Summer Hockey - Regular Season Game Two

The Renegades played Game Two of the regular season on Tuesday evening.  The game was against the Reapers, at Castledowns Arena in north Edmonton.  This team is a new opponent to us, but one of the players used to play on my team, several years ago.  The teams were fairly closely matched, though at times we dominated play and controlled the puck in their end.  Despite that we ended up losing the game by a score of 7-6.  This was due to some poor defensive play on our part, and a poor outing by our goaltender.  So, despite that fact that we went undefeated through the pre-season, we are now winless in the regular season. 

Kodak High Speed Infrared

I just processed another batch of Kodak High Speed Infrared 4" x 5" Film.  This included the remaining images from our spring trip to the Oregon Coast, as well as several taken this past long weekend down in southern Alberta.  I have been having some issues with the film in recent batches.  At first I thought that the film was just getting old, and fogged... I thought that maybe some of the film had been left unexposed and sitting in holders for too long before I used it.  I thought that heat and humidity might play a role.  But in checking my notes, which include detail of batch numbers and dates loaded, there does not seem to be a pattern.  Now I suspect that I am having some issues with light leaks in my darkroom. Sheets that were left laying on my counter as I loaded hangers for processing showed greater fogging and uneven development than those that I pulled directly from a film holder and loaded immediately into a hanger.  I'll have to do some experimentation to narrow down the problem and perhaps shoot duplicates over the next little while.  Many of the images from the Oregon Coast showed significant fogging and uneven development.  Fortunately all of these images were also taken on at least two other types of film.  The ones from this past long weekend turned out really well....

Bunny

While we were at Red Rock Coulee on the long weekend, the girls found a juvenile Nuttall's Cottontail.  At least they told me they found it.... though perhaps it was more of a capture.  In any event, when I returned to the trailer after an afternoon of making photographs, they had the little guy in the trailer.  Of course they wanted to keep it, and take it home as a pet.  I convinced them that it was a wild animal, and it belonged here.  They ended up keeping it in the trailer overnight and all mooned over it; holding it, feeding it and petting it.  The next morning they worked on me again, trying to convince me to let them keep the little guy.  But, I insisted that we were not permitted to remove anything from the natural area, and that the best thing they could do was return him to the spot that they had found him.  It was with long faces and a lot of tears and sad good byes that the little bunny was placed back under the rock where he had first been located.....

Summer Hockey - Regular Season Game One

The Renegades played our first game of the summer regular season last night.  We went through the three game pre-season undefeated, and the league has now set the divisions.  We are now matched up against teams that are much more competitive.  Last night we played the Mighty Peking Ducks out at Kenilworth Arena.  It was a tight, penatly filled game.  The officials weren't letting anything go and there must have been about 16 minor penalties called.  We played with a backup goalie and short a couple of skaters.  Though we held the lead a couple of times during the game, we eventually lost by a score of 4-3.  I enjoyed the game and it sure felt good to get back out on the ice after having missed our two previous games.  I'm looking forward to game two next week....

Red Rock Coulee Natural Area

We planned to leave home on Friday, right after work.  I had been frantically preparing for the Long Weekend, getting the trailer home, starting the fridge, buying groceries, filling with water, re-packing our camping gear, etc.....

By Friday I was worn out, so despite the fact that the girls had the day off from school, my fatigue, and the fact that the weather was kind of crappy, convinced me to stay home and catch up on some sleep, and prepare to leave on Saturday morning.

We hit the road on Saturday morning at a reasonable hour, but living in a house with four girls I have come to understand that nothing happens all that quickly, particularly when morning and departure are included in the same sentence.  Eventually we got going, and after a quick stop for fuel we were on the road, heading south.

We arrived in Drumheller by about 2:30PM, and I stopped to top up the fuel tanks.  I knew that we were heading off into southeastern Alberta, where there are limited services, and it is always good to start with a full tank.  We stopped for lunch in Drumheller, and then rolled on down the valley.  The skies were overcast and it was cool and windy, and raining off and on.  Rather than drive into the late evening, we decided to stop at Dorothy and continue on the next morning.

The girls played a little in the playground at Dorothy but it was a very cold and blustery evening.  No one was in a particularly good mood and we all turned in early, hoping that Sunday would be better. When we awoke on Sunday morning it was in fact a little better,  The rain had stopped and the sky was a little lighter.  But it was still cool and breezy.  After breakfast we headed off to the south east.

After yet another fuel stop in Medicine Hat, we continued on into Forty Mile County and eventually arrived at our destination, the Red Rock Coulee Natural Area.  By this time it was early afternoon.  We found a moderately level spot to park the trailer and got things set up.  The jacks went down, the slide went out, and the power cord got strung out to our generator.  There are no facilities here, and we were dry camping, completely self contained.

A short time later our friends Chris and Connie arrived from Calgary.  They write a blog called "Off the Beaten Track" and in recent weeks we have been corresponding and sharing information.  They had never been out to Red Rock Coulee before and decided to meet up with us.  We spent the afternoon out in the badlands photographing and exploring.

By evening we retired to the trailer and put together a big pot luck supper.  It was a rather unusual mix that included Rib Eye steaks, Barbecued Halibut, Deviled Eggs, Steamed Asparagus, Baked Potato Wedges, Salad, and Ice Cream Sandwiches for dessert.  After dinner Chris and Connie packed up and headed back to the northwest to Bow Island.  They had a room rented there for the night, and were planning to meet up with a guy the next day that had a running 1911 car.

We stayed at Red Rock Coulee and settled down for the night.  It remained breezy, and got quite cold overnight.  The next morning, after breakfast we headed back down into the badlands.  Although it was fairly windy, the skies were spectacular and I spent a good part of the day making photographs.  By late afternoon when I returned to the trailer and met up with the girls, I discovered that they had captured a baby cottontail.  The little guy spent the night with us in the trailer, while we put together another meal of Steak, baked potatoes, salad and corn on the cob.  Look for a separate blog post detailing our escapades with the little bunny....

The next morning the girls were devastated when they had to release the little guy back into the wild.  After that we packed up the trailer and made the long drive back home.  By this time it was Tuesday, and for most people the long weekend had come to an end the day before.  This was one of my scheduled days off from work and we enjoyed the fact that we not only had an extra day, but that the roads were not very busy as we made the long drive back home.  We made a couple of brief stops for fuel, for snacks and for ice cream, and eventually rolled up in front of the house by about 7:00PM.  We were all worn out and tired but it had turned out to be a pretty good weekend, despite the marginal weather conditions and the late start.

May Long Weekend 2015

The girls and I just returned from an extended May Long Weekend trip down to Red Rock Coulee in southeastern Alberta.  We got a bit of a late start... partially due to poor weather and partially because we have been so busy recently, that we just weren't ready to hit the road. For part of the weekend we met up with our new friends, Chris and Connie of "Off the Beaten Track with Chris and Connie" A blog that can be found at www.bigdoer.com.  This image is just a little taste of what the weekend was like... look for another detailed blog post and more images, in the coming days and weeks...

Another Rejection for Procession West

I sure hope this is not a sign of things to come....  Back in early May I received yet another rejection letter for our Procession West submission.  This time it was from the Art Gallery of St. Albert.  We were provided with the usual form letter, thanking us for our submission and politely declining us an opportunity to exhibit.  I understand that they received over 80 submissions this year.  I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that some other opportunity comes our way as we await replies from the many other packages that I sent out this spring.

Month of Music

Aside from the Springfest in East Coulee that I attended with the girls, Margarit and I also went to three concerts in Edmonton.  

On April 23rd we saw Def Leppard at Rexall Place.  It was a really good show and I always was a big fan of theirs.  We had seats in the lower bowl, but unfortunately the were immediately opposite the stage, which tends to be a little echo-filled and the sound a little harsh and unclear.

Then on May 5th we saw Neil Diamond back at Rexall Place.  Now 74 years old, he still has that wonderful voice and it was another great show.  Our seats were again in the lower bowl, but this time a little around to the side.  The location, plus a slightly lower volume level, provided for pretty good sound.

Finally last night we went to see Diana Krall at the Jubilee Auditorium.  We had seats in the third row, just a few feet away from Diana and her grand piano.  Her jazz styling is very different for me, and something that I have only recently become a fan of.  She had her own band, plus was backed up by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.  It was also an exceptional show that I quite enjoyed.

We will now take a break from festivals and concerts for the next little while, though we have tickets for a few more later in the year.  I am particularly looking forward to The Who 50th Anniversary Tour coming our way in October.

East Coulee Springfest

Last weekend I headed down to East Coulee for the Springfest Music Festival.  This year was the 21st Annual, though I have only known of it since last year.  Margarit decided to stay home and catch up on some chores, so I headed down with the three girls.  Even though I had Friday off from work, there were a lot of things that I needed to catch up on too, so we didn't get away until Saturday morning.  We arrived in East Coulee around lunch time, and unpacked the groceries and gear that we had brought along.  Our trailer was in storage in the shop in East Coulee over the winter, so we stayed in it on Saturday night, and then brought it back home with us on Sunday.  It needs to be cleaned out and re-stocked for the upcoming May Long Weekend and summer camping trips.

The music festival is a fundraiser for the East School Schoolhouse Musuem.  This building has been designated a historic resource and they are trying to raise money to replace the roof and the mechanical system.

There were 46 bands scheduled to play over the two days of the weekend.  One cancelled due to illness but the rest all showed up.  The festival was a mix of country, folk, blue grass, country rock, cajun, pop, world, blues, rock, etc., etc....  There were three stages set up in classrooms in the school, as well as a fourth across the street in the Community Center.  In the past the bands also played in the local hotel but it was unfortunately closed at the end of 2014.  I managed to see 11 of the bands and took photos of a number of them.

My two youngest daughters, Annelise and Helena, were pretty good sports about it, but soon grew tired of wandering between the various stages.  They retreated out to the old playground and had a blast out there.  While most playgrounds use sand as a base, in a coal mining town they used coal.  The girls were soon very dirty.  We took a break and retired back to the trailer in the afternoon.  We also took a ride around town in a horse-drawn wagon, and checked out some of the vendors.  We had an early supper of BBQ steaks with baked potatoes, corn on the cob and salad.

After supper I headed back over to check out some more of the bands.  Hailey came with me and Anna and Helena stayed behind in the trailer and watched movies.  Later in the evening Hailey and I went back to the trailer to check on the younger girls.  Hailey decided to stay with them and I went back and checked out a few more bands.  It was awesome and I really enjoyed the festival.  Next year I will be back, with Margarit, and we will spend both days enjoying the great mix of music.

On Sunday after breakfast we hooked up the trailer, eased it out of the building, and returned home to Edmonton.  The girls arrived home in time to have supper with their Mom and wish her a Happy Mothers Day.

Dani-Lynn [Country/Pop]

80's Dad and Lightnin' Child teamed up over their love of acoustic, folk, blues and jazz.  They have been described as a "hungry band" playing many songs about their love of great food.  The girls particularly liked their song "Grease Stained Shirt"

The Spitzee Post Band from High River played a mix of Bluegrass, Old Tyme, Folk and Gospel.

Alex Boisselle is a roots, blues, folk and cajun singer/songwriter who sustained a career ending repetitive strain injury to his chord hand.  He relearned to play on lap slide guitar, became a lead guitarist, and added harmonica.  One of my favorties of the festival.

During our afternoon break the girls played in the coal dust of the school playground and took a ride in a horse drawn wagon.

The Wayfaring Fiddlers are a Drumheller based band that explores traditional fiddle music, playing a range of styles from Celtic, Appalachian, Gypsy and more.

Another local band, Willow Creek, plays music once heard in country dances of rural Alberta in the 1950's and 1960's.

Fools Tongue's musical style, inspired by world percussion and thick vocal harmonies, sits somewhere between World, Pop and Alternative.

Layne Syvertsen, another local artist, plays a wide range of folk, blues and rock in a style all his own.  A solo musician and superb electric blues guitarist, he was another of my favorites.

Through the day the crowd was a mix of young and old.  By late evening, a lot of the older crowd had gone home and the younger fans were beginning to really get into some of the faster, more lively music.  The Give Em Hell Boys, from Edmonton, played a unique style that fused classic and outlaw country with breakneck bluegrass rhythms and punk rock attitude.  A large crowd began dancing in front of the stage and the floor of the old schoolhouse was just bouncing.  I half expected it to collapse and see everyone clatter down into the basement, but the old floor hung in there. 

Spring Photo Weekend on Kodak Infrared

When I recently processed the batch of Kodak High Speed Infrared 4" x 5", it included several sheets from the recent Spring Photo Weekend with the Monochrome Guild.  Here are a few shots which includes the following.  The first two were in Banff National Park, at Two Jack and Second Vermilion Lake.  The next is a shot taken along the Kicking Horse River, below the Natural Bridge, in Yoho National Park.  The last two are of the Rundle Mission Church on the Stoney Reserve at Morley.