Farewell, Ralph

"Because the premier can't be seen supporting one team over another, I've had to sit in the stands at the Labour Day Classic and the Battle of Alberta hockey games cheering like an idiot for both teams. It's unnatural. It's like living in Red Deer." - Ralph Klein

It's the end of an era. Alberta premier Ralph Klein resigned yesterday as party leader. I haven't always agreed with his policies, such as the brutal budget cuts during the 1990's. However, I've always respected his candor. You never had to guess what his real opinion was - he always said it straight and to the point. I guess that's why he appealed to so many people. That part of Ralph was refreshing in the world of politics.

So while it's about time he left, his shoot-from-the-hip style will definitely be missed.

Toys, toys, toys

[Photography geek mode on]


Photokina 2006, a bi-annual European photography show, is coming up at the end of September. And, my photo-geek friends, what does that mean? Yup, new toys! There's been a series of pre-show announcements, and there's been a couple that have caught my eye.


I'm saving my pennies for this new digital SLR from Pentax, the K10D. It's a mid-level DSLR meant to compete against the Nikon D80/D200 and the Canon 30D. However, it's got a few tricks up its sleave, including:

• Self-cleaning CCD, like that found in Olympus DSLRs


• In body shake reduction, similar to Konica-Minolta's 5D. Effective up to 3-4 stops


• Weather Sealing


• Support for Pentax's new 'supersonic' lenses that should greatly improve AF speed. I guess Pentax has decided to compete against Canon's USM lenses.

I'm rather chuffed at this camera. I'm able to get shake reduction with my manual focus lenses from the 1970's! Whoo hoo! Also, it's price of $919US makes this a relative bargain. I don't think you get this set of features anywhere else below $5000. If you want more details, you can look at the insanely detailed preview at DPReview.com.


And for you well-monied traditionalists, here's the new Leica M8. It looks like another M-series rangefinder, but it's not a rehashed M7. They've put in a new viewfinder to adapt to the new CCD. It has all the film rangefinder quirks we know and love (or hate) for 'only' $4800 US. Ouch. Must be the 'Leica' name. This uses all the M-series lenses made since 1954.

The weather was rainy and the wine sucked, but at least the tour guide was hot

How ironic. I visited a well-known winery in Niagara-on-the-lake over the weekend with a buddy of mine. The wine tour was fun, the winery staff were pleasant and the food was awesome. So how come the wine sucked?

(If you're wondering, we tried a variety of white wines, and the only one I can recommend is the Hillebrand Estates 2004 Reisling. Everything else was pretty flat and boring. Perhaps we tried the wine from a mediocre year?)

I'm by no means a wine expert, and since I lack a good sense of smell, I can never be. With that said, even with my unrefined tastes, I can still appreciate a good glass of wine. Which is why I found Hillebrand Estates a bit disappointing. This winery has a good reputation but I'm wondering if it's for the right reasons. The staff was definately hired based on looks, unless they happened to hired a whole series of young blonde bombshell sommeliers by accident.

But otherwise, it was fine. I'm definately willing to give them another try since the restaurant is well worth another trip. Their cornmeal-crusted halibut was impressive, and it wasn't overpriced either.

Bottom line: Go for the food. Was disappointed with the whites - such as the 2004 Guwerztraminer.

Random movie review

Yikes. I never thought I would start off a blog entry mentioning child beauty pagents. These pageants make young kids look way too artificial and mature for their age. These pageants are weird and creepy, and for those who've seen 'Little Miss Sunshine', you know exactly what I mean. I saw this film over the weekend in Toronto, and this is the first time I've ever seen a movie where I was simultaneously horrified, offended, and cringing in my seat with discomfort. Yet I was laughing my head off.

And thus I highly recommend this movie. Two opposable thumbs up.

I won't give any more details since I don't want to ruin the movie. I came into the movie knowing nothing about it, and for that reason, I think it was all the more enjoyable. Although they use the tired formula of stuffing a dysfunctional family into a van for a cross-country trip, the writing and the strength of the characters makes this movie refreshing, quirky and smart. The bizzare world of child beauty pageants makes a hysterical backdrop to this movie. This is a rare gem in this otherwise disappointing summer at the movies.

Well this could be soggy

Yeah.

It was a wet weekend.

No surprise here.

Spent the weekend soaking up nature.

Literally.

How wet was it?

Well, let me put it this way.

I'm still drying out my stuff.

Learned some cool stuff with tarps and duct tape.

Helped dig a couple of drainage ditches.

Luckily, no tents were flooded.

So yeah.

Very exciting weekend.

And these are very short sentences.

Because, you know.

I'm sure this is all very exciting.

Otherwise, this would have been a limerick.

Or at least in iambic pentameter.

Just to spice things up.

And oh yeah.

Coleman tents rock.

Well this should be interesting

I'm off camping again this weekend to Bon Echo, which one of my favourite parks in Ontario. There's plenty of canoeing and hiking available and it's also a haven for you rock climbers out there. So why should this blog entry be interesting? Well, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto are due to hit the area this Saturday. Whoo hoo! Let's see how well my Canadian Tire tent holds up. This weekend should be interesting indeed.

All this gives me another reason to miss Alberta. We never had to deal with tropical storms and hurricanes. :)

Have a fun Labour Day long-weekend!