We picked up one while in Winnipeg recently.
Complete with the name my old Winnipeg friends still call me.
I started having Jeanne’s cakes on my birthdays at about age 3. Over the years, my parents would bring them to Edmonton, or they would get one for me when visiting Wpg. in the summers, or we would buy them here in Edmonton (closed here now) or in Calgary (where they still are). There is nothing like the crisp delicious shortbread base and chocolate curls on any other cake I’ve ever seen.
of the French Impressionists exhibit at the Wpg. art gallery.
Winnipeg and the city in China which raises panda bears are celebrating their long-time partnership this fall until the middle of October. Lights of the North is a large outdoor light show (best I’ve ever seen) with many exhibits reflecting Winnipeg images. It is an outstanding and totally unique one-time show in Canada. Very impressive and definitely a must-see for Winnipeggers in particular. There are about 7-10x more than I can show here; my camera battery ran out shortly after entering the grounds.
A recurring theme: young women models
A.Y. Jackson of The Group of 7
Figure in front of the museum
Mol painted numerous animals. Near his old studio.
Busts inside the museum
The Temple and large pond
At the Temple
Another view of the Temple
Good timing: pointing at a vapor trail
Dancer in the trees. Many sculptures have their own treed-off sections.
A prominent Catholic.
Inside the museum
A prominent Ukrainian hero
is the number 1 place to visit if you go there. A very distinctive spiralling building arises from the site at the Forks. Its appearance is very deceptive. Inside are about 8 levels of exhibits with a spiral staircase at the top (not for the feint of heart) for those who want to go all the way to the top. There are scores of walkways between levels and as one ascends them, many unexpected imaginative views pleasure the visitor’s eye. One has zero sense that there are this many levels and space possibilities within the building’s interior; it is simply amazing what architect Antoine Predock was able to imagine inside.
50% min. of experiencing the museum is visually related to architecture, layout, illuminated walkways, and visitor’s views and vistas. Simply incredible as you can see from the picture above which reveals a blue-lighted walkway to the next level through large multi-media displays.
There are large halls with multi-media screens.
There is an unexpected rock meditation garden with many tons of boulders imported from the East.
There are numerous eye-catching displays.
There are works of art such as beautiful Soviet sculpture.
A display of the new $10 bill with Viola Desmond, a previously-unsung Canadian rights heroine.
A poem by a famous author about the consequences of rights violated.
A wonderful exhibit is currently on about Nelson Mandela, which is worth the price of admission alone.
Yes, this is one of the most important places in Canada, complete with a cafe and gift shop. You could easily spend the whole day there; there is that much to see and learn. Name a human rights abuse from history and it is here, right down to gypsies. The Museum of Human Rights is easily the best thing that has ever happened to Winnipeg.
(a poor judge of literary talent)
(his belief in his material despite numerous rejections led to literary heights)
of Faber and Faber publishing, who turned down not one, but two of George Orwell’s books for publication–Down and Out in Paris and London and Animal Farm. The author of what was long considered The Poem of the twentieth century which significantly influenced writers, poets, and the course of twentieth century.
How ironic he considered Animal Farm as simply anti-Communist tripe and turned down Orwell’s best piece of documentary reportage in the other book. How ironic Eliot now is long forgotten and Orwell who is considered the author of The Great Twentieth Century Novel. Orwell, who was pooh-poohed by any other critics of his day for not writing literature as it was then understood. Orwell, whose work wasn’t considered worthy of publication by The Great Twentieth Century English Poet.
(also, a recommended book)
PBS’s new documentary, American Masters: Wyeth, is the most comprehensive overview ever of Andrew Wyeth, the great American artist, his life and career. He is, of course, best known for “Christina’s World” and the Helga pictures.
A highly recommended, memorable, well-made documentary about a man who who overcame criticism by going his own way, by maintaining a secret life in Maine, and by rejuvenating his career late in life. Especially recommended for fans of self-made great men and unique nature painting. If you like twentieth century art, you need to know about Andrew Wyeth.
There was only one Louis Armstrong (pronounced ‘Lou-is’). He was the man who single-handedly invented jazz, America’s only original medium contribution to the world of music. Jazz writer Gary Giddins who wrote the visual bio with the same title, co-directs this entertaining comprehensive (86 min.) look at a great music legend who was every bit as significant as Mozart.
There are many excerpts from movies and live performances. All of Armstrong’s main hits are highlighted including “Hello Dolly” and “What a Wonderful World”. Highly recommended for anyone who is a student of music or wants to know more about jazz’s founding father and supreme performer.
One of the great novels of the twentieth century which foreshadowed our absurd modern terrorist/anarchist world was Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent. The novel arose from a true story from the 1890s, about a man who was unsuccessful in blowing up the Greenwich Observatory.
This adaptation is very faithful to Conrad’s original text, often using dialogue unchanged from the source material. Christopher Hampton wrote and directed this film version.
Bob Hoskins is excellent as the nervous, high-strung anarchist Verloc and his innocent, ignorant wife is well-acted by Patricia Arquette. Gerard Depardieu is effective as the lying Ossipon who betrays Winnie, Verloc’s wife. Jim Broadbent makes an effective full-of-himself Inspector Heat, and Christian Bale plays a convincing sensitive, mentally-ill brother of Winnie whom she mothers, but who can’t prevent tragic harm from coming to him. But an unbilled Robin Williams nearly steals the entire show as The Professor, a mad bomber who equips Verloc’s fatal attack.
The strange music of Philip Glass underscores the shocks and surprises of the plot, and the cinematography captures the look of early 19th century London.
In addition to the realistic treatment of anarchism and terrorism, Hampton’s film also portrays Conrad’s views of men and women and his nihilistic views of human affairs and choices in general.
Well-worth seeing. A realistic and very contemporary take on an underrated Conrad classic.
Finally got to viewing the Nicolas Roeg-directed adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness novella. It is reasonably faithful to Conrad’s original text, atmosphere, and themes, though not as hard-hitting as Coppola’s Viet Nam take in Apocalypse, Now.
Tim Roth plays a somewhat minimalist-acting, ordinary-looking Marlow who seeks out a somewhat subdued Kurtz played by normally more powerful John Malkovich. Roeg is, of course, the director of the weird, haunting Don’t Look Now, and there are numerous instances of suspense and violence that recall that more successful movie.
But Roeg does capture the abusive colonial exploitation and underlying evil of mankind in this 105 min. version of Conrad’s most famous book. Recommended for anyone who is wondering whether to read the book or not. In that sense, a good introductory film.
