Skip to main content

Wow has it really been that long?

According to the dates on here, it's been almost three months since I wrote anything up here. Naturally a lot of things have happened in that time. A lot of bad things unfortunately, for my friends and my family too. However, I'd really rather not get into any of that too much, simply because, well...it's over and done with for the time being. I think it's much better to focus on the now rather than dwelling on what can't be undone.

That said, holy crap has it ever been hot here! The last time I remember temperatures consistently around 28C for this long has got to be sometime around 2002. Of course, my memory and my math aren't so hot anymore, so if you really want to be sure, check and almanac or something ok?

Last week we had the Calgary Stampede. While I don't know if it's really true, it's always been billed as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth". In terms of the amount of stuff to see, the number of parties and free pancake breakfasts to go to, and the insane number of people that come here every year...I might have to say it's probably a good name for the thing. I'll save the history lesson for how the Stampede came about to others (see www.calgarystampede.com if you're really curious).

Anyway, Friday was mom's birthday so we got her some tickets to the chuck wagon races and grandstand show. It'd been at least 10 years since I'd seen the show myself, and I was really impressed. There are hundreds of people singing and dancing and it's an amazing production. I can only imagine how much work and effort goes into preparing for that thing. And of course, there are always the fireworks. Japanese folks do love their fireworks, and while I was there I saw several mighty fine displays, but I have to say that none of them competed with these. It was well worth the seat fee simply to watch those go off as the show reached the finale.

So here are a few pictures. Naturally they don't do the fireworks justice, but at least I tried. Click here.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Marvel Universe Miniatures Game - Avengers Painted

Shortly before the Marvel Universe Miniatures Game was released by Knight Models I picked up several single pack figures at a slight discount. The game dropped shortly after, but has so far seemed difficult to acquire in Canada. I'm hoping once I get out an do a few demos it will pick up locally like the Batman game has started to do. This is the original model for Black Widow, which I prefer greatly over the highly sexualized one that comes in the Avengers starter box. Don't get me wrong, she's a sexy character but I think the new sculpt is a little over the top. She was the first Marvel figure I painted. It a pretty easy paint job and I think she turned out well. This figure proved more difficult to paint than I expected. It's a great looking pose, but I wish the details on the shield were a little deeper. I'm not the greatest when it comes to steady detail work, so found doing the stripes on the shield highly frustrating. A wash or two would usually b...

Farewell Ozzy!

This afternoon I found out that the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, has passed away. Although I've been a fan since my early teens, I am surprised at how strong my reaction to the news has been. I had missed out on catching the Black Sabbath farewell show a few weeks back during live stream, so I've not yet seen it. A friend of mine told me about a few days after, and I'm looking forward to watching it when it becomes available. I've had the good fortune of seeing Ozzy perform twice; once at an outdoor stadium show with Zakk Wylde on guitar, and once with Black Sabbath several years later. I remember more about the experience of those shows than the specific details, and could not tell you set lists or anything like that. His impact on music and pop culture, both as a member of Black Sabbath and a solo artist simply cannot be understated. As impactful and important as that is, it also hits me that his children have lost their father, which happened to me at the end o...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 28mm

I have to start off by saying that this might be the nerdiest post I've written to date, and that's sayin' something! The amount of fun I've had working on these, and thinking about what kind of games or scenarios I could play with them has been pretty ridiculous. I'll admit that I fully intended to have these completed before end of the year...that obviously didn't happen. There are a few options out there for figures, but they are either the wrong scale, too damned expensive of just don't capture the feel I was looking for; and then I found this! The TMNT Foot Clan Street Fight  board game was on sale for $12. After I liberated the figures out of the copy I bought, I made some cardboard standees so that I could still play the game with my nephews. It was a big hit during our Christmas holiday too! Now about those figures...on the down side the plastic is pretty soft. The paint work is passable for a mass produced product, but (accurate to the cur...