Mystery Viking

Sometime in 1972, either my parents or my aunt or uncle shot a slide of this impressive statue, reproduced here as a scan. Without a living person in the frame, it's hard to judge the statue's scale, but it looks pretty impressive to me. Does anyone know where I might find this statue? 

Manitoba Hydro

Mom or Dad or Uncle John or Aunt Jean shot this photo of a Manitoba Hydro facility sometime in 1973. Dam, that's a long time ago. 

Factory 1972

This photo was shot by Aunt Jean, Uncle John, or one of my parents. Something about it fascinates me. The image was shot from a vehicle, and captures some kind of industrial facility, perhaps a refinery or processing plant of some sort. It is very...of its time. 

From the 1940s to Yesterday

Today I am learning that it takes 13 hours to back up 1.45 terabytes of photographs. They stretch backward in time to the collections of my parents, aunts and uncles and forward to the shots I took yesterday. As Sean remarked, "That's a lot of photos." Maybe one day the'll go in the national archives or something. Actually, the photos Aunt Jean and Uncle John took of the Etsell farm in the 1960s and 1970s are certainly worthy of such preservation...

Father's Day Ferry Ride

Sometime in the early 1970s, before Sean was born, Mom and Dad took me on a vacation to British Columbia, probably to visit Aunt Jean and Uncle John in Kelowna. I remember this ferry crossing vividly because it was very hot, I was tired and Dad gallantly carried me around. I also remember consuming too much strawberry ice cream and vomiting pink muck everywhere shortly thereafter. Good thing Mom shot this charming father and son photo before that unhappy event. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

The Bedrocks of B.C.

Sometime in the early 1980s, the Woods family travelled to Kelowna, British Columbia to visit Aunt Jean and Uncle John. While there we visited Kelowna's Bedrock City, one of two Flintstones-themed parks in British Columbia that thrived for a few years and then vanished.

A stone helicopter would require tremendous lift! These photos were taken with a pretty primitive camera, one that seems to have allowed some light to leak into the film compartment, because every photo taken with it features a reddish smear near the top of the frame.

That's Bamm-Bamm and, I guess, Dino, enjoying a bit of fishing near a volcano.

Another view of the pool.

Guests could ride the train through town.

Naturally, this station only played rock music.

Out of Africa

Tonight Sean and I met up with Mom and Dad in Leduc to see my Mom's sister Jean and her husband, John. Aunt Jean and Uncle John recently returned from a trip to Uganda, where their younger son, my cousin Kevin, is studying primates. You can see some of their adventures at this blog, maintained by Kevin's friend Jim.

Aunt Jean is a painter, and I asked her to pose next to her Charlie Chaplin painting - one of my favourites, since Chaplin is one of my favourite directors.I wonder she'd paint Chaplin as The Great Dictator for me - it's probably the Chaplin film I admire most.

Aunt Jean and Uncle John had some pretty fascinating stories to tell about their time in Africa; Aunt Jean spent some time painting landscapes and willing Ugandans, while Uncle John accompanied Kevin tracking chimpanzees. One of their guides could recognize over 60 chimps by their voices - a pretty amazing feat!