Weekly Report

Weekly Report: June 17th - June 23rd 2024

Good Morning Magpie

23 Jun 2024 — 4 min read

The Week in Summary:

Wooooo! This was the last week of school programs for the science centre until September. I got to do a bit of everything, including going outside for some nature programming (which I adore). On the last day of school programs, I also got to share my workplace with Taylor and introduce them to many of my coworkers. I really appreciated being able to make those connections between the stories I tell at home, the folks I work with, and the space itself. For National Indigenous Peoples' Day on Friday, I also participated in a couple Red River Jigging workshops, which I was initially very nervous for, though I relaxed when I finally got on stage (anticipatory anxiety at its finest).
The water crisis continued throughout the week. We kept up our low water usage at home and the city government managed to fix the initial water main break (with five repairs to go). The Calgary Stampede made the decision to continue with festivities despite the ongoing crisis (definitely controversial). Here's hoping folks do not prematurely return to normal water usage levels - we've done fairly okay this week.
To my great excitement, I was blessed with the release of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree on the first day of Summer. It's been so much fun getting back into it and I am looking forward to kicking more ass. I have not gotten very far into the new DLC's area, but I got my hands on a few of the weapons and they are sick (fiery perfume bottles and backhand swords)!
On Saturday, after getting a sandwich at Alumni and reading at Rosso, I went to the Alberta New Democratic Party's leadership results at the Hyatt Regency. With a stunning 85% voter turnout (unprecedented in Canadian party leadership contests as far as I know), Naheed Nenshi won 86% of the vote and was easily declared leader (the crowd was electric). I expected him to win, but this was honestly more of a coronation than a contest. In any case, now the hard work begins. I am currently feeling fairly optimistic about our province's future, but that will certainly ebb and flow.
On Sunday, Taylor and I joined our friends at Turca Breakfast House on 4th St NW for some Turkish food. Afterwards, we went to play badminton with some of my pals from work at Centre Ave Badminton. It is likely the most exercise that I have gotten in a long time, and even though I sucked at it, it was a blast! For dinner, we went to get Gringo Street on 17th, then came home to relax for the night.

Recommendations:

A tale of two cities: Atlanta and Calgary's shared water woes by CBC Alberta (Video): Discusses the similar experiences with local water infrastructure breaking down.
Wide Awake by Parquet Courts (Album): Hyper-political art-punk that pushes far-left in commentary and funky in vibes. Personal highlights from the album include songs like: Total Football, Before the Water Gets Too High, Wide Awake, and Almost Had to Start a Fight / In and Out of Patience.
How Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley changed politics in the province by CBC Alberta (Video): A brief overview of Rachel Notley's historic leadership of the Alberta NDP.