Flying Home

In what seemed like no time at all my stay in Calgary was over, and there I was, being driven by a Sikh to the airport with a bright sun rising over snow covered fields. Well, maybe not fields, more like vacant land that no one had built on. 

I told the driver it was very beautiful. He wisely agreed and even more wisely pointed out that it was "very cold," which it was. Speaking of wisdom, please, airport security in the US and elsewhere, stop mistaking Sikhs for radical religion of peace Jihadists. They're not Muslims, you clowns, quite the reverse.

So what was Calgary like? As usual, I found the people friendly and the city a pleasure to visit, with a number of plus points: it's cowboy hat friendly, you can get your hair cut in a gun shop, cheese and bread are very good, as are many of the restaurants. There's a neat Armoury, complete with a Sherman tank and a Bren Gun Carrier, and the town has a fine regimental tradition. 

I like to think, too, that Calgary has some of its frontier spirit. Perhaps that's because of fierce winter weather and proximity to the Rockies. Mountains and snow evoke the frontier, after all, and the town was on the literal frontier not that long ago, at the turn of the last century. Maybe there's something of that in the air of the place.

How Canada's prosperous "cow town" weathers the storm of falling oil prices remains to be seen, and experts are recommending that the city diversifies its economy into guns and ammo. Hot tip, that's one market which appears to be rising.

One Air Alaska (good airline with complimentary wine and beer) flight over, I landed in Seattle, where everyone was wearing shorts and humming Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was very different to Calgary or, for that matter, Texas.

Gun rights,

LSP

Go to The Drill Hall

Calgary's Mewata Drill Hall, or Armoury, is home to several units, including the Calgary Highlanders and the King's Own Calgary Regiment.  

It was good to meet some of the team and I imagined the soldiers that had passed through Mewata over the course of the last century. A sobering thought.

Constructed during WWI, the Armoury at one time featured an underground 30 meter range and a bowling alley. I was told these were off limits due to structural damage; too bad, it would've been fun to blast away.

There's a Sherman tank outside the Armoury, standing there, resolute, against the enemy. These days, that would be the Weather. Go on, tank, shoot the snow!

Train hard, think positive, fight easy.

LSP

Another Battle in The War on Weather

Just when you think you're safe, our enemy, the Weather, attacks when you least expect it. That happened this morning in Calgary, as the climate changed and delivered a payload of Global Warming.

I wasn't going to take that lying down, like some kind of dhimmi, and surrender without a fight to violent weather extremism, so I went outside.

It was quite chilly along the windblown Narnia that was 9th Ave, but a warm coffee helped to restore the system and got me back in the fight.

Calgary's famous Biker Alley was eerily deserted. All the Angels were probably inside, fixing their broken Harleys, or maybe they're still in mourning for Lemmy.

Recce patrol over it was back to base and more coffee. Global Warming continues to fall.

Be safe,

LSP

Go to The Gunshop And Get a Haircut

A visit to Calgary isn't complete, for me at least, without a visit to the city's world famous Gun Shop Barber. That's right, a gun shop that's also a barber; you'll find it in Inglewood on 9th Avenue, and it's called Proline Shooters. I went there yesterday to browse the guns and get a cut.

Proline has a good, if smallish selection of firearms, and I cast a covetous eye at their burnished Sakos, gleaming behind the counter. Their pistol selection featured Glocks, Berettas and, I think, Sigs, plus a variety of I want one large revolvers. I may be wrong, but it seems that Canada bought into Beretta's PX4 Storm to a greater extent than the U.S. Whatever, Proline carries several variants. 

Then, after looking at a couple of sporterized Lees in the 2nd hand rack, I paid a visit to Dan the barber.

Dan, Photo by Jared Sych

We reminisced about his predecessor, Doug, who died of pancreatic cancer some years back. I liked Doug and was always curious about his socialism. Calgary's Red Barber, in a gun shop, that was him. May he rest in peace.

Haircut over, I headed out into the winter wonderland of 9th Avenue, and that, readers, was that.

Go to Proline, they're alright, and so's their barber, Dan.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Tears of a Clown

Our Commander in Chief, Barack Obama, is in tears. No, not for the US soldier that was killed in Marjah, Afghanistan, but over gun control.

"And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day," said the rainbow unicorn, apparently forgetting Chicago's strict gun laws.

Spot the Smirk

"No matter how many times people try to twist my words around, I taught constitutional law, I know a little bit about this. I get it," proclaimed the great legal scholar of our time, who rules by Executive Order.

Commander in Chief

“Fort Hood, Binghamton, Aurora, Oak Creek, Newtown, the Navy Yard, Santa Barbara, Charleston, San Bernardino. Too many,” emoted our weeping leader. Too many what? No gun zones?

What a crocodile tear mountebank, and remember this. Everything that lib clowns like Obama propose, produce the exact opposite of their intended result.

As the Dow crashes, gun stocks surge.

LSP

Something Better Change

Do you remember America's 2008 presidential election? Sure you do, people went wild for "hope and change" and the libs were out in force, partying in the streets, while trads gnashed their teeth. I didn't grind my few remaining teeth, but I did watch Dallas Democrats whoop up the demise of the hated Bush as they danced, literally, in the leafy boulevards of Bishop Arts. 

You poor, mad, fools, I thought quietly to myself, as I sipped a glass of the right stuff from the vantage point of a street corner outside an overpriced restaurant.

Pull Your Pants Up, Fool

Nearly 8 years later, hope and change mania has turned into a choppy, sometimes explosive, discontent. The black urban poor aren't happy, witness Ferguson and Baltimore; it seems they're disinclined to be bought off with cell phones and food stamps. The pampered, whining, university elite aren't happy. For them, the Frankfort School revolution can never go far enough.

Student Stasi Whineleader

But that's not all. People looking for jobs aren't happy because, unless you're an artist, sorry, waiter, there aren't any, and people with jobs aren't too pleased either, as real income shrinks while prices rise. And it goes without saying that social conservatives are mad at what they justifiably see as an increasing attack on traditional values. Sorry, Christians, bake the cake.

Terrorists? Or Does The Government Just Want Your Land?

In brief, the vast majority of the population isn't pleased, and I'm being polite, with the way things are. Go figure, hope and change has brought us exactly what? Affordable healthcare that the poor get fined for not being able to afford and, wait for it, "Cait." Well thanks a lot, rulers, we may be poorer but at least we've got gay marriage and the awesome liberty to get a sex change.

In the meanwhile, in the public mind, a tiny minority of self-serving,  inside-the-beltway political insiders and their oligarch friends, continue to wax large without regard for the people they govern. I'll leave you with the Jeremiad ZeroHedge, commenting on the recent Oregon ranch stand-off:

This is what happens when people get desperate, when citizens lose hope, and when lawful, nonviolent alternatives appear pointless.

Whether the parties involved are blameless or not, whether they’re using the wrong tactics or not, whether their agendas are selfless or not, this is the face of a nation undergoing a nervous breakdown on all fronts.

Now all that remains is a spark, and it need not be a very big one, to set the whole powder keg aflame.

Behold Your Ruler?

Word to the wise. When you see big lines at the ATMs, get ready to get out.

Cheers,

LSP 

Epiphany Cheese And Bread

St. Francis in downtown Calgary transferred the Feast of the Epiphany to Sunday, so after Mass I drove out into Calgary like one of the Magi and followed a star to the Co-Op. But not before driving past a new Buddhist(?) monastery. 

You can't tell from my photo, but there seems to be a metal statue of a spider deity in front of it. Spider God, scary heathen juju, I thought to myself.

Safely back in Inglewood, we settled down to a feast of unpasteurized brie, aged cheddar, some sort of blue cheese and freshly baked baguettes. Vicious rumors of a bottle of port have no foundation in reality, whatsoever.

Got to hand it to Canada, they definitely get bread and cheese. Well done, Canadians!

God bless,

LSP

Is Giles Fraser Cursitor Doom?

Is celebrity Brit Reverend and Aleister Crowley look-a-like, Giles Fraser, Cursitor Doom? Photo evidence suggests that he is.

Or is the Guardian's pet lib, shariasymp Vicar just a willing Illuminati stooge for the pansexualist New World Order of the trans rainbow?

Cursitor Doom

Giles Fraser

The vote is out.

LSP

Leaders Number One, That Would Be Putin

Get your New Year off to a good start by investing in some Leaders Number One, Inspired By Vladimir Putin.

It only costs 6,000 roubles and smells like blackcurrant and pine cones, evoking the warmth of a forest floor.

No one has dedicated a fragrance to US President, Barack Obama, which is doubtless a very good thing indeed. But if they had, what would it smell like?

Readers, over to you.

LSP

Go Out And Get a Hat, in Calgary

After a short blast of living the downtown Calgarian dream, I fell back to Inglewood, which is nifty little neighborhood near the center of town.

Random Fridge Magnet -- Note former Detroit Mayor, with "entourage"

Inglewood's alright, it has shops, pubs, restaurants, an army surplus and Calgary's world famous barber gunshop. That's right, a gunshop that's also a barber, so you can go in there and get your hair cut and buy a gun. I'll go next week for a cut, it's a tradition.

Inglewood

As I walked around crunching my way through the snow, I noticed it was getting warmer, considerably so. It seemed like a Chinook was moving in, giving respite from the subzero, freeze your hair cold.

Your Old Pal

That meant a trip to the Chinook Center Mall, on McLeod Trail. I bought a hat from Lammles Western Store; it's a "Justin" and I wasn't able to get one in the right size or color in Texas. Well done, Calgary. You are a hat solutions provider.

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Happy New Year!

To make the New Years celebrations more of a celebration I went to the wine store and bought some of the right stuff. They had a good selection, if pricey, compared to the US.

A Typical Canadian Shop

When I paid the bill I used a piece of plastic without a chip in it, which confused the young baby-faced wine salesperson. "No chip, eh?" he asked, warily. "No," I replied, "We don't have those at the 1st Inconvenience Bank of Texas. We're a bit backward that way." The saleschild looked at me and said, "That's not the only way, over there, eh?"

I grinned and gave him a cheery, "Oh yeah. Except for gun rights, we're ahead of the pack there. Happy New Year, man."

A Bison Head

And with that, I wish you all a happy, blessed and joyous New Year.

Cheers,

LSP

What is This Thing?

Team LSP was confused, bewildered and perplexed by one of the Hyatt Calgary lobby sculptures, so we went out to the readership for an opinion as to what this thing was.

Some thought it was Germany's famous "Zwarte Piet" or a "PC" variation on the theme, "Pete." Others, fantastically, believe it to be a "Chocolate Christmas Hippo."

One reader wondered if it was Bill Crosby, in disguise. As Zwarte Piet, perhaps? All of these suggestions have merit, but look closely, the chocolate colored Christmas creature has minions.

What does this mean? As I reflected on the implications of this, I looked down at the newspaper. There's no doubt about the identity of the character in this picture.

That would be US President and Commander in Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, you know, the same genius who thinks Islam's a really peaceful religion. Like Buddhism, only way more peaceful.

Your Old Friend,

LSP