Mike's Bloggity Blog

Today the Olympic Plaza was turned into a mini-rodeo when thousands of Calgarians pulled their cowboy hats and celebrated the 100 day countdown to the Calgary Stampede!

The weather was perfect for the celebration that saw country music legend Ian Tyson announced as the 100th parade marshal and many other announcements including that this year’s Stampede will have a new show featuring horses called Tails and Calgary will soon own the crown for Canada’s biggest fireworks show, as four different communities will be launching fireworks into the night sky for six of the ten nights of the Stampede, all at the same time.

Throughout the celebration, people lined up for food trucks and pancakes, all while being serenaded by the music of Paul Brandt, The Young Canadians and the Stampede Show Band.

It may seem like a while off, my liver has officially been put on notice, 100 days until the Calgary Stampede!  Yeeeehaaaaw!

It’s been a blast, I’m going to miss you and all your delicious food goodness.

See you next year!

After a Canada Day related break last week, I’ve written a new column for Metro newspapers.

This week’s column focuses on the one and only Calgary Stampede Parade.  If you’re not in Calgary and you’re not familiar with the parade, this thing is HUGE.  Hundreds of thousands of Calgarians back the streets for hours upon hours to kick off the Calgary Stampede.  This  year’s parade was bigger than ever with the added bonus of Rick Hansen and The Royal Couple.

So I thought I would use my column this week to talk about all the things I love about Calgary Stampede Parade.  And yes, sometimes I use the term sarcastically.  It wouldn’t be written by me unless it had just a little sarcasm in it, right?

Pick it up on news stands, or click here to read it online.

Happy Stampede Everyone!

Update:

Here are some photos from this year’s parade with my family who are visiting from Montreal and New Brunswick!

The one and only shot I got of Prince William. Yes, they were moving that fast:
My mom and Uncle Russel doing the best to embarrass me with said Metro column:

Even if you’ve never been to Calgary, you’ve no doubt heard of our most famous bar Cowboys.  Well what you might not know is that the bar has actually been closed for years, really since Prince Harry made it famous for canoodling with a waitress.

Well since it closed, over the past few years it’s popped up in various temporary locations, with a variety of success.  Well this year Calgary’s most famous bar will be making it’s first appearance on the actual Stampede grounds.  Yes, you’re right, that is asking for all sorts of trouble…it’s going to be AMAZING.

It wouldn’t be Cowboys unless it was huge and over the top (like the bar staff’s boobs or muscles), and this year’s tent doesn’t look like it will disappoint.  Some pictures of the set up have appeared on the bars Facebook page and holy kamoly, does it ever look big!  I’m probably not Cowboys ideal clientele but if the size is any indication of the sorts of parties going on there, I think it might become a Stampede Must-See.

Nine days.

Women in power.

It’s something we often talk about in Hollywood and politics, less so in Calgary.  If you’ve never been here, chances are you may have noticed this city really is a man’s world.   From City Hall, to the Stampede and beyond, it seems like it takes  are a really special women to break through the testosterone crust that covers this city.  (Side note: Grossest visual ever?)

In this week’s column, I wanted to highlight two kick-ass women who are not only doing cool stuff, they are making us look cooler to every one.  And it’s what people think about you that really matters.

Click here to read my column on why I think Kelly Oxford and Connie DeSousa are really the ones in charge!

Believe it or not, summer is just around the corner.  You wouldn’t know it from looking outside, but another sure sign is the Calgary Stampede entertainment announcements are coming in at a furious pace!

The Coke Stage just announced their line up and as per usual, it’s a mix of “Cool!”, “Really?”, “Who?” and “Awesome!”

Here’s the bands announced so far:

The Trews, These Kids Wear Crowns, For The Weekend, Marianass Trench, The Dudes, Kevin Costner (yes, that Kevin Costner), State of Shock, Mother Mother, Alyssa Reid, Shawn Desman, Fefe Dobson, Justin Nozuka, Lights, Finger Eleven, Down With Webster, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Yeah, so that’s quite a mix, eh?  Who would you file under what?  I think Kevin Costner will be pretty cool.  I’m also kinda groovin’ on Justin Nozuka and Lights too.  The Trews are always pretty sweet and as the sole maritime band, they are my best bet at getting someone to bring me out a McLobster this summer.

Click here for the line up and schedule for the Coke Stage!

If you weren’t planning on going to the Calgary Stampede this year, will you now?

The thing about being media, you get to see a lot of shows. Some are good, some are great and inevitably, over time, you become more and more difficult to impress. Not cynical, just an over-reaching feeling that, “Yeah, I’ve seen that before.”

Well I’m happy to say that at last night’s premiere of Cavalia, I most definitely did not feel that way. Instead, I was blown away at what was visually, one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. A bold statement I know, but not one without merit.

If you’re not familiar with Cavalia, in it’s simplest form, it’s like Cirque Du Soleil with horses, lots of horses. I know what you’re thinking, “Can horses even be trained?” Turns out they can and they can do some pretty crazy stuff. Like Cirque, the show takes place under the big top, the world’s biggest actually. The show isn’t in the round though, instead it is set up like a regular theatre with a stage so big, it is the size of a football field. Granted, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a football field, but the stage was big.

There isn’t really a story to Cavalia, it felt like I imagined Christopher Columbus felt when he first discovered the Native Americans, only instead, the Native Americans are french speaking, horse worshipers, dressed in Renaissance clothing. The rest of the evening plays like a talent show, with some acts stronger and more impressive than others. (Cool: Falling ten stories, only to catch yourself on a rope. Less cool: A girl with a lasso.)

The second act of the show is where you really get your money’s worth, you’ll be left in awe at the amazing things the horses and their trainers are able to accomplish. I’m not going to spoil the surprise but
not only was the impossible made possible, Cavalia made it look easy. The show was made even more impressive by the fact that, many times, the horses were left to their own devices without saddles, harnesses or anything else. The evening’s highlight was most definitely the Horse Whisperer. I’m a believer.

Living in Calgary, you see a lot of shows with horses. They are so frequent that sometimes, the whole thing feels like a one-trick pony. But Cavalia is different, Cavalia is amazing.

Move over Stampede, there’s a new horse in town.

Cavalia plays at COP until June 26th.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, tourists like the Calgary Stampede, Calgarians wait the extra week and share their love for The Calgary Folk Music Festival instead.

Today, Calgary’s best festival launched their entire line up for the weekend that will take place on July 21 to July 24th at Princes Island Park.

I’m still sorting through the press releases but here are some of the bands that have already got me planning my tarp strategy. (Tarp reference explained:  Unless you have a tarp, it’s essentially impossible to secure a spot for the four day musical festival. I learned that the hard way last year!)

Some Calgary Folk Musical Festival highlights include:

New Brunswick’s Matt Anderson.

Nova Scotia’s Joel Plaskett

From Montreal, Patrick Watson

Ontario’s Blue Rodeo

Also from Ontario, City and Colour

And of course, k.d Lang!

Tickets are on sale now!

If you’ve never been to the Calgary Stampede, then you are missing out. Not be cause of the Chuckwagons or the rodeos, or rides that fall apart while people are on them.

No, for me, Stampede is about the food.

A lot of people think Stampede is all about the mini-donuts, but this year’s line-up food (yes, they send out a press release about food,) is really impressively yummy.

Some of the culinary highlights include:

Doughnut Burger – Glazed donut, hamburger and fixings, Glazed Donut.
Colossal Onion –One large onion which is cut to resemble a flower, breaded and deep fried.
Deep Fried Pop Tart- This one is self-explanatory.
Pork chop-on-a-stick- Ditto
10 different flavors of Poutine – BBQ chicken, Mexican, Italian, Greek, as a start.

The Calgary Stampede runs July 8-17, 2011.

photo via: vancitysfinest.com

You know summer is right around the corner when Cowboys, Calgary’s most famous bar, announces that they are hiring for Stampede.  For those not familiar with Cowboys, it’s essentially the be all and end all of Stampede Parties.  That seems to mean different things for different people.  The bar itself hasn’t actually existed for a few years, but instead has popped up in different incarnations around the Stampede grounds.

This year, Cowboys will actually have it’s home directly on the grounds, thus ensuring young children walking by will be exposed to things only seen on Showcase after 1opm on Friday nights.

Earlier today, Cowboys announced that they would be hiring 500 people to work during the Calgary Stampede!  That’s a whole lot of staff, so I did some investigating to see what exactly they needed so many people for. After some digging around, I found some rather interesting job postings:

1) Puke Sweeper: This is especially gross because I thought people mopped up puke. How do you sweep puke?
2) Drink Supervisor: Makes sure that if no one is putting something in your drink, someone will.
3) Daycare Manager: When your kids get sick of you doing body shots, I guess you’ll be able to bring them to a daycare.
4) ID checker: Haha. Yeah right.
5) Tramp Stamper: Out of all the jobs, this one makes the most sense.

I’m still waiting for word on benefits, but it’s safe to assume that vaccines, STD tests and boob jobs will all be taken care of.

Happy Stampede everyone!

Oh and just for fun, here’s a hilarious video from the short-lived Cowboys reality show, it’s become a favourite in the Bloggity household.