Club Events 2006
| 2006-01-01: COC - Grotto Canyon Ice Hike | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| We got off to a bit of a slow start this morning when we started down the trail and everything looked so different due to the spring flooding and lots of work and changes done by BayMag that it took us (ok, me) a while to figure out exactly where our trail was. We detoured briefly up a false branch, then continued on up the gravel road. Just as we (ok, I) were deciding that we'd gone too far and the false branch must have been the right trail, Joel went on up ahead just a few meters and found our right trailhead. From there, the trail was as straightforward as ever, although certainly changed from the flooding. It was a wondermous day out in the canyon, with sunny skies, warm temperatures, a beautifully icy canyon, and the hoodoo and cave to end the trail, as per usual. Most of us finished off the day at Kilkenny where we encountered some dog rompers and x-c skiers, then some of us moved on to Cineplex Odeon at Crowfoot where we watched \"Rumor Has It\", which some of us enjoyed and some of us thought... \"meh\". Oh, and \"Princess Shelley\" got her nickname. hehe... -- Rhonda
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| 2006-01-04: COC - $1 Movie at Cardel: In Cold Blood | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-01-06: COC - Prairie View Trail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In this dismayingly snow-free winter, we are consoling ourselves with hiking when some of us (ok, me) would rather be snow shoeing. Prairie View Trail and Barrier Lookout are a pretty durned good substitute, though, when a substitute is called for. We had a beautiful day... it was VERY warm going up, and about halfway through the hike, it started getting colder and windier, but still very very nice (especially considering it's JANUARY). More than half the group went all the way up to Barrier Lookout, while the rest of us opted to stop for the day at the first open lookout over Barrier Lake. It's great to have options! :) -- Rhonda
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| 2006-01-09: COC - Belly Dancing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-01-10: COC - Johnston Canyon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The day was perfect for a stroll along Johnston Canyon. A few flakes were falling as we headed up to the lower falls. Most of the falls had frozen into a beautiful shade of blue. There was snow along the pathway, but it wasn't slippery. We used our ice cleats to be sure no one would take a polar bear swim. We had lunch at the upper falls and were entertained by four ice climbers. The sky was clearing as we headed back and could clearly see the surrounding mountains, including Castle Mountain. We stopped in Canmore at the Drake on the way back. The food was very good and the fireplace took the chill out of us. We will definitely be stopping at the Drake again! Thanks to everyone who came out, it was a wonderful outting. Viola
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| 2006-01-11: COC - Dinner - Marathon Ethiopian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Well, let me just say that 5:30 PM at Marathon DOES NOT WORK, even with a reservation. I've known that Marathon doesn't always open on time, but I guess I assumed that with a reservation for 8 people AT 5:30 they would make an effort. Nope. With a group of people still standing around on the sidewalk at 5:45, we decided to walk down to have dinner at Blue Nile instead. We left a note on the outdoor menu at Marathon for the three who had yet to arrive; one of them saw it and found us, while the other two were left to wonder what happened. My sincere apologies to them. Dinner at Blue Nile was fantastic, though!! I really needed that! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-01-13: COC - Hiking Weekend in Nordegg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beatniq Goldeye Ramblins Driving in the dark…. into the heart… of Nordegg Gold Eye sure wasn’t dry. Foosball. Boozehall. Shuffleboard. Fireside. The Matrix babe wagon. Jamiroqai. I’m braggin’. Two Euro-foxes. Two homegrown vixens. All pushin’ the minivan that inexplicably went ditchin’. Short haul to the waterfall. Don’t fall off that cliff wall! Trail mix. Jerkey. (Some of it turkey.) The neon hiker was a beacon. And a warning to blurry eyed hunters. Ice rink. Pickup game. Wasn’t tame. Tho’ the biggest tumbles were self inflicted. Dang ruts. Skipping pucks. Goalies. Follies. Alvin’s “Ten” on his rear end. Rhonda as Ronaldo. Kick that ball. Kick. Kick. Hot tub trickery to make more room. Climb a tree and a reward there will be. A special “cup.” But first embrace the cheese-grater bark. Embark. Embark. The troubadors played over the crackling fire. But when they retired, one was voted of the island. For “singing” too loud in his sleep. Mushroom in full bloom. Avoided a lost key tragedy. We weren’t hiking on thin ice, but it did growl at us… to watch our step. Respect. Respect. Good friends. The end. Ta ta for now. See you next Tuesday! daveneuf What a fantastic weekend! I met so many great people who I look forward to seeing again on future events. Some of my highlights: -Great carpool companions, thanks Dave and Wendy! -The beautiful views of the canyon on the hike. -The cut-throat hockey game on icers with beer in one hand and a stick in the other. -What Ian would do to be part of the first annual COC \"cup\". -The sounds coming from the ice on Sunday that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Kudos to the staff at Goldeye who kept us well-fed, entertained and did an overall excellent job. See you next Tuesday! (Or at the next trip to Goldeye) - Jess. Wow this excursion comprised of 31 people with various backgrounds and age levels. It was a bit overwhelming because in September there were only 9 of us. The weather on Saturday January 14th was fabulous. It was like hiking on a warm fall day. I wore too many layers and thus proceeded to strip along the ridge of the Big Horn Canyon. The warmth also prompted Sam to offer to show her girls to Glenn. For some reason, Glenn seemed to need some encouragement to strive on!! In the forested areas where the sun was shielded, I was able to find my way easily by following the fluorescence of Maryanne. Icers were a good idea. Even though there may have been only two-three icy patches along the hiking trail, I witnessed two slippages that could have resulted in significant injuries. Highly recommend the icers from Lee Valley (like everyone else!) The play on words was the highlight of the two evenings for those who did not have the gumption to partake in the high energy activities. It was hard to listen to other’s stories when the volume in the mess hall was on maximum. Therefore, those of us who wanted to sit around and quietly chitchat went to the common room in the hotel. Dirty talk kept the conversations funny and interesting and we sat up for hours talking about Gwen’s sex life (or lack thereof), what you could have “eaten”, Glenn’s sausage, Gio’s “Latins and Laces”, etc. In all I had a wonderful time and will sign up again. I’ll most likely be known as the Nordegg girl since the Nordegg outings are probably the only COC activities I am able to sign up for. Who knows you may see me again on some hiking trail or social event. - Gio Hike One: Cresent Falls We started off on the Bighorn Canyon/Crest Falls hike. An easy to moderate stroll along the edge of an incredible canyon under the skilled guidance of Marg Meisner. The view of the walls and depths of the canyon were amaising. The Cresent Falls could be seen shortly before the end of the hike from high up on the Canyon edge cascading over the edge of two creasent-shaped cliffs. The falls were nearly covered in a sheat of ice making it look like they were suspended in time until spring. Upon reach the falls the majority of the group headed back to Goldeneye for some skating, hot tub action and general hanging around. Five of us, myself, Charls The Colonel (Actually an Owner of WestJet), Lisette, Jenny and Allison decided to head for the upper falls a further four km up the trail. The trail from this point was much flater and the valley was wide and open. The hike was relatively uneventfull and the upper falls were not nearly as spectacular however the scenery was beutifull and we welcomed the added exercise and fresh air. After having lunch at the upper falls we returned the same way to the Goldeneye. Hike 2: Baldy Lookout Wanting a bit more chanllanging hike than the proposed Fish Lake route Charles the Colonel, Lisette, Susan, Cam, and myself decided to do the 8km long 450m Baldy Lookout. Not to be confused with the Mt. Baldy scramble at Barrier lake or Old Baldy on Highway 1 near Banff and Canmore. The hike quickly turned into a 10km 500m hike as the road was not maintained and we couldn't drive all the way in due to the snow. However, we went anyways. This hike amounted to a steep climb up an old fire road to a lookout on the bald summit of the mountain. I judge that about 350m of the hike was over the first 2.0km while the last 150m was over the last 3. The lookout was also accompanied by several large broadcasting towers which destroyed any perception of being in the wilderness, however the view of the nearby Rocky Mountains was incredible. From the mountain we returned quickly (as the trail was very steep) to our cars and headed for home. - Steve My group (me, Samantha, Jana and Shaun) got in quite late (about 10:30), and found everyone else already in full-on party mode. Had a great evening talking & sharing a few drinks. I went to bed eventually, and was just about asleep when the human buzz-saw (aka Glenn) came in and instantly fell asleep. After listening to him shake the walls for an hour or so I grabbed my sleeping bag and took posession of the couch in the common room. Had a great sleep there, except for the tick-Tick-TICK of the clock over the door! ;o) While some folks headed off in the morning for a \"real\" hike, a few others of us decided to take it a little easier. Rhonda, myself and a few others lazed around until noon, then did a nice little walk around Goldeye Lake. Saw a few Killer Grouse, and did a bit of walking on the lake. We realized that it was smooth enough for skating, and so planned to come back later that evening for a Wine & Cheese skating party. Instead, it just suddenly happened that everybody headed for the lake in mid-afternoon, after the energetic types had gotten back & relaxed for a bit. What followed was a couple of hours of no-rules hockey, followed by some ice soccer (complete with beer in hand!). A few of us managed to wipe out spectacularly, though with only minor injuries! (Me, Margaret & Alvin all hit the deck pretty hard!) After the REAL hockey nobody seemed in the mood for floor hockey, so no \"drunken hockey\" in the indoor arena. Just as well, because I for one was totally beat! Instead a bunch of folks hung out in the lodge drinking, singing, guitar playing etc. Others hung out in the hot tub. (stories of rampant debauchery abound, but I'll edit them to protect the guilty) Yet another group of us stayed in the cabin common room and told stories over a few drinks, trying to avoid the worst of the calamities going on elsewhere. The night ended with a very relaxing and peaceful sleep, as Glenn had been \"voted off the island\" by the rest of his room-mates. Sunday came all too soon, and after a good breakfast most of us headed for Fish Lake just a few miles away. Others headed out on another \"real\" hike. Apparently those who hadn't partied TOO hard the night before! We had a fun-filled walk around the lake, on the ice pretty much the whole way. Got to see some very exciting logs under the ice! Wooo... ;o) We were all a bit spooked when, about 3/4 the way around the lake, the ice started booming. Strangest sound you've ever heard, quite low & a bit scary when you realize it's the ice under you shifting! Afterwards we all headed out, with Rhonda's carload heading west to the Icefields Parkway and the rest of us going into Rocky Mountain House for a good lunch. Then off home. A wonderful weekend, just over too soon! - Joel Personally I was quite disappointed with my drinking performance. I believe I had no drinks on Friday and 4 drinks on Saturday, and I was in bed (alone!!) by 11pm. Oh no wait, I did have someone in my bed on Friday \"winkwinkSibel\". It was a very relaxing weekend for me and I was thrilled to see my Calgary friends, and the sun (I've been spending alot of time indoors) Highlights for me were exploring the lake, the hockey game and just being outside and catching up with friends and the COC. I will definitely be leading more events to Nordegg, so watch for them! -Steph Friday: Arriving just in time for dinner, seeing old friends and new faces, followed by conversation by the fire and rousing games of ping pong and foosball. Trying out the hot tub, and winding down with more chatting by the fire. Saturday: Sleeping through the alarm (though the rest of the room didn't!), trying to find the right parking spot for hiking, nice hike along the canyon to a beautiful frozen waterfall, Fozzie dropping chunks of ice creating a thunderous roar through the canyon, human curling using the Colonel as the \"rock\", hearing stories later about a name being written in the snow. Quiet time, beer run to the Beer Cabin, more fireside conversation, lake hockey and skating (a few sore bums!), dinner, hot tub, foot and back rubs, Chip and Mushroom doing barefoot beer runs, the teachers trying to prunify themselves, Glenn and Merridy providing nice music, Glenn being voted off the island, sleep…. Sunday: Lost keys, re-arranging carpool, another adventure finding the hiking spot – Mount Baldy Fire Lookout - for those that did party too hard the night before! Moving *obstacles* out of the way to get up the road, making it about 1 km away from the gate (and the start of the hike) before there was too much snow on the road to continue on. Beautiful blue sky, brisk wind, clear 360 degree view of the David Thompson Highway area, running down, snow angel. A definite summer do-over hike! And a last note to remember - those who complain the loudest about snorers - snore the loudest! - Susan What an awesome weekend! Made it Friday night for dinner and to teach Glenn a lesson at Ping Pong! Spent some time in the hot tub, which was still sanitary that night. On Saturday we went to the canyon of course, but 5 of us made it to the upper falls. We could have used our snowshoes as we cross sections of 10-15cm of snow. The upper fall wasn’t that impressive but it was a nice hike. Next is the highlight of my weekend, skating and playing hockey on the lake. I haven’t done it in a long time and it was just amazing. I even got a purple knee to remind me how great it was! We won the game with a great game from Steph in net and a goal from Allison in 3rd overtime. The best fall goes to Alvin! Hope you were not hurting too bad on Sunday, but again that was a 10! I haven’t seen somebody hit the ice like that in a while, but a least you kicked that ball pretty good. Saturday night was spent doing the next best thing after hockey: drinking beer! Things stayed in control for most of us, I say for most of us… right Kevin! Even if it was hard to wake-up on Sunday, our room managed to make it for the breakfast. After that, we went off-road to get to Baldy Lookout. The view was amazing, you could enjoy the mountains, the prairies on the others side and tiny Fish lake! It took us about 1h30 to get up and 40mins to get down. I went back home with Sibel and Susan. We stopped at McDonald’s for a quickie. - Charles The highlights of the weekend for me were the fantastic views of Bighorn(?) Canyon on the Saturday hike, the great setting of the Goldeye Centre, my 3 great roomies & sleeping on the top bunk for the first time in many years. - Wendy Road Trip!! One of my favorite things about this weekend was the road trip with Harry and Marg. We set off on Friday afternoon and putt-putted our way up the 22, enjoying the scenery and the small towns as we went, including a stop in Sundre for coffee and banana bread. For the return trip, we went west from Nordegg to the Icefields Parkway and enjoyed some absolutely BREATHTAKING scenery along the way... the area had quite a bit of snow, and the sky was clear and blue with some perky clouds to keep it interesting. I was babying my back all weekend, so I stuck with easy hikes both days. -- Rhonda My weekend away to Nordegg was fantastic! I had such a great time and got to know quite a few members. Ian came to pick me up and almost killed my racing out of Bowness to pick up Alanah. We then made a mad dash to pick up Marta where Ian had drop her to get groceries and booze. Then we were off!!!! In search of the gas station to fuel up, not any of the 12 gas stations we passed but the well hidden Superstore gas station in Country Hills. Finally we hit the highway Marta and I cozied up in the back while Alanah kept Ian entertained. We did have a small set back, as there was a roll over on the highway. Yikes! We finally arrived around 7 pm and raced to the cabins to snag the last of the beds! HA HA HA As we were unloading we heard a loud CRACK!!!! Is your car ok Lissette? Then we scarfed down some lasagna and visited with the others. After a little fooz ball and ping pon then a few of us hit the hot tub. Sibel in her CFM boots was the talk of the night! Very hot! There was nothing but good clean fun happening in the hot tub despite what some of the pictures may appear to reveal. \"what happens in the hot tub.......stays in the hot tub!\" I think it was about 1 am when I decided to call it a night. The next day we were up in time for \"camp breakfast\" and a then large group of us headed out for a nice hike. I was in the first vehicle out and it took a little while to find the trailhead but we backtracked and found the spot. Yes my gear was quite bright and miss matched and I will forever be known as \"the neon hiker\". I am quite proud of my $5 ski jacket and $4 pants. Ok they were a little more than Jess’s \"fifty cent pant\" but still one heck of a deal! And we all love a good bargain! Right Kevin? I don't think I could work the sales person at the Thrift store like you did the gal at Eddie Bower. The hike was beautiful and we had some great views, tantalizing, tantalizing, titillating???? I was not the one carrying the info sheet. After the hike we went for a beer run to \"the cutest lil' liquor store ever\" and it's not just a clever name it actually IS the cutest lil' liquor store ever! Thanks to Kevin for hauling us out there : ) Although I think he may want to thank us....how often do you see one guy with a truck load of girls in the middle of the day downtown Nordegg??? Back to the cabins for some beers, some played hockey (sorry I missed that) and I was with the lounging group. After supper there was some more hot tubbin'. Ian I really hope, for your sake, that my camera was able to capture your dare. Ouch! That has got to hurt! More hanging in the lodge....I also missed out on the Karaoke fun (AW!) but caught some of the guitar playin'. Off to bed around 1:30 ish. Sunday morning a large group of us did a nice easy walk around the lake, made a new friend \"yellow dog\" and there was even a small tailgate party. My car pool pals and I went back to get Marta then we headed to Rocky to meet a few other for lunch at BP's. Allanah captured the attention of a much younger man and we shared pics on some of the cameras. I was unable to share my pics because they seem to be stuck inside or something??? My camera does not show pretty pictures on the backside. What is up with that? Oh right I am stuck in a time warp with my 1984 neon jacket and snowpants and my 35 mm camera. Well it is a good thing my camera got wet and quite possibly ruined because Ralph is now buying me a new camera! Sorry, but the jacket stays! A great time. \"I soooooo needed that!\" \"See you next Tuesday!\" - Maryanne My most memorable parts of the weekend: A couple of car loads of us pushing Ian out of the ditch (I guess the mini van doesn't handle off road too well) The scenic canyon on the Crescent Falls hike on a beautiful day Some \"intense\" shooter pouring Hot tob antics o' plenty Jessica's traumatic experiences over the weekend (hope you've recovered) The great facility at Goldeye and a walk around the lake The road trip back with Glenn, Sam and barely an inch to spare in my car...yet room enough for the rum My lovely roomates Steph, Sibel...and Kevin Lots of great people and loads of fun - Merridy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-01-14: COC - Hiking Weekend in Nordegg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-01-15: COC - Hiking Weekend in Nordegg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-01-16: COC - Lunch Downtown at Mongolie Grill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-01-18: COC - The Peacock Season at Pumphouse Theatre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To recap the plot for those who weren't able to attend: The play is set in 1908. Having made the mistake of marrying for love, Clarke and Cora Mariner are reminded upon renewed acquaintance with their former sweethearts, of all the riches their foolishness has denied them, and the simultaneous thought occurs to them that perhaps it's not too late to try again. But, as divorce is unthinkable in their circle, murder appears to be the only answer, whereupon they try to do away with each other— their diabolical plans goes awry to the extent of nine unintended victims. Suffice it to say that the police are as inept as the murderers and all ends in as stylishly—and as charmingly bizarre—a fashion as it began. The Joyce Doolittle Theatre at the Pumphouse is a wonderful venue for a 'murder mystery / comedy' such as The Peacock Season. I felt I was right there in the parlor, in the thick of things, even though we sat in the back row. It was the easiest way for us save spots and so we were able to sit together. I don't think there is a bad seat in the house. When I first moved to Calgary, I joined a theatre group and so might be a slight critical. Though I felt the acting and costuming was weak in a few areas or perhaps mis-cast. However strong performances and great costuming by the leads more than compensated for that. The set design also added to the magic and make believe. I'll watch for more productions and attend again. Jenn
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| 2006-01-22: COC - Art House Matinee, and Skating at Bowness Lagoon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating at Bowness Lagoon Art House Matinee: Mrs. Henderson Presents
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| 2006-01-27: COC - Tunnel Mountain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is a fantastic little winter hike, and we had gorgeous conditions for it - mild temps, blue skies, and enough ice on the trail for a couple of non-ice-cleat-people wipeouts, but nothing major. After \"summiting\" Tunnel mountain, we rewarded ourselves with eats and drinks at The Drake in Canmore where some of us (the less mature, apparently) amused ourselves by putting our faces under the hurricaine-like hand dryer in the washroom. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-01-28: COC - Alberta Culture Tour: Prairie Sentinels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thanks to all who came out yesterday for the Prairie Sentinels making it the great day it was. The elevator tour was well above expectation. Aside from being informative and inspiring, I think all of us got a much greater sense of how much a part of our history these elevators really are. If you wish to keep up to date on the progress of the elevators go to nantonelevators.com. You can contact Mickey and Ken Currie from there as well. I was surprised and somewhat relieved at how the day’s events went off with out a hitch – I’ve never seen twenty people decide so quickly on what to eat. Clearly, at times, there’s something to be said for the “herd” mentality. The Lancaster Bomber and shameless display of indulgence in the candy store were bonuses. I’ll probably organize another trip to Nanton sometime in the spring or summer. Things to look out for: Frank slide Interpretive Center/ Leitch Collieries. This should be posted within the next couple of weeks. The Ghosts of Alberta’s past. If you have, a fuel efficient car, good map reading skills, an interest in staking out Ghost towns, and the will to co-coordinate let me know. I’ve got several leads already but could use the help. Again thanks to all who showed up yesterday. Cheers Doug
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| 2006-01-30: COC - Lunch Downtown at Thai Sa-On | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-01-31: COC - Troll Falls and Hay Meadow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A perfectly lovely day for an easy winter hike, and oh look! That's EXACTLY what we decided to do! Yay for us! We had a very nice day - good conditions, a bit of ice on the trail (which most of us sailed over using our handy-dandy Icers), a dusting of fresh snow on everything... it doesn't get any better. We dawdled our way around this 5km loop, exploring and enjoying the sights, and then returned to the Nakiska chalet for a snack. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-02-01: COC - The Arrogant Worms at Jack Singer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Poor, poor Joel... he missed a great show (sent out of town to deliver a training course). What I kept forgetting was that the Polyjesters (also a fave) were the opening act, so I fully expected to die last night, since my life would be complete seeing the Polys and the Worms all in one day. It didn't happen, apparently, since I'm alive to write this summary. The show was terrific. I've seen both groups several times, but it's never boring. I've probably seen the Worms over ten times, and some of the \"oldies\" are becoming rote for me but they played a lot of new stuff so I wasn't bored, and it was really GOOD new stuff, too (I ran right out and bought \"Beige\", the new album). But, even for the familiar stuff, I was happy since I was sharing it with some people who'd never seen them before. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-02-02: CCC - 2005 Cannes International Advertising Festival | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-02-03: COC - Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wow, what a fantastic time. The way I came up with the idea to do this was from my Grade 10 drama teacher, Mr. Carney. For every drama class, he'd first make us lay around on the floor and he'd play us some kind of really interesting song. Then we'd talk about the song, and then we'd have drama class. I have always missed that and wanted to do something similar, and this is what I came up with. Judging from the response this eve, I think it was a hit!! We had a really eclectic, but wonderful selection of music, with an unnaturally high cello content in the songs. Ars Moriendi by Mr. Bungle amused us all greatly. I was absolutely captivated by the vocals in Horo Ghoid Thu Nighean by Mary Jane Lamond (and I'm normally not that crazy about female singers). Your Ex Lover is Dead by Stars was beautiful, and interesting to me because it was done in 3/4 time, something you don't often hear these days. Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel was a recognized favorite of a few of us. The two blues songs (Manish Boy by Muddy Waters and The Good Morning Blues by Leadbelly) were also great. My selections were Mersini by the Rembetika Hipsters (composed by my good friend, Ben), La Critique by Kevin Parent (mmmmmmm... Kevin Parent) and Saint Hubert by the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, another one of my local faves. Jenn, who wasn't able to join us tonight because she suddenly took ill, sent us these comments about her songs, both of which were fantastic: - Golden Smog song - When I was preparing to move to Chile, my brother made me a cd of his favourite songs, this being one of them. Something about it has stuck with me for years. I listened to it literally every day I was down there and pretty much every day since. I cannot seem to hear it enough. I don't have anything brilliant to say about the song itself, just that I feel happy every time I hear it. - Muddy Waters - I believe very strongly that he changed music as we know it today. His influence on rock and roll is immense and largely ignored. And this song in particular feels, to me, like the first really great rock song. It's got all the elements of rock and roll, the strong guitar, the beat, the repetitive chorus, but mostly, the sexuality. And I mean, it's real sex not just the I want to hold your hand kind, but serious, don't let the kids listen to this kind. And given that it was written in 1955, and it so strongly influenced bands like The Rolling Stones (who took their name from this song, for those who don't know) makes it that much more important. And, it's great to shake your ass to, which is no less important. Can't wait for the next one!! -- Rhonda Playlist:
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| 2006-02-05: COC - Lacrosse: Calgary Roughnecks vs. Toronto Rock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-02-07: COC - Ice Skating at Chateau Lake Louise | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A beautiful day and a fun group! Special guest appearance by King Kong. Flash tempted fate, and no \"doom\" photos of Cheryl were to be had (first time for everything). -- Rhonda
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| 2006-02-09: CCC - Kick-Off | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Meeting for anyone interested in volunteering with the CCC to brainstorm ideas, discuss club philosophy, and just yak and get to know one another.
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| 2006-02-11: CCC - Art House Matinee, Hana Sushi, and Movie Nite at Joel's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Art House Matinee: Transamerica\n See Transamerica, playing at the Uptown Theatre downtown (612 8th Avenue SW). \n Movie starts at 2:30, meet between 2:00 and 2:15 inside near the concessions.\n Synopsis: Bree (Felicity Huffman) is a born-again Christian and male pre-op transexual living in L.A. and trying to save up his money to become a woman. One day, he learns that he had fathered a son, Toby, who is now jailed in New York, so Bree flies across the country to get him out of jail. Toby, not realizing that Bree is his father (or a man) instead thinking she's a Christian missionary, is released to Bree's custody, and he agrees to travel with her across country back to L.A., just looking for his chance to escape from her.\n\n\n CCC - Hana Sushi\n Presentation is everything at Hana Sushi, where preparation and attention to detail characterize all of their food. The fish is cut generously into thick slices, with none of the spare servings usually associated with sushi houses. The specialty of the house is the lacquered Bento Box, which contains noodles, a salad, a meat dish, sushi and a rice dish. The food is ready almost immediately, and the servers are always prompt and courteous. Rated as one of the best sushi restaurants in town by FFWD! \n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event. CCC - Monty Python Movie Nite at Joel's\n We'll start the nite out with some Wallace and Gromit short films and general BS'ing, until everybody's ready for the SERIOUS stuff. Then on to The Holy Grail, and later The Life of Brian. I've got a big wall and a projector, so we'll be seeing it all life-size!\n \nIf anyone has a copy of The Meaning of Life, let me know. We might play it too if we can stay awake that long!\n \nMake a plan for how to get home after. If you're going to be drinking very much, no driving! You can bring a sleeping bag if you want, there's lots of room.
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| 2006-02-14: COC - Heart Creek and Screw Valentines Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Heart Creek\n Our Valentine's Day \"pilgrimmage\" to Heart Creek... a fantastic day. Temps were cool, but so far we haven't gotten the snow and/or rain that was promised. Ian was gimpy with his recently dislocated (and then re-located) shoulder but he didn't let it slow him down (he just needed help tying his shoes). Ed had chocolate hearts for all the women (and Ian), and Lana handed out love hearts, although Suzanne took a miss because she was holding out for the one that said \"great sex\" on it. We didn't find one of those. We had a fantastic adventure finding Marko's unofficial trail after the end of the Heart Creek trail, and a couple of us (who shall remain nameless) got a bit of adventure on our pants from a couple of \"sliding on our bums\" incidents. We enjoyed lunch right at the top of the falls that I've only heard before but never seen. -- Rhonda Screw Valentine's Party\n What can I say... Ian is a FANTASTIC party host. This party was so much better having been moved to his place than it would have been if we'd kept it at my apartment. Ian and The Brad proudly found the route to every woman's heart - CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN. Lots of good conversation with interesting people, and towards the end of the evening, we played with his dancing game (the pad with the arrows that have to be stepped on in the correct sequence on time to the music). Thanks to all who came out - what a fantastic time! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-02-15: CCC - The Real Dirt on Farmer John - Arusha Action Film Series #4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arusha Action Film Series #4 - The Real Dirt on Farmer John\n \nPremiering the feature film The Real Dirt on Farmer John on Wednesday,\nFebruary 15 at 7PM at the Uptown Theatre (612 8 Ave SW). This event will\nalso showcase local organic farmer Kris Vesters of Blue Mountain Bio-dynamic \nFarms. $10, 100% Calgary Dollars accepted. Tickets available at the Arusha\nCentre, Sunnyside Market and at the door. Action Films screenings are the\nthird Wednesday of every month.\n \nThe Real Dirt on Farmer John is a documentary about John Peterson, a farmer, \nartist, and revolutionary innovative thinker cast in rural Illinois.\nFilmmaker Taggart Siegel has documented John's struggle to redefine his\nfamily farm for over twenty years, witnessing the colorful drama of John's \nlife. Photographs and home movies spanning 70 years juxtapose with dynamic\nrecent footage.\n \nWith the death of his father during the 60s, John turns his traditional\nfamily farm into an experiment of art and agriculture, making it a haven for \nhippies, radicals and artists. The Real Dirt on Farmer John charts the end\nof this idealistic era as the farm debt crisis of the 80s brings about the\ntragic collapse of the farm. As the intricate weave of rural America \nunravels, vicious local rumors turn John into a scapegoat, condemning him as\na Satan-worshipping drug-dealer. Threatened with murder, his home burned to\nthe ground, John forsakes his farm and wanders the ancient lands of Central \nAmerica. Mysteriously, his quest leads him back to his hostile homeland.\nDefying all odds, he gradually transforms his land into a revolutionary\nfarming community. At the film's close, the Peterson family farm is one of \nthe largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in the United\nStates. Out of the ruins of single-crop agriculture, John creates Angelic\nOrganics, an extended farm village where people and art can thrive alongside \nagriculture. \n\n Very very interesting, and entertaining. The evening started with an introduction to Arusha and then a film about Calgary Dollars. Then, we received a bit of a talk from a local organic farmer. Lastly, the film, which chronicled the entire life (so far) of a farmer starting with his mother's home movies from the (I think) 1940s. The family had a 350 acre farm at that time. John (the farmer)'s father died when John was just a young man and running the family farm fell to John. He's a really interesting character and took the farm through a phase of hippie-commune style partying and artist stuff... ultimately he had to sell off most of the farm and tried numerous times to revive it, without success, until converting it to a community supported project. Very worth seeing. Thanks to Julie for suggesting it.\n -- Rhonda
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| 2006-02-16: CCC - Vietnamese Lunch at Thanh Truc | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese lunch downtown at Thanh Truc. \n\n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event.
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| 2006-02-21: COC - West Elk Pass and Fox Lake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Did I say West Elk Pass and Fox Lake? Oops... that's not exactly what we did. We started off on the trackset x-c ski trail (not on the tracks, of course) and slogged up that big hill. Once I reached the top of the hill, I noticed my group about ten feet to the right, on an unofficial snow shoe trail, and we decided that we would try out that trail instead - it was much more enjoyable than the hard-packed trackset trail. We tromped along the narrow snow show trail, through thick forest, up and down (but mostly up), and ended up walking all the way up what we believe was Blueberry Hill, where I understand Judy found her thrill (I haven't confirmed if anyone else found their thrill on Blueberry Hill). Judy's thrill was the view from the top in the beautiful conditions on her very first snow shoe trip in the mountains (she just moved here from Kenora). It really was a tremendously beautiful day and very enjoyable trip. If this unofficial trail lives a fairly persistent life, and I highly suspect that it does, I totally recommend checking it out. It was WONDERFUL. But, I digress... I can't believe I got so excited about the trip that I forgot to start my write-up with a sound mocking of the \"gong show\" carpool, with Ken, our wallet-less driver who had to beg me to pick up the gas tab, and Princess Shelley, who, true to reputation was five minutes late for carpool, but then also realized 3/4 of the way out to the trail that she'd forgotten.... wait for it.... her HIKING BOOTS. She had these silly little girlie shoes, and that was all she had, so she had to beg an extra pair of shoes from Isabelle (she's lucky that Isabelle had shoes to lend, and that they were close to the right size). So, nothing we couldn't overcome, and we all had a fantastic day, capped with our obligatory trip to indulge in treats at Kilkenny. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-02-23: CCC - Lunchbox Theatre, and dinner at Oriental Dallas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Lunchbox Theatre: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) \n Get a comic over-view of all 37 of the Bard’s plays in just one hour: his sonnets are reduced to eight lines, his comedies condensed to a single short sketch, and his tragedies are unmercifully spoofed. \n I thought the acting in this was fantastic, and the show was hilarious. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much. Kiki laughed quite a bit too... Harry slept (just for a minute or two)... and Carla enjoyed the acting but thought the show was a bit \"out there\" at times. It was a really fun time.\n -- Rhonda CCC - Vietnamese/Thai Dinner at Oriental Dallas\n Vietnamese/ Thai Dinner at Oriental Dallas. \n\n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event.
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| 2006-02-25: COC - Stomp! (in Edmonton) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What a fantastic time and a fantastic show! In spite of being thrown into the \"fray\" of hanging with three people he'd never met before, and who all know each other well, Todd held up great, even getting in on the \"fun\" of picking on *me* all weekend. He is definitely invited to attend any/all of my events in the future. Stomp was spellbinding... a fantastic show, for me, having seen it for my fourth time, and for the others, all seeing it for their first times. A must-see/experience for anyone who likes dance, percussion, comedy, or lively entertainment of any sort. After the show, we went for dinner at The Keg, The Olive Garden, The Outback, and The Keg. OK, we really only ate at the second Keg, where Steph contributed her $100 Keg gift certificate to the bill (thanks Steph!). We left the other three places because Joel was recognized as having been banned from them all during his misspent youth... ok, really we left because they all had an hour-long wait for a table. Still brimming with generosity, Steph donated her couches and a mattress on the floor, to us to stay over Saturday night before a fantastic breakfast at \"Barb and Ernie's\" in Edmonton before returning from whence we came. Joel bonded with Tommy the Turtle, Todd bonded with my blue furry coat, and a good time was had by all. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-02-27: COC - Belly Dance Choreography | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-03-03: COC - Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Too awesome. Great music... very interesting Mexican music from Fernando (12/8 time as explained by my friend, Ben) and my new favorite song, Lincoln Continental by Stereo De Luxe (which got instantly stuck in my head and hasn't budged since... thanks a lot Ryan). After the music, and some interesting discussion, some wine and lots of laughing... wow, so much laughing. I can't wait to hear the first selections from John, Joel and Jason's new band, \"Hell Camel\" (instruments so far include a theremin and a doumbek). After three long years with the COC, Joel finally got his nickname: Joel-Bob Squarepants. Don't ask. ;)
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| 2006-03-04: COC - LLoyds Rollerskating or Blading Indoors | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Good time had by all. Kids and adults enjoyed.
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| 2006-03-05: COC - Hockey: Calgary Hitmen vs. Medicine Hat Tigers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-03-07: COC - Fullerton Loop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A sparklingly beautiful day and great company! You just never know what kind of conversation you're going to get when you send out four slow-hikin' women (and an overenthusiastic poochy) for a great easy hike on a fantastic day. Too bad for everyone who missed out. ;) -- Rhonda
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| 2006-03-08: CCC - Korean at Royal Seoul | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Korean dinner at Royal Seoul Restaurant\n Royal Seoul Restaurant features a menu of Korean fare, set in a bright interior. They offer dishes such as barbequed beef, chicken, ribs, pork and squid, as well as a hot stone of rice, vegetables, meat and egg. \n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event. This was the opening night for the restaurant formerly known as Royal Seoul, and unfortunately, I don't think any of us will be going back. It was very disorganized, and \"Ten Bucks'\" (Barry) meal order was never placed (and it was handled poorly when that was discovered) so lucky for him he had great company to enjoy. \"Hottie\" (Emily) got herself some kind of really powerful pepper in one mouthful that sent her running for sugar (who knew that was the remedy for severe mouth fire??). Some good conversation and good laughs, but overall not our best restaurant experience.\n -- Rhonda
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| 2006-03-09: COC - Classic Rock Dance Party, and CCC - The First of the Few | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - Classic Rock Dance Party - Trooper CCC - The First of the Few\n Back by popular demand, the Aero Space Museum of Calgary is offering free movie nights. In addition to showing classic aviation films, there is also a brief discussion regarding the history and aircraft highlighted in the movie.\nThe movies are scheduled for the second Thursday of each month. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the movie will begin at 7:00 p.m. Admission is by donation and light refreshments are available for purchase to enjoy during the show.\n\n THE FIRST OF THE FEW (aka Spitfire) (1942 UK)\n March 9, 2006\n Directed by Leslie Howard\n Starring: Leslie Howard, David Niven\n After winning numerous accolades for his achievements in designing monoplanes, Mitchell is convinced that he must design a new type of fighter plane after Hitler's ascend to power—the result was the titular craft that helped Britain defend its skies.\n\n Founded in 1975 by former WWII pilots and aviation enthusiasts, the Aero Space Museum preserves and promotes the stories of people who contributed to the aviation and space industry in Western Canada. The museum celebrates the courageous spirit as the people behind the airplanes who soared above the earth and dared to reach for the sky.\n\n This evening was a lot cooler than I expected it to be. We got there early enough that we were able to peruse the air museum, and the movie was played right there in the middle of the museum on a big screen TV with a few chairs aimed at it - in amongst all the cool old airplanes. The movie was super interesting, too - it was well done (made in '42) and the history lessons in it were really interesting.\n I'll definitely be going back for more of these.\n -- Rhonda
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| 2006-03-10: COC - Watridge Lake and Karst Spring | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| With COC events, it's all about the carpool, and what happens in carpool stays in carpool. All I'm going to say is watch out for Marty once he's had a couple of Ginger Ales... the guy is a maniac. We had a spectacularly beautiful day today, and since we all opted to be in the \"slowpoke group\", we enjoyed noodling around on the trail, off the trail, up the trail, around the trail, taking pictures of the trail... it really was fantastic. One of my favorite days yet. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-03-11: CCC - Beer with your Ribs? A Tasting Experience | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How about a beer tasting? Everyone brings a type of beer, anything from local to imports. And what goes good with beer? Pub food! So bring along ribs, nachos, chicken wings, your call. We strained (without exceeding) the capacity of my apartment this evening as thirteen of us gathered to try some different beers and munchies. Lots of interesting beers, including lots I hadn't tried before. None were yukky, but none really jumped out at me as new potential favorites, either. The most interesting was the wraspberry beer... I think that one would be an acquired taste. Ken was the only one who brought ribs, and they were from one of his favorite places in Chinatown. Those, and the brie/portobello pizza seemed to be the most popular food items. A couple of highlights of the evening for me were when a few people decided to try on my Vegas showgirl feather hat, and when Ken tried to read John's mind. Too funny.\n -- Rhonda
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| 2006-03-12: CCC - Calgary Farmers' Market, and Veil Workshop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Brunch and Shopping at Calgary Farmers' Market\n We'll have brunch in the food court (lots of great vendors) and then do some shopping at the Calgary Farmers' Market.\n When you get into the market, head into the far right corner. Meet your coordinator at the edge of the food court seating area, in front of Simple Simon's Pies. We'll grab a table together. CCC - Veil Workshop with Lina (Belly Dance)\n Workshop provided by local belly dance instructor, Lina, to learn veil technique and apply it to both \"Oriental\" and American Influenced\" dance routines. A beautiful veil entrance will be taught as well as sequences that can be used in enclosed spaces (restaurants) \n\n About Lina: Lina (Lynn) has been studying Middle Eastern Dance for 7 years. More than half that time has been with Hadia, a Master Level Instructor. She has been a member of the Asianne Professional Dance troupe (directed by Suzy) for the last 5 years and performs regularly in the Calgary area. Lina has combined her love of dance and passion for travel and has toured Egypt, Jordon, Turkey, Morocco, Sri-Lanka and Greece. She is also an accomplished orchestral musician and plays several instruments. \n\n This content was blatantly stolen from Abir's Casbah web site. Thanks to Jamilee for providing that great web site covering the local belly dance scene!\n\n Fee-$25.00\n\n You are responsible for registering and paying for your spot in this workshop. Call Lina at 230-0927 to confirm your spot, and then print off her Registration Form and send it in with your payment. If you call her and discover that the class is full, but I still show spots available on the CCC web site, please contact me to let me know.
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| 2006-03-14: CCC - 3 Burials of Melaquides Estrada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 Burials of Melaquides Estrada\n\nArrive at 6:55 pm. The movie starts at 7:10 pm.\nWinner at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor Tommy Lee Jones & Best Screenplay (Guillermo Arriaga – Amores Perros & 21 grams) this powerful and moving modern Western was also directed by Tommy Lee Hones. A man is shot and quickly buried in the high desert of west Texas. The body is found and reburied in Van Horn’s town cemetery. Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones), a local ranch foreman, kidnaps a Border Patrolman and forces him to travel with him. With his captive in tow and the body tied to a mule, Pete undertakes a dangerous and quixotic journey into Mexico. Subject to classification.\nhttp://www.sonyclassics.com/threeburials/\n This movie was not for the faint of heart. A lot of gruesome scenes but Melaquides Estrada was finally buried. Set in the very picturque SW US-Mexican border area, this movie depicted a theme of extreme obsession for revenge. Food for thought and worth a viewing but don't go on a full stomach. My buddy Levon Helm was great.
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| 2006-03-15: CCC - The Great Warming - Arusha Action Film Series #5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arusha Action Film Series #5 - The Great Warming\n \nPremiering the feature film The Great Warming on Wednesday, March 15 at 7PM \nat the Uptown Theatre (612 8 Ave SW). $10, 100% Calgary Dollars accepted.\nTickets available at the Arusha Centre, Sunnyside Market and at the door.\nAction Films screenings are the third Wednesday of every month. \n \nWe are living at the dawn of a new epoch. Year by year, degree by degree,\nEarth is growing warmer... a legacy of the Industrial Revolution, population\ngrowth, and our addiction to technology, speed and power. Just as other \ngenerations spoke of a Great Plague and a Great Depression, our children\nwill be compelled to endure The Great Warming - and find a way to conquer\nits consequences.\n \nFilmed in eight countries on four continents, endorsed by dozens of the \nworld's leading scientists, this 90 minute film is the most factually\naccurate, visually stunning and wide-ranging production ever mounted about\nthis complex, fascinating subject. Acknowledged as \"the best film about \nglobal warming ever shot\", the film taps into a growing groundswell of\npublic interest to present an emotional, accurate picture of our children's\nplanet. Narrated by Alanis Morissette & Keanu Reeves.\n \nThis event will also screen locally produced movie Big Bow Float that looks\nat the local community group Bow Riverkeeper and their mission to protect,\nconserve, and improve the health of the Bow River watershed and all the \ncommunities that depend on it.\n\n\n
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| 2006-03-18: COC - Wildlife Rehab, and CCC - Funnyfest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - Wildlife Rehab Volunteer Info Session An excellent session today. Aurora made her \"debut\" with us today as the CWRS' new education owl (she's a snowy) - she'll be providing some relief to Oberon (the great horned) since he's been getting busier and busier with presentations to schools, scout groups, etc. We heard about the operation of the CWRS, and learned about all kinds of volunteering opportunities. Then they showed us a brief video of some of the animals that they've had at the facility, including some news footage. Lastly, the tour, including more discussion about the animals and their care in the Recovery Area. I didn't let Steph and Cheryl take \"official\" spots on the info session because Steph has moved to Edmonton, and Cheryl is moving away as well, but they joined in at the end, and after all the excitement died down, we were each able to take a turn holding Oberon. Thanks to all who came out today. I hope you enjoyed the session and are interested in getting more involved with the CRWS. -- Rhonda CCC - Funnyfest Talent Search\n Come watch the excitement and have fun at pennies a laugh as stand up comics let loose competing to be one of the funniest and earn a chance to perform at FUNNYFEST Calgary Comedy Festival, April 28 - May 13, 2006 (16 nights of comedy!). 4 competitors per week with a great headline comic & comic guests. Judged by celebrities & the media. Plenty of good times, great Western and GREEK cuisine are offered in this casual environment.\n Tickets: Tickets are $15. Buy yours ahead of time by calling (403) 228 – 7888. The CCC will NOT be purchasing tickets.\n More info at www.funnyfest.com.\n Stu, the Funnyfest master, reserved us the best seats in the house and made sure we were properly mocked a couple of times throughout the evening. He also chose people from our group to be two of the four audience judges for the evening - me and Flash (Jenn). Yay!! Everyone knows Flash and I both love throwing our opinions around. Here was my personal opinion:\n
-- Rhonda\n
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| 2006-03-21: COC - Penstock Loop, and CCC - OYR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - Penstock Loop (Slowpoke Trip) The coolest part of this hike was seeing the two mooses (meese??) at the start of the trip. We got a good eyefull and then figured out our way around the beasts and continued on our journey. Honestly, Penstock Loop is not a great snow shoe trail. You are beside the dam, then on the dam, then across the highway, then beside the highway on the old road, then beside the broken down wooden thing. A bit of a nice stretch in the forest, then back over the highway, and down a plain-jane trail to the end. A do-once-only-if-you-have-to kind of trip. It will be a good backup beginner trip, though, for days that I have a Hogarth Lakes trip planned that can't go ahead if/when the Smith-Dorrion is in bad condition. -- Rhonda CCC - Famous Puppet Death Scenes by OYR\n One Yellow Rabbit Presents: Famous Puppet Death Scenese by The Old Trout Puppet Workshop.\n \nAudience advisory: NO PUPPETS WILL BE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PIECE OF THEATRE.\n \nFamous Puppet Death Scenes is a black comedy for adults - meaning your kids, or someone else's kids, will find it scary, confusing and will most likely give them a bad outlook on life generally. Lemony Snicket this is NOT.\n \nThe Old Trouts promise to cure your fear of death. No more anxiety about difficult choices, no more dreading birthdays, no more desperate pleas for immortality through fame, art or progeny. Through a collection of famous scenes culled from the absolute best puppet shows in history, the Old Trouts will deconstruct your traumatized psyche, then reconstruct you so that death means nothing anymore. In a way, promising ever-lasting life. Through a puppet show. That's right.\n \nIn a show exemplified by its title, the Master of Ceremonies will usher you through myriad scenes including an existential brutalization in a German children's television show; a tragic murder in a Black Forest fairy tale; a Neo-realist play about the Irish working class; a science fiction investigation into immortality; a funeral rite from some forgotten Japanese island; a segment from a seven-hour-long \"theatre of the insufferable\" production, and others. To top it all off, watch as your MC attempts to pull off the greatest puppet death scene ever performed-too bad good ol' Death himself is lurking in the wings.\n \nPlease note that this is a General Admission show - you are responsible for purchasing your own ticket. Tickets are available online at Ticketmaster. \n \nWe will meet outside the theatre 45 minutes before showtime to attempt to get our seats together.
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| 2006-03-22: CCC - Dim Sum Lunch at Regency Palace | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dim Sum Lunch at Regency Palace\n In Southern China, especially in the Canton provinces, many people gather at tea houses during the morning and early afternoon to socialize or conduct business over small meals. In China this is most popularly called going to yum cha -- going to tea -- because the drinking of tea is so strongly associated with the snack foods served. In North America, however, we are most familiar with the term dim sum to describe these small meals. Dim sum, literally translated from the Cantonese, means \"dot-hearts,\" small treats that touch the heart. Most dim sum foods are savory pastries -- steamed or fried dumplings, filled buns, noodles. There are also sweet pastries, vegetables, meats. The portions are bite-sized, and they are served in small quantities, usually three or four to a plate, so that the diners can enjoy a variety of foods, whether they eat very little or indulge in a huge feast. Variety is one of the keys to dim sum. Some restaurants offer over 100 different items on a busy day. The presentation of the dim sum meal has no equivalent in the West. Servers push carts, loaded with a variety of foods, through the dining room, past the customers, who keep an eye out for appealing dishes. Once a desired item is in sight, the diner flags down the cart and points out what she wants. The dining room bustles with the activity of carts wending among tables, calls for attention, and the clatter of plates. The idea is to choose things continually throughout the meal, rather than to gather all the food at once before eating. Sweet items are interspersed with the savories; Chinese custom does not include saving sweets for the end of the meal, although they are reserved for special occasions, such as the pauses between courses in a banquet or indulgences like dim sum. \n Tea is an essential part of dim sum. the word \"cha\" in \"yum cha\" means tea. Just as the arrival of food is ongoing, the supply of tea is endless. When a teapot is empty, the customer need only leave the lid up, and it will be whisked away and refilled. \n\n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event.
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| 2006-03-23: COC - Chester Lake - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chester Lake rarely disappoints, and today it was in tip-top form. We headed on up the ski trail while Marty and Joanna headed up the snow shoe trail. Brad decided to cut his trip short due to his winter of inactivity (working out in the bush), leaving his friend, Steve (hopefully they're still friends), in mine and Cheryl's care. We caught up with Marty and Joanna up at the lake for lunch. The temps were exceptionally warm today, and the sky very blue. Beautiful beautiful views... some of the best winter eye-candy that Chester has to offer. Back down the snow shoe trail, we did a bit of off-roading, which was a riot. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-03-25: CCC - Ethiopian at Marathon's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ethiopian lunch at Marathon's. There is a buffet as well as the regular menu. \n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event. Noon on Saturday did not work at Marathon's. The restaurant has been known for not opening on time so I made the reservation for a half hour after they were to open. We waited for a half hour but, alas, they still did not open. Again, it was little field trip to the Blue Nile. We learned that Ethiopian coffee is very different than Tim Horton's!\n\n
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| 2006-03-29: CCC - Vietnamese/Thai Dinner at Oriental Dallas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese/ Thai Dinner at Oriental Dallas. \n\n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event.
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| 2006-03-30: CCC - I Know I'm Not Alone (Movie AND Live Performance) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michael Franti, world-renowned musician and human rights worker, travels to Iraq, Palestine and Israel to explore the human cost of war with a group of friends, some video cameras and his guitar.\n \nA compelling soundtrack, visual and musical montages and Franti's intimate voiceovers make the film speak to the MTV, X, Y & Z generations, as well as the baby-boomers. A true armchair travel film pulling the audience into these war zones in the company of Michael's guitar, eloquence and wit - you feel the humanity, artistic resilience and sometimes horrific experience of what it's like to live under the bombs and military occupation.\n \nWith its raw video and editing techniques, the documentary is unlike the many academic and politically driven pieces in the marketplace, instead offering the audience a sense of intimate travel and the opportunity to hear the voices of everyday people living, creating and surviving under the harsh conditions of war and occupation.\n There are NO tickets at the door and NO will calls. The tickets MUST be purchased in advance through Ticketmaster, they are $22.50. \n
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| 2006-03-31: COC - Yamnuska - Scree Indulgence: Slow to Moderate pace | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What an amazing day!!! We trooped up the Yamnuska hiking trail in the muck and a smidgen of ice, and stopped for our lunch just as we reached the cliff. Ryan got extremely lucky and found his diamond earring after dropping it in the alpine shrubbery while donning his climbing helmet. Moving along, we traversed in front of the cliff, with a few hair-raising moments at some steeper/icier parts. We found the \"official\" place for running the scree that hooks up directly onto the return path, and a few of us took that back, while a few pressed on looking for just a few more moments of scree bliss before bush-whacking their way back to the parking lot. It was great to see every face just glowing as people reached the bottom of that scree slope - it is such a fun experience. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-04-01: CCC - Music Appreciation Night - April Fool's Theme | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrive at 7PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start listening to the music selections at 7:30 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:30, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). After we listen, we discuss! :) \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening (See \"Required Items to Bring\" below). The Theme for this music appreciation night is April Fool's. I'm not going to provide any further guidance on what that means... that is up to you. \n I only have room in my apt for 8 bodies, and room on an 80-min CD for 8 ten-minute selections, so please sign up for this get-together ONLY if you're serious about contributing some music selections, and attending the get-together.\n This was our first music appreciation night with a theme, and although several people claimed to struggle with the theme, the music chosen was GREAT! \n\n
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| 2006-04-02: CCC - India Day Festival, and COC - Bowmont Park | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - India Day Festival\n India Day Multicultural show - Participating groups are Irish, Ukranian, Polish, Italian, African and various Indian groups.\n This event is FREE\n When something is free, I tend to keep my expectations pretty low, but I'm thrilled to say that this show in no way lived down to my expectations. It was absolutely amazing. It was over three hours long (wow), and the quality... of costumes, of dancing... everything - was just spectacular. The variety was astounding... it was a veritable cornucopia (in the words of one attendee) of Calgary's cultures. \n\n Performances included:\n - The Calgary Police Service Pipe Band and the Calgary Police Highland Dancers\n - Calgary Highland Dancers - Sword Dance and Highland Fling\n - Classical Indian dances by Kala Bhavan, Manjaree Kaura, Urvashi Kala Kendra, Punjabi Lok Manch, Seema Menon, Indra School of Dance\n - First Nations performance - \"Honouring our Ancestors\" by Sandra Crazy Bull\n - Chinese Lion Dance performed by Calgary Tai Chi & Martial Arts College\n - Afro-Hatian dance Mezzammi by Valerie Dupre\n - Gli Azzurri - Calgary Italian Folk Dancers\n - Polanie Polish Dancers\n - Tango Argentina\n\n These photos in no way do the show any kind of justice, but they will at least give you a bit of an idea of what it was all about. I'm already looking forward to next year's event!!\n\n Special thanks to Vinay from INCA (India Canada Association of Calgary) for teling me about this show and for giving us our tickets!\n\n -- Rhonda COC - Bowmont Park - East, NW\n I was kind of worried that people missed the \"daylight\" saving time change. To my surprise, most showed up. To start we followed the bike path all the way to Silver Springs. It was just too easy for us. I pointed out the approximate location of the \"waterfall\" in Water Valley. We felt that it would be too muddy down in the Water Valley, so we turned back. On our way back, we split into 2 groups. I took the \"energetic\" group and walked up the hill. Rhonda took the leisure group and went back through the bike path. We had a great time. Just an end note: When we got back to the parking lot, I decided to dust off my foldable 16 inch bike and bike down Home Road and have a couple of beer and lunch. It was great. Riding a bike downhill was easy. Riding the bike back uphill was hard.
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| 2006-04-03: COC - Dance Events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beginner Adult Tap Dancing Belly Dance Zill Choreography
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| 2006-04-05: CCC - Bow Bulgogi House (Try saying it fast 3 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I just got back from BOW BULGOGI HOUSE\nIt is by far the best place to get Korean food in Calgary. \nPlease refer to FFW write up:\nhttp://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2003/0710/food.htm\n\nIt is a very small place. So it would be crowded and tight. \nTo experience the variety, we would order as a group and split the cost. \n Bow Bulgogi House is one popular place. There was line-up all the time, we were there. We had many dishes from Bugogi to fried tofu. Aliisa has to eat and run to her volley ball game. Bridget arrived late and had to eat an drun. Over all it was a great night out.
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| 2006-04-09: CCC - Big Bellydance Bazaar, and Vicky Moves to Qatar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Big Bellydance Bazaar\n Hosted by Abir's Casbah, come out to shop from various vendors (including Son of the Pharoah), and see performances from other teachers/students/dancers. $3 admission to get in, enters you for door prizes CCC - Vicky Moves to Qatar\n Can you believe it, our charming Vicky is leaving for Qatar for 3 years. Please come & join us & give her a proper send off. The luxurious \"club house\" has been rented for this occasion & there will be time to play billiards, sit/chat, dance, play games or if you wish members can use the jacuzzi built for 4.\n Members will be asked to bring a small appetizer & their favourite drink(no red wine please) to share with the group. Please note that if you've already signed up with the CCC that you don't need to sign up again with the COC.\n Vicky had a good time, enjoying a nice conversation among COC runners group plus all other CCC club members. It was great to say good bye in such a nice atmosphere.
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| 2006-04-14: COC - Roxboro/Stanley Park | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-04-15: CCC - Art House Matinee, and Cheese With Your Wine? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Art House Matinee - Thank You For Smoking\n Thank You For Smoking at The Globe. \n\n Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), the chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers. Confronted by health zealots out to ban tobacco and an opportunistic senator (William H. Macy) who wants to put poison labels on cigarette packs, Nick goes on a PR offensive, spinning away the dangers of cigarettes on TV talk shows and enlisting a Hollywood super-agent (Rob Lowe) to promote smoking in movies. Nick's newfound notoriety attracts the attention of both tobacco's head honcho (Robert Duvall) and an investigative reporter for an influential Washington daily (Katie Holmes). Nick says he is just doing what it takes to pay the mortgage, but he begins to think about how his work makes him look in the eyes of his young son Joey (Cameron Bright).\n\n CCC - Cheese With Your Wine? A Tasting Experience\n Wine and cheese tasting evening! Everyone brings their choice of wine and cheese to share. A variety of crackers will be provided.\n Some really great wine, cheese, and people to share them with - a fantastic evening. I was particularly fond of the Castle Rock Pinot Noir that Doug C and I discovered a year ago, and the blue cheese (who'd a thought) and the cheese that Marc brought... what cheese was that again? I had a great time - thanks to everyone who came out.\n - Rhonda\n \n In your write up about last night you asked which cheese I brought; it was\nTaleggio. The server at Janice Beaton said that it came from the Lombardi\nregion in northern Italy, but I never knew that before. (What do you call\ncheese that isn't yours? ...Nacho Cheese)\n - Marc
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| 2006-04-18: COC - Barrier Fire Lookout via Prairie View Trail (Slowpoke Trip) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A glorious day, shared with good friends. Aaahhhhhhhh... you gotta love it. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-04-19: CCC - Russian at Skazka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Russian dinner at Skazka restaurant downtown.\n Classic Russian dishes in a fine-dining setting. Spacious dining room is reminiscent of a grand ballroom. Menu includes items such as borsch soup, Moscow salad and pirogies on the menu.\n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event. Skazka is a new restaurant to Calgary, and may have a couple of small details to get ironed out yet, but overall it was a wonderful experience. The server, Don, and the marketing manager, Alex, went out of their way to make us feel welcome and wanted. I ate frog's legs... first time in my life, and they weren't half bad. In fact, the sauce was to die for!! This is fine dining, so expect to pay as such, but it is worth it. We'll be going back sometime on a Friday or Saturday to check out the Russian dancers!\n -- Rhonda
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| 2006-04-21: COC - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, CCC - Calgary Farmers' Market, and CCC - Board Game Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Brunch and Shopping at Calgary Farmers' Market\n We'll have brunch in the food court (lots of great vendors) and then do some shopping at the Calgary Farmers' Market.\n When you get into the market, head into the far right corner. Meet your coordinator at the edge of the food court seating area, in front of Simple Simon's Pies. We'll grab a table together. CCC - Board Game Night\n Board game night - come out and try a variety of games (we'll have three or four tables going at once). \n NOTE that you MUST be at my place by 8PM to get in. We will be in the meeting room in the basement, and I will not be in my apartment after 8PM to hear the door buzzer. We'll have one game going in my apartment, and the rest set up down in the sweltering party room (yes, I'm serious about bringing ice and/or a fan). After 8PM we'll make a call about whether to move everything downstairs or keep something going in my apartment. COC - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
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| 2006-04-22: CCC - Caribbean Deli and Indian Grocers, Mongolie Grill, and Harlem Globetrotters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Caribbean Deli and Indian Grocers\n On Fairmount Dr SE (SE of Chinook Mall) there's a little strip mall with a Caribbean Deli (Sherry's) and my favorite Indian grocers - the new location of Calgary Spiceland. \n We'll start at Sherry's and enjoy lunch and/or grab some yummies to take home, and then head next door to Spiceland and check out their exotic offerings.\n Note that I've never been to Sherry's before... I just discovered it when I went to the new Spiceland the other day\n Wow! Sherry's Carribbean restaurant is fanTAStic!! I had never been there before and didn't know what to expect, but as soon as I walked in the door and smelled the smells, I knew it was going to be amazing. We shared a couple of Jamaican Patty's to start, and then we each had an entree, with Jerk Chicken and Chicken Roti being popular choices. I decided to go with my theme of walking on the wild side this week and had Ox Tail Stew, which was quite yummy. After lunch we headed over to Calgary Spiceland where many wonderful smells greeted us, and many wonderful spices, dishes, sauces, snacks, and so on were discovered.\n -- Rhonda CCC - Mongolie Grill\n The Scene\n When it first opened a few years ago, the Mongolie Grill was an extremely difficult place to get a table. For one thing, the build-your-own-stirfry approach was rather novel at the time. Sure, the idea had been Whoppered and Subwayed to death in fast food, but rarely used in a more upscale casual dining experience. Furthermore, the well-windowed Fourth Street location was hard to beat. \n\n While the novelty has since worn off and the hordes have dispersed, this resto is still a rather fun and popular place for a quick dinner or lunch. \n\n The Food\n In a way, it's nouveau comfort food, where the comfort comes from being able to select precisely what combination and amount of fresh raw ingredients you want to have. Healthy or decadent, spicy or tame, it's all up to you, with soup, rice and wraps included with your total. From control freaks to creative types, the Mongolie Grill's still got it covered for comfort levels of all descriptions.\n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event.\n Note that at 6:30 some of us will be heading over to the Globetrotters game (see calendar for more info). CCC - Harlem Globetrotters\n The World Famous Harlem Globetrotters are currently touring the United States and Canada as part of their 2006 'Unstoppable' World Tour. The four-month tour which tipped off in December and runs through April will bring the Globetrotters to nearly 200 cities across North America. In all, the Globetrotters will travel to 41 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and six Canadian provinces. \n Founded in 1926 by Abe Saperstein, the Harlem Globetrotters played their first-ever road game on Jan. 7, 1927, in Hinckley, Ill. The 2005 tour marks the organization's 79th consecutive year of playing basketball and entertaining fans around the world. On Jan. 12, 1998, the Globetrotters played their historic 20,000th career game, a feat unmatched by any other professional sports team in the world. \n You must meet me at Mongolie Grill by 6:30 to get your ticket, or contact me to make alternate arrangements. Join the dinner at Mongolie Grill ahead of time if you like.
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| 2006-04-25: COC - Baldy Pass - South Approach (Slowpoke Trip) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What a fantastic early-season hike!! Definitely one that many of us would choose to do over again. A word to the wise, though - BRING YOUR ICERS. I'm not entirely sure I believe the hike specs from the GemTrek map. It says 7.5km round trip, with 570m of elevation gain. Although we didn't go all the way to the top, there is absolutely no way we gained anywhere near that much elevation. The trail starts out pretty much flat, then starts a gentle incline, and then gets a little bit steeper until you reach the first viewpoint. From there, it's steeper still up to the top of the pass, but I can't see how we gained anywhere near as much elevation as we should have... I expected something like Prairie Mountain, but got something more like Powderface Creek (only shorter). In any case, it was a wonderful trip, and I highly recommend it, especially as an early or late season. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-04-27: CCC - 3-Mo Volunteer Meeting/Dinner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Check-in for the CCC's three-month anniversary. Q&A, and discussion about processes and policies if required. Have dinner and socialize with the other volunteers - it's a great opportunity to get to know other people from our team.\n Agenda Items:\n
Open to all CCC volunteers, and any active member (2+ events) who are interested in volunteering with us. We were split about half-and-half tonight between existing volunteers and those working on getting their stars plus those considering volunteering. Business:\n
-- Rhonda
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| 2006-04-28: CCC - Sledge Hammer Marathon at Joel's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Remember Sledge Hammer? \nTelevision is ephemeral, so the greatest compliment any TV show can receive is to be remembered. It's clear that a lot of people fondly remember a half hour comedy series that ran on the ABC network from 1986 to 1988 called \"Sledge Hammer!\" The show chronicled the adventures of a gung ho police detective who shot first and asked questions six months later. (In fact, he forgot to yell \"Freeze\" before firing.) Hammer's best friend was his Magnum, and he habitually spoke to it. (Hey, people talk to their pets, right?)\n\n Why so many people young and old remember \"Sledge Hammer!\" is a mystery. Maybe it's because the show was an odd duck. Perhaps it's because current television is bland, with every situation comedy revolving around a living room and kids. Or… it could be because a lot of people are insane. Whatever the case, \"Sledge Hammer!\" is frequently referred to as a \"cult\" show. \n\n\n Trust me... I know what I'm doing...\n \nMake a plan for how to get home after. If you're going to be drinking very much, no driving! You can bring a sleeping bag if you want, there's lots of room. What a hilarious and absolutely goofy show! It was like a slow-motion train wreck. We just couldn't stop watching! ;o) There were so many gags going on, in the foreground AND background, that you had to keep watching closely to see it all. I'm sure nobody will soon forget Sledge Hammer and his best friend, his silver-plated 44 magnum! We watched until about midnite, then switched over to music after everyone's eyeballs started to bleed. \n \nHere are the episodes we watched:\n \nSeason One: \nSeason Two:
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| 2006-05-04: CCC - Puppetry of the Penis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The ancient art of genital origami. More information at Puppetry of the Penis\n Puppetry of thePenis was conceived by Simon Morley in 1996 as the title of a highbrow art calendar, showcasing twelve of his favorite penis installations (known as \"Dick Tricks\" to the uninformed layperson). Years before, Simon’s youngest brother had shown him his installation, ‘The Hamburger’. Natural sibling rivalry resulted in the evolution of a grand repertoire of genital gesticulations.\n\n It was on New Year’s Eve in 1997, with a garage full of calendars to sell and burgeoning requests for live demonstrations, when Simon finally decided to unleash his talent on the world.\n\n His natural choice of performance partner was David \"Friendy\" Friend, whose reputation as the life of any party was quickly growing. Friendy kept himself busy for most of the year, having created a solid business performing his repertoire of installations at Batchelorette/Hen’s night’s and private parties. As a young boy, Friendy began his Dick Trick career in the bath and developed his skills further when he discovered beer in college. After completing his degree in Computing, he returned to Melbourne with his own highly individual collection of hanging art. Together, Simon and Friendy’s solo \"acts\" became Puppetry of the Penis, and a global phenomenon was born.\n\n Their debut at the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival was a huge hit, kicking off an eight-month tour of Australia. The national tour covered 20,000 kilometers and was been captured in the documentary Tackle Happy.\nSubsequent sell-out runs in Sydney and Melbourne encouraged the boys to take their wares to the 2000 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, where they were humbled by yet another sell-out run. West End producer David Johnson realized the potential of the show after attending a performance where the woman sitting next to him wet her pants laughing. Contracts and mops were brought out, and a deal was made on the spot: PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS was on its way to London's West End.\n\n Initially booked for a five-week run at London’s Whitehall Theatre, the overwhelming response led to numerous extensions. The show finally closed after an astonishing five-month run. Simon and Friendy became the darlings of the West End, delighting London’s A-list including Hugh Grant, Naomi Campbell, Elton John, Bono, Mel B and Mel C.\n\n In September 2001, on the heels of a smash hit run in Toronto and a successful tour of Canada, PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS opened in New York at the John Houseman Theatre, where it played for over a year. By 2002 a second and third American company opened at L.A.’s Coronet Theatre and San Francisco’s Theatre on the Square. These two productions plus our international companies highlighted 2002 as being the phenomenal year when five companies started playing simultaneously worldwide.\n\n The PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS juggernaut continues to gain momentum, with new companies opened Spain in 2003 and due to open in France in 2004 in their respective languages. In addition to the U.S., Germany, the U.K., Eire, New Zealand, Canada, The Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and Australia have all played host to PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS. Meanwhile, US audiences maintain their love for PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS and our tour in 2004 continues to grow. This was the most bizarre thing I've ever done. I have no idea how I'm going to describe it to people, but I'm sure I will. :)\n - Em\n My favorites: Loch Ness Monster, the pelican and the sea anemone. Definitely a scream, including the opening stand-up comic - she was awesome.\n - Rhonda
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| 2006-05-05: COC - Bowness Park and CCC - Lunch Buffet at The Casbah and Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Lunch Buffet at The Casbah\n A Moroccan feast for the senses - buffets on Friday. CCC - Music Appreciation Night\n Arrive at 7PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start listening to the music selections at 7:30 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:30, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). After we listen, we discuss! :) \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening (See \"Required Items to Bring\" below). I am not going to provide any guidelines about what genre of music to contribute - that is your choice, but please select something that you care about and would like to share with other music lovers.\n I only have room in my apt for 8 bodies, and room on an 80-min CD for 8 ten-minute selections, so please sign up for this get-together ONLY if you're serious about contributing some music selections, and attending the get-together.\n\n
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| 2006-05-07: CCC - Ghost Town Tour Group A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Due to a rather large waiting list we've decided to copy the Ghost Town Tour with a group B event. Please note the change in departure time for group B, as well as a small change in itinerary. Joel will take the A tour at 9:am. Doug will follow with group B at 10:am \nThe East Coulee School Museum was unable to accomodate our numbers on May 7th, so we've chosen the town of Wanye and a visit to the Rosedeer Hotel ( Last Chance Saloon) as an alternative stop.\n The first chapter of Ghosts Towns of Alberta begins in sleepy little village of Rowley, about 30 minutes north of Drumheller. Rowley was a vibrant community of 500 people in the 1920’s; the life blood of the community revolved around agriculture and the rail station. Modern Rowley has a small post office a few comfortable looking (inhabited homes) and 12 prairie hardened souls, who refuse to leave. A long since closed CNR station, two boarded up grain elevators, a couple of abandoned homes and rail cars, and the pseudo touristy main street, which has been restored in an attempt to attract ghost towners, offer wonderful photo opts. \nThis will serve as an excellent primer for the Atlas Coal Mine which is about a five minute drive east. The Atlas Coal Mine is a National Historic Site and the last remaining wooden coal tipple in Canada. A tipple as defined by Merriam-Webster is “a coal screening plant.” This one stands eight stories high and is a haunting relic of Drumhellor’s glorious mining history. The area around the mine is scattered with a fabulous array of dateless mine machines, plus a number of “ghostly out buildings” where miners once lived and worked. The mine is open at the beginning of May, (hence the event date) and offers guided walking tours around the mine ruins as well as mantrip rides, (rides to and from the mine, presumably in a miner’s car). \nAdmission is $5.50 per adult. This includes a tipple tour and guided walk around the mine ruins.\nRemember to bring a lunch as the Atlas has a number of picnic tables for eating. \nFrom there we will head up the road about 15km for the ghost town, Dorothy. At the turn of the century the local store keeper Percy Mcbeth applied to have a post office established at the then nameless settlement. His other suggestion was to name the windswept hamlet, Perciville. Percy got the post office but not his name, as the district post office inspector decided on Dorothy, after the daughter of an earlier rancher in the area. Despite this rejection Percy decided to stay, as did 100 others who lived in Dorothy during its heyday. At its peak the hamlet supported a United Church, Catholic Church, three grain elevators, butcher shop, pool room, grocery store and telephone office. Of particular interest to the ghost towner are the remaining pioneer churches which sag in the middle and lean precariously on crumbling foundations. Unfortunately, they are also testament to the damage pigeons can do to an abandoned building. There are also a couple of pioneer homes and an old single room school worth exploring. Unlike, many of the other ghost towns we scouted, the four remaining residents of Dorothy have not boarded up, or locked up the towns abandoned buildings, so the ghost towner is free to explore at his or her own will. \nThe last stop will be the \"Last Chance Saloon\", in the Rosedeer Hotel, in the town of Wanye. The Hotel owner Fred says the ghost of an elderly woman murdered early in the century still haunts the building. He still refuses to go to the 3rd floor where the murder is purported to have occured. The Last Chance is also a popular watering hole for bikers. It should be interesting. After that we'll head back to Calgary.\nDespite completely blowing our estimated event duration, we had a heck of a good time. Our group started out at 9am, and even with a little detour to give us more time to play “Name That Cowboy Movie Theme” we got up to Rowley in one piece. Marc couldn’t lose our second vehicle, driven by Jen, no matter what he tried! We even got a bit of time to read some ghost stories. \n \nIn Rowley we were met by Chris and Doug, who were very nice and took us on a tour of just about the whole town. Chris led our group, while Doug went with group B. Chris was really knowledgeable about the history of the town, its restoration and use as a movie set. We were all amazed by the wonderful job done by the Rowley locals to make several of the buildings into museums. They did a heck of a job at creating some fun displays too!\n \nWe ate lunch on the picnic tables, finishing just as the mosquitos found us. Group B wasn’t so lucky, as they started to eat later! We saddled up just in time to get away without much blood loss. Then down the road we went, headed through Drumheller on our way to the Atlas Coal Mine just south of East Coulee. The mine buildings were still in very good condition, and our guide gave us a very interesting and informative tour. We even got to hike up (waaaay up!) into the top of the tipple, and go on a short train ride.\n \nThen it was time to head on to our next stop, the true ghost town of Dorothy. We got to serenade each other on the way with our shiny new Kazoos, from the gift shop at the mine. (thanks Rhonda!) Not much left in Doroty but a couple of collapsing churches and some old cabins that had been restored. The locals have kept up the community hall for occasional gatherings. A couple of houses sit in the vicinity, looking to be occupied.\n \nLast stop was the tiny village of Wayne, once over 3000 people but now just a few left. Not too much there but the Rosedeer Hotel, with the Last Chance Saloon. Both Groups A and B headed in, except for a few folks who had to head home, and had a drink & some dinner. By then we were all in need of something to wash down all that ghost dust! \n \nFinally we headed out on our way back to Calgary. Rhonda had brought a mystery movie from the 1950’s for us to watch (in Marc’s posh company SUV). It was pretty corny in places, definitely worth a laugh, but kept us all watching – luckily it was over just before we reached the city. Wow, what a trip!! I think everybody enjoyed themselves – most of us want to go back & spend more time at Rowley and the Atlas Mine too.\n
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| 2006-05-13: COC - Anniversary Picnic and BBQ and CCC - Steve Martin Movie Nite at Joel's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Steve Martin Movie Nite at Joel's\n We'll start the evening with the best ever (in Rhonda's opinion) Steve Martin movie - The Jerk.\n\n In \"The Jerk,\" Martin plays the protagonist, Navin Johnson, who has been brought up by sharecroppers. After his foster father explains to him the difference between horse manure and shoe polish, Navin sets out on his own to find his destiny and has a series of adventures. The movie doesn't have much of a plot, and I would characterize its narrative structure as episodic.\n\n On his journey, Navin takes any job he can get, and for a while, he works at a carnival. (\"For one dollar, I'll guess your weight, your height, or your sex.\") He gets into a sexual relationship with a dominatrix-like motorcycle daredevil (Catlin Adams), who has his name tattooed among many others on her derriere. But he finds the love of his life when he meets the cosmetologist Marie (Bernadette Peters).\n\n One day while Navin is working at a gas station, a customer has trouble with his spectacles slipping down and curses, \"Damn these glasses.\" Mistakenly believing the customer to be using the imperative mood, Navin intones at the eyeglasses, \"I damn thee!\" But this turns out to be a fortuitous encounter for Navin because it leads him to invent a glasses handle called the Opti-Grab that eventually makes him a millionaire.\n\n Followed up with the second-best (in Rhonda's opinion) Steve Martin movie, The Lonely Guy:\n\n It's a hard life being lonely in New York City. After Larry (Steve Martin) loses his latest girlfriend, Warren (Charles Grodin), a sad sack singleton, tries to teach him how to talk to the ferns in his apartment and to liven up a party with cardboard cutouts of celebrities. In two of the funniest scenes in the film, Larry joins the hundred of other lonely guys who stand on building rooftops and cry out for the women they have lost. In the second, Larry finds himself on the Manhattan Bridge where those moles bereft of hope leap off into the river below.\n\n\n\n\n \nMake a plan for how to get home after. If you're going to be drinking very much, no driving! You can bring a sleeping bag if you want, there's lots of room.
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| 2006-05-15: COC - Belly Dance Epic Choreography | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-05-16: COC - Powderface Ridge via. Powderface Creek Trail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-05-17: CCC - Literary Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Here's a chance to express your unique perspective on your favourite literary piece. Everyone will have 10 minutes to read an excerpt from one (or two) of their favorite works and discuss why it's a favourite. Any genre is acceptable from sci-fi short stories to classical poetry. If your piece is in a foreign language please be prepared to translate. You will be required to provide the name of the piece and author at least 2 days before the event so that we can prepare an itinerary for the evening. \nAs a bonus, we will also be including a book swap. If you wish to participate in this part please bring a book (or books) that you are ready to part with as this will be a permanent swap. From sublimal erotica to talking alien cats, ancient math discoveries to modern local poetry and, of course, the spiritual life of moles; we covered it all! \nThe small group size made the atmosphere very warm, inviting and comforting to the nerves when reading aloud. The discussions were entertaining and productive and we even dressed a cat! \nDiscussions were also held as to what book choices people were considering for the next event. And believe me, there will be another! So come on out and join us for the next one. \n
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| 2006-05-20: CCC - Big Beer Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What's the biggest bottle of beer YOU'VE ever seen? Find one. Bring one. Drink one. Share one. \n No driving home under the influence! Hang out until it has passed. Bring a sleeping bag if you like. We'll find/make room.
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| 2006-05-22: COC - Prairie Mountain (Slowpokes Only) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-05-23: CCC - The Clay Oven | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This family-run restaurant serves authentic Indian cuisine. The food is carefully prepared and slowly simmered, providing customers with authentic Indian cuisine, including butter chicken, bengan bhartha (roasted eggplant), prawn masala and homemade yogurt Dinner at the Clay oven was great. We had a guest attend that said though he didn't really know anybody before he got there, he was welcomed by the group and felt as though he had known them all for years. He says he had such a good time that he's considering joining the club. The dinner was good. The food an conversations were excellent, however there were a couple of disappointments with the service. Two of us received drinks that we weren't expecting, and one dish was forgotten. We also had a vegetarian mishap, as one our members mistook chicken for eggplant.
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| 2006-05-26: COC - Bowness Park | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-05-27: CCC - Music Appreciation Nite at Joel's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We'll gather at 7:00 pm, and start the music at 7:30. Please don't be late, to avoid interruptions.\n \nWe're going to try a different format for this series. You've got 15 minutes each, to do with as you please. The typical format would be to play something, talk about it briefly (before or after), then move on to the next piece. But you can write an essay about music and read it to us, use the whole time to play music if you're shy or have laryngitis, or bring an instrument and your voice, and perform your music live if you like. Just make it enlightening and entertaining!\n \nWe'll take a short break halfway through to refill our glasses and grab a snack, then get back to the music. Afterwards, we'll sit around and discuss what we've heard. This was a REALLY fun night, for me and hopefully for everyone else too. We each got our \"15 minutes of fame,\" taking a turn speaking about then playing our music. Everyone brought some really wonderful selections, including an amazingly wide variety! It was exciting and entertaining to hear people talk about what motivated them to choose their songs. \n \nOne of the highlights of this event was when Scott pulled out his guitar and performed his songs LIVE for us! He even made a Name That Tune contest of it, though some of his choices were pretty easy. :o) He brought prizes for the winners. Lynda and Doug blew away the competition, but were nice enough to share the goodies!\n \nNow I can't wait for the next one!\n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n
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| 2006-05-31: CCC - Greek Food, Rembetika Music, Belly Dancer at Pegasus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Enjoy awesome Greek food, the music of the Rembetika Hipsters and belly dancing by Christina at Pegasus. \n The owner has recreated a Greek atmosphere partly with hanging vine baskets, the mural and various pottery knickknacks, but mostly with the staff's devotion to making sure customers have a good time.\n If you're unsure what to order, try the delicious appetizer platter which features about a dozen different type of Greek delicacies. Some of these include stuffed grape leaves, chicken wings, saganaki and tzatziki with fresh pita bread. They also have good selection of white and red house wines.\n CCC policy is to add 25% onto your bill - 7% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event.\n\n
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| 2006-06-02: CCC - Brunch and Shopping at Calgary Farmers' Market and Ranchmans Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Brunch and Shopping at Calgary Farmers' Market\n We'll have brunch in the food court (lots of great vendors) and then do some shopping at the Calgary Farmers' Market.\n When you get into the market, head into the far right corner. Meet your coordinator at the edge of the food court seating area, in front of Simple Simon's Pies. We'll grab a table together. CCC - Ranchmans Party\n \nComplimentary Admission Till 9 PM \nArrive Anytime up till 9PM \nComplimentary Beef on a Bun from From 4pm till 6pm while supplies last \nComplimentary Appetizers Served between 9 and 10 \nComplimentary Line Dance Lessons From 7 till 8 PM \nHappy Hour Prices Until 10PM \nPool Tables \nLive Entertainment \nThis is also practice for the Great Canadian Barn Dance A great party. Thanks to all who came out to have some fun. We had to share the place with an internet dating group. I think we managed to get along.\n\nSome of us showed up early and had the beef on a bun. Some of us came later and had a line dance lesson and some of us just showed up to socialize
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| 2006-06-03: COC - Mt Indefatigable and CCC - Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - Mt Indefatigable - Slowpokes Only It's been a while since anyone has accused me of controlling the weather (in a good way, of course), but the folks on my hike today found out why I have that reputation! Although the forecast called for zero precipitation, as we drew nearer to the mountains this morning it got cloudier and cloudier and started to rain. People started grumbling about that and blaming my new nickname (Rainwoman) but we started hiking and within 15 minutes, the rain cleared. It was overcast but very pleasant through our whole hike, and when we returned to our cars, it started raining just as we departed. Now how's THAT for some weather witch action! We got some great views today, which is great - this hike is one of the best (IMO) in K-Country for views and I would have been disappointed if we didn't get to see them because of the weather. Unlike those crazy \"moderate pacers\" we did NOT summit Mt. Indefatigable... merely went to the second lookoff, which my legs certainly thought was plenty. -- Rhonda (Rainwoman) CCC - Music Appreciation Night - SHAKE YOUR A$$ Theme\n Note that for this music appreciation night, we'll be burning two CDs instead of 1 so we're going to take up to ten people, with a maximum of 16 minutes of music per person.\n Arrive at 7PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start listening to the music selections at 7:30 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:30, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). After we listen, we discuss! :) \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening (See \"Required Items to Bring\" below). The Theme for this music appreciation night is SHAKE YOUR A$$. Bring some music that... well... makes you want to shake your a$$. :)\n\n I only have room in my apt for 8 bodies, and room on an 80-min CD for 8 ten-minute selections, so please sign up for this get-together ONLY if you're serious about contributing some music selections, and attending the get-together.\n\n
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| 2006-06-10: CCC - Stahlville Hutterite Colony and Movie Nite at Joel's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Stahlville Hutterite Colony\n Stahlville Colony is a Hutterite Colony very near Calgary. They have agreed to give us a tour on June 10th at 10AM. Please conduct yourself in a most respectful fashion while on their premises, and bring some cash with you (if you like) to buy some produce and/or crafts. They make fantastic duvets (I own a Hutterite duvet and it is heavenly). Of course they are happier about doing tours if they make a bit of money from the process, and their goods are top shelf. Please sign up for this only if you're serious about attending. They will only take ten people so I do not have the luxury of increasing my group size if we get a waiting list.\n Brief Hutterite History\n The Hutterite community seeks to maintain a society within its geographical territory that provides the best possible conditions for the social and religious development of its members. The important forces directing life are not individual success, high standards of living, or popular fashions, but a firm quest for maintaining a simple lifestyle that its members believe reflects God's will for them. The values and attitudes adopted by the Hutterite communities are deeply rooted in their historical experience and interpretations of the Bible, and consciously in their cultural heritage which is also prevasively religious. \n\n The Hutterites originated in 1528 in Moravia as a branch of the Anabaptists. They were named for Jacob Hutter, who was their leader from 1533 until 1536 when he was burned at the stake. Since coming to North America from Eastern Europe in the late 1800's, the Hutterites have established more than 300 colonies in the United States and Canada. \n\n Hutterites believe in the common ownership of goods (Acts 2:44-47). They do not believe in war or violence. They are farmers who live in Bruderhofs (colonies) of about 100 people. The colony members lead simple lives. They meet daily for worship. A preacher and a Wirt (boss) head each colony. \n\n This event far far far exceeded my hopes and expectations. \n\n Little did I know that the woman I booked our tour with, Katie, is actually the colony president's wife. She took us first to a building where some of the young women were churning cream and making homemade butter. She also showed us the chicken plucking machine that they invented which was really cool. Then over to a building where some young men were making iron railing bars for sale to a company in Calgary. We had an entourage of some children who tagged along with us for some/all of the day.\n\n About the time that she was taking us to the livestock areas and to the chickens, herhusband, the colony president, Martin, joined us and helped as well. They are licensed to grade eggs, so Martin showed us the equipment where the eggs go down a conveyor belt and onto an area where the heavier ones will trip first and be graded \"A\", then down to \"B\" and so on. They had a bunch of two-yolk eggs that some of us enthusiastically bought.\n Their hospitality, and willingness to spend time with us talking and explaining was amazing. They even fed us lunch, including a taste each of Hutterite wine. We bought some handicrafts and food products (no vegetables yet, much to Jorinda's chagrin) and then headed back. It was fantastic!!\n -- Rhonda CCC - Pecker and Hairspray - Movie Nite at Joel's\n We'll be showing Pecker and Hairspray, two in a long line of films from the master of insanity himself -John Waters.\n \nPecker takes its title from the nickname of the lead character, an amateur photographer from Hampden who accidentally makes it big when a New York City gallery owner stumbles upon his work at a Baltimore Diner. \n \nIt features wack-o performances from Edward Furlong as Pecker, Christina Ricci as his girlfriend, Lili Taylor as the art dealer, Marth Plimpton as Pecker's trade-hag sister, and bad-boy Brendan Sexton as Pecker's best friend. As they travel to New York and back, lessons are learned about fame, fortune and happiness. \n \nFor Hairspray, John Waters inadvertently got a PG rating and created one of the most unexpected family movies of the late 80s. In this wholesome story about a fat girl, Tracy Turnblad (played by fat girl Ricki Lake) you not only get an empowering underdog film, but also a sub-plot about segregation in the early 60s and how young radicals of that era sowed the seeds of change. \n \nHighlights of Hairspray include star performances from Sonny Bono and Deborah Harry as the evil parents of spoiled teen queen Amber Von Tussle. R&B legend Ruth Brown has a knack for rhymes as DJ Motormouth Mabel. Plus Ric Ocasek and Pia Zadora cameo as beatniks who paint, smoke reefer, iron their hair and listen to Odetta.\n \nYou can read all about John Waters at Dreamland News \n \nMake a plan for how to get home afterwards. If you're going to be drinking very much, no driving! You can bring a sleeping bag if you want, there's lots of room.\n
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| 2006-06-12: COC and CCC - Beginner Hawaiian Hula | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Note that if this class is full on the CCC web site, you can check for the same class on the COC web site as there may still be spots available there.\n Begin learning some Hawaiian hula moves, and put them together in a simple choreography (\"Hula Lady\"). \n Guests (non-members) may attend with special permission. Please e-mail me to discuss.\n
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| 2006-06-16: COC - Morning Hike: Grassi Lakes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Only four of us made it out today because of the recent rain, but we had a beautiful hike and a wonderful day. Thanks to Suzanne, Sophie and Roman for joining us on this one - it was fantastic (except for that one scare we had when Sophie - the dog - almost bounded off the edge of the cliff)! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-06-23: COC - Galatea Creek - Slowpokes Only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Despite sketchy looking weather as we approached K-Country, we had a beautiful day and a wonderful hike. Before setting out, my inner-Alissa predicted that each hiker would receive, on average, about 5 raindrops on their heads that day. We each got about 20, so although my estimate was off, it was not off enough that the rain really had anything to do with the day. This was my first time up to Galatea Lakes instead of stopping at Lilian Lake and it was great. We saw the biggest pile of fresh bear poo that I've seen to date, and there was a brief bout of nudity at Lilian until cold temps drove Bongo Ben back onto shore and into his clothing where he belonged. I think it was a toss-up between Brio (the dog) and Marc R as to who did the most frolicking throughout the day. I liked how Brio and Lisa dressed the same for the hike today. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-06-24: CCC - Inglewood Sunfest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Our entertainment stage and roving entertainers will get going around 10:00 AM with the opening of the “Street Market”. There will be something for everyone at this years festival. The festival will be expanded to three blocks this year and there will be things for all to see, do and buy. Over 100 different vendors will be on the street this year, with lots of unique products for everyone to take advantage of. \n\nOf course, our ever popular “Inglewood Gardens” will open at 10:00 AM with great food, great beer and great entertainment. \n\nWe'll meet for a bit and then disperse - together or in smaller groups to check out the street vendors. Then we'll \"re-group\" for some food and a beverage (perhaps even a brew!) at 1:30 \n\nWarning! CCC Coordinator will cancel this event if it rains (or snows!) Most of attempted to go for a nice beverage at Village Cantina after strolling through Inglewood, and 5 of us even got served! A short but sweet and sunny event.
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| 2006-06-25: COC - Plain of Six Glaciers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The sun was out in full force today along with warm temperatures! The trail is mostly exposed so for future reference the high for today of 25C was almost uncomfortable. It was exciting to witness an avalanche off of one of the peaks warmed by the sun. The pooches were a delightful addition as always, and there was much frolicking by both human and beast in what little snow remained. Note to self for future trips: Meet at event option is actually a bad idea considering that the carpool group can arrive at quite a different time from those meeting at event and with SO many others milling around it's hard to figure out who's looking for the COC. Thank you Michael and Rhonda for adding your fabulous photos to the album. - Marg
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| 2006-06-27: COC - Nihahi Ridge, and Pool at Stix | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nihahi Ridge - Slowpokes Only Pool at Stix Billiards Pub
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| 2006-06-29: COC - Boom Lake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boom Lake - Slowpokes Only\n This is a great little hike - one of my absolute favorites. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing it's also a new favorite of Lila, who was dubbed \"Mosswoman\" on this hike for her repeated swooning over the beautiful moss-covered forest. -- Rhonda (Rainwoman)
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| 2006-07-01: CCC - No Guff | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is actually the Black Diamond festival but the point of going is to listen to a great folk/blues band called \"No Guff\". 3pm - hang around main street (local buskers performing, craft area, food, beer gardens)\n8pm - No Guff takes the stage, other bands to follow, closing with The Rembetika Hipsters 11pm - Canada Day fireworks If not carpooling, meet at the Wild Horse Bistro at 3:15. Please note that No Guff is actually playing at 8pm rather than 5 o'clock, as was in orginal details\n If it wasn't mosquitos, it was pouring rain trying to dampin our spirits. The crazy thing was the storm cloud was directly above us with clear skies on every side! One storm would blow over, the mosquitos would come out then another storm would blow in - at least there were no mosquitos when it rained!!! \n\nDespite all of this, a good time was had by all exploring the town of Black Diamond and listening to the music. No Guff put on a great performance and the Rembetika Hipsters managed to get everyone up dancing to their greek style music.
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| 2006-07-03: COC - Elbow Lake and Rae Glacier - Slowpokes Only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After the many, many, many hikes I have now been on in the last three years, I have to say that this one isn't quite as amazing as I remembered it (in comparison to, say, Healy Pass or Burstall Pass), but it's still very nice. Fantastic views for very little effort, and we made it up just in the nick of time to still enjoy some crazy carpeting on the glacier before the good snow is gone for the season. I'm happy to report that the giant man-eating spider on the snow didn't get any of us. A definite treat to hike with my \"daughter\", Kelli, today - I haven't seen her since October!! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-07-05: CCC - Literary Appreciation Night - The Sequel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Here's a chance to express your unique perspective on your favourite literary piece. Everyone will have 10 minutes to read an excerpt from one (or two) of their favorite works and discuss why it's a favourite. Any genre is acceptable from sci-fi short stories to classical poetry. If your piece is in a foreign language please be prepared to translate. You will be required to provide the name of the piece and author at least 2 days before the event so that we can prepare an itinerary for the evening. \nAs a bonus, we will also be including a book swap. If you wish to participate in this part please bring a book (or books) that you are ready to part with as this will be a permanent swap. Despite the serious lack of mole sex readings, it was a truly interesting evening. Topics ranged from flaming balls of noxious gas, social skills, Africa, death and Dr. Seuss. Though the evening went a little longer than anticipated, it was well worth it. \nWe look forward to seeing everyone out at the next event (once we decide on a \"when\"). Thanks to all who participated!
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| 2006-07-06: CCC - Cantos Music Foundation Tour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cantos Music Foundation offers tours of the Cantos Music Collection of over 400 keyboard and related electronic instruments. Our interpreters will guide visitors through the history of keyboard instruments and related electronic music instruments from 246 B.C. to the present, www.cantos.ca WOW! So many different types of pianos and organs. The collection includes a sample of the first pianos up to modern pianos. Our interpreter provided information on the history of the instruments and what factors affected how/why they were built. \n\nThe Kimball Theatre Organ was by far the most impressive instrument while the Theremin was the most fun to play - it uses the electrical energy in your body to produce sounds not unlike what you might hear in a science fiction movie.\n
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| 2006-07-07: CCC - Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrive at 7PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start listening to the music selections at 7:30 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:30, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). After we listen, we discuss! :) \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening (See \"Required Items to Bring\" below). I am not going to provide any guidelines about what genre of music to contribute - that is your choice, but please select something that you care about and would like to share with other music lovers. \n I only have room in my apt for 8 bodies, and room on an 80-min CD for 8 ten-minute selections, so please sign up for this get-together ONLY if you're serious about contributing some music selections, and attending the get-together.\n
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| 2006-07-09: COC - Iceline Trail - Slowpokes Only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was a fantastic hike - I can see why it's a favorite for so many. We started off in sun and heat, trooping up the switchbacked verdant forest where you quickly gain most of your elevation gain for the day, ooh'ing and ah'ing over the Takkakaw Falls which were viewable across the valley for much of our day. Breaking out above the treeline, we continued along the ridge, until we turned a corner and BAM! The most amazing moonwalk-ey, Mayan ruin-esque rock meadow greeted us. To go along with the bizarre visual effects, we could clearly see the \"lost city of Burgess\" across the valley, nestled in between the two glaciers. Stripey entertained us throughout the hike by trying to push over dead trees, and rolling large rocks down the slope (he had a couple of really good ones). As we trooped across/through the \"meadow\", it began to rain, and the gentle rain eventually became a torrential downpour, which started many of us back down early (although we'd completed most of the intended hike by that time). A couple of sketchy moments when Kelli and Marc's hair decided to stand on end with the electrical charge of impending lightning strike, but we prudently crouched down for it to pass and thankfully, no one was actually struck by lightning today. Our carpool, six people in Marc's borrowed company SUV, enjoyed \"Airplane\" on the SUV's DVD player on the trip out, and \"Envy\" on the way back, topped off with a stop in Lake Louise for ice cream and coffee. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-07-11: COC - Ptarmigan and Black Prince Cirques - Slowpokes Only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| These two hikes are both wonderful little hikes with scenery to die for with very little effort to get there. Because they're both quite far out of town, I like to combine them into a day so that we all feel like it's worth the drive, and today we weren't disappointed. We had perfect weather and a great group. The moderates, being such a small group today, joined us, so we were a grand total of 16 today for a wonderful day. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-07-12: COC - Beginner Inline Skating near Glenmore Inn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-07-16: COC - Yoho Valley Falls - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This hike is dawdler heaven. It is long, with only two sections of elevation gain, but umpteen waterfalls along the way. We parked at Takkakaw Falls, and although it wasn't part of our official itinerary, we noodled on over and had an eyefull of it in all its glory. True to its word, the Yoho Valley trail did not disappoint for waterfalls. Soon after we departed, we came across the side trip for Angel's Staircase, which, once I clued in to the staircase high up on the mountain was really cool. A few minutes later, a side trip to Point Lace Falls, which did actually look like lace. Noodling our way up the trail, we soon came to an unnamed \"bonus\" small waterfall. A detour in to Duchesnay Lake, which wasn't that impressive itself, but was interesting with a bunch of tadpoles and caddis fly larvae floating around in the water, and dead trees standing from where the water had been higher, but then receded. Heading merrily on our way, we soon came to Laughing Falls, which was definitely one of the favorites of the day with a great canyon, and lots of rainbows in the air. We stopped there for a snack. The final hike up to Twin Falls was somewhat longer and had the most elevation gain, but the Twin Falls were astounding - many of us even liked it better than Takkakaw Falls. Along the way, we tried to figure out what the tall, distinctive peak across the valley was. It was unnamed, and although I think it is probably part of Mount Niles, we decided it was impressive enough to warrant its own name and we duly dubbed it \"COC Mountain\". This hike really was a dawdle... from the time we set out to the time we departed Twin Falls was FIVE HOURS. It only took us two hours to return, though - dawdle time was over. It was great fun having Steven from Atlanta and Jacqueline from Toronto join us, too - we love visitors! Two great big thumbs up for this one - I would recommend it to anyone! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-07-18: COC - Paradise Valley and Giant Steps - Slowpokes Only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The other people on this hike seemed to really enjoy it, which is great! As for me, not so much. It did have some moments, certainly. I enjoyed the rock slopes, and the wildflowers were amazing. The hike was way too long, though, for my liking - 23/24kms. I rarely do above 14 kilometers, and when I do, by gum... it had better be spectacular! I would do this hike again, happily, if it were half the distance, but for that kind of distance, since it didn't absolutely 'wow' me, the chances are slim to none that I will ever bother with it again. Oh well, live and learn (this was a new hike for me)... the weather was nice, no one got hurt, we were out in the mountains, and Lila and Mieke amused us greatly with their efforts to continue WALKING after the end of the hike (while we were at Louise enjoying a hard-earned ice cream cone). \"Farewell\" to Jak who is on her way back to Toronto tomorrow, and to Steven who I will see next in Atlanta. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-07-19: COC - Beginner Inline Skating near Glenmore Inn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WOW - what a TRIP!!! I always enjoy my beginner inline skating events. I love the trail - it's flat and safe, although not the most scenic. I also love helping beginners and seeing them progress. Anyway, tonight was really special to me because I had the opportunity to skate with Shabu. Shabu completely lost his sight at age 17. He is... um... not 17 anymore, but he ice skates, inline skates, hikes, scrambles, x-c skis, downhill skis, kayaks, and I'm sure lots more stuff too. He needs to hold onto someone to skate, and since his wife, Shaida, is a beginner skater, she isn't able to help him, so I did. Shabu and I skated for almost two hours (Shabu holding my arm) and we made a great team! We reached almost my top speed - he's a really good skater! Hills were new to him, so we had fun getting up and coasting down two hills out, and two hills back. Thank you, Shabu and Shaida, for an amazing experience!! I hope to see both of you out for lots of my skating events. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-07-21: COC - Eiffel Lake/Wenkchemna Pass - Slowpokes Only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Now THAT'S a hike. 18 kilometers of WOW!!! It totally made up for \"Too Long Valley\" (aka Paradise Valley) from Tuesday. From Moraine Lake, you switchback up and up, above the lake. Then, the trail is quite flat as you head deeper into the mountains. As you emerge from the trees after about 5km (total so far), you have a great view of the valley, and then the three tiny bodies of water, the largest of which has the honor of being named Eiffel Lake. We had a snack at Eiffel Lake, and then continued around the end of the valley (still flat), and then switchbacked up Wenkchemna Pass, which was a very interesting and enjoyable climb, and then.... you reach the top of the pass, and my favorite part... you get a whole NEW set of beautiful mountains to ooh and aahh over!! Lunch at the top, then back down through the ORIGINAL set of beautiful mountains - I love pass hikes. Some of us had a great butt slide down a patch of snow part of the way. To Louise for ice cream. A perfect day. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-07-22: CCC - Music Appreciation Nite at Joel's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We'll gather at 7:00 pm, and start the music at 7:30. Please don't be late, to avoid interruptions.\n \nYou've got 15 minutes each, to do with as you please. The typical format would be to play something, talk about it briefly (before or after), then move on to the next piece. But you can write an essay about music and read it to us, use the whole time to play music if you're shy or have laryngitis, or bring an instrument and your voice, and perform your music live if you like. Just make it enlightening and entertaining!\n \nWe'll take a short break halfway through to refill our glasses and grab a snack, then get back to the music. Afterwards, we'll sit around and discuss what we've heard. We had a fine time, listening to and discussing a widely varied selection of music. For example, the bluesy Sittin' In the Kitchen chosen by Rhonda, Lily's hilarious The Internet (Is For Porn), or Lynda's Many A New Day from the play Oklahoma! This seemed (to me anyway) to be about as varied a selection as we've ever seen at a Music Appreciation nite.\nLots of good food and drink was shared along with the music.\n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n
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| 2006-07-25: COC - Old Goat Glacier Hike - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was a fantastic hike, a beautiful day, and a great group! As promised, most of the elevation is gained in one section of treacherous loose rock, but we trudged our way up, were awed by the canon, then fumbled our way back down and had refreshments in Canmore so Craig from Rocky Mountain House could join us for once. I would highly recommend this hike, but be prepared - sturdy hiking boots and poles are very very good things to have for the day. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-07-27: COC - Beginner Inline Skating near Glenmore Inn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-07-28: CCC - Brunch and Shopping at Calgary Farmers' Market | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We'll have brunch in the food court (lots of great vendors) and then do some shopping at the Calgary Farmers' Market.\n When you get into the market, head into the far right corner. Meet your coordinator at the edge of the food court seating area, in front of Simple Simon's Pies. We'll grab a table together.
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| 2006-08-01: COC - Buller Pass - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was a really nice hike. Not blow-your-mind oh-my-god-I-have-to-come-back-next-week amazing, but really nice. The forest was beautiful, and the hike in was quite gentle all the way to the pass. Going up the pass itself was kinda steep with a bit of loose rock, but really not bad at all. The views from the top were fantastic! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-08-02: COC - Intermediate Inline Skating Glenmore Inn to Chestermere | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-08-05: CCC - Ellis Bird Farm Bug Jamboree and Butterfly Count, and Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Music Appreciation Night Arrive at 7PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start listening to the music selections at 7:30 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:30, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). After we listen, we discuss! :) \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening (See \"Required Items to Bring\" below). I am not going to provide any guidelines about what genre of music to contribute - that is your choice, but please select something that you care about and would like to share with other music lovers.\n I only have room in my apt for 8 bodies, and room on an 80-min CD for 8 ten-minute selections, so please sign up for this get-together ONLY if you're serious about contributing some music selections, and attending the get-together.\n
CCC - Ellis Bird Farm Bug Jamboree and Butterfly Count\n This is a FAMILY event, but being a BUG FREAK I figure they won't have any trouble letting me in the door. :)\n Join me for Ellis Bird Farm's Bug Jamboree and Butterfly Count. It will be a morning event so we have to get an early start. After the event, we can grab lunch in Lacombe or Red Deer... or maybe we'll hit the PaSu Sheep Farm on the way back.\n At Ellis Bird Farm, butterfly gardens, orchards, native wildflower gardens, hummingbird gardens and water gardens are linked by a network of trails. For the Bug Jamboree, they will have five entomologists there, including John Acorn The Nature Nut.\n What a great day - I'm so glad we went! When we first got there, John Acorn was singing some songs and I thought \"Uh-oh... this event is really just for kids\" but then when he finished, they had entomologists set up at five different stations throughout the facility to explain different things about bugs. The guy with the caterpillars was great - I love wooly bear caterpillars (I used to play with them as a child in Lynn Valley), but my favorite (I think everyone's favorite) was the guy set up at the pond who had a bunch of nets for people to pull bugs out of the water (into a bug tub on the shore) so we could see them and learn about them. There were lots of fresh water shrimp, and the back swimmers were really cool. There was an empty caddis fly larvae case, but no caddis fly larvae while I was around - nuts!\n A special treat for me was running into my friend, Sondra, who I had lost contact with a couple years ago when I had an e-mail switch. We got caught up and exchanged current contact information. :)\n Anyone who hasn't gone out of town with the CCC (or COC) on an event, is missing out on one of the best parts - CARPOOL! Sonia and her son met us up there, but the rest of us piled into Marc's big SUV and had a fantastic time. We stopped at the Rusty Pelican in Red Deer for lunch on the way up, and stopped in Red Deer again on the way back for ice cream. You just can't beat carpool conversation (none of which can be repeated here).\n -- Rhonda
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| 2006-08-06: COC - River Float: Bowness to the Zoo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-08-08: COC - Wilcox Pass, Columbia Icefield - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Potentially offensive content warning – BEWARE (but only if you have an overactive imagination…. get your mind out of the gutter!) I would like to apologize right up-front to Dave for this write-up…. Nary a COC-Bunny was to be seen as our Shuttle-COC headed out this morning half-COCed with only six Slowpokes and six Moderates (plus Lana and Blaine from the overnighter). With the fluctuating temperatures on the way up, our COC-of-the-walk, Dave, got cold-COCed and had to add a layer once we broke through the tree-line. We had two COC-suckers out today – Lana who got talked into taking over the overnight event for Marty who ended up working instead, and Nicole who caved to my sniveling about my inadequate lunch and shared her yummy blueberries with me. Nicole also earned the distinction of being the COC-biter for the day when she ran into a tree and fell into the bushes, getting a few good scrapes in the process. In spite of some lively conversation, touching on politics at several points, there were no COC-fights reported. To my knowledge, no COC-apoos occurred during the day, but a couple of pee-COCs were assumed to happen, although thankfully, we did not actually see them first-hand. I was very pleased to have Princess Shelley, one of my favorite COC-buddies out hiking with me today as I just haven’t gotten to spend enough time with her this summer. Given the relatively short and easy nature of the hike, it is not too likely that any of us will be stiff-COCs tomorrow. I swear every word of this story is true – it is not a conCOCted COC-amamie COC-tale. -- Rhonda PS... definitions for most of these COC-terms can be found under \"General Chat\" in our member forum. The rest you'll just have to figure out from context.
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| 2006-08-10: COC - Beginner Inline Skating at Carburn Park | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It rained. We went to Riverbend Station and played pool. For some inexplicable reason, my game was really \"on\". Woohoo! Hopefully we'll actually skate next time. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-08-11: CCC - Brunch and Shopping at Calgary Farmers' Market | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We'll have brunch in the food court (lots of great vendors) and then do some shopping at the Calgary Farmers' Market.\n When you get into the market, head into the far right corner. Meet your coordinator at the edge of the food court seating area, in front of Simple Simon's Pies. We'll grab a table together.\n Afterwards, join us for an afternoon hike to Grassi Lakes if you feel like it.
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| 2006-08-17: CCC - Global Fest Cultural Pavilions (Mexico Lindo and Ukranian ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GlobalFest's Cultural Pavilions offer audiences a feast for the senses – \ntraditional cuisine, live performances, heritage dress, displays, arts and crafts, and more!. The Calgary Mexican Cultural Society will be bringing four professional dancers to join a 5 year all Traditional Folk dance group formed in Calgary. From previous years I can tell you that for only $5 dollars visitor fell like \nbeing deep in Mexico's territory, enjoying the still not so-known traditional music, dances and food of Mexico and of course you can enjoy some Margaritas if you like. We will be visiting other 2 pavillions as well. People can choose to visit individual pavillions or move as a group from to all 3 pavilions. Mexico Lindo (6:00PM) and Tryzub's Ukranian (8:00PM) Pavilion \nMore information about Global Fest can be found at www.globalfest.ca Please make a payment at the event or pre-purchase at any Calgary Co-Op or \nonline at www.globalfest.ca. The money for tickets \nsold at the Pavillions will go directly to help the association organizing the pavillion. I can hold 10 tickets for the \nMexican pavilion only until after 10 min after the meeting time. \n\n\n\n Thank you everyone for attending this event. \n\nThe Mexican Pavillion offered a media presentation of each region¡¯s history and cultural influences of the dances performed on the stage. This helped guests understand better the background of each dance which included some pre-hispanic pieces rarely seen in the city. Very colorful customs, upbeat musical and a lot of footwork from the dancers. It was all finished with a Carnival party. To put some more excitement to the event we had to go on the run for the next Pavillion. We all made it on time and even have a chance to enjoy some food and drinks before the Ukrainian show. We saw there gorgeous customs and very artistic dances. A Coral group and traditional music very nicely executed followed. To end a great night we have the final performance where dancers fly in great acrobatic movements marked by music. For those of us who enjoy traditional music and dance this was a very delightful experience.\n\nFor only $10 we saw two very professional shows and helped support hardworking cultural communities in Calgary. If you read this before Global Fest is over I would think that everyone that attended this event will recommend any of these Pavillions to visit. If not, look for them next year.\n
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| 2006-08-18: COC - Taylor Lake - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We were accosted right at the trailhead by a warden warning us to keep the dogs on leash all day - there was a grizzly in our area with her two cubs, believed to be enroute to Taylor Lake (popular destination). So, I did my usual \"nazi\" routine keeping the group tightly together for the day, but I think everyone still had a good time. We took the standard route up to Taylor Lake, had lunch, and then at Ed's suggestion, continued on to Lake O'Brien, before returning to our cars. It was a perfect day, and 17.8km was just enough! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-08-19: CCC - Cantos Music Foundation Tour and Movie Nite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Cantos Music Foundation Tour\n When you tour through the Cantos Music Collection, you journey into our musical history. With over 200 instruments on display, the Collection spans the evolution of music from 246 B.C. to present day.\n\n Among the pipe organs, clavichords, pianos, synthesizers, drum machines and related artifacts, is a one of a kind Johannes Couchet harpsichord from 1679, a Kimball Theatre Organ from 1924, an impressive variety of Moog electronic instruments, and a Mellotron similar to one used by the Beatles.\n\n While the instruments are incredible to behold this is more than just a visual experience. A tour of the Collection Gallery is an interactive exploration into the sounds of the past. A celebration of music.\n\n\n\n www.cantos.ca\n This is a fantastic tour - one not to be missed if you're a music lover. My absolute favorites are the enormous theatre organ with the air pipes leading to various boxes in which actual instruments are played/controlled from the one organ, and the Mellotron, which is played like a keyboard but plays back recordings of actual instruments, including a human choir - it just blows my mind to see a keyboard played sounding like a choir of voices singing. I also love the Theremin, which I've thought was really cool since Joel introduced me to it a few years ago.\n -- Rhonda CCC - Bonnie and Clyde and The Sting - Movie Nite\n Two classics - we'll be showing \"Bonnie and Clyde\" (1967) and \"The Sting\" (1973).\n \"Bonnie and Clyde\" is one of the sixties' most talked-about, volatile, controversial crime/gangster films combining comedy, terror, love, and ferocious violence. It was produced by Warner Bros. - the studio responsible for the gangster films of the 1930s, and it seems appropriate that this innovative, revisionist film redefined and romanticized the crime/gangster genre and the depiction of screen violence forever. \n In \"The Sting\", Paul Newman and Robert Redford star as two clever con artists who arrange an elaborate sting against a powerful crime lord who murdered their friend.\n\n Make a plan for how to get home afterwards. If you're going to be drinking very much, no driving! You can bring a sleeping bag if you want, there's lots of room.\n These were two great classics. Marc fell asleep at the tail end of the Sting, some host eh? The snacks were great and many stayed for a while after the movie to talk about the films and other stuff. One speculation was that Clyde was gay, much to Bonnie's chagrin. It is a plausible explanation for what was, (or more accurately wasn't), going on between the two of them. I just thought he might have turned to violence out of frustration. It sure is great to watch and discuss films with others.
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| 2006-08-20: CCC - Fringe Theatre - Knoll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playwright: Dan Gibbins \nDirector: Christopher Hunt \nCast: Jordan Schartner, C. Adam Leigh \n\nJohn F. Kennedy must die. Saul and Roscoe, two less-than-eager fellows, are entreated to shoot him. It's imperative that the kill shot comes from the grassy...uh...smallish, hilly thing in order for this multi-layered conspiracy to be pulled off. Watch one of the most prevalent moments in history unfold from the perspective of Kennedy's unwitting, fallible, and utterly charming murderers. The Fringe Festival's paramount assassination comedy.\n Everyone on the list showed up - a great start to an event! Waiting in line for the doors to open was no problem as there were lots of people to have conversations with. When the doors did open, there was lots of room to get seats. It was great to be able to see a show from the Fringe and support this festival. All in all, a good way to spend some time on a Sunday afternoon.
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| 2006-08-22: COC - Stanley Glacier - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Well, that was some great BIIIIIG one millimeter... the forecast for today said a chance of thunder showers in the afternoon, but less than one millimeter of precipitation. You could not prove that by us, since, just as we finished up our lunch, the rain started and did not quit until we were done hiking out, and everyone was completely drenched. We did about 13 kms today (we think) as we went beyond the maintained trail, up above the bump (beneath the actual glacier). I have heard good and bad things about this hike - some people like the hike through the burned forest, and some don't care for it. I found it to be very lovely, with lots of flowers and other new growth on the ground. I'm sure it would be wonderful if it weren't for those rogue millimeters of precipitation. :) -- Rhonda
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| 2006-08-23: CCC - Dim Sum Lunch Downtown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dim Sum at Kites\n In Southern China, especially in the Canton provinces, many people gather at tea houses during the morning and early afternoon to socialize or conduct business over small meals. In China this is most popularly called going to yum cha -- going to tea -- because the drinking of tea is so strongly associated with the snack foods served. In North America, however, we are most familiar with the term dim sum to describe these small meals. Dim sum, literally translated from the Cantonese, means \"dot-hearts,\" small treats that touch the heart. Most dim sum foods are savory pastries -- steamed or fried dumplings, filled buns, noodles. There are also sweet pastries, vegetables, meats. The portions are bite-sized, and they are served in small quantities, usually three or four to a plate, so that the diners can enjoy a variety of foods, whether they eat very little or indulge in a huge feast. Variety is one of the keys to dim sum. Some restaurants offer over 100 different items on a busy day. The presentation of the dim sum meal has no equivalent in the West. Servers push carts, loaded with a variety of foods, through the dining room, past the customers, who keep an eye out for appealing dishes. Once a desired item is in sight, the diner flags down the cart and points out what she wants. The dining room bustles with the activity of carts wending among tables, calls for attention, and the clatter of plates. The idea is to choose things continually throughout the meal, rather than to gather all the food at once before eating. Sweet items are interspersed with the savories; Chinese custom does not include saving sweets for the end of the meal, although they are reserved for special occasions, such as the pauses between courses in a banquet or indulgences like dim sum. \n Tea is an essential part of dim sum. the word \"cha\" in \"yum cha\" means tea. Just as the arrival of food is ongoing, the supply of tea is endless. When a teapot is empty, the customer need only leave the lid up, and it will be whisked away and refilled. \n\n CCC policy is to add 24% onto your bill - 6% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event.\n Note that we will be splitting the bill equally. Dim Sum is quite affordable, even if we pig right out - expect the meal to cost between $11 and $15 each.
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| 2006-08-24: COC - Beginner Inline Skating at Carburn park | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-08-25: CCC - Fancy Pants Ball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 lucky CCC Members are invited to our first Fancy Pants Ball, for the Great Celebration. We aren't just celebrating one thing, because there are just so many different reasons to celebrate. Pick your own reason. \n\nWash your face, gussy up, bring a special snack to share, and your own beverage, and we'll party like it's 1743. Black tie optional.\n
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| 2006-08-27: COC - Healy Pass - Slowpokes Only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| There are three reasons why this is my favorite hike - scenery, scenery, and of course, scenery. And today did not disappoint - it was a beautiful sunny day, warm but not scorching, with amazing blue skies. Ozzie Ann looked tres Canadian in her Roots t-shirt and fanny pack. Harley the Healy Bug came for a visit during lunch - he was a real beaut - check out his photo! As usual, my best pal, Bridget was getting on my tits all day. When we got to the pass, the moderate group was sitting up on the ridge like a shag on a rock. Have a great day, and keep your pecker up! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-08-29: COC - Picklejar Lakes - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A great day for a wonderful hike - this is definitely one of my absolute favorites! We trekked along the valley, then up the big hill. Across the scree slope and down to the first lake. We lunched by the first lake, and some weather started blowing in, so that, plus the fact that I think going past the first lake is more trouble than it's worth, we turned around at that point and headed out. Since the moderate group had gone all the way to the third lake, they ended up catching us on the way down and we all got back to our cars at the same time. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-09-01: COC - Prairie Mountain and CCC - Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - Prairie Mountain Prairie Mountain is a good old friend. A great, short, close-to-town, workout slog up a steep-but-not-quite-too-steep hill with a fantastic view from the top of Nihahi Ridge (and other lovelies) to the west, Moose Mountain to the north, and Calgary to the east. Thanks to all who came out today - it was a perfect way to spend an afternoon. -- Rhonda CCC - Music Appreciation Night - ANGRY MUSIC Theme\n Arrive at 7PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start listening to the music selections at 7:30 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:30, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). After we listen, we discuss! :) \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening (See \"Required Items to Bring\" below). The Theme for this music appreciation night is ANGRY MUSIC. I'm not going to provide any further guidance on what that means... that is up to you. \n I only have room in my apt for 8 bodies, and room on an 80-min CD for 8 ten-minute selections, so please sign up for this get-together ONLY if you're serious about contributing some music selections, and attending the get-together.\n\n
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| 2006-09-10: CCC - Calgary Stroll of Poets | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Calgary Stroll of Poets. CCC member and co-coordinator of this event, Joy Middlestead, will be reading some of her poetry. We'll go see her and some other poets of Joy's choice (since she knows the good stuff) at various venues in Calgary.\n Along with Dean Morrison, Liam Volke, Karen Gummo, Martin\nSutcliffe, and Lori D. Roadhouse, Joy will be reading at the Kensington Pub, between 1:30 and 2:30PM. If you want to join us for the opening at Annie's, meet there at 11:45, otherwise join us at 1:15 at Kensington Pub.\n I have gone a couple (or more) times before with my mom (Joy) who reads in the Calgary Stroll of Poets nearly every year. She's quite talented, if I do say so myself. ;)\n This year was the first time we brought some CCC folk with us and I hope they had as good a time as I did - it was a fantastic time. We started off at Annie's and then went down to Kensington Pub, which is where Mom (Joy) read. Then a few of us went down to Second Cup for a bit more, but it is not a great venue for poetry with the loud cappucino machines competing with the poets for airtime. \n Here is one of Joy's poems (one of my favorites):\n Pink\n When choosing the paint \n for my house\n I picture quiet pink\n but on the walls\n it speaks in a loud\n strident voice:\n A female lives here\n alone\n Not so long ago\n and not alone\n I wasn't allowed\n to paint the insides\n of the cupboards white\n He insisted on\n pale shit-brindle\n brown\n The siding\n on my house\n is pink\n and the rosebush\n by my front step\n seethes\n with pink blossoms\n -- Joyce (Joy) Middlestead
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| 2006-09-11: CCC - Try Argentine Tango with Adrian (1 Week Only) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Try Argentine Tango with Adrian Jipescu for one class - check it out, brush up if you've done it before, and maybe decide if you want to sign up for more classes.\n.\n TANGO: A DANCE, A CULTURE, A WAY OF LIFE\n\n Tango originated in the 1880’s in the brothels of Buenos Aires. People from all over the world were there: Ireland, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, England, and Turkey. It was a dance about lust and violence… Disillusioned immigrants created this dance, which borrows the steady drum beat from African roots, Indian rhythms from the natives, mixed with the music of the early Spanish colonists.\n\n It was entirely a lower class dance until the early 1900’s when the lower classes were allowed to vote and their culture got absorbed into the rest of the society - which changed the feeling of the dance quite significantly.\n\n Tango is the projection of life on the dance floor. Tango is a conversation. Taking part in this conversation means listening and responding to one’s partner. Tango is an improvised dance. When you see tango as a flexible dance, and understand the beauty of how to piece the different elements together, the dance becomes more exciting. Only then, you can truly make this dance your own, with your own expression and flavor…\n Note that this is the sign-up sheet for women. Men, please sign up here. In order to keep our gender ratios even, if we end up with more of one gender than the other, the \"extras\" will be given a full refund and invited to attend a different session. When you register, please put the name of your partner in the \"Notes\" section if you are coming with someone specific. Thanks all for coming... Hope you liked the \"free style\" tango lesson; where more important than the mechanical steps is the way you feel the music and communicate it to your partner. Too bad the time was so short, but hopefully I'll have the chance to meet with you again.\nAdrian
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| 2006-09-21: COC - COC Volunteer Social | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-09-22: COC - Bowness Park and CCC Farmers Market | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Brunch and Shopping at Calgary Farmers' Market\n We'll have brunch in the food court (lots of great vendors) and then do some shopping at the Calgary Farmers' Market.\n When you get into the market, head into the far right corner. Meet your coordinator at the edge of the food court seating area, in front of Simple Simon's Pies. We'll grab a table together.\n Afterwards, join us for an afternoon hike in Bowness Park if you feel like it.
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| 2006-09-23: CCC - Mehndi Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What is Mehndi? Mehndi is the traditional art of adorning the body with henna by drawing intricate patterns on the skin with henna paste. Henna (lawsonia inermis) comes from the plant of the same name which usually grows in very dry and arid regions around the globe. The leaves of the henna plant are picked, dried and ground into a fine powder which is then used to make the henna paste.\n \nMehndi has been used in beauty rituals and customs from time immemorial. It is the oldest documented cosmetic and widely used through the Middle and Far East. It is used for its moisturizing and sun protecting properties as well as a hair dye, and its ability to transform the skin with red patterns. It is rumored that Cleopatra and Nefertiti used henna as well as Fatima, the Prophet Muhammed's daughter, and Mumtaz Mahal, to which the Taj Mahal was built. \n \nMehndi produces a red/brown stain on the top layers of skin. Depending on the skin type of the individual, location on the body and amount of time that the henna paste is left in place, designs may last anywhere from a few days to two weeks! Henna paste is perfectly safe and contains no harsh chemicals. The henna paste used contains only henna powder, dextrose, lemon juice and lavender essential oil. Reactions are rare, and it is considered safe for pregnant women and children too. If you are at all concerned about the safety of henna, please contact Samantha for more information. \n \nSamantha (your coordinator) has been practicing the art of mehndi for several years. She was introduced to it in her university days, and immediately took a shine to adorning the bodies of her friends. She regularly decorates herself with this wonderful temporary body art, and anyone else who will sit still long enough! Each participant in this event will receive at least one mehndi design of their choice - additional designs depend on both time and the amount of henna paste left. Samantha will provide her sketchbook and other images to choose from. Custom designs may be discussed. As her work is done freehand, results may vary. \n
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| 2006-09-24: COC - Intermediate Inline Skating - Edworthy to Downtown (or Zoo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-09-29: COC - Larch Valley and Sentinel Pass - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What a wonderful hike! One that will definitely hit my \"A\" list! A perfect, beautiful day, the exact right time of year for larches, and a great group - thanks to all who came out. -- Rhonda Bruce's Crepe Recipe: - Buy a pre-made pizza - Put the pizza into the bottom of a day pack, add a fleece and two jackets, and press firmly - Wait at least one hour, perhaps walk up a mountain while you wait - Remove clothing from day pack. Crepe (formerly the pizza) will be ready to eat
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| 2006-09-30: COC - Beginner Mountain Biking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was an awesome event! It was my fifth time on a bicycle since I was about twelve years old. Me, and three others were real 'beginners' and everyone else ranged in skill. We rode up to the 'top' of the trail on the highway, then we went down the trail... slowly. There were some really challenging parts, and a real variety of terrain. Marty gave us some instruction on braking and shifting, and some of the other experienced attendees helped out with advice and assistance as well. After we made it down to Paddy's Flat campground the first time, we stopped for something to eat. Then, we biked back up the trail (damn my legs - they were 'done' before I reached the top - I shouldn't have hiked to Sentinel Pass yesterday), and then down again, much faster the second time. Returning to Station Flats, we had some lunch there and were entertained by some whiskeyjacks who liked to sit on Rod's head (regardless of whether or not he'd put a snack up there). Cheers to Dave - hope carpooling back with Daria (with cow poo on her shoe) wasn't too bad!! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-10-04: CCC - BEGINNER American Tribal Belly Dance with Urban Tribal Fusion - 8 Weeks Wed Eves | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| American Tribal was created in California in the 1970’s and the dance is influenced by Indian Katak,Flamenco, Bellydance, and North Africa….just to name a few. This style of dance is surely to grab your attention as you mix all these variations together and then adorn your bodies in fabric and tassels, coins and jewels. \n\n FEE $150, Payable when you register with Lotus Production Studio.\n\n Wednesday Evenings 8:00 – 9:30 p.m.\n\n October 4 – November 29, 2006 (8 Weeks)\n\n NOTE that you are responsible for registering with Lotus Production to take this class. Phone: 247-9776, e-mail lotusproduction@shaw.ca. When you phone to register tell them the Culture Club sent you. :)\n Also NOTE that this is NOT an exclusive CCC event - there will be other students of Lotus Production Studio there as well. If you are interested in hooking up with the other CCC attendees, you should contact them via our web site or by asking around at class.
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| 2006-10-05: COC - 16km of Lake Minnewanka Shoreline - Slowpokes and Dawdlers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Over the past couple of weeks it became time to shift from my longer more challenging summer hikes to my shorter, closer, more familiar fall hikes. This was the first one, and it couldn't have been better. The weather and conditions were fantastic. The trail was closed at the campground (Lm8), but that's where we planned to turn back anyway, so it was all good. Complementing a great hike was some fantastic lively carpool conversation ranging over politics (esp US foreign policy), books (Dina and I were shocked to discover we're both Mary Roach fans), and health (esp PH and how to maintain/manage it to control food cravings). -- Rhonda
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| 2006-10-07: COC - Chester Lake, and CCC - Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - Chester Lake and Three Lakes Valley - Dawdlers, Photographers and Dawdling Photographers We went out today in hopes of finding lingering fall colours - ie. larch trees. I guess anyone from Alberta can argue, with significant success, that \"white\" qualifies as an Alberta fall colour. Well, that's what we got. There were times when it was cold, but for the most part it was a wonderful wonderful early winter hike. This was my first time going past Chester Lake, and what an eye opener - there's lots of great stuff past there! We had more dawdlers than photographers, but we still got a lot of great photos for the day. Sharon survived her first-ever winter hiking experience - yay!! Princess Shelley had a not-very-princesslike moment when she and a few other cleat-challenged folk slid (on their bums) down the steep hill from the hanging valley. Note to tomorrow's group - if you own ice cleats, take them. The snow may be gone by tomorrow, but just in case... Quote of the day: Hiker: Is this an in-and-out kind of hike? Marty: Yes, unless you die up there, in which case it's just an in. Sorry Robyn, but as of today, Marty has a new nickname: \"Tripod\". -- Rhonda :) CCC - Music Appreciation Night\n Arrive at 7PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start the music selections at 7:30. We will have two CDs. We will have a round-robin to introduce our songs first. The music will be “mixed” according to my opinion of how it flows best – your songs will not necessarily all be together on the CDs. We will listen during the music, taking a break for visiting, potty breaks and snack refills in between the two CDs. \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 8-12 minutes of music for the evening. If the evening has a “theme” (listed in the title), you should (but don’t have to) bring music that fits your interpretation of the theme. Many of our themes are DELIBERATELY ambiguous for maximum creativity! \n\n CD 1\n\n
CD 2\n\n
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| 2006-10-12: COC, TOC and AOC Trip to Atlanta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rhonda: Rollerblading, canoeing, hiking, sight-seeing, eating, shopping... this trip had it all!! Fencing, fighting, chases, escapes, revenge, true love... oh... oops, wait a minute, that's the Princess Bride I'm thinking of now. We got really lucky with the weather on this brief but packed trip. It was nice for Friday, Saturday and Sunday while we did our outdoor stuff, and then started raining on Monday. We ended up skipping Amicalola Falls because of that and choosing alternates instead, but by then we were all getting pretty tired of long drives out of town anyway so it worked out fine. On the first day, Lynda presented us with a great CD that she burned for us - every song about Atlanta and/or Georgia to set the mood. As they (Joel, Lynda, Steph and Christine) headed in to the CNN tour and Little Five Points, Marty, Kelli and I headed over to Smyrna where I was to take them rollerblading on the Silver Comet Rail Trail. But first... I took them on a detailed \"circle\" tour of Cobb County, including the Big Chicken and my old apartment. Then, we headed over to Little Five Points for dinner where we hooked up with Steph and Christine for dinner at the Vortex and then on over to the IMAX social event with AOC that Steven set up for us. It was great to meet a bunch of AOC'ers and to see Jess!! On Saturday, we went canoeing on the Chestatee River. This was THE event that spawned the Calgary Outdoor Club back in 2003. After doing this trip on a visit in April, I decided that it was time for me to suck it up and start a club in Calgary because I enjoyed the Atlanta one so much. It was an important pilgrimmage for me to take my COC and TOC friends there, although, I have to say that the trip itself wasn't as momentous as I'd made it out to be in my mind. Keep in mind that the first time (in 2003) was actually my first time in a canoe. The river was higher then, so the class 1 rapids were actually class 1 rapids instead of some of the class 2s that we got this time because the river was so low. On the second half of the trip, Steph and I perfected the \"bump and grind\" canoeing technique of getting our canoe un-stuck from some of the rocks that we got stuck on. It was a fantastic trip, though, and Steven was a fantastic trip leader. Many of the AOCers who joined us were new, and it was a lot of fun meeting them. On Sunday evening, Kelli had to leave us to go join her brain-geek-brigade downtown for the neuroscientist convention. On Sunday, we hiked Blood Mountain, which we decided was the winner in the debate about whether to do that with our one remaining nice day, or do Amicalola (per the original plans). It was a great decision, and a fantastic hike. Unfortunately we missed the really spectacular fall colours by about a week, but the trees were starting to turn and the drive up into the mountains was really beautiful. We did the long circuit, with the 5.5mile ascent and 2.5mile descent which I think was a lot easier than the route that Dick and David remembered (they did it the other way around a few years ago). We drove through Dahlonega on the way back, but it was late enough that everything was closing down. At the highway, Joel's car stopped for gas, and Lynda found us some boiled peanuts!!! YUM!! I love boiled peanuts, but I'm a boiled peanut snob. I gotta have the ones from out in the country that are locally grown (3-4 nuts per shell rather than the normal 2) and boiled for two days in salty water. You can get \"city\" boiled peanuts which are regular double-decker nuts and which for some reason (perhaps pre-roasting? perhaps not being boiled as long?) just don't taste the same. Steph and I enjoyed some anyway, but Marty had a hard time not gagging when he politely choked one down. Ha! More for me. Heading back to town later than expected, we had a few false starts at dinner when Dawn called and suggested meeting over at Poona for Indian food. Yum!!! On Monday, our last day there, we all had breakfast at Waffle House (on the corner of Peachtree) before setting out for the day's activities. In Calgary we say \"if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes\". In Atlanta, you say \"to get to blahblahblah, go down Peachtree and take a left at the Waffle House\". After breakfast, Joel and Lynda decided they'd rather go to the aquarium and do other appropriate vacation things (go figure) rather than join the rest of us for our shopping-fest. Christine, Steph, Marty and I hit REI (the American MEC), then \"My Favorite Place\" (a fabulous used junk store) where I bought a large metal cricket boot-jack/door-jamb. Lastly, we went to Target, but we were pretty much shopped out by then, so we headed back for a nap before joining Dawn and David for dinner again over at the Thai restaurant. Yum!!! We learned the proper (according to Dawn) use of \"Y'all\" vs \"All Y'all\". \"Y'all\" is to be used when addressing a group of people that you are with somewhere. \"All Y'all\" is to be used when you're in a larger group and want to specify that you're addressing everyone in the group. Marty and I couldn't help but notice the \"Walking Man\" staying at our hotel. He's walking across America - 50 states, 4 countries, 3 years, 15,000 miles, in his war on \"Diabesity\" (the slogan on his web site, \" The human body was designed to work; somewhere between sleeping and running there is a natural, sustainable, and natural compromise; it's called –Walking.\") , but he has a WHEELCHAIR tag in his vehicle so he can park in the closest parking stall at the hotel. It was great to get back to Atlanta again - for about my tenth time since I moved back from there in 2001. I took some friends with me (Marty, Joel, Lynda), hooked up with some friends who've moved out east (Steph, Kelli), made a new friend (Christine from TO), and saw my Atlanta friends (Dawn, Jess, David, Dick, Steven) - it's been too long (well, except for Steven since we just saw him in Calgary!). :) Lynda: Although Atlanta lies several hundred miles inland, water figured largely in some of the highlights of our trip to this beautiful, friendly, clean city. Security checks got pretty familiar, too. We were given the once-over not only at airports but major tourist attractions like CNN and the Georgia Aquarium as well. But back to the water, it rained during our last couple of days there, we had a great time canoeing the Chestatee River with the Atlanta Outdoor Club, the aquarium was phenomenal and the seafood, which I found myself eating more than anything, was terrific. I’d heard about the Georgia rain before I’d ever contemplated going there, through songs like, well, Georgia Rain and Rainy Night in Georgia, so I sure didn’t mind experiencing some of what has made the state so very lush. Especially since the rain was preceded by warm, sunny, fall weather. A couple of us got to know the water of the Chestatee River rather more intimately than planned on the canoe trip. Heck, it was probably the most exhilarating part of the whole trip! We canoed the Chestatee, about an hour and a half north of Atlanta, via a bunch of outfitters and were loving the scenery – dense deciduous trees, overhanging branches, sunshine, clear water and the occasional spotting of turtles sunning themselves or poking their curious noses out of the water at us. Surprisingly few birds… Sitting in the bow, I could see that the best spot to avoid a large rock sitting high out of the water was to its left, whereas my canoeing partner, Joel, in the stern, figured the right-hand side was our best bet. Only problem was we each thought our assumptions were obvious so we didn’t communicate them. We paddled onward and soon found ourselves precisely atop that very rock! Not for long, though! We immediately listed to the port side, took on water and got very wet, very quickly indeed. After about 10 or 15 minutes of good-natured jostling in the warm, rushing water we got the canoe unstuck and carried on, being nearly at our destination anyway. Luckily, just before the spill I had put my pack back on and had sealed my digital camera in a Baggie in my pocket so my photos and belongings were safe. What did we ever do without sealable Baggies?!!! (We’re still waiting to see if Joel’s photos, from the little digital he was not-so-secretly hoping to have an excuse to replace anyway, can be salvaged…) On another watery note, don’t even think about going to Atlanta without experiencing the Georgia Aquarium, which is right downtown near the Olympic park (remember 1996?) and CNN headquarters (more about that later). The aquarium is the (self-proclaimed) world’s largest, with about eight million gallons of fresh and marine water and more than 120,000 animals representing 500 species. http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/ Wow! Definitely worth the price of admission ($24 U.S.). Colourful, diaphanous jellyfish (technically not fish so they’re called jellies), piranas, South African penguins, sea otters, sea lions, rays you can actually touch (they’re exquisite, by the way) and mind-boggling sea horses come to mind. The piece de resistance, to me, was a tunnel through a gigantic aquarium containing huge sharks, gigantic groupers and a great big school of rays that appear overhead periodically, among about a zillion other fish. It’s followed by a viewing theatre that’s like looking at an IMAX screen only the action is live and is filled with gorgeous, glorious fish! Truly awesome! After the aquarium Joel and I ventured on to the nearly-5,000-seat Fox Theatre (www.foxtheatre.org/history.htm#history) -- as in the 20th Century Fox studio -- built in 1929 in the glory days of movie palaces, just hoping our timing was right for a tour. Well, luckily a church choir from Florida was more organized than we were and had arranged just such a thing. A very accommodating theatre employee interrupted the just-begun tour and asked if we could join them. She came back to us and repeated the tour guide’s words. “We LOVE Canadians!!! Yes, they can join us!” So we promised to be our usual quiet Canadian selves and took in a fascinating peek of Americana. The theatre was big, brash, bold, expensive and tacky, with Egyptian and Moorish themes throughout. It was fabulous!!! And the Floridians were extremely curious about Joel and I, constantly approaching us and asking where we were from, what we were doing in Atlanta and what we’d done there so far. We were blown away when a Black couple said upon hearing our response of Calgary, that they had lived for a time in Weyburn, Saskatchewan!! We didn’t get the chance to ask them why. We were getting pretty hungry after that. More luck (and our adventurous spirits) found us at a restaurant that’s been an Atlanta landmark since 1945. The security guard where we originally wanted to eat said it’s where President Clinton’s wife likes to eat when she’s in Atlanta. We reckoned if it’s good enough for Hillary it’s good enough for us! Mary Mac’s (www.marymacs.com) serves classic Southern food amidst framed B&W photos of the local, national and international celebs that have been there. I had my first (and second, it was so good!!) mint julep at Mary Mac’s. I LOVE to try local specialties, so I had the blackened catfish (remember the water theme?) with fried green tomatoes and black-eyed peas. Oh, and all first-timers get free corn bread and pot likker, which is the liquid from boiled collard greens, as an appetizer. Joel had the fried chicken, mashed potatoes (covered with cheese as is just about every other food item in Atlanta, including side salads, for example. Sheesh!) and butter peas. We finished our very late lunch by sharing an oozing pecan pie topped with whipped cream accompanied by coffee in thick white mugs. Scrumptious. Bring forth the treadmill. Forsaking continuity here (and departing from the water theme), it has to be mentioned: the Toronto contingent (Stephanie Lyons and Christine Kong) and half the Calgary contingent (Joel and I) started the whole Atlanta trip with a tour of CNN on a sunny Friday morning while Rhonda, Kelli and Marty rollerbladed. CNN was fascinating, the only complaint being that the tour was all too brief at only 50 minutes. The intermittently placed photos on the walls, of the past few decades’ news being covered, were absorbing, and we wished we could have paused longer to contemplate them. Some of us took advantage of the offer to have our pictures taken in front of a newsroom backdrop, making it look like we’re anchoring the news. Fun stuff! I, personally, could have pulled up a chair and watched the journalists at work from a bird’s eye view for HOURS. We looked out over about 100 of them peering at their computer screens and conducting phone interviews as they surrounded Tony Harris and some other anchor announcing the day’s events – North Korea claiming nuclear testing, four bodies found in Florida, blah, blah, blah. From there we went on to a midtown neighbourhood called Five Points (not to be confused with Little Five Points, mind you) to another Atlanta landmark, the opulent City Grill restaurant. Absolutely gorgeous and astonishingly cheap! I paid about $12 (US) for fresh Atlantic shrimp and grits, with various vegetables. Delish. Everyone else seemed quite happy with their pasta, crab soup and other dishes. Really beautiful, classical architecture with impeccable service. Highly recommended, by me and award-givers! On our last day we went to the Atlanta History Centre http://www.atlhist.org/ in the upscale neighbourhood of Buckhead. We could have spent the day there but only had time for a tour of a 1920s mansion and a Civil War exhibit. From there we headed to the airport for a 12-hour trip back home to Calgary. Our flight to TO was delayed so we were eight minutes late for our connecting flight and had to wait another hour and a half for the next one. Air Canada. Don’t get me started… It was but one low point on an otherwise fantastic trip. Steven It was great hosting the group the from Canada, a few AOC veterans and the many newcomers who hopefully will become AOC regulars. It is always a good sign when a large majority of the group wants to eat after the trip.Unless we have some great actors I think everybody had a great time.
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| 2006-10-19: CCC - Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrive at 6:30PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start the music selections at 7:00 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:00, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have one CD of approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). We will have a round-robin in which the first person will introduce their music, and then we’ll listen. After a short break, we’ll continue with the next person, and so on. \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening. If the evening has a “theme” (listed in the title), you should (but don’t have to) bring music that fits your interpretation of the theme. Many of our themes are DELIBERATELY ambiguous for maximum creativity!
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| 2006-10-21: CCC - Village Cantina's Saturday Night Drag Queen Show | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This show books up insanely early! To get tickets, we have to buy them asap.\nCarly's Angels is a riotous and risque musical review. This trio puts an interesting twist on the word \"woman\". An energy driven 2 hours of impersonations of the biggest names in showbiz. See Village Cantina's web site for more information.\n\n Doors open at 7PM for dinner. The coordinator will be there around that time to get us a table. Please indicate in the notes if you'll be joining me for dinner, or coming later just for the show. Our tickets are being held at the door under my name, or under Calgary Culture Club. What a fantastic evening! Carly is a fabulous hostess - warm, friendly, funny and witty. She and the other performers put on a terrific show. It was very light-hearted and fun, and we all enjoyed watching the extra attention heaped on the straight guys in the audience. Well, maybe the guys didn't enjoy it quite as much as the girls. I would highly recommend this show, especially with a group.\n An apres-club get-together at Princess Shelley's gave a few of us a chance to continue socializing after Jorinda and Alissa trashed the club. Just kidding, although there was a minor tackle/hug-gone-wrong incident involving a table, some glasses, and two (presumably very sore) gals.\n -- Rhonda
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| 2006-10-23: CCC - Beginner Tahitian Hula - 3 wks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Begin learning some Tahitian hula moves, and put them together in a simple choreography (TBA). Similar in technique to Hawaiian Hula and Belly Dance, Tahitian hula differs from Hawaiian Hula in that these dances are done mainly to drum music and incorporate faster, more staccato moves. \n Guests (non-members) may attend with special permission. Please e-mail me to discuss.\n
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| 2006-10-24: COC - Annual General Meeting and Social | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-10-26: CCC - Glorious, and Thai Sa-On | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CCC - Glorious\n This is the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins – quite possibly the worst \nsinger in the world – a society matron who follows her dream all the way to \nCarnegie Hall! She was a real-life cult figure of the 1930s and ’40s, known as \n“the diva of the sliding scale”. Direct from its award-winning premiere in \nLondon, GLORIOUS! is both an uproarious comedy and a wistful tribute to the \nwould-be artist in us all.\n Join me for Thai Dinner ahead of time if you want.\n CCC - Thai Sa-On\n Serving Thai cuisine for more than 10 years.Thai Sa-On is a family owned restaurant that specializes in serving delicious, healthy Thai cuisine and was rated 9 out of 10 by CBC radio for having the best Thai food in Calgary. John Gilchrist, CBC Radio food critic, rates Thai-Sa-On as 'consistently the best Thai food in Calgary.' Endorsed and certified by Thailand's Department of Export Promotion Ministry of Commerce for Authentic Thai Food.\n CCC policy is to add 24% onto your bill - 6% GST plus 18% gratuity. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not register for this event.
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| 2006-10-27: CCC - Little Shop and Rocky Horror - Halloween Movie Nite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We'll be showing two Halloween classics: The original 1960 version of Little Shop of Horrors and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. \n Dress up if you like - it is not required. A fun fun time indeed. This was the first time for many, seeing the original \"Little Shop\", and for some, first time seeing \"Rocky Horror\". Joel, Dave and Liane were in full costume, while Rhonda toned it down a bit and just wore her psychadelic toe socks. We watched, ate, drank, and danced the Time Warp, which Harry deftly avoided by taking photos instead. Anna-Lisa, Joel and Dave definitely knew the most about \"Rocky Horror\" and gave us all some tutorials on what to say, and what to throw (although nothing was actually thrown).\n
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| 2006-10-28: COC - Nihahi Creek, and Halloween Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nihahi Creek \n In spite of the long approach and short hike, this one is always fantastic. Everyone enjoyed the adventure of the short canyon, and I believe Mosswoman had her (mental, if not physical) limits expanded ever so slightly. After the canyon, some opted to go with Marty down the creek and try scrambling past the \"eight foot\" cliff from Rhonda's memory. Rhonda's memory apparently didn't know what it was talking about because there were THREE cliffs, all a lot more than eight feet, and pretty much unpassable without equipment. The rest of us went down the trail the normal way, but then went back up to have a look for the cliff and to find Marty's group. We all enjoyed exploring the cliffs a bit before calling it a day. -- Rhonda Halloween Party - Mad Science!\n A very entertaining halloween party! There was food and dancing and test tube shooters a plenty! Rhonda, Robyn and Marty had the best costumes as sex, drugs and rock and roll. The basket \"Sex\" had with her was.....er.......um......you had to be there. We had one very underage party crasher, a new member by the name of Maya, not even one year old! It was great to see her parents Ian and Shelley make their first appearance since her birth. Bassam and Tonia made their last appearances before their upcoming move to New Zealand and made the most of it. Can't wait for the next party, Ian M
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| 2006-10-31: COC - Powderface Ridge via. Powderface Creek Trail - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holy toledo but this trail is challenging with 6\" of fresh snow on it! Good thing the moderates were breaking trail for us, or we'd still be out there trying to make it up to the pass! I also seem to be having a bit of trouble mentally adjusting to the change in seasons. Note to self: it's COLD out there - dress appropriately! ;) Thanks to all my fellow slowpokes for keeping me company today. It was a beautiful day, and a great hike (albeit quite a bit more challenging than we were expecting!). --Rhonda
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| 2006-11-03: CCC - Music Appreciation Night - ASHTRAY Theme | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrive at 6:30PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start the music selections at 7:00 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:00, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have one CD of approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). We will have a round-robin in which the first person will introduce their music, and then we’ll listen. After a short break, we’ll continue with the next person, and so on. \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening. If the evening has a “theme” (listed in the title), you should (but don’t have to) bring music that fits your interpretation of the theme. Many of our themes are DELIBERATELY ambiguous for maximum creativity! \n
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| 2006-11-04: CCC - 40th Birthday and Rhonda Roast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can you believe it??!! I'm turning 40 this year. I know, I know - I can't believe it myself. I don't feel a day over... 39!! Since I am currently enjoying my 15 minutes of fame, I figured I should do something fabulous and grandiose to mark the occasion of my 40th. Come on out and join the fun - even if you don't know me (yet).\n We will be providing our own DJ service (ie. me and my regular \"music appreciation\" attendees) for some dancing.\n As a special treat (for some), we will also have a few (short) open-mic opportunities for Rhonda Roasting throughout the evening. Roasters must be on the list (e-mail me to get on the list) and roasts must be kept to 2 minutes or less. \n If this event is full, there may still be spots available on the Calgary Outdoor Club site. Please sign up for ONLY ONE spot (ie. you don't have to sign up on both clubs). I couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration - thanks to all who came out. I have definitely discovered the secret to getting over turning fourty - throw a big party (and then throw out all the um... less than flattering... photos). \n I think we would all agree that the highlight of the evening was the slide movie created by my mom. If you would like to hire her to do one for you (yes, she does this professionally), you can get more information at www.gal-friday.com. Other highlights included the ol' pie-in-the-face trick, Kevin's antics (Kev, check your COC member number), and Greg's dancing.\n Who's turn is it next???? HMMMMMMM????\n -- Rhonda
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| 2006-11-07: COC - Baldy Pass - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lila said this hike was \"refreshing\"! And we all enjoyed hearing her commentary all day about exactly how refreshing it was!! ;) Seriously, though, I would like to thank everyone who came out for my birthday hike today in the rain and the fog, especially Marg, who for the second year in a row lugged a birthday cake up to the lunch spot for me!! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-11-10: COC - Castle Lookout - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A fantastic day, and a wonderful mild winter hike. There was a fair amount of fog, so the views were lacking (this seems to happen to me on this hike a lot). Ed's GPS confirmed that we gained 540m of elevation over the 3.5km in, which is good, because there was some question about whether it was that much, or whether it was more like 300. It FEELS like 540, so I was glad to find out it was! Good luck to John (and Janet, of course) in Ottawa. Hopefully they'll come back for visits and hikes, and if not, maybe they'll start an OOC. Hint hint. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-11-11: COC and TOC - World RPS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - World Rock Paper Scissors Championship - TORONTO\n \nI'm too old for this... I'm posting my write-up at 10:41 on Sunday morning, 31 hours after I got up (4AM on Saturday) to go to Toronto. Since then I slept about 2 hours on the plane to TO, about an hour at the TO airport this morning, and then 2 hours on the plane back from TO. I'm exhausted and bleary and I think I caught a virus, but... well, I have to say it was all worth it. The RPS Championship was everything we hoped it would be. Fun, folly, excitement and absurdity to spare. The TOC folks showed me a great time, especially El Rey Del Fuego (Jason) who drew the short straw and got stuck babysitting me from airport pick-up to airport drop-off. You can send him a sympathy card through the TOC. After Jason picked me up at the airport, we grabbed a quick lunch, and then on our way downtown to the market, Jenn M called and asked if we wanted to come meet her hiking group at the pub (apres-hike), so we switched to \"Plan B\" and off we went where I FINALLY met Jenn, Jerry, and a few fairly new TOCers as well (Dave, Linda and Lydia). Then, off to dinner at Pho Xi Lau where Dobby (COC) and Chuck and Mel (TOC) caught up with us (plus Mel's friend Dave). As we were finishing up, Steph and Dom graced us for a few minutes and stayed around to have dinner while the rest of us headed on over to the RPS venue. In the line, we found Matt and Emma, and inside later on, the rest of the gang convened and I FINALLY met JennP and Hassan. I was amazed and thrilled that Bridget turned out to be in Toronto this weekend and came out, with her sister-in-law in tow!! I went up against Ben from Iowa in the second wave of the first round and although it was really close (I won a heat, he won a heat), he knocked me out. So, we had to cheer on Geir from Norway, but he got knocked out right away too. Unfortunately all three members of \"Team Runs with Scissors\" (myself, Mel and Matt) all got knocked out in the first round, but Hassan and JennP entertained us the rest of the evening with their sweeping victories in Street RPS. The grand prize ($7G... dammit... I could have used that!) went to some guy from the UK. After RPS a few of us went for pizza and then El Rey, taking his duties very seriously, returned me to the airport and yakked with me 'til I could check in at 4AM and go to the gate for a much-needed nap. Those sleep-deprived, 4AM, beer-and-caffeine fueled conversations can be some of the best! Thanks, El Rey, for taking such good care of me, and thanks for the swag (he gave me a TOC t-shirt AND an RPS t-shirt). :) For anyone who is still wondering WHY I went, well, it partly had to do with the challenge that JennM put out there, partly because I wanted to meet some of my TOC friends who I've only known online, and partly because I feel privileged to live in a day and age when it is possible for a person to jaunt off to a far-off city for a day to do something outrageous. It is a memory I'll carry always (especially because of the great friends)!! I'm sure this isn't the craziest thing I've ever done, but it's gotta be close... For more write-up and photos (from the TOC perspective), see http://www.torontooutdoorclub.com/events/archivedetails.asp?eventid=351. Video of my Loss on YouTube. -- Rhonda TOC - World RockPaperScissors Championship!!!!\n Event Coordinator(s): Jason M, Jennifer M\n Participants: Emma D, Dominic Amann, Chuck F, Gerry, Hassan, Jennifer M, Matt E, Mel Tan, Rhonda from Calgary, Jason M, JennP, Stephanie A\n\n \n\n\nDriving Ms. Scheurer!\n\n (Oh, and something about a Rock Paper Scissors Game)\n November 2, JennM posts in the TOC Forum a local event coming up November 11, the 2006 World Rock Paper Scissors Championships. She is ‘excited’ about possibly\nattending after one of her hikes earlier in the day. The TOC Forums if you’re not aware is populated by some very unique individuals and personalities (myself included).\nAlso on our forums, we have the pleasure of having Rhonda, former president and founder of the Calgary Outdoor Club, and Current President and founder of the Calgary\nCulture Club. She is also an active member on our forums sharing her COC wisdom with us. Long story short, Jenn says she’ll compete in the RPS (That’s Rock Paper\nScissors for the lay folk) Championship if Rhonda comes down and cheers her on! Rhonda is not one to back down from a challenge, and before we all know it, she has\nbooked a flight to Toronto to attend the RPS!!! So in the blink of an eye, a ‘haha’ funny post in the forum has become the event of the Century!\n\n Fast Forward to November 11, not only is it Remembrance Day (I hope you all stopped for 1 minute), but the big day has arrived! Rhonda is set to arrive at 1pm at\nPearson International, and I was bestowed with the honour of not only picking up Ms. Scheurer, but also to ensure that all her needs where met (yes, all). Rhonda arrives\nand checks out before I managed to get to the airport. A quick call confirms she will wait outside, wearing her BRIGHT red jacket and jeans. As I get to the arrival section,\nI do see a bright red jacket, but this person was wearing a hood, and I figured what hearty Calgarian would find our moderate Toronto climate cold, so I drive on, looking\nfor another bright red jacket in the crowded airport. I quickly realize that it was in fact Rhonda waiting, as I look back in my rearview mirror and see this tiny red object in\nthe distance running towards me. With Rhonda safely in my car, we head off for lunch, as the paltry peanuts she ate on the plane didn’t do her justice!\n\n We headed for some Tasty Popey’s Chicken ™ and once satiated, we met up with JennM and her hiking crew, where she not only got to meet some TOCers, but also the\nvenerable Gerry D! His legend has spread throughout the various clubs, and Rhonda was quickly impressed by our beloved Gerry. After a few beers and healthy eats (by\nthe hikers, Rhonda and I were still stuffed with Chicken), we headed south to our next destination, the Pho Xe Lua Vietnamese restaurant in the heart of Chinatown, where\nwe met up with Mel, Chuck, Steph, Dom, and Dobby! Dobby of course belongs to the COC as well, but he was in Ottawa for business, and decided to drive down to\nmeet up the rest of the gang! Now that’s Hardcore! After a few beers and some Delicious pho, we headed to our Main Event! The reason why THE Rhonda came all the\nway from Calgary! The World RPS Championships beckoned to us, and we had to heed its call!\n\n As we arrive at the Roundhouse, home of Steam Whistle Breweries, and the site of the 2006 Championship, we are greeted by a long line of contenders anxious to get their\ngame on! We run into Emma and Matt who are already waiting in line for registration, and are soon joined by Gerry who decided to join us after hearing bout the RPS\nduring Jenn’s hike and beers at the Firkin.\n\n If you thought the World Rock Paper Scissors Championship was a lame joke of an event, then you’d be sadly mistaken dear reader! People really did come from far and\nwide (Wider than Calgary even!) There was representatives from the UK, the US, some random Swedes and Finns, and even some guy from Montreal! All these brave\nsouls trekked out to Toronto for a chance to take home the $7000.00 Grand Prize! Not only did they come from far and wide, they also came in some of the most\ncolourful costumes this side of Halloween!\n\n All told, Team Runs With Scissors consisted of Rhonda, Mel, Matt and JennM, sadly however, JennM got tied up by some fiendish publishers who kept her from making\nthe competition on time! Our team proceeded to warm up (ok drink, but who’s checking) until the main event was set to begin. With close to 500 competitors to sign in,\nthere was lots of time to warm up! The rest of our cheering section showed up shortly after, and by then, the party was in full swing! Rhonda even had the pleasure of\nhaving her best friend from Calgary, Bridget show up, who also happened to be in Toronto for the weekend (really, really small world people).\n\n The Competition started fast and the action was furious! Players where throwing their Scissors with reckless abandon! Rocks were smashing through Windows! And the\nPaper was being littered everywhere! As with any competitive game, there must always be winners and losers, and sadly, our Team was eliminated quickly in the first\nround. Props (rocks) go to Mel who managed to advance to the semis in her opening heat! After the quick out, we drank away our sorrows while being entertained by\nJeep Daddy H (Hassan) and his Hoe, Lil’ J (JennP). Jeep Daddy H was quite the pimp, hustling the unsuspecting crowd out of their RPS bucks! Had we known that\nthere was a side tourney for actually making the most RPS bucks we would have hustled a lot more!\n\n They had to kick us out eventually, so we ended up getting some pizza on Spadina (Sadly, the Popeye’s was closed). The food was more than welcome, and we reveled in\nthe awesome day/night we had just had! Team Runs With Scissors and the crew said their final goodbye’s to our new BFF Rho, and with that, it was time to drive Ms.\nScheurer back to the airport.\n\n That’s right, it was almost 3am, and with Rhonda’s flight leaving at 7am, we had some time to kill. There was no sense in getting some sleep before hand, because if did,\nRhonda would have most likely missed her flight. We stopped for some Tim’s on the way, and chilled in the airport until Rho could check in. Half Sober and totally\nwired on caffeine, we passed the time quite effortlessly with some awesome conversation (you’re the Best Rho!) and quite frankly, I’m gonna miss my new friend!\n\n Until we meet again Rho! <3\n
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| 2006-11-13: CCC - Drop-In Belly Dance All Levels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drop-in belly dance class. Share and practice moves and techniques. All levels welcome. Class will start with some strength training and end with some stretch. What happens in between is up to those who show up. We'll practices various moves, and perhaps learn some new stuff if dancers with other experience decide to join us. An excellent review of many a skills from the world of belly dancing (and a few muscles were discovered) But I don't think we sweated enough.... that will change for next week!
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| 2006-11-16: CCC - Music Appreciation Night - PERSONAL THEME SONGS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrive at 6:30PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start the music selections at 7:00 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:00, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have one CD of approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). We will have a round-robin in which the first person will introduce their music, and then we’ll listen. After a short break, we’ll continue with the next person, and so on. \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening. If the evening has a “theme” (listed in the title), you should (but don’t have to) bring music that fits your interpretation of the theme. Many of our themes are DELIBERATELY ambiguous for maximum creativity!
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| 2006-11-17: COC - Ptarmigan Cirque - Beginners and Dawdlers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fantastic snow and temps greeted us for an early season snowshoe up to Ptarmigan Cirque. This is only my second snowshoe trek to Ptarmigan, but definitely my favorite!
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| 2006-11-18: COC - Late season camping, hiking, biking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was a great gentle introduction to winter camping... OK, it couldn't really be classified as \"winter\" since there was hardly any snow at the campground and the coldest it got was about -5 on Friday night. But, it was a great \"late season\" camping trip for sure, and I am no longer scared of trying real winter camping! We arrived at the camp site at about 3PM after Marg's Ptarmigan Cirque snow shoe (which, by the way, was awesome!!). Connie, Craig, Marg, Val, Marty and I set up in the afternoon and were joined later by Aaron. On Saturday, Val bid us adieu and Ken, Kevin, Harry, and Sylvia came out. The excitement started when Marg had her tent all set up and THEN discovered the dead mouse that was hanging from the fabric inside. It was quite fresh, so the theory is that when she set the tent up a week earlier to check it over (and left it up for a couple days), the mouse chewed his way into the tent. Marg returned, took the tent down and folded it up, squishing said mouse inside the tent, only to re-discover it when the was set up at Mt. Kidd. A little assistance from Connie to pry the mouse off (it was stuck tight by its teeth to the inside of the tent) and all was well with the world again. On Saturday, Craig and Connie headed out to Banff with Sylvia and did Sulphur Mountain while Marg and Val went to snow shoe at Elbow Lake. Harry, Aaron, Marty and I did a hike up to Rawson Lake which should have been a SNOWSHOE up to Rawson Lake - it was a bit of a slog near the top where the snow was 2 feet or more deep. On Sunday, Marg, Craig, Kevin, Marty and I headed down to do a short by lovely hike into King Creek while the rest of the folks headed out. Mt. Kidd campground is awesome, and the sites we had (12-15) were perfect for our group. Craig brought TONS of firewood from Rocky with him, and Aaron and Harry supplemented with some more wood. Sitting around the campfire in the evening is quite different from summer camping because of the amount of daylight. By the time it was 6:30PM we all felt like it was 10PM because it had been dark for such a long time already! On Friday night, we had a more subdued group, with the excitement focusing around Val's mulled wine, Marg's sparklers, and the great popcorn pop-off (Craig's microwave popcorn... yes, he brought the microwave... vs Marg's Jiffy Pop). The Jiffy Pop won, hands down. Saturday night was a bit wilder, as anticipated, after the arrival of \"The Kevin\". We enjoyed lots of great camping food, and when it came time for the wiener roast, a couple of the guys had a little bit TOO much fun waiving their wieners around. When Craig pulled out the spiced rum, Ken had to quickly \"chuckle\" his other drink to make room for the rum and egg nog. We were pretty much \"all bammed out\" by 10 (which felt like 2AM) and hit the hay early both nights. Craig who \"has a lot of man in him\" toughed it out the first night with his space heater and wussy sleeping bag... second night was no heater and mummy bag, and a much happier Craig in the morning. Kevin's \"boogie van\" was the envy of many of us... seats covered in gold veleour and all! Can't wait to do it again! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-11-19: COC - Late season camping, hiking, biking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-11-20: CCC - Drop-In Belly Dance All Levels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Drop-in belly dance class. Share and practice moves and techniques. All levels welcome. Class will start with some strength training and end with some stretch. What happens in between is up to those who show up. We'll practices various moves, and perhaps learn some new stuff if dancers with other experience decide to join us.
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| 2006-11-24: COC - Learn/practice how to use avalanche transceiver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-11-25: COC and CCC - Dirty White Boys at Bugaboo Creek, and CCC - Déjà Vu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC and CCC - Dirty White Boys at Bugaboo Creek\n Check out local band, Dirty White Boys at the Bugaboo Creek Pub. There's no cover charge (YAY!) and no reservations (BOO!). The band starts right at 9:30.\n Note that the coordinator will be attending the Deja Vu movie beforehand and will do everything she can to be there early, but if not, she will try to arrange for another CCC volunteer (or representative) to be there early with a CCC sign (laying on the table).\n Note that there will also be members from the Calgary Outdoor Club attending. Our total group size will be the number of people signed up through CCC PLUS the people signed up through COC CCC - Déjà Vu\n We'll meet in front of the theatre at the top of the escalators. Please be on time - coordinator and group will wait only a few minutes before entering the theatre to chose seats. Thanks! \n \nThis film has a fabulous trailer (you need to click on \"trailer\" after following the link): Stars Denzel Washington & Val Kilmer\n Everyone has experienced the unsettling mystery of déjà vu that flash of memory when you meet someone new you feel you've known all your life or recognize a place even though you've never been there before. But what if the feelings were actually warnings sent from the past or clues to the future? In the captivating new action-thriller it is déjà vu that unexpectedly guides ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) through an investigation into a shattering crime. Called in to recover evidence after a bomb sets off a cataclysmic explosion on a New Orleans Ferry, Carlin is about to discover that what most people believe is only in their heads is actually something far more powerful and will lead him on a mind-bending race to save hundreds of innocent.\n ** Optional post-movie beverage may follow at Barclay's Wet Lounge in the Sheraton. This is an upscale, smoke-free lounge. Note: There is a 20-50% premium on all drink prices at Barclay's**\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-11-28: COC - The Great COC Calendar Mail-Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-11-30: COC - Ptarmigan Cirque, and X-C Ski Gear and Waxing Lecture | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ptarmigan Cirque - Dawdlers and Slowpokes\n With winds in Kananaskis clocked at 188 kph this morning, there was a bit of trepidation about whether we should go at all this morning, but I convinced the group that we'd head out and ask the info center guy what trail he would recommend for the day's conditions. He recommended Elbow Lake (and beyond), so that's what we did, and it was fantastic! Just past the lake there's a large open valley where we got some wind, but for the most part, the day was sparkly and beautiful. It was Penny's birthday today (happy birthday Penny), and her pal Claire brought along a small birthday cake to celebrate, which was very nice. A COC tradition! :) It was a lot of fun hiking with Penny from Australia and Claire and Cormac from Ireland today. We're so international. -- Rhonda X-C Ski Gear and Waxing Lecture
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| 2006-12-02: CCC - Music Appreciation Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrive at 7PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start the music selections at 7:30. We will have two CDs. We will have a round-robin to introduce our songs first. The music will be “mixed” according to my opinion of how it flows best – your songs will not necessarily all be together on the CDs. We will listen during the music, taking a break for visiting, potty breaks and snack refills in between the two CDs. \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 8-12 minutes of music for the evening. If the evening has a “theme” (listed in the title), you should (but don’t have to) bring music that fits your interpretation of the theme. Many of our themes are DELIBERATELY ambiguous for maximum creativity! \n
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| 2006-12-03: COC - Beginner X-C Ski Lesson with U of C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-12-04: CCC - Drop-In Belly Dance All Levels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drop-in belly dance class. Share and practice moves and techniques. All levels welcome. Class will start with some strength training and end with some stretch. What happens in between is up to those who show up. We'll practices various moves, and perhaps learn some new stuff if dancers with other experience decide to join us. Lots and lots of moves learned in this class. Next class, we will pick a smaller set of moves and focus on those. \n\nThanks for coming out, and hope to see you again!\n \nSteph
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| 2006-12-05: COC - Hogarth Lakes - Beginner Snow Shoe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was a perfect snow shoe day and a perfect beginner snow shoe trip. There were a few first-timers and it was fun to share the experience with them. Note to Sue: don't wear blue jeans! hee hee. After our short snow shoe trip (thank goodness, since beginner x-c ski classes had kicked the stuffing out of me a couple days earlier), we had lunch at the Peter Lougheed Info Center and most of us enjoyed a massage from \"Kevin\", the shiatsu massage chair. (No that doesn't have anything to do with \"Kevin V\" - The Kevin - it has to do with naming the chair after one of Joni's favorite actors). -- Rhonda
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| 2006-12-06: CCC - Literary Appreciation Night at Rhonda's | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Here's a chance to express your unique perspective on your favourite literary piece. Everyone will have 10 minutes to read an excerpt from one (or two) of their favorite works and discuss why it's a favourite. Any genre is acceptable from sci-fi short stories to classical poetry. If your piece is in a foreign language please be prepared to translate. One of my favorite things about LAN (Literary Appreciation Night) is the variety of materials that arrive and tonight did not disappoint. We had philosophies on the nature of man, the wisdom of children, the art of happiness and reflections on the death of a loved one to go along with our jazz music definitions, a playful novel and energetic play, Shackleton's amazing adventure and a war novel translated from Romanian to English. I sadly missed what I'm sure would have been an interesting (if now downright bizarre) Sci-Fi choice from Lily who couldn't join us cuz she was sick! \n -- Thanks to everyone who came - it was a fantastic time.
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| 2006-12-11: CCC - The Culture Community in Calgary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Join us in the funky Marquee Room for an opportunity to meet like-minded people and participate in the direction of the arts and culture scene in Calgary. If you are interested in Calgary's arts, like to visit cool cultural spaces, or have an opinion about what would make Calgary a more vibrant place, you will want to come out for this free event. You can bring some of your friends too – just be sure to register them on this website. Calgary Arts Development will be hosting this event. They have been tasked with providing leadership and long term planning for the vibrancy of Calgary's cultural scene. So far they’ve been able to improve funding to the arts by 20% since their inception in 2005. They are looking to the Calgary Culture Club members to be a part of the big picture and give their input for a future plan about cultural spaces and public places we all share and enjoy. The ideas generated from this evening will feed into the Cultural Space Trends & Needs Analysis, to be presented to The City of Calgary early in 2007. Appetizers will be served and there will be a cash bar. Agenda: Arrive at 6 pm, mix and mingle until 6:30 pm. A succession of 3 round table talks\nstart before 7:00 pm with a mix and mingle/wrap up by 8 pm.\n\nCalgary Arts Development gratefully acknowledges the generous partnership of The Urban Campus Initiative through The University of Calgary and The Calgary Foundation that helped make this project possible. This event gave everyone who attended the opportunity to talk about some of the issues relating to the arts and culture space in Calgary. In addition to the CCC members, a few other community-minded people came out for a cafe style discussion about Calgary's culture scene. Holly Simon from the Calgary Art Development Authority (CADA) was articulate in giving everyone an understanding of why our input was valuable. Her team members - Cheryl, David and Jennifer - helped to make the evening fun and thought-provoking. We're all looking forward to the study that will take into consideration the results from this evening's meeting.
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| 2006-12-12: COC - Chester Lake - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was by far the quickest I ever did Chester Lake - back home by 2PM. Oh... wait a minute, maybe that's because I didn't do Chester Lake today. Instead, we (Ed, Ed, Stephanie and I) blew a tire (completely shredded it, in fact) just north of the winter gate. The jack was no good, and our cellphones were out of service, so while Ed and Ed managed to take the old tire off, and Stephanie flagged down cars hoping to catch the rest of our group on their way out (never did find them... blast! They must have all been ahead of us), I hitched a ride with Karen (from scrapbooking who says 'hi' to Carole) and her two friends to the Peter Lougheed Info Center where I called AMA for help. Vern from AMA was great, in spite of my total lack of knowledge about exactly what kind of help we needed (I wasn't sure if we actually needed help changing the tire or if we needed a tow somewhere, which caused all kinds of problems with figuring out what Vern should put into our call), and Dennis from Standish Towing was also great and sent someone out right away to help us. Leaving the info center, I hitched a ride right away with Jerry the snow plough driver who gave me a lift all the way back to the highway. It was really nice out today, so I wasn't worried about the walk back, but it was nice to have a ride in the snow plough! At the highway, Jerry dropped me off and I started walking, but I'd only gone about 100m when a nice RCMP dude stopped and drove me the rest of the way. I even got to sit in the front seat of the cruiser! Reunited with my carpool mates, we hung out on the side of the road rather than in the truck because it was so nice out, and Stephanie, Ed#4 and I did a bit of snow shoeing around where we waited, while Ed#1 kept watch. About an hour and a half after I made the call, the AMA guy showed up and using his heavy-duty jack, had the tire changed out in no time. We headed on back to Calgary, and as soon as I had cell service again I called everyone on the trip and left messages about what happened to us. Hopefully they didn't wait too long and had a lovely day without us. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-12-13: CCC - Music Appreciation Night - MONDEGREEN Theme | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrive at 6:30PM for introductions and to get settled in. We'll start the music selections at 7:00 (sorry, but to avoid interruption if you are later than 7:00, the door buzzer will be shut off and you won't be able to get in). We should have one CD of approximately 80 minutes of music (8 people times ten minutes of music). We will have a round-robin in which the first person will introduce their music, and then we’ll listen. After a short break, we’ll continue with the next person, and so on. \n My apartment is small, and the atmosphere casual. We'll be sitting or laying around the living room while we listen. Bring a pillow or cushion if you like for maximum comfiness.\n Everyone must contribute 6-10 minutes of music for the evening. If the evening has a “theme” (listed in the title), you should (but don’t have to) bring music that fits your interpretation of the theme. Many of our themes are DELIBERATELY ambiguous for maximum creativity! \n Origin of the term Mondegreen:\n The term 'mondegreen' — representing a series of words resulting from the mishearing of a statement or song lyric — is generally attributed to Sylvia Wright, who is credited with coining the neologism in a 1954 Harper's column. Ms. Wright was chagrined to discover that for many years she had misunderstood the last line of the first stanza in the Scottish folk ballad \"The Bonny Earl of Murray,\" which reads: \n\n Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands, \n Oh! Where ha'e ye been: \n They ha'e slain the Earl of Murray, \n And they laid him on the Green. \n \n\n Ms. Wright misheard this stanza as: \n\n Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands, \n Oh! Where ha'e ye been: \n They ha'e slain the Earl of Murray, \n And Lady Mondegreen. \n \n\n From the disappearance of Sylvia Wright's tragic heroine, Lady Mondegreen, came the term for describing unconventional interpretations or understandings \n See www.kissthisguy.com for more info.
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| 2006-12-14: COC - Ice Skating at the Olympic Oval | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-12-17: COC - Beginner Flail and Ski, and CCC - Rembetika Hipsters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - Beginner Flail and Ski We came, we saw, we flailed. It was awesome - thanks to all who came out to flail with me! Starting at the Info Center, we practiced a bit going back and forth on the trail near the info center, and then ventured out into the trails where we did a short loop, connecting the Lodgepole and Sinclair trails for a total of about four kilometers. Lunch at the Lodge with Marty's group was fun, and Ralph did share his chocolate with us (despite the photographic evidence to the contrary). Looking forward to next time - I'd like to try and get more distance. -- Rhonda CCC - Rembetika Hipsters - Ten Year Anniversary Concert\n The Rembetika Hipsters are celebrating ten years as a band with a performance at the Engineered Air Theatre in the Epcor Centre For the Performing Arts on December 17, 2006. Special guests opening the show \nare the Jay Crocker Quartet. The show \nstarts at 7 PM with doors open at 6 PM, general seating. Catering \nbefore the show and at intermission will be provided by Pegasus \nRestaurant and Brulee Bakery.\n\n The lineup for the Hipsters that evening will be Nick Diochnos \n(bouzouki,vocals), Lincoln Frey (clarinet, melodeon, baglama), \nJonathan Lewis (violin, baglama, accordion), Ben Johnson (percussion, \ntzoura, santour), Allen Baekeland (guitar, vocals), Brigitte Dajczer \n(violin, vocals), Malcolm Lim (percussion) and Danny Patton (bass). \nThe show will be recorded for release in 2007.\n\n I have been a fan of the Rembetika Hipsters since 1999 when I started working with their first percussionist, Ben. Since then, I've taken belly dance classes with their former belly dancer, and followed them around from gig to gig, including the Greek Festival, my own housewarming party, and several times at Pegasus restaurant (on Wednesday evenings). They have a fantastic unique sound with unusual rhythms and haunting tones to go with the exotic Greek lyrics (nevermind that they're mostly about prison, loss and/or \"Narghile\"). It was absolutely amazing to see the whole group together for the first time (for me, anyway), including Nick (bouzouki, vocals), Allen (guitar, vocals), Ben (percussion, santur, baglama), Lincoln (clarinet, melodeon), Brigitte (violin), Jonathan (violin, baglama), Malcolm (percussion) and Danny (bass). \n The Ten Year Anniversary Concert was fantastic. The Hipsters never disappoint. Their special guest, Jay Crocker was also very good - unique \"pop jazz\" music.\n Get more information about the Rembetika Hipsters at www.rembetika.com and Jay Crocker at www.jaycrocker.com.\n -- Rhonda\n
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| 2006-12-18: CCC - Drop-In Belly Dance All Levels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drop-in belly dance class. Share and practice moves and techniques. All levels welcome. Class will start with some strength training and end with some stretch. What happens in between is up to those who show up. We'll practices various moves, and perhaps learn some new stuff if dancers with other experience decide to join us. Tonight's class was all about circles.... hip circles, chest circles, turning circle, etc. A very good set of base moves that trains your core area and allows you to build up to more difficult moves. For experienced dancers, its an excellent review and a chance to really focus on these areas and isolate the muscles. Having a strong core area will make difficult moves look graceful and effortless.\n\nSee you in the New Year!!
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| 2006-12-19: COC - Blueberry Hill - Dawdlers and Slowpokes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was my second favorite winter trip ever (second only to a Chester Lake trip a couple years ago). We didn't find the unofficial trail right away, so we bush-whacked for a bit, and ended up stumbling onto the fabled unofficial trail after a while (and after the moderate group found it and re-broke it for us - yay!). It was an absolutely beautiful winter wonderland in the forest, and the trail was great. We started off following the x-c ski trail to the top of the big hill, then off into the forest to the right. We bushwhacked through some forest, which was pretty flat and then after we found the trail, we started the moderate climb. Near the top, we had the steep climb, just like I remembered it. Coming down, some of us slid down the steeper parts on our butts, which was great fun, and I had a blast watching Ed (yep, 84-year-old Ed) sliding down on his bum and getting one of his legs wrapped around a tree and losing his pole and mitt higher up on said tree. This is definitely a do over-and-over trip!! -- Rhonda
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| 2006-12-20: COC - Ice Skating at the Olympic Oval | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-12-22: COC - Beginner Flail and Ski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| That was one of the most mature carpool conversations I've ever had. Oh... wait a minute... NO IT WASN'T! But it certainly was one of the most amusing. :> The skiing today was great. Everyone had some experience, and most of us did 9 kilometers with 2 ambitious ones doing 13 kilometers. The 9-km group did Lodgepole to Wheeler to the Amos shortcut to Woolley to Meadow. The 13-km group did Lodgepole to Wheeler to its end to Amos, then to Woolley to Meadow. -- Rhonda
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| 2006-12-28: COC - Kimberley Exploration | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This was David's very first co-coordinated event and he did great. The original motive for the trip was so David could ski again with his favorite ski buddy, Colleen, who moved to Kimberley last year. And it's always more fun to do things with the Calgary Outdoor Club - so we decided to turn it into an event! - Everyone arrived in Kimberley around the same time in the afternoon on Thursday. After settling in we took a walking tour around the Platzl - bright with Christmas lights - and watched the fellow in the cuckoo clock yodel on the hour. For 25c he'll come out and sing on demand - what a deal! Supper at Chef Bernard's proved to be an adventure - and turned into an evening actvity. The thought occured to me that perhaps I don't need to de-clutter my house afterall - I'll just turn it into a museum like Chef Bernard ;) Too late to go night skiing, we returned to the hostel for a while, and some went out for a few rounds of pool and waited around for the air guitar contest. Alas, it was late before they got that underway so most left without opportunity to participate. - Friday brought a full day of snowshoeing in knee-deep snow. Thanks to the energetic moderates in the lead who broke trail, us slowpokes in behind had a lovely tramped-down trail to follow. Not much for views from the top, unlike the mountains we are used to around here, but still a fantastic day in the snow. Some of us enjoyed a really fun slide back down on butt-boards and one crazy carpet. Supper at the hostel was truly a feast, and our small bistro-style dining room was decorated with flowers and candles. Some set out after supper for night x-country skiing on the groomed and lit nordic tracks - a lot of fun! - while some went to a movie and others lounged around the hostel. - Saturday many of us set out once again for x-country skiing on the groomed nordic tracks. Our favorites: Cardiac Arrest and Roller Coaster! Only one went downhill skiing, and others went snowshoeing. Another feast followed back at the hostel, and another evening of varied activities, indoors and out. - Sunday morning most of us just headed back for home, while Cam, Marcella and Laurie went snowmobiling! I had some car trouble on the way back and managed to find a terrific garage in Radium who diagnosed some sort of a problem with the computerized thing-a-ma-jig, but they figured I would be just fine driving back home. If you ever have car trouble in that area, be sure to stop in at the ESSO in Radium - the mechanics there are super! - Many thanks to our hosts, Manny and Theresa, for your kind hospitality! ~ Marg
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| 2006-12-29: COC - Kimberley Exploration | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2006-12-30: COC - Kimberley Exploration | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-12-31: CCC - Reveillon 2007, and COC - Ice Skating - Bowness Lagoon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COC - Ice Skating - Bowness Lagoon We had a terrific evening, temperature-wise, for skiing at Bowness Lagoon! A BIG group turned out and it was a fun COC reunion of club members for many of us. A special welcome to several new members who joined us for the very first time! I want you to know that this skating event was quite different from many of our usual events in that the group size was larger than for other activities, and having us arriving at various times as well as being scattered all around the lagoon made it difficult to find and get to know other members. I hope you will return for other smaller group-sized outings, and I hope you will come to know and love this club and its members as much as I do! CCC - Reveillon 2007, Brazilian Style - Show and Midnight Celebration\n Brazilian New Year's Celebration. Brazilian Live Music - with Celia. \n Célia Enestrom with \nVINTAGE BRASIL band from Vancouver\n Celia Enestrom, a Brazilian singer in the strongest traditions, has a beautiful, versatile, rhythmic voice that can move between being sleek and sensual, strong and robust with a intriguing jazz snappiness that smacks of Nina Simone or Sarah Vaughn.\n\n Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil she grew up influenced by a variety of styles and rhythms such as bossa nova of Joao Gilberto, samba of Escolas de Samba, chorinho of her musical family and Brazilian pop strongly influenced by the Tropicalia movement from Bahia. After spending 10 years performing in Buenos Aires, Argentina Celia's musical influences reflect her unique South American flavor.\n\n Brazilian at heart- her bossa nova, her samba, samba rock and chorinho all flow ethereally from her tropicalismo spirit.\n\n Celia has moved successfully through the Vancouver Jazz scene.Meeting and influencing many local musicians as well as combining her skills with other Brazilians who have come to perform in Canada. Among them Brejera band, Dezubicados, Bossa and Nova, Aché Brasil band and Zazueira band.\nAlong with her talents she is a musical producer, an actor and a painter about to graduate from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design.\n NOTE we have to buy tickets quickly! To get on the event list, please add your name to the waiting list and then send your payment in to the Treasurer asap! (Payment Info)\n I am very sorry to say this was not one of the best events I've attended... I guess I'm a sucker for professional promo photos and promises of hand-drums (definitely a weakness of mine). \n I apologize for what I'm about to say to those who put in a lot of hard work to make this event happen with the Brazilian cultural center. It is always so disappointing when something you put a lot of work into falls flat of what you hoped it would be. Anyway, on to my honest opinions... \n The sound of the band was really quite bad, which I attribute largely to a bad sound man (who lounged back, watching the girls, checking his voice mail, and doing generally nothing when he should have been paying attention to his sound mix). We know the sound system was capable of sounding good because the pre-recorded music used between sets sounded great (and I'm sure to the dismay of the band, was the only thing that got the crowd up enthusiastically dancing), but the sound mix of the band was terrible. I know that drummer was drumming up some fabulous sounds, but we couldn't HEAR any of them (except for when he was using a stick instead of his hands). The base guitar, which should just provide an underlying supplemental structure to the other instruments, dominated and the other guitar was hardly heard. The singer had good pipes, a lovely voice and great stage presence, but there wasn't much she could do with the terrible mix that was trying to prop her up. \n\n Additionally, I think the band needs to take some lessons in crowd management... get your tempo up, and keep it there if you want to keep people on the dance floor. There was about 10% good danceable music to about 90% of too slow, too weird, too off, or too experimental for the dance crowd to enjoy. A million years ago I used to work in a dance club as a DJ and choosing your songs, tempos and mixes wisely was the cardinal rule to put on a good show that people will want to dance to. I knew this poor band was in trouble when they couldn't get folks on the dance floor but the canned dance party queued up during their break sparked immediate enthusiastic bouncing and conga-lining through the room. Upon their return, they tried to keep the momentum going but fizzled quickly and the singer ultimately resorted to singing along with some canned music while the band quietly disappeared around her. They made one last-ditch effort after the room had cleared and there were maybe 20 or 30 people left, mostly the extremely drunk and the small children (how's that for a scary mix). \n The crowd did manage to have a great time with, what I'm assuming was, very popular Brazilian music, singing and dancing along to their faves that were piped in to fill the gaps.\n Fortunately for me, there was a bit of a silver lining... I had \"Snarky Snarkerson\" on my arm for the evening who kept me in stitches with his critiques of the dancing antics of \"Yuppie Yupperson\" and his partner \"Thongy (Wide Angle) Thongerson\", \"Twitchy Twitcherson\" and his partner \"Skinny Skinnerson\", \"Grampy Gramperson\" in his tie and sneakers, \"Frizzy Frizzerson\" and \"Spazzy Spazzerson\" (actually, he called this one \"Barney\" but that didn't fit with my naming convention) and many other dancing stars as the crowd tossed aside the band and partied it up to the recorded greats.\n Again, I apologize to everyone from the Brazilian community and Brazilians in general for trashing what I wished for their sake as much as mine, had been a better show. I'm glad that people were able to buck up and make the best of the evening in the end.\n -- Rhonda
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