City Landmarks Vol IV

Rush Bagot Agreement Rain, rain on my parade. I had originally intended on featuring ye olde Fort Henry in Vol IV, but Krista blew that one out of the water with her inaugural post, and so it was back to square one. Luckily there are a ridiculous number of historic plaques in the area surrounding the Fort, which made it pretty easy to find some solid successors. Just down the western slope of Fort Henry and across Navy Bay, is the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) and the Stone Frigate. The Stone Frigate is a now used as a residence, however back in the day, it was used as a naval storehouse and an integral part of a wartime shipbuilding facility. Read more

Bus Advertising Gone Bad

CAA Bus Advertisement Here’s a paradox that will make your head explode, or perhaps it will simply make your blood boil. A recent CAA ad appearing on the tail end of Kingston Transit buses boasts “insurance rates that won’t have you riding the bus.” Is public transpo in Kingston so bad that City officials are seriously encouraging commuters to drive their own vehicles? Doesn’t it behoove the marketing manager down at City Hall to sell advertising that increases ridership? What the hell is going on? Are we in bizarro-world, where up is down, and pink tastes like blue? Read more

Weekend Woes

This weekend pales in comparison to last, and although there are many things to do tonight and tomorrow, for the most part most are repeat, or otherwise ongoing events. Noteworthy things to see and do include:

1,000 apologies for quick bullet format today, but as we get closer and closer to the official launch of the Kingstonist calendar, I am looking forward to focusing on individual events, rather than trying to write something fancy about each and every thing that’s going on in the city of limestone. In any case, get out there and enjoy the city while the rain subsides. Did I just jinx the weekend?

Apple Crisp on CBC

Apple Crisp It seems like forever and a day since I attended the Apple Crisp music series hosted by CBC Bandwidth’s Alan Neal. This musical evening featured the likes of: The Gertrudes , Emily Fennell , Luther Wright , Chris Brown, Sheesham and Lotus and many more. It was an amazing night of music à la mode, and being a part of a live recording is always a fun experience. But woe is me, the Apple Crisp show was never made available online by CBC as Bandwidth is not released as a podcast. When attending PAB08, I got a chance to speak with some attendees from CBC who explained that shows such as Allan Neil’s can’t be made downloadable due to copyright issues surrounding the music they feature. I appreciate CBC’s concerns, however I’ll pay whatever, whenever to support the local music scene. So in my books, a podcast is not going to hurt any of these musicians, in fact, it only helps to promote their talent. With that in mind, the folks at Apple Crisp have made the recording available to listen to online, and although it is "free", it’s not necessarily above board with the CBC. So when you’re listening, remember that these artists live off of their music, which requires an audience to commit cold hard cash. Whether you purchase their CD’s or to attend one of their shows, I strongly encourage you to support your faves. Without further adieu…Part One and Part Two of Apple Crisp on CBC.

Time

Time In the early 1970’s, members of the Kingston community suggested the city erect a sculpture in between the Queen’s smokestack and the water purification plant. In honour of Kingston’s Tercentenary (300th birthday), Ontario, Quebec and the federal government all made donations of about $50,000 each which was used to commission three sculptures. The first of them was Time . Read more

A Windy Skyline

Wolfe Island Wind Farm The last time I mentioned the Wolfe Island wind farm , I honestly hoped that the project would be delayed due to the growing concern from Island residents. It’s not as though I’m opposed to the idea of alternative energy, or wind turbines on the Island, but I certainly do not want the concerns of local residents cast aside without due process. Is this simply a case of David vs Goliath, or do the developers and Provincial Officials know something we don’t? I walk along the waterfront each and every day, and lately I’ve been noticing a large number of construction vehicles being ferried over on a private barge. This got me searching for answers, and I soon discovered that pieces of the wind turbines have already begun to arrive on the Island. It looks as though there’s no stopping Kingston’s windy skyline. Read more

A Quick Look at Fort Henry

Fort Henry With the summer coming to a slow end it’s nice to sit back and reflect on all the fun events that Kingston has offered. The Market Square booths and summer attractions come and go, but nothing in Kingston is as timeless as Fort Henry . When most Kingston natives think about Fort Henry they recall grade school memories of field trips. Think back to being a young kid saluting your officer of the day and wearing an oversized wool jacket, aiming a toy riffle at the limestone walls. Fort Henry is what the CN Tower is to locals in Toronto: just another tourist spot; you go once if at all and that’s it. However, one shouldn’t judge this unique museum on first glance. Read more

Weekly Photo

Shannonville Motorsports Park There are people in Kingston trying to do something about the street racing that we all hear about on the news almost nightly it seems. They are called ArmDrop.com . Nothing fancy here, no starting trees, no timers, no getting extra cars lengths. This is pure, run what you brung, heads up racing. There is no money to win, no trophys, nothing of the sort. Just pride and a safe envirment to go fast, really really really fast in some cases. This all takes place at Shannonville Motorsports Park, just a few minutes up the 401.There was a large number of people that just came to watch their freinds and family members run a straight peice of ashphault for a 1/4 of a mile as fast as they can go. Racers pay $30 to go as many times as they can get to the line and spectators pay just $5, you just can’t beat that if you love the sound of roaring engines and the smell of burning tires. If you think you would like to attend a session they go about once a month, just watch the ArmDrop web site for the next event. Also you can check out more pictures from the Aug 1st run at my web site at Z-Photography , filed under race pictures .

A Weekend to Remember

So the Olympics have officially started, and incase you aren’t down with watching the Opening Ceremonies, there’s a lot to do this weekend. Although last weekend was rather uneventful, Kingston is playing host to two crowd pleasing events. Read more

WIMF 08

Wolfe Island Music Festival Not to blast it, but I felt as though the Skeleton Park Music Festival was a bit less awesome than my memory made it out to be. To me, it seems that the same people play year after year at Skeleton Park, and although I love many of our local bands, and appreciate the hard work and dedication it requires to put on such an event, I honestly believe that they would benefit from including more out of town acts. But perhaps that’s not the mandate of the festival. Maybe organizers want to keep it small, local and familiar. Thankfully Skeleton Park isn’t the only Summer music event in Kingston, as the Wolfe Island Music Festival (WIMF) is set to go down this weekend with a healthy mix of Kingston, and non-local talent. Read more

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