When my sister got married last summer, there were many rules set for the reception. Her husband is Jewish, so kosher foods needed to be present, and other standards needed to be met.

He was very rigid in his requirements. However, if you were to have asked him if he is religious, he would say no.

When is the point when religion becomes less about the omniscient, and more about the ritual?

Jews around the world are gathering around Seder tables for Passover this weekend, and I wonder: how much of it is about a belief in scripture versus a belief in family and tradition?

Has being Jewish transcended from a religious belief to being a cultural one? Is it the same for other religions, and cultures?

In December, my family reunited in Vancouver to celebrate our tradition of Christmas. We also lit a menorah each night, and observed Hannukah rituals. But it was a ritual. It was a tradition.

Persians recently celebrated their New Year, Nowrooz. It’s not a religious festival, it’s a cultural one. Still, like religious traditions, there are rituals that are kept. The Haft-Seen is a table with a specific list of 7 items on it, people jump over fires.

Chinese New Year has lai-see, dragon parades, many good luck rituals, and family. Would you call that religious?

A new survey shows that religion is playing less and less a role in the lives of Canadians. Less than half of Canadians, 42%, agree with the statement “religion is an important part of my life,” while a third of us challenge the very existence of any supreme being.

I have advocated taking the Christ out of Christmas because the rituals mean more than the religion to many Canadians. The belief in the omniscient has been replaced by the feeling of community we get by performing annual, family rituals.

We’re celebrating Easter this weekend. The only crosses in my house are on fruit buns.

The ritual has replaced any relevance religion once had in my life.

You can get all sorts of attachments for your iPhone lens.

There’s Photojojo, LensBaby, Kogeto, and others.

Lisa Bettany has had a great rig attached to her iPhone that she took around the world to demonstrate the power of her Camera+ app.

But what about attaching a telescope to the lens of your iPhone?

My son and I went down to our local Astronomy Club’s viewing session and after a couple of peeks at Venus and the Moon, I decided to simply hold the tiny lens of my iPhone up to the viewfinder. It’s the same concept all the pocket lens attachments work with, except this was a beastly telescope attached to my iPhone.

While I did it old school holding my iPhone up to the lens, there is an Astroclip in development to attach your iPhone to a telescope – no more squinting to see all the brilliance of space.

What’s the coolest picture you’ve ever taken with your iPhone?

Mercato West
5000 – 873 85th St SW
(403) 685-0460

A swanky new joint has opened up on Calgary’s west side, a high end restaurant that high end home owners can walk home from.

The restaurant has taken over a building in a strip mall that has sat mostly unused for 2 years since it was a failed farmer’s market. It is a huge building that has been renovated in a creative way that finally brings upmarket style and food to this well-to-do suburb.

The open concept kitchen is the star of the entire room, so make sure you reserve a front row seat. While there are some tables on the side, the showpiece is a sawtooth bar that lets groups of 4 face each other while dining, instead of sitting side by side. It’s a great idea – the kitchen offers some excitement to watch, while the seating arrangement still lets you chat with your friends.

Our waiter, when talking about the ingredients, almost brags at how much things cost and justifies the $80 as-tall-as-your-fist steak we see searing on the grill as something that can feed two people and takes nearly an hour to cook.

Then there’s the tray of meat. Arosto Misto is a $200 carving selection of steak, lamb, veal, chicken, and sausage that definitely needs 2 hands to be carried out.

Yes, Mercato is expensive. The tomatoes for their $19 caprese salad are flown in from Sicily. The yellowfin tuna steak is $43. Wines all start at $50. But it’s delicious.

The market is almost a walk through the executive chef’s pantry. Want to take some of Mama Cathy‘s sausages home? They’re in the deli. Want your own Sicilian tomatoes and drippingly delicate mozarella di buffalo? Just look behind you. If the wine catches your fancy, like the Magiliano Morellino Heba Toscana did for us, then the waiter will scribble you a note to take to Merlo (Mercato’s wine store) just down the hill.

Save your pennnies, and enjoy a great treat.

Dinner for 4: $360, including tip
2 cappuccino, 1 tiramisu
caprese, mussels
2 bottles of wine
tonno, cresti di gallo, gnocchi

Canada’s penny was killed by the Conservative government in their 2012 Budget today, when it was announced The Royal Canadian Mint will stop pressing the coins with a maple leaf on one side, the Queen on the other, this fall.

The budget says the cost of minting a penny has risen to 1.6 cents or $11 million a year. Its purchasing power has fallen to a 20th of its original value.

“Some Canadians consider the penny more of a nuisance than a useful coin,” the budget documents said.

“The penny is a currency without any currrency in Canada,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said at a news conference.

Pennies will still be legal tender, but as they slowly vanish from circulation, prices will have to be rounded up or down.
[Winnipeg Free Press]

While our friends in the USA have yet to get used to $2 bills, let alone getting rid of their $1 bill, Canadians have already ditched the 1 and 2 for coins, turned our bigger bills into plastic, and now we’re tossing the penny.

If you’re like me, axing the penny comes as a good thing. Mine just sit in a big coin jar. I dont like using them, carrying them, and since they cost more to make than they’re actually worth, killing them off makes sense.

So what are we going to do with all these pennies after they’re taken out of circulation? The Finance Minister suggests we bundle them up for charity – BRILLIANT IDEA. I’ll take every bucket you want to hand me for Team Diabetes. If charity’s not your style, here are 3 other things you can do with your old pennies:

Penny Flooring

The Standard Grill at The Standard Hotel in New York has a penny tiled floor. You can do one yourself too:

Photo from NotCot

Penny Souvenirs

You will need to save a few of your coins for vacations around the world. Cheesy tourist traps love to have press-a-penny booths that often cost a dollar and squish your penny into something silly:

Photo from ljsinoz

Penny Art

Since pennies get kind of dirty, and aren’t always the same colour, you can use them to make art. Here’s one of Abraham Lincoln using US pennies. Why not try to make one of the Queen using old Canadian pennies?

Or you could use them to cover sculpture. Check out Linda Seidman‘s “Horse Cents” from Germantown, Tennessee:

Photo from Frank Peters

What will you do with your old pennies?

March 29, 2012 marked 100 Days until The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth is celebrated for the 100th time.

100 days to show the world what hospitality and community spirit is all about. Already hailed as one of the best parties on the planet, The Calgary Stampede is about to step it up a notch for this year’s party.

Guy Weadick promised big things when it first started in 1912, and he delivered.

The Calgary Herald reported that “fully eighty thousand people saw the parade,” . . . turning out en masse to witness the event, considered to be the “greatest pageant of western types and western history ever gathered together on the American continent .”

The Calgary Stampede Parade is easily one of the highlights, and the unveiling of The Stampede Parade Marshal is a secret held tighter than who wins the Oscars.

Your 2012 parade Marshall Ian Tyson! #Stampede100 twitter.com/calgarystamped…

— Calgary Stampede (@calgarystampede) March 29, 2012

The 100th Anniversary Calgary Stampede Parade Marshal will be Ian Tyson. The Seven chiefs of First Nations communities will be honourary marshals including Chief Big Plume of Tsuu T’ina.

“This is truly a special year and I’m pleased we have the opportunity to recognize the people who’ll be at the front of our Centennial Parade,” says Mike Casey, president and chairman of the board, Calgary Stampede. “Our Parade Marshal is someone who symbolizes western heritage and values, is an iconic Canadian and someone who embodies the Calgary Stampede. And as we get set to celebrate our centennial, I’m thrilled to have the seven Honourary Parade Marshals join us as they represent a relationship that started 100 years ago and remains strong today.”

The 2012 Calgary Stampede will go July 6 – 15, and here’s just a piece of what to expect with the latest promise of spectacular:

• A Stampede show “unlike anything anyone has ever seen” that will feature the best in western horsemanship and the finest in First Nations performances
• A partnership with Roots Canada resulting in a product line commemorating the 100th anniversary
• An array of concerts, including Canadian country music superstars Johnny Reid, and Paul Brandt starring in the Grandstand shows
• A new roller-coaster named Outlaw to honour the famous rodeo bull, and a 260-metre zip line across Stampede Park
• ”Surprise birthday cake” celebrations at community events in and around Calgary
• A “white hat roundup” recognizing 100 Albertans who exemplify western heritage; and,
• A new website to share stories, photos, poetry and video

  
  
  

  For some this is a party about Calgary beer, western wear, and Stampede midway food. You can have all that, in the end, for me, it’s still about community spirit. It’s about being proud of where you live, and meeting your neighbours. It’s the ultimate pep rally.

  Are you coming?

   

The Calgary Zoo‘s Penguin Plunge is now open and the only complaint is that you only get 15 minutes to experience the fun.

To avoid the longer lines, it’s best to arrive as soon as the zoo opens. On weekends, that means crashing the gate at 9a. I arrived at 930 on a Sunday and was met with a 45 minute wait. When we left our appointment an hour later, the long was considerably longer.

60 people can visit Penguin Plunge at a time, and you get 15 minutes of fun with 40 penguins from 4 species. They are characters, these guys. They dive, swim, chat, and splash the entire time. Oh yes, they splash. The intimacy of the exhibit is remarkable. The glass stands just shy of 5 feet high, meaning average adults can easily reach out and touch a penguin, or they can easily splash you.

The Penguin Plunge exhibit is on both sides of a walkway, with penguins plunging and diving underneath and popping up behind you constanly. You can see them swimming through the glass, and they are just the silliest bunch of birds you’ll ever see.

Penguin Plunge includes four penguin species – Humboldt, Gentoo, Rockhopper and Kings. Two of which face serious challenges in the wild.

Humboldt penguins can be found all the way up the coast of Chile near Peru. They prefer temps near 5 degrees above zero, while the King penguins like things colder. For now, the penguins are only inside until the temperatures warm up for the Humboldts, then they’ll get to play outside too.

It’s a shame the zoo doesn’t hand out “appointment slips”, where you could show up and pick up a ticket for 10:15, or 11:00, or 1:30. This would give you time to wander over to the dinosaurs, gorillas, bears, or hippos, instead of standing in the cold for an hour. Alas, they don’t, so line up you must – and it’s worth it.

For other things to do with your family in Calgary, check out the entire “Kids In Calgary“ series.

Thank God for iCal and YouTube.

Because I shot a video of my proposal to Jen and posted it on YouTube, I will never forget the date. Because of iCal, I can have it pop up on my iPhone each year as a reminder.

March 24, 2008 at the top of the Eiffel Tower, I asked if she would choo choo choose me.

(There used to be music to go with the montage – Seal and Heidi Klum singing Wedding Day, but it was silenced by the copyright police.)

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

Martin Parnell does not take retirement lightly.

In 2010 he ran 250 marathons, with a goal of raising $250 000 for Right To Play.

In 2011, I joined him in setting a Guinness World Record for Marathon Netball (our game lasted 61 hours).

To date he has raised more than $300 000 to help kids around the world get out and get active – and he’s not stopping. Up next for Martin are more world records.

On April 27, he has Lacrosse Quest 24. It will be a box lacrosse game lasting 24 hours, setting the first ever Guinness World Record for Marathon Lacrosse Playing.

To set the record, Martin will need some help. Competitors need to be at least 16 and have some experience with box lacrosse. Go to www.hotboxlacrosse.com to sign up.

The endurance “Lacrosse Quest 24” will be played over 24 hours commencing 7.00PM Friday April 27, around the clock through to 7.00PM Saturday April 28, at the South Fish Creek Recreation Complex Arena (S.E. Calgary).

Hotbox Lacrosse and Martin will be joined by Lacrosse enthusiasts to form two teams of 23 each, who must remain court-side for the duration of the 24 hour record attempt.

“Lacrosse Quest 24” is the third event in Martin’s “Quests for Kids” series. His plan is to complete 10 Quests in 5 years, raising $1m for Right To Play and helping 20,000 children. Lacrosse Quest 24 will aim to raise $50,000 of this goal to benefit the children of Benin in Western Africa. As part of a commitment from Right To Play partners, every dollar donated in support of Lacrosse Quest 24 will be matched three times. Online donations can be made via www.hotboxlacrosse.com

More far-reaching and impactful than the boasting rights of a Guinness World Record will be the effect of the money raised by the attempt. With every $50 raised, one child will be able to experience Right To Play’s weekly sport and play–based programs for a year.

The focus of Martin’s “Quests for Kids” series is to promote sports that kids can play both at school and in the community, so working with Hotbox Lacrosse for the Guinness World Record attempt is a natural fit as his third quest event.

Why not strike “Guinness World Record” off your bucket list? If you have box lacrosse experience, join Martin on April 27 and help kids around the world get the Right To Play.

2012 has gotten off to a solid start. Just before Christmas we got a family membership to our local rec centre and I have kept a pace of 3 weekly visits to the running track, pool, spin studio, and ellipticals. After each workout, I like to keep everything on track with a very healthy breakfast.

Holy Crap cereal is probably the most expensive cereal you’ll ever buy. Where most of the stuff in the breakfast aisle runs around $2-$5 a box, this tiny 225g vacuum sealed bag goes for $11.

Corin Mullins invented the concoction of seeds and dried fruits on BC’s Sunshine Coast. She was trying to mix a breakfast cereal for her husband, who has diabetes. “The first batch tasted awful,” she admitted to The Vancouver Sun. “It was so bad.”

Originally marketed as a ‘survival cereal’, the gluten-free, lactose-free, wheat-free, and vegan blend received raves from early fans because of it’s “plumbing benefits.”

Holy Crap made it’s way on to the national stage when Corin, and her husband Brian, hit Dragon’s Den to make a pitch. The day after their segment aired they had $1.5M in orders.

Raisins, cranberries, apples, cinnamon, hemp hearts, buckwheat, and chia are in the Dragon’s blend that Brian says is “the healthiest thing you’ll ever eat.”

Honestly? It looks like something you’d sweep off a forest floor. It’s a collection of nuts, berries, and seeds (I havent seen any twigs), but it tastes great and it’s my personal treat after a hard workout.

$11 for a 225g sounds pricey, but it does have 8 servings. You only sprinkle a tablespoon in yogurt, or water. I like to have it with a bowl of fruit and some on trend greek yogurt.

In Calgary, you can buy Holy Crap cereal at Co-Op stores. You can also buy it directly from their website with free shipping.

Since I’m doing my training to run a half marathon in Iceland with Team Diabetes, it’s great to offer up support to a business that was started because someone living with diabetes needed a better solution.

It makes me feel uber healthy in the morning, and is a great reward for sticking to my fitness goals. What’s your favorite post workout snack?

One of the best early season races in Calgary is the St Patrick’s Day Road Race. For me, it came at a perfect time to test my early training for the two big races on my calendar for 2012; Team Diabetes Iceland, and the Calgary Half Marathon.

Nearly 1000 runners did 5k or 10k loops in Glenmore for the 25th Anniversary run on March 17, 2012. It’s a great event benefiting Team Diabetes that features one of the best draw prizes on the circuit – a chance to win your weight in Steamwhistle beer!

The morning of the run, I realized this was to be the longest distance I had run in nearly 3 years. To get ready for the race, I had to take a number off my race belt from a 2010 trip to Rio with Team Diabetes. My training had not been good before that run and I dropped out of the half marathon to run a 6k.

Before that, my longest run was the Easter Island Marathon in 2009. Nothing more than 6k in nearly 30+ months is not a good way to maintain training.

As you can imagine, with that kind of layoff, my time was one of the slowest of my adult running career – just over 62 minutes. Compare that to my best ever run of just under 48 minutes 6 years ago and you can appreciate age and the couch have caught up to me.

That said, I was proud of the run. I was glad to be back on the paths and breathing heavy. However, I have decided to pull back from my goal for Iceland. I won’t be running the marathon, but rather the half. I have done 4 marathons in my lifetime, and while I would love to round it to an “even 5″, I don’t know if it’s worth it.

Half marathons are a great distance. They’re a challenge, but they don’t kill you. You have to do serious training to get through 22k, but it’s not anything that really hurts. The best part, is I can actually “run” a half marathon. I have completed 4 marathons, but I have yet to run 1. I continually bonk in the last 10k.

So to complete the Calgary Half Marathon in May, the Stampede Road Race Half Marathon in July, and the half marathon in Reykjavik running beside my wife would make for a perfect 2012.