Calgary, Oh Calgary, When Did You Get So Fabulous: Food Edition Friday January 13, 2012

A couple of years ago, when I departed to Washington, Calgary had a pretty decent and growing food culture. There were the obvious staples such as Tubby Dog, Crave Cupcakes, Peter’s Drive In, Muse, The Ship Burger and of course a few other well established places. But over the past two years, the city’s food culture has really… well… matured.

Alright, matured is an odd word, but it really is the best word I can think of. (I’m honestly not trying to be condescending)

And let me preface this post by saying, that I in no way consider myself a professional foodie. I also understand that Calgary still has a way to go to rival a Philadelphia (which I’m told is the foodie place on the eastern seaboard) or even elements of DC (albeit, I’ll take a Tubby Dog over the average dogs in DC). But since leaving my beloved hometown, I’ve had the opportunity to watch and marvel at the city’s food culture from a distance.

There’s a bunch of different factors that have probably ignited this change. Obviously, one of the most overstated initiatives was the Mayor’s move to get The Food Truck concept off the ground. But a dramatic change in demographics, with a younger population benefiting from above average levels of disposable income has to be one of the strongest reasons for this growth. But what I’ve noticed is that over the past few years the number of must see eating establishments in the city has tripled. Clearly a city as young and as vibrant as Calgary is ripe for an influx of innovative new restaurants. Something that hasn’t been lost on the city’s entrepreneurs.

Since coming back in mid-December, I’ve spent most of my time back in Calgary seeking out some of the new places that I’ve heard so much about. Which is in stark contrast to last year’s trip, which was more of a reunion tour than a exploration tour.

Since arriving back home, my wife and I have had the pleasure of devouring heaps of heaven at Diner Deluxe (which I understand is really only new to me) and gorging on delicious Gluten-Free wings at the newly renovated VooDoo Lounge. During my own work-related trips into the core, I’ve had the pleasure of sampling some of Calgary’s freshly minted Food Trucks with Charcut’s Alley Burger and Perogy Boyz Food Trucks. I’ve also spent far too much time sharing conversations with old friends and downing far too many cups of divine coffee at the various Phil & Sebastian locations. Not to mention spending far too much time salivating and stocking up at the racks of spices at the Silk Road.

And the worst part about this trip back, is that I haven’t even had the chance to check out some of the other places on my predetermined hit list. Such as the donuts at Jelly Modern, the Bavarian sausage platters at WURST, the thin crust pizza at UNA or even the gluten-free menu at Milk Tiger Lounge. And that of course doesn’t even cover some of the legendary staples like the A-Bomb at Tubby Dawg (Albeit, I did have the Yukon Cornelius with my niece), the buckets of maple bacon at The District, a chocolate-orange milk shake at Peter’s or the currys that I grew up on at The Radjoot. Hell, I could go on and on and on about all the places I love in this so-called redneck town.

As I said earlier, I’m definitely no foodie. I’m more of a what’s going to clog my arteries connoisseur. If you want a real foodie’s opinion of Calgary’s scene, check out Ugonnaeatthat.com or Avenue’s Food Blog. But what I do have is the pleasure of a) distance b) separation and c) a limited time.

There’s nothing in the world more motivating than a list of places you want to try and a tight time line. (Yes, I acknowledge a month seams long, but it really isn’t). Calgary’s food scene has grown leaps and bounds in the two years I’ve been away – this trip really confirmed it. There are dozens of places that are really intriguing in this city. But what this specific trip back to Calgary has taught me, is that rather than spending time just trying to relieve old memories, it’s better to take advantage of the growing food culture in the city. Sure there are mandatory staples, but there is some far more interesting place to eat popping up in this city. It really seams like each up and coming area of the city sprouts even more unique and enjoyable treasures.

For all of you living in this fair city, take some time to enjoy some of the places hidden in the different regions of the city. You’ll be surprised what’s lingering in your back yard.

Categories: The-Calgary-Vibe, The-Food,

The Adventures 2011 Friday December 30, 2011

Oh hello there. You probably thought I had forgotten about playing another edition of The Adventures. I know, I know, I’ve been out of it for a while

So without further delay, welcome to the sixth edition of The Adventures Post! As with the past 6 years, The Adventures Post is where I lists the cities I’ve spent one or more nights in over the past year. The idea is completely stolen borrowed from kottke.org and has been a bit of a staple on the old c.t.overdrive.

And yes, I understand that flaunting the cities I’ve traveled to is a bit egotistical, as I know travel is something of a luxury for many. But it’s also a good way to look at the year in retrospective. And for once, my Adventures are actually quite lame this year, which only goes to show the ebb and flow of travel.

• Calgary, AB
• Arlington, VA/Washington, DC
• Topsail, NC
• Raliegh, NC
• Arlington, VA/Washington, DC
• Ottawa, ON
• Back to Arlington, VA
• Calgary, AB

Needless to say, although relatively quiet on the adventures front, 2011 was an interesting year. In our new adopted second home, we survived Thundersnow, A mini-snowpocalypse, an Earthquake, and a Hurricane. We also had the pleasure of being in Washington when the news that Osama Bin Laden was killed broke, saw the Egyptian, Tunsian and Lybian revolutions unfold, watched three congressional dramas push the US to the brink, watched Anthony Weiner torpedoed his career by tweeting his weiner and witnessed the Occupy Wall Street movement explode right in our own backyard. It’s been an incredible year and easily one that I’ll never forget.

But 2012 calls kids and more changes are in store for the overdrives… onwards and upwards.

Categories: The-Adventures, the-dc, The Inane, The Political World, The World

Happy Christmas To You And Yours - 2011 Friday December 23, 2011

Another year, and another Happy Christmas to everyone out there. And like last year, what better way to celebrate the season than with the immortal Fairytale of New York from the lovely Pogues and Kristy McColl.

P.S. The kicker of the whole video has to be Matt Dillon at the beginning of the video.

Anyways, a very, very Happy Christmas from the overdrive family.

Categories: The-Site, The-HomeLand,

Random Thoughts For The Mother of All Random Thoughts Monday December 19, 2011

See, here’s the thing, as a freelancer/business owner December and late November are the worst times of the year. Sorry, scratch that August and July are the worst times of the year. December and late November are the busiest times of the year.

Hence, the lack of Random Thought updates… or for that matter any sort of update on c.t.overdrive.

But that changes today… So for your Christmas week enjoyment, here is the Mother of all Random Thoughts.

First – Music-critic.ca, the site that Armadillo has maintained for a few years now, has launched it’s Annual Top 5 Records of 2011 feature. (And of course, one day later this month I’ll talk about my picks for 2011… I promise)

Second – Um… A Steampunk Cobra Commander T-Shirt. I must have it. This I command.

Third – The Baltimore Orioles have redesigned their branding with the retro comicbook bird symbol. Thus reestablishing him as the coolest corporate branding bird over that annoying thing they call the Fruit Loops parrot. (Thanks to Cam Hoff for the link)

Fourth – Have a web designer on your Christmas gift giving list? No? Well, good lord, what is wrong with you.

For those of you that do have a Web Designer on your list, here is the definitive list of 25 books for Web Designers and Developers. It’s okay, you can thank me later.

Fifth – In Calgary in January? Want to join in on a killer party in the middle of a snowstorm? Then High Performance Rodeo’s Snowblower Festival is where you need to be.

And don’t give me that, but c.t.o, I hate dance music. Yes, you don’t have to be a base head to enjoy a sprawling three block dance party in the middle of the Canadian Winter.

Sixth – A creepy compilation of some classic death scenes in a wide variety of video games from the 80s and 90s… all set to a digitized version of Mad, Mad World.

Seventh – It wouldn’t be a Random Thoughts without an infographic, so check out this massive depiction of our overlord Walmart’s ever growing power from Fast Company.

Eighth – The intriguing story of one of my favourite sites on the web, Vimeo, and how it forged it’s own niche within the clustered online video market.

Ninth – Speaking of Vimeo, Sleigh Bells has released a preview clip for their upcoming album. That new record is going to be called Reign of Terror , or as I will refer to it finally a new record that doesn’t sound like the soundtrack to a damn Wes Anderson movie! (Thanks to Jim Bones for the link)

Tenth – Have a kindle? Or better yet have the Kindle app on your iPhone or iPad? Then go and down load Julien Smith’s new e-book Flinch. Long time readers, will know how much admire Julien Smith and his brand of in your face motivation, so do yourself a favor and download this fantastic book.

Eleventh – The Conference board of Canada just released an interesting report detailing the potential for 11 CFL teams. To all my American friends, the CFL stands for the Canadian Football League it really does exist.

To all my Canadian readers, the only disappointing information in this report, is that it doesn’t delve into the details of how many of those franchises will be named the Roughriders.

Twelfth – The geniuses behind Obama’s 2012 re-election team are already understanding how important visual design is to the motivation of the youth vote in America. In prep for the next election cycle in November, team Barrack is already crafting contests to get print designers and graphic designers involved in getting the ball rolling.

Thirteenth – Indie game developers, Super Giant Games have released Bastion for the Chrome Web Browser. If you’ve followed the site for a while, you’ll understand my love for this game, so it goes without saying that having this game playable through your browser is an absolutely incredible feat.

Don’t believe me. Check out the trailer.

Yes, you can now play this game … in … your … browser.

Fourteenth – Speaking of indie game developers, if you think it’s easy to launch and create a simple iPhone game and become the next Angry Birds… well think again. Local calgarian game developer, Bulletproof Outlaws, has an incredible run down of what it takes to market and launch an iPhone app.

Yeah, not as easy as you think.

Fifteenth – Chris Brett is a fantastic up and coming artist from Vancouver. And earlier this month he released a little time-lapsed video of the creative process for one of his pieces of work. If you’ve got some time, definitely check it out.

Sixteenth – Thanks to Mr. Rennie for this one.

Seventeenth – A small Canadian (actually Albertan) board game developer has broken records on KickStarter for funding of their new cooperative board game D-Day.

A couple things which makes this such incredible news. For one thing, any small Canadian company to break records on Kickstarter is a pretty incredible feat, but to do it for a dice board game in this techno-centric society… That right there, is a feat to be proud of.

Very well done guys.

Eighteenth – I was going to post the trailer for The Expendables Two, as I thought that would be the most 80s inspired sequel of all time… but then I saw the sequel for the 2nd G.I.Joe movie.

Alright, it’s rare that a movie that was such an epic (and by proxy hilarious) disaster turns into a sequel in which I can’t wait to see. I know, the director’s pedigree is Step Up 3D and The Justin Beiber Doc, but come on, it has Bruce Willis. Everyone knows that Bruce Willis is pure gold..

Well except for that whole Hudson Hawk thing in the late 90s.

Nineteenth – Speaking of Obama and print design, Shepard Fairey, the genius behind the Hope poster and one of my personal graphic design idols, was commissioned to do the TIME 2011 person of the year cover.

Twentieth – By the way, do you want to know the track in that G.I.Joe trailer? It’s Glitch Mob’s Seven Nation Army Remix.

The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army (The Glitch Mob Remix) by The Glitch Mob

Categories: The-Random, The-Site, The ArtWorld, The Blogosphere, The Books, The Calgary Vibe, The Canada Vibe, The Comrades, The Craziness, The Humourous, The Inane, The Music, The Nationals, The Political World, The Pop-Culture, The Soapbox, The Southern Neighbours, The T-Shirts, The VideoGames, The World, Want To Be A Web Designer

#occupyendgame Tuesday November 15, 2011

Update: Well it looks like Zuccotti Park isn’t officially shut down, that being said I think these takes are still applicable for the next couple of weeks.

It was inevitable, but as many now know NYPD was shut down Occupy Wall Street late last night. This of course shouldn’t surprise anyone. Even as a casual observer, it was pretty clear that the physical occupations would eventually end, either voluntarily or by physical removal.

So with the slow end of the physical manifestations of the movement, one of the overwhelming questions of the Occupy Wall Street movement comes back to the forefront of the discussion.

What Is The End Game of Occupy Wall Street?

With the symbolic epi-center now closed, the simplest talking point is that without the camps, the movement is dead.

I’m sure that will be the overwhelming stance taken by the whole movement’s critics, but anyone who has even remotely followed the events over the past two months will be able to see the holes in that argument. I’ve had the privilege of observing the movement as Canadian living in the US and I can safely say that the Occupy Wall Street movement has laid the ground work for some interesting change in the next few months.

What Changed?

By taking the smallest step back and looking at the events in a holistic view, it’s clear that conversations in America have changed. In early September, the average American wasn’t dissecting The 99% vs 1% , nobody was discussing The 53% vs 47% and they certainly weren’t making closing accounts at major banks. The average citizen wasn’t discussing Income Inequality, crippling student loan debt, the hardships fallen on the unemployed veterans and pushing for the rich and elite to pay their fair share. There were no calls for a General Strike in Oakland and there certainitly wasn’t any disruptions to the daily routine of Washington Politicians. So it goes without saying that the Occupy Movement has at least changed the political debate.

While messages are only a small element of the entire storyline, also don’t discount some of the most recent policy initiatives from The White House. Reforms pushed through to help relieve student loan debt and a push to encourage businesses to hire more veterans, were likely influenced by the hundreds of students and marines standing with the Occupy encampments. It wasn’t by chance that these announcements were made at the same time as the occupy movement gained stregthen – everyone knows that coincidences in politics are very rare.

So while no dictators were toppled as in the Arab Spring of 2011 and the fringe anti-capitalists didn’t get their dream anarchist society; the Occupy Wall Street movement has struck a nerve with the average American citizen.

So What is Next?

In my gut, I’ve always thought that most of the camps would close down in the next two-three weeks. Anyone who has slept in a tent for more than two days, will tell you how unfaltering of an experience it is. And as the holiday season approaches, the audience for political discourse will inevitably shift focus towards Christmas shopping and Turkey dinners. That of course is just human nature.

And while that was only my gut feeling, it appears I wasn’t alone in this thought. In an interview yesterday, Adbusters founder, Kalle Lasn called for the tents to close down. (BTW, Adbusters is the Canadian magazine that initiated the whole concept).

… hours before the Occupy Wall Street camp was raided by the police, the editors of Adbusters, the Canadian, anti-consumerist magazine that dreamed up the movement, suggested that it might be time for the protesters to “declare ‘victory’ ” and scale back the camps before winter sets in.

So with the camps closing, what is really next?

In my opinion, it’s far too early to discount what Occupy will do to the political rhetoric in the US. In a similar manner to how the Tea Party movement didn’t just end after people left the National Mall after Beck-a-pooloza in 2010, the real effect of Occupy Wall Street will be seen in the next set of American elections. If the conversation surrounding the 2012 presidential elections revolves around income inequality, the fair share of the rich and the lack of social mobility in the US, then the occupy movement will have become a success.

But in the meantime, my feeling is that you’ll see many academics, bloggers and pundits picking up the mantel from where the occupy camps left off. Eventually you’ll see politicians incorporating some of the concepts into their platforms. I’ve alluded to some of the changes in the current administrations policies, and I have a feeling those types of changes will trickle down. In an interesting opinion piece for the New York Times, Jeffrey D. Sachs discusses the possible next steps for the average citizen and I think there is some validity in sentiments of a potential third Progress Movement (albeit some of them are quite Utopian).

The young people in Zuccotti Park and more than 1,000 cities have started America on a path to renewal. The movement, still in its first days, will have to expand in several strategic ways. Activists are needed among shareholders, consumers and students to hold corporations and politicians to account. Shareholders, for example, should pressure companies to get out of politics. Consumers should take their money and purchasing power away from companies that confuse business and political power. The whole range of other actions — shareholder and consumer activism, policy formulation, and running of candidates — will not happen in the park.

So is the closing of the symbolic Zuccotti Park camp the end game? I don’t think so. It actually seams more like the inevitable next step in it’s evolution. Sure the physical manifestations of this spontaneous movement may have ended, but there are too many potential outcomes, and really only time will tell… and for me, that really is the most intriguing part of this whole exercise.

With that I’ll leave you with an interesting comment from the Occupy Wall Street PR team as they were being evicted from Zuccotti Park. Yes, it’s a bit fluffy and philosophical, but it is an interesting last volley.

Such a movement cannot be evicted. Some politicians may physically remove us from public spaces – our spaces – and, physically, they may succeed. But we are engaged in a battle over ideas. Our idea is that our political structures should serve us, the people – all of us, not just those who have amassed great wealth and power. We believe this idea resonates with so many of us because Congress, beholden to Wall Street, has ignored the powerful stories pouring out from the homes and hearts of our neighbors, stories of unrelenting economic suffering. Our dream for a democracy in which we matter is why so many people have come to identify with Occupy Wall Street and the 99% movement.

Categories: The-Southern-Neighbours, the-political-world,