Maple Leaf Mailbag rock'N roadshow

Calgary. Got here late last night from Lake Louise. I wasn't that interested in coming to Calgary to be honest with you. The oil patch, Alberta beef, the Calgary Stampede … sort of bored by it all to tell the truth. Here's a synopsis of what we did: Celebrated Blake's birthday up the Calgary Tower, the monotony of Blake's aging inducing coma-like symptoms … ate a AAA steak at Biggies Slab Meat, fired off some rounds at the OK gun-range and drank some beers with the gang at Woodies Roadhouse. Spread the MLMB word to lots of Albertans but it's still Calgary … People say; "what's it like then?" And I say; "Calgary?" … "horrible, lifeless, mundane, an urban holocaust," "all these cow-people, long faces, shuffling around, moaning" … and then there was Tristyn. Tristyn is 13 years old. She rides a horse named Taj. She is beautiful in every sense of the word. And she touched my life. If you only watch one episode off the MLMB Rock'n Roadshow please watch this one.

The boys grant me a birthday wish. The Calgary tower. The monolithic structure is an integral part of the oil and gas capital's skyline. We're going to the top. Some people wait their entire lives for an opportunity like this. Other folks are satisfied with the lofty views from the cab of a jacked up 4x4 truck. I'm deeply touched by the grand gesturing of the crew high above the city streets. Later that night we race out to the space capsule barn. On this Kubrick-esque stage, we watch an austere young woman gracefully guide her obsequious mare to glory. On the way home we stop for a few B-day sodas. Things get regal in Cowtown.

We've got to do something in Calgary. What's the first thing you see? The Calgary Tower. Or a cop holding a radar gun pulling me over. 90 in a 70 zone. Great start. "Can you give me any good reason why you were exceeding the speed limit?" No. Next stop: the Calgary Tower. It's Blake's birthday. He's feeling better. He wants to go up the tower, so we go up. The views are pretty good, but the views from ground level are impressive here in Calgary, so it's not that big of a deal, really. You can see for miles wherever you are in this town. After the tower, we head to the stables for Tristyn's story. Tristyn's story involves a horse named Taj, and a little-known discipline known as dressage. You'll be able to check it out once we put together the videos of the MLMB Roadshow.

Downtown Calgary...We are making fun at people by asking them where's the Calgary Tower (right in front of us!) At night, shooting a touching report on horse dressage with Tristyn...