104 Street

104 St is located in the heart of the warehouse district. In the late 90's it was 4 blocks of vacant buildings except for a gay night club at one end and the Cecil hotel at the other. The Cecil was later shut down to health code reasons so that tells you what kind of place it was.
Today the street is full of funky shops and is home to the DT farmers market in the warmer months. Condos have sprung up in the form of lofts and high rises.
This shot looks North up the street along side the Revlon building.

Paul Kane Park - The Story

The story of the park's namesake - Paul Kane was born Sept 3, 1810, in County Cork Ireland and came to Canada with his family when they settled in the village of York. He attended the York District Grammar School and later was apprenticed to a furniture maker. As a young man he became interested in painting and in 1830, enrolled as a mature student in Upper Canada College, where he studied under the drawing master T. Drury. I in time he became a professional portrait painter. From 1836 to 1845 he roamed USA and Europe, earning enough to live on by painting portraits.
After this he returned to Canada to accomplish his dream of “devoting whatever talents an proficiency I possess to the painting of a series of pictures illustrative of the North America Indians and scenery.” The resulting paintings of Canada’s original inhabitants, over 400 of which are in The Royal Ontario Museum, have made him justly famous.


-Although Paul Kane lived in Toronto he spent a large amount of time out West and his name is attached to public spaces across Canada . My favorite just might be Paul Kane Skateboard Park in Sherwood Park ;-) -

Have a great Tuesday.

Little Frozen Apples

The news has reported multiple Coyote sightings. They often live in the river valley system and come up into the neighboring communities to scour for food.

Little did I know, but they will eat the over ripe fruit as it falls from the trees in fall/winter.

All I have in my neighborhood are rabits! I'm fine with that.

PAZ

Don't ask me what PAZ stands for or the symbol.

I have no idea

Look at me being all Ansel Adams.

Paul Kane Park

I very much enjoy how the crisp blue caused by the overcast conditions contrasts with that of the very warm but harsh lighting that is given off by a standard outside the picture boarders.

This picture looked very good in black and white, but the contrast was lost and so I have elected to leave it in colour.

Enjoy.

First Snow Fall

Ok.. I woke up and a wet sticky snow had fallen.

The Blog has not been a top concern over the last 2 months as I am currently ending the relationship I have been in for the last 7 years.

It's amazing the energy it takes.

ANYWAYS.. I am back and once again committed.

Please enjoy ;-)

Vi's for Pies

Vies is a great little cafe that has many things other than pies to offer. Because it's located in between the ritzy neighborhoods of Old Glenora and Glenora, you can grab a gourmet coffee and go for a walk and look at all the beautiful houses. Vi's is an Edmonton institution.

Earls

I am starting to shoot some of my favorite haunts.

Earls is only a few blocks from my house so it's a quick and easy place to get a meal. I have been going to earls since I was a teenager. The chain has gone from great food at very affordable prices to good food at slightly above average prices.

The restaurants are all being redone in that ultra modern fashion that is so vogue today, and the parrot that you see was at one time a major symbol of the earls chain.

Fall in Parkland

OK 70 bucks for a charger ACK!

O well....

The sad thing is I missed all the fall colours, except for this one shot which I took just before my camera died.

ACK!

I Have lost the charger to my Camera... As son as I can take more pictures I will ;-)

The End of Jasper

I am lucky to have such an amazing place so close to me.

Sadley enough I don't make the most of it.

That will have to change.

This 5 km hike took us up the mountain onto sulpher ridge.

Log Jam

Another fun texture shot

A Quiet Moment

No explanation needed.

Punchbowl Falls

On the road leading up to the hot springs you pass by these falls. The path to view the falls does extend much beyond the bridge that you see. So In order to get the shots you see I had to go mountain climbing AND LET ME TELL YOU! Balancing not dropping your camera, scaling a hillside and trying not to get your new Diesel jeans dirty is hard for a city slicker.

The 15 year old boy inside me is also fully aware that these falls also resemble the female sex organs. Which does absolutely nothing for me personally, but there is still a certain giggle factor.

The New Site

I took these photos a little late in the day as you can see the sun had already set in the valley. It made for two very contrasting levels.

The new site has 4 pools, 2 unheated fresh water pools and the other two are hot spring feed.

There is a poolside cafe and the same family has help run this site for 3 generations now.

The water comes out of the mountain at 54 degrees Celsius and is cooled to 40 C or 104 F.

Old Hot Springs

The fist pool was constructed in the late 1930's. It is situated on the side of a valley along side a small river. The site is truly amazing.

The Bathhouse had a spa and massage services. It's second story viewing area had would have had an amazing view.

The pool was not large enough to meet demand so It was filled in and the bathhouse was razed. The foundation of the structure remains as it houses a large part of the hot spring collection network that feeds the new site today.

I'm Back and With a Picture of Me to Boot

I have had a very interesting vacation. Sorry I did not keep up with my photos, but I just needed to get away.

On one of my last days I rented a car and headed off to the mountains for a dip in the hot springs and to gain some clarity.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Sorry Guys,

I have been tied up at work. I am also going on a much needed vacation.

Posts will continue Sept 15

Ptincess Theatre

Taken from the Princess Theatre website:

The historic Princess Theatre was built in 1915. The original auditorium, with a balcony, is still much the same as it was originally built. An intimate 90 seat screening room has been added to the basement. The main auditorium is partially wheelchair accessible (rest rooms are upstairs) but the downstairs theatre is not wheelchair accessible. It is the only theatre in Edmonton to have a Cry Room. It is a sound-proof viewing room equipped with volume control and a change table; ideal for families. Matinees are held every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Monday is discount night, with all seats at $6.

Sorry Guys

I have been going to plays a lot of this week.. and the last play time is 12:15 am, so it's been eat, sleep and fringe.

I have also taken over a new department at work so I am busy busy busy.

Street Performers

On top of all the theatre, there are also street performers, beer gardens, vendors of all types and a children's area.

Posters and Playbills

The Fringe is all about soliciting people. These boards are the only place casts and crews can post their posters. You will also run into performer after performer handing out fliers and playbills.

I met a very nice musician from the UK in the beer tents, went and saw Te Be Arthur's (Look in the blog archive) and ran into some old theater friends.

The Fringe

From the fringe website;


“Doing the Fringe” or “Fringing” means being adventurous and taking a chance. Over 260 producers are taking a chance on being selected for the festival’s 100 available lottery placements. Fringe Festivals are your opportunity to experience bizarre and outrageous uncensored live theatre. There is no good OR bad…just raw human creativity needing to be expressed AND experienced. Sure there are the reviews, but you are not going to let a theatre critic tell you what to see…are you?? Its summer…Be Adventurous!

Orange County Bicycle

These chopper style bicycles are popping up everywhere. Personally I can't stand the "ape hanger" style of handle bars, as I think they look a little too goonish. Regardless or what one thinks it's fantastic to see bikes are viewed as being vogue and stylish. This is the kind of thinking that is going to save our planet.

Capoeira Dancers

The folowing is taken from wiki:

Capoeira (IPA: [ka.pu.ˈej.ɾɐ],Tupi-Guarani word for - clear area) is a blend of martial art, game, and dance that originated in Brazil, from the regions known as Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo. The art form originated in Brazil during the 16th century, a result of the slave trading that took place in conjunction with the previously enslaved native Indians. Capoeira was created and developed by slaves brought from Africa. Participants form a roda (circle) and take turns playing instruments, singing, and sparring in pairs in the center of the circle. The game is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, and extensive use of groundwork, as well as sweeps, kicks, and headbutts. Less frequently-used techniques include elbow-strikes, slaps, punches, and body-throws.

The End of Cariwest

Thats it... The end of the parade.
The cute little goober in the hat decided that she too belonged in the parade and was so kind as to stop right in front of me and pose.

Next up... The Fringe

Have You Figured Out I'm Gay Yet?

Visible minorities accounted for 17.1% of Edmonton’s total population in 2006, up from 14.6% in 2001. This was the fifth highest proportion among Canada’s census metropolitan areas. Reaching 175,295 in 2006, Edmonton’s visible minority population grew by 29.1% between 2001 and 2006, almost three times faster than the 10.6% growth rate for the overall population of Edmonton.Chinese comprised the largest visible minority group in Edmonton, representing 4.6% of Edmonton’s total population, and 26.9% of the CMA’s visible minority population. South Asian was the second largest visible minority group in Edmonton, representing 3.9% of Edmonton’s total population, and 22.9% of its visible minority population.

Just in case it wasn't obvious to you.. I'M GAY. Various shot of men, gay pride parades, ABBA references and schooling in the preforming arts should have tipped ya off. Anyways.. Happy Friday guys and galls. This weekend will be the start of Fringe. Look for a new photo theme comming soon.

Cariwest

Selecting the photos I will post of the parade has been agonizing. The colour, life and energy of this event made for great photo ops, and the best part was it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

This event was a photo no brainer

Cariwest

More Cariwest

You Can Dance! Having the Time of Your Life...

Eat your heart out ABBA, because you have nothing on this guy!

Cariwest

The Cariwest parade yesterday, t is a fantastic show. I will be posting pics for most of the week on Cari Wesr. The following is taken from Cariwest's homepage. http://www.cariwestfestival.com/

The City of Festivals present its most colourful festival - the Cariwest Festival! The Cariwest festival brings the spirit of the Caribbean to Edmonton. Enjoy the sweet sound of a steel pan, the spicy flavour on your tongue as you sample the foods of the West Indies, and “jump up” in the streets of Edmonton as you dance alongside the Mas bands, with Calypso music resonating through your soul! The Cariwest Festival is 3 days of fun filled activity. Join us on Friday night and be amazed by the artistic talent of the Colourful Costume Extravaganza, revel in the streets with the Cariwest parade on Saturday, dance the night away at the Saturday night fete and complete the weekend chillin’ in the park with us on Sunday, as we wrap up the festival. .