The Lynda Parcells Blog - 660News Calgary

What the heck is with people not picking up after their dogs?? Listen, if you want to own a dog, be prepared to stoop and scoop. I own two dogs and can honestly say, pretty much every jacket I own has pockets full of poop bags. It makes me very angry when I’m out for a walk and I feel like I’m walking through an obstacle course. It’s disgusting. I don’t know if these people realize, they’re going to ruin it for everyone. We should consider ourselves very lucky to be living in a city with off-leash dog parks (a lot of cities don’t have dog parks). This past weekend hundreds of people helped out with the Calgary’s fourth-annual Scoopy Doo Day happening at several parks throughout the city. Last year scoopers collected more than 100 lbs of poop and organizers are expecting even more poop this year! By the way, the fine for not picking up your dog’s poop is $250.

It’s hard to believe it’s April 22nd, considering there’s a pile of snow on the ground, not to mention the temperature is about 15 degrees below average. I’ve noticed the nasty weather is starting to take a toll on everyone, including me, but I’ve decided I need an attitude change. You’re probably wondering what spurred this sunnier outlook…it was a girl named Stella. Stella is the latest addition to the Parcells’ household. She’s about 7 weeks old, she’s furry, and cute as all get out. Stella is our new black lab puppy. My husband and I were a little worried when we picked our new baby up last Friday because the weather was changing for the worse and we didn’t know how her little body could handle it. We did all that worrying for nothing. She took to the snow like a duck to water. As a matter of fact, Stella absolutely LOVES the snow. It’s so much fun watching her run around outside, diving her nose into the snow and then rolling around. She literally looks like she’s smiling. Yesterday, after watching Stella enjoying herself, I decided that was it - if a seven week old puppy can have fun in the snow, so can I. So, instead of counting down the days until spring actually returns, I’ve decided to make the most of it and do what I can to enjoy the frigid weather. I can’t lie though….I am looking very forward to seeing the sun again - hopefully later today.

Forgive me if I’m not making sense when you tune into the morning show, but being the Flames fan that I am, I just can’t make myself go to bed on time! An 8 o’clock start against the San Jose Sharks might not sound like a late start, but believe me, when the alarm starts ringing at 2:15 (that’s a.m.), 8 o’clock is like midnight to the average person. After watching what went down on the ice during game 3 - the huge hit by Sarich and the sea of red erupting, spurring the Flames on to an an improbable comeback, it’s utterly impossible for me to even think about going to bed. I certainly don’t want to make the same mistake a lot of people did when they turned off their t-v’s thinking the Flames would never win. I’m confident the Flames will beat the Sharks and make it into the second round, and when they do, I’m crossing my fingers they’ll be playing a team from the East because a 5 o’clock start would be a lot easier on my body!

Okay, so it’s about a month late, but I knew we’d be seeing another huge storm before winter says goodbye. I thought maybe we had lucked out this year, considering St. Patrick’s Day passed us by with nothing major happening (that’s usually when we get hit with a big snowfall) but, unfortunately, I was wrong. Here we sit, on April 10th, and there’s a heavy snowfall warning. Our Meterologist David Spence thinks we might even break a record….great! Just remember if you’re new to Calgary, this weather supposedly makes us “hardy”, not to mention it could be sunny and 10 degrees by this afternoon. Did I mention by the way, the forecast is calling for sunny and a high of 20 on Sunday.

We now know who will be playing the Virgin Festival in Calgary June 21st and 22nd. We were told we’d be blown away by the line-up for the two day music fest, but I find myself still standing. Toronto gets Oasis and the Foo Fighters. Baltimore has Nine Inch Nails, Jack Johnson and Kanye West. Here in Calgary we get the Tragically Hip. Yes, we do get The Stone Temple Pilots as well, but the Tragically Hip, Matthew Good and Corb Lund?? - what is this - the Juno’s all over again?

It’s not just me thinking this way either…..enter morning show editor, Radana Suk….
“Dear Sir Richard Branson,
Last year, when you stormed into our city on a chuckwagon, you promised us the musical world.
Instead, you were too busy balancing that 10-gallon hat on your head, and avoiding horse patties with your shiny new boots, to actually gauge the musical temperature of our fair city. Sure we love our Canadian “rock icons”, but now that we’re a city of more than a million people I think we’re ready to spread our wings, raise our devil horns and rock out to more than New Orleans is Sinking.
I’ll be staying tuned as “more stellar A-list stars” are announced.
But if I hear any combination of the the words 54 and 40, I’m tuning right out.
Sincerely,
Radana Suk”

Okay….so maybe I don’t feel quite as strongly about the lack of A-listers as Radana does, but I will say I am disappointed. I love the Tragically Hip, but when I think of the Virgin Music Festival, I tend to think of bands like Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2….not The Tragically Hip. I, like Radana, will also be waiting for more A-list stars to be announced.

I can’t believe 660News is already two-years-old! It honestly seems like just yesterday that I was packing up my things in Vernon, BC, heading to Calgary for a new start. When I arrived, there was already staff here from all over the country from our sister stations, helping us with their expertise, as we prepared for the big launch. If you’d like to hear what it sounded like on April 3, 2006 you can check out the video below.

Since we launched two years ago, it’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. Getting up well before the crack of dawn can take its toll, but, I do love what I do for living. It’s great knowing that I can be of use, telling you everything you need to know about what’s happening around Calgary, and the rest of the world.

Here’s to many more years at 660News.