Hillhurst/Sunnyside Farmers Market

If you're the type of person who is running an illegal chicken coup in your backyard, but you're sick of not getting any recognition for your achievements in black-market poultry, you're probably pretty excited right about now.

This... this isn't what that is, right? Can someone explain the appeal to me? Please?

From October 3^rd to the 7^th, the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association’s (HSCA) Harvest Market will be running its last farmer's market of the year. Now, if you're wondering what this has to do with illegal chicken coups, just bear with me a minute. This year, you can win an award for the best illegal chicken operation, as well as for the best Guerilla Garden.

It's less armed bands of soldiers, and more just planting stuff wherever you can get away with it.

Anyways, if you have a garden in Calgary, you can send in a photo of it doing it's thing to be eligible to win gift certificates to the River Café, Pages Books and the Sunnyside Garden Centre. There's even a prize for a free one-day rental of a bouncy castle.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village. The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.

The Best Cafe's in Montgomery

Montgomery is often overlooked as a neighbourhood. Sure, in a lot of way it doesn't hold a candle to the more established leisure neighbourhoods in Calgary like Kensington, or Marda Loop. So, it's true that there aren't many cafe's in Montgomery when compared to other areas of Calgary. But, that's not to say that there aren't any good cafes there at all. This is false. There are three.

Lazy Loaf & Kettle

The LLK is kind of like a greasy spoon-type lace, but without the greasy. It's a very laid back cafe that serves top notch comfort food for breakfast, and as their name suggests they brew a mean mug of tea. Overall, it's cozy, clean and well-prepared. The perfect place to kill some time with a good book, or to pretend to be writing a novel on your Macbook (apparently).

Extreme Bean Cafe

It's not that Extreme, don't worry. The coffee here is quite good. Probably better then at the Lazy loaf and Kettle, although I am a pretty picky coffee drinker, so that's not saying all that much. They do have a more fleshed out lunch and dinner menu when compared with the other cafe's on this list, so this would be a surer bet for anyone looking for a god lunch or dinner.

Angel's Cappuccino & Ice Cream

The ultimate in legal highs. Cappuccino and Ice Cream is what I plan on feeding my kids before I drop them off at their Grandparents' place (Give me socks for my birthday 3 years in a row, eh?). At any rate, the ice cream here is delicious, and the combination of it with coffee is utterly fantastic.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village. The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.

Alberta's New Distracted Driving Law

Being a Boutique Motel, we here at Centro tend to have a lot of guests who drive in to get here. It is, after all, sort of the point of staying at a Motel, you are guaranteed of having somewhere you can park your car. However, there's a new law coming into effect here in Alberta that's going to make life a little more difficult for anyone driving in from out of province.

Have you ever used your cell-phone while driving? Obviously not for texting, people who try and drive while texting deserve a swift kick in the butt, but just a regular phone call? Well, starting on September 1^st, 2011 that can earn you a fairly hefty fine here in Alberta.

The new Law, Bill 16, doesn't stop there. Gone are the days when you can eat in our car worry-free, from next week on eating while driving also constitutes a violation of Bill 16. This makes me a little sad. After all, it kind of makes Drive-Thrus sort of pointless. I mean, if you;re going to have to stop and pull over to eat the food anyways, what's the point of using a Drive-Thru to get it?

So, just to recap, from now on in Alberta you cannot Eat, use your phone, or listen to headphones while driving or you'll get a $172.00 ticket. God help you if try doing all three things at once.

Alberta's Newest Provincial Park

A new provincial park is a rare thing. Vast tracts of aren't really just lying around waiting to be re-purposed, especially not if they've been privately owned for a long time. Typically when land of this calibre and proximity to the city becomes avaialable it's rapidly ripped apart and turned into Condo and housing developments in a spectacle reminiscent of a cow being devoured by a school of piranhas. However, that's not what happened last week at all.

In 2006, the Alberta Government purchased over 1,300 acres of land from the Harvie Family, and has spent the last six years developing it into a Provincial park. It already has 25 km of trails, many of which are paved for cycling. The access to this land is located about 35 kilometres from downtown Calgary, basically right next to the town of Cochrane. The land itself is actually pretty spread out, and is shaped kind of like... You know what? Here, take a look for yourself.

 

The terrain is quite varied for such small sampling of the province, and The park preserves and protects some significant natural and cultural features, including examples of endangered ecosystems and rare species, First Nations and early ranching settlements.

Now, keep in mind that, for now at least, this is a day-use only park. There is no overnight camping, no camp fires, and the park is only open during daylight hours. Another thing to keep in mind is the access to water. There is no potable water in this park. Well, none that's been declared potable, at least. So, bring plenty of water bottles, and a filtration system.

For more info you can check out the park's website at http://www.grpf.ca/.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village. The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.

The 2011 Ronald McDonald House 'Rock The House Run'

Have you ever been out for a run and thought to yourself 'Man, I wish there was a band playing music for me right now'? Maybe, a little “Eye of the Tiger”? Well, now you can have the live music you crave during your workouts (that IS a thing, right?) as well as donate your time and money to a worthy charity.

On August 7^th, at Market Mall, the Ronald McDonald House will be kicking off its 'Rock The House Run' fundraiser. What is the Ronald McDonald House? Well, it's basically a charity that supports, finds, and creates other charities to support. It has Chapters in 52 countries for a total of 305 Ronald McDonald Houses worldwide. At its simplest level, the RMHC is there to provide a place to stay. They give out ~7,200 beds every night to families in need worldwide , saving people in need around $257 million in hotel costs. Which, given that we're a Boutique Motel, might seem something that we would rather not happen. But, there's a solid line between providing a service and avarice, and we do our best to stay on the humane side of that line.

There's a handful of ways to participate in the run. You can take in a 5 or 10 kilometre walk, or you can go for broke and compete in the 5K and 10K run. At any pace, you'll have to work not to be distracted by all the Musical Entertainers, artists, and performance artists along the route. After the race there will a concert/jam with all the performers on the main stage, and of course the awards ceremony.

You can register for the race HERE, or, if you're still not convinced, you can view the YouTube promotional video below.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first, and most decidely Non-Communist Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village. The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.