Archive for December, 2008

Since our first real snowfall (and subsequent coldsnap) last week, there’s one thing I’ve been longing to do. I really want to go bumpershining.
I expressed this desire to several of my Calgary-born friends. “You want to what?” they said. “What’s that? Is it some kind of weird sex?” Some just looked at me with blank stares.
My reply was no less than sardonic: “Milquetoasts! You pantywaist cowboys don’t know anything about outdoor winter activities!” (Yes, I use archaic terms when I berate my friends—it’s less hurtful) “What with your Chinooks and Plus 15′s!”
I finally accepted the fact that some of my friends didn’t know what bumpershining was. Since I am originally from Winnipeg, I thought, “Could this be a mere matter of semantics? They probably don’t know what a ‘social’ is either.”
Bumpershining is dear to my heart. It’s so much more than just winter fun; it was my primary mode of transportation during junior high school. It was my winter substitute for skateboarding and I actually learned how to do it without getting hurt.
After some research, I discovered that bumpershining is also known as “skitching”. So without further delay, here is an example of bumpershining. The technique leaves a little to be desired—he’s clearly an amateur and should have been down lower, holding onto the bumper (that’s why the car stopped so quickly) and the dialogue makes me cringe.
Bumpershining

Hey triple Axel and Salchow enthusiasts! Get down to Olympic Plaza this Saturday, December 13th, for CJSW’s Saturday Night Skating Party!

“CJSW has teamed up with the Olympic Plaza Cultural District to bring you another year of CJSW’s Saturday Night Skating Parties! The evenings go from 6:00PM to 10:00PM down at Olympic Plaza, with CJSW DJs spinning you the best tunes while you get your skate on. The event is totally free, so grab your skates and head on down for the best Saturday night of your life!”

CJSW will be holding the Skating Parties on the following Saturday nights:
December 13, 2008
December 20, 2008

Olympic Plaza is located at 228 8th Avenue S.E.

LO DEF is a Canadian skate video from Jeremy Elkin (xamplfilms.com) that recently premiered here in Calgary. It features full parts from both Riley Boland and Kevin Lowry, with a couple of tricks from Drew Merriman as well (all from Calgary) who made their way out to Montreal this past summer to skate the amazing spots that city has to offer.  The full line-up is solid, check it out at xamplfilms (link above).

LO DEF is a breath of fresh air as far as Canadian skate videos go.  It’s full of good skating, good tunes (great variety!), and it’s short!  I don’t know about you but if I’m about to go out for a sesh and I want to watch a skate vid first I definitely don’t want to be glued to a couch for an hour.

This is one you’ll definitely want to save to your computer!  I have a feeling that DVDs will be available in the near future, for those of you who want them.

Click: LO_DEF.mov

Ok ok- shameless plug,  but its for a good cause!

Clean Calgary Association has an awesome EcoStore located downtown on 4th Ave and 8th Street SW- They sell a TON of great environmentally friendly products (from rain barrels and composters, to cleaning products, GREAT gift items, eco started kits and office supplies!) All of which meet very strict criteria- fairly traded and ethically made, recyclable and/or made from recycled content, little or no packaging,  and locally made and sourced.

Up until December 24th if you contact me, i will give you 15% off coupon good for your entire purchase!  YIPPY! Leave a note in the comments and i will email you.

Clean Calgary Association is an urban environmental non-profit organization empowering Calgarians to create healthy homes and communities through environmental education, products and services.  So in addition to doing a world of good and buying environmentally friendly products, all the money made through the EcoStore is put back into Clean Calgary programs- In turn supporting your community and environmental initiatives around Calgary!

The EcoStore is located at 809- 4th Ave SW and is OPEN Tuesday Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00am – 5:30pm and Thursday from 10:00am – 7:00pm.  Closed Sunday and Monday.

The Calgary Foundation launched a survey called “Calgary’s Vital Signs” in 2007. An initiative aimed at bringing together communities and allowing a venue for Calgarians to voice their opinions on the vitality and quality of life in our city. Since then, this report has been conducted annually and is currently taking place in over 15 cities across the country.

I had to read this report for work and initially was not stoked on the idea, but It turned out to be a GREAT read with a ton of interesting facts about Calgary, areas that could use some focus and growth, and statistics about how we rank next to other major cities in the country.

• In 2007, Calgary had the highest number of small businesses per capita
• Over 500,000 people per day use Calgary Transit, with over half of that being C-Train use. This is the highest per capita rate of any light rail train system in North America.
• Calgary has over 10,000 hectares of green space with two of largest urban parks in Canada
• Alberta ranks second in the world for student achievement.

To read the full report, click HERE. Trust me- It’s totally worth your time!!

Today, I’m going to talk about a couple of things that are delicious and invented in Calgary!  The Caeser,  invented by bartender Walter Chell at the Owl’s Nest Bar in the Calgary Inn (now Calgary Westin Hotel) in 1969. The best caeser in town in my books is from Original Joe’s in Kensington.

Next up is Ginger Beef:  Although his name is lost to history, it is thought that a Chinese chef working in Calgary came up with the crunchy ginger beef with the sweet sauce that is so popular in Alberta. I’m a fan of the vegetarian version myself and the best the city has to offer is either Budha’s Veggie or an ancient Chinese secret called White Oak in China town. I’ve heard that someone’s uncle was the genius inventor… Does anyone have the legendary facts to prove this once and for all?

I wanted to give a head’s up to everybody that Livestock is having a sale online right now. They’ve been a huge supporter of the Canada Is Awesome network since we launched it last February and they’ve been so kind as to help us pay for bandwidth by taking out the banner ad you see on the right. Please help us by visiting their site right now by clicking HERE or on their banner. Every unique click we send their way helps us out…

as a follow up to my last post, i figured that you really can’t talk about the death of these guys without talking about their resurrection.

and mannn, are they alive!!!

today i found them wearing hats, hanging out on front stoops, and even bicycling.

I’m of the opinion that the recent snowfall to hit our city, is kinda awesome. It’s obviously not as exciting if you’re a bus driver in this city, or if you’re a bike courier, but I think most Calgarians appreciate the recent dump of snow.

The Calgary Herald has posted some reader submitted photos of the city, and they also have a gallery of their own, shot by Herald contributors.

Check them out if you’re interested:

Calgary Herald Reader Gallery

Calgary Herald Photographer Gallery

Dr. Ellis Jones is an amazing human who has dedicated his life to making the world a better place for ALL of us. He has a website- Better World Shopper- that rates companies and organizations based on their level of commitment to 5 keys principals:

1) Human Rights 2) Environment 3) Animal Protection 4) Community Involvement 5) Social Justice.

All these things are crucial to creating a healthy, happy, FAIR world for everyone. So simple right? But where do we start?

According to Dr. Jones, there are 10 areas of focus that can truly make a difference in the balance of power and the quality of life for everyone on this planet. By making slight adjustments in our lives, and considering where we spend our money, we really have an opportunity to make the world a better place. And here in Calgary, we have an ABUNDANCE of companies and organizations that are so worthy of this shift. The average North American Household spends $18,000 per year on goods and services- thats like 18,000 opportunities to voice our support for companies, products and services that are making a difference in our communities and around the world.

10 Essential Changes You Can Make Today-

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