Calgary Herald Q - Holidays with Air Cancel, erm... Air Canada.

I'm usually one who likes to have faith in the system. For example, I like to believe that the people we elect will actually do a good job at representing us. I like to believe that when there is a handicap parking spot that someone who doesn't require it won't use it. And I also like to believe that when I book a flight with a major airline that the airline will do their upmost to fulfill that service; there and back.

Read the rest here on the Calgary Herald Q Blog...

Dear thugs.

Also on the Calgary Herald Q.

We get it: you don't get along and you don't want to get along. You want to be in charge and show everyone that you are in charge. However, your personal grudges and desire to control the entire cocaine business is getting a little out of hand. Your petty war is apparently more important than the 1 million innocent citizens who call Calgary their home. What I am failing to comprehend though is why you believe this little town of ours is your open battleground.

This is Calgary. Home of the world-famous 10-day Calgary Stampede, the very humble Folk Music Festival, the ever so popular Lilac Festival and the lazy afternoons in a raft on the Elbow River. This city is not home of Hollywood-style gangsters and open gun battles on our quiet streets.

However, when the bullets fly a little too close to home, it's time to take action. The latest act of cowardness was on a very public street on a very bright and sunny afternoon right before rush-hour.

In fact, your most recent clash happened only a couple blocks from where I kick off my shoes at night and call home. I walked home the other night only to find cops manning the corners and the streets lined in yellow tape.

The police pressure is on and be rest assured this is not a headline that will leave the front of minds of Calgarians soon. We are frustrated and irritated that at any time we could be caught in the crossfire.

If you want to be a contributing member to society and work hard, that's fantastic. Calgary is a very welcoming city but when it comes to this - we would kindly ask you to pack your luggage, take your personal grudges and your lucrative cocaine business, and leave town.

Calgary Herald Q - Greening: One step forward, two steps back.

Also found here on the Calgary Herald Q.

I consider myself a conscientious consumer when it comes to purchasing anything. I have a passion for the environment and try to recycle anything and everything. I used to compost, take weekly trips to the local green bins to recycle the cardboard, paper and plastics.

That was then when I lived in a residential neighbourhood. Now, however, I live in the Beltline. Good luck finding recycling bins here.

My plan was to find an apartment as close to work as possible. That way, I could park my car (and not pay the unbearable price for a tank of gas) and do my small part to reduce my carbon footprint by walking instead. While I realized composting wouldn't be as easy in an apartment as it was in a house, I was still planning on recycling everything and anything I could.

In this day and age when being green is the new black, it's incredible just how difficult it is to find a place to recycle my cardboard, paper and bottles, not only in the Beltline, but in all of Calgary.

One might think it would be easier for people who want to do something as simple as recycle, that they wouldn't have to get in their car and travel a fair distance. According to this map, there are only 49 community recycling depot locations in Calgary. In a city of over a million, and almost 200 different communities, how does this seem possible? It's almost as if the city is working against every effort people are trying to make towards greening the city and helping the environment.

How practical is it for a person who may not have a vehicle to transport their recycling materials to one of these depots? Could you imagine someone getting on the bus with boxes full of recycling? No. People will either throw their collection in a large dumpster or simply throw it in their personal trash cans.

Stats from the City of Calgary say that Calgarians are currently recycling 20% of residential waste leaving the rest to reside in landfills. The city has said they hope to implement a curbside recycling program beginning in 2009. It's truly incredible to me that in this city which is considered the hub of the west, we are the last to have this. I might add that the curbside recycling is only for residential units, not condo or apartment complexes.

Edmonton really doesn't have many great things going for it but the one thing that they have really done, top notch, was initiate their curbside recycling program in 1988. While Calgary takes 80% of residential waste to the landfills, Edmonton diverts 60%, with the goal of 90% by 2012.

Calgary should take notes.

Give yourself a big ol' pat on the back... or a smack across the back of the head.

Also on the Calgary Herald Q.

So apparently Alberta isn't actually ready for a change. From the dismal election results, it looks like Alberta is happy with the same ol' same ol'. The same government, the same ideas, the same people, the same everything. It's 2008, if Alberta isn't ready for a change now, I fear they may never be.

As soon as I marked the "x" on the ballot, I knew right away my vote wasn't going to count. I may as well have put a smiley face in the circle instead. That's about how much my vote counted in the grand scheme of things.

I guess with only 41% of eligible 2.5 million voters actually voting – that's 4 out of 10 people – it doesn't say much about those who have a chance to make a difference. We are given an opportunity to exercise our right to vote and only 40% of eligible voters show up? Are you kidding me? New episodes of our favorite shows aren't on until April – so, what's the excuse?

Is it because people have to physically go to a polling station to cast their vote? If that's all it is – we need to look at some sort of online voting system. Is it because Election Day is on a workday instead of a Saturday? I know the last thing I want to do after my 8 hour work day is to find the polling station only to stand in line and cast my vote… but I still did it.

Simply put, it's embarrassing. In a country that allows us to exercise our democratic right, Monday nights results were disgusting.

Nicely done Alberta. I hope you can still sleep at night.

Whistler.

Even on an average day, the 120km trek from Vancouver to Whistler via the Sea to Sky Highway is not for the faint of heart. The highway has a reputation for being picturesque but also for its precariously situated switchbacks and narrow corners. Thankfully, over the next two years, the provincial and federal governments will have put up over $600 million to make this highway a little safer for the estimated 21,400 vehicles that travel the Vancouver-to-Whistler stretch daily.

Only two hours from Vancouver lies a skier's dream nestled in the Coast Mountain Range. Sure, the trek to Whistler Village is a little chancy, especially if it's in the winter and a snow storm is coming at you full throttle, but once you get there, it's obvious why the 2010 Olympics are coming to town.

Whistler is renowned for its intense vertical, amazing powder, an amazing 8171 acres of ski-able terrain, and views which remain second to none. It's a snow-lovers dream. In fact, Whistler generates over $1billion per year in revenues, strictly from tourism—impressive for a town with less than 10,000 permanent residents.

Certainly, the stretch SUV limos practically lining the Sea to Sky Highway (rented out at $485 each way), and massive mountain homes clearly not built for the average person, didn't help the perceived image of Whistler being a surreal destination. It only made it more obvious Whistler isn't exactly a right for the budget travelers.

Whistler has made it very easy for city-people to remain city people. This isn't a place to escape for the weekend; the creature comforts are still right at your door. With Starbucks and expensive parking, the hustle and bustle of a city is right there in the village that swells to 40,000 on a busy weekend. The village isn't exactly for the average person, (i.e. me), who can't exactly justify regular trips to Whistler for a weekend of snowboarding.

For me, a novice snowboarder with less than half a dozen attempts under my belt, taking on Whistler Blackcomb was a little frightening. Not only did the road to the ski hill scare me, the price of the lift ticket and rental gear ($85 lift+$50 rentals = yikes) scared me even more. Gone was the idea of doing Whistler cheaply.

The whole experience left me wondering, how do people do it? Do people my age really have that much money that they can afford the $1750 annual lift pass? The $459/night hotel price tag? The $9 daiquiris at the day lodge? When the majority of the people I saw were kids, no older than I am, it made me wonder how they could afford being decked out in the pro-gear head to toe, and the ski-bum lifestyle.

When avid-skiers come from all over the world to live it up in Whistler and make the slopes their home, and when buying new boots and skis is more important than regular contributions to your RRSP's, Whistler, whether it likes it or not, acquires a pompous feel to it. It's unfortunate, especially with the Olympics right around the corner.

The 2010 Olympics in Whistler will be a bittersweet event. On one hand, major improvements to the infrastructure will take place, affordable housing will be built in the village and a major cleanup of the area will take place. Yet money will be diverted from other social programs that would benefit the city of Vancouver… and all in the name of a 17-day event.

Whistler is downright gorgeous, boasting breath-taking views every where you look, and the employs the kindest lifties who you'll ever have a four second encounter with. If the goal is to ensure a fantastic, albeit expensive time, they've exceeded it. However, with the ridiculously priced accommodations, whether just renting or actually purchasing, I fear the average person will not be able to take part in the 2010 games; it will be too expensive. Is that something that the Olympics really wants to be part of?

By all accounts, Banff and Calgary remained somewhat normal during the 1988 Olympics. Although it changed Calgary's identity from cow-town to an actual city, boasting its commercial sector, it put Calgary on the map. Whistler is already on the map; people know what it's all about. What they don't know is the price they'll pay for a couple days of skiing.

Will the rest of the world travel there and get something they didn't bargain for? Or was the ritzy factor only something that I didn't expect?

"Oprah Factor" paying off for Obama.

Also on the Calgary Herald Q.

Celebrity endorsements aren't new. They persuade us to buy a certain brand of mascara, to buy a certain vehicle, and what band their listening to on their iPod. They also tell us what skin cleanser to purchase, what designer label we should wear and is and what shampoo is best for our hair. They rally for the environment, for political leaders and charity causes. In essence, they tell us what to do – and we do a pretty good job at following.

Usually, the problem with celebrity endorsements is that it's hard to decipher between their credibility for the product and their talent. Oprah, on the other hand, is different.

Oprah is more than just another African American with a platform. She's an icon, a legend to some. When she says jump, the housewives watching her show do it. When Oprah falls in love with a book, it is an automatic overnight sell-out. When she says she has a keen eye for a certain kind of slippers, they are sold-out in an instant. People trust her opinion even more than they trust their own.

She appeals to the average woman because she has gone through what many other women have gone through: sexism, racism, relationship and self-esteem issues and even weight issues. She knows what the average American wants, even if she's the one telling them. Her fans relate to her on a whole new iconic level. This is called the "Oprah Factor."

Barack Obama has the "Oprah Factor" on his side. Since he announced his intentions of running for President, Oprah has been quite transparent about her support for him, hosting fundraisers and lending a hand during some of his major campaigns.

She's also the nation's wealthiest African-American, which doesn't hurt either, although, this time, her money isn't going to help him out. He's got something none of the other candidates vying for the presidential seat in 2008 have. He's got Oprah and her presence is what will help him most, more so than any cheque she could write for him.

In the past, celebrity endorsements haven't had much impact on voter preferences.However, according to the weekly News Interest Index conducted by Pew Research Centre, today's young and black population are most likely to be influenced by what Winfrey says. Not to mention the two million American women who read her magazine, monthly, or the fact that she has the highest rated talk show in American television history hitting over 8.4 million viewers each weekday afternoon. Combine all that, and you have a powerhouse who could potentially sway those viewers to vote for her candidate of choice.

Interestingly enough, her most loyal viewers are women between 25 and 55, a group that also votes in large numbers in Democratic primaries. That is pretty helpful for Obama.

There is no denying the fact that the control she has over her viewers is a tad alarming. These mega-powers (Oprah, Martha Stewart, Apple, Walmart, etc.) make it blissfully easy to stay lazy by doing the work for us. It's as if we've completely forgotten to think for ourselves and make choices on our own.

Time will obviously tell just how much influence she actually has on the American population, but if the book sales are any indication, Obama's chances of becoming the next President are looking good. Obama certainly lucked out in the endorsement department. She's no Chuck Norris, but she'll do just fine.

Calgary Herald Q - Excess Baggage.

Also on the Calgary Herald Q.

Men shudder at the idea of peering into them, almost terrified at what they might find. They’re considered an ‘infinite abyss’ by some, and to others – ‘frustratingly ridiculous’. However, they’re not the black hole every man thinks they are. They’re our lives, our possessions and our personal statement.

The Daily Mail suggests handbags are more of a lifestyle necessity than a fashion accessory. With the amount of items carried by the average woman on a daily basis, no wonder the larger handbags are desirable.

Researchers found out that the average 30-year-old woman already owns 21 bags and that number increases every 3-months. It was determined that over the course of a lifetime, the average woman has owned 111 bags. I’m 25 and I think I might own 7 thus far.

What’s with the number? Bags are versatile depending on the mood, occasion and attire. I have one for work, mountain-travels, formals, casuals and everything in between.

2007 was the year of the large bag. The tiny Hollywood starlets carried them awkwardly on their arms, sometimes with small pups in tow. My purse was always quite normal sized until this past Christmas when I was presented with the purse I had my eye on for quite some time. Of course, in the time leading up to this gift I was heavily questioned as to why I needed a bag of that size. Well, why not?

It was functional: I could carry everything in it and was perfect for work. It was gorgeous: what’s not to love about the walnut leather satchel? And it was chic: again, what’s not to love about the walnut leather satchel?

And with 2008, the new collections came out. One would think the new year would maybe bring new inspiration to maybe create smaller, more manageable bags. But just when you got ready to trade in your oversized for a fanny back, the 2008 collection only offers larger bags, some that are over 2ft in length.

The large bags however, are turning into a bit of an issue for ladies shoulders and backs. Chiropractors are actually warning us not to carry our lives in our bag due to the strain it puts on our bodies.

With the oversized satchels in style we are left wondering: why do we need to carry so much? Why are the bags so big?

Curious, I cracked open my bag to find out what I have traveling with me: wallet, 2 cell phones, 3 tubes of lip gloss, day-timer, package of gum, keys for work, keys for car, iPod and headphones, feminine products, Advil, sunglass case (sans sunglasses), snack, gloves.

Ok so maybe the contents are a bit horrifying; 3 tubes of lipgloss, seriously. When I get to the heart of it though I carry I everything around with me because it makes me feel better knowing everything is conveniently located. I know I’m not alone though. I’ve seen my girlfriends with equally as large bags.

On average, the 5 girls I had crack open their bags offered me these contents: Daytimer, wallet, keys, cigarettes, glasses, glass cleaner, hair ties, cheques, small cosmetic case, gum, hair pins, inhaler, feminine products, prescription drugs, cough candies, a needle and thread, coupon book, measuring tape, lip glosses, pens, winter apparel, cell phone, cream, sanitizer, accessories, lunch, water bottle, and a snack. Everything is pretty useful, no?

Even more curious, I weighed my purse only to find out it weighs an astonishing 5.7lbs; almost triple what doctors are recommending a purse is. In all honesty though, it’s not hard to carry a purse that weighs more than 2lbs. When you add a laptop and the daily edition of the Calgary Herald, you’re already over the suggested weight.

I’m not ready to hibernate my purse it makes one stop and think: while the world is creating smaller gadgets to fit in the comfort of your pocket, what is with the wrist-breaking bags?

Calgary Herald Q - A little Cowtown goodness...

There seems to be a trend going on in this arrogant city of ours and no, it's not the new Skinny Latte at Starbucks. This hot new trend people seem to be jumping on board with is actually one of random kindness.

In fact, it's quite the phenomenon for a city that seems too busy and rushed to do something as simple as stop at a crosswalk for a pedestrian.

More...

Calgary Herald Q.

With less than 365 days left until 2009, I figured it would be a good time to jump on the resolution bandwagon and come up with something I would be proud to say I followed through with when the next resolution time comes around.

Read the rest here...

Dear Mr. Vickers;

Also on the Calgary Herald Q.

I've read that you had some trouble with the City of Calgary recently when you went to officially apply to move Cowboys to the old Office Depot building on 4th and 5th. While I don't agree with how they kinda screwed you over, I'd like you to think of the location where you were going to put your infamous bar: right in the middle of some apartments, condos and hotels. Not exactly the ideal place for your rowdy nightclub.

I have only been to your bar a couple times back in my youth, and to this day I still can't understand why it's so popular. I mean, sure, some of the wait-staff are kinda attractive, and you've got some good tunes there (sometimes) but c'mon. The old building was nasty dirty, expensive, smelly and dangerous.

You feel 'railroaded' eh? How about those residents who live in the immediate vicinity of where you wanted to erect the new Cowboys? Don't you think they would have felt a little railroaded by having you in their backyard? Calling Calgary 'Sleepyville' isn't going to win you any new fans or friends of your establishments in Calgary. In fact, it might make you a couple enemies.

People who have taken up residence in downtown Calgary do so for various reasons. Sure, some may do it to be closer to the vibrant nightlife we have, but others might do it for reasons such as convenience, lack of housing anywhere else, or simply just not wanting to live in the suburbs. For someone to take up residence in downtown Calgary doesn't necessarily mean they want to hear people shouting and screaming at all hours of the night after your bars close. They also don't want to see alcohol induced vomit on their front door steps. I don't think that's unreasonable. But apparently you do.

You might want to consider other areas for your bar... like somewhere not 100 metres from a residential community. How about getting rid of Coyotes and moving Cowboys there? It's closer to the Stampede (which is the time of year you make the most money I believe), there's parking, and not any real neighbourhoods yet.

Cowboys is very well known internationally. During Stampede, Cowboys is the place to go. You must know that it's going to be rowdy no matter where you put it, right? You can't expect people to embrace all your establishments with open arms in their community. You're not happy with the way things panned out? Get over it, put yourself in the residents shoes and find a more appropriate location for your watering-hole.

Sincerely.