Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club “Amateur Night”, Calgary

Yesterday I went to the Amateur night at Yuk Yuk’s comedy club in the Blackfoot Inn Hotel in Calgary. The Club is situated in the Hotel so that makes it easy if you are not able to drive any more after all the laughing at the comedy club :). The place looks nice and the service is pretty good (even during the show) the only down side is that they seem to forget to ask some people what they want to drink. But enough about that.

We got great seating on the front row and of course if you sit on the front row then you know that there could be some laughing about you. And at least now i got it confirmed i am a Nerd

Amateur night is all about “new” comedians trying to make you laugh. They all get 5 minutes and that helps because some are realy BAD.

There was a comedian that made the whole evening come together by starting with jokes and introducing the amateurs. This guy (can’t remember his name) was pretty good and was able to get the crowed going.

The real deal is of course the amateurs and some of them are ok some of them are bad and one or two are great. I wonder why does an “old” guy keep making bad jokes about sex? And you wonder if they have an addition before they go on stage because one or two didn’t get any laughs out of us.

But luckily there are some that just keep the crowed laughing. The one that i was most impressed by was a guy called Tyler Gordon you could see it as soon as he stept on to the stage that those next 5 minutes would be great. He was just comfortable on the stage and he really got me to laugh out loud (something i don’t do easy).  He was almost as good as the closing act but that one was not an  amateur. So Tyler let us know when you have a performance in town again!

Let’s go to the conclusion….. Going to Amateur night at Yuk Yuk’s was time well spend. The nice thing is that you get to see lots of different comedians with all a different view of what is funny. So you would not laugh at all of them but there will be some that really get you to leave the place with a stomach ache from laughing.

I can really recommend you all to bring a visit to an Amateur Night but unfortunately the once at Yuk Yuk’s in Calgary are done for now but they will be back in September.

Written by George on June 28th, 2007 with no comments.
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St. Croce church Florence, Italy

This church looks very simple and unassuming from the outside, however on the inside its a whole different story. The art inside is beautiful, its very large, one cannot tell from the outside this vast space exists on the inside. The entrance is free also to the museums, galleries, tombs and other small chapels, which is different from most other places in Florence where you have to pay for everything.

There are volunteer guides inside which give you as much information as you need, and are more than willing to tell you more if you ask. The galleries and museums have amazing paintings, and the church itself contains tombs for famous persons such as Michelangelo, Galileo, and Dante.

On the outside the monastry has a nice walking area and the ambience is simple wonderful. I highly recommend you visit this place when in Florence.

Written by Smriti on June 18th, 2007 with no comments.
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Columbia Icefields tour

The tour of the Columbia Icefields is one of those things you should do at least once in your life.

You leave by buss from the Columbia Icefields Centre and you will go up the mountain for a bit. At the stop for the normal Buss you get in to one of the 23 snowcoaches that will then drive you up to half way of the Athabasca Glacier. While driving the tour guide will tell you lots and lots of details about the Icefield and the surroundings and that is very interesting.

Then when you reaches the stop on the Glacier you can walk around for 20 minutes or so and enjoy the great view of the ice and it’s surroundings. It feels very unreal to stand on top of such a big pille of ice. And of course when you are there don’t forget to take a sip of the cold Glacier water.

After these 20 minutes on the cold ice (bring warm clothes) the trip down will start. The complete trip will takes around 90 minutes and is well worth the visit.

It is just a shame that they don’t bring you all the way to the top of the Columbia Icefields but this is still very good.

From the Icefields Centre you can also walk to the edge of the Athabasca Glacier but be careful because it is not an easy walk and it gets pretty cold.

The Icefields tours go from mid April till mid October and it can get pretty busy so plan wise and maybe make sure you get there earlie!

Written by George on June 11th, 2007 with 1 comment.
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Beethoven in the Badlands 2007

On Saturday June 9th 2007 for the 4th time the concert Beethoven in the Badlands was held in Drumheller.

The Concert takes place in on the locations where normally the Passion Play is held. The nice thing about this concert is that is all outside and in between the typical mountains of this area of Alberta.

Because it is on the Passion play site there are nice places to sit although the benches are a bit hard so if you are going to a performance here maybe bring a small couching.

The music was performed by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra with Pierre Simard as Conductor.

And the music was great it is a real nice experience to hear the beautiful music in between the mountains and you maybe even saw some birds dance in the wind on the tones of Beethoven.

For me Symphony no. 6 from Beethoven was the best of this performance and the funny way the Conductor got his musicians to play made it all worth while.

If you get a changes go see a concert like this it is well worth it and an experience you will not forget.

But if you go make sure you are taking the right gear for rain and more even the sun because you are sitting outside.

Written by George on June 10th, 2007 with no comments.
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Columbia Icefields Centre

The Columbia Icefields Centre is situated on the Icefieldparkway (highway 93) in front of the Athabasca Glacier.

In the Center you will find a Restaurant, Cafeteria, Hotel, Souvenir shop, Tourist Information, Icefields Presentation and the starting point of the Glacier tour but in this review we focus just on the Icefields Presentation we will tell you about other interesting Icefield things in a later review.

OK here we go. On the lower level of the Columbia Icefields Centre you can visit a Free exhibition that tells the story about Glaciers and the Icefields. It does this using a rebuild of the Icefield with all it’s glaciers and mountains and that gives you a nice view of how big the Columbia Icefield really is.

There are several video presentation that tell give you more information about the Glaciers and the Icefield so can you see on one of them how fast the ice melts.

Next to the icefield info it also shows where animal and vegetation live based on height of mountains.

Al with all a nice presentation that can give you and better view on nature and specially the Glaciers and the Columbia Icefields

Written by George on June 6th, 2007 with 1 comment.
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Big Hill Springs Provincial Park

Want to go for a little walk in nature and want something different then always all those parks in Calgary?

Then maybe Big Hill Springs is the place to go. It is less then 20km outside of the city and you really feel like you are in nature.

Just follow Highway 1A in the direction Cochrane and just a couple of km outside of Calgary you will see the signs to the Big Hill Provincial Park.

The park area has a nice parking and a toilet (not smelling that great )

You can just follow the path and that will keep you busy for an hour or so the Path go’s round som eventually you will get back to the parking lot.

A big part of the Big Hill Springs park has a nice little stream running through it with small waterfalls and that makes it feel extra nice. I always love the sounds of water and here you can enjoy it

When we where here in May 2007 (normal weekday) it was not very busy but there where a few people around so I can imagine that I will be pretty busy when summer comes to Alberta.

Al with al the Big Hill Springs Provencial park is worth a visit it is nice and the walk is not to big so just enough to get some fresh air.

Written by George on May 23rd, 2007 with no comments.
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Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump

Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump is one of North America’s biggest Buffalo Jumps here it is where the Native people try to drive the Buffalo’s over the the sandstone cliffs.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site will tell you the complete story of the Buffalo Jump. When you get to the Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump location you are first directed to the theatre where you are shown a short movie about the Buffalo hunting. After the movie you are pointed outside to the sandstone cliffs where the Buffalo’s would have jumped of for many years. It is a very nice location and you can see for miles and miles away.

After you are done looking and taking pictures outside you will go back inside the Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump building where you can follow the story of the Native people and how they hunted and what changed in the many years the Jump was used.

The last part of the presentation will tell you the story about the archaeologists that do the research on site.

All with all the Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump attraction is very interesting and I definitely learned a lot of this intriguing way of hunting. The staff is very helpful and answered all my questions.

The cafeteria looks a bit shabby but they serve real buffalo burgers

Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump location is about two hours drive from Calgary (18km from Fort MacLeoad)

Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump

18 kms north & west of Fort Macleod on Highway 785.

Phone: 1-403-553-2731

www.head-smashed-in.com