Calgary - Page 7

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Details: Written by: Richard_McKie; Parent Category: Travel; Category: North America; Published: 14 October 2023; Hits: 3728

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As we arrived in Calgary, I couldn't believe my eyes.

I'd been here in 1975, when it was little changed from the photographs in my parent's album, see below. Now it's the fourth biggest city in Canada, with close to 1.5 million residents, and it is the wealthiest, thanks to oil. It was a bit smoggy though.

As I mentioned earlier, my parent's first married home was here. The arial photos below are in their Canadian album. The first is of a Canadian Hudson Trainer flown by my father or his student? It's obviously taken from a second plane off his wing.

The second is Calgary from the air, possibly a publicity shot. I imagined my father had taken it but I found exactly the same image on the web and it's too fine-grained for his camera.

According to 'Calgary Then and Now', the tallest building back then was the Palliser Hotel at 12 storeys. By 2021 the tallest building was the Brookfield Place Tower with 56 storeys (247 metres). There are now dozens of buildings above 30 storeys tall. It's worth noting that Canada, like Australia and New Zealand and even South Africa, has managed to abandon Imperial measurements, while across the border, in the US, it's all too hard.

Below, is where my parents made their first home. When I visited Calgary in 1975, it looked very much the same as in 1943. They had a flat that was below the house. I've mislaid the photo I took back then. Now the house is gone.

Yet, the neighbouring houses are still there and the street is scaped and leafier.

From Calgary airport we caught an afternoon flight to Toronto.

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Travel

Bridge over the River Kwai

In 1957-58 the film ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai‘ was ground breaking. It was remarkable for being mainly shot on location (in Ceylon not Thailand) rather than in a studio and for involving the construction and demolition of a real, fully functioning rail bridge. It's still regarded by many as one of the finest movies ever made.

One of the things a tourist to Bangkok is encouraged to do is to take a day trip to the actual bridge.

Fiction, Recollections & News

Reminiscing about the 50’s

This article was written in 2012 and already some of the changes noted have changed.
For example, in the decade that followed, 'same sex' marriage became legal. And sadly, several of those friends and relations I've mentioned, including my brother, died.
No doubt, in another decade, there will be yet more change.

Elsewhere on this site, in the article Cars, Radios, TV and other Pastimes, I've talked about aspects of my childhood in semi-rural Thornleigh on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. I've mentioned various aspects of school and things we did as kids.

A great many things have changed. I’ve already described how the population grew exponentially. Motor vehicles finally replaced the horse in everyday life. We moved from imperial measurements and currency to decimal currency and metric measures. The nation gained its self-confidence particularly in the arts and culture. I’ve talked about the later war in Vietnam and Australia embracing of Asia in place of Europe.

Here are some more reminiscences about that world that has gone forever.

Opinions and Philosophy

Electric Cars revisited (again)

Electric vehicles like: trams; trains; and electric: cars; vans; and busses; all assist in achieving better air quality in our cities. Yet, to the extent that the energy they consume is derived from our oldest energy source, fire: the potential toxic emissions and greenhouse gasses simply enter the atmosphere somewhere else.

Back in 2005 I calculated that in Australia, due to our burning coal, oil and sometimes rural waste and garbage, to generate electricity, grid-charged all-electric electric cars had a higher carbon footprint than conventional cars.

In 2019, with a lot of water under the bridge; more renewables in the mix; and much improved batteries; I thought it was worth a revisit. I ran the numbers, using more real-world data, including those published by car companies themselves. Yet I got the same result: In Australia, grid-charged all-electric cars produce more greenhouse gasses than many conventional cars for the same distance travelled.

Now, in the wake of COP26, (November 2021), with even more water under the bridge, the promotion of electric cars is back on the political agenda. Has anything changed?

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