Interesting Bow River

I went for a run to the Bow River Pathway but it was so damn cold that I decided just to have a few minutes of walk, take a few photographs and go back home. There they are:

Round Ice! This actually was taken yesterday in Fish Creek Provincial Park, of course by the Bow River. It was spinning at the same spot seen in the photo! 

There are a few signs similar to this put up at different locations around Bow River. Each has a question. You can find out more about them at: http://www.asktheriver.info/

A teacher discussing a topic. Very convincing.

Funny!

Someone drew this funny cartoon showing a middle finger indicating they not caring about defacing city walls!

Not a White Christmas

I went for a walk and run in the morning today and although it had been said that there would be a chance of snow or flurries, I saw mostly a partially cloudy sky by Bow River. I start my walk at Carburn Park at the east side of Deerfoot Trial, went north on Bow River Pathway and went back. I ran a few last minutes of route and went to the other side of the river where there is a fenced off-leash area and I assume it's Sue Higgins Park. At least it's what Google Maps shows! This actually is a very good idea that has been executed by the municipality because at times it's really frustrating dealing with the dogs on the pathways. They come to you and some expect you to pet them and some look for treats. Just today I had to watch at least 4 damn dogs that the idiot owners did not have them on leash.

Anyways the weather was cold and although I had enough on, I wasn't very comfortable but finished my exercise. Workers were working on the ice rink to make it ready, I guess for tomorrow. I also saw city workers in Prince Edward's Island doing the same thing. We haven't started our skating yet and we should or we will not be ready for the time we will have to go to Olympic Oval. 

(Photo: Bow River and Downtown Calgary in distance from Bow River Pathway at the east bank of the river)

The Nosedive Continues!

The price of Crude Oil continues to go down and subsequently is the gasoline price. Many might like that but many might lose their jobs as a result of that. Nothing has been announced by my employer yet and people are generally stay positive. We'll see in the next few months.

(Photo: A Shell gas station in Calgary shows 87.9 Cents per liter for regular gasoline. That might encourage some to take a trip outside town including me who is looking for a short hike this week, if everything else goes well)

Interstellar

Finally watched this new movie that almost everyone is making a big deal about and it has been in the news for weeks: Interstellar. First of all Interstellar means something situated or occurring between stars. For someone whose first language is not English, I think, it is important to know what the name of the movie means, first. Second of all this has brought attention and interest because it is a Nolan movie and its lead actor is McConaughey. So what’s the big deal with this British guy, Nolan? He is the director of The Dark Knight series (or trilogy as most like to call it). The movie was a commercial success particularly because of the now deceased Australian actor Heath Ledger and of course the fact that the movie is about a superhero, Batman! Ledger, I guess had been walking on a ledge for too long and eventually carelessness or maybe just bad luck made him fall to his demise. No! That’s not what happened to him, unlike other starts! I don’t think he had a drug or alcohol problem. He was suffering from Insomnia. I had never seen his performance prior to The Dark Knight but I knew he had the lead role also in Brokeback Mountain, a movie about a homosexual cowboy and that has been filmed in Alberta.

Anyways I never liked The Dark Knight. I wanted to watch it when it first came out in 2008 or 2009. I lived in Coquitlam at the time. I didn’t as my roommate didn’t want to and I didn’t want to just go by myself. Then I purchased the DVD a few years after that for $10. I tried to watch the long movie a few times and although I like actions, I never was able to finish it.

The fact is Americans are obsessed with superheroes. There is barely any month passing without a movie about these fictional characters: Superman, Batman, Captain America, you name it! In my opinion too much of something eventually ruins its pleasure. Imagine eating Hamburger every day! How would you feel? I really liked the first Batman movie when it came out first in 1989 (Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton) although I never had the chance to watch it in a movie theater. A bit of other following Batman movies were OK as well but then it became too much to handle and too boring. I thought I had a question about the movie and that was: Why did American who barely liked any foreign movie, liked this one? A good example of that would be Blade Runner. I liked it very much but it was not as big of commercial success as other American movies although it has Ford as its lead role actor. I found the answer very soon: The Dark Knight is about an American fictional character, Batman and it must be a big success and it was.

Let’s go back to Interstellar. Interstellar is a difficult movie to understand if you want to go to its detail. It’s difficult to understand even for the ones whose their native language is English basically because it discusses physics and astronomy matters. I found it tedious for that reason and I could not help looking at my watch every 45 minutes or so. But why did people go to watch Interstellar? Maybe because of the recent McConaughey’s success and also Nolan as the director. Maybe they were expecting something as god as The Dark Knight! I wanted to see what happens at the end because that’s what you want to see when you go to movies and then I had paid a little over $1! It would have been very disappointing to leave, had I left the movie house before it came to its end. The end though was quite disappointing for me: Time travel was the point. Every time Time Travel is introduced I find it confusing and messed up! You see things that you have done and made you to come here and you cannot do anything about that or … I don’t know. It is all confusion. The other problem with Interstellar is lack of enough excitement, something you normally expect in a science-fiction/space movie. Apart from a few scenes, that I liked very much, you don’t see usual challenges that astronauts face in their voyages but that could be because the movie focuses on scientific facts about travels between galaxies for search of new habitable planets. Visual effects are good. I specifically liked the spaceship and the walking robots but the sound sucked in the movie theater that I watched it (Scoriabank Chinook). I guess there was a technical problem and it had nothing to do with the movie. The sounds and music overcame the talking in the entire movie. That made it even harder for me to understand. Actors and actresses performances were all acceptable. I didn’t know Demon had a role until I saw him in the middle of the story but his character is woken up by the other astronauts from a long hyper-sleep has a minor evil role and then kills himself! I like the plot and story except for the time travelling part at the end. Although it might have been the entire purpose of the movie! This is what it is: People of earth are having difficulties on their daily life due to different issues including Dust Bowl and NASA secretly has this plan of sending astronauts to search for habitable planets outside our galaxy, if I’m not mistaken. Cooper, who is said excessively in the movie that is the best pilot NASA ever had, accidentally finds this NASA research and lunch location (maybe not accidentally. The coordination of NASA secret lunch pad and center is somehow given to him through a Morse code which will later, at the end of the movie is revealed that had been sent to them by him! Time travel games) and was offered this great opportunity of being the pilot of a NASA secret mission to the infinity and beyond!

I also wanted to mention this part that Demon appears and I almost forgot. Demon, as I indicated earlier, was visited by other astronauts, Cooper and Hathaway (One character name and one real name!) and woken from his long hyper-sleep. He was on this planet (or maybe a moon, I don’t recall completely. I should watch the movie again) which has 67-hour cold days and 67-hour colder nights and seems to be not much of a desirable place for Earth people to live their life there. In the beginning of the movie when the mission is discussed with Cooper, he is told that there are two plans for the voyage that they should consider: Plan A and Plan B. Here I’m again lost. I didn't quite get it whether they were there to save Demon and there was no Plan B or something else but Demon’s character gets in to a fight with Copper, breaks his Spacesuit helmet and tries to kill him but Cooper somehow (and magically as he is the lead role!) saves himself and goes back to the spaceship. Demon here seems to be trying to get to the main module and somehow makes this mistake of opening a hatch which depressurizes part of the module and kills him. Here the challenge becomes to going back to the travel module because that’s how they travel! Since Copper, again, is the best pilot NASA ever had, he manages to attach to the main module using his skills and help of the robot of trip, the character I liked very much. Here I guess again I was lost because I don’t remember whether the Black guy is in the module or somewhere else but that trip to the cold planet took them a few hours or days at the most but cost the Black fella and people of Earth a good 23 years! This again is part of this time travel thing and going through Black-holes and Wormholes! I guess they cause their trip to be much shorter.

The end of the movie is clear and obvious. Cooper is back (but not to Earth) while his fella astronauts are all gone. He actually is saved and he ages 110-years, I guess. His daughter who happens to become a NASA scientist and helped this journey to accomplish is now on a hospital bed surrounded by her family. They exchange a few words and show signs of affection and she asks him to leave because apparently parents aren't supposed to see their children’s death. And that’s the end of the movie. This last part happens on a sort of space station, similar to what is shown in Elysium, meaning that the mission has been accomplished and people of Earth are saved. This last scene was a bit lame because it was apparent that the director or production designer or whoever in charge of that part had not tried hard enough to create a little more real environment for the people who have left their habitat to have a better life. Or maybe the director wanted to stress that what the audience might have seen in Elysium is what they would get!

I have to watch this movie again to fill the gaps and understand it completely and I will. And yes it is definitely recommended. There is barely any science-fiction/space movie that I refrain from going to although there have been quite a few that I had been very disappointed at the end. One last thing: Interstellar is a rare movie that the audience can expect a sequel to. 

(Photo: Astronauts are walking on the surface pf  one of the planets that is supposed to be a habitable one for human. It turns out shortly after this scene that the plan is not what they thought it would be. The first one whose his spacesuit is a bit different from the other ones is Matt Demon)

I Like the Crude Price a Lot

The price of crude oil is going down on every single day like a big piece of ice melting and going down the drain! There's nothing like that in life that I like better. I will laugh at all the idiots who bought 600K+ homes after only a year and and a half working for these stupid Downtown companies. A society which is based on fake price of not such an important commodity, deserve collapsing. Housing market is going to crash and other industries will suffer as well. No doubt that this City is in a catastrophic situation and needs it. Maybe that's how  people stop from coming here and turning it to a big toilet it is now!

It's said that different factors play in this significant decline in crude price:

1- Saudi Arabia deliberately did not agree to reduce production in the recent OPEC meeting.

2- The US's production has gone up. 

3- There's not much demand in the market. I wonder if it has to do anything with the weather which has not been cold in the past 10 days. 

4- Stronger US dollar.

Good luck losers to get back on track! You're gonna suffer for long enough now! 

(Photo: This chart shows the changes in crude price since Sep. this year which has been mostly downward. This is for West Texas Intermediate which is the benchmark for North America production, Mexican and Canadian price are normally way lower than this)

German Trip (10): Unknown Soldier Tomb

The tomb was originally erected in front of the former Army Museum in Munich, the building which is the State of Bavaria administrative department, the government similar to the provincial government in Edmonton, for example. I was coming from the other site, on the sidewalk parallel to Franz-Josef-Straus and noted the building and not knowing what it was, wanted to enter because the building with its nice architecture was very welcoming. An old police officer, in full uniform, was coming towards me when I was getting close to the entrance and I noticed that he was looking directly at me. I asked him a question similar to if public access to the building was permitted and he told me, in very fluent English, that it was a government building and not open to the public.

I went around the building and found myself in Hofgarden. It was when I realized the structure in a sunken part, surrounded by thick stone walls. When I went inside, and it seemed to me that no one else was interested in that partially-cloudy day, I saw the tomb. The provided information, curved in the walls was in German but I could understand the WWI era mark by looking at the 1914-1918 writing.

It was a surprise as why a war memorial which commemorates the Great War German soldiers still stood there intact. The shrapnel wounds are still clearly visible on the pillars of the State Government building after more than 70 years. It is remarkable that it survived all the heavy bombing and ground attacks.

The old photos from Nazi Germany era show soldiers guarding the crypt-like memorial just like the way the soldiers are guarding the National War Memorial in Ottawa and one of them was shot dead by the radicalized maniac. No soldier is guarding or posing for respect there today but the WWII notes and marks are also added to the memorial plaque which again brings surprise to me. This reminds me of the Japanese authorities a few years ago who had visited the Japanese WWII dead graves or cemetery and had a few remarks in that regard which caused anger and displeasure within the Chinese because by visiting and showing respect to those who lost their life during the WWII, people actually approve their actions, or maybe that’s how I see it.

Hofgarden, as I explained earlier has a nice outside restaurant/café, still is in business and it was the fuhrer’s favorite hangout in beautiful summer days of Munich. It was closed due to the weather and also maybe the time of visit or perhaps they were only serving inside when I visited Hofgarden but the tables and seats where positioned quite similar to what you may see in the old photos showing Hitler’s visits at the time. 

(Photo: I couldn't get a good shot but the tomb seems to be similar to what it originally put: A soldier in full gear laying on the floor, in peace) 

The US Sanctions

The US has economic sanction in Iran and a few other countries for years. I don't care about the other countries but would like to write a few lines about the Iran's. Has it been hard on Iran in the past 30 years and so that the US has started them? Yes. Without a doubt. The country has probably lost billions of dollars to that. No one is actually able to calculate it but it's a lot. This is one example:

A few weeks a buddy of mine contacted my and wanted me to get a quote from an engineering company that he had already found on the Web in regards to an equipment that they are to fabricate after the bid they have won. He explained to me a bit and I e-mailed the guys. They requested a few detailed drawings of the items. My buddy sent a bunch and I asked her to get rid of the logos, any name or in general anything that associates with Iran. He said he did and sent me a few files both in DWG and PDF formats. There were a few times of corrections and a few revisions and after so many e-mail exchanges the guys came back to me with this short e-mail that since the equipment would be installed and operated in Iran, they could not provide any service to us!

I of course didn't mind that and kind of had anticipated that. I just forwarded the message to my buddy. He now says that since most of the calculations had been done, it won't affect their project that much! So I don't know but I guess he could have been smarter and sent clear drawings. I'm not doing anything illegal here and that piece of machinery was nothing but a solid structure sitting somewhere like a platform and he just wanted them to calculate the side forces of wind on the structure but he screwed it up. I hope he will be OK! 

(Photo: This cartoon, I hope it is OK by its artists that I am showing it here, depicts different US sanctions on different nations. Cuba is another country which has been under such sanctions for the past 50 years or so. North Korea and a few others one should also be added to the list)

Roosevelt in Calgary after 71 Years!

This weekend we tried something new which ended in a happy result. We went to Roosevelt in 17th Ave., SW for drink and dinner. Roosevelt is not new to the neighbourhood. They used to operate under Jack's name but when they renovated the whole place, they changed the name as well. I guess it was 2 years ago. Maybe 3. I'm not sure whether there's a relationship between this Roosevelt and the former presidents of the US, Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt but this one might not be as famous to outsiders. Even I, as an outsider, didn't know there were two presidents of the US named Roosevelt and the only reason I even knew there was a US president named Roosevelt is that him, Josef Stalin and Winston Churchill had a sort of conference in Tehran during the Second World War. According to the history documents, they gathered in Soviet Embassy in Tehran to discuss the ways to defeat the then Nazi Germany. That was 28-Nov-1943 surprisingly and almost 71 years before we went to Roosevelt Food and Drinks in Calgary! I don't know if there's any relationship between Franklin and Theodore but I do know that it was Franklin who joined the other two leaders in Tehran. 

Anyways we didn't have to wait because it was a booked occasion and wine was on the table. A waitress took our orders and although I'm not a wine guy I have to admit that I enjoyed a few sips of Red Wine (which I don't even know the brand) and of course my single bottle of beer.

The atmosphere is nice and well-decorated and it had additional decoration for Christmas. The kitchen is an open one so you can see what they are doing and there are not nasty business, not many, I would say. Everything is made before your eyes. 

For appetizer I ordered a sort of Pumpkin Soup which was good. I wanted to have Winter Salad as I'm a salad guy but The Lady advised against that citing its portion size but when other orders came I realized we were wrong. The salad looked very nice and the portion was appropriate for an appetizer. 

There was a fine gap between the appetizer and dinner. I had Turkey and side items which again was fine in terms of portion. Here I can't be sure they prepared it in the kitchen. My guess on this one is that they buy it made, and they thaw it in microwave or something. I have made Turkey myself and 

From Left, sited: Josef Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in the Soviet Embassy in Tehran in Nov-Dec 1943 discussing the Second World War problems. I still can understand why Hitler decided to invade Soviet Union while they had signed a treaty? He would not have destroyed itself that fast, had he refrained from launching Barbaroasa Operation which was his plan to invade and capture former Soviet Union.

although this one didn't taste like a turkey just out of oven, I have to say that it was good. I don't know if there's any restaurant serving fresh out of oven turkey. Maybe a few upscale restaurants and during Christmas. 

The Lady had Steak which she liked. There were fatty attached pieces that she simply cut them off.. Side items were Purple Potato, Asparagus and maybe other things that I could not see in the ill-lit place!  

We had again a good gap between our dinner and dessert. The dessert was of course not from the desert but I was a bit surprised by the size of my slice compare to The Lady's. It's not a big fuss but she had two pieces and I had one but I'm going to assume that is how they serve. I have to add that I stayed busy with the Red Wine in between the dinner and dessert which gave me a satisfactory feeling. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert. I was expecting a little bigger slice but that's fine. It's obvious that they had added the cream, halved strawberry and mint. The mint leaves, honestly gave the dessert an extra taste and pleasure. The cheesecake itself was OK but I would have preferred it served chilly but it was kind of lukewarm felt like taken out of microwave and left outside to cool down but that's what normally restaurants do. 

The place was fully packed and I could barely see any empty table. It seemed overstaffed to me such as another restaurant the we were too I guess 2 years ago but they seem all busy. We might go back again if we are in mood of meaty food and booze and a nice environment and it's definitely recommended to Western food lovers (and even other food lovers as the restaurant serves other types of cuisines) and drinkers. 

(Photo, top: A type of Thai Salad, I guess which is served with White Rice, Lettuce Head and some sort of Sauce. This was not part of our menu and I took it after talking to one of the guys but I would not have ordered even if it had been on the menu as I stopped eating Rice and most starchy foods long time ago but sure looks good and I'm sure tastes good as well. The sauce could be Apricot sauce but I'm not sure)

The Second Wave of Cold

Arctic hit Calgary for the second time this year yesterday. I was snowing all day and wind was blowing the snow in to the face of a few pedestrians on the sidewalks. I didn't want to go anywhere like the last time so I went to the exercise room on the treadmill. It was warm and cozy while outside was dark and scary cold. Even I didn't want to risk it! 

The morning was not so bad. Only -24 degrees C(!) but I easily got the car started and take The Lady to work. The cold just make you lazy because you know you have to put a whole lot on and you are too lazy to do that so don't move much. That's probably why the coffee houses and bars gets packed jam in winter days like this. 

(Photo: The bedroom window was seen frozen from inside for the first time. I had seen something like this before but not in this building. The exhales are warm and as soon as they hit the chilly window all the vapour crystallize and stick to the glass)

Flu Shot: A Big Scam

For people who come to Canada, there are many new concepts. The majority of them good but there are a few evil ones that they have to be smart enough to stay away from. I'm not going to talk about the obvious ones but the ones that people are not aware of and there's lost of advertisement for it, will be hopefully explained and opened up here, as much as possible. 

One of the biggest scams in Canada is Flu Shot. Influenza is a type of sickness, if I could call it, which could be caught through virus. So if virus is the cause of this illness, why all of a sudden in winter everyone hoists the flag! I have been living over 10 years in Canada (the exact number of years is irrelevant here) and of course many more years in Iran and never got any Flu Shot and never got sick that bad. The worst that has ever happened is that I had a soar throat and runny nose which went away after 2 or maximum three days of eating hot soup, fruits and maybe at the most, taking 1 or two pills. One might ask how that happened. I tell you that I was running in subzero temperature on Bow River Pathway and while I was sweaty all over my face, wind constantly blew to my head for a period of 10 or more minutes and got be sick. Had I not gone for running or had I covered my face or had I not sweated that much, I would have never gotten sick. 

The thing about Flu Shot is being free. So why do you think the drugstores and supermarkets offer this great health benefit for free?! It's clear: By stepping in the drugstore or whatever the business might be, you think of doing your shopping too. You see this item for a good price and the other one for half the price and by the time you step out, the business has earned enough money which could not have earned if charged you for that useless shot! 

Are the governments aware of the scam? It is another question which might come to mind. My answer is the government are aware of everything. They either have no power to react, react in a lame manner or shut up if it is in their profit. In case of Flu Shot, to be honest I don't know what the classification might be(!) but I do know that if the governments were really concerned about the well-being of their citizens they would do something about all the junk food joints, garbage provider  restaurants, artificial colours and flavours that the food manufacturers add to their products and many more health hazards in the food and beverage industry which sends many to hospitals, clinics and morgues every year. So don't mind the governments. As long as they are elected with big salaries and can put on their fancy suit or go to the Cancun vacations, they don't care about these stuff. So do yourself a favour this year and stay the hell away from the stupid, time-wasting Flu Shot lines. Deprive the businesses from the profit and give the governments a big mid-finger.

(Photo: A sign encouraging people to get Flu Shot in one of the businesses in the town. You can see signs everywhere outside and inside, everywhere)

Cell Free

I have been cellphone free since I returned to Canada from my trip and I feel really good, actually much better compare to the time I had a cellphone. I do not believe you find anyone without a cellphone these days, even among the elderly or very poor. I have to following reasons as why I feel so much better without a cellular phone, or as some call it in other countries, a mobile phone: 

1- I don't have an extra bill to pay every month.

2- I don't have to be worried about delayed payment which might affect my credit and get daily calls.

3- I don't have to be worried about forgetting my handset somewhere.

4- I don't' have to charge the battery every few hours or days.

5- I don't have to pay for a new handset every few month or year.

6- I don't have to be worried about overcharges when I am out of the town. 

7- I don't have to be worried about the calls that I might receive while I'm driving.

8- I feel free and there's nobody to bother me when I'm home by the phone. 

9- I don't have to be worried about the blind spots. That could be at times very frustrating. 

10- I don't have to turn the cellphone off where their usage is not permitted, such as movie houses, clinics, etc.
11- I don't have to be exposed to the waves emitted by and absorbed by the cellphone which has health risks. This was the main concern when the cellphones first became popular in the old country but then the service providers realized how much money they could make out of the stupid people who waste their money on this type of equipment and they convinced everyone that there's no health risk! 

As I indicated nowadays almost everyone has a mobile phone. My old aunt who lives by herself has a land-line and a cellphone but people might say; Oh! We are worried about her when she's not home. We like to give her to call and ask her about her well-beings. They don't consider this fact that most of the time if she's out and she's not feeling well, having a cellphone is not going to change anything much. The Chef has a cellphone and he still doesn't know that you have this address book in your handset which if you add someones number, you can dial it simply by pushing the Dial button and when he or she calls you, you can see that's him or her calling you! Too bad! 

The question here is will I ever get a mobile phone again? It depends. If The Lady wants to change hers, then instead of returning it which has a very good plan, I might take it. It has so many hours plus all the coming calls free! I don't know much about the plans these days but I doubt there are many plans similar to that with that amount of monthly charge, at least in Canada.

Deutche Telecom: A Brutal System

One of the problems I had during my trip to Bavaria was making telephone calls, either nationally, to my cousin whom I couldn't visit eventually and internationally to my family. It's rather stupid that there is no telephone in rooms of Bold Hotel! It means the hotels is designed for locals who have mobile phones only while I saw foreigners in the hotel as well. It is obvious that foreigners could simply get a SIM card or local mobile phone but that would be an extra cost which normally you do not want to pay if there's a telephone in the room. So every time I needed to make a phone call, I would go down to the reception desk and made it from their phone! Good thing is they had two sets!

Once I tried to make a phone call from a telephone booth of Deutsche Telecom, as soon as I picked up the receiver a message on the display asked for 20 cents and by 20 cents I mean 20 cents of Euro. I guess that was how much it asked and then I dialed the number and started speaking and that was when the machine started asking for more money almost every 15 seconds! I guess I talked for only 2 minutes and paid around 80 cents and the second I was late to insert the damn coin, the system would cut off the call! 

I guess here in Canada if you put 30 or at most 50 cents you can talk for half an hour or maybe more. At least this is what I experienced last time in May this year. It is obvious that big telecommunication companies are trying on daily basis to empty the accounts and pockets of their customers by all the possible tricks they can use but at least have a decent service. 

The other problem with the damn Deutsche Telecom booth was the messages you saw on the screen. There was an instruction in English in the booth but I had no idea what the numbers and abbreviations showing on the screen meant and there was no instruction for them!

So if you're travelling to Germany make sure you have your mobile phone with you and get a SIM card or service the moment you land or you end up using the reception desk's phone like I did or paying countless in the stupid booths! 

(Photo: A Deutsche Telecom telephone booth close to my hotel in Geising area of Munich. I barely saw anybody go in there, maybe once. There was another one close to the station with a note of Out of Order, of course in German. I didn't see it fixed the entire 8 days I was there!)

Awakenings

The 80th and 90th, I believe, was when the good movie era was about to end. Nowadays you barely find any movie that you go to and come out satisfied. I have had terrible experiences in the past few months; regretted wasting money and time on trashes such as Monument Men, Godzilla 2014, Fury, Elysium and such. The good thing is there are lots of movies from those days and before that I haven't seen them and now I can purchase their DVD in a reasonable price. 

Awakenings is one of them where Robert De Niro and late Robin Williams work together to make this magnificent movie in 1990. De Niro has been always one of my favorites. His performance in Goodfellas and Cape Fear is unreachable. Williams, on the other hand, has never caught mu attention. The only good movie that I had seen from him was Mrs. Doubtfire prior to Awakenings. His abnormal and psychotic behaviour in his stand up comedy using too much profanity, jumping up and down and screaming and screeching was a turn off for me but I have to say that he delivers a good performance in this movie. I guess it was years before he started going down and break mentally. That is the only explanation. 

Awakenings was apparently introduced for Academy Awards in 1991 but De Niro who had a major role in Goodfellas lost it to Jeremy Irons, the actor whom I barely know and I don't recall I've ever seen him in a movie that I liked. There hasn't been much about him in the news in the past few years though. I had a look at a list of movies that he had roles in the past few year and didn't find a single outstanding one. Nevertheless he could have had a good acting in that movie. De Niro's is very natural and realistic and at the same time sad to see someone suffering from a harsh disease such as that. But why the movie has never been a big success? The answer is clear: Movies in North America are mostly an escape from reality for people who have to deal with a harsh life. Movies is like cigarette, alcohol and drugs, only less dose! That's why trashes such as Captain America, Dark Night and all other similar garbage have good earning. people tend to skip reality by watching movies not to go back to the troubles of their daily life! 

(Photo: Robin William as a research physician is helping De Niro a patient who suffers from a chronic disease to use Ouija Board to communicate with him)

Workplace Stories (15): A Blast to the Mumbling Guy

This fucking stupid stingy animal, The Mumbling Guy, has gone too far recently. I hate him so much and I'm just looking for an opportunity to give him a good lesson. Something just happened last week that made him a bit disappointed and I got happy! We were sitting and talking in his disgusting office and Newlywed, his protege I would like to call him was there as well. A New Message reminder popped up meaning that he had just received an e-mail. He looks and goes: Idiots!

I didn't know what it was but by looking at him holding his head in his hand I realised something not pleasant had happened and couldn't help with smiling! He had been scheduled to spend 4 days down in the US for a sort of meeting and the cheap, stingy, fucking bastard was so happy that he would enjoy free food and accommodation for 4 fucking days as well as being away from the office. The new message apparently had changed the venue to somewhere in Canada not too far from the office and reduced the number of the days to 2 only! He was very displeased and I could not get the grim off my face! This fucking piece of shit earns so much and still lives like he need to go to food bank every day. That made me really happy that day. Be a human motherfucker. You help no one and always beg for free food. You entire disgusting nasty lunch doesn't cost more than 2 bucks. You do all of your shopping in Wal-Mart. What the fuck else do you want, you piece of stinking crap? A hard kick in the balls which lays you unconscious?! You guys have no shame.

Johnston Canyon's -24° C Walk

It has been exactly 1 month since I had a hike today. Unlike my hike to Kehlsteinhaus as as it is said in English-language countries Eagle's Nest, although that is not its literal meaning, hike to Johnston Canyon near town of Banff felt like my morning walk to work, in another word a child's play! I truly have no idea why in the hell Johnston Canyon has been given this much credit! My guess is the trail is a perfect hike for kids age 4-10, seniors 67+ and of course the wimp, puss and not to forget the pretentious! 

So in order to give the hike a little meaning I woke up at 05:30 AM this morning, grabbed my gear and walked to the car. Ignited the engine and did a little scrapping to have it ready for a ride. I wanted to purchase gasoline. Therefore I checked the gas stations on my way to Highway No. 1 and saw a few of them showing ¢99.9 per liter which is the result of new drop of crude. Happily I drove to the last Shell gas station in the town where I saw ¢107.9! I grabbed a Latte from the nearby McDonald's, purchased the gasoline and headed west. The road was OK both in terms of traffic and ice & snow but Johnston Canyon is at least 01:40 hour drive from the city and for me who most of the time drives within the limits, it usually takes even longer. 

On my way to Johnston Canyon on Highway A1 I saw a herd of Elk grazing on the flats

There was not a single car in the parking lot when I pulled in. I had a pullover and two layers over that but they for sure didn't help much with the extreme cold of -24 degrees C! I had my earmuffs, a monkey hat,a sort of fur hat and my pair of gloves all on but they were not very helpful. The most affected parts were my soles. I tried to walk fast so I could beat the cold and it helped. The stream was frozen on the upper layer and the area looked nice. There was only a few minutes to the first fall which is called Lower Falls and then a few more gets you to the Upper Falls. I could go higher to get to the so called Ink Pots and see them and the Upper Falls from the top but there was not that much of motivation in me. I took a few photos and headed back. The entire walk didn't take more than 01:30 hours including all the stops for reading the information boards and taking photographs. I realized shortly after I started that the big camera's battery was near dying! The small camera didn't even turn on! It had lost all of its energy from the night I had gone gone to East Village! 

There was no one at the parking lot again when I went back. I guess this arctic cold had most of the hikers at home. I might make another trip[ to this location in a summer morning and of course very early before kids and seniors finish their serial and get out, just to see the area unfrozen(!) and go up the Ink Pots and maybe even further. Overall Johnston Canyon could be considered only a photography opportunity or a warm up for a real hike/scramble in the region. If you intend just to see Johnston Canyon and you are stationed in Calgary, it would be a mistake unless you combine it with another program such as a lunch in the area around (Banff, Canmore, etc.) or a picnic in the area itself. Driving for almost 03:30 hours back and forth just to see the canyon does not seem to be a good idea. 

For me it became satisfactory as I tested myself in an extremely cold condition. Apart from that I had three photography opportunities with wildlife that I used them. Otherwise it would be very disappointing trip!

(Photo, top: Even the extreme cold didn't stop the stream from running but the question is how cold the water should be to prevent it from moving completely or is that even possible? Icicle are seen at the sides)

Conquering the Cold

I finally overcame the cold and my feat today and went for a run. It was as cold as last night but the good thing was that the wind was not strong and I was able to run with a good speed for 22 min. on the Bow River Pathway! Although it was around -17 degrees C, I was relaxed and running comfortably. However I had to wait in the damn car for about 7 min. to warm its engine up and defrost the windshield! It was frozen from inside because of my exhales of last night and I had to scrape the ice! 

After shower and dinner I went to a local Safeway to buy a little food as the refrigerator was and still is mostly empty. There was barely anything in produce and fresh vegetable section that you could buy! Tomatoes were horrible which mostly are at this time of the year and I guess $2.29 for a Lb or something. The were only two Iceberg Lettuces left and each $2.99!! Grapefruits looked old and the rest were not so appealing so I quickly bought what was available and got out! 

One Hour of Walk in -14 °C

Today was a little bit better than yesterday so I promised myself to go for running. I washed the cloths after work and while the exercise room was available I felt that I could not stay inside so I put my cloths on and went out but this time I went to the east side of the Downtown when they are going to have the luxury East Village. The temperature was around -14° C and wind was blowing off and on. I soon realized that I would not be able to run! Therefore I just decided to walk around and see what has happened in the east side of the Downtown. I was hoping not to see Vancouver's Downtown East Side although the rehabilitation is right there. There were barely anybody out but I saw two runners and one homeless who was wandering around. The pathway and all the surrounding is impressive. They have reconstructed the St. Patrick's Bridge and are in the process of building high-rises in that part of the town, I believe. 

I intended two spend more time out but the cold was unbearable. I took my right hand's glove off a few times to be able to operate the camera but it was brutal! 

All the luxury is good and I think they will be expensive residence but what will they be doing with the rehabilitation center?! I don't think anyone wants to look out the window in a nice June day of Calgary and see a homeless guy with shabby cloths pissing in front of the main entrance! I have nothing against homeless people but I personally wouldn't like to see a shopping cart full of cans and bottles on my sidewalk every day or people offering each other grass cigarette or someone laying down in his blood with a knife in his back, scenes are very normal around that neighbourhood. 

I'm getting off the subject a bit and I will have to have a separate post about homelessness and who these people are but what's important here now is to keep up the exercise at least to an acceptable level in this weather.  

(Photo: This is taken from the newly reconstructed St. Patrick's Bridge looking to the west at Bow River and Downtown Calgary. The Bow is the tallest high rise almost at the center)

The Real Canadian Cold

I wanted to go for my usual jogging tonight so waited until almost 06:00 PM for the traffic getting light. And although I check the weather a few times before going out I thought to myself that it should not be very bad. I put a few layers on and went out. It was brutal! I cleaned up the car and headed for Bow River Pathway. I parked and got out. There was absolutely nobody on the path. It was intolerable! I was out for only 5 freaking min. and that was all! I had to go back to the car and drive back home! The temperature was and still is around -17 degrees C which the wind chill brings it down to -28 degrees C! The wind is of course always worse by the river. A Monkey Hat would help but what the hell! It's funny that I was thinking of going to Jasper this weekend! I don't think it will be possible!

A Redneck Stupid Disgusting Woman

There's this woman who was hired shortly after I was employed and was placed in the work station next to me. We do not work in the same discipline but she was located there in the beginning for a few weeks or months, I don't remember exactly as it was quite a long time ago, due to limited available space.

This fucking whore is crazy: Talking to herself, laughing hysterically loudly, you name it.

She gets a Starbucks coffee in the morning, of course before stepping in the office and then warms it up in the microwave to drink it!
Once we were talking and somehow we got to this discussion of buying property in this city and I go: It's not very good idea to live here forever due to its extreme arctic weather condition, 8 months long winters, etc. The bitch says: Yes! You should leave the city soon! It's obvious she has a problem with foreigners. But how the hell can you make me leave the city moron?! How about thousands more who live here and has no plan to leave? East Indians, Lebanese who have been living here for generations and few of them do not even speak their native language but know themselves as Lebanese still, Chinese who have their own Chinatown and don't even have Canadian passport! Lots of Pakistanis and Afghans!! What are you going to do about them, bitch? Don't you fucking think it's too late to change the society by telling one person, your colleague, to go!? 

One days, months after the dialogue, I was about to recycle a piece of paper and lifted the recycle bin's lid. I noticed somebody's Driver's Licence copy on the top of other papers just torn to half. I looked and it was hers! I thought to myself: how could she be so fucking stupid to reveal her personal information to everyone like that!? There is a shredder next to the bin! Indeed you're a fucking goofball. If someone wants to misuse the information you gave him/her the opportunity. 

Back to the Old Country: Day 5 (Fri. 02-Oct-14)

*** This is a postponed post ***

Woke up early because we had been to bed early. Fri. Is a disastrous day in Isfahan, I should say. The majority of the businesses either public or private are closed, I would say 99%. We just spent our time on chores. I turned the old PC of The Lady and we did a clean up for that. Then she wanted to scan a bunch of documents of hers and her siblings from the time they had been to primary school, junior, etc.  A few of the documents belong to the time that I had not been born! Food, or better to say homemade meal is usually the best time of the day in Iran. For today’s lunch we had Barely- Mushroom Soup and Eggplant-Whey Meal, both incredibly delicious.

I call this photograph The perishing and the unborn. I took it from the small garden of my in-laws in Isfahan. For other flower photographs from different places refer to: https://www.flickr.com/photos/49680327@N05/sets/72157646483091865/

In the afternoon I thought I should take a walk in the city so I got out around 03:00 PM. It was like you were walking in a graveyard! There was barely anyone on the street. It was a bit hotter than the previous days. I went all the way to where Zayandeh-Rood is supposed to be. It was very disappointing and sad to see the river is dried up. I don’t know what the real reason is but I've heard there are dams that authorities of other provinces use them for their province’s purposes. Let’s not discuss stuff like this here because the number of problems are so high that they cannot be simply discussed here in one or two posts.

(Photo, top: I took this picture before getting into cab where we had been to do a few administrative stuff. I do not know the name of the rock, unfortunately)

Planet of the Apes

I was finally able to see a good movie after a few disappointing ones (Godzilla, Fury) but this one is a movie from 46 years ago which I bought from HMV: Planet of the Apes. It is such a brilliant movie that makes it hard to believe that it has been made over 4 decades ago!

Most of the elements in the movie are awesome. A great location is chosen, although even for me who has never been to Grand Canyon, it didn't take long to realize they are there. The story is good and the acting is acceptable for the time. The dialogues of the movie, especially for someone who his first language is not English is a bit hard to understand because they use the words and terms which are barely used in today's conversations. 

A question might be what is the sequence of 1) Planet of the Apes, 2) Rise of the Planet of the Apes and 3) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, while they are other movies in the franchise as well? There is no doubt that movies number 2 and 3 above come after another with the same sequence and there might be a few others that I haven't seen yet and the last one should be this recent movie, Planet of the Apes because according to the movie decades has passed and it is the era of the apes and humans are considered animals and they are all mute! It's a very interesting ending to a civilization! 

The star of the movie is Charlton Heston who was  a big actor at his time and I have seen Soylent Green of him which I like a lot but he owes his fame to playing bigger roles in movies such as The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur which I have not seen any and not interested in watching either. Now that I have seen this one, I'm interested to see the rest and I'm hoping a sequel to Dawn of the Planet of Apes is made.
In Rise of the Planet of Apes, the animals, the apes evolve based on a gen therapy and become able to performs activities which require wisdom. Bright Eyes is the first specimen of this kind. In Planet of the Apes, the apes thinks the one guy that they call him Bright Eyes has evolved and become able to talk! The sentence Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape! is used in both films and both times by humans but in Rise of the Planet of the Apes it is the animal control shelter guy who uses it against Ceasar while in Plant of the Apes, Heston's character uses it against his ape captors. It is obvious that these coincidences are intentional to make people connect between the movies. I would highly recommend this to anyone who like science-fiction and give it 4 out of 5 stars.  

(Photo: The scene in the movie when the spacecraft crashes into water was filmed in Lake Powell in Colorado. Here you see the film crew and actors. Heston is easily recognizable in his white spacesuit on the left)

Changes in Weather

It was said that this last Sep. was one of the warmest in Canada. I didn't feel so much warmth particularly when I went to the old country. The weather was not hot and intolerable. Unlike Sep. and Nov., this month, Oct. started itself with rain and snow right from the beginning. 

I went for a little walk yesterday and it was lightly raining but I got socked after a few minutes. So I went back and put proper clothing on so I could have a longer walk. 

I started from Stanley Park and headed south. By the time I reached Sandy Beach Park, the snow had been changed significantly by mother nature! You could barely see around yourself and in a few minutes the ground was covered with a layer of snow. 

I noticed something moved very fast when I was at St. Mary's Cemetery looking over part of the city and Mission Road. It was this little cute bunny. I could not get closer and having this little camera did not give me a better shot.

Unfortunately the trial is closed after the Sandy Beach Park. The City is doing some renovation, alteration and construction in the area. In that point I was at Calgary Golf & Country Club which, of course a private property and I could not cross into it. My initial plan was to walk all the way to North Glenmore Park but for that I had to walk Elbow Dr. until I pass the mentioned golf club and get into the Elbow River Pathway again and that is what I did not want to do, especially because my socks were socked! I had this old New Balance runners of mine on and of obviously they are not good for this type of weather. Therfore I headed back and got into the car. The entire walk took some 01:40 h which was not a very back exersice but I need more. 

(Photo, top: This is part of the Sandy Beach Park. I had not been to this part of Elbow River Pathway before but I have to say that it must be interesting and beautiful to have walks and jogs in summer here)

German Trip (9): Königsplatz and Propylaen

Munich is the birthplace of National Socialist German Worker's Party and there are still many buildings which have survived the fatal battles of the WWII and remind of German Nazis presence from late 1930s to mid 1940s. Berlin, of course, was damaged more intensively compare to other German cities and town but I don't know how Germans were resisting during the Allies invasion. I do not remember much about Koln as I didn't get the chance to view all around it due to being with a fucking jerk in my trip to that city but I will check at least 2 or 3 other German cities including Berlin and will read about them. 

Konigplatz or King Place or better to translate to English The King's Square is one of the places in the city that has surviving buildings which were very liked by the Nazis and is still standing after 69 years of war and 152 years passing their construction. The place's history goes back to King Ludwig's era. He was one of Bavaria's kings that you see and here a lot about him in different place of the city including the Residenz and Nymphenburg Palace. Propylean which is a city gate in the complex of Konigplatz evokes an entrance by the same name in Acropolis of Athens. 

This picture selected from the Internet, a website called The Third Reich in Ruins shows Hitler's bodyguard unit marching through Propylean in Nazi era. 

There is also a museum in this neighbourhoad but I didn't visit it as I had already spent too much money! This place and its magnificence, as I stated earlier was a place for Nazi marches and Hitler even hosted Mussolini once. Getting to Konigplatz is easy as there is an U-Bahn station with the same name nearby.

(Photo, top: Propylaen gate in Konigplatz. Today there are traffic lights and raods around this gate but no car can actually go through it)

Back to the Old Country: Day 4 (Thu. 01-Oct-14)

*** This is a postponed post ***

I guess we eventually got our sleeping pattern back. It was disturbing and distasteful. Today was basically spent on more administrative stuff but surprisingly the bank service was really good. The Lady wanted to pay for her passport renewal and we went to this branch of Melli Bank in Saadat Abad St. where we received professional and prompt service. Not surprisingly most of the services work half-day hours today as tomorrow, Fri. is the weekend, unlike West which Sat. And Sun. are the off days of the week. For lunch today the mother-in-law prepared Sweetbread in traditional way which was pleasant. The weather is remarkably mild and I even wear a running suit when I go out because I don’t want to be exposed to extreme sunlight.

We went to this confectionery across from the street, called Sogol in the afternoon and purchased a box of pastry (around 1 Kg) for approximately Rls. 155,000 which equals to almost CND$ 5. Pastry is a very common desert in Iran and regardless of its bad effects on health because it is full of sugar and made in unsanitary shops, mostly, it is very tasty in a way you want to finish the whole box. This one was not that very appealing. It was OK though. One important factor in enjoying a nice piece of pastry is that they should be served chilled and since they were kept in a sort of window refrigerator I thought they were cold enough but they were not. Of course I kept the remaining in the fridge for the next use. 

After that, and I think it was around 08:00 PM that I noticed I could not keep my eyes open any longer and simply went to bed right around that time! Jet Lag affect is still in effect!

(Photo: Sweetbread Meal pot in its traditional way before it is put in the slow cooker. It is very tasty but you should go easy on it)

Fury: The Most Stupid War Movie Have Ever Seen

One thing for sure I did when I returned from my trip was to check what's on the big screen. I realized a few movies and added them to my schedule to watch them all. Fury was one of them which I caught today but DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY ON FURY. IT IS A TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT! 

This is supposed to be the story of an American tank commander who leads his crew through the WWII and promises them to keep them alive. The story has a very slow beginning and is nothing but a few soldier talk full of profanity and that is it. Then there is a battle scene almost after 45 min. which reminds the audience he or she is watching a war movie. 

At this point the Americans reach a small town and capture it with not much difficulty and then settle down for a rest. I forgot to mention that before this scene, the Sergeant, the commander tries to man one of his new crew up, the one who's a young fella and has no war experience and for that he forces him to shoot a captured German soldier, a POW, from behind! So I really don't know what this idiot writer of the movie is trying to say but at the same time I know Americans killed many surrounded Germans. One of the obvious ones happened in Dachau Concentration Camp.

Anyways these guys are shown at the captured town and the Sergeant notices a woman looking out of a window. He goes up to the house with his new guy and discovers two women. He then orders the young guy to go to the bedroom with the younger and more beautiful girl while asks the other woman to bring her hot water so he can shave. Meanwhile the entire crew of his come and they all sit at the dinner table. The woman serves them all fried egg and they say a few nonsense word, make fun of the young guy and then leave the house. Absolutely nonsense! Pitt's performance during the entire movie and particularly when there are exciting moments, is almost average. 

As I said the guys come out of the house and this is shortly before shrapnel land in that area killing the young girl!! The American soldier who had sex a few minutes ago tries to help her out but one of the crew, the very same one who were making fun of her and were also annoying the girl, avoided him!! I don't really know what this fucking stupid write had in his mind by extending the movie with these meaningless scenes! 

Then there's the best scene of the movie and that's when the column of four American tanks are attacked by Germans. A German tank successfully destroys all the tanks except for Fury, the Sergeant's tank and eventually is hunted by them. I have to say this is a only good scene in the movie which still has more fiction to reality into it! 

This good scene is completely ruined, as well the movie, when the tank hits a mine and cannot move. The young fella realizes a German battalion is marching toward them. So runs and tells the Sergeant. He orders his crew to run but they stay with him and set an ambush for the Germans. That ambush leads to killing of the majority of the Germans(!!) and at the end all of the crew get killed except for the new young gut who gets out of a hatch and lies on the ground underneath the tank! I could not stop looking at my watch every 15 minutes and was bored out of my mind and offended by this much stupidity and lie! A German SS finds the guy under the tank when he lightens there with his flashlight but does nothing to the guy who is showing his palms as a sign of surrender!!!!

The next day the same guys shown at the beginning of the movie find the fella and rescue him!!! Thank the Lord that the movie is ended! I am a big fan of war movies and there's barely any war movie that I haven't seen and don't have its DVD but this one is a total waste and nonsense. I would give only 1 out of 5 stars and strongly discourage to watch it. 

(Photo: Film crew and actors at the set of Fury)

Back to the Old Country: Day 3 (Wed. 31-Sep-14)

*** This is a postponed post ***

I woke up once around 02:30 AM and went back to sleep. Woke up for the second time at around 06:30 AM and noticed The Lady was up as well. She said she had been up since 02:30 AM! Obviously we both still are struggling with jet lag phenomena.  So we both went for breakfast. We had our breakfast finished by 07:30 and decided to go to another shopping spree. My mother-in-law’s idea was to take BRT (Yes BRT and that is the exact way they write it on the buses, stations and announcements, in English!) while The Lady insisted on taxi. I didn't know Esfahan even had BRT and to this day I do not know what BRT stranded for. I have seen buses with BRT sign in Calgary but all I know about them is that they were a kind of fast service bus with limited number of stops because I do not take any sort of public transportation service and intend not to do that ever! BRT in Esfahan though, l have to admit its excellence: first of all you have a card which by scanning it you go past a gate and get to the station. So the driver does not have to check your ticket or you do not have to purchase ticket every time you want to travel because the cards are rechargeable. 

Different types of pickled vegetables with different tastes. You can find anything from olive to cauliflower pickled here. They are strong and intense in taste but good. I have a box now in the refrigerator. 

The system reminds me of Toronto Subway. The bases are equipped with air conditioning so although we were traveling in a not very hot morning of Oct., the temperature was controlled and desirable. It should not be forgotten that we did not travel in rush hour. In that case the trip would have not been as pleasant, most likely. Our shopping did not get as exciting as I had imagined. Regardless of the fact that we were able to purchase what we wanted and the prices did not bother us much, I thought that shopping did not have the same joy that it had when I was here more than 6 years ago. Dried and fresh fruit, pickled vegetables, olives, bread and baked goods were among the items we purchased. We got on the same bus and went back in the same convenience. 

Updated today: BRT stands for Bus Rapid Transit which does not sound very English to me! 

(Photo, top, A BRT Station in Esfahan with glass walls to protect from cold in winter)