The Far Side and Loony Tunes

I was off work today and the weather was much too nice and it was much too hot to stay home so I once again found my way out to Waterton.  (I think my park pass has officially paid for itself already.)  Just after arriving in the village I met TJ walking down main street.  It is strange how we so often seem to run into each other in the strangest places.

In the afternoon I made my usual drive up to Cameron lake and was thinking that today I might take a walk around to the far side.  Gazing from the north end it always looks so exotic, cool, grizzly bearish yet tranquil all the way down there at the Montana end of the lake with the snow, waterfalls and impossibly vertical mountain face. 

Once I actually got to Cameron I found it so nice and inviting that instead of walking I convinced myself that I absolutely had to splurge and rent a kayak.  Although I have done canoeing many times I had never ever been in a kayak so what better place to try it for the first time ever than somewhere where the water is so cold that tipping over could very well mean I'd end up like Jack Dawson. 

I had my tiny camera in my pocket so when I got to the far side of the lake after about 25 minutes of paddling I took it out to get some evidence of my grand achievment.

The sound and motion of the waterfalls soon convinced me to switch to video mode even though I knew it wouldn't be great quality.  If you watch it I would recommend clicking on the YouTube logo in the bottom right corner of the screen to view it in the best size and quality possible.

In this video clip you will first see a bit of footage of snow and waterfalls at the end of the lake. Then I started to head back but stopped to shoot a bit of the remaining avalanche snow which is doing its best impression of an iceberg.  After that the camera was tucked securely back into my pocket and the button flap well fastened and I was heading back full steam ahead to the touristy end of the lake when the totally unexpected highlight of my day occurred.

Off in the distance I saw a couple of tiny black and white heads on the surface of the water. I hadn't seen them on the way down but did definitely see them now. I wasn't yet close enough to tell for sure but I hoped that they were loons instead of just a couple of lame ducks.

Tangent - As you will see in the video I can kind of do a weak impression of a Loon call using my hands.  A few years ago I happened to be doing a bit of it beside Emerald lake in Yoho NP for a couple of clients.  Another tour guide who was with clients of his own on the other side of the lake heard my "loon call" and told his clients that they were hearing the rare call of the bird which is on Canada's dollar coin.  A few minutes later we happend to meet up and he asked if I had heard the loon too. Um... yeah... I did. Actually that was me... What? No way... Awww man! etc.  Now back to our story.

 I put down my Darth Maul paddle (kayaks apparently have these nifty little grooves for just such an occasion) and gave my best loon call hoping they might just answer.  I didn't really think it would work but boy did it ever. They hadn't made a peep the entire time I was on the lake but as soon as they heard my fake loon call the male started yapping and I could hardly get him to shut up.  I figured I might even get some genuine loonage recorded so out came the little camera that could again and I started filming.  I know they are hard to see but it's the best I could get with what I had.  I had to put the camera down while letting it continue to roll a couple of times to show that they were responding to me.  Since I didn't get the camera out until I had already got them started I know it looks like they are playing with me rather than the other way around but I promise that I made the first call and one or both of them then joined in.

Sorry about the "I'm awesome" comment near the end. I wasn't truly talking to myself at that point because by then I already knew that this would be going onto my blog.  I do know that I'm not actually awesome but I was just so happy that this little interaction had worked out that I just couldn't help myself.

Toy Story 3

Pixar's flagship franchise finally returns after a nearly unforgivable eleven year absence.  At least the wait was well worth it.

I know you surely don't need me to convince you to see this movie and if for some reason you are set against it I probably couldn't change your mind anyway but I thought I'd give you my two cents worth just the same.

I actually have mixed emotions about TS3 and am honestly not yet sure if it is my most or least favourite of the trilogy.  These three films are all so good that is very difficult to choose between them, at least for me. To be sure it had mammoth expectations to live up to and upon seeing it the fact that it had the full might and full attention of the Pixar juggernaut behind it became obvious. 

Perhaps my indecision and inability to choose a favourite has to do with the fact that TS3 may be slightly less consistent than than 1 and 2.  Its good parts are wonderful but I thought that it also contains the weakest bits of the three movies as a whole.  To be more specific, the beginning and ending may just be the best ever in the Toy Story trilogy but some of the middle parts seemed just slightly off to me. The magic, innocence and imagination that shone through brightly and consistently from beginning to end of both of the first two films seemed to dim just noticeably in the middle of TS3. Please keep in mind that this is all relative to Toy Story standards and if it were any other movie I would probably have nothing bad to say at all.

Sure 1 and 2 had villains and scary parts but only as much as was necessary to provide excitement and suspense. On the whole I remember them both for their humour and sense of childlike adventure.  This time it's a little different.  The dark parts are more sinister and continue longer. The villains are badder and creepier because, as they are in the adult world, they are not immediately and obviously evil.  The meanness is a bit more real and Toy's struggle against it seems to go on long after your thinking "enough already" and their situation actually just keeps getting worse until you begin to wonder how and if Pixar is going to be able to make it all good in the end.

But, of course they do pull it off.  This is of course Pixar and Toy Story were talking about right?  TS3 is definitely the darkest but also is the most poignant of them all. I won't tell you whether the ending is happy, sad or even a bit of both but I will tell you that it is wonderful and you'll be glad you were there to see it.

Be sure and stay for the credits as the story continues well into them.  If you leave the moment the credits start to roll you will miss out and be left wondering what happened to certain characters and how certain things turned out.  Also, keep an eye out for little details here and there that Pixar is famous for including in its movies.  Very small children may be genuinely frightened a few times.

Also from what I've read, although TS3 is available in 3D there are very few times it is actually used effectively and most people have said is wasn't worth paying the extra price for.  I saw it the old fashoned way in 2D without any uncomfortable glasses, washed out colors or eyestrain and it was awesome.  I would definitely recommend saving your money and seeing it in 2D.

Waterton, Bears, Wild Flowers etc.

Today was a beautiful day in Waterton. I drove up to Cameron Lake and found it almost completely melted with just a few stubborn “icebergs” remaining.

I saw the obligatory black beer on the way up and even stopped my car in the middle of the road like a tourist and took a few pictures.

The recent monsoon (in cooperation with some rare warm weather) is proudly presenting super sized versions of Cameron Falls and Upper Waterton Lake, which is full to the brim.

I finally decided that today I wasn’t just going to visit all the same places and drive the same roads. (Yeah, this was after I’d already been to Cameron Lake, Cameron Falls, and The Prince of Wales.) I parked my car and started walking, looking for roads, lanes and alleys that I’d never been down before. It is amazing how much more there is to see when you walk down a street rather than drive it. There is so much more detail to be discovered. Most of all I guess I wanted to get a closer look at some of the cabins there. Many of the newer ones seem like they came straight from any modern suburban subdivision of your choosing. They just seem out of place and I am unable to think of them as cabins. I guess that these must be what all the people out east refer to as “cottages”. Just take your average house - and plop it out somewhere that has no more than ONE broadband internet service provider and/or where FedEx packages are delivered in an unmarked minivan and brought to your door by a four year old ‘cause “mommy can’t leave my new sister Emma in the van by herself” - and it becomes a cottage. I guess for a house to be a considered to be a cabin mountains must of course be involved and there must be real wood of some kind and in significant quantity visible on the exterior. Speaking of cabins…

You now know what I think of some of the newer ones in Waterton. Then of course there are a lot of really old ones that have clearly been neglected and look as though they would surely fall over if the wind did ever happen to change direction. Strike two.

Thankfully there are those that still retain their old cozy charm and character. There are quite a few in fact. I love the old fashioned windows and the log cabin style. Of course the importance of a nicely treed yard shouldn't be underestimated. I like how many of them have names. I remember visiting Waterton as a kid and wondering what was up with the names on the cabins thing. Now a lot older and only slightly wiser I do think it would be fun to have a place with a name rather than just an address to get away to.

Sadly, now it seems so many of them have also grown a satellite dish. If I were to ever have a cabin I always imagined having no TV, only a real wood burning fireplace and a well stocked bookshelf full of old hard cover novels like Robinson Crusoe and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In fact now that I think about it, considering the severely limited space and therefore opportunity to own a cabin in Waterton I think anyone caught watching American Idol, The Bachelor or any version of CSI in a cabin there should be evicted immediately and the spot given to a proper book worm who would be better able to appreciate the gift of nature that is Waterton. (Survivor would be allowed since it is set in the wilderness.) Anyway…

I took a stroll down some of the roads less traveled in Waterton today. I have always thought it would be nice to spend a day in a cozy little cabin with a good book and a nice fire as the rain fell and the wind blew outside. No phones, no TV and no internet. I thought so again today.

In conclusion, these are four out of thousands of these little flowers (whose name I do not know) that were blooming beside the lane that runs behind the Northland Lodge. They seemed so happy to be found and to have their photo taken as they had been sure that no one would ever notice them among so many and so far off the beaten path. I promised them that at least four or five other people would see their photo too and I noticed them stretch out their petals just a bit wider as I took their picture. I think I heard them singing as I walked away.
 

Waterworld

It's been raining for a while.



At least the snow is finally done.

Do You Have Black Beer In Waterton?

I made my second trip of the season to Waterton today. The weather wasn’t as nice as it was yesterday but it looked like it might still be a fairly good day out there. I was excited to use my new Waterton pass at the automatic gate and bypass all the lame tourists buying their silly little plain paper day or week passes that they’d have to plaster to their windshields with scotch tape. As it turned out, some “local” with a barcode pass was having trouble opening the gate and there was not even one car in line at either of the two staffed booths so I ended up going through the touristy way. Hopefully next time I’ll get to open the gate all by myself.

Speaking of passes, I got my single adult pass a few weeks ago while it was still at the early bird price of about $31. I’m sure I’ll visit Waterton at least two more times before the end of next May so it will have been well worth buying. There’s just one thing, I’m not crazy about the color, it’s bright yellow.

Until now when people would see me driving, say back towards town from Cameron lake or Red Rock they may have assumed I came solo but there was also at least a small chance that they may have generously supposed that my wife had been eaten by a bear or fallen out of the canoe because she was texting while paddling or even killed by a vampire whose last name wasn’t Cullen. Now with my bright fluorescent yellow pass they will immediately know that I came alone. Even when my car is parked in town families will gasp in horror from hundreds of feet away when they spot my single loser person pass. Whatever.

I drove (with my pass in the glove box) up to Cameron Lake which was about 90% melted. There was a bus load of tourists (hey, I said buS load) there when I arrived. While I was washing mosquito entrails off my hand in the lake a woman, who I would soon find out was from El Salvador, was so surprised that I was touching the water as there was still ice in the lake. She asked if it was cold and I said yes, yes it is, ice cold in fact, but you know, I’m so very brave… Then she completely changed the subject and asked if we had beer here. All the buildings were still boarded up and nothing was open so I thought her question a bit odd but I told her that there was a liquor store in the town. She didn’t seem satisfied and started to ask about black beer. I was getting more confused until I finally realized that she was asking about bears, which would have made a whole lot more sense right from the start. I assured her that we do have several colors of bears here and even the grizzly variety. “Even here, at this lake?” she asked. When I raised my eyebrows, opened my eyes a bit wider and gave her one nice big vertical nod she started meandering slowly but obviously back toward her bus.

I climbed up path on the right side of Cameron Falls, went down to the end of the road and skipped four rocks into the lake and bought a Snickers at Pat’s. I did see a few Mule deer and a couple of White Tails…meh. I was way more excited to find a couple of baby Ground Squirrels (Columbian) playing in the grass. They were quite cute.

I did take several pictures along the way but after deciding they were all lame I deleted them all before I started writing this post. Maybe I should have kept at least one of the baby squirrels. Oh well.
 
BTW, maybe you noticed or not but, I changed eight things on the park pass to make it less "copy friendly". Can you tell what is different?

5 Centimeters Per Second

I wonder if any of you has heard of this little gem from Japan.  I surely hadn't until today but I was lucky enough to stumble across some high praise of it on IMDb.  The person was basically saying how wonderful it is but was lamenting how few people have ever heard of it much less seen it.  Apparently the DVD is nearly impossible to find although Amazon will hook you up with people selling rare new copies for anywhere between $160 and $220. (And no there are no missing decimal points in those prices.)

Fortunately it is on the YouTube (at least for now.)  It is just over one hour long and I have included the links to the six parts it is broken into.  These are not the only postings of it but I think it's probably the best quality you'll find. (Be sure to open it up into full screen if you watch it. Even on U2b it looks very good.)

It is a story of growing up.  It's about the relationships we have along the way and maybe it's even more about the ones that we miss.  Of course you know that I don't want to give too much away but I do hope that you will find an hour sometime to watch this.  The animation is truly gorgeous and the story will touch you in the best kind of way; the way that Hollywood forgot how to so long ago.  Seeing this movie only made me realize further how far Hollywood movies have sunk.  It is so far removed from the constant diet of vulgarity sold as comedy, slut culture paraded as romance, sarcasm, hostility and general meanness pushed as drama.  But I guess that topic is for another time...

Of course this movie is in Japanese with English subtitles. I hope that won't deter you.  There are three parts (episodes) to the story which are connected by the characters in them.  So be sure you don't shut it off after you see the first credits roll, there are still two more episodes left. 

It was particularily interesting to me because some of the story takes place where I lived in Japan. I saw the same station signs and visited many of the same places.

Anyway, you will probably need to use only the first link and will find the next ones once you're there but just in case here they all are. Embedding was disabled for these so that's why you can't watch them here.

I hope you'll watch it. I think you'll like it.

Update: The YouTube version I found is no longer available.  There may still be others but I didn't bother to search for them because the good news is that the DVD has been re-released and is available on Amazon and possibly at other places as well.

the short second life of bree tanner

In eclipse Bree Tanner is a minor character who I admit I’d pretty much forgotten about. This book is her story told from her point of view. It begins a few months after she becomes a vampire and continues of course right up to where her story merges with eclipse and to her very end. I was hoping it would have started before she got bit but I guess that would be a little too much to ask and probably turned it into an actual novel instead of a novelette or novella or whatever it’s called.

I’m not going to say it is awesome or amazing but it is a good little story which starts out with say… a small Grinch™ sized heart that does indeed grow three sizes the day the story merges with eclipse. The old familiar twilight feel and tension build gradually with only vague references and allusion to any of our well loved (or hated) characters through most of the story. Finally, when a Cullen does appear on the page and is actually called by name you will suddenly find yourself once again in that twilight world you thought you’d never get to visit again. It is a piece of the original story made new by seeing it through a different set of eyes, a set of eyes whose owner you probably didn’t give a second thought to the first time you met her. This time though, you may find yourself hoping and rooting for a red eyed killer vampire, now that you know her and her story.

In her introduction to the book Stephenie Meyer writes “The closer I got to the inevitable end, the more I wished I’d concluded eclipse just slightly differently.”

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me too.

By the way, you can read this book for free here.

Woolford and the Wild Canary

My first and possibly only childhood memory of Woolford Provincial Park was made when I was probably about six or seven. I don’t even remember if it was a family trip or some kind of school outing. I’m leaning toward school outing but then again I can’t think of any possible reason for that to have happened. If that is the case then how can I even be sure I went there at all? Well I shall provide the evidence shortly.

Back in 2003 I happened to revisit Woolford in preparation for a family treasure hunt. Some of you may remember this day.

During my search for a few good hiding places I came across this.

I know it seems like nothing, but the shape, color and concrete brought it all back to me. I’m sure it must seem like an ordinary sandbox with a two and a half foot wide hexagonal concrete frame (hmmm) but the real giveaway is the color. Have you ever seen a concrete hole THAT color that didn’t contain water, at least during summer? That’s right, it used to be a wading pool and I remember wading in it. I mean do you know of any other tiny little park out in the middle of nowhere that actually has/had a pool? But really what were they thinking? I’m not surprised at all it ended up as a lowly sandbox but I do appreciate the good intentions.

Woolford is quite an intriguing place. Near the entrance to the park there is an old and very small cemetery with a sign that reads Woolford Cemetery. It’s the kind you might see in an old western movie and might not be surprised if it were spelled sematary instead. There is also a row of about four or five very old houses most of which seem to be still occupied. Most out of place of all there is a very old place of business that was probably some kind of service station/general store type place long ago. It kind of gives the impression that at one point a ten year old boy showed up there to collect his mail order Redbone Coonhound pups and taste his very first soda pop. There is even a fire hydrant still standing in front of it! Where would the water have come from? From the kiddie pool? It’s such a mystery.

Why was there a store out there on that gravel road with nothing but miles and miles of farmland surrounding it? And what about the cemetery? At one time there must have been much more to Woolford than there is now. A little community perhaps, one that had plans to become bigger but things just didn’t work out. Little houses were eventually abandoned and the yards where children played and laundry blew dry in the wind were returned to the fields. I’ve tried to find out more about its history but haven’t had much luck so far.  I just wonder...

But what about the Wild Canary you ask. So sorry to have kept you waiting. I was out at Woolford again today to do just a bit of geochaching. This is the cache I was looking for (yes I found it.)  I was the only one there but the place was full of birds many of which sounded quite nice. The prettiest ones were these.

I didn’t know what they were called but being mostly yellow I thought of them as wild canaries. Back at home and after a bit of searching I found that they are called Goldfinches. They were very much wild and wary and I really couldn’t get near them without them flying away so this is the best picture I managed. At least you can see it’s not a sparrow right?

Anyway, after all this you’ve realized that there wasn’t much point to this post. Mostly just talking to myself. Hope it doesn’t deter you from coming back again.

The Hunger Games

Minor spoilers ahead but fewer than you will find on the front cover flap of the book itself so…

I stopped watching most movie trailers about ten years ago when the one for Cast Away showed him (Tom Hanks) lost on a desert island and all that but then also proceeded to show him back in civilization being reunited with everyone. I couldn’t believe it. If we already know he gets back safe and sound then what is the point? It was then that I finally realized that movie studios are in the business of making money and don’t really care at all if they spoil movies in their previews. They just show anything and everything they think will sell the most tickets.

The last book I read convinced me to avoid reading blurbs on book covers as well. The protagonist gets married at one point in the book and even starts a family but thanks to a spoiler on the book’s own cover I already knew that she is really going to end up with someone else and this whole relationship with her first husband isn’t going to last so I could barely be bothered to care about it at all.

Thankfully Krissy (just as she has before) recommended The Hunger Games without giving any information about it other than the title. This allowed me to discover EVERYTHING about it on my own and in the order that the author intended. Thanks for that Krissy. Much appreciated! It was touch and go for a bit in the bookstore though. When the saleslady found out I knew absolutely nothing about the book and was going to buy it blind I suddenly saw this tiny gossipy sparkle ignite in her eyes and knew that a thorough synopsis was imminent. I desperately tried to think of a nice way to tell her that I would really really really prefer NOT to “know all about it.” Sure that I only had milliseconds left I just blurted out DON’T TELL ME! This did indeed shut her up after she had only managed the words “Well basically it’s…” I will always remember the look of total bewilderment in her eyes. How could I possibly not have wanted her to give me all the juicy details? I guess I’m just weird that way.

The Hunger Games grabs onto you nearly immediately and does not let go. Thanks to my fully intact no prior knowledge status I was not immediately sure where and more importantly when this story was unfolding. (That's right, I didn't even read the cover flaps until I had finished the book.) It seemed like it may have been in the past but the font of the page numbers also hinted of a time yet to come. I soon discovered that I was reading about the future of North America and that things had changed a bit.

To me it seems a premise like this one arises when an author tries to think of the absolute extreme scenario; the one which will induce the maximum amount of gut wrenching and or heart rending in its readers. (What about heart wrenching? I’m just not quite sure what that means.)

Yes, this book is about children dying. Not just dying, being killed, being murdered, by other children in fact. Of course cute little innocent children would never do such things voluntarily so they must be forced somehow, hence the need for a futuristic setting where society has become unrecognizable and unimaginable.

This premise, although repugnant and sticky, does indeed provide ample opportunities for acts of selflessness and bravery, for recollections of precious memories, for cherishing life that could end any moment and of course desperately hoping for our protagonist in a way that we seldom do in other stories. There are a few places where you may find the need to pause and actually put the book down for a few moments while you pull yourself together. While always keeping you on the edge of your seat it does hit mercilessly hard now and then.

I made sure I stopped reading during my penultimate sitting with about 100 pages left to go. I hate having to stop just before the very end because it’s getting way too late and I have to get up early the next morning. I like to leave plenty of room to be sure I am well back into the story to enjoy the ending fully. Besides, an extra day of anticipation is nice too.

My only disappointment in this book involves the ending, far from being the best of the book it is easily the weakest part. You finally realize that you have just being reading a segue (yeah I thought it was just spelled segway too) into the next book. In fact immediately following the last line of the book you will see this: END OF BOOK ONE. I’m quite positive the publisher insisted on inserting this line to prevent the inevitable disaster of millions of people returning their books claiming the final chapters were missing. I’m also smelling yet another love triangle coming on. Nooooo… not again. Will she choose Mr. Darcy or Mr. Wickham, Mr. Churchill or Mr. Knightly, Colonel Brandon or Mr. Willoughby, Colin Firth or Hugh Grant, Edward or Jcub. Why is it that female writers seem to love having their heroines being pursued by or at least having to choose between multiple suitors all the bloody time? Maybe I’m totally wrong in this case. Let’s hope so… but, I doubt it.

Thankfully the next book in the series, Catching Fire, is already out and the third and apparently final one comes out on August 24 this year. Maybe I’ll wait until then to read the next two together in order to avoid any further “to be continued” frustration.

The Hunger Games is a truly gripping story that will definitely leave you wanting more. Thankfully there is more available now with the real ending arriving in August. I’m so there!

These is my Words

It has been nearly two years since Krissy recommended this book to me, or at least wondered what I would think of it. She probably figures I’d forgotten all about it. Actually I bought it not long after she recommended it but only got around to reading it this week. I did start into it once way back then but got distracted before it had a chance to hook me I guess.

It is the story of Sarah Prine beginning as she leaves with her parents and siblings to move from Arizona to a new place and a new life in Texas starting in 1881. It is told completely from her point of view and is in fact written in diary format.

It took me a while to get used to “her words”, the language of the old west and her intelligent but initially somewhat uneducated way of expressing things. I suppose that is part of what made it difficult for me to get into the story at first and why the book then sat waiting for so long. I do have several other books waiting patiently to be read but I guess I just ultimately have to wait for the right mood to strike for each particular one.

I’m not exactly sure why I chose this week to read it but its time had indeed come. A timely snow day off from work combined with ten hours sans electricity but with one large bright window created the perfect opportunity to experience the bulk of the story in one sitting. Knowing more what to expect this time around it was much easier to become immersed in. Sarah and her words felt much more familiar and charming. The bookmark from my feeble first attempt was still in place and as it turns out I was mere paragraphs away from getting hooked when I gave up before.

Although tempting I won’t give much of the story away because I’m a firm believer in the obscure theory that the best way to enjoy a story is by not knowing bits and pieces of it beforehand.

So without going into detail, this is Sarah’s story, the story of her life and the lives of her friends and family in the old west, the good times and the bad times all told in a refreshingly straight forward way without deception or flowery embellishment. Don’t get me wrong, her words are easy to read but are far from simple ramblings. There is much humour, emotion and the settings and situations are told so well you feel like you are there watching and listening rather than here reading. Indeed, the particular way she writes quickly becomes familiar and endearing and actually helps you sink deeper into the story and feel like you’re there with her. Sarah will make you love her and hope for her as she copes with the daily trials of building a life on the harsh and brutal frontier.

I must mention one small complaint. While telling a story in the language of a particular time and place can obviously have its advantages it can also cause disruption if the writing strays back to modern usage. When a certain child was hurt and used the word owie in the book my mind suddenly went from pot bellied stoves, bonnets and lassos to mini vans, sippy cups and superhero pajamas. I don’t know, maybe they did use the word owie way back then but it sent me back to present day quicker than finding a modern penny in your rented antique suit pocket.*

Oh yeah, by the way, I guess you could call this a love story as well. Although there is plenty of action, mayhem and real tragedy this is definitely a love story above all. It is a story about love that is real, love that is shown before it is spoken, love that is earned before it is spent and love that is truly treasured thereby making it priceless. (May I just add that it is my humble opinion that this book contains the finest and most perfect letter ever written.)

The old west setting plays a big part on one hand but is largely incidental on the other. Don’t let it put you off if you’re not really into that time period or the whole western thing. These is my Words is really about people, life and facing the hardships and tragedies that inevitably come along and treasuring and appreciating our fragile lives. It is about Sarah and her family. At the end I was sad to say goodbye and so happy to have known them. It’s a wonderful book! Thanks Krissy... again.

These is my Words - by Nancy E. Turner

* Obscure movie reference. Just curious to see if anyone recognizes it.