Surveying a changing cityscape

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Surveying a changing cityscape

These are the horse sculptures outside Calgary city hall, looking over Olympic Plaza toward The Bow skyscraper and the twin towers of the Suncor Energy Centre.

Last vestiges of a warmer time

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Catching rays

Spotted in Bridgeland last week.

Persistent colours

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Autumn in Bridgeland

It’s pleasantly surprising to see Calgary’s deciduous trees retain their red, gold and orange hues for so long this autumn. This is usually a one- or two-week affair … but we’re rolling into Week 3 now, easily. Glorious.

Burger after midnight

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Jalapeño burger

Feeling peckish after work, I walked to the neighbourhood burger joint for a late-night snack.
That would normally be an altogether unremarkable statement … except that in Calgary’s Kensington area, that would have been a lie not too long ago. (And on most days of the week, it still is.)
Non-pub/bar/club nighttime food options on Kensington Road and 10 St. N.W. were quite sparse until recently.
Five years ago, the only place open really late every day (until 4 a.m.) was a shawarma joint. A fried chicken restaurant and a take-out pizzeria were open somewhat late (usually until around midnight but later on busy nights).
In the last year or two, the submarine sandwich shop extended its hours until 4 a.m., too. The shawarma joint gained some competition down the street, also open until 4 a.m. daily.
The burger shop opened earlier this year, serving patties till midnight on most days but later on Friday and Saturday nights. The new poutine restaurant isn’t usually open late at all … and yet there it was open late tonight, selling gooey, cheesy, gravy-covered goodness to customers well past midnight. There looks to be a non-fried chicken restaurant set to open and I’m curious what their hours will be.
With new condos going up all over the area, it would be great to see even more late-night food option pop up.
Now, if only the coffee/tea shops would join in the fun …

Luminous Crossings

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City of Calgary public art called Luminous Crossings

Here is some Calgary public art I can happily support. This twisted tower of light is one of several going up at both ends of the 7 Ave. transit corridor, at City Hall and Downtown West stations. The whole installation is called Luminous Crossings; you can read more about it here.

Prehistoric pedigree

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Prehistoric pedigree

Another view of the Red Deer River this summer, taken just north of the town of Drumheller, Alberta, in the heart of the Badlands.

Fine-feathered royalty

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Pelican hangout

This pelican is one of the residents of St. James Park in London, just a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace. The image was captured about a year ago.

Communicating with their hands

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Dealmakers

There’s a cool statue outside the Bay store in downtown Calgary, showing two businessmen seemingly making a deal. Until this week, I hadn’t noticed what their hands were doing.

Chinook arch

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Chinook arch

This view of Calgary is from the weekend.

Manhattan through the fog

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Visibly beautiful

This shot is from a trip to New York back in February 2011. The cool thing about going to such an attraction as the Empire State Building in the dead of night on a cool late-winter evening is definitely the lack of lines through security and whatnot. The risk, however, is that you’ll encounter cold temperatures, blustery winds and rapidly shifting weather — as seen in this photo!