Got to be birds flying higher

Boy, my Evernote movie folder is dusty! I forgot to LJ this. Originally, I was going to post the trailer, but someone uploaded the whole movie to YouTube.

February 10, 2025

We did something fun yesterday and went downtown for a free screening of a Calgary-made indie film called waydowntown, directed by a local filmmaker, Gary Burns. I'd watched his other movies, such as Kitchen Party and Radiant City, but somehow waydowntown always escaped me. I always thought it was a movie about people living in Calgary's Plus 15 skywalk system, which is similar to the Minneapolis covered walkway system.

Instead, it's more about office culture, which the late 90s loved skewering. It's a little bit Fight Club, little bit Office Space, a little bit this and a little bit that, and it all seems to come together and works really well. It's basically about four co-workers who work in a downtown office building.

Although Calgary is never explicitly identified as the city, the narrator, Tom, says the co-workers all live in apartments that connect to this building or to the Plus 15, which wasn't which wasn't quite true at the time. Some of the humor is a little juvenile, and I would have been so in love with this movie if I watched it when it was released. In some ways it is amazing--it was shot for $750k using local talent and was filmed a bit on the fly in some areas where they didn't have permission to film. This results in a neat voyeuristic effect, and it was a total trip down memory lane--the old skylines, old buildings, old colours, lots of warm tones, and pink granite. The movie is also Caucasian as heck (Calgary has been a top three destination for New Canadians for some time). There are things I'd forgotten, like how magazines used to have perfume ad inserts in them. One of the odd things that emerges is that a lack of fresh air causes the main characters to fatigue. The color grading in the film was a little hard to watch as it was very blue and orange, which was kind of the style at the time. Instead of looking beautiful or healthy, all the characters take on this sickly look that perhaps reflects their inner turmoil and anxiety.

The film's title actually takes its name from the idea of going "way downtown", which is to eject yourself from a building. The film is a critique so many things--interpersonal relationships, the built environment, corporate culture, etc. At the after-show panel, Gary Burns said he actually never worked in an office, but knew enough about it to make it feel authentic (TBH it's quite a broke ass office). It was quite a treat to spend time with a very engaged audience that wanted to see the film and ask urbanism questions. The audience could have stayed there asking questions all day! Bonus--we also saw our friend Lone Howler and Mom, so we sat with them and caught up!

Watch on YouTube

Our summer vacation this year was in Perth, Ontario. We travelled to Perth last year as part of our 20th anniversary trip. It's where I discovered that there's been a big family bbq reunion going on for 30 years on hubs' side of the family. Neither hubs nor my FIL mentioned it all this time ;-D

So we returned with a promise to make the bbq. Alas, being Prairie people, we were not used to the mega high levels of humidity! We were melting and constantly running for air conditioning. While watching glasses sweat at restaurants, I wondered how anyone enjoyed living out here ;-D

I posted some snaps on Threads--more details soon!

https://www.threads.com/@calzephyr77/post/DMQrkntuZwK?xmt=AQF0u723d33wlJlqchqxsermUJrmLO8yGnDBSiP3JLajyg

Canada also observes Black History Month in February! I highly encourage anyone interested in Black history or Canadian history to watch this great documentary about a famous Alberta cowboy--John Ware. I love that someone did a deep dive into his life--Alberta has a lot of invisible Black history.

Watch on YouTube

One thing true crime podcasts are very good at, is, unfortunately, doing deep dives into true crime. Sometimes it's reopening an old case or shining a spotlight on an unsolved crime. Ambushed, which first aired in 2017, does a bit of both, trying to keep the deaths of a Southern Alberta couple alive on the Internet.

A well-liked couple - an RCMP officer and a kindergarten teacher - are gunned down in a small, Alberta town. Twenty years later, the mystery still lingers. Who killed Lorraine McNab and Peter Sopow? A six part podcast investigates, hearing from cops who worked the case, and family who harbour their own suspicions.

Tomorrow, September 30th, is Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as well as Orange Shirt Day. Canada's past treatment of Indigenous people has, quite frankly, been absolutely terrible and atrocious. The day honours children who never returned home from residential schools as well as survivors, their families and communities.

We can all educate ourselves and learn about Indigenous culture where we live and throughout Canada. CBC has a list of seven podcasts you can listen to and expand your knowledge.

CBC also has two very grim podcast series which come with a content warning--both contain distressing details of child abuse, sexual abuse and mentally distressing details. However, it's important to learn about the past which was hidden away for so long and continues to impact communities and individuals today.

Kuper Island

An 8-part series that tells the stories of four students: three who survived and one who didn’t. They attended one of Canada’s most notorious residential schools – where unsolved deaths, abuse, and lies haunt the community and the survivors to this day. Hosted by Duncan McCue.

Finding Cleo

This series should really be required listening for Canadians. I remember ads encouraging people to adopt Indigenous children when I was growing up :S Two of my first cousins are Métis and the thought that they could have been in a similar situation is very distressing.

Where is Cleo?

It's a mystery her family has been trying to unravel for decades after the young Cree girl was apprehended by child welfare workers in Saskatchewan in the 1970's. Her siblings say she was stolen, and then raped and murdered while trying to hitchhike back home, her body left at the side of the road somewhere in the United States.

They have no idea where she is, whether her name was changed, or if anyone has been charged in her murder.

We took some extra days off around Canada Day, and because my husband works for an American company now, he also had July 4th off. The weekend weather forecast wasn't looking too great--chances of rain or high temperatures--but we played it by ear and managed to get a lot of fun stuff done.

We road tripped down to the Alberta Birds of Prey Center in Coaldale, about 2 hours south of Calgary. My last visit was in 2007 and so much has changed in 15 years. For example, now there's a duck pond, full of domestic and wild ducks and, of course, Canada geese. Baggies of duck chow are $2 and unfortunately, the ducks weren't too hungry as there were also a lot of little kids there, all with their own baggies. I filled the bird feeder with the leftovers, and the house sparrows, who usually eat anything, weren't too impressed. There was also a wetland, which was new to me.

Other improvements include a classroom building with windows to a large eagle aviary, new shelters for the hawks, eagles, and owls so visitors could see them up close, and an improved flying area. The flying area used to just have logs for seating. Now they have comfortable benches. We watched a bald eagle named Jefferson fly back and forth while the handler talked about bald eagle facts. I took my zoom lens and it was worth lugging it around because I got some really nice photos of Jefferson.

I had my picture taken with a burrowing owl named Sage and I looked like such a dork! You'd think I never saw a bird before 😄 Fortunately Sage was up to the task of looking majestic:

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A post shared by Christine 🦄 🐦🌈🍁 (calzephyr77)

Lots of birds are on display although sadly, most of them are injured and can't be released. The centre also does rescue and rehab, so there's always hope when a bird is injured.

It's been ages since we went for a good long country drive, and although we lunch at McDonald's, it was still a nice trip. Hubs and I enjoy long car trips. We talk about lots of things and there's no interruptions. Overall, it was a satisfying day, despite arriving home at 9pm--we paid my MIL a visit on the way home. It was still the kind of day that heralds the beginning of summer :-)

I suppose I should fill up the podcasts tag!

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is famous for its radio shows, but I was never really a CBC radio listener. Enter podcasts, which fit into one's schedule much better!

Two daily podcasts that I subscribe too are Front Burner and The Current.

Front Burner is a half-hour explainer on a timely topic, whether sports, entertainment or politics. I like the variety and heck, when I don't understand something in the news, I can usually count on it to be a springboard.

The Current varies from a few minutes to a half hour. Usually the topics are granular in nature, but broader in scope or geography.

The “orange shirt” in Orange Shirt Day refers to the new shirt Phyllis Webstad's grandmother gave her for the first day of school at St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia. When Phyllis arrived, her clothes, including her new shirt, was taken away and she never saw it again.

Orange Shirt Day began in 2013 as a grass roots campaign to bring awareness to Canada's treatment of Indigenous people. In the video below, Phyllis explains the history and talks about the present and future.

Watch on YouTube

We're still in a deep freeze! Today's tip is to open your blinds so you don't end up with ice in the windows. Blinds are too good at trapping cold air these days! I just had to put the Shamwow in the living room window because ice formed at the top and started dripping. Sigh...I'm sure that will be next year's home reno project :-D

Days like this always remind me of Dr. Zhivago, particularly this scene:

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Now I want to watch the movie again!

Watch on YouTube

Note to self: these sound amazing!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-woman-cranberry-bannock-muffins-arctic-kitchen-1.5774527

Mix together dry then wet ingredients.

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup frozen cranberries
1 egg
60 ml oil
1 cup water (or milk)

Bake at 350 F until golden brown