United Way Plane Pull YYC 2015

This is from a few weekends ago, at the Plane Pull event in Calgary, where teams of 15 competed at pulling a 200,000 lb Airbus across 15m of tarmac, to raise money and awareness for United Way's various charitable initiatives. I know some folks question the role of United Way as a 'middleman' in the overall scheme of donations, but that's a very simplistic view of what they do, and the impact they have on our local community's social landscape. I'm not going to get into it here because most of you know how soapbox ranty I get when it comes to criticism of those trying to help the less fortunate, but I will say this: these photos of people dragging a plane 50 feet perfectly reflect the strength en masse that we can achieve when we work together to tackle seemingly insurmountable problems such as poverty and homelessness. Regardless of your stance towards United Way, my point is that the only thing stopping us from generating the momentum needed to fix our numerous social problems, is not making an effort at all.











Colour photo taken with the Fuji X100s. B&W photos shot with the Rolleiflex 2.8E on Kodak Tri-X 400 film.

More from that evening of Drinking

I was riding the bus home today, and noticed an Asian gal reading a motivational book titled 'Seven Elements of Being Success'. I'm no motivational speaker, but I imagine that one element should be good grammar-ing? Mind you, the book was in Chinese, with an English subtitle, so it was just a bad Chinglish translation, but still... Now your next logical question might be, if the book was in Chinese, why have an English subtitle at all? Great question. I like to think of it as no different than white dudes that tattoo random Chinese characters on their backs. It adds street cred, or something?

Anyways, I developed some film from Gregg's stag, and thought I'd share some portraits of the boys. Including coincidentally, one of whom happens to have a random Chinese character tattooed on his forearm. :)




The man of the hour!









Shot with the Rolleiflex 2.8E, on Kodak Tri-X 400, pushed 1 stop in Rodinal (1+50 for 16:30min @68 deg. F).

Booze, Cigars, and Monster Hangovers - A Right Proper Stag

Our dear brother Beevbo Baggins is getting married next month, and so we sent him off into the land of indentured servitude with one last hurrah with the boys. Gregg's stag was supposed to be an evening of gentlemanly pursuits and a friendly game of poker, but quickly devolved into a disgraceful puke-fest after too much booze and cigars. It was great fun... until it wasn't. But we won't dwell on the unpleasant memories of vomit puddles and 20 hour hangovers, and instead reflect back on the great night it was. Enjoy some of my favourite photos from the evening...

Gigantic Inflatable Bunnies!!! - Beakerhead 2015

If you're in Calgary this week, you should definitely head down to Central Memorial Park and see these gigantic bunnies, featured as part of Beakerhead (a smashup festival of science, engineering, and art), which you may remember I posted about last year here. These adorable inflatable white bunnies evoke a child-like wonder in me, and seeing Anita dwarfed by them reminded me of Studio Ghibli style anime films like Totoro, and also The Secret World of Arriety. See the resemblance for yourself in the comparisons below.




My Neighbour Totoro*




The Secret World of Arriety*






The previous four bunnies were located in a park. This other one is hidden (lost) somewhere else in the community of Victoria Park.




And a daylight version of one in the park.

*I don't own the copyright to the 2 cartoon images, I just plain old thieved them off of google images...

Scrambles - Mt. Fairview and Saddle Mountain

Thinking this would be our last weekend of good scrambling weather, Anita and I pounded up Mt. Fairview in the Lake Louise area yesterday. They should consider renaming it Mt. Stupendousview, because the views from the top are that nice. Starting in a nice lush forest, the trail quickly gave way to beautiful larches aflame in the golden hues of fall, before opening up to the steep ascent towards the summit from Saddleback Pass, for a total of 1000m of elevation gain. It was technically easy (though one could argue physically challenging), being largely just a steep hike with no actual scrambling required.

And because Saddleback Pass sits between Fairview (~2700m) and an adjacent smaller peak, Saddle Mountain (~2400m), I extended the day by ascending both peaks just to be able to claim I bagged 2 summits in one day.




The initial part of the hike through lush forest would have been a mycologist's dream. Mushrooms everywhere!


Beautiful larches turning colour.






Saddleback Pass and Saddle Mountain below us.


Switchbacking up to the summit, with Haddo peak in the background.


Mt. Temple served as the backdrop to our ascent up from Saddleback Pass.








Views of Haddo Peak, Mt. Lefroy, and Mt. Victoria from the summit of Fairview.


Mt. Victoria, Collier's Peak, Pope's Peak, and Mt. Whyte.






Apparently this is a thing these days? These three gals spent a good 20 minutes on the summit in various states of undress as they Go Pro'd themselves and each other.




Looking back at Mt. Fairview, from the Summit of Saddle Mountain.


The valley between Mt. Temple and Haddo's peak, as seen from the summit of Saddle Mountain.


On our descent, we got to re-hike through the beautiful larch forest.