All Hail King 45

ALL BOW LOW AND BE RESPECTFUL OF 45. HE DEMANDS OBEDIENCE. Not only from his own but from the whole world he covets. Do not challenge his wisdom, there is none. Do not dispute his intelligence. It is limited.  Do … Continue reading →

Happy 145th Birthday Canada: a photoblog from the Forks Market

In case any of you were wondering how I was spending my incredibly gorgeous long weekend, wonder no longer.  Today Dar and I decided to take a short hop down to the Forks Market and take in a few of the festivities marking the 145th birthday of Canada.  Locally known as Canada Day, it’s a great excuse to have a bbq or crack a couple of cold ones and enjoy the 30 degree heat.

You’ll hardly ever hear a Winnipeger complain about the heat though, after a good solid 6 months of darkness and winter cold it takes a good few weeks of 30 Celsius weather to thaw out our Canadian bones and get us primed for summer.

As you would expect on a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon, the Forks Market was packed, the food vendors were out in full force and the beverages were indeed flowing.

Esplanade Louis Riel

The Esplanade Louis Riel (Louis Riel Bridge) is one of the newer architectural centerpieces of Downtown/St Boniface area.  It’s dramatic cable stay pedestrian bridge complete with restaurant and spire draw many tourist and photographers alike to the core of the city.

Located at the East end of Esplanade Louis Riel, La Crêperie Du Pont is a great choice for a deliciously thin crepe for breakfast or a pick me up snack.

Esplanade Louis Riel from St Boniface.

Enjoying a lovely crêpe for breakfast.

City skyline and Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Sunday Journal – June 19, 2011

Happy Father’s Day Everyone.

First things first, let me add my voice to the growing throng who are pissed off as all hell at what happened in Vancouver this week.  To my mind it was a perfect storm of emotion and alcohol fuelled mayhem that only needed a spark to explode.  I believe that at the heart of the Vancouver riot there was a core element that was not there to celebrate game 7.

Vancouver Riot

Who in their right mind shows up to a street party with a baseball bat or Molotov cocktail? This was not a riot based on the win or the loss of a hockey game in my opinion. This was a deliberate act by a core group of hateful people who were determined to twist the drunken emotion of a hopeful crowd into a violent orgy of hate.  Mission accomplished.  I hope you were stupid enough to get your picture taken by one of the hundreds of cameras present at the event.

Water Polo player caught red handed.

May you feel the hot breath of your new butch cellmate on the nape of your neck as he introduces you to life in jail! Bitch.

Money for Nothing Revisited

It seems that the wheels that make the government go round and round here in Canada are getting a good oiling from outraged citizens after the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council decision to effectively ban Money for Nothing.

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms album artwork

The precedent setting ruling stated that due to one complainant, a gay and lesbian rights supporter in Newfoundland, the award-winning 1985 classic rock hit be pulled from the airwaves in its unedited form.

Winnipeg in Autumn: Kings Park

Since I received such an overwhelming response to my first Winnipeg in Autumn piece I decided to throw together another quick posting of one of my other favourite public spaces within the City of Winnipeg.

Kings Park, in the extreme southern quadrant  of the city just outside of the University of Manitoba on the Red River.  It is, in my opinion one of the most picturesque parks in the city, containing  Japanese style pagoda gardens throughout.  It also has vast rolling greens, wooded paths and a quiet river walk that skirts the winding Red River.

A recent addition is the Carol Shields Memorial Labyrinth, completed in Spring of 2009 it offers a place to walk and reflect quietly within the peaceful park setting.  Carol Shields was of course the world-renowned author of such enduring classics as The Stone Dairies.  She lived and worked in Winnipeg for many years and identified with the realities of life on the prairies.

Kings Park

Entering Kings Park

Enjoying a Stroll on a Sunny Afternoon

A Pagoda in the Park