Come on you Irons!

There's no two way ways about it: Canadians aren't afraid of the word "Awesome". The first time I came across this phenomenon was in the Glen Nevis youth hostel in 1985. Also staying at the hostel was the Regina Girls Bagpipe Band, one of whom, on viewing my Big Country t-shirt (believe it) informed me that "Big Country are awesome!".

She had a point I thought. But it turned out that was just the thin end of the wedge. My winter in Fernie showed that the act of presenting your lift ticket to get scanned was "awesome!", even handing over money to buy a coffee can be so described. It's clear that Canada is in the grip of crippling awe-inflation: people are forced to carry around wheelbarrows of awe in order to facilitate their daily business.

Now to be honest nobody seems too put out about all this. It doesn't really bother me, it's quaint isn't it? Endearing. But what do you do when you want to describe a trip to the Rockies? Because of anywhere I've been in the world, nowhere else can match it for inspiring, well, awe. But the Rockies are way better than buying coffee.

I first drove the road between Jasper and Banff in the summer of 1989 with no less a personage than Alex Cotton (nee Wyles) and her sister Victoria. I've visited the area between Banff and Lake Louise a number of times since and always find it as stunning as the first time. I used to think there was nowhere more stunning but this last weekend I found I was wrong. After skiing at Lake Louise on Saturday, I and my friend Ian from work went for a drive up the Icefields Parkway towards Jasper.

Oh. my. Lord.

Round each corner is a more staggering vista than before - even when you drive back the same way you see new sights you hadn't caught originaly. It's the scale of the whole thing that mines the awe:the sweeping width of the valley, the expanse of forest, the countless, soaring mountains, glaciers, snow, blue sky and when you stop and get out of the car - the silence! Probably not so silent in mid summer but nevertheless it somehow seems wrong that you can see all this from the side of the road. You feel you ought to have to hike for weeks and endure terrible hardships to earn these sublime views. But pull off the road and walk for 5 minutes and there you are...

I mentioned a few days ago how I'd gone to the mountains looking for winter because it wasn't in Calgary any more.

Big mistake.... Huge. This was my view this morning, on what was actually "Cycle to Work" day in Calgary. Brrrr. Jasper stayed at home.


Nevertheless I'm going back to the mountains this weekend, to Lake Louise which has to be one of my favourite places in the world. I've rented what seems to me an enormous car, featuring an extra pedal that I'm not too sure what to do with. But I've had a little drive around this evening and I hardly hit anything.

This week I have been mostly flat hunting, still without success. Work will put me up for another month but I really want to get settled soon. Just a question of lowering my housing hopes I guess. Outside of that the playoffs continue to entertain. The Penguins and Sidney Crosby have been eliminated (boo!) but the Flames are back level with Detroit (yay!). I never thought I'd say it but "Go Flames Go!"

... so we could enjoy

But money isn't everything, if you've got personality..

My friend James has made this great radio programme about Taxi. If just listening to the theme tune doesn't soothe your soul, well then you don't have one.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are under way and it's fantastic. Like the opening round of the World Cup there's a game every day, often two or three. But even better than the world cup there are no meaningless games - every single match matters and the play is incredibly intense. After a massive 82 game season it's amazing that the players still manage to turn it up a notch for the playoffs.

Winning the Stanley Cup means winning 4 best-of-seven series. Each game is played till there's a winner - there are no draws or shoot outs. If the score is tied after 60 minutes they play 20 minutes of sudden death overtime (first goal wins). If the scores are still tied they play another 20 minutes. Then another. In the first game of the Vancouver Canucks vs Dallas Stars series went to the fourth period of overtime. Put another way they had played two full games flatout back to back and were just starting on the third. Not only is the Stanley Cup the most impressive trophy in any sport I really think winning it is the ultimate sporting achievement.

Alas it won't be my Montreal Canadiens this year. They were just pipped at the post and didn't qualify for the playoffs. It's also starting to look like it may not be the Calgary Flames either. They are currently 2-0 down in the series to Detroit, but the good people of Calgary are hoping the team will do better at home in the Saddledome. I hope they do - apparently if the Flames can get a good run going the atmosphere builds and builds in the city. You can sense it already; Flames flags fly from lots of cars, pubs and bars are bedecked with Flames logos and even the local cake shop near work has a hockey stick and goal display in the window. Not to mention Calgary's infamous Red Mile which is just waiting to go. So they may not have the songs but that's one thing that's very different from sport at home - here EVERYONE follows the home team and I love the way everyone gets into it, from the local news to the city buses flashing the message "Go Flames Go" on game day.

The Grand National is one of those events that help me navigate the year. Being away from it always feels a bit funny. But while you lot were sunning yourselves and spending the housekeeping on the one with the funny name, I went looking for winter.

It's not in Calgary anymore (famous last words..). It's been lovely for the last few days but on Saturday I got the bus to Sunshine ski resort near Banff. It's an hour and half from Calgary and at 7000 ft winter lives on.



It wasn't really winter, more spring skiing. That means that things are rock hard first thing and then a bit slushy at the end of the day. But in the middle of the day conditions were fantastic: soft snow giving you the confidence to really let rip. Skiing on my own I was able to take the single skiers line at the chairlifts which meant hardly any waiting (not that the queues were bad by any means) and I learnt a valuable tactical lesson - get an early lunch! Just as conditions were getting to be the best of the day I was getting more and more hungry. So that's a pro-tip for next time.

Everyone, meet Jasper...

The first game of lacrosse I ever saw was in 1988. It featured the gentlemen (hem, hem) of Abingdon School 1st XV playing the ladies (coo ur gosh!) of St Helens School 1st XI in an annual cross-dressing match.

Fast forward 19 years to the Saddledome in Calgary for lacrosse match number 2. As before there were some lovely ladies but far fewer men in gym skirts it seemed. I was there to watch the Calgary Roughnecks vs the Edmonton Rush in the National Lacrosse League so maybe that was to be expected.


Turns out indoor lacrosse is basically ice hockey without the ice. It's got speed, moderate violence and occasional fighting (and mullets!). That's entertainment. But where in ice hockey the interstitial music is just that, interstitial, at the NLL the music stops for no man. So accompanying the game there is an awesome selection of thumping tunes: AC/DC, Led Zep, Beastie Boys, Fat Boy Slim plus what you suspect is all of Jeremy Clarkson's CD selection.

Coming from a UK sporting environment it was great. But I do miss the organic entertainment from the fans we have at home. It seems to me that all North American sports teams in all sports have two identical songs:

Song 1: "Go [your team's nickname], Go!"

Song 2: "Lets go [your team's nickname], let's go!"

It's not exactly "Bjornebye in my gang" is it?

But the game itself is great. The passing is fast and largely accurate and they do all kinds of behind the neck passes and diving shots. I couldn't work out when you weren't allowed to bash your opponent with your stick. My observation tells me anytime is fine. In some places I thought they'd actually tried too hard to make it like hockey. Constant substitutions seemed to slow down the game when there were good attacking opportunities. (I shall be dispatching a letter to the league commissioner with my well considered advice shortly.) Nevertheless it was great fun. Calgary took an early lead but then Edmonton went on a charge and pulled out to a 5 goal advantage (shoddy goalkeeping we decided). But in the final 15 minute quarter Calgary staged a spirited comeback. One goal, two, three... with a minute to go Calgary pulled back to within a single goal. Alas it wasn't enough but it was certainly an exciting finish.

I was alarmed by this sign on the back door of a Calgary Starbucks.


Clearly they have a vampire problem in that neighbourhood.

So far April in Calgary has looked mostly like this:


Rumour has it temperatures will poke above freezing tomorrow. I would cross my fingers but I'd have to take off my mittens...

Q: In what way is Calgary most like London?

A: Any conversation with a local quickly gets round to property prices.

The news this week was that the average house price in Calgary is now double what it was way back in, erm, 2005. That's pretty steep!

With the oil and gas boom in full swing people are flocking to Calgary from all over Canada, as well as further afield. I was interested to read online before arriving about a furore around a series of posters being put up around town to try and lure Nova Scotians back home. The campaign was based around a psychological disorder called "Delusional Calgaria" and suggested that the only treatment was an immediate return east.

When I arrived in town I found some of the posters near my flat:



The correspondence I read in the local paper seemed pretty evenly divided between those who took it in good humour and those who were outraged. I thought the forces of outrage had secured a minor victory: the people behind the campaign have dropped the delusional bit and the website is now http://calgaria.ca/. Turns out that's in response to protests from the mental health community.

So I did wake up at 4am as per. But this time I properly dozed off again and was awoken by my alarm at 7. That's progress!

More riveting content like this soon...

My settling in here in the Canada would be a lot easier if my body wasn't refusing to accept Mountain Time! Ever since I arrived I've been waking up at about 4am, apart from last night when I woke up at 2.30! Still tonight I've managed to stay up till after 11 so lets hope....

My friends Rani and Jez are in Iran at the moment. I've read a lot about the goings on in Iran these last few weeks but nothing as fascinating as this blog post from Rani.

The view from my window looks like this.