Accounts of living in Yellowknife (a work in progress, this site and my life)

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Woah Caribou Carnival

Yes. Its time to get out of Yellowknife again before i go nuts again. Ill be tearing up calgary this easter weekend, which is still a little while off so i will be going nuts doubtless. I will be going with mark to drive the 20hrs to do some shopping and remind myself what civilization looks like. If anyone is near calgary around then let me know.

This friday us city workers got the afternoon off for Canival! The weekend was characterized by Caribou Carnival which is characterized in turn as follows:

1. Neon purple snowsuited lady who dissapears into the swirling snow and glaring sun before you can take a picture of her, but you swear she exists (just like the Yellowknife Yeti).

2. Lots of dog shows, fashions, poop, owners, leashes, races, sleds, barking. Everything revolves around these 4-legged critters.

3. No caribou, oddly enough, or derivatives thereof (i.e. burgers).

4. No muskox burgers.

5. Lots of johnsonville bbqed sausages from down south.

6. Japanese tourists - usually easily identified by the red rental parkas are now slipping amongst us unseen thanks to this years hotness - new blue rental parkas.

7. Some bangin fireworks.

8. Yuppie mothers and their 1000$ carriages that still get stuck in the snow. I use 'yuppie' as a derogative term, but in reflection it is an acronym for my own circumstance and not really a bad thing. Though i still dont like 1000 $ carriages. For 1000 $ a carriage should be rocket propelled and have mag-lev capabilities.

9. Lots of people in from the northern communities in for a last hurrah before the snowroads melt and they are once again more or less (more more than less) stuck again.

10. Me in various 15 minute intervals over the weekend as the events only really entertain for that long. I kept going back hoping to be more entertained to no avail.

Here are some pictures. Also, as an aside this is a funny article that reminds me of my old dog who passed the worst gas after eating from the compost pile, but this is a man. http://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/story.php?story_id=411


This is the dog fashion show. I had an easy time composing this picture as when applying the rule of thirds the wide-ass in the middle took up an entire third. Note the dogs who dressed their owner in pink camoflage (only good if youre trying to fade out of sight from someones drug induced haze) and took her to the fashion show.
This is a mouse in cheese snow sculpture. It really doesnt look like thats what it is from this angle.
This is more snow sculptures and a view down to the lake where the rest of the fesitivites take place.

Dogs and sleds and sleds and dogs.
Again. There's a lot of people watching this thing.
I finally bought some wheels. The cool thing is that the guy who sold it to me said it can fly. No. Just kidding. This is the ugly dog and wife, or truck and dog contest or something.
The snow sculpture is ok. It's a tee-pee. Priceless is the mascot who is standing around.
That is once again the end.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

St. Patrick's Day

Light is brighter, days are longer. Spring is coming (slowly). While those of you down south are celebrating the return of 15C, we here are celebrating the return of balmy -20C. How are we celebrating? St. Patrick's day.

St. Pats day in yellowknife involves attendance at the only 'traditional' pub in town - the Black Knight - which is conventiently located accross the street from my apartment. That's where it begins anyway. Like most good nights it progressed to the Raven (aka dirty bird) and to the leisure cafe where, as always, some of the most interesting people made an appearance.

Here's your pics:

The Knight.

Leisure Cafe. Note the number of layers and belly size of Mr. Purple. No idea who these guys are.
The Loch Ness monster visited the table at the cafe.
Imagine these turned right way up and consider they have been in this heated glass prison for all eternity - now doesnt that sound good?

The end of my combo B and the night.
Earlier at the Knight.

My menu is an aeroplane.
Heater and airconditioner unit. Paradoxism.



Thats enough.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Snow Castle Extravaganza.

Friday I went to a party at the snowcastle that the Snow King builds every year on the Great Slave Lake. Here are some pictures. Here is the link to my review on it (it'll be up sometime this week i think, so wait for it) - www.ykatnite.com


Standin' round.
Sittin' around.
The Ice Bar.
Some Parka Limbo, dance room.
Can not breath and take pictures at the same time.
Some more Parka Limbo.


The 'bistro' - sitting on logs at ice tables.


Same thing!


Beer gets colder not warmer. If you dont drink quick enough, it freezes! Beer slush!
Dancing under the open sky is cold.

Also, while writing my review i was looking for how to spell conga line (with an 'a' or an 'o') I stumbled on the following directions which made me laugh for some reason:

How to Behave on a Conga Line
A conga line need not be a kitschy embarrassment. It can be fun.

Instructions
STEP 1: Wait for an appropriate song. Anything with a heavy beat will do.

STEP 2: Find a partner or join an existing conga line. Do not try to persuade anyone who seems reluctant to join a conga line.

STEP 3: Enter the line. Do not be first if you can avoid it.

STEP 4: With your hands, move the hips immediately in front of you artfully from
side to side. The idea is that each person "leads" the person in front - you are not following the person in front of you. You are spontaneously choreographing her.

STEP 5: When someone joins the line behind you, move your hips as instructed by her. Your movements may not correspond to the movements of the person in front of you.

STEP 6: Snake around the dance floor. Kick each heel, as in the "Hokey Pokey," as appropriate.

STEP 7: Continue moving forward until you're tired of it. Tips & Warnings
Athletic people make for a more lively conga line, but large people make for a more impressive one.

Note:
1. Conga lines are particularly effective outside traditional tropical contexts. Russian weddings, for example.
2. The conga line is not to be confused with the Trinidadian wine dance. Do not attempt the Trinidadian wine dance without an actual person from Trinidad and a medical team present


Thats all!