Calgary Fall Sunset

Sunset in YYC last night

Fool me once....Stampeders Blow it Again

Nothing better for civic pride than the local sports squadron winning a Championship. For the second in as many years, the Calgary Stampeders literally tore defeat from the hands of victory in the last minute of the Championship game. These guys aren't closers. They aren't winners. THey aren't a 'dynasty'. The CFL is so small, that you can dominate regular season play as the Stamps have done, and never win the Grey Cup. Nobody celebrates runner up. DOn't know what that team does to improve, but they need some big game players that won't fold when all the marbles are laid out. Coaching too was suspect. TWICE folks. There's no sports analogy that I can think of that's similar to the debacle! Oh well. Luckily, the city moves on quite well. P.S. I'm a fan of not having a Grey Cup game in the middle of Winter. Just me?

Nenshi for 3rd term

The Calgary civic election has come and gone and it's business as usual. Every incumbent councillor is back, including Johnny Jew. The race to watch, however, the one that got a voter turnout to a size we haven't seen in 30 years, that was the mayoral race. If you trusted the media leading up to the final week, you thought Bill Smith had a comfortable lead. But the media was duped. How much of that was intentional to shape the election, we'll never know, but it was fishy to me. The race in the end wasn't close. Or rather, it was close in that the margin of separation wasn't much. 51% for Nenshi, about 44% for Bill Smith. The interesting piece to the entire race was how hard conservatives worked to get their man in. It didn't matter Smith had zero platform. They were basing the entire race on character assassinations. A lot of people don't like Nenshi. The arrogance argument came up many times. Apparently being arrogant to the developers or even the Calgary Flames is bad for citizens. Which it's not. Which brings up another point, how much pie is on the face of the Calgary Flames. They've tainted their image in the eyes of many Calgarians because they tried very hard to meddle in the election get the outcome they wanted. They want a new building, they want it for free on the backs of taxpayers, and Calgarians showed up to say 'no'. Good job Calgary. I hope the conservative vote learned something.....a solid candidate with a smart platform would've won. The ad hominem attacks a la Republican style, didn't work here.

I hate kijii

Or rather I should say I hate 90% of people trying to buy things on Kijiji. Why is it that when you want to sell something that people are interested, 90% want more info but then never reply? I guess this is the nature of selling things on Internet. I get it. What I don't get is what's happening in this city when you agree to meet somebody but never show up. 75% of the people do this. Next time I'll just throw it all in the garbage. Unless you have an alternative?

Bowfort Debacle?

I was driving under the interchange at Canada Olympic Park, and swore I saw some steel columns that were being held down by some precariously balanced stone slabs. Turns out this was the latest public art display. Before people lose their minds and blamed counsel forSpending dollars in tough economic times, remember this is policy that was set long ago. A lot of people don't care, they just want somebody to blame. Which is sad that stupidity informs bad decisions. Does the artwork and the money that goes into public art need to be readdressed? Yes, I think so, but you don't just wait a magic wand and suddenly get your money back. And can we at least agree it's not as bad as the blue ring?

CalgaryNext and public dollars for private arenas

I've been loosely following the talk about building a new Saddledome, and although I love the vision (the West end development), I don't like the price tag for tax payers. I also don't like the fact billionaire owners are pressuring the City and fans to make a choice to essentially donate public dollars to the private profit maximizing corporation. I'm all for some fair deal that will see the team build their new arena. I'm not in favour of giving them handouts no other corporation gets just because they're loved by the city. Sure, there is an intangible benefit, but I don't for a second think public money for sports arenas makes any sense. In fact, the evidence proves otherwise, municipalities that poney up funds to build someone else's building always end up losing in the end, and it's by hundreds of millions of dollars. Although my heart says yes, the reality says no. Probably the best article on this topic came out recently here: https://flamesnation.ca/2017/05/01/two-years-in-still-no-critical-thought-of-new-arena-project/ Have a look.

PLayoff Fever!

Go Flames! What a tough loss, and what phantom call, that was a high-stick. Just like it was in in 2004. P.S. I don't like Anaheim.

May long for winter tires

Spring is here, but think twice about taking off your winter tires. My unwritten rule is never before May long weekend. ALthough you may be tempted, there's always a nice bit of snow somewhere in April. Last thing I want are the summer slicks keeping stuck at the underground parkade at Home Depot. Not that that's every happened to me before.

Calgary 4th Largest City in Canada after 2016 census data

With growth of 14.6 per cent, the highest of any metropolitan area in the country, Calgary is now Canada's fourth largest city at 1.4 million, moving ahead of Ottawa-Gatineau (1.3 million). Also at 1.3 million, Edmonton is the only other Canadian city with more than a million residents.

The population includes 'Greater Calgary Area' of Cochrane, Chestermere, and Airdrie. It does not include Okotoks. Natural increase (births over deaths I believe) was near zero. Most of the national population increase is due to immigration. 2017 data, and beyond, may show a net decrease due to the shift in the energy sector that employs a number of Calgarians. Western Canada as a whole also saw net increases, higher than their eastern counterparts. The .pdf from census Canada is here. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170208/dq170208a-eng.pdf

Nice post of Peace Bridge

Frigid temperatures yet again. To be expected in February, but this has been an unusually cold Winter. Long stretches of -30 and lower due to wind chill. But there are still some opportunities to capture the beauty.

2017 Civic Election Year in Calgary

2017 is election year for the municipal government in Calgary. We know the Mayor will run again. The Councillors are now starting to declare. The surprise out of the gate is that Ward 11 Councillor Brian Pincott won't be back. Whatever your political position is, you can't deny the tireless work Councillors put in, especially Brian over his tenure. Heres' the announcement. http://www.calgary.ca/citycouncil/ward-11/Pages/News/The-Walrus-Announcement.aspx