Category Archives: Jakob

The Weird History of Kamloops

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Kamloops is home to some of the strangest landmarks, people, and history. Keeping it Weird Kamloops decided to look further into some of these sights, such as the bronze bull just outside of TRU on McGill road which is adjacent to the Truck Chilling Park. So why are they there? Local Kamloopsian, Julie Hendriks, provides a bit of insight as to why a bronze bull is stationed there.

Canadian born Joseph Fafard crafted Obilix, the bronze bull, to represent the history of cattle ranching, along with forestry and mining, which have all been key aspects in our economy of the Southern-Interior. Fafard’s artworks of depict cows and bulls, represent his upbringing in the prairies of Saskatchewan. In 2005, the artist gifted Obilix to the Kamloops Art Gallery. It is also an edition of five, the other four are on permanent display in locations throughout Canada, one at the entrance of the Toronto Zoo.

While not much is known about the Truck Chilling Park, Hendriks assures us, the trucks are indeed chilling.

“Being a truck driver, constantly driving that route in training, those old trucks always catch my eye,” Hendriks said.

The city of Kamloops and the Kamloops Art Gallery setup the vintage trucks to showcase heritage vehicles that drove Kamloops forward. Kamloops noticed lots of vandalism of Obilix at it’s original location of Riverside Park, so they decided to put it in an area, that doesn’t catch lots of foot-traffic, Truck Chilling Park.

Finding The Weird in Kamloops

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Episode 3: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Featuring Brett Neighbour.

Disclaimer: Sensitive content, mentions of narcotics and slight mention of weaponry.

On this weeks episode of Finding The Weird in Kamloops, I interview my former co-worker, Brett Neighbour, about the strangest discoveries at our old job, 1-800-GOT-JUNK. 

Photographed by Jakob Schmietenknop

The job of collecting trash from people’s homes landed us in some strange scenarios, including finding unexplainable items. From narcotics to personal items… unexpected bedroom finds, 1-800-GOT-JUNK provides a behind-the-scenes look at what would appear on an episode of Hoarders.

As we mentioned before, what we discuss is sensitive material that might not be for the faint of heart, because not only for the mentions of narcotics, but also how mental health can affect one’s living situation. Inside a home, is a window to the life of the one who is living there, because everyone has something that will make it unique. Kamloops is home to some of the strangest people to walk with this planet, and at 1-800-GOT-JUNK, you are tasked with going into those people’s homes. Listen to Brett’s story and let us know if you have anything weirder than Brett’s mannequin in your closet. At the end of the story, I present our next guest for next week’s episode, so stay tuned to find out!

Until then, keep it weird, Kamloops!

The Trolley Cart Problem

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The conversations held were indubitably weird. Keeping true to our name. Keeping it Weird Kamloops. Continue reading →

Noah Redgrove, Philosophy Club host. Photographed by Jakob Schmietenknop

Philosophers have debated the trolley question for decades. Pull the lever and kill one person, or don’t pull the lever and take the lives of four others. So, what would you do?

Poster with information on the event.1

Tonight was the first discussion event for the T.R.U. philosophy club, thus being their topic of the night. We talked about different trolley scenarios, one being five seniors already at death’s doorstep or one baby. Shockingly, four voters voted yes on the baby dying compared to the five who opposed it. Another debate with a more serious outcome came once our host brought up this scenario, five people or your entire life savings… During the discussion, everyone seemed to agree that you should sacrifice the money, our host decided to change the voting process to anonymous which in return gave a unanimous vote, to sacrifice the money.

An almost unanimous vote in favour of protecting yourself over four clones of yourself.2

These scenarios are quite uncomfortable, yet that is one of the points of philosophy which is confronting the uncomfortable. Although they voted on ending a fictional baby’s life, I know if they came to the scenario in real life, they would save the baby. The entire group’s attitude was very open yet witty which shed light on these dark scenarios. Even to take the life of just one human when saving four is a traumatic experience but we understand that is the objectively right solution. Now when it’s a loved one or five randoms, an anonymous vote was sprung on us again and unanimously agreed to save our loved one.

The promised free snacks.3
  1. Photographed by Jakob Schmietenknop Feb. 5th 2025 ↩︎
  2. Photographed by Jakob Schmietenknop Feb. 6th 2025 ↩︎
  3. Photographed by Jakob Schmietenknop Feb. 6th 2025 ↩︎