BT Edmonton Blogs

Honk if you like Geese!

Talk about up close and personal!    This is one healthy Canada Goose.    Birds “and humans” love Hawrelak Park … they feed off each other(heehee).    Some of the birds are so tame they let you get close enough without a zoom lens.    Bobby writes:  “My kids and I go to Hawrelak Park quite often in the summer.  This picture was taken earlier this year and we were surrounded by 15-20 Canada geese – there is very little honking from the geese, they actually hiss at you.”    I guess the goose rules the uh, roost in their own surroundings, huh?

DID YOU KNOW?    What is now Hawrelak Park used to be sand and gravel.    In fact, it was an extraction site that supplied sand and gravel for building bridges, roads, airports and other city projects, from the early 1900s on.

DON’T GET TOO CLOSE  — BUT IF YOU MANAGE TO GET A CAMERA CAPTURE OF A CREATURE - SHARE IT WITH US.    WE OF THE FRESH AIR PHOTO NATION NEED YOU!

Paradise

If ever a scene was the true definition of “Hidden Jewel” this is it, complete with the emerald coloured lake.    Lucky for Kate who came across it .. grateful we are she had camera in hand.    This is near Edson and Hinton and not far from the Little Sundance Recreation Area.    I’ll let Kate tell you the rest:  ”We went there just for a day trip and did not even know it was there.    We were going to check out Little Sundance Rec area, continued on and found this little jewel by accident…the best way I think!”

DID YOU KNOW?    If you are out on a cookout, here’s a fun recipe to turn hot dogs into spider dogs!    Cut the ends of each hot dog into quarters leaving about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in the middle uncut.    Roast them over the hot coals and watch the “legs” curl out as they cook.

SEND US YOUR RECIPE, OR SEND US TO YOUR FAVORITE SPOT.    FRESH AIR PHOTOS AIR EVERY  MORNING ON BT AND ARE FEATURED RIGHT HERE ON THIS BLOG.    UPLOAD YOUR PIC TODAY!!

I have had some time to sit back and ponder a bit on Sled Island Festival. It was, same as last year, oh so magical. Never a dull moment. In fact there were frequent moments of genius. Nothing moves me like music, I much enjoyed the barrage of new and exciting music mixed with brilliant acts from days past. A time when much of the audience still listened to Raffi.
The diverse bills around downtown and solid schedule kept everyone busy. It was like a journey or pilgrimage really. The Last Day I stuck close to main stages. The Black Lips, No Means No, Big business, The Melvins(!), Dinosaur Jr. Oh man, Overload. I sensed a bit of a drop in the energy for Saturday. The past few days were catching up on everyone. We pressed on, determined to get every last drop of the festivities. Black Lips were my favorite of the Olympic plaza players. No Means No were a surprise second. Beating out the Melvins simply because watching them made me realize that I should have caught their show the night before. The legion was Packed for Hunter Gatherer, and Peace was quite sweaty. They sounded great, even at the start when they didn’t have a kick drum. No age were pretty cool, but kind of boring. I could have used more volume on the knob twiddler’s gear. The GZA obviously tore the roof off the mother. F*ked up effectively destroyed the remains. What a riot, Damien must have popped a ton of boners over watching the festival over those 4 long days.
I know I would have.

Sigh

 Rj writes:  “This was taken from my backyard in Westlock.    It faces west so I get to see SO many beautiful sunsets.    It really helps that there’s a field there with no obstructions, I always get a nice view!”    And thank you for sharing your view with us!

DID YOU KNOW?    Here is the Science of a Sunset:  As the sun begins to set, the light has to travel farther through the atmosphere before it gets to you — so more of the light is reflected and scattered.

The color of the sun itself appears to change, first to orange and then to red.    That’s because more of the short wavelength blues and greens are now scattered — and only the longer wavelengths reach your eyes.

The most spectacular colours happen when the air contains many small particles of dust(even pollutants) or water.
These particles reflect light in all directions.

Then, as some of the light heads towards you, different amounts of the shorter wavelength colors are scattered out.

You see the longer wavelengths, and the sky appears red, pink or orange.

Sunset science

FRESH AIR PHOTOS AIR EVERY MORNING ON BT AT 7:10 — AND AS YOU MAY HAVE GUESSED, ARE ALSO FEATURED ON THIS BLOG.    JUST THINK OF IT:  WORLDWIDE FAME IS AS CLOSE AS YOUR LENS CAP.    UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO TODAY!

Swimming anyone?

How cool to look out the kitchen window and see a moose on the loose – and one that appears to be testing the waters.    Nancy is the kind of Fresh Air Photographer we like – Her camera is always within reach.    It’s not that unusual to see a moose wander into city limits away from the protection of our thick ravines.    And it’s worth a quick reminder to never ever approach a moose, it could be dangerous for you and for it.

DID YOU KNOW?    This moose is on a City Safari because our River Valley provides such wonderful living conditions for all animals.    The river valley is 7,400 hectares and is the largest stretch of urban parkland in North America.    Edmonton’s “Ribbon of Green” extends 25 kilometres along both banks of the North Saskatchewan River.

THIS PROVES THAT YOU CAN FIND A FRESH AIR PHOTO WITHOUT LEAVING THE YARD!    LOOK FOR THE “SEND US YOUR PHOTOS” LINK ON OUR MAIN WEBPAGE AND WATCH FOR IT ON BT …  OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!

I wonder how many of the millions of loyal viewers will be contacting the producers of The Bachelorette on the heels of Monday night’s episode here on Citytv.

Where were the crazies? Where was the drama? Where was the infighting? Ali’s home town dates were faaaaaaar too normal for my liking. Decent dudes, pretty well-adjusted families, reasonable conversations – I have better ways to spend two hours, thanks.

We welcomed in our BT Bachelorette panel as per usual Tuesday morning at 8:10. Luckily we had a brand new show on Citytv (that promises to be shallow and scandalous) to talk about as well…

rpj.

Good morning!

A helpful human and a satisfied swallow.    Bird watchers / bird lovers can convert pretty much anything into a nest.    This is Murray’s imagination at work to create house and home for what I have nicknamed:  Swiss Family Swallow.    Here’s the tour:  the inside is properly insulated and even has a wire screen exit ladder.    The metal hole has been sanded smooth.    The spout is plugged so the birds don’t get rained out.      

DID YOU KNOW?    In Canada, about 50 species of birds from wrens to ducks, like to nest in cavities in trees.    But those natural nest sites have been disappearing as trees are cut down or rot & die.    That is why nest boxes are so important to give our bird populations a safe and happy home.

UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO OF MOTHER NATURE OR HER CREATURES AND EARN YOUR PLACE IN FRESH AIR PHOTO HISTORY!

Just moments before we welcomed international yo-yo champion Jensen Kimmitt to BT, one of our production team members approached me with a smile on her face.

“He wants to knock a coin off your ear with his yo-yo,” she smirked.

Right. I could think of experiences I’d rather have on a Monday morning than taking an errant toy to the chops but what was I supposed to do – say no?

Having never seen Jensen perform in person, I decided to place blind faith in his championship credentials. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? Even if I did lose seven teeth in the process, we’d no doubt reach a million hits on YouTube.

As you’ll see in the video below, Jensen rose to the challenge…and then some!

rpj.

I have a bunch of photos so I am going to give you something to look at before my day 4 recap.

Vienna and Jake, pre-tailspin.

Jake Pavelka did his best impression of a cheap silver bracelet on Monday night’s episode of The Bachelorette. After a while, you had to suspect his shiny outer coating would wear off, exposing an ugly greenish tinge. The pilot-turned-aspiring actor showed what some believe to be his true colours in a nasty exchange with now-ex-fiancee Vienna Girardi.

By the end of the televised argument (a few tasty morsels wrapped in dirty laundry), I found myself actually rooting for Vienna. Could it be? Are they playing ice hockey in…well, you get the point.

I couldn’t wait for our BT Bachelorette panel to dig in to this one. Kudos to Trevor Schmidt (who made it in to our studio just hours after a visit to the emergency ward) and Carly McLennan (who filled in admirably for her sister, our regular panelist Meredith)! I’d better not deny Aubrey Chau a shout out either. Check out the video below for Tuesday morning’s 8:10 recap.

Keep an eye on our BT contests page to win your way in to our August 2nd Bachelorette finale party at Milestone’s!

rpj.