Um, Calgary?

I know you're busy, but you know that shoebox program? The one intended to convert poor kids to Christianity? The one that benefits from tons of glowing local news coverage each year? The one you can't publicly question without being labelled a Scrooge? The one that you — yes, you — help support with your tax dollars — you knew that, didn't you? — thanks to the involvement of local emergency services (ambulances and helicopters!) that back the cause each year?

Yes, that's the one. Operation Christmas Child. Run by Franklin Graham and Samaritan's Purse.

Well, you might be interested in knowing that Samaritan's Purse trotted out none other than Sarah Palin to help give out shoeboxes in Haiti on the weekend. From CNN:

Former Alaska Gov … Read More

No, let's rephrase that. It's been a really good week for Naheed Nenshi.

To recap: Nenshi put out a press release on Thursday containing two questions he says he would have asked the Police Chief Rick Hanson if he was on council. Question one: "Why has Calgary got the second highest per officer cost in the country?" Question two: "Why has the CPS budget increased by 23% but the number of officers on the street has increased by only 11% over the past three years?”

When I first saw Hanson's response — a media statement accusing Nenshi of spreading inaccurate information and being "ill-informed" and "irresponsible" — I thought: This is good news for Nenshi, regardless of how this tussle plays out. The fact that the police chief felt compelled to go … Read More

I recently came across a surprising nugget in an old Calgary Herald story, and thought local political observers might find it interesting. The story is from June 5, 2000. The story is about Diane Colley-Urquhart, then a candidate for the Ward 13 byelection which took place in July of that year. The writer is Danielle Smith, who praises Colley-Urquhart for her "long association with the Alberta Progressive Conservatives." That alone is funny to read 10 years later. But here's the really good part:

Running for council is the next step in [Colley-Urquhart's] community service resume but not the last. "I am not a career politician. If elected, I will serve two terms, then get out so there can be fresh leadership."

It's a refreshing attitude … Read More

My one-year-old daughter and I spent last Monday morning alongside a lifeless, sinister stretch of pavement in northeast Calgary. This morning's destination—a trip to the zoo—was much more enjoyable, but getting to the zoo got my blood boiling.

The problem, see, is that I chose to ride my bike to the zoo instead of driving. We live close to the zoo — the ride's not far at all. Often my daughter and I ride past the zoo with the bike chariot on the Nose Creek Pathway when we're out for a ride. So why drive when we're so close?

The Nose Creek Pathway goes by the zoo — in fact, it kind of wraps around it. The path is a stone's throw away from the parking lot. So there must be access to the zoo's main entrance from the pathway, right? Some kind of connector pathway … Read More

Last week, Drew penned a provocative rant about eggs, mouse shit and a vastly overrated breakfast chain in town. He called it as he saw it, and made some people mad in the process. Good on him. He was bang on, and breakfast lovers the world over love him for it.

In this spirit of constructive criticism, I would like to offer a gripe of my own. Mine, however, doesn't involve breakfast. It involves radio, which, like breakfast, is extremely important in the morning. Radio is the first sensory experience of my day. I wake up to CBC Radio One — but that's not where my complaint lies. Radio One is the CBC's crown jewel (specifically, the show Wiretap, but that's another story). My issue is with Radio One's ugly stepsister, the insufferable CBC Radio 2.

I started … Read More

This is long overdue:

Ald. Ric McIver is bringing forward a notice of motion at Monday’s council meeting seeking a review on the posted speeds on multi-use pathways to ensure public safety.

Cyclists riding on city pathways are limited to a speed of 20 km/h, and violating that can result in a $50 fine.

McIver said he heard from hundreds of cyclists that the speed limit is too low and they should be able to go faster when the path is clear.

“That seems perfectly reasonable,” he said.

Perfectly reasonable is right! And the 20 k.p.h. bylaw is perfectly unreasonable, just one more deterrent against commuting by bicycle in this city (same with bridges that require cyclists to dismount to cross, bike paths that remain uncleared of snow and so on).

 … Read More

Does anybody actually read this stuff? Drew tells me he does, so here's the fifth Yuletide recipe from Bob Edwards:

Roast Turkey

Save up for months until you have price of good big bird. Then take money and send to Maple Creek for half a dozen bottles of Scotch. You won't want any turkey.

— Bob Edwards Summer Annual, 1923 (as found in Irresponsible Freaks, Highball Guzzlers and Unabashed Grafters: A Bob Edwards Chrestomathy, edited by James Martin.)

This is the last recipe in this series. If you want more Bob Edwards goodness I can post more but for now that's it. To recap, here are the previous recipes in this series: bread pudding, stewed chicken, pudding a la reine and rabbit stew.

Animal rights types won't like this one, but here goes:

Rabbit Stew

Take a good fat cat and give it a bat over the head in the cellar. Remove skin and dismember with sharp knife. Put in pan with a little water and allow to simmer slowly for a couple of hours. Season to taste.

— Bob Edwards Summer Annual, 1923 (as found in Irresponsible Freaks, Highball Guzzlers and Unabashed Grafters: A Bob Edwards Chrestomathy, edited by James Martin.)

First recipe is here, second is here and third is here.

Had enough of Bob's recipes yet? Here's the third installment:

Pudding a la Reine

Take down flask from shelf and pour stiff horn down your throat. Whip five or six eggs into a fine lather and pour in a quart of milk. Add cupful of sugar. Have another drink. Add a little minced onion and the contents of a can of strawberries with pepper and salt to season. Flavor with vanilla and set away to cool. If the guests are not satisfied with this, tell them to go to hell and throw the pudding out of the window. Finish the flask.

— Bob Edwards Summer Annual, 1923 (as found in Irresponsible Freaks, Highball Guzzlers and Unabashed Grafters: A Bob Edwards Chrestomathy, edited by James Martin.)

The first recipe is here, and the second one is here.

OK, here's the second recipe:

Stewed chicken

Take the varicose veins of an aged chicken and wind them around the bones. Lay the flesh of the bird aside for private consumption the next day. Stick veins and bones in shallow pan and allow to simmer for a while, then serve in white sticky sauce. The latter can be procured in desired quantity from the Calgary Bill Posting Company Limited.

— Bob Edwards Summer Annual, 1923 (as found in Irresponsible Freaks, Highball Guzzlers and Unabashed Grafters: A Bob Edwards Chrestomathy, edited by former Fast Forward columnist James Martin.)

You can find the first recipe in this series, bread pudding, here.