About
‘Crack Macs’ is a nickname that Calgarians have used since the 1980s when referencing a 24/7 Mac’s Convenience store located at 7th Ave & 8th ST SW. Mac’s has since been re-branded to Circle K, however, we still call it Mac’s.
Because we live beside it, Crackmacs is the username we used when creating the @Crackmacs Twitter account, back in 2009, and then the Facebook/Instagram accounts.
Mini FAQ
Who is behind @Crackmacs?
Two Calgarians, but who we are isn’t important. We’re nobody special, just 2 ordinary people, and have no desire for fame, so we prefer to remain anonymous.
Why was @Crackmacs created?
After moving into an apartment building on 8th street, we noticed it was .. a little nuts outside sometimes. Thought it would be an interesting thing to document it, what life is like living in downtown Calgary. Like a journal. Twitter had just started taking off at the time and it seemed perfect for what I needed. Facebook, Instagram, and even this blog were created several years later.
When did you start the account?
Technically just before 10:25 pm, on August 31st, 2009.
Hello world! I live on 8th st, right beside crack mac's in downtown Calgary. I will tweet about stuff that I see and hear from living here.
— crackmacs (@Crackmacs) September 1, 2009
Why the account name @Crackmacs?
It was the nearest landmark we could think of that people would know the location of.
Doesn’t the name @Crackmacs make fun of people dealing with addiction? Or Homeless people? Or both?
No, of course not, see above. This name was picked simply because people would know where it was just by hearing the name.
- Transparency: Early on with @Crackmacs, we shared everything that we saw while living downtown. Good, bad, or ugly. People fighting? Yes. Someone passed out on the ground? Again yes… anything. We have long since stopped doing that, and humbly apologize if we offended anyone. We’ve grown and matured a lot, and in fact over the years have worked with several charities and organizations that benefit homelessness such as Calgary Alpha House and the Calgary Drop-in Centre to do what we can to help.
What’s with the profile picture/avatar?
It’s an owl! Painted by Mandy Stobo. Her painting is based on our previous profile picture, an owl smoking a cigarette. Neither of us smokes cigarettes, it just seemed appropriate for some reason. We went with an owl because of the Mac’s owl.
Mac’s owl logo. We had originally used this, their logo without the text, for about 7 days.
After the first week or so we switched our profile picture to this. The ‘not going to get us sued’ version of the Mac’s owl, but not actually being the Mac’s owl. Neither of us smoke cigarettes but it seemed like an appropriate thing.
One day this wonderful local artist by the name of Mandy Stobo created this version of the previous owl picture. This is a photograph of her painting. We’ve been using it ever since. We made an agreement with her as well, in that, anytime we make money using this logo (merch), 10% will be donated to the Calgary Food Bank.
We paid another artist to create this digital version which was used for enamel pins. Turned out pretty good! We ordered our pins through https://www.mrpinman.net which is based out of Alberta.
- If you want to save 5% with them: place an order and then contact them and mention Crackmacs. That’s it!
And this one… no comment.
Calgary Facebook Groups
We run several of the biggest Facebook groups in Calgary.
- Bad Calgary Drivers – Dashcam videos of Calgarians behaving badly behind the wheel
- Calgary Roast and Toast – Toast to the good and roast to the bad, have fun but keep it respectable
- FoodYYC – A group for Calgarian foodies!
- WhatsUpYYC – Real time updates on emergency situations in Calgary
Events and things to do in Calgary
Looking for something to do in Calgary? We have a page for that too.
@EventsInCalgary on Facebook
Work With Us!
If you’re interested in a collaboration or working with us in some capacity, click here.