Our job running a magazine is tough.  There are those times when it feels like we’re here solely to have crap dumped on us, and then every now and then a little saving grace comes along to lift our spirits again.  This month was a good month for that.

We were invited to write a review about a resort on Mayne Island in BC, which is nestled between the mainland and Vancouver Island.  We, as a gay publication, were being invited because the island supposedly has a fair gay population, and also because it is growing as a gay destination.  Although initially we declined visiting them for a number of reasons, the resort was willing to go out of their way to bring us there...and it was hard to say no to that!  I guess being the work-a-holics that we are, the only way to trick us into taking a holiday is to make it part of our job; enjoying the resort and photographing the sites – all research!

The trip had a lot of firsts for us; things Steve had never done, and things that we had never done together.  The flight out to Vancouver wasn’t novel, but the Ferry ride to the island certainly was.  Combing the beaches and exploring the shallow waters near the shore were new experiences for Steve, he admitted, as he recalled his childhood trips to the beach: "Steven, don’t get too close to the water, something might bite you!"  It took me setting a bold example to get him to realize that the water is not so dangerous, and he ended up getting quite excited over seeing real oysters, starfish, crabs, and other sea life up close.  We certainly felt butch after going kayaking for the first time in our lives, and we could imagine that riding the resort’s electric scooters back and forth across the island felt a little like riding a motor bike on the open road – oh look...the gay Hell’s Angels?!

I felt a little sorry for George, our "family" connection at the resort.  I imagine it must be hard to find other gay men on the island to socialize with - not because there aren’t any, but because there are limited options to meet others, especially when you work most of the day.  Considering our whirlwind schedule to take in as much of the island as possible, we weren’t much company.  Nevertheless we enjoyed our chats when we came to visit him in the restaurant at dinner time.

I won’t talk too much more about our trip here for the sake of saving the rest for the article but, I have to say that the three days we spent at the Mayne Island Resort was a big step out of our shoes, a chance to grow and enjoy another side of life.  An article seems like the least we could do for what a wonderful time we had, and for how much this chance to get away meant to us personally.  I hope we do them justice, and that we have an opportunity to return and visit again someday.

Following our stay on Mayne, we scheduled 24 hours in Vancouver before returning home again.

During the day we did a stroll up and down Davie Street to check out places like Priape and Little Sister’s, and on a whim decided to duck into Pulse since they seemed to be open.  We met manager Rob and owner Steve, which made introductions interesting.

It was funny to see how even in another city we somehow manage to bump into people that we know from Calgary, many now residents of Vancouver.  We were also there to witness a sudden flourish in the publishing industry in Vancouver, as two new magazines had their first issues out on the shelves.

Popping into Celebrities later that evening proved that there are bigger clubs west of Montreal than what we have in Calgary, perhaps not in capacity (I guess the fire department does things differently here) but certainly in sheer size.  One of the managers took us on a brief tour of the establishment, and we were amazed by the spacious open design with a balcony tier – a design that lends well to hosting concerts.  How refreshing to see the big dance club in the city displaying posters for Pride and other non-profit groups.  Maybe I can understand a little why so many Calgarians migrate to this city.

Predictably we got up to some mischief at Pumpjacks that we’d be shy to do in our home city, and enjoyed the remainder of the night at Numbers, accidentally forgetting completely about Oasis before heading back to our hotel room.

The weekend after this excursion, the both of us were back up in Edmonton for the Bearbash.  As we did our rounds to check magazine quantities during the afternoon, we also discovered that it was Buddys 9th Anniversary Party (we wouldn’t have known if not for the poster in Woodys), and that there was a special Twiggy drag show at Prism.  Steve and I did these events in turn, but the Bearbash was definitely the place to be.  As anticipated, it was so full that the owner opened up the Garage Burger half of the building (with a nice patio) to the droves of bears that came out that night.  A handful of guys auctioned off their jockstraps to the highest bidder, to raise money for the Pride Centre...coming to a grand total of $1500!

The next day we paid a visit to the Edmonton Zoo for the first time.  Judging from people’s opinions in the community, we knew not to expect a rival to the Calgary Zoo, but nonetheless it was an eye opener.  You see, our writer Jason volunteers at the Calgary Zoo, and the Zookeeper that he works with used to work at the Edmonton Zoo, so one of his former colleagues agreed to give us a behind the scenes tour.  Okay, I admit I was starting to wonder, after the first two things I see are a guinea pig enclosure, and a petting area filled with goats and chickens...but yes, they do have a good selection of some more impressive animals.  No Lions, no bears, but yes Tigers, Snow Leopards, Arctic Wolves, Red Pandas, an Elephant, and much more.

As Jason writes about in the story on page 11, we got to participate in feeding many of these animals.  It was an amazing feeling to have a lemur lean off its branch, grab your hand, and look you in the eye as it gently munches on a chunk of banana from between your fingers.  More adorable was the red panda that stood on its hind legs and eagerly grabbed onto my leg and hand as I struggled to only give it one piece of food at a time.  Certainly a magical experience, and one that’s entirely within reach of the public if you book into one of their programs, or become a volunteer.

The weather really, really sucked for Stampede goers this year.  They were plagued for most of the 11 days that the event ran.  Among other obvious downfalls, it meant organizers had to cut some of the more impressive acts like the motorbikes and the Wheel of Doom from the grandstand show in the evenings, for safety reasons.  We were lucky to see it on a day without rain, and got hundreds of stunning photographs from the performance.  It was great to see some innovation this year, as certain acts crossed the line from stage to audience, dangling right above the standing room.

We usually listen for what new dessert item they’ve decided to fry and serve this year, but more intriguing was the alligator or cricket pizza available at one of the Pizza on a Stick vendors.  Once you get over the initial fear of the little cricket eyes staring back at you, they actually didn’t taste that bad...kind of the crunchy consistency of burned cheese.

Capital Ex was its usual laid-back self, and an entertaining way to spend part of the day.  Of course, the butterfly enclosure is an essential stop, but the Egyptian Exhibit was also fun to peruse.  Among the rides we saw an intriguing new addition...well, actually we first zeroed in on the hot shirtless guy demonstrating this new addition: a surfing cage, where water comes zooming along a wavy floor fast enough for you to ride a surfboard, if you can keep your balance.  The same flavors of exotic pizza were also available here, but we decided to pass this time.

Yes, Calgary Pride is in September, but so close to the beginning of the month that it didn’t make sense to hold off on all the Pride advertising and information until the September edition.  Publishing the Official Pride Guide ahead of time in August gives all of this material a good month worth of exposure.  Yes the September edition will still be available at all of the Pride venues, alongside copies of August.

The Pride Guide this year is not a contiguous set of pages.  In past years we were able to combine Calgary and Edmonton pride information with Fairytales and ARGRA events, to give an ample event listing.  Alas things change, and this year we were asked to limit the guide to the handful of Pride sanctioned events known at the time of publication.  Nonetheless, GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine is proud to be the official source of this information, and sponsors of Pride received complimentary ad space to be with it.

Though not officially listed, it’s safe to say that Calgary’s gay bars will be having their own after parties the day of the parade.  As much as it is great to see everyone prosper from these festivities, I ask that you also try to spread some of that booze money around at the Beer Gardens at the Street Festival.  We all know by now that Pride has had a particularly rough time rebuilding this year, and they really need the support from liquor sales so that the events can grow better and stronger for you next year.  After this, do show your support for the bars that have been open to participating in, and assisting the efforts of Pride this year.

In case you missed my note in last month’s column, photographs from ARGRA, Edmonton Pride and everything else in July are available online for you to browse.  Video footage of the entire Edmonton Pride Parade, and parts of the Street Festival stage performances can be viewed as an online article by visiting last month’s edition.

• Calgary Fringe Festival – July 31st to Aug 8th

• Bowling for Beswick (Calgary) – Aug 8th

• Tits & Mitts with Balls (Edmonton) – Aug 9th

• Edmonton Fringe – Aug 13th to 23rd

• ISCWR Coronation (Edmonton) – Aug 29th

• Calgary Pride Dance – Sep 5th

• Calgary Pride Parade / Street Festival – Sep 6th

• AFQOL Cut-a-Thon – Sep 7th

For more information about these events and others, visit our online events calendar at www.gaycalgary.com/events, or peruse our business directory on page 17 of this magazine.