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Sunday, January 13, 2008

Yesterday, Mrs. That Dan Guy and I finally decided to check out The Glenbow Museum, where “The World Meets The West”. If I’m not mistaken, the name is derived from “gle”, which is ancient Greek for “Washrooms On The Fourth Floor”, and “nbow”, which is aboriginal for “Now Accepting American Express”.

This adventure has been on our to-do list since we arrived here in Calgary, but with all the live shows and trips we take, it has been virtually impossible to squeeze in. However, there was a huge installation of Emily Carr works, entitled “New Perspectives On A Canadian Icon”, which MTDG was rather insistent we see.

For the uninitiated, Emily Carr is one of Canada’s most famous landscape and First Nation’s artists, with the single irony that considering her last name, apparently never painted automobiles. Go figure…

I should probably clarify, she wasn't First Nations herself, she travelled Canada documenting First Nations, and aboriginal icons (totem poles and such).

The Glenbow Museum is a misleading structure. You have no idea of the enormity of the collection until you start walking. Even with breaks and a brief shot of a defibrillator (I’m fine now), it took us five flippin’ hours!!

However, it was well worth the investment of our afternoon. The Emily Carr collection was astounding – we had no idea of the varying range of styles she exhibited during her career. Some of her work even resembled that European guy, Vinnie Van Gogh.

The balance of the museum was a diverse blend of history – Asia, Africa, First Nations, and at least one large buffalo. He may have just gotten lost in there himself though…

One display was a bit disappointing, we have to admit. “Dream: A Tale Of Wonder, Wisdom & Wishes” was fairly dull. Imagine those glow-in-the-dark stars you put on your child’s bedroom ceiling, and that was pretty much it.

All in all, there’s just so much to see. We got herded out at closing time with the very last section pretty much done. With what we did see, we agreed on giving the joint two hearty thumbs up.

But they were awfully tired thumbs…

Chow for now!!

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