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Most of the time, a political party’s riding nomination race doesn’t attract a ton of attention.  But this is Alberta, and these are the Progressive Conservatives.  I’ve heard arguments that this race is more important than the election itself, and I can understand that.  Not to disparage any of the other parties (anything can happen in an election) but the Banff-Cochrane riding has been a PC stronghold for many years, and the reality is that barring a strong surge from another party the person who wins this nomination has a good shot at being our next MLA, replacing the outgoing Janis Tarchuk.  This type of political carrot tends to attract strong candidates, and we have five people with really strong credentials running for the nomination.

This past Saturday, all the candidates attended a Meet & Greet at Rafter Six Ranch.  Each was given 5 minutes to speak on whatever they wanted.  It was nice to see a pretty good turnout to hear what each of them had to say.  I had a chance to speak with each of them individually after the formal portion of the afternoon, and this past week I’ve been airing one of those interviews per day.  In case you missed some, or want to hear them again, here they are in the order they aired (which was based on the order in which I managed to corner each of them at the meeting)

Download Ron Casey

DownloadTruper McBride

DownloadJohn Fitzsimmons

DownloadJon Bjorgum

DownloadRob Seeley

Voting takes place Saturday, January 28th locally at the Caribou Lodge in Banff and the Holiday Inn in Canmore from 10am to 7pm.  You have to be a PC Party member to vote, if you’re not it’s $5 to join and memberships can be purchased at the polling stations.

For a 1000 Locals VIP Club Bonus Code, enter the last name of the outgoing MLA for Banff-Cochrane.  The code will work until the end of the day Tuesday, January 31st.

Seven random observations from last night’s Jim Cuddy show at the Banff Centre:

1. At 56 years of age, Jim Cuddy is still a pretty good-looking dude.
2. Jim Cuddy has one of the nicest singing voices I’ve ever heard.  He sounds just as good in concert as he does on his albums, and his tone is so clear and pleasant to listen to on any song.  I’d be happy listening to him singing the phone book.
3. My favourite song from the show was the Jim Cuddy Band’s version of Blue Rodeo’s “5 Days In May”, a sprawling, jammy take on the song with an awesome violin solo courtesy of Anne Lindsay.
4. The phrase “awesome violin solo” is not one that is commonly used, and that’s a real shame.
5. Crowds at the Banff Centre tend to be very sedate.  People tend to only stand up towards the end of a performance during most shows I’ve seen there.  A performer who isn’t used to it might be looking at all the people sitting there, maybe bobbing their heads a little, going “Are these people enjoying this?”  Yes!  They are!  My theory is that locals prefer to do their hooting and hollering hanging off or hurtling down the side of a mountain, and enjoy live music sitting politely and listening.
6. I just learned last night it’s entirely possible for a person to lose all circulation to their buttocks while sitting politely and listening to a show at the Banff Centre.
7. Playing for a little over two hours, showcasing his great solo material andsome of the best from the Blue Rodeo back catalogue, along with a killer 7-piece band, last night’s Jim Cuddyshow was highly entertaining.  Whatever band he shows up with, you’re always guaranteed a great show when Jim comes to town.

If you missed my interview with Jim on Saturday afternoon, or want to hear it again, here it is in its entirety.

Download Jim Cuddy Interview

For a Locals VIP Bonus Code worth 1000 points, enter the name of Jim Cuddy’sother band (you know, the one he’s in with Greg Keelor).  The code will work until the end of the day Sunday, January 22nd.

Banff Winter Festival organizers were faced with a problem.  Approaching it’s centennial year, the event was at risk of fading away, with declining interest and attendance.  Last year, the Competitiveness Initiative was released in Banff, and it called for a renewed winter festival, bigger and better than ever.  Banff Lake Louise Toursim jumped on board, and SnowDays was born!

Think of SnowDays as a big snow-covered tent, encompassing pretty much any activity going on in Banff National Park over the next month.  From January 14th to February 12th, there are an unbelievable number of events taking place.  Some of the best holdovers from previous Winter Festivals are back, like the Mountain Madness Relay, and some events that were formerly stand-alones like Ice Magic are part of it as well, this year bigger than ever spanning two weekends.  There are also some new events, like this weekend’s Mountain Adventure Festival featuring a free ice climbing wall in Banff Avenue Square, and a new ball hockey tournament in February that I hope becomes a huge success!  You can learn to curl, be a photographer, stargaze, geocache…the list goes on and on!

For more details on SnowDays, check out their website at www.banfflakelouise.com/snowdays.  With such a massive lineup of events you’ll be hard-pressed to not find at least something you’re interested in.  You can also listen to my interview with Micaela from Banff Lake Louise Tourism here:

Download Title

And to celebrate this new festival – a Locals VIP Club Bonus Code!  Enter “SnowDays” for 1000 points.  The code will work until the end of the day Sunday, January 15th.