pouring from them.

Double click to get a better feel of how the mist/steam hugs the mountains.

Spooky trip.

Not Here, Too?

Absolutely beautiful views here - look like the sun has lost its funk from the day before.

Hard to concentrate on business - which was the reason for the trip. Honest.

But what's that in the right of the picture?

Arrgghhhh!!!

A condo?

No, but a big, honking building just the same.

Is nothing safe from the hands of man?

How come the sun isn't mad at these guys?

Hey Toronto Guys.....

All the Toronto folks lined up for a group shot atop Sulphur Mountain.

Looks like everyone is having fun.

So pay no attention to the phenomenal view - behind you.

This Explains A Lot...

Catching some cosmic rays, man.....

Now I know where they've been coming from for so long. The ones that make me think the way I do.

Just blasting away into my little bean. And up here, I can feel 'em working, too. Kinda tickles.

Some of the people I was with suggested maybe I should wear a metal hat, before it's too late. Others just winced, sensing that that horse was long gone......

Maybe so, but I bet Jimmy Buffett would be proud.

Gee, Really?

I would never have known. I wonder how much we are paying for this system?

Knowing Toronto, this was probably caused by some idiot talking on his cell phone. Or taking pictures with it.

Arf Arf

Cute little doggy waiting for his owner outside a store. Hi buddy.

Now what's going on inside?

Oh, a little cat sitting on the counter. What a funny store.

Actually this was a pretty pathetic scene; sad, lonely tiger tied up outside in the wet and a confused lemur inside.

Now in my defense, the only reason I patronize this store is because it's the only place I can get what I'm looking for. Those great tiger skin boots. With the Lemur fur trim!

I'm just kidding.

I can get them anywhere. I just like going here because I can feed the animals jube jubes and pull their tails. It's a riot!

Okay, just kidding. This was a pretty sad store promotion.

What the &%^&# were these guys thinking? Maybe they'd like being tied up and tossed inside the tiger cage at the zoo.

Dude, Where's My View?

Guess you gotta take what you can get in downtown Toronto.

I Called It

Shot of my old Calgary neighbourhood last week, where two, cute little houses used to stand.

Jump to an earlier post to read bold prediction........

This shot is from the other side, but dey is gone from any direction.

Brrrrr....

In Calgary last week, it was mighty cold. It was about -24^o here as these cars were hustling home to warmth.

Luckily, I remembered where those beauty +15's were. So was able to hide above it all.

Although it was only about 6pm, you can see there's nobody on the streets. Of course, at 6pm in Calgary, that's not unusual.

Also came across this street art. Bit of overkill, though.

I didn't need this fellow to remind me it was bitter out.

Of course, Mother Nature, or Father Sun here, got the last laugh, as this weather followed me back to Toronto. Where mixed with our moisture, it made it all the nicer.

Died And Gone To Heaven

The bars here (back in Toronto now) just keep getting better and better.

And our waitress really knew her customers, too, parking us right next to the entertainment section.

So what could be better than that?

This!!
Likely breaking every Toronto Dept of Health regulation, and ruining most diner's appetite's, our waitress popped the lid on the keg room.

It quickly filled up with every form of debris imaginable.

And here the boys are expressing their gratitude. Or an alternative title, "We ain't coming out!"

Although our waitress was great, I won't mention her name in case her boss, or the Dept of Health, is reading this.

And what bar was this? The one with the TV's in the floor, naturally.

So on the menu was a party platter of wings, multiple pitchers of beer, then more wings after that was gone.

After that burgers, chesesteak sandwiches, beer, quesidillas, and some other stuff I luckily don't remember.

And then finished it off with some more beer. Oh yeah, and then a couple of more beer.