I am happy to have woken up from my writing slumber. Sometimes you need to get things off your chest ya know?
Happy reading and feel free to leave me a comment.
Big Meat Night
What do you think this event was about based on the name? Were you intrigued? Did you giggle like a school girl when you first read it? (I did).
Gay Porn Event? Sausage Fest (literally)? All Male Review Night?
I will end the suspense and here is the event description:
Join Chef Neil Wyles, with special guest … best selling cookbook author, international barbecue champion, and southern-style barbecue evangelist “Rockin” Ronnie Shewchuk with Don Hardy playing the blues for a night of BBQ, music and great people along with local boys Rick and Barry’s R&B beers.
Creative name for a great event, but since I have the mind of a teenager and I thought it was funny I had to share it with you.
Some initial thoughts after living in Calgary for 8 months:
In Vancouver you can’t always tell who the gangsters are. In Calgary it’s relatively obvious. Watch for the Vietnamese guy with his schoolgirl anime porn girlfriend driving around in a BMW with flashy ass rims. Everyone and their mom has a BWM in Vancouver, not so much here. Not to mention there aren’t enough Asian people here to blend in with, so the gangsters stick out like a sore thumb.
A hamlet called Balzac. No matter how much they want to pronounce it bawl-zak let’s be honest here. The name of your city is Ball Sack. Accept it, embrace it. Make it part of the local charm and tourism of the city. T-shirt and post card ideas abound.
If you ever wanted to experience what it would be like for every car on the street to drive in cruise control with their speed all set the same then you should definitely make a point to come and drive in Calgary during rush hour. In Vancouver there isn’t much of a need to check your blind spots before switching lanes because drivers in Vancouver seem to inherently know that if you drive in someone’s blind spot there is a good chance you are going to get hit. This is not the case in Calgary. With their cruise control set on 40, Calgary drivers will sit comfortably in your blind spot and lull you to sleep. If you don’t check before you switch lanes then the odds are pretty good you are going to hit someone.
Cars in Calgary drive just fast enough that to pass them you feel like a dick, but they drive too slow to just pull in casually behind them because the car behind them is also in 50 km cruise control and maintaining enough speed that you have to cut them off to switch lanes. There is no easy way to get around it, so I just cut people off and they can look to my BC license plate for an explanation.
The one section in town that seems to defy the cruise control standard is the Deerfoot Trail. Those that know me, know I drive relatively fast. I’m sure some co-workers and friends have left stains on the seat and in their pants while riding shotgun in my car over the years, but here in Calgary the Deerfoot sets a new standard for speed. Not only are you going to get passed if you aren’t driving at least 120, but old ladies are going to give you the finger or shake their head at you as they blow by you like you are standing still.
Nose rings. If you have one or had one in the 90′s and want to bring it back then you should move to Calgary. Apparently they are still popular here. I have never seen so many in my life. Across all age ranges all genders. Alberta is definitely a nose ring friendly Province.
Smoking women. Apparently if you are a good looking woman, smoking is required in Calgary? I can’t officially confirm this, but I think they may teach a course on smoking to girls in elementary school?
By far the most common question I have received since I moved here: Why would you move from Vancouver to Calgary?
Before I answer, I will say that there are advantages to living in both cities. You definitely can’t compare the 2, but here are some great things about living in Calgary:
1) Affordable Housing. You can actually buy a home for $400,000 and live within 15 minutes of downtown. Not a 600 sq. ft. box. A real home with a backyard and more than one bedroom.
2) Non Existent Traffic. Even though you have the extreme driver types: Cruise Control Drivers & Deerfoot Trail Drivers, you can still get to work within about 20 minutes from anywhere in the city. The same drive in Vancouver that took me 30 minutes, now takes about 10.
3) The Weather. Calgary weather is extremely misconstrued by the people of Vancouver. Yes it does get to minus 20 and maybe minus 30, but it doesnt stay that way for weeks or days at a time. Not to mention the fact that minus 10 here in Calgary is comparable to O degrees in Vancouver. The sky is always blue and sunny. I will take it over the grey rainy days in Vancouver when it gets dark at 4 pm.
4) The People. Simply put, Calgary is a big city with the feel and people of a small town. People here are cheerful and go out of their way to be nice.
5) Free Parking. Can you imagine not having to pay to park in downtown Vancouver or at places like Stanley Park? In downtown Calgary you don’t usually have to pay because there is plenty of free parking and at places like the zoo, parking is free as well.
Time to go, please stay tuned… I am off to get my nose pierced and perhaps my ball sack