When I finished University in 2003, I hopped a plane to Scotland and got a job serving at a hotel in the town of Peebles. It was one of those unforgettable experiences (now if only I could remember…). Most of the staff was foreign and I became good friends with people from around the world.
One of those people was a South African named Andre. When I came back home to Canada in early 2004, we made the same doomed promise that most people in our situation make: to get together again.
It’s a nice gesture to say and there’s no doubt we meant it at the time. But as is often the case, life gets in the way – especially when the distance is so great (Canada to South Africa). I always held out hope that it wasn’t a well-meaning comment and we would see each other again.
And then, out of the blue last night, I got a facebook message from him. On September 10, he is actually coming to North America. He’ll be in New York City for about a week. Now, that’s no where near my neck of the woods but he’s actually coming up to the Northern Hemisphere and across a freaking ocean!
The only problem? I don’t have enough money to make the trip.
To raise enough money, I am offering to rent out my time in New York to you.
- For $1 I’ll high-five a New York stranger for you.
- For $3 I’ll tell your favourite joke to a New York stranger.
- For $5 I’ll mail you something from the streets of NYC.
- For $5 I’ll also give you one of my NYC memories, personalized for you.
- For $20 I’ll write a poem for you, about you and recite it in Times Square.
- For $100 I’ll cut my hair into a mullet and wear it around NYC for the entire weekend.
Everything will be videotaped and photographed so you’ll be able to see which New Yorker heard your joke, got your high-five and heard the poem I wrote about you.
I’m going to travel as cheaply as possible. I plan to Couch Surf, fly Economy and will probably even pack my own meals for the few days I’ll be there. The only luxury will be a few drinks & dinner with Andre, which is the whole reason for this nonsense anyways.
Any surplus will go to the Terry Fox Foundation to fight cancer. So basically, every dollar given to this project will go to a good cause: friendship or the cancer fight.
The clock is ticking; I only have 2 weeks to raise the money. So please, in the name of friendship and keeping promises, send me a few bucks, your names for high-fives, jokes, addresses for souvenirs or whatever else I’ll need to keep up my end of the bargain.
Let’s do this in the name of transcontinental friendship & keeping promises. You can see the entire project and buy whatever you want at my website.
Rumours have been around for years that Medalta is haunted. It can certainly feel like it when you’re here at night.
On Saturday, October 29, we invite you to find out for yourselves. the Medicine Hat Paranormal Investigation team will be leading evening tours of Medalta, including the very-creepy old factory where little has changed since it closed in 1954.
The cost is only $15/person to tour between 8:00pm & Midnight. There is limited space so if you want to register, call Quentin Randall at 403.529.1070 or email quentin@medalta.org. Payment can be made in advance or at the door.
The Social Threat - Protest Songs Cover Art
The Social Threat is a 3-piece local punk band… er… possible the ONLY local punk band (now that One Shot Left is in hiatus mode). I admit that it is hard for me to get excited about punk music nowadays as my musical preference swings quite the opposite way, as of late. But I can still take the time to enjoy the memories and appreciate the musical aesthetic that The Social Threat is striving for. That’s kind of what listening to “Protest Songs” reminds me of; memories of my youth, going to some cool punk shows in Regina, back when punk was just getting huge again.
Musically, they are quite similar to bands like MXPX, Good Riddance, Dogwood and other punk rock bands from the 90’s and 00’s with fast drumming and harmonization. Lyrically, it’s heavy on politics and social change – like many of the bands of the time as well. It’s quite anachronistic when listening to it with this notion, yet nostalgic at the same time. That leads me to believe most of the appeal of The Social Threat is knowing punk rock from a decade ago. That’s not to say people new to the genre can’t enjoy their music, but I definitely think it would be harder for the layperson.
The Social Threat
There is some good production value on this sophomore album; however, it still feels of DYI in many ways, which I think lends itself to the music quite well. In interview with the band, it was discussed how if they had the choice (budget wise) that they there would be more production value on the recording, so the intention of a DYI aesthetic wasn’t focused on necessarily, but merely due to financials. I was lucky enough to get a physical copy of the album and was glad I did. The whole package was designed by Kyle Hodgman (Drums/BGV), which features a very nice composition focusing on symbolism, poetry-esque messages (on inside cover/insert/poster). It all feels cohesive and put together well (both design and packaging wise).
I feel thematically that the lyrics are good and range nicely from song to song; however, they are very straightforward, rather than relying on metaphor. It’s clear that they want you to hear the message and understand their music on that level. This also becomes transparent as each song has a different theme and clear-cut message of focus. Is that a bad/good thing? The songwriting and instruments are all top notch.
Normally this is where people give a rating out of 5 stars or 10 dinosaurs or something else that doesn’t mean anything. I’ll skip that, and let you decide if this is something you would be interested in. If you listened to punk music during the 90’s and 00’s I would definitely recommend this album (and I don’t mean that in an elitist, hipster kind of way). It’s also a local band, so you should support them! Duh!
Links:
Their full album is $9.99 and can be purchased digitally on CD Baby or iTunes. Alternatively, you can snag a cool physical copy by emailing them, or grabbing one at a show. THE JUMP – Read the rest of this entry »
In an older post entitled, “A Final Adieu to the Medicine Hat Riverside Water Slides“, Skeet, shared his memories on the now closed and defunct Medicine Hat Riverside Water Slides. In a recent comment on that page, Dervil Bissima had this to say:
I lived in the hat in 1988, that summer i think i pretty much went to the slide everyday! there was the night slide that summer too. A couple years ago, i drove from calgary to med hat, hoping to check out the slide once again. When i got there, i saw it was all run down and closed which looked to have been for a long time! ( i even checked info online the day before i left. There was no indication that it was no longer operating!) I would suggest that the travel websites update their info. haha. Anyway, i wandered around the fence to the top of the hill and saw a hole cut into the fence, so i had to go in! I got some really cool pics of the slide that i once loved! (I can email them to you if you like. It was just really sad to see, and i have heard different stories why it closed. I would like to hear why it really shut down.
So without further ado, here they are:
The fifth annual Medicine Hat’s Vital Signs will be made public on October 4, 2011, but the Community Foundation needs to hear what Hatters think of their city first.
Each year the Community Foundation publishes Vital Signs which looks at various components of life in Medicine Hat including Health & Wellness, Housing, Learning and Safety to name a few.
Residents are asked to go online to http://app.fluidsurveys.com/s/MHVitalSigns-2011/ and give their opinion on selected statements. These responses will be collected anonymously and collated in order to give a final grade, which will be published in the October publication. Residents have until Friday, August 26 to complete the survey.
We encourage all “Hatters” to participate in the survey and have their opinions heard.
Important note to media: the content of the survey is embargoed for publication until October 4, 2011.
Some Medicine Hat residents may have seen this one of a kind vehicle driving around for the better part of the last 6 years, but the time has come to sell my lime green Neon.
1995 Lime Green Neon
As it is 16 years old, this Neon has been through a lot, but has always been very reliable as far as vehicles go. I have personally owned it since 2002, and before that, my sister had owned it for an additional 3.5 years. It has always been well taken care of, lubricated, fluids topped up and washed. There is a miniscule amount of rust on the car and more recently the hood and roof have begun to fade and the clear coat has begun to peel. Additionally, the clutch assembly has recently begun to decline in performance and shifting can be difficult at times. The Neon was checked out at Big Al’s Auto repair Ltd. in Lethbridge, who reported that the clutch assembly may continually decline in performance, but it will not entirely stop working. The Neon is currently located in Lethbridge.
Some info about the Neon:
- Lime green in colour
- Manufactured in 1995
- Reliable, usually starts without worry in winter
- No luxuries (power windows, power locks, cruise control, air conditioning)
- Manual transmission
- Clear coat paint is starting to peel, very little rust
- Clutch assembly performance slowly declining
- Tires are 2 years old
- 235,000 kilometers with an engine rebuild that occured at 85,000 kilometers
The Neon “Chariot”
As this is a sort of epitaph for the Neon, here are some memories:
- Was Taylor’s “chariot” for her graduation
- Drove to 3 Bad Religion shows and a handful of other Punk shows
- Taught Vaughn how to drive manual transmission in it
- Was the main vehicle for carting around my drum set when my band, Minus Shamos, was more active.
If you are interested in the Neon, check out the Kijiji page by clicking here.
The Invitational Bouts of Mystery Poster
Roller derby is back from a summer hiatus and your local league is pumping up the heat with 3 games in 1 day and presenting our first ever co-ed bout! Men and women battle it out on the flat track for the first time in our city and the mixed game will truly put the battle of the sexes to the test.
The Gas City Rollers present, “The Invitational Bouts of Mystery” Aug 13 at the Cypress Center Pavilion. The event will feature 80 skaters from leagues in the prairies near and far and features some of the fastest rollers from both Alberta and Saskatchewan! Hatters of all ages will enjoy coming out to watch this full contact sport and enjoy the spills and thrills of the fastest growing sport in the world.
This Austin Powers’ themed event features a rookie game at 2 pm, Intermediate game at 6pm and presents our first co-ed game at 8pm! Rookie game is free to the public, everybody is welcome and doors open at 1 pm. Intermediate and Co-Ed games are $10 for both games, $2.50 for children under 12. Doors open at 5 pm for the night games.
Pre-sale tickets are available at Lavish Apparel or by phone at 403-526-2022. For more information find Gas City Rollers on Facebook, Twitter or email us at: media.gascityrollers@gmail.com.
The Esplanade Museum and Archives, in partnership with more than 20 local organizations, celebrate Medicine Hat’s heritage with a public one-day festival on Saturday, August 6th.
This year’s theme is “Crafts of our Past” and is inspired by the current exhibition in the Esplanade Heritage Gallery: Handmade by Altaglass – an exhibit, which chronicles the development of one of Medicine Hat’s unique companies. Also, the theme is very fitting, and completes the Esplanade Glass Filled Summer, along with the Esplanade Art gallery two contemporary glass exhibitions: Natural Flow: Alberta Contemporary Glass and Susan Rankin: Valid Objects of Beauty.
“This year’s we are showcasing crafts of our past, such as glassmaking, and acknowledging how important these were in edifying our community, and how they are still very much important today ,” explains Philip Pype, Archivist.
More than 20 heritage groups and organizations are participating in this year’s festival, contributing to a full schedule of events throughout the day, including:
- Live music in the Studio Theatre
- Vintage toy making in the Discovery Centre
- Storytelling in the Galleries Foyer
- Tours of the Ewart-Duggan House
- Information on the Heritage Garden by Heritage Resources Committee members
- Solar Telescope presented by the Medicine Hat Astronomy Club
- Free Admission to the Esplanade galleries
- Community Showcase
- and more!
The Festival begins at 10 AM on Saturday, Aug. 6 and wraps up around 4:30 PM.
The Heritage Festival at the Esplanade is a free public event that will occur rain or shine. All are welcome to attend, though children must be accompanied by an adult. For more details, visit www.esplanade.ca.
This weekend is usually associated with the largest amount of traffic heading to the Medicine Hat Stampede & Exhibition, even if it has been “officially” opened for two days now. I am grateful, for one, that most of the events are mirrored from Wednesday/Thursdays to Friday/Saturday for us that have to work. Even so, no matter when you head out, or if you already have, the exhibition to most is about the rides, the games, food, live performances, shopping, animals and most importantly, the fun – which you can experience any time during the annual 4 day extravaganza.
Also, I love the coin pusher games. So satisfying.
There’s only half an hour left before the parade starts downtown to officially kick off the start of the 2011 Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede. In a press release that was sent out earlier this month, it was mentioned that the normal route would change due to road construction. You should go enjoy the festivities If you are lucky enough to have today off, or are employed by somebody that will let you go a long with the 10,000 others that attend every year. From the press release concerning the route change:
The Parade route will follow 1st street westbound to 6th avenue, then a left turn on to 6th avenue, a left turn onto second street, a right turn onto South Railway, a right turn onto 3rd street all the way to 4th Avenue and then right towards the Medicine Hat Public Library where the Parade will disperse. Parade floats, vehicles can then use River Road to get back to the set up areas if needed.
Read more on the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede website.
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