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raelity bytes - the author of blosxom
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Wed, 05 Sep 2007
Final days of August 2007 vacation in Alberta
Banff Centre for the Arts
We went to a couple of the concerts of the Banff International String Quartet Competition. Megan liked the Tin Alley quartet from Australia and indeed they were the winners on Sept 2nd. I find Bartok rather severe for my tastes, but John Largess, violist with the Miró Quartet (winners of BISQC 1998), provided a very good background to the music. You can listen to the performances on the CBC Concerts on Demand archive.There were some fun events, such as an informal evening gig by the participants in the Richard Armstrong vocal workshop. We tried out some experiments at Look Again, a collaboration between the artists and the Science Communications people. I didn't enjoy the TV production which was a panel discussion. The chair did not pursue any points in depth, for example the comment by the sociologist - that calling for public debate about nanotechnology is little help because ordinary people are not up to speed with science - could have been taken up by the scientist on the panel, and the audience. A dancer described how a scientist helped her team incorporate dolphin movements into their repertoire; but the host then put her on the spot by asking her to do a dance about nanotechnology for the audience. She got the audience to make movements from large to small, which to my eyes looked like something from kindergarten. I suppose I was being too serious in expecting some audience interaction at a more cerebral level, such as taking part in the debate.
Calgary visit
The name 'Calgary' is said to mean 'clear running water' in Gaelic. In fact, according to a post to the Gaelic-L Archives :
However the correct Gaelic translation for the phrase would be *t-suthain shoilleir* or *uisge shoilleir*. Long before the formation of the NWMP, James Macleod had visited Calgary Bay on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, where his sister's relatives through marriage owned a small castle named Calgary House. The original name in Gaelic was *Cala-ghearridh*, with the first part *Cala*, meaning "harbour" or "bay", and the second part, *ghearridh*, meaning "preserved piece of pasture", "enclosed pature", or "farm".Stayed in 5 Calgary Downtown Suites, very happy with them. Enjoyed a lunch with Guinness at the James Joyce Pub. The Calgary Tower is $12 each just to go 500 feet up. The vertigo-inducing glass floor is the only real attraction there, other office buildings must have similar views. Sundog Tours airport shuttle charges $15 each and takes 1 hour because they call to every hotel. A taxi costs $34 and takes 15 mins so is better for two people.
The Glenbow Museum had a good exhibition of Native Indian life, Niitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life in the Blackfoot Gallery. The exhibition Mavericks shows the life and times of famous Calgarians, almost all white. The original inhabitants had a panel on some walls saying how it looked from the their point of view.
Drumheller trip
We took a Hammerhead tour to the Badlands - Horshoe Canyon, the Hoodoos, Drumheller, the ferry, and the prairies. Very enjoyable.Tyrrell Museum - a wonderful show of archaeology from the formation of life through to the dinosaurs and stopping just before humans appeared, very well curated, we took two hours to visit and didn't have time to walk in the badlands.
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