Monday, June 28, 2004
Eternal Sunshine...in more ways than one!
"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;"
- Alexander Pope
Went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Saturday. A bit strange but I liked it. I'd say it's more for 'artsy' people, but the final message is pretty normal and ordinary, in a good way!
Anyway the title of the film comes from the poem quoted above and just in case anybody else is interested here's the rest of it!
We're experincing a bit of our own eternal sunshine at the moment too. The weather here is incredible today, and has been for the last week or so... greatly welcomed! But Sinead is sick with a throat infection, so thats a bit crap.
Thats it for me at the moment,
David
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;"
- Alexander Pope
Went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Saturday. A bit strange but I liked it. I'd say it's more for 'artsy' people, but the final message is pretty normal and ordinary, in a good way!
Anyway the title of the film comes from the poem quoted above and just in case anybody else is interested here's the rest of it!
We're experincing a bit of our own eternal sunshine at the moment too. The weather here is incredible today, and has been for the last week or so... greatly welcomed! But Sinead is sick with a throat infection, so thats a bit crap.
Thats it for me at the moment,
David
Monday, June 21, 2004
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was ..... a glacier!!!
Hey there,
I'm still recovering from a fabulous weekend on the road. Sinead and I made the trip to Jasper for the weekend, and a stop at Lake Louise on the way back. We rented a car for the weekend. It worked out to be pretty reasonable, even with the charge for being under 25. I hadn't driven for the last 7 months so it was so good to get behind the wheel again and the fact that it was a Chevy Impala made the experience all the better.
The trip to Jasper was about 400km (i.e. the length of Ireland!!!), but with automatic transmission, cruise control, straight roads/highways and beautiful scenery around every corner, it really was a joy to do it. Our trip there involved quick stops at the look-out points along the way, along with the odd picture of elk, deer, and Sinead said she saw a moose, but I think it was like the time she said she saw Christy Moore walking down Patrick Street!!...so Sinead saw a Christy Moore moose!!!
I organised accomodation at the last minute on Friday morning for a B&B in Jasper, so we only left Calgary after Sinead finished work at 4:30 so we didn't arrive in Jasper until 10pm. We went for food then and got ourselves organised for Saturday.
We were planning to go to Lake Louise on Saturday evening and go to a campsite there but there was too much to do and see in Jasper so we said we would stay there again Saturday night. We had to go across the road to a different B&B though but it worked out fine. We went for an early breakfast of Vegetable Omlette and a Grand Slam Special! in 'Miss Italia' in Jasper before heading to the Jasper tramway, a cable car that whisks you 3,191 vertical feet up Whistlers mountain for a really impressive view of the town and the surrounding rivers and mountains and lakes which we would hit later on in the day.
B&B in Jasper.........$60
Jasper Tramway........$21
Realising on Saturday morning that you had no film in the camera, for all of the pictures you took on the way to Jasper on Friday night.......priceless!!!
We were going to be heading home the same route anyway so we could get all those photos again, so nothing lost, thank God, but it just means that Sinead's Christy Moore moose is without pictorial evidence!!
We had a fabulous day for sight seeing, 24 degrees. From the tramway we went to Lac Beauvert and took a couple of photos of the Athabasca river. From there we wnt to the Maligne Canyon, which is a 1 and a half hour walking trip but we cheated a bit with the car but still got to see all of it. It was really spectacular and the photos we got of it don't do it justice at all. The waterfalls there can be frozen even up until May but they were in full flow on Saturday. The Canyon is very deep due to the glacial erosion but what really makes it spectacular is how narrow it is, in width, and there have even been a few deaths of people trying to jump across it in places, where it actually looks possible - that gives you an idea of the width - it's only a yard wide, but a hundred feet deep. Unfortunately I can't get the time to post pictures here, so I went looking on other peoples websites for pictures so that you would have an idea of what the views are like, but I'll show the actual pictures we took, when we get home, so here they are... 1 , 2 . Walkin through the canyon you get views of everything from waterfalls and springs to crystalline pools - really beautiful. From there we travelled to the small and peaceful Patricia Lake and onto Pyramid Lake where we paddled...pretty cold water but nice in the 28 degree sun!!!
By that time we were all "laked out" for the day but decided we would make the half-hour trip to see the Athabasca falls and it really was worth it. At the Athabasca Falls, the Athabasca River is compressed through a narrow gorge, producing a violent torrent of water, and supposedly they are more dramatic at this time of year when the river is swollen by snowmelt. (You'd know I had read the guide books, wouldn't you?!?!?!) We went for food then after a long hard day of sight seeing and were planning an early departure to Lake Louise on Sunday.
We left Jasper for Lake Louise at 7:30 am and halfway betweeen Jasper and Lake Louise we planned to stop at the Icefield centre at the Columbia Icefield to take the glacier ice walk. We got there just in time to be the first tour of the day onto the ice. The icefield itself covers 325sq km and parts of it are over 300m thick (we made sure we were standing on that part!!) The tour guide of the SnoCoach had a couple of scary stories of people swallowed into crevasses but we survived ok!! If we knew we could have brought a cup up to drink the glacier meltwater, seeing as its 99% pure, (a bit like myself!) but we weren't told about it till we got up there. The actual carpark of the Icefield centre has the terminal moraine in it (the rock deposits from the last advance of the glacier). The actual moraines of rock were over a hundred feet high. The route the SnoCoach takes has to change very year due to the movement, and mainly the retreat of the glacier. More pics - SnoCoach , Standing on the glacier...Haven't I changed a lot in the last 7 months!
We travelled on then to Lake Louise, where the photos probably won't do it any justice either..really fabulous, surronded by snow-capped mountains and of course, the really expensive and huge Chateau Lake Louise Hotel. It's amazing how they got permission to build that there and there is more construction going on there for a visitor centre and of course...gift-shop!!
I was all sad today though having to drop the car off and jump back on public transit but it was a fabulous weekend and hopefully, much more to come.
David
I'm still recovering from a fabulous weekend on the road. Sinead and I made the trip to Jasper for the weekend, and a stop at Lake Louise on the way back. We rented a car for the weekend. It worked out to be pretty reasonable, even with the charge for being under 25. I hadn't driven for the last 7 months so it was so good to get behind the wheel again and the fact that it was a Chevy Impala made the experience all the better.
The trip to Jasper was about 400km (i.e. the length of Ireland!!!), but with automatic transmission, cruise control, straight roads/highways and beautiful scenery around every corner, it really was a joy to do it. Our trip there involved quick stops at the look-out points along the way, along with the odd picture of elk, deer, and Sinead said she saw a moose, but I think it was like the time she said she saw Christy Moore walking down Patrick Street!!...so Sinead saw a Christy Moore moose!!!
I organised accomodation at the last minute on Friday morning for a B&B in Jasper, so we only left Calgary after Sinead finished work at 4:30 so we didn't arrive in Jasper until 10pm. We went for food then and got ourselves organised for Saturday.
We were planning to go to Lake Louise on Saturday evening and go to a campsite there but there was too much to do and see in Jasper so we said we would stay there again Saturday night. We had to go across the road to a different B&B though but it worked out fine. We went for an early breakfast of Vegetable Omlette and a Grand Slam Special! in 'Miss Italia' in Jasper before heading to the Jasper tramway, a cable car that whisks you 3,191 vertical feet up Whistlers mountain for a really impressive view of the town and the surrounding rivers and mountains and lakes which we would hit later on in the day.
B&B in Jasper.........$60
Jasper Tramway........$21
Realising on Saturday morning that you had no film in the camera, for all of the pictures you took on the way to Jasper on Friday night.......priceless!!!
We were going to be heading home the same route anyway so we could get all those photos again, so nothing lost, thank God, but it just means that Sinead's Christy Moore moose is without pictorial evidence!!
We had a fabulous day for sight seeing, 24 degrees. From the tramway we went to Lac Beauvert and took a couple of photos of the Athabasca river. From there we wnt to the Maligne Canyon, which is a 1 and a half hour walking trip but we cheated a bit with the car but still got to see all of it. It was really spectacular and the photos we got of it don't do it justice at all. The waterfalls there can be frozen even up until May but they were in full flow on Saturday. The Canyon is very deep due to the glacial erosion but what really makes it spectacular is how narrow it is, in width, and there have even been a few deaths of people trying to jump across it in places, where it actually looks possible - that gives you an idea of the width - it's only a yard wide, but a hundred feet deep. Unfortunately I can't get the time to post pictures here, so I went looking on other peoples websites for pictures so that you would have an idea of what the views are like, but I'll show the actual pictures we took, when we get home, so here they are... 1 , 2 . Walkin through the canyon you get views of everything from waterfalls and springs to crystalline pools - really beautiful. From there we travelled to the small and peaceful Patricia Lake and onto Pyramid Lake where we paddled...pretty cold water but nice in the 28 degree sun!!!
By that time we were all "laked out" for the day but decided we would make the half-hour trip to see the Athabasca falls and it really was worth it. At the Athabasca Falls, the Athabasca River is compressed through a narrow gorge, producing a violent torrent of water, and supposedly they are more dramatic at this time of year when the river is swollen by snowmelt. (You'd know I had read the guide books, wouldn't you?!?!?!) We went for food then after a long hard day of sight seeing and were planning an early departure to Lake Louise on Sunday.
We left Jasper for Lake Louise at 7:30 am and halfway betweeen Jasper and Lake Louise we planned to stop at the Icefield centre at the Columbia Icefield to take the glacier ice walk. We got there just in time to be the first tour of the day onto the ice. The icefield itself covers 325sq km and parts of it are over 300m thick (we made sure we were standing on that part!!) The tour guide of the SnoCoach had a couple of scary stories of people swallowed into crevasses but we survived ok!! If we knew we could have brought a cup up to drink the glacier meltwater, seeing as its 99% pure, (a bit like myself!) but we weren't told about it till we got up there. The actual carpark of the Icefield centre has the terminal moraine in it (the rock deposits from the last advance of the glacier). The actual moraines of rock were over a hundred feet high. The route the SnoCoach takes has to change very year due to the movement, and mainly the retreat of the glacier. More pics - SnoCoach , Standing on the glacier...Haven't I changed a lot in the last 7 months!
We travelled on then to Lake Louise, where the photos probably won't do it any justice either..really fabulous, surronded by snow-capped mountains and of course, the really expensive and huge Chateau Lake Louise Hotel. It's amazing how they got permission to build that there and there is more construction going on there for a visitor centre and of course...gift-shop!!
I was all sad today though having to drop the car off and jump back on public transit but it was a fabulous weekend and hopefully, much more to come.
David
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Calgary - Engagement Central!
Hey there,
Well it seems like everybody here is getting engaged and having babies...(not necessarily at the same time!!!) I definitely think it has something to do with the changing of the seasons or maybe it's all those thunder and lightning showers we've been having!!!
Last night after Mass at BP's, the talk was all about wedding planning - it's kind of cool listening to some of the plans - an awful lot of work too though - I think I'd elope...to Calgary!!
Sinead and I had a nice weekend. Sinead was working on Saturday but we went to see Starsky and Hutch in the cinema afterwards. Sinead was off work today then, due to the fact she had to work on Saturday, so we went to the Bernard Callebaut chocolate factory (and of course made a few purchases!!) Went to 17th Avenue then for some food at the Ship and Anchor - lovely food and really reasonable. We're just on the net now wasting a bit of time until the concert tonight - looking forward to it.
Thats it for now,
Until later,
David
Well it seems like everybody here is getting engaged and having babies...(not necessarily at the same time!!!) I definitely think it has something to do with the changing of the seasons or maybe it's all those thunder and lightning showers we've been having!!!
Last night after Mass at BP's, the talk was all about wedding planning - it's kind of cool listening to some of the plans - an awful lot of work too though - I think I'd elope...to Calgary!!
Sinead and I had a nice weekend. Sinead was working on Saturday but we went to see Starsky and Hutch in the cinema afterwards. Sinead was off work today then, due to the fact she had to work on Saturday, so we went to the Bernard Callebaut chocolate factory (and of course made a few purchases!!) Went to 17th Avenue then for some food at the Ship and Anchor - lovely food and really reasonable. We're just on the net now wasting a bit of time until the concert tonight - looking forward to it.
Thats it for now,
Until later,
David
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Congratulations are in order
Congratulations are in order To Ryan Fox and Erin Fitzpatrick on their engagement over the weekend. Rumour had it that she said Yes when he proposed, but apparantly that is up for debate at the moment!!!
Got tickets for the Shania Twain concert for Sinead for Monday night at the Saddledome. It's not as good as an engagement ring, but it will have to do for the moment!!!!
Nothing else strange or startling here at the moment!
Take it easy
Dave
Got tickets for the Shania Twain concert for Sinead for Monday night at the Saddledome. It's not as good as an engagement ring, but it will have to do for the moment!!!!
Nothing else strange or startling here at the moment!
Take it easy
Dave
Monday, June 07, 2004
Go Flames Go!
Hey there everyone!
Haven't had much of a chance to do any emailing or blogging for a long time. The weather has been great the last while, but mixed in with a few thunder storms every now and again.
The city is going crazy with hockey fever. Its the last game of the NHL Playoff finals tonight so if the Calgary Flames win tonight, they win the Stanley Cup, a really big deal around here!
I have been sick for the last week. It's amazing really because I usually can't go one month without being sick but this is the first time in the 7 months that we have been here that I have been sick. The time has flown by here, almost like a dream. We have been doing pretty well so far, getting around but we want to get to see more so this is really getting to the time to be doing that. We were in Bannf a few weeks ago. The views were spectacular of the Rocky Mountains and we were sitting in the hot springs at +41 degrees while the snow fell on our heads..quite a unique feeling. We were supposed to be going white-water rafting this weekend with Ryan but with me being sick and other people also pulled out so we had to cancel it unfortunately but he said we would get around to it eventually.
I handed in my notice today to work because I felt like that was contributing to me getting sick etc, just with the dusty and cold work I was doing, and I needed a change too, so I'm back to looking for something else today, which I'm glad to be doing really. Sinead is working away in a lab and getting good experince along the way too but we are both ready to get more of our travelling shoes on and get out on the road a bit more, so we're looking forward to that.
Until then, take it easy,
Dave
Haven't had much of a chance to do any emailing or blogging for a long time. The weather has been great the last while, but mixed in with a few thunder storms every now and again.
The city is going crazy with hockey fever. Its the last game of the NHL Playoff finals tonight so if the Calgary Flames win tonight, they win the Stanley Cup, a really big deal around here!
I have been sick for the last week. It's amazing really because I usually can't go one month without being sick but this is the first time in the 7 months that we have been here that I have been sick. The time has flown by here, almost like a dream. We have been doing pretty well so far, getting around but we want to get to see more so this is really getting to the time to be doing that. We were in Bannf a few weeks ago. The views were spectacular of the Rocky Mountains and we were sitting in the hot springs at +41 degrees while the snow fell on our heads..quite a unique feeling. We were supposed to be going white-water rafting this weekend with Ryan but with me being sick and other people also pulled out so we had to cancel it unfortunately but he said we would get around to it eventually.
I handed in my notice today to work because I felt like that was contributing to me getting sick etc, just with the dusty and cold work I was doing, and I needed a change too, so I'm back to looking for something else today, which I'm glad to be doing really. Sinead is working away in a lab and getting good experince along the way too but we are both ready to get more of our travelling shoes on and get out on the road a bit more, so we're looking forward to that.
Until then, take it easy,
Dave
