Spring is chock-full of awesome!

By Andrew Barbero

Psst. You there. Yeah you! Put that pencil down and close that book! It’s daydreaming time.

That’s right. I want you to imagine a happy place, a wonderful land of freedom and adequate sleep, a magical realm know as ‘spring.’ And spring starts soon, although not soon enough.

Now, I know a bunch of egg-head science types are going to try and convince you the first day of spring already came and went, but don’t listen to those pencil-neck geeks. Spring starts the day of your last exam or essay. Yep, it’s right around the corner!

No doubt there’s a lot to do between now and then, and honestly, you should get off your ass and get to work instead of reading this article. But since we’re daydreaming and you’re coming along for the ride, let’s take a look at why spring will rock.

First off, the basics. BSD is drawing near. Start counting the hours. For others reading this, it’s already happened. Treasure the memories.

Then, the snow melts and the sun returns to prominence. While everyone appreciates the boost in vitamin D, all warm-blooded people can’t wait to see the opposite (or same) sex start taking off the layers. Vive la mini skirt and tank top! Vive la bare chest and shorts!

Spring means we can reclaim our backyards and fire up the barbecues. Just imagine how much better a steak on the patio will taste compared to eating your 247th ham sandwich of the year in the MacKimmie Library.

And while we’re dreaming about things you’ll never see on campus, why don’t we talk about a successful sports team? The Calgary Flames are back in the playoffs for the third straight season and have a puncher’s chance against the Detroit Red Wings. Red Mile anyone? Plus the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders open training camp in June.

While you may be experimenting with font sizes to pad your term papers, this spring you can experiment with some exciting conventions, festivals and people. Like the Calgary Underground Film Festival in April. You can also go check out Dog the Bounty Hunter, or head to Calgary Women’s Show. Or better, my personal favourite, the Calgary Comic Expo, featuring the original Hulk, Lou Ferringo!

Like comedy? Jeff Foxworthy, John Pinette and Bill Cosby are all slated to appear this spring, along with Funnyfest, the Calgary comedy festival.

Don’t like spending money? The Lilac festival is free. Well, pretty much free. Unless you want to eat or drink or have fun. That stuff costs money, but you can walk around for free. Besides, you’ll be making money by then with your lucrative summer job. The festivals don’t end there. How about Calgary Beerfest in June, or Carifest that same week?

Plus Calgary will be home to some of the greatest musical talent in the world this spring, with names like Willie Nelson, B.B. King and the Tragically Hip appearing. On an unrelated note, The Killers, Gretchen Wilson and Gwen Stefani will be here too.

How about movies? Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Shrek the Third, Transformers, Live Free or Die Hard, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the Simpsons Movie all hit theatres this spring and summer. The best idea is to pay for one ticket and then just sneak into other movies for the rest of the day.

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