Good morning, Calgary! November is starting with a gift: three straight days of sunshine and double-digit highs to open the week.

It's a big week for the city, too. Calgary's tech crowd takes over for Innovation Week, six nights of homegrown jazz kick off Tuesday, and the old Central Library downtown is getting a second life. Plus the most wholesome hockey card pull of the year, a West Hillhurst duplex, and three science-named pets looking for homes.

Grab an after-work drink and let's get into it.

🎸 City Spotlight: Studio Bell

That giant curvy building at 850 4 St SE in East Village? It's Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre. Designed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, it's 160,000 sq ft spread across nine terra cotta-clad towers, and it's one of the most striking buildings in the city.

Inside are five floors of music history: the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Speak Up! gallery, and the exhibition Timeless: 100 years of Oscar Peterson. On weekends you can sometimes catch a demo of the mighty Kimball Theatre Organ. It's open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM (last entry 3:30 PM), and admission is $24.50 for adults, $19.50 for students and seniors, $16.50 for kids 4 to 12, and free for 3 and under. There's also a pay-what-you-can option, and seniors 65+ get in free every Wednesday.

Pro tip: keep your ticket stub. The King Eddy across the street gives you 10% off when you show it. And on Tuesday night, Studio Bell hosts the opening show of the Canadian Jazz Festival (more below).

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🚀 Calgary Innovation Week Starts Today

From today through Thursday, the city's founders, tech workers, students and investors come together for Calgary Innovation Week: 70+ events at 20+ venues, hosted by 100+ local organizations, with the University of Calgary as presenting sponsor. Today is the big opener. Platform Calgary hosts the Official Innovation Week Kickoff from 12:30 to 2:30 PM, then the Launch Party Top 10 Showcase from 4 to 7 PM, where you can meet ten of Calgary's most exciting early-stage startups. The week also includes Google Codelabs and a Career Foundry mixer on Wednesday, and it all wraps up with Launch Party, presented by Float, on Thursday from 6 to 9 PM. Registration for events runs through the free Calgary Innovation Week calendar on Luma. With Calgary named one of Startup Genome's top 50 emerging startup ecosystems, it's a good week to see what's being built here, even if you don't work in tech.

🎷 Six Nights of Canadian Jazz Start Tuesday

The Canadian Jazz Festival, presented by JazzYYC and Servus Credit Union, runs Nov 3 to 8 at venues along the Music Mile and around town. It opens Tuesday at 7:30 PM at Studio Bell with JUNO nominee Dawn Pemberton's Portraits of the First Ladies of Jazz, a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and more. Wednesday brings Curtis Nowosad's Noisy World featuring Joanna Majoko at Ironwood, Thursday is Anthony D'Alessandro's Gershwin album release, and Friday Cory Weeds plays the music of Huey Lewis. There are FREE shows too, including Alex Gonzalez on solo piano Tuesday from 11 AM to 1 PM at Servus Credit Union in Inglewood. Planning a few nights out? A 4-show pass is $125.

🏥 The Old Central Library Gets a Second Life

Good news for one of downtown's most familiar blocks. Bow Valley College is moving to acquire Block 40, home of the former W.R. Castell Central Library, and turn it into its new Health Care Centre of Excellence. Instead of demolishing the buildings, the College plans to renovate them into roughly 316,000 sq ft for health care education, research and simulation labs, and it released the first concept renderings on Friday. A $5 million provincial grant is supporting the planning. The new space would let the College grow to about 11,000 full-time health care learners by 2035-36, nearly 5,300 more than it could serve without it, with the first intake targeted for September 2031. As Mayor Jeromy Farkas put it, "Putting this landmark block back to work is the kind of practical result Calgarians expect."

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🍽️ Featured Restaurant: Major Tom

Location: 40th Floor, Stephen Avenue Place, 700 2 St SW (Downtown)
Vibe: Retro-glam steakhouse and cocktail lounge 40 storeys up, with sweeping city views

Big week downtown? Celebrate 40 storeys up. Major Tom pairs one of the best views in the city with a serious steak program: steaks broiled at 1800°, plus classic steak frites ($42). Want something lighter? Start with the Major Tots topped with smoked sturgeon ($8) or the potato doughnuts ($9), go for the MT cheeseburger ($29), and finish with the Old Fashioned "Baked Alaska" ($19).

Pro Tip: Golden Hour runs 3 to 5 PM every day, and weekday lunch is 11 AM to 3 PM. It's in the downtown free-fare zone, and street parking is free after 6 PM Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday. For reservations, text (403) 990-3954.

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REPORT

🌤️ 3-Day Weather Forecast

Heads up: Sunshine all three days, with highs of 9° to 11°, about four or five degrees above normal for early November. Mornings are frosty, with a wind chill near -5 to start Monday, so keep the toque handy for the commute. The warm streak is forecast to keep going, with 10° to 14° from Thursday to Saturday.

PROPERTY: A side-by-side West Hillhurst half duplex with over 2,600 sq ft finished, a granite kitchen with two sinks, a gas fireplace, central A/C, a finished basement with a fourth bedroom and wet bar, and an oversized double garage, close to Kensington and the Bow River.

PETS: Science week edition! Meet Hyperion the 10-month-old Cane Corso mix, already 97 pounds of tail-wagging sweetness, Kepler the working cat, looking for a barn, shop or garage to keep rodent-free, and Charles the Great Dane mix and big cuddle bug (he's a Patient Paw, so ask about his reduced adoption fee). All three are looking for forever homes.

🏈 Grey Cup brings thousands of football fans to Calgary on Nov 15. Got a spare room or suite? Become an Airbnb host. [#ad]

CALGARY FLAMES

A busy week ended at 6-8-0. Wednesday's Battle of Alberta went to Edmonton 4-0, and Devin Cooley is now on the injured list. Friday was the bounce-back: a 6-2 win over Seattle for the Flames' fifth straight home win, with Matt Coronato posting a career-high four points (a goal and three assists), Joel Farabee adding a goal and two assists, and Dustin Wolf making 20 saves. Mikael Backlund also passed Johnny Gaudreau for fifth on the franchise points list with 610. Saturday's 5-2 loss in Colorado featured goals from Farabee and Martin Pospisil, and 28 saves from Arsenii Sergeev in his debut. Next up is a two-game road trip: Monday in San Jose at 8 PM and Wednesday in Seattle at 9 PM, then the Ducks visit the Saddledome on Friday at 7 PM.

🃏 Pack-pull of the year. Joel Hanley's son ripped open a pack of hockey cards and pulled... his dad. The reaction is pure gold, and the NHL called it "the most wholesome video you'll see today." (🎥: TT/pinesandpalms3)

Upcoming Calgary Flames Games - Call / text 403-975-5515

Nov 6 vs Anaheim Ducks at 7:00 PM - SOLD OUT
Let me know how many you need, and I can source them for you!

Nov 8 vs Philadelphia Flyers at 6:00 PM
Sec 206, Row 18 (1 ticket) - $65/ticket (single seat)
Sec 206, Row 18 (3 tickets) - SOLD

Nov 11 vs New York Rangers at 6:30 PM
Sec 206, Row 18 (2 or 4 tickets) - $149/pair

Nov 19 vs Minnesota Wild at 7:00 PM - SOLD OUT
Let me know how many you need, and I can source them for you!

Nov 21 vs Chicago Blackhawks at 2:30 PM
Sec 206, Row 18 (2 tickets) - $176/pair
Sec 206, Row 18 (2 tickets) - SOLD

HAPPENINGS

(Click here to feature YOUR Event)

🎟️ Get $30.00 Cash Back & up to 3% OFF at Ticketmaster by clicking here. [#ad]

• MONDAY | Platform Calgary - Launch Party Top 10 Showcase, 4 to 7 PM. Meet ten of Calgary's most exciting early-stage startups on day one of Innovation Week. Register through the free CIW calendar on Luma.

• MONDAY | Central Library - The Enemy: A Story About Peace at 6:30 PM (doors 6:20). A FREE live performance in the Patricia A. Whelan Performance Hall for families with kids in Grade 1 and up. Registration required.

• TUESDAY | Nickle Galleries - All Netted Together: Darwin, Wallace and the Social Life of a Theory tour at noon. A FREE guided tour of the Darwin and Wallace exhibition with Annie Murray and Lulu Petsrosyan, in the Taylor Family Digital Library at UCalgary. Registration required.

• TUESDAY | Shelf Life Books - Can You Hear Me Now? at 7 PM. A FREE poetry open mic and slam at 1312 4 St SW, all ages welcome. Sign up when you arrive.

• WEDNESDAY | CORE Shopping Centre - Piano Project YYC: Anthony D'Alessandro & Kate Stevens at noon. A FREE lunchtime pop-up from Honens on the Level 2 glass bridge, with jazz and soul by Gershwin, Oscar Peterson, Edith Piaf and more.

LIVE MUSIC

• TUESDAY | Scotiabank Saddledome - The Smashing Pumpkins: The Rats In A Cage Tour at 8 PM. Two sets, celebrating Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness at 30 plus nearly four decades of hits.

• TUESDAY | Studio Bell - Dawn Pemberton: Portraits of the First Ladies of Jazz at 7:30 PM. The Canadian Jazz Festival opener.

• WEDNESDAY | The Attic Bar & Stage - Mitchell Prentice Plays Metalwood // Medeski Martin & Wood at 7:30 PM. Part of the Canadian Jazz Festival.

• WEDNESDAY | The Ship & Anchor - Ship Hop Fall Showcase, 8 to 10 PM. A FREE hip-hop showcase with Bayja, Jackie Art and ZENON.

COMING UP

• NOV 5 | The Confluence - Calgary Justice Film Festival, Nov 5 to 7. All screenings are FREE with registration on Showpass, plus the Peace Market on Saturday. Bring a non-perishable item for the Calgary Food Bank if you can.

• NOV 6 | TELUS Spark - Petri Dish by Beakerhead, Nov 6 to 8. Beakernight (18+) runs Friday from 6 PM to midnight, Saturday from 10 AM to 10 PM is FREE admission thanks to Ovintiv (first come, first served at the door), and Sunday from 9 AM to 4 PM has reduced admission.

• NOV 11 | Stampede Park - Grey Cup Festival, Nov 11 to 14. Four days of festivities leading up to the Grey Cup at McMahon Stadium on Sunday, Nov 15.

• NOV 13 | Spruce Meadows - International Christmas Market, Nov 13 to 15, 20 to 22, 27 to 29 and Dec 4 to 6. More than 325 vendors, reindeer on Sundays, adults-only (18+) Friday nights from 6 to 9 PM, and complimentary parking. Early Bird Saturday and Sunday tickets are available until the market opens.

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Chat soon,

Brent 
Publisher - From Calgary

P.s. BUSINESS OWNERS: Want to advertise to smart Calgary locals? Email [email protected] (or reply to this email) and let me know!

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