Total Pageviews

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Canada's Generic Holiday


While in Edmonton, visit...Fort Edmonton.

I love Canada for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that we have a holiday called "Civic Holiday." There's no religious or historic occasion, no dead white male to celebrate, no rhyme nor reason for a national day off. It's just a long weekend, a time to goof off.

So Sylvia and I made the most of it. On Saturday, we visited Mom and Dad and my brother Sean at Fort Edmonton. Mom and Dad were staying overnight in the Hotel Selkirk for their 40th anniversary (albeit a week late, I didn't book in time), so we thought we'd meet them for lunch. And then we had adventures.


A sweaty salesman peddles furs to a skeptical customer.

Father Earl, Preacher of the Damned, with his glowing eyes straight from the fiery pits of Hell itself!

Naturally I had to ham it up at every opportunity.


Sean hijacks a caboose.
As did my brother.


Sylvia smiles, Sean skulks.

Sylvia, always a good sport, puts up with the family eccentricities no matter what the occasion.


I just like this picture.

It's no SLR, but my little Pentax is capable of some pretty nice shots.


"But I, sir, am no gentleman. As you shall soon discover."

Fortunately, I had no hat. Anyone remember "Harriet's Magic Hats?" Hey, how come Ladies didn't have to remove THEIR hats?


Look out for J. Lauder!

What is the shocking secret of the Mad Butcher's superb sausages?


What Sean Woods would look like if he came from the planet Carggg. 50 geek points to the first person to get the reference.

All in all, it's just another Sean on the wall.


Earl contemplates past, present and future.

I.E., "Why didn't I wear sunscrean? Will this self-portrait turn out? When do we get ice cream?"


Sylvia points the way.

You'd think that after all the excitement of Fort Edmonton, we'd relax. But no! For on Monday, we attended Heritage Days, Edmonton's wonderful multicultural festival, where Albertans come together in the spirit of international solidarity and our common cause: to scarf down ethnic food and marvel at the throngs of other people.


Scott Friel brought his charming new daughter to Heritage Days. Note, however, that he wears the symbol of the dread Empire upon his breast.

My friend Scott Friel is a new dad. Gawk in wonder at his spawn!


This happy fellow handed out balloons all day, making people smile. By the way, I hear Western Union is the best way to send money fast.

Ah, the late 20th and early 21st centuries, when every man, woman and child became a billboard, working cheap to sell goods and services we don't really need.


Jump for the Balloon God!

But on the other hand...hey, free balloons.

4 comments:

Liam J. said...

TRIAD!

I'll take my geek points now.

If I could only count the number of times that the Legion of Superheroes had saved us all...

Earl J. Woods said...

Or "Triplicate Girl," if you're a purist like me. For those not blessed with Liam's trivia skills, Triplicate Girl (later Duo Damsel, later Triad, and still later back to Triplicate Girl) had the power, like everyone else from her native planet, Carggg, to split into three separate selves, each capable of independent action. The reason the inhabitants of Carggg had this incredible power? Well, according to comics lore, it's because the Carggg system is a trinary. Or in the words of one character, "We, the people of Carggg, can divide ourselves into THREE BODIES - because our planet has THREE SUNS!"

This is why I love comics.

Sean Woods said...

"...and I would have got away with that caboose too, if it wasn't for those darn kids.."


Note: I think the natives of Carggg would need to store a substancial amount of energy in order to split into three. Given the sheer amount of food one has to consume to maintain that level of energy, I do not think this 'splitting' ability is evolutionarily sound.

Anonymous said...

The guy who wrote the theme song for Harriet's Magic Hats lives in Fort Macleod.

He has a Juno.