Sunday, January 29, 2006

moose in the snow, where do you go?


i've seen a few moose before, but none as near as this lovely old lady who we came across chilling out in the snow in Peter Loughheed Provincial Park - although the picture looks like it was snapped from a few feet away, we were in fact hiding in the trees to avoid disturbing the creature! The photo was shot at the long end of my 300mm lens & out of 50 odd pictures i snapped, only a handful came out anywhere near decent - it was snowing quite hard & the fact that we were in the dark forest & the moose was in the snow didn't really help.

It was all-in-all a bit of an outdoorsy weekend - what with the continued mild weather (the snow above was way up in the mountains), it would have been a shame to waste such a glorious weekend.

Sounds like I missed a good old fashioned cup tie at The Valley, what puzzles me is how we lose a good 6-8000 fans for these games, it's as if some Charlton fans only turn up to watch Premiership games & don't care about the "insignificant" FA Cup. I remember in the olden days when the FA Cup games almost unfailingly drew the biggest home gates of the season, irrespective of the opposition. I have a funny feeling this will be Charlton's year - perhaps I should book a hotel in Cardiff for May & a return flight home - lets see who the draw provides us with later today.

I've added a new song to the player today, I am loving exploring & listening to some old British Folk Rock at the moment - generally music releeased between let's say 1967 & 1972 including bands/artists like Steeleye Span, Shirley Collins. Pentange/Bert Jansch & of course the Fairport Convention - yes, yes it did all mutate into horrible prog rock nastiness eventually but there is still much that is eclectic, inventive & interesting about the music these people produced in the late sixties & early seventies

Fairport Convention - Autopsy



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Wednesday, January 25, 2006

swing is swung........

well we now have a right wing government in Canada led by Calgarian Steven Harper (eerily reminiscent of many slimy Tories we had in the Uk under Major), but any fears of a George Bush style malaise settling over this beautiful land should be dispelled

in a nutshell the Conservatives won a small minority & any hopes they had of pushing through their right wing agenda will be dashed by the fact that the 3 parties in opposition won't stand for any of that nonsense & could unite to defeat any of the radical crap that Harper may come out with

happily the NDP gained in strength in the elections, and as the most left wing party they will have a lot of power in checking Harper & his cronies - the Liberals (think Blair) will be eager to elect a new leader to replace the bumbling Paul Martin & oust the Conservatives ASAP, whilst the Quebec Bloc will still be smarting over the loss of a whole host of seats to the Conservatives in the Quebec for which they wish independance from the rest of Canada - they will be in no mood to aid Harper

so where does he turn - the answer would seem to be nowhere & unless he can push through & deliver somehow on the policies he has espoused, we'll be facing another election within 24 months - this time he'll be up against a rejuvenated Liberal party, an angry QB & hopefully an ever insurgent NDP - it's just a matter of gritting our teeth & waiting for the current bad smell to dissapear

Monday, January 23, 2006

apologies all round..........

for my regular readers it must have been hell these past few days with no stories about snow, snow & um grizzly bears - topics which seem to pretty much sum up the content of this blog

however in my defence i have been busy, work has been intense for the last few days & even meant a 6 day week last week, still it's a good job & i actually do enjoy what i do - so no complaints

with all work & no play, there's not a lot to report - we bought some Cross Country skis, boots & poles but haven't had a chance to try them out yet

i played the most insanely intense 2 hours of indoor 5-a-side football on Wednesday which at altitude is about as brutal as it gets, my limbs are only just recovering - i also went to my first meeting at the local camera club, which was nice - these guys go out in the summer on field trips to shoot the local wildlife (photographically speaking) & scenery - that'll be fun

talking of shooting wildlife, there is a big debate over here on whether the hunting season for Grizzly bears in Alberta should go ahead, environmentalists claim that the numbers of these bears is dangerously low & that a hunt is further endangering the viability of the species

i suspect the counter argument is that the numbers of bears needs to be controlled & therefore hunting is a good way of doing this

if there is truth in the 2nd statement & the population DOES need to be controlled, well i have no arguments about that - if this is the case, the hunting should be done by professional National Park employees under strict regulation

in this scenario everyone will be happy

- the environmentalists can rest safe in the knowledge that the numbers are being professionally monitored by experts & the cull (if needed) is carried out humanely & for the right reasons

- the hunters won't mind because their concerns over the population expansion, which seems to be the usual argument for a hunt, are being met by a professional cull

- & the bears can take comfort from the fact that the only reason they are being shot dead is for the long term sustainability of the species within the confines of their range - not for the sheer fun of it...............

or am i missing the point?

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

lurching to the right............

we are only a few days away from the Canadian elections it seems that the Conservatives are going to end up with a majority, the Liberals (who currently hold power under Paul Martin) are trailing in the polls, while the NDP are a distant 3rd

one of the attractions in coming out here was the fact that Canada seems to have a healthy disregard politically for the Americans & refused unlike our beloved Mr. Blair to lie down & roll over for Bush & his cronies

well if the Conservatives get in that'll be history, how long before Canadian troops are marching shoulder-to-shoulder with the Brits & the US into Iran, (or wherever Bush's blood lust & need to keep America on a war footing), takes him next

it's a shame, but it seems highly likely that by the end of next week - we'll be back in an American puppet shape, where oil & the big corporations call the shots

to cheer myself up, I'm putting two tunes on the radio player - by a pair of Genes (ho! ho!) - Gene Clark & Gene Parsons, were of course members of The Byrds in the sixties & early seventies. After the Byrds split in '73 both Gene's recorded solo work, Parson's just the one album Kindling in '73, while Clark released quite a few albums of varying quality including the wonderful No Other in '74

both were wonderful artists, whose work was arguably hidden by higher profile ex-Byrds like David Crosby, Gram Parsons & Roger McGuinn - I don't think Kindling is easily available on CD now, but Clarks work certainly is. Both these artists & also another ex-Byrd in Clarence White - who in my book, is easily one of the greatest guitarists to ever grace this world - produced a raft of sublime works - go check them out!

Gene Clark - She Don't Care About Time
Gene Parsons - Willing

Sunday, January 15, 2006

extreme driving conditions..........

My decision to buy an Audi Quattro really paid off over the weekend. We enjoyed a glorious drive from the ghost town of Nordegg down through the mountains to Canmore, it started in bright sunshine & mild temperatures & ended in a raging snowstorm and roads nearly a foot deep in snow in places. There were no snow-ploughs in site and no other cars visible either for long stretches of half an hour or more, it was an exhilirating if not risky journey. The Audi 4WD though is a reliable Germanic beast, it stuck to the snow covered roads like glue & got us through to the safety of the ploughed highway beyond Lake Louise.

You can see the route here

During the drive we saw beautiful Long Horn Sheep & plenty of Elk & Deer - with no traffic around these animals were close to the road & pretty oblivious to our presence. It really was a wonderfully scenic drive & until the weather stung us at the end - quite relaxing.

On Saturday we spent the day up Sunshine Mounatin enjoying the powder with a large group of friends, followed by dinner & plenty of beers in The Grizzly Paw in Canmore - another really nice day.

Was a busy week last week, Edmonton on Thursday & Friday - I had the chance to explore Edmonton a bit on Thursday night & despite the fact that it was a cold, January night I liked what i saw, especially the Strathcona district.

This week looks even busier - in fact it's a 6 day week, as we have some work planned on Saturday. It's not all work & no play though as it's indoor football on Wednesday night again, i'm at the Photography club on Tuesday & we'll fit in some X-Country ski-ing too, with our newly bought kit!

Another quick link to a band I'm liking at the moment, after linking to Britain's premier Medieaval Folk Rockers - Circulus last week, I'm urging you to check out their mates The Eighteenth Day of May. It's more of the same really, punk rock came along in '76 & blew all this hippy dippy stuff away, but i welcome it back in 2006 - we've had it up to our eyeballs recently with fake & manufactured punk for the kids - time for the lute, recorder & rag tag bands of hippies to reclaim what the Ramones etc destroyed in the Seventies!

The Eighteenth Day of May

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

there's snow business.......

like snow business, down it came today in huge great swirling masses - deep and crisp & er, melted (when it warmed up mid afternoon!!)

i met an English girl the other day who asked me what i missed most about back home apart from family & friends, and i had to really think

she'd put me on the spot & all i could blurt out was "ummm, i dunno nothing really"...cos thats the truth, you do come across people here who drone on & on about all the things they are missing from back home - well if that's bleedin' good over there & so bad over here - go back!

just a short blog today as i'm popping out in a minute & i'm not going to post any tunes up

instead make your way to the website below to hear some music by a brilliant London based band called Circulus, swirling (like the snowflakes), English folkadelia at it's crisp, deep even best

Circulus on MySpace

Monday, January 09, 2006

dals, sambals, dosas & The Ramones

just a quiet kinda day today, working hard & enjoying the Spring temperatures in Calgary - followed by episodes 8,9 & 10 of Deadwood season 1

i did pick up a beautiful book today, Mangoes & Curry Leaves it's a lavishly illustrated travelogue & cook-book detailing a couple's trips round India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan & Bengal - beautiful pictures & fantastic recipes

now i'm not one to boast but i can cook, i love food - it's my job after all - and i love trying new things out, there's not much i can't make & i'm a sucker for recipe books, each to their own i guess

i also picked up a photo/coffee table book of an altogether different nature - CBGB and OMFUG : Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock- about 7 years ago i achieved a long held desire of mine to visit CBGB's in New York, it was every bit the scuzzy, seedy hole i thought it would be & I cannot for the life of me remember who we saw there, they can't have been that good - this book captures in cool B&W photos the essence & evoloution of this club from the days of the mighty Ramones, via Television, Talking Heads, er Bush (why them cocksuckers? - sorry too much Deadwood there!)) to the modern day likes of The Strokes

going back even further, i have posted up two gems from The Freakbeat Scene

an album released last summer and as you know I am always partial to a bit of sixties fuzzed out rock'n'roll. even my poor little daughter will upon the command to "wig out!", (& accompanied by a stomper from some long forgotten garage band), perform the coolest ever little baby dance.

she loves these tracks, i hope you do too.......

the blue stars - I can take it

shel naylor - one fine day

Friday, January 06, 2006

there's something big under the bed...........

highly enjoyable reading my mate Rob's diary of his new life in Australia he has also just moved from London half way, (or actually most of the way in his case), across the world

well Rob took his wife Maria for a trip into the Australian wilderness & ended up being pursued everywhere he went by the not inconsequential Huntsman spider

poor old Rob & Maria - i wouldn't want to find one of those under my bed at night, which is exactly what they did on seemingly every place they stayed

to make Rob feel better when he reads this, i can happily inform him that there are absolutely no big spiders in this part of the Rocky Mountains - nor are there any snakes to really worry about

all we have are Grizzly Bears, Cougars, Wolves and the maddest of the lot according to all the guidebooks & knowledgable locals - the rutting elks who can do unimaginable things with those horns

the most danger you were in from wildlife back in London, was probably being nibbled by a fox, nipped by a rat or catching something from those disgusting pigeons

well big news in these parts is the return of the snow, although the huge dumpster of a snowstorm that threatened never delivered, still once again, as Pete Doherty might say - it sure is great to see all that white stuff lying about

my tunes of the day on the radio player come from Canadian, The High Dials - coming at you out of Winnipeg they play what you might call Mod Soul - i think they are a mighty fine band & i urge you to check out Rainbow Quartz their record label, which promotes all manner of tuneful, retro bands

The High Dials - Desiderata
The High Dials - My Heart is Black

Thursday, January 05, 2006

gas comes first again...........

the Canadian government today announced that it will allow oil & gas companies to operate in 156,000 hectares of our coastal waters today - slap bang in the middle of sensitive Beluga whale habitat

well i'm sure there will be parties going on tonight in swanky restaurants all over the US & Canada as slimy oil & gas execs salivate at the prospect of more money, more riches & ever bigger bonuses

it's incredible, really incredible - on one hand we have the ever present warning of global warming & habitat destruction while on the other we have what at most must be small handful of people about to get really rich on the back of destroying the habitat of these poor creatures & pumping out yet more gas for the criminally inefficient wastage that you seen on this continent every day

i hope they rot in hell

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

spring is sprung.............

when i get up in the morning & look out of our front bedroom window the view never ceases to amaze me - 3 towering snow capped mountains & the pink glow of the rising sun reflecting off the clouds - it's a mythical prehistorical scene & we feel so lucky to be living in such a gorgeous place

not that I haven't served my time in, how shall i say, the less glamorous locales of England - I won't name any names t protect the innocent & easily offended - suffice to say I have spent time in some of the less salubrious parts of Manchester & Liverpool

on Monday, i drove down to Nakiska - a smallish ski hill in Kananaskis country - it was a glorious drive in bright warm sunshine & only the absence of any visible signs of wildlife reminded me it was a midwinters day & not the height of spring

the ski area itself was not much to write home about - 6 lifts, a couple of dozen small runs on beginner terrain - but worst of all - ice. ice with a frosting of sugary snow on top & me being a lazy so & so, my edges were about as sharo as a sackful of wet mice

there is a backcountry awareness day in Banff pretty soon & we have joined the Canmore Alpine club so hopefully i will soon be leaving lifts & groomed runs behind me & once again getting out into the back country & the real stuff - thats if this beautiful spring we are having right now ever decides to revert back to winter

i'm going to post up some random tunes this month, just some stuff i am currently digging or random cool tunes from the past which might catch your fancy

today is the turn of a great old slice of rock'n'roll cheddar played by powerhouse counter-culture rockers The MC5 - i have always liked the '5 & indeed the various sideshoots that the group sprung in the early to mid seventies after they split- especially Sonics Rendezvous Band who flittered across the radar for a few years

i watched the DVD (Sonic Revolution) the other day of their reunion concert in London a few years ago, a gig which for some insane reason i didn't go to - taking the place of lead singer Rob Tyner were various rock "icons" including Lemmy in unfeasibly tight pants & horrendoud white cowboy boots, Ian Astbury of The Cult & Dave Vanian of The Danmed

MC5 - Tutti Frutti