Calgary Steer Show 2010

This Saturday was the Calgary Stampede Steer Show. Calgary is always a really fun show as it really is the pinnacle of steer shows in Canada.My family along with some friends of ours the McLeod's bough the Grand Champion Steer out of the 4-H on Parade show. We took him to Drayton a few weeks later and won Grand Champion with him there.We knew that he would have a chance at Calgary, but also that there was a lot of stiff competition as well. He was entered into the Charolais breed division. We came out of the division as reserve champion. The steer that beat us then went on to be Grand Champion.

Congratulations to Soo Line for their Champion Steer, and to Dusty Howell and Curtis Flewelling for their Reserve Champion Steer.

Random Thoughts #1

I always get a series of random thoughts that I want to share with you my blog readers (thanks for reading each week!). The problem is that none of the thoughts really fit together. I have been writing them down and thought that today would be a great day to share them with you.

• This weekend I am heading down to Calgary Stampede. I am super excited for a few reasons. It is a great time to see everyone and catch up with old friends. It also means the steer show which I find really fun and exciting whether competing or not. This year however, we do have a steer, so I promise to have results of your next week. The third reason I love Calgary is the atmosphere. Everything from the tons of people asking questions about agriculture and where there food comes from, to the rodeo and chuckwagons, and finally the grandstand show. I am hoping to get to watch the grandstand show Friday or Saturday night as a section on it is all Micheal Jackson themed!

• Public Displays of Affection or PDA- I HATE PDA. I see no reason for you to have to cuddle with your boyfriend during a business meeting, or have to hold your boyfriends hand everywhere you go. Good for you, you found yourself a man, now please do not rub it in my face, and parade it around for everyone to see. Now there are 2 times in life when I do not mind a little PDA. The first is on your wedding day. It's your wedding day, if you are not a little extra cuddly and happy to be around one another, you may have an issue on your hands. The second is when no one is around, or you are not flaunting it. This is much harder to distinguish between, but yes it can be done.

• City Transit Buses. I swear they are going to be the vain of my existence. I understand the purpose of them, and how they can be very useful to the transportation system within a city. However, what I hate about buses are the rights that they have, or think that they have. The big one is bus lanes. The worst ones are the ones that are in construction zones. I don't know how many times I have been stuck in traffic, not moving, yet a bus whizzes on by and gets to cut in front of me because his bus lane is ending. The other thing that really bothers me about city buses are the drivers. I have no idea where they find these guys, but there are so many accidents, and close calls. I know that if I see a bus I try to get as far away from it as possible. There is no way I want to be driving beside it.
  

49 Years in the Making

Well I have to say Congrats to the Chiacago Blackhawks. Tonight they won the Stanley Cup with a 4-3 win in overtime agains the Philidelphia Flyers.

It was a great game, and although I am bias, I really do think that Chicago deserved to win. They dominated at home, and were the first team to win on the road. A huge advantage in this series.

Before this series started I predicted that Chicago would win in 6 games, and looks like I was right.

Now people may say that I am a band wagon jumper, however, I have been a Chicago fan since grade 1. My parents were managing McDougall Cattle Station at the time. It was an Angus and Simmental operation.

One day we got a phone call from a guy that was interested in buying some Red Angus cows. Neither mom or dad were home, so I answered the phone, took a message and told the man that my parents would call him back.

Later that night, I told my parents the message and my dad asked me if I knew who the man was that called. I said that his name was Brent Sutter and he said that be lived in Illinois. My dad informed me that Brent Sutter was a hockey player in the NHL and played for the Chicago Blackhawks!

From that moment on Brent became one of my favorite players. Because he played for the Hawks, they naturally became my favorite team, next to the Edmonton Oilers...

Then again last year I had a run in with some Chicago Blackhawks. I was in Calgary at the Westin Hotel on a tour for work. I was looking at the hotel to potentially hold a conference there. While we were walking through the hotel I seen several men who looked familar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I asked the hotel rep if they got many sports teams staying at the hotel, and she replyed with a "Yes, we actually have one in house right now!". I then knew that it was in fact the Hawks that I was recognizing!

Later that night as I we meeting the hotel rep for drinks, a few of the players were in the lounge as well. We got talking with them and had a really fun night having a few drinks and laughs. They found out that I was staying at the hotel alone, and invited me to have breakfast with them before they left for their morning skate the next day.

Because of Ladd, Kane, Toewes and Byfuglien, my love of the team became even stronger. They have been an easy team to cheer for in the playoffs. Especially since Edmonton has not made it the last couple of years!

So Congrats to the Chicago Blackhawks on another sucessful year. It has been 49 years since you last one the Stanley Cup, so enjoy it!

Oh The Weather Outside... Is Wonderful!

Oh so I will warn you right now that the title of this blog may be a little misleading. Let me show you some pictures to start.This is what Calgary has looked like for the past couple of days. And this is mild. Most places are reporting 20-30cm of snow, and the wind is blowing. Welcome to the end of April!

Here in Edmonton we have been getting a real good shot of rain. The wind too has been blowing, and making things really wet..... And I couldn't be happier!

Alberta is extremely dry. We got a dump of snow early in the winter, but nothing after that. We were short on snow, and last year was another record dry year. Without moisture, thousands of farmers would have been screwed... and that's putting it lightly.

As farmers who buy all of our feed, we rely on other farmers in the area to produce feed that we can buy from them for our livestock. This system is heavily influenced by supply and demand as most things. Because of the shortage of rain the last couple of years, the supply has been minimal, thus driving feed prices up, and farmers having to pay more. It really hurts our bottom line.

So I think I can say for all the farmers, and even the people in the city who enjoy green, lush lawns, that it can rain all it wants! Plus its a great excuse to buy a pretty umbrella!