Trade Show Weekend

I was going to write about this on Sunday, but a case of the lazies came over me, so bad that I didn’t decide to do this until today (actually, yesterday I was quite busy at work and had a couple of other things to blog about).

This past weekend was trade show weekend in Outlook.  The Fourth Annual Outlook & District Chamber of Commerce Trade Show to be exact.  96 booths were featured with businesses throughout the area and even some from Saskatoon came out to show off and describe everything from products to safety (as was seen at the RCMP roll over demonstration).  There was even a chance to get a glimpse of two members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders as Marcus Adams and Darian Durant made an appearance in the afternoon.

Of the three trade shows I’ve attended (I missed out on last year’s) this has got to be the best attended one so far.  There were a great number of spectators and everyone at their booths mentioned how this was better than last year.  And naturally, most everyone was sporting some form of Rider apparel (myself included).  As has been said in the past, a picture can speak a thousand words, so without further ado, here’s a sampling of this past weekend.

Marcus Adams and Darian Durant make it to the trade show. Durant, in his first full year with the Riders as starting quarterback, lead the Riders to a first place finish and a berth into the Grey Cup. Adams helped anchor one of the best defenses in the Canadian Football League last year.

The crowd gathers as the arrival of the Riders is anticipated. People could sign the.. well, sign displayed at the back which boldly states Rider Nation.

Almost one hundred booths had different products available. From farm equipment to clothing to furniture to food. This year's trade show had a lot to offer everyone, including the kids, as there was a pony ride and a bouncy house.

The RCMP had their roll over demonstration and a small demonstration with an available police dog.

Saskatchewan Alley Cat Allies made their third appearance to the trade show, this year adopting out a cat. The organization rescues abandoned cats, gives them medical attention and finds homes for them. Sask Alley Cat Allies only had to put down 5% of the cats they rescued last year, compared to 75% by the SPCA. All cats rescued by Sask Alley Cat Allies received treatments and are spayed and nutered. And yes, that's an iguana sitting under the sun lamp.

This is the place I got my new Rider jacket. I needed a new spring/summer jacket anyway, and got it here at the trade show. Tried on the Friday before, but almost all of their Rider gear had been packed away to travel over to the Jim Kook Recreation Complex for the day of the show.

A crowd gathers around another of the attractions, a silent auction. In this same area was where the antique appraiser Vern Reese came to give his expert opinion on items that everyone could bring in for appraisal.

And that’s another successful trade show.  Until next year (for the show, at least)…

…keep ’em flyin’!

 

The weather has turned to crap

Three weeks ago we had a great day with a high of 10 Celsius.  Last weekend, the temperature soared to 19, shorts and T-shirt weather.  Then yesterday, old man winter decided he hadn’t said good-bye to us all properly.

Friday mornings are the mornings I get up really early and head into work really early.  I get the paper ready for delivery and set off to haul everything to the post office.  Next week we’ve got an insert and it’s also the day everyone in Outlook gets a paper for free.  Getting up yesterday was easy, especially when the wind outside was howling.  The constant whistling dragged me from my bed.  Low and behold, the wind was somewhere around 50 kilometers per hour gusting to 70 kilometers per hour.  Add snow and blowing snow to the equation and yesterday was a pretty crappy day indeed.

But that was not the worst of it.

On my drive to work, I had to drive around a large spruce tree that had fallen into the middle of the street, thanks to the strong wind that had snapped it fifteen feet up.  I only managed to get a picture after it had been cleaned up.  Normally I don’t take my laptop and camera to work on Friday.  That may change now.  Later in the afternoon, however, there was a spruce tree that toppled over.  Or at least snapped in two.  The upper part of the spruce tree in front of the apartment across the street from me had the top ten to fifteen feet break off in the wind.  The tree that stands right beside it was fine, however, even though it looked like it would break off right near the base.  The needles and branches weren’t nearly as thick as the other spruce, which may have been the reason why it didn’t break.

As the day progressed, the temperature did get warmer, and while I know that 5 or 6 Celsius is not T-shirt and shorts weather, it was warm enough to begin melting the snow.  Which began to turn to slush and sleet.  Driving conditions were horrid, combining the wet, mucky streets with the poor visibility.  Add a great deal of tree debris on the roads and you had a recipe for a few accidents.  There were some.  I was informed of accidents just outside of Rosetown.  One involved a milk truck that missed a turn and went into the ditch.  Glad I wasn’t driving yesterday.

Speaking of driving, I uploaded this video on Youtube.  The maximum speed I was driving yesterday was about 10 kilometers per hour.  You can also see the strength of the wind.

Oh, and today it’s snowing again.  So the photos I promised three weeks ago that would compare how the buds and trees that were coming along had progressed… not happening.  I’ll try it again next weekend.  Just hope that old man winter doesn’t stick around during all next week.

Until next time…

…keep ’em flyin’!

Oh snap season highjack

First off lemme point and laugh at Tim because I can and because I’m such and awesome friend. I got better weather…kinda.

Outside my apartment, the sun is usually shining, birds singing and pollen is pissing my allergies off with it’s cheerful blooms. That’s right spring has hit here full force.

Just the other not so sunny day I snapped a picture of the crab apple tree right out front. The white one is outside my dining window and the pink one below is just outside my neighbor’s.

The thing I love about these trees is the vibrant colors. Sure I know they are going to be horrible when the fruit comes in and I know I’ll be sick of spring and shortly after summer because of the bugs. But right now it’s pretty watching everything come to life again and even watching birds make their nests like Mr. Robin who is plotting on in my crab apple tree this season.

Keep it real and rockin’

 

Geocaching: hi-tech treasure hunting

What is geocaching?  Well, according to geocaching.com it is this:

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

This past weekend in Saskatoon, Pearce Kilgour and I went on a geocaching search.  There was a couple of caches he hadn’t found that we tried finding.  Unfortunately, we had no luck in finding them.  He did show me one he had found one the university campus.  Of which there are several.

Geocaching is really just a hi-tech treasure hunt.  But it’s a great way to get out and see new things.  Pearce and I stopped at Raoul Wallenberg Park, just off 8th Street in Saskatoon.  Across from the park was a really nice looking church, and a well designed house.  Pearce mentioned that coming to the place in the evening was spectacular, as the lights added a great deal to the area.

A problem with geocaching can be it’s really, really dirty.  It’s a treasure hunt after all.  But don’t go into the field wearing your Sunday best.  I learned the hard way you can get filthy by rooting around in a spruce tree.  The sleeve of my coat became quite sticky with sap.

When you’re out searching for cache sites, there’s often a few tell tale markers that a cache is out there.  Something that gives a bit of a clue as to where the actually box is.  And the box can be anything from the size of a matchbox to a coffee tin.  Some people leave little trinkets inside the larger ones, and in the smaller ones, there’s just enough room for a small piece of paper.  Usually there is at least a log book.

In Saskatoon, there are hundreds of caches, and even in a small town like Outlook there are a few.  Eight, from what I’ve learned.

To make the adventure a bit easier, most hunters use a GPS unit.  A lot of the cache sites are uploaded to a main site, and then can be downloaded for one’s own GPS unit.  Sometimes, however, a cache can be missing or destroyed, either by those not know what it’s for (often called muggled) or by an animal that’s just been curious.

A few of the interesting things that we did find while on our caching adventure on the weekend was the odd things of nature that we saw.  Such as the massive tumble weed wedged into a tree.  I don’t know if there actually was any way that this thing could have ended up just being blown into the trees on the University of Saskatchewan campus, but it was there.  It looked like a small tree itself, really.  It also brought about another danger, that being twigs and branches the either smack in the face or poke constantly while doing a search.  Some of these caches were in very hard to find places.  As you can see, we had to grab a snap of the “small tree” that tried to call itself a tumble weed.

For more information on geocaching, go to the webiste www.geocaching.com.  Also, check out the fun facts about geocaching at wikipedia.

Until next time…

…keep ’em flyin’!

 

Farmer’s Market

A while ago, I did a write up on the local Outlook Farmer’s Market.  I like going to farmer’s markets, there’s all sorts of produce and products to buy, and often times you’re pretty sure it’s locally grown or produced.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Saskatoon Farmer’s market.  It was awesome!  Located in the city’s downtown and part of the river front project that is ongoing right now in Saskatoon, it was a nice change of pace from the bustle of going through a major shopping centre.  It’s also proof that establishments like Wal*Mart will not be the end of all smaller businesses.  Mostly because a lot of those smaller businesses have produce and products that Wal*Mart can’t (or will not) carry.

When I walked into the farmer’s market, I had a sudden feeling that this was like the exhibitors lane at the Saskatoon Ex, but on a smaller scale.  And it’s held year round, as opposed to just for the ten day duration of the Ex.  Or, in the Outlook Farmer’s Market case, just during the summer months.  To be fair, this building was set aside by the Saskatoon City Council and by the business community.  It adds to the River Landing.

Locally grown produce and locally manufactured food stuffs and hand crafts are all on display.  Even a couple of restaurants have set up smaller food court versions in this place to give the place a nice sit down area to have a bite to eat.  And next door to it all is a specialty beer and wine store, filled with imported (both internationally and interprovincially) alcohols.  From pale ales, to stouts, to bitters, it’s got it all.

It’s one of many wonderful things to do on a Saturday afternoon, or during the week over the lunch hour.  Be careful about heading out to the Farmer’s Market during the work day, however, because you can easily lose track of time while you’re browsing the wares.  But it is an experience that should not be missed at all.  Markets like this are a great thing, whether it’s in a city the size of Saskatoon, or a town the size of Outlook (or smaller).  But the bottom line is this; support your farmer’s market.  You are in a win win situation when you buy locally grown and produced products.

Until next time…

…keep ’em flyin’.

 

Spring is sprung

I remember a small poem when I was younger…

Spring has sprung, the grass has ris’,
I wonder where the birdie is?
There he is up in the sky,
He dropped some whitewash in my eye!
I‘m alright, I won’t cry,
I’m just glad that cows can’t fly!

It was hilarious (of course I did, I was five).  And as I found, there’s several different versions of it.

Spring is officially here now, the tell tale signs are all around.  One of the biggest is when the sun rises in the morning.  For six months (okay not exactly six months, but when you live in an area that is plunged into darkness for a good portion of the year it feels like longer) darkness still settled in around us during the early morning hours.  Now around five in the morning, you can start to see the sun rise on the horizon.  A reminder that it won’t be long until I start complaining that the sun is streaking through my bedroom at four in the morning.

Another stark reminder is the lack of snow.  We had a pretty good snow fall the other day, but the very next day it was gone.

Yesterday’s temperature was decent enough that I could even walk around in shorts and a T-shirt (okay, shorts and a hockey jersey with a jean jacket, but still).  The weather was warm, a nice breeze to be had, not the usual harsh wind we sometimes experience in March.  All in all, it was pretty decent and I got to enjoy yesterday walking around and taking some photos.

While it was unfortunate that I couldn’t spot any buds yet, most likely because the weather, while warm, hadn’t been that warm for a good number of days, I did see some other signs of spring life.  Rather, I heard them.  Birds, and lots of them.  The happy twittering of birds (and no, I don’t mean the social media program, I mean actual birds) as they gathered the necessary things to get ready for nesting.

While it wasn’t straight into the warm, wonderful days I am longing for, it at least gave hope that warmer days are coming around.  While I could go on and talk about all that I saw, let’s leave it to pictures that I took yesterday.

Until next time…

…keep ’em flyin’!

 

Winter Olympics: a recap from the prairies

Over the last two weeks, I’ve refrained from discussing the winter games very much, if at all.  But that’s not to say I didn’t observe.  Just how well did Canada’s Own The Podium go over?  Not too bad, actually.

At the end of everything, Canada’s Olympic team did not capture top spot in medals, that honour went to the United States, as the Americans took home 37 medals.  An Olympic record.  Vancouver 2010 was an event that saw a number of records fall.  But not in races so much.  Granted, the Canadian Women’s hockey team set an Olympic record by scoring 18 goals against Slovakia.  But this year’s Olympics saw the host nation top the gold medal standings.  Canada set a record for number of gold medals, both overall and by the host nation with 14.  Sunday’s gold medal hockey game win by Team Canada was the jewel set into a crowning achievement.

Looking back on it all, there was disappointment to begin with.  Athletes were not fairing as we had hoped they would.  Sure, a couple picked up silver and bronze, but that elusive gold wasn’t coming.  It did start to trickle in, and there was an excitement that surrounding the games.  The talk was how much better this was than Turino.  I checked the medal counts, and at the time I did, Canada only had 17 medals.  In Turino, Canada captured 24.  My reaction; hold on, we did better in Turino.  But the number of gold medals was a key factor in these games.  Never before has Canada picked up that many gold medals.  Never before has the Canadian National Anthem been heard that many times at an event like the Winter Games.

The final achievement came when Sidney Crosby scored on American goalie Ryan Miller in overtime, allowing the Canadian men to capture the gold medal in a hard fought game that many are saying will be remembered with the likes of events such as the ’72 Summit Series and 1987 when Mario Lemieux scored to lift Canada past the Russians.  This gold was even sweeter than the gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002.  At that tme, Canada was cruising to a 5 to 2 victory over the Americans.  This game was so much closer.

Sidney Crosby has solidified himself in the hearts and minds of Canadian hockey fans, and at such a young age as well.  He can now join the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Lemieux and Paul Henderson in the greatest moments in hockey for Canada.

The question now is, had Canada not won the gold medal in hockey, would the games had been just as successful?  It would have, yes, but Canada would have tied the record for number of gold medals at 13.  This win put them on top of the world.  Canada did Own The Podium at this event, that is no question.

Canadian athletes came from all across this nation.  From Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, to Alma, Quebec, to London, Ontario, to Russell, Manitoba, to Carlyle, Saskatchewan, to Edmonton, Alberta, and to Whistler, British Columbia.  Canada had already picked up a few medals early in the games, but the party started when Jon Montgomery picked up the gold medal in Men’s Skeleton.  His now famous walk through the streets of Whistler, where each and every Canadian wanted to share in that pitcher of beer.

With Vancouver’s celebrations coming to a close, there is no time to become complacent.  Canada now has to look to Sochi, Russia in 2014.  Can they Own The Podium and improve on what they did in Vancouver?

 

Here in my car…

I went searching through some of my old photos as I did a bit of a clean up, and found these.  It was a small show put on in Saskatoon (by small, more like museum displays) that was on display at the old Zellers location on 8th Street.  The show was on for a small period of time, but it did have some vintage cars there.  Sadly, the part of the mall that the display was housed in has since been demolished.

And just because seeing these pictures got the song stuck in my head…

Until next time…

…keep ’em flyin’.

 

Behind the scenes

A lot of people know that I do the public address announcing at local hockey games.  But not many have seen, or heard me describe the tiny little both that I sit in.  Or what’s done after the hockey game comes to an end.

Twisted Sister is actually okay to play.

Games usually take place on Wednesday, Friday or Saturday evenings or on a Sunday afternoon.  There’s the rare occasion where a rescheduled game is played on a Monday.  Such as what happened this past season.  If the game is on a weeknight, I head down to the arena at 7:00 p.m., and get ready for an 8:00 p.m. start.  I’ve got a large amount of gear I take with me, just in case.  My camera, so I can have pictures for the paper.  My laptop, to keep track of goal scorers, assists, penalties, shots on goal and so on.  I also use the laptop to play music, which gets plugged into the arena sound system.  You have to be careful when choosing the appropriate music for a hockey game.  Ministry is not a good band for hockey music, while GnR, Metallica and Ozzy Osborn are just fine.  Especially if you use Crazy Train when the home team comes onto the ice to start the game.  Other good options for music are the classic standards.  Gary Glitter – Rock ‘n Roll Part II (also known as the Dr. Who theme), anything by Tom Cochrane (especially Big League and Victory Day), anything by Rush (especially Tom Sawyer), anything by the Tragically Hip (especially 50 Mission Cap and My Music @ Work), and Stompin’ Tom Connors the Hockey Song.  That last one is almost a necessity.  If you don’t have it, something is horribly, horribly wrong with you.  A few other staples include Theory of a Nickle Fault (Theory of a Deadman, Nickelback and Default), Blink 182 and any high energy dance mix.  ABBA and Queen are definitely out.

This would be so much cooler.

The booth itself is small, while the location is fine.  The entire length of the ice gets a decent showing, and everything is seen clearly.  There’s even a decent sound system in the booth, but no one really knows the best settings unless you go through trial and error.  Sometimes, during the game.  There’s a small phone mounted on the wall, which is connected directly to the time keeper’s bench (it’s beige, I wanted it to be red, then I could always answer “The Bat Line” but NOOO! couldn’t have that).  Along with the phone and sound system is a small bench to set writing materials and such onto, and a few stools.  From time to time I’ll get help with the music, so instead of using my laptop, an iPod gets used.  The last piece of equipment is the horn.  Just an air horn that sounds out loudly, and gets used for when the players hit the ice or when the home team scores a goal.

See? Scuff marks on the glass.

Taking photos through the plexiglass of the booth is a tad challenging, as you have to find the perfect spot so as not to get a scuff mark from a puck in the middle of the photos.  Believe it or not, sometimes a wayward puck will smack the glass outside the booth, and it leaves a nasty rubber mark on the glass.  And on rare occasions the shot is by accident.  Needless to say, it can often be a challenge to take a photo without some grey blob in the middle of it, usually obscuring a goal or a decent shot.  It’s Murphy’s Law as subjected to photography.

My desk... a mess.

Once the game is over, I take all the statistical information I’ve gathered and actually attempt to write a sports report on the game.  Lately, it’s usually involved the losing side of things for the home team Ice Hawks.  I will admit there have been some times when I’ve found some good things to write, especially from the efforts of individual players.  Always when I’m writing the stories and organizing the photos, my desk looks like a complete mess, as I not only have to deal with my desktop iMac but my Acer Aspire laptop as well.  On top of that, I have to transfer photos from my camera to my desktop and also from my laptop to my desktop (the laptop makes a handy storage device in a pinch).  You’d think that really I’d only have maybe three or four photos to worry about, but anyone worth their salt in photography knows that if you want a decent shot, one decent photo from a sporting event, you will have to sort through at least 250 to 300 photos (more if your only job is to take photos).

That, in a nutshell (a really big nutshell, mind you) is what goes on behind the scenes at a hockey game.

Until next time…

…keep ’em flyin’.

 

Blood of the Moon: Acadia Richardson

Clarissa has done it again!

Thanks to her talent, she has managed to bring another character that is a part of the forth coming Blood of the Moon series to life.  Acadia Xandra Richardson.  A very enigmatic woman, graceful and stylish, one would almost wonder why she is working at the local tavern called The Winter’s Club.  She has her reasons, and will only give them to those she trusts.  Acadia is very open about her sexuality, and has a knack for being able to read people quite well.  She carries herself as a woman who is quite worldly, and knows a great deal more than she lets on.

Acadia will be the first main character Chelsea will encounter in both her everyday guise as a criminal lawyer, and in her nocturnal hunt as the Black Bowhuntress.  Whatever steamy relationship arises between Chelsea and Acadia will only draw more questions about the woman herself, just how much does she really know about The City, and how long has she been around for.

Clarissa has provided two wonderful pieces, one featuring a rather sultry pose and the other showing Acadia in her work attire.

As always, Clarissa’s body of work can be found here.

 

It’s just a rodent anyway…

Today is the day when furry prognosticators come out of their holes in the ground and try to out do Environment Canada and meteorologists around the globe do every day.  Predict what the remaining days are going to be like before the official Spring Equinox rolls around.  This morning, at 8:07 a.m. EST, in a town in Southern Ontario, Wiarton Willie crawled out of his hole.

He then crawled right back in after seeing his shadow.

This means six more freakin’ weaks of winter.  Actually in Saskatchewan, it means ten more weeks.  Had Willie not seen his shadow, then we’d have been right on schedule.  But wait!  Willie’s not the only furry prognosticator in the Western Hemisphere.

Let’s check in on Punxsutawney Phil!

Or maybe not.  Seems that little… guy has also predicted six more weeks of winter.  The scarey thing is both Willie and Phil aren’t that far off.  Both groundhogs have been doing this for some time (or at least the family of Willie and Phil has, no telling how many groundhogs have taken up the weather predicting torch over the century).  For a time, Willie was much more accurate than Phil, but Phil’s started to catch up.

Phil and Willie aren’t the only prognosticating groundhogs in the western hemisphere.  Brandon, Manitoba has Brandon Bob.  Staten Island Chuck in New York.  Gary the Groundhog in Kleinburg, Ontario.  And then there’s Shubenacadie Sam, a resident of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia.  None of those groundhogs get the media attention that Willie or Phil do, mind you.  And around Canada and the United States, there has got to be others, even less known than those second tier groundhogs mentioned here.  I know back in my old radio days, I pushed to get Saskatchewan’s own gopher trained to predict the weather.  Eston, Saskatchewaan would have been the perfect place, as that happens to be home of the Saskatchewan Gopher Derby.  I had a very hard time convincing people, because gophers in Saskatchewan aren’t seen as cute and cuddly, but rather much like the vermin they are.  As they fill pasture land with holes making it a headache for ranchers as they have to protect their livestock from broken legs in the event that poor Bessy steps in one by accident.  Not to mention what the little bastards can do to a garden.

Well, at any rate, another Groundhog Day has come and gone, and the furry meteorologists have made their predictions.  As wonderful and cute as they are, we in Saskatchewan are rather tired of winter.  I think I’ll trust Environment Canada’s predictions this year.

Until next time…

…keep ’em flyin’!