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Revelstoke's choice: authenticity or profit? Also found on the Calgary Herald QThe sleepy town of Revelstoke was just awoken by a $1 billion economic boom. Revelstoke, British Columbia is a town of roughly 8,100 people with the majority of the residents between the ages of 45-64 with 32% of the residents making less than $15,000. Only a 4 and a half hour drive from Calgary, Revelstoke is the perfect get-a-way town.  Everyone knows each other, Coopers Grocery Store is always open, the sound of the locomotives have a consistent echo through the valley, and the picturesque mountain views are second to none. For those who visit Revelstoke, (which according to Revelstoke stats is roughly 1.1 million visitors during the summer season) they love it and long for the day they can call it home.I spend most of my summers and long weekends at our family house in Revelstoke and have become quite familiar with the quaint town over the past 24 years. Built on 3 lots right in the heart of the town, I consider it my second home. Members of my family have been residents of Revelstoke since the early 1900's when the CPR was still stationed there. However those who only visit Revelstoke won't realize the effects the massive mega million dollar development could have have on the town. The town has now been faced with a bittersweet reality; for the sake of more tourism, they come face to face with the possibly of losing the authenticity of the historic town. It will be a hard pill to swallow for those who like the town the way it is and who moved there just to be away from the hustle of the city life. They will now face the certainty that the Revelstoke Mountain Resort will be host to North America's longest vertical descent mountain, boasting an incredible 6,000 feet, and bring in numbers similar to Whistler. Not only that, but it will create over 16,000 bed units which include condos, townhouses, hotels and luxury mountain homes; something Revelstoke hasn't yet warmed up to. After years of rumours floating around the ski industry and the town itself about the existing ski hill transforming into the next Whistler-type ski town, the contract was made official and and plans made public mid January. By next ski season, a high speed quad and an 8 person gondola will be packing people to the top of Mount Mackenzie. If you know the ski hill at all - you will agree this addition will make all the difference. Revelstoke is most known for it's cat skiing and heli-skiing, both of which have been acquired in the contract with the purchase of the ski hill. Not only will this hill be your one-stop destination for everything winter, but it is also boasting an incredible amount of summer activities which already bring in tourists from all over the world.  Thankfully, city council has vowed to keep house prices affordable. Their strategy is to develop more housing and Council has made that their number one priority this year. House prices in the past couple of years have already increased to numbers far above what some residents can afford. A quick look on MLS.ca shows a mobile home listed at $79,000, advertised as a great starter home. For those who are looking for an 1800 sq ft single family home - they'll have to cough up more than $219,000. I can't imagine what the homes at the ski hill will start at.The residents of Revelstoke do have something to keep in the forefront of their thinking though. With big box stores moving in on small towns lately with their Walmarts, Starbucks and Chapters, Council has to make sure the they keep these monsters out of the town and ensure the true identity of Revelstoke doesn't get lost in the shuffle. The beautiful thing about Revelstoke is that downtown is perfect with the historical buildings turned into local mountain equipment shops, bookstores, boutiques and bakeries.  Revelstoke has the potential of becoming the next big tourist destination but also has the potential of losing the identity it has worked so hard to keep. It would be sad to see Revelstoke become unrecognizable thanks to the behemoth mountain resort. I'm sure the residents of Revelstoke, whether they've been there a couple years or their whole lives, have good enough heads on their shoulders to keep the town on track with their mission statement: "We are committed to fostering a strong sense of community in Revelstoke, and we will be responsive and adaptive to changing social, political and economical conditions". I would hate for the town to turn into this mythical destination hotspot for the sake of tourists. Posted by Bella at 11:11 PM# Guess which super rockstar is coming to town?  ... Former President (ok... for like a minute or two) Al Gore. He'll be here April 23 to address the issue to climate change.Interested in going? Hope you have the $159 (plus all the ridiculous taxes) to reserve your spot. Unfortunately, the tickets are a little too rich for me. Although it would have been a good show. Posted by Bella at 7:37 PM# An ode to Canadian Tire's bearded guy Also found on the Calgary Herald QI've always enjoyed Canadian Tire. My dad would take me there when I was younger to get random knick-knacks and I still visit to do the same thing today. Sure, their old TV ads were pretty cheesy, (with the perky bearded guy who had everything Canadian Tire had to offer) but I could get past that because I always knew Canadian Tire had something handy up their sleeves for me that would pique my interest enough to purchase. Their "demo-mercials" were effective at the time; but after almost a decade it was obviously time for a change. In October of 2005, Macleans Magazine wrote an article on the Canadian Tire commercial spokes-guy and dissected the 'Ned Flanders" of tools; actor Ted Simonett. They might have dissected him a little too much though - right down to what sort of stud-finder his wife might find in her purse while out with the ladies.  His character was as the irritating neighbor: he had a loving wife who obviously allowed all these ridiculous purchases, a well trained dog, a kid named Bobby, and a perfect suburban house. He also had every single tool and toy that Canadian Tire offered. He was the ideal spokesperson for Canadian Tire. He got under everyone's skin but everyone knew about him. He was that person you wanted to 'one-up' by purchasing the next big thing to their model - but then finding out that he already had it.Canadians from coast to coast both loved and hated him. This actor even had it written in his contract that he was not to do interviews as it would make him into "just an actor" and not just the Canadian Tire guy. Blogs everywhere viciously tormented him and his never ending tool collection. Although he had a fan club with some enduring fans, he also had fans that were not so fond of him. One outlet even went so far as to considering him for "Most Embarrassing Canadian". Love him or hate him, you always knew that Canadian Tire had something witty for you to purchase that would make your life just that much easier when you're pressure washing the driveway (try the Simoniz S2800 Gas Powered Pressure Washer) or when you're trying to de-ice your windshield (try the RainX Windshield Washer Fluid) or even when you just want to staple something (how about the Mastercraft Sure Shot staple gun). After 8 years, Canadian Tire gave the ol' heave-ho to Ted "The Tool Man" Simonett and Doner Canada (their ad agency), and hired TAXI; a very reputable Canadian advertising agency (also responsible for outfits such as WestJet, Mini Canada, Telus and Viagra). Not only have they turned the advertising of Canadian Tire upside down, but they have cut-out the annoying public-service announcement for everything MotoMaster. Now, it's a series of clever ads where the aisle signs fall from the sky and directly onto the centre of the screen to display the different products from Canadian Tire that could help the situation. TAXI hasn't just turned their advertising around for the good, but they have also won some awards for their creative pieces that have turned the mood of Canadians back around to once again enjoying Canadian Tire's products. While Canadians sit back and watch the new ads and ponder their next trip to Canadian Tire, I miss the bearded guy. As he's been clearly kicked out of the new advertising, I wonder where we'll see Ted Simonett next. Sadly, he became the scapegoat for the bad advertising approved by Canadian Tire and developed a sour taste in Canadian's mouths for so many years, although, became an icon during commercial breaks with his 60-second spots. Wikipedia came up with a couple useful tidbits on him but nothing conclusive. Maybe he fell in love with Home Hardware and is somewhere in suburbia irritating his neighbors with his new gadgets from that store. Posted by Bella at 11:10 PM# Bank fees suck. Profound eh? Also on the Calgary Herald Q
While looking over my recent bank statement, I came across the dreaded line: “Branch Transaction Service Charge”. Now, this isn’t the first time this charge has appeared – every month of the year I get charged the same amount. My trusted bank, of whom I have been banking with since I was old enough to acquire a bank card, charges me $29.84 a month ($354.48 a year – assuming the fees don’t increase over the year) to baby-sit my money. Now – something seems a little screwy here. The banks are making mad amounts of interest off my hard earned money and yet – they charge me to take care of my cash. The only other option I guess is to keep all my money is a glass jar under my pillow and hope no one robs me.  Thursday, NDP Leader Jack Layton called for legislation restricting bank-machine fees. And of course, the banks are up in arms about it; I would be too if I knew I would be losing some of my record profits. Layton figures that Canadian banks are making roughly $420 million dollars from charging people ATM fees and considering there is roughly 30 million people living in Canada… you do the math.I think most people would agree that there is really nothing worse than not being able to find your personal bank anywhere while you’re out and therefore forced to pay a $1.50 - $2.00 service fee to take money out from another bank. Not only does it make me cringe, but it makes me discouraged that I have to use a bank at all. When banks are posting annual profits of $19 billion dollars, yet feel that charging clients ATM service fees on top of their service charges that are magically taken out of your bank account during the month, it makes me shake my head a little. It feels like gouging to me. It would be nice to have access to my cash without the added charge of $1.50. But then again… we don’t have many options do we? Posted by Bella at 7:51 AM# Oooooh la la...  Anyone heard of Coachella?
Posted by Bella at 5:40 PM# I don't like being bent over the couch by banks anymore than the next guy so... Jack Layton is so talking the right stuff. He's talking about eliminating ATM fees. Woot woot!Posted by Bella at 8:02 AM# Oh.. hey Now, if you've stuck around this long while I've taken a slight hiatus, I will take a moment to tell you how much you rock. You rock. I know I've been a bit of a slacker but I was kinda busy you know what with work and stuff. Ok just work. Thank god my conference is over!Pretty proud of it actually. I have heard nothing but great things about the one day event (which takes about a year to plan... it's almost too bad it is only one day). After all the blood, sweat and tears dry, I am happy to say that it went off without too many hitches, I mean - there is always something that only I'll notice and freak out about during the event. Thank God it wasn't anything major. Anyways, I am actually going to start writing on this darn thing again. I've received a couple nasty emails (thanks - you know who you are) so.. rock on! Posted by Bella at 3:23 PM# Now everyone can be on "tv" What will they think of next? However, it is kinda cool...Posted by Bella at 3:23 PM# Not sick yet so... looks like it's staying down! So for the longest time I was hearing everyone (especially Scott) say how wonderful Shwarma and Falaffal was. Right. All I know about it is that these vendors are everywhere and they always look super sketchy (not to mention the fact that I never see any cats or dogs were these places were...).Today however, I was taken to the Falaffal King, a little cafe that opened only steps from our front door. Ok and don't tell Scott (as I kinda mocked it the whole time) but I kinda liked it. I liked it even more after eating the complimentary piece of baklava the guy threw in with our order. I guess I can't mock him anymore about his love for Falaffal, eh? Damn. Update: Stomach so not feeling it. Fuck. Posted by Bella at 3:18 PM# Odd - but cute Ever seen a two-headed cow?Posted by Bella at 7:32 PM# If only the caffeine worked for me like it does for them. The effects drugs have on spiders.Posted by Bella at 7:54 AM# McDonalds Drive Thru. Wednesday Night. Hardcore craving. Must have been the slowest line - ever. Took 15 minutes to go through a drive thru where only 3 cars were in line."Welcome to McDonalds what I can I get you" "Can I get the cheeseburger meal?" "Coke to drink?" "Can I actually just get a large fries instead of a drink?" "No" "No?" "No you must get a drink" "But I don't want a drink" "If you want the combo, you have to get a drink". "Well I don't want anything to drink. You can keep your drink. Just the burger and fries please" "3.48" Oooook then. I drive to the next window. Dude doesn't even look at me - just puts his hand through the window. I give him $3.50 in change. He gives me the bag and puts the $0.02 on the window sill. I notice my bag is a little heavier than it should be considering I got a little bit of fries and a dinky burger. As I am driving away from McCrankyness I open the bag to find he actually put a large fries in the bag. Hee hee. And no Coke to drink. Posted by Bella at 7:52 PM# If I hear one more person... Ok so I kinda suck at this whole blogging thing - I'll admit. I'm sorry. But hey, I have a life (hahah that was funny to write... sigh...) and I don't get to sit down much and just pound out whatever I have going on in my head.But I'll do it now. I have about 1/4 left in my mug of tranquility tea so I'll write until I'm done the tea. Mmm tea. Santa was good to me. Once again, I got spoiled beyond belief. Did some mad boxing day shopping and even got a replacement bottle of the shampoo I use on sale! United Colours of Benetton had a swanky sale and I managed to find myself a ridonkulously long pair of pinstriped work pants for cheap. Love shopping. New Years was super lowkey. Went to the neighbours the night before for a shot-luck where everyone was to bring their own shot mix. 6 shots and 3 margaritas later, I was glad I was only walking across the hallway to go home. Woot woot! Had dinner with Scott's mom and grandma and watched some movies before coming home and ringing in the New Year with Dick Clark. Calgary went smoke-free as of yesterday and already, it freakin rocks. However, all those wanks who smoked in the bars are now smoking on the sidewalks and parking lots and are throwing their butts on the ground. Sigh. It's called an ashtray - use it. My huge monsterous conference is in T minus 15 days and I'm feeling the pressure. I go through spells where I'm super sure of everything and believe I can take the next week or so off and the other spells are me in a complete cold sweat, shaking in the corner of a round-room not knowing which way is up. Only 15 more days... And there you go. A quick simple update which ended in a cold slurp of my tea. My teabag must have exploded as I just swallowed a bunch of tea chunkys. Odd. I'll try to be better at this. I might just make that a new years resolution. Right behind drinking more water, losing 20lbs, paying off my credit card and becoming a pro-snowboarder. Baby steps maybe... Posted by Bella at 11:32 PM# |
