Modern Santa uses a Norseman

Today was fun. Complicated scheduling, but fun. Accidental non-beverage meeting with a buddy. (One of the things I like about working downtown was exactly these sorts of meetings.) Planned hot chocolate meeting with a buddy. Impromptu decaf coffee meeting with a buddy. Plus some wandering around exploring and taking photos. Missed by THAT much on some of them.

Two photos I like. Some downtown Calgary worker bees will know about this one already.

That's a Norseman V, built in the early 40's, and after a long career flying all over, it ends up hanging in the Suncor building.

Then peering up and out of a nearby +15 I was struck by how tall that new building was, and wondered if I was seeing the top. I liked how it faded into the the pre-dawn darkness, so I didn't artificially brighten it.

Some notes. The windows are filthy this time of year. It can be tricky to get nice interior photos of the +15 bridges, or even nice exterior shots through the filthy glass. A couple of them I was ever so slightly off centre. Maybe I was leaning to one side. I didn't notice in the camera, but I sure noticed on screen. No correcting that. Next time. I'll be doing this again, maybe with a buddy, and hopefully the light will be better.

The +15 is a lot more boring than I remember. There seems to be less public art. Some pieces I was looking forward to seeing were not there anymore. Lots of the little independent coffee shops have closed and Starbucks have taken their place. I think every building in downtown Calgary has a Starbucks in it, and some have two. Subway is the next most common franchise.

There are a lot fewer people walking through the system now. Lots fewer. Sigh. I saw several people that I wondered if they were someone I knew; they looked very alike, but I wasn't sure enough to call their name.

This one is a photo of an extremely interesting painting. There's more of it than will fit into one photo. I spent a while looking at it and I'm convinced the artist cleverly merged several different view points into one painting as it swept around the curve, kind of matching the curve of the Bow and Elbow. I'm pretty sure parts of it are along the bluff above Stampede park, and at several points along McHugh's bluff. Maybe Tom Campbell hill as well, though the perspective seems to be higher than the bluffs. There is quite a bit more on both the right and left of what you see in my photo. Even after looking carefully I couldn't find any information about the artist or when it was installed. Knowing this exists, I want to go back through my photos to find the similar shots and see exactly what was done. Anyone know the artist that I can give them the recognition they deserve?