Dionysus in Stony Mountain

I am an avid movie watcher, so I have the mindset of a film viewer. And when I have seen a play, it's usually at Rainbow Stage, where there's an abundance of dance and song. So, seeing Dionysus in Stony Mountain, I thought it was quite flat from what I'm used to.

Since this is it a medium I'm not well versed in I thought the first half was really dry. There wasn't supposed to be a lot of action, but this made it very difficult to pay attention to. The prisoner, James, in the first scene would at times address the audience in his lengthy rants, which made it less believable. I will, however, praise the two actors for reciting two entire hours of intense lines. The character Heidi I thought was really well done throughout the play. I liked how in the first act she played second fiddle to James, and seemed like she was in control of the situation, and her life. Her demeanor in the first act made the second half click so well, as it made the story of the James character more dramatic in retrospect. The fact that he pushed this conservative Heidi off the edge made him seem so much more perverse. But, it didn't make sense to me that in the second act it's revealed that Heidi has been prescribed with Lithium the entire time. It made me question the entire first act. This detail didn't need to be included, it just muddled the plot. 

I was really excited when the scenes started because the music was energetic and intriguing for a play. But, once the play started I felt there was a disconnect from the music to the play itself. They should have picked something more suiting. As for the set, I thought they did an excellent job executing the scenes. I liked the depth of the second act’s set when uncle went into the kitchen it made sense and flowed well.

I did enjoy the concept of the play about herd morality. I think it's true and intriguing that people hide within the confines of a 'herd' for safety. I find these concepts about history and religion interesting. I have read that in the medieval ages, the church tried to collect people to be part of their religion. That was part of the beginning of many religions, where people become a part of it without understanding all of it. I'm not over analytical about my own religion and am excepting of cultures, and I enjoy when people are different, and learning about different religions. This play attacked certain religions, which did not enthrall me to pay attention. I like when people speak positive of their own religion, but not about other religions in a negative context. As people, we need to focus on the positives of our differences and not the negatives. That’s just my own opinion, and I don’t know if I would like to know the playwright’s views on religion.

Overall, it was too wordy for someone not familiar with the religious context in the play, but the acting was flawless and inspiring.

Journey for Justice

For Journalism class, I read Journey for Justice by Mike McIntyre. It's the story of a 13-year-old Winnipeg girl, who went missing on a Friday after school. She was found dead in a shack weeks later.


I have never really read true crime, and I don't think that I'm the type of person who can handle it. I have a stomach of steel when it comes to Stephen King, but even a news story can make me into an emotional wreck. True crime seems like a slow, painful horror story.


Reading Journey for Justice was an emotional roller coaster. I only read it on the bus so that I could walk off the baggage of each chapter. I was much too young to remember the case, but I knew the impending doom of sweet Candace. So, getting to know her was really hard. My reactions to Candace's story changed when the relationship between Candace and Heidi was described. It really fleshed out more of who Candace was.


I really liked how the novel was split up into chunks. I felt that there was nice transitions, as the time frame of the story spanned a few decades. It was really easy to move from section to section, without feeling lost.


What didn't work for this book was the dumbing down of the story. It's supposed to be an easy read for everyone, like a newspaper, but it was so simply written that you could skip paragraphs and still understand the story. It was good for the audience, which could be all of Winnipeg, but the narrative could have potentially been more bold for a more intense read.


Each section had a different tone and language. It was also a bit difficult reading the last section, because I don't really read about court cases. But, as a reader I am very curious and like hearing back stories, I enjoyed reading the section section. It was dark and very sad, but it makes Grant like a real person and not the monster I imagined. There is no excuse for him, and deserves every punishment and more, but it shows that in some ways he a victim.


This is perfect story for Mike to write because the media is almost its own character in the book. The journalists I feel brought the Derksons out of the darkness. In the light they were able to radiate their own truth of who they are and what that Friday did to them. All this commotion, showed the police what was really happening, beyond their judging eyes. It shows journalists the true power of an unbiased voice, letting anyone and everyone play their own part of solving crimes and mending the victims.


One thing I felt that was very different in reading this type of non fiction was that the main character is someone we never get to hear from. Candace was the story, yet she wasn't in it. She didn't change throughout the story, as most protagonists do, and the reader got to know her through different means. Also, I have never read local non fiction, so to read the street names and landmarks in the story made it a real, unique, and more frightening read.


The best part of the whole experience was seeing Wilma Derkson at the presentation. When you hear a story like hers it's hard not to imagine what one would do in such a situation. How can you bear such weight without falling down. Could a person really control such anger. When she spoke to the little crowd of CreCommers, she was so unbelievably joyous within her voice and her eyes. She is not at all what I imagined, and definitely did not look like she had the burden that she had. It was a lesson in being human seeing Wilma, and what she was capable of.


I did enjoying finding out all the specifics of a case that's so prominent in Winnipeg history. But, it showed the true evil of the world and how unfair life can be.

You're Invited

Kaendi Magazine Launch

everything about C-A-N-D-Y

 

chic

SEXY

silly

CURRENT

classic

What: Creative Communications Magazine Fair

          (AKA a bunch of students, hyped on gallons of coffee, giving you free stuff and yelling for your attention. See, you are special :) )

Where: 160 Princess Street

             Red River College

             In the Atrium 

When: Friday, March 30

           12-3ish pm

Why: Witness all the freakin awsome amazing creativity happening in da Peg... and free stuff

ABOUT KAENDI:

Kaendi is a Canada-wide magazine all about candy culture. The name “Kaendi” – pronounced can-dee – is Sanskrit for “candy.” Sanskrit is an ancient language, which shows the cultured nature of the magazine.

Kaendi covers various topics on candy, such as fashion, pop culture, recipes and what's new in the candy world. Some of the articles contain sexual references that may not be appropriate for younger readers.

Pita Pit

Ive only just recently started eating wraps, even though I am very particular about what goes into them (of course). And if they only have ranch sauce there's no way I'm buying one. Well the other day myself and some of my magazine group babes were starvin Marvin's and decided to try Pita Pit. Chantal Verrier hadn't had it either, and we were both down to test out these pitas.

I got the chicken ceaser pita (the most boring I know) and it even had friggin bacon in it! But there a few flaws. As the pita maker man put all the ingredients in, he layered them, so that when I ate it there would be a bite of lettuce or a bite of chicken. No ratio! I was not impressed.

Also it was the messiest trickiest thing to eat. If it's too much effort im just not down. That's why u get chicken stripes or breasts instead of wings. Just a lazy eater.

It was pretty good tasting nonetheless, but I prefer to make it at home.

(pic on the way :) )

Kenora Cuisine

The annual Manitoba Travel travel assignment was a great opportunity to get some good stories, photos and of course content for this fantastic blog. I travelled to Kenora for the first time ever with two lovely ladies, Jacky and Lindsay.

We arrived Monday night, starving, around 7:30ish. We drove around to find somewhere interesting and local to eat, but we ended up at Casey's which is a chain restaurant. Our eyes were definitely bigger than our mouths that night as we ordered wings to start before each of our different kind of stir frys arrived. We had peri peri and apple BBQ wings. I'm usually not a wing eater because it's just way to much effort but they were pretty good. I loved the apple BBQ, but the peri peri was way to spicy for my wimpish self. It also had a hint lemon which I was not a fan of.

I ordered cashew chicken stir fry, which was amazing. Some of the veggies should have been cut up smaller to eat it better, and I had to search for the chicken, but the proportions were just divine. The sauce and spice were just perfect, and we ended getting two meals out of each of our stir frys as there was just so much.

The best part about Casey's was the boozy drinks. We all had X-rated lemonade, followed by a white grape punch. The lemonade one was to dye for! (note: exclamation point, I mean it.) It had real, and very fresh, strawberries and you couldn't even taste the vodka. We all sipped it so slowly it was so good. We ordered the second drink mostly because it came in a fish bowl like glass.

Casey's filled us up until bedtime, but when morning came we thought we should try to eat at one of the local treasures. After visiting city hall to find out what we could about Kenora, we headed to the suggested Greek restaurant called Plaza. It turns out we all had the Greek salad pita with chicken (Jacky was the only one who had it with olives). It was so delicious. The proportions were really good, and the chicken had so much flavour. It was probably marinated. I am really glad though that I didn't ask for the soup the other girls had as an appetizer. It was a lemon soup, which I knew I wouldn't like, but I had a little taste of it anyway. It tasted like a chicken soup with lots of lemon and some cream. I was not a fan but the other girls said they liked it and would have it again, even though they said it was quite strong.

I think we had more treats than we had actual food. Before saying goodbye to Kenora we stopped at the Nibbler's Nook and stocked up on some really unique treats. We each got a half pound of fudge and few other interesting finds including Lindsay's Kaluha coffee.

Kenora definitely has some food highlights that I would love to go back and investigate.   

Just Eat It.. or not

So I'm having a really hard time actually wanting to try something new..

Last night, my mom tried to get me to try some mango-lime salsa, and I could not bring myself to bite a chip with some. Picky, I know. But I really hate salsa, no matter how mango-y or delicious you may say it is.

So, this week, I'll just share a little diddly from the parody king Weird Al. My brother and I have three Weird Al CD's and we were obsessed with the show he had in the 90's. (His best song has to be the 13 minute song about Albuquerque, HILARIOUS) This song fits what people are constantly telling me... Just Eat It. But no thanks. 

Slice of Summer

It feels like a lifetime since I had a good steak. I'm definitely becoming summer deprived, especially bbqing. And the other day, I relished in what little bit of summer I could with a mango martini and a damn good steak.

To commemorate Valentines Day and our 4 year anniversary :), my boyfriend took me to Earl's for dinner. Man, I have only been there once a long time ago and it was amazing, it was one of those meals that I go home and think about how good it was.

We had warm spinach and feta dippy stuff with warm crunchy little toast things. Then we both got steaks with potatoes and veggies. I hadn't had a steak since summer and it was feaking awesome. It had that wood grilled flavour. ***** out of *****