Aug 12

Aug 12 - 8.77 km.

Newspaper and coffee at home before heading out to do my list of errands. Had a bit of a walkabout downtown, lots of new renovation construction going on in the downtown area. Went up to the university - Arthur Erikson buildings are always good for putting on a few kilometres. This is an image from last fall - too lazy to take another one today - or rather no time. Had to drive to do the recycling - including all the recycling I brought back from Regina - but I did walk to the mailbox to post a letter - a novel experience. Walked a lot around the house and yard carrying things back and forth.

Aug 10 - 11

Aug 10 - 3.82 km despite driving all day.
Packed up and left Regina this morning. Drove past the Sherwood Park branch of the Dunlop as I didn't want to leave Regina again without making it out there. Sunday morning - the gallery and library are closed of course. Drove west to Moose Jaw (stopped for coffee) and then headed south to go the scenic route. Stopped at East End late in the afternoon to see the town, something I've been trying to do for months now. Couple of art galleries and the Wallace Stegner house for writers residencies. And the T-Rex centre.
Continued west - another four hours and I was in Lethbridge with my feet up watching the Olympics.

Aug 11 - 3.09 km.
This day is a bit of a blur - no photos. Mostly ran errands to do with the upcoming move. Saw C.W.'s mother J. off at the airport and ran around some more.
Dinner at A.M. and D.I.'s house with D.D. and C.R. Great dinner.

Aug 9

Aug 9 - 10.25 km
Last day of residency portion of exhibition - morning coffee and newspapers at alternate spot. Busy, crowded and irritating, not conducive to a quiet read. Glass on sidewalk from broken car window from the previous night, although the streets are peacefully busy. Farmers market on Scarth St. generating lots of interesting activity. Go back to lodgings to work for balance of morning, printing images and GPS maps. Also starting to organize my gear as I have to leave tomorrow morning - good thing it's a morning that no newspapers are published.
Scheduled to be at the gallery from 1pm-4pm so I move over there to continue the final additions to the installation. Occasionally walk back through park to lodgings on an some errand or other, taking in some of the daytime festival activities.
Finish at the gallery at about 4:30 and go for early dinner at a food stall in the park - food from the Punjab. then back to lodgings to pack up.
Over the course of my 20 days in Regina I walked 282.5 km.

Aug 8

Aug 8 - 11.32.km
Feet tell me to take it easy today. After morning coffee and news go to gallery to work and take care of business. In the news: Harper government making more cuts to arts funding because some grant recipients aren't conservatives.
Walk around park - work in gallery- work at lodgings - walk in park. Go for an afternoon walk with gallery facilitator M., to describe process and get some valuable Regina history. Go up to cafeteria on top floor of SGI building (Sask. Government Insurance), tallest building in Saskatchewan, if I remember correctly.
Folk Fest doing sound checks - loud at street level but can't hear from SGI building. Later walk around park a bit more as the folk fest builds to it's opening night, then walk over to the Cathedral District for dinner at my favorite restaurant - The Crushed Grape.
After dinner walk back through park to lodgings - festival in full swing.

Aug 7

Aug 7 - 22.88 km

Decide to do a walking day today. After morning coffee and papers drop by gallery briefly to pick up material to take back to lodgings. On the way back make appointment with the hot-dog vendor at the south east corner of park for a grayson sausage on bun for about 20 minutes in the future. Unfortunately I was delayed and didn't get back for about 30 min. by which time it was just past noon and therefore a long line-up. After a 20 min. wait I had to settle for a bratwurst on a whole wheat bun. Still delicious.
After lunch I start walking north through the industrial area between Broad and Albert in the general direction of the Sherwood Park branch of the Dunlop Art Gallery . On the way I pass by the Regina cemetery again and once again my GPS unit starts acting erratically - I look up and see that I'm also right underneath a cell-phone tower. I think this is the reason.
I hope to see the show "Garden Folk" before leaving. I've never managed to make it to the Sherwood Park branch any of the times I've been in Regina. Don't make it this time either. Extremely hot day and my ankle is a bit tender today so I wimp out about 3/4 of the way there and start curving back over to the north-east side. Stop at video store and pick up some used DVDs - "The Prisoner" -a documentary about a journalist imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay (the U.S. war on terror has been a huge boost for the documentary industry if nothing else), Gary Burns' "Radiant City", "As you Like It - Shakespeare", and "Paris - Je T'aime" - a multiple director meditation on the city of Paris.
Continue on my back to Broad Street on an unsuccessful search for a Moto-Guzzi dealership, then loop over to Winnipeg Street and back down south through the industrial east side. Back to lodgings through Victoria Park - the set-up for the folk festival is well underway. In the evening watch "Radiant City", an excellent film - by which I mean that it is an ambitious film that overcomes it's problems.

Aug 6

Aug 6 - 14.56 km
After coffee and newspapers go to gallery to spend scheduled 11am to 1pm time on site. Quite busy today with lots of people coming in to chat including L.B., a Regina artist whom I had met in Lethbridge when he was showing at the University Art Gallery, S. and B., two people quite engaged with the project, an older couple who came with the true history of the Knox Metropolitan United Church (along with the meaning with the "Limp" admonishment on their sign, V.V. from Saskatoon and K.D. from Regina.
After 1pm go to lunch at the Novia Cafe, a Regina institution just across 12th ave. from Victoria Park. Clubhouse Sandwich and black tea.
Back to the gallery to browse the art books.
Around 3pm head out for a longer walk (I've been wandering in the park off and on) east on Victoria to Winnipeg (stopping at the wonderful Italian Deli) then turn north up past the tracks into industrial N.E. Regina. Not much in the way of streets or paths so backtrack down to South Railway & follow the tracks back to downtown stopping at the liquor store to be watched suspiciously while I select a bottle of wine. After making my selection and being hit up for change outside the store I continue down 12th ave to the park for a small amount of perambulation before returning to lodgings.

Aug 5

Aug 5 - 8.77 km
Pick up newspapers relatively early - Globe and Mail & weekend New York Times & go to favorite coffee shop to read. After newspapers spend the rest of the morning & early afternoon working at lodgings, gallery, and Victoria park. Stop at hot-dog cart and have a fabulous sausage on a bun with the works - ketchup, hot mustard, pickles, sauerkraut, green and black olives. After lunch I pick up the Regina Post-Leader and go to alternate coffee shop for a cup of tea.
Wander around park and environs - photograph the two "Municipal Hail" buildings - the old and the new - then back to the gallery for a bit. It starts to rain as I'm inside so wait the storm out inside the front entrance as I'm carrying lots of stuff. Guard strikes up conversation with me about how life is over at sixty and a person had better wish for a healthy life rather than a long one. On that note I dash back out through traffic into park. The folk festival crews are starting to set up for the weekend. Back at the lodgings I watch a DVD of "The Devil's Backbone" by Guillermo Del Toro. An excellent film.