Calgary Stampede Rodeo 2007

Karen got tickets to the Lazy S for the finals of the rodeo this year. We don't normally go to the rodeo (we were last there in 2002), but the finals are always the best of the rodeo, and the Lazy S is pretty fantastic; kind of like the private club seats at a hockey game. The winner of each event is given a cheque for $100,000, so they have some incentive to do well. I don't know much about rodeo (and accordingly don't have a favourite event), but you can tell when someone does stuff well, and the crashes are kind of neat in a painfully vicarious way. That, and you've got to figure people these cowboys are just plain whacked to do this. Some examples:






The ladies race the barrels, a somewhat less deadly profession. Still, crashing into barrels and falling off aren't fun.



But the crashes. Ah, the crashes. Rules of thumb: not being on the centre of the bull will end badly. Having 2,500 pounds of mad bull jumping around near you probably isn't good. Mad bull, mad horse -- not sure it matters when you're being heaved into the air off one's back, but at least horses don't have horns.

Worthy of clicking on the photos to see just how badly these rides are turning out.








Remember those photos when you tell people you have a tough job, or a bad day at the office.

Thanks to Karen's boss Pat for the great time.