The Cat Empire

The Starlite Room hosted The Cat Empire on Friday night and we went along with some friends to catch the gig. Col and I were the only ones who really knew any of their stuff (thanks to Ruth & Rhett for the introduction) and were reasonably sure they'd be good live. What we didn't expect was one of the best live acts I've ever seen. They had so much energy and were clearly having way too much fun up there on stage and the crowd picked up on that and gave it back twofold. I'd say about a third of the crowd were expats which explained the rousing choruses of Hello Hello and the proliferation of rugby jerseys throughout the room. They played for ages and ages and every single song was a winner. Too much fun. If you ever get the chance to see these guys live, take it with both hands. They rock.

Alberta in the Autumn

Sometimes I just can't get over the amazing beauty that this province has during the change of the seasons. I did a fair bit of driving around the western half of Alberta this autumn and it's a really amazing place - especially early in the mornings. These nodding donkeys (pumpjacks) are pumping oil out of deep drilled wells and are dotted all over the landscape, providing a lot of welcome income to the farmers who have had it fairly rough with the drought over the last few years. It's a new part of the landscape but it's a visible reminder of where the wealth in the province mostly comes from.


Nodding donkey at dawn

On the other hand in Edmonton you don't have to go far to find stunning colours in the autumn. This was taken on a walk in the river valley one weekend.

Autumn colours

Thanksgiving beauty

Thanksgiving we spent out at the cabin for the last trip of the year. We had an unbelievably good dinner with the Ounsteds at their cabin that included so much variety it was a struggle to fit it all in (and I struggled valiantly). After all that food and wine, on the way back to our own cabin we were amazed by an absolutely huge harvest moon which I had to stumble down to the beach to try and capture to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.


Thanksgiving Moon

Of course that wasn't enough and on the way home (during a stop at Blue River) we awoke to this view over the lake at Wiegele's.


Morning mist