After surviving the busy time of ARGRA at the beginning of this month, we thought we would have something of a break during July. Judging by the websites of our local LGBT venues and non-profit groups, some still showing May as their most recent update, it didn’t look like too much was happening for us to cover.
Of course, in the broader sense we knew there would still be the Calgary Stampede and Capital Ex in Edmonton, which we have faithfully covered for the past several years (Stampede as far back as 2004) – but these are week-and-a-half long festivals that we could attend at our leisure.
It was a lucky break that we had all this slack time from our usual activities, because there would be other fires to put out.
I spent the first Sunday of July cleaning and organizing our outdoor shed and indoor storage room, taking a break to have an afternoon nap, with our cat Snoopy sleeping peacefully by my side. We got Snoopy as a kitten from the Calgary Humane Society about 5 years ago, after photographing him for an article we were putting together. In those brief moments, Steve picked up on his intelligence and warm-hearted personality, and we knew we had to adopt him. He has grown into an incredibly bright and energetic little guy who is constantly surprising us with new ways to make mischief. He keeps our retarded cat Sparky on his toes, and has a very close and loving relationship with our older cat Salem who lost his brother many years ago. But despite these (gay?) relationships with his own kind, he greatly enjoys interacting with Steve and I (we call ourselves his mom and other mom), be it affectionate cuddling, or his uncommon attentiveness to the things we do and say.
As I went back to finish cleaning after my nap, I noticed Snoopy running to the litter box every time I was in the room, squatting, looking anxious, and eventually giving up. It immediately concerned me because we had seen Salem do this several years ago when the vet found crystals forming in his urine that were blocking his urinary tract. That was solved with a course of pills and switching to a new brand of litter, and we hoped it would be as simple with Snoopy when we took him in to the vet.
The emergency animal hospital ran some tests, though we had caught it so early that it was difficult to tell if this would develop into a severe problem, so they sent Snoopy home with us in hopes he could resume urinating naturally. We kept a litter box for him nearby, and as we slept we could hear him scratching throughout the night.
The next morning he was visibly in trouble, and I could feel that his bladder was very swollen. We rushed him to the nearest vet where they immediately needed to drain his bladder manually, or he would die. They put in a catheter to keep him going after that point, which needed to stay in for 24 hours, and we opted to take him home with us overnight so that he could remain with us in a familiar place. We had to keep him confined in the bathroom, and so he stumbled around with a cone on his head and a cast on his arm to protect the IV port – catheter taped to his tail and dribbling onto the towels we laid out across the floor. At about 3am I woke up because I could hear him pacing around restlessly, still trying to figure out how to get that annoying cone off so he could see what the heck was going on with his paw and his privates. So I took a pillow and some blankets with me and settled down to sleep uncomfortably on the bathroom floor, so that he wouldn’t have to go through this discomfort alone. He beaned me in the face a few times with his cone as he tried to nuzzle me excitedly, spastically flicking his paw to try and kick the cast off. But finally he cuddled up beside me and settled down.
The next day, the vet checked him over, took off all the medical apparatus, and sent him back with us. The reason for his blockage was still not known, but we were all hopeful it was just an anomaly that had run its course. He was fine for just over a week before Steve noticed him struggling to pee, and our hearts sank again. We dropped him off at the vet for treatment and overnight observation.
No sooner did we get home, that infamous hail storm hit Calgary with golf ball sized stones. I got the car to safety and waited out the storm, imagining people on the Stampede grounds having a different kind of Stampede to find cover. Our roof didn’t fare too well, so we spent the day patching what looked like bullet holes through some of the weaker shingles, and calling our contractors to try and push up the repair date that we had scheduled before the storm. But it was so overwhelming for all of this to be happening at the same time, I don’t know how we made it through the day without crying.
We were in and out of the vet during the week to visit Snoopy, who was behaving a little dopey on pain killers, but always extremely happy to see us. The vet took X-rays which showed bladder stones, and it was somewhat of a relief to know there was a logical cause to his problems, especially after all the talk about how cats frequently block for unknown reasons. We arranged for his operation to get the stones removed, but it took him a few more days of healing before he was finally able to urinate on his own again.
When it came time for us to bring him home, the women at the vet told us they would actually miss him – with all the sick animals in foul moods that they have to deal with daily, through it all Snoopy was very cooperative (although a little vocal), and super affectionate to everyone there. In my experience, most cats are terrified of car rides and care about little else but hiding or frantically watching the scenery go by. Snoopy refused to stay in his carrier, opting instead to cuddle contentedly in Steve’s lap, completely at ease and occasionally reaching a paw out to me, making happy chirps whenever I looked at him. I got all of my crying out with Snoopy safe at home again. Sparky didn’t seem to notice Snoopy was even gone, but Salem snapped out of the depression he was exhibiting in Snoopy’s absence.
The quickly healing incision, little shaved patches on his belly and front paws, and what’s left of the pestky pills he has to take daily, are the only remaining signs of his ordeal this month. But he has earned his new nickname: “Snooper-trooper”.
The Winds of Change, Part 3
So it is official, and I can finally talk about the things I was hinting at in last month’s column.
For Calgary, the big news was the launch of the new club that has been torturing all of us with hints while remaining mysterious about their name and opening date. The name, “Club Sapien”, was announced on Facebook only a week in advance of their launch, over the August long weekend. There was a pretty strong showing of people that we saw, which was impressive considering so many were out of town for Vancouver Pride.
The space is quite stunning and modern with plenty of intimate booths and corners to get away to, when not on the dance floor. Some people were struggling to make sense of the odd word “Sapien”, which we explained as the taxonomical Latin term for the Human race: Homo sapien. And that also explains the significance of the “Hello my name is HOMO” nametags.
It was quite apparent that the arrival of this new dance club brought out the best in Calgary’s LGBT community - receiving flowers from almost every one of the other gay bars, congratulating them. For us it was wonderful to be reunited with many old friends from the dance club scene, from whom we’ve in essence been segregated for the past 3 years.
Meanwhile the new bar project in Edmonton has been announced. When Boots went out of business, it left an amazing opportunity for a new bar to take over the space and make better use of its great potential. As it turns out, the owners of Prism were able to snap it up, and have been working like crazy to have it ready to open this month. They will be moving the legacy of Prism over to the new space, to start fresh under new name “The Junction”. From what we’ve been told, the concept of the bar is to be very community orientated and open to everyone, rather than catering primarily to the female population as Prism had done. Appropriately, the community has rallied to help Deb and Tracey complete all the work that needs to get finished.
Meanwhile, the days of Prism are drawing to a close. Prism will be having its farewell party on August 14th. The Junction will have its grand opening on the 13th, followed by the BEEF Bear Bash on the Saturday. After that, Prism will shut its doors permanently.
Lastly, we found out just this month, the less happy news that Edmonton will be losing another bar. PLAY has officially announced that the club will be closing down, their last night being August 14th. After that point, employees speculate that Oil City Group will likely be converting it to a straight bar. PLAY was established in September 2008 and operated for nearly 2 years.
July 2010
Though our writer Jason was diligently covering the bands and singers at the Stampede, for reasons mentioned earlier, Steve and I were only finally able to visit the grounds for the first time on the last Saturday. We went to photograph the Grandstand show as we have done for the past several years (see page 66), but I have to say the show this year was particularly entertaining – which is sad to say, considering the poor weather throughout the week. With a theme of uniting global cultures, the costumes and props were exceedingly colourful and unique. Several times throughout the night, performers took flight over the audience in standing room, and upward to engage those on the uppermost tier of the Grandstands. And as always, the fireworks at the climax of the show were spectacular.
I went up to Edmonton by myself to cover Buddy’s 10th Anniversary, and also spent the day with Steve’s sister Maria, checking out what’s new at Capital Ex. Maria has a penchant for photography much like Steve, and so the two of us spent most of our time taking interesting photos of attractions on the grounds, which appear on page 66.
Steve and I found it very convenient to be able to drive ourselves out this year to the Western Canada Pride Festival (aka. The Gay Campout) in Blackfalds over the August long weekend. There were a lot of new faces, and I ended up getting roped into participating in some of the daytime activities: two different relay race games. Probably the only sober person on the course, I got to crawl under obstacles while carrying a ball with anything but my hands, pick tinfoil-wrapped plastic eggs up with my teeth, get dragged around in an inflatable boat while screaming like a baby before helping do the same with my teammates, and then savagely burst water balloons that weren’t of my team colour. It was a huge amount of fun, though I had to skip out on a challenge to mud wrestle, for lack of time before we had to head back to Calgary.
This Month
With Calgary Pride happening at the very beginning of September, this month was the last opportunity for businesses to get their advertising out in advance for Pride-goers to see. GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine continues to be the exclusive host of the Official Calgary Pride Guide, except this year it has not been printed within the pages of the magazine. Parallel Productions has taken the extra layout work off our plate and produced a fantastic booklet that has been inserted into every copy of our August 2010 edition. The booklet contains sponsor advertising and detailed Pride information, including a special version of the GayCalgary map, highlighting party venues and sponsors.
August is the month of Edmonton Fringe, and we’re making sure you’re aware of a number of productions that are of LGBT interest. Look through the black and white section of this edition for more information on these shows, their dates and locations.
And finally, another big thing happening in Edmonton this month is the annual ISCWR Coronation, on August 28th. More information on Coronation week events can be found on their website (www.iscwr.ca) or in the GayCalgary.com events calendar.
New Online Features
Last month we introduced a new feature to bring our Classified advertisers a little extra online exposure. On the front page of GayCalgary.com, when you click the Classified Ads link beside the latest edition, you can read all of the currently running classified ads online (and as always, submit your own classified ad). The neat bonus is that your classified ad will start showing the moment we confirm that payment has been received. This means you start getting exposure even before your ad goes into print!
Check it out at: www.gaycalgary.com/classifieds
If you need to keep abreast of all the changes happening in the community, now is a good time to join the Facebook groups of Alberta LGBT venues. But let’s face it, the Facebook Group URLs are long and often impossible to remember, and many times the group you are looking for won’t turn up even in Facebook’s own search.
So another thing that we’ve implemented on our site is a system that handles quick links to the Facebook groups of businesses listed in our online business directory – starting with the bars we distribute to in Calgary and Edmonton.
These quick links are free for us to set up, so please contact us if you have a directory listing and would like a quick link for your own use.
In Calgary:
Backlot: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1097
Calgary Eagle: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1165
Club Sapien: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1796
FAB Bar: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1233
Texas Lounge: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1105
Twisted Element: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1262
In Edmonton:
Buddys/Woodys: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1380
Flash: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1768
The Junction: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1795
Play Nightclub: www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1585
Prism (Closing Aug 14th): www.gaycalgary.com/fbd1381
