New City of Kelowna Logo... not so new?

Not an original?





This is the new City of Kelowna logo that cost around $80,000 to research and design.















This is a logo designed by an American Company in 2007. Land Design made the logo for their client SunHaven.








Possible that great minds think alike? Or should the city of Kelowna be asking more questions?

Fires

I heard someone call it the "Smokanagan" a few days ago. That describes it well these days. You can't even go for a jog outside without feeling like you smoked a pack of cigarettes or stood in front of a campfire for hours.

Observing a lot of pictures of fire lately, I thought I'd post a few that stirred up emotion for me -mainly fear, of what forest fires can do to homes, structures, lives...

These are the scariest ones I could find;

Lillooet Fire behind the town

Glenrosa Fire as it engulfed homes behind Gormans Mill

Okanagan Mountain Park Fire 2003 when it took many homes and raged into "Firestorm"

Water Bottle Ice Cube Trays

I might be the last one on earth to discover this wonderful invention, but they are sooo handy! If you re-use your water bottles, or just need a way to keep them cold... lookout for these fancy little ice cube trays.

They freeze a perfect cylinder, which easily pops into your water bottle. It saves you the headache of trying to jam crushed ice into the tiny opening.

I haven't found them in town yet, so please contact me if you see them for sale anywhere!

Kelowna's new LOGO!

A new look for The City of Kelowna, they have re-designed their logo! A brightly coloured logo showing the sun above Okanagan Lake was designed by Phred Martin of Splash Design. The logo was awarded top prize in the logo redesign category at the 2009 Summit International Creative Awards from among thousands of submissions from 26 countries.

The symbol is made of rows of red, orange, green and blue triangles to form a pulsating circle. Kelowna’s natural environment and its history inspired the logo design with its shape based on a Ponderosa pinecone, the Okanagan Sunflower – the City’s official floral emblem, and the weaved baskets of the Interior Salish.

It might be shocking at first glance, but that's probably just the discomfort of change ;)

What do you want the most in this heat?

31 degrees in Kelowna today and besides deodorant, water and sunscreen, the next most desireable item of the day is...

There just HAPPENS to be a DQ across the street.


The willpower clock is now ticking.

Ogopogo Sighting, just another big fish?

Another Ogopogo sighting on Lake Okanagan July 9th. I like the honesty of this one. 41 year old Wendy Sanderson and Gordon Krug both saw what they describe as a 30 foot long creature with three humps. Wendy says she will never swim in the lake again, Gordon says he doesn't want to be called a freak in public and admits what he saw, was probably a very large Sturgeon.

Perhaps all these years we've only been seeing a glipse and our wild imaginations are filling in the blanks? I read somewhere that Sturgeons only grow to a maximum of 18 feet. I also read that people are only supposed to have 10 toes, and I have met a girl with 11. ;)

Gordon Campbell uses Twitter

Gordon Cambell just started "following" me. Should I be flattered or is his assistant just digging through provincial residents mailing information?

I think I know the answer to that question. ;)

Although I was one of the first 3,400 adds!

It's wild who follows you on Twitter without you inviting them to, I guess this is one of the fascinations with the site.

Weather Out to Lunch!

It seems so many of us rely on Environment Canada for the temperature.

Environment Canada hasn't had a current temperature on their website for a few days now... neither has CBC or The Weather Network. Good thing for digital temperature in cars!! Feel free to call me with temperature updates today... 250.980.1039 :)

Osprey On Tape

A lot of calls have been curious calls have been coming in about the Osprey Nest just off Benvoulin. There is a video camera set up to tape the nest and apparently it's posted on the Fortis Website. Invisible to my eye - if you can find the stream feel free to post it! Here are some pictures posted from the area.

Lose Your Job - Facebook!

So Ray Lam resigned last night. He was the NDP candidate for Vancouver-False Creek in the upcoming election. Just a young guy that liked to have a good time. And sometimes photograph those good times.


He quit because some racy photos of him surfaced on Facebook. These are great photos to show your kids, because this is the perfect example of how posting personal pictures on the internet can interfere with your future and job...




In this picture, Former NDP Candidate Ray Lam is groping a womans breast;

This photo shows what looks like a man and a woman are pulling at Ray's underwear to see what's inside!





Classy. Ray says he thought his facebook page security settings were set to 'private'. Guess not. The Media got a hold of the pictures and the public got a nice look at what their future MLA does in his spare time. He voluntarily stepped down last night and publicly apologized to NDP leader Carol James. Other party members blame inexperience. To what- getting caught?!

Canucks Move ahead of Flames

And so do the posters in the office! John Michaels, Leisa and I decided to redecorate the programming office that I share with Jay Stone - A massive Flames fan.

I think it looks much better! I won't go too crazy, but if the Flames continue to lose and the Canucks keep moving up? The Flames merchandise in the office no longer has a purpose ;)

The only thing I would like to see is a Flames/Canucks matchup in Round 2. Not the first, let them both have a little glory before the battle of the West develops.

If you have any Canucks memorabilia you are willing to donate to decorate the office, we'll take old posters, jerseys, stickers, anything! - Drop it off attn Natalee at 1729 Gordon Drive, Kelowna between 8:30am and 4:30pm Monday to Friday.

The Cleanse/De-Tox

You'd think taking the horse pills included in the nice little "30 Day Cleanse/De-Tox" was difficult enough! Nope then you have to go through those first few days of pain. On the box, they call it the pain of the toxins starting to leave your body. Not to argue with the explanation on the box, but I'm pretty convinced the massive headache I have right now is from caffiene withdrawal. Or maybe lack of artificial sweeteners which I usually consume in my coffee, tea, yogurt, Crystal Light etc. Maybe it's lack of sugar... I've cut out everything with sugar. Except a handful of raisins in the vegan Trail Mix they sell at Costco. I figure that if I get rid of all sugars, I just might die.

So here's what I can't have:

Coffee/Tea (Only herbal)
Alcohol
Artificial Sweeteners
Sugar
Salt
Sulphites
Preservatives
Mushrooms
Bread
White Rice
Potatoes
Red Meat
Medications (IB Profen etc)

And I think that covers it? Do you actually follow these strict guidelines while cleansing? Or do you end up cheating... how bad is it to cheat on a cleanse?

Turkey Chili Recipe

I made the BEST chili last night! And it was pretty healthy too, so I didn't feel guilty having seconds. Here's the recipe:

1 cup Brown and Wild Rice

1 lb Ground Turkey
1 can Black Beans drained (not rinsed)
1 can low-sodium Tomato Soup
1/4 cup water

1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped tomato
2 cloves minced garlic

2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Beef Stock powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook rice and set aside. Cook Turkey and garlic in a large frying pan until pink disappears. Add onions and mushroom, cook until onions are slightly translucent. Add black beans, tomato soup and water. Stir well. Add tomatoes. Add spices and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes.

Serve over brown long grain and wild rice.

Delicious!!

Next Bachelorette is Semi-Local!

The Bachelor. Seemed like a sweet, nice single dad looking for a woman that wouldn't leave him in the end like his ex-wife, or DeAnna. He picked the sweet commiting Melissa from Texas, only to dump her on TV weeks later! A happy ending for Molly (The other girl at the final rose ceremony) but I think the rest of the female population watched with their mouths hanging open, wonding how Jason could do that to Melissa?? So much for working through a marriage. Or relationship for that matter!

On a happy note - 29 Year old Jillian (Final 3 from last season) will be the next Bachelorette! It provokes the question - will producers promote Canadian entries? After all, she lives in Vancouver, perhaps this will be your big shot to get that single guy friend of yours married off!

If you have a man in mind for Jillian, be sure to sign him up here:

http://thebachelor.warnerbros.com/howto_bachelorette.html