ALL SCI-FI

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 467

Seems like it sometimes. I woke up yesterday morning and it was -28.5 with a -35C windchill!

I think the very name of Winnipeg cojures up images of a frozen fur trading outpost Smile

. In fact, this is a places of weather extremes. Our winters REALLY are that bad. But the summers are fantastic.

I want to post some pictures of my hometown that I've taken over the last couple of years. Every photo here is taken within WALKING DISTANCE of my house.

Pow · Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 9:52 pm Post subject:

What is that fascinating looking building you have there?

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 467

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2014 8:58 pm Post subject:

Seriously, Brent, you mean that is NOT Star Fleet Command Headquarters? Confused

Good lord, if Canada ever decides to invade us, we won't have a chance against this technologically advanced species! Shocked

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 467

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 467

I have some interesting photos here which are really in a category of their own but I don't want to start a new thread everytime I post photos.

There is a cemetery right on the busiest street in town (Portage Avenue). It seems very misplaced but when you look at some of the dates on the markers, you realize that it was there long before Portage Avenue existed.

Locals are so used to driving past it, we don't give it a second thought. About 3 or 4 years ago, I decided to go inside for a look. I found some fascinating things.

I found this grave marker at the extreme edge of the cemetery, literally 2 feet from a busy sidewalk. The hedge was almost starting to overgrow it (the upper right corner is partly obscured by the hedge). It is otherwise very unremarkable...except for one thing...read the marker and notice where one of the departed was lost:

Here's another stone I photographed with a very odd story. I took pictures of this marker because it was so photogenic and the poem on the obverse side struck me as strangely primitive and a bit morbid.

I posted that picture on a local photo forum. I got an email from an elderly man with the last name "Ketcheson" who was aware his family had come from Winnipeg and believed this to be a "lost" family member.

This one is significant because of the date 1874. That was the year Winnipeg became a city. This was still "the wild west" and as late as 1885, federal troops were sent here to quell an armed insurrection against the federal government.

This is just sad.

Unfortunately, some markers are going to be lost to history. This is an old cemetery with some isolated markers buried and overgrown. The elements are starting to reclaim them.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:45 pm Post subject:

This is a remarkable photo essay, Brent, and your comments are very moving. (Nice touch, making some of the black & white.) Thanks for sharing this with us. I know I speak for all the members.

Emerald Duck Call Award
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 467

I noticed in the news today that the WESTERN CANADA AVIATION MUSEUM has gotten a royal charter and is now THE ROYAL AVIATION MUSEUM OF WESTERN CANADA. Probably not a big deal to Americans but a rare honor up here Smile

.

The musem is just a few minutes away from my house and is currently in a complex of buildings where both me and my father used to work (not at the same time...dad in the 1950's and me in the 1980's)

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:46 am Post subject:

Emerald Duck Call Award

Airplanes are beautiful. If they didn't fly, I'd still love 'em. And if somebody offered me a job polishing that shiny silver one, I wouldn't mention that I'd do it for free. Very Happy

And the one on the bottom floats, too! If it could lay eggs, we wouldn't need ducks.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 467

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 1:00 pm Post subject:

She is a beauty! Thanks, Brent.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 467

This was the view from my office window. OK, I didn't have an office...I had a work bench at Standard Aero. The Voodoos were overhauled next door at Bristol Aerospace. But the run-up pad was in front of Standard Aero and this was my view. This is the EF-101 "Electric Jet" version of the Voodoo.

For 1000 bonus points...yes, I said 1000...name the plane in which chubby young Brent Gair is sitting (I was a fat kid).

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Pye-Rate · Starship Navigator Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 598

Constellation

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 467

Pye-Rate · Starship Navigator Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 598

Comet