The Bomber Assignment

On Friday our CreComm class received free tickets to go to the football game between the Bombers and the Alouette's. The team donated them to our class for free, which is amazing. Anyways, the purpose of us going, besides hanging out with our lovely classmates and having fun, was to write a human interest story about something happening off the field for our Journalism class. We had been hearing about this for a while now and I was torn between blinded terror and crazy excitement.. Is there actually a medium to that? 
Anyways so "the day that never ends" (as classmate, Albertine Watson, dubbed it) was upon us and we were all supposed to go to the game for 6pm so that we would have LOTS of time to find a story and get lots of interviews. When I arrived there I decided to turn OFF my shy, self-doubting switch and turn ON my go get it attitude. So I first approached a security guy, who sent me off to the Blue Bomber office. There, I talked to the nicest volunteer who took pity on me, saying that her daughter had taken the course and knew how much work it was. She sent me to a couple of other people and, finally, I had a list of several groups/organizations of interest that would be at the game that night.
From there I went straight to the Timbit soccer team, a Tim Horton's sponsored group of 72 kids from the Dakota Community Centre that were split into 6 teams. I talked to the coach of the Green Dodgers and his son and the program coordinator for the league. They were all so nice and I felt like I got some solid information from them.
From there, I went off to find my second story (so I could pick between the two) and started approaching more volunteers etc looking for somebody "newsworthy". That is when I ran into the greatest person EVER. 


Dialogue:
Me- Hi I'm a RRC student looking writing a human interest story tonight about people in the crowd for my Journalism class. Do you know of any groups or people who may have an interesting story to tell?
Mystery man- That guy. Right there. (points behind me) That is David Asper.
Me- (speechless) Oh... no... What would I say... (mumbling) YIKES. (wanders over and hovers by Asper then retreats to wall with no self-confidence)
Mystery man-  (approaches) Nervous? Ask him this, this, this, and this. (listing off several well-informed questions)
Me- Who are you, you ANGEL!? 
Mystery man- I'm nobody. I just work at a *local paper* so I know some stuff. GO!
Me- rush over and introduce myself to David Asper... 
I won't tell the entire conversation as it was kind of long and fabulous. But, at one point when I ran out of things to ask, I did say "Sorry, I'm nervous. You are like a celebrity."


Anyways, the Bomber game was a great night. It was a fun bonding experience. I hadn't been to a game in a long time and was surprised by just how many people were there. However, the ONLY thing that I did not enjoy about this game (besides the Bomber's loss) was the deadline. Normally for Journalism assignments we have 2 hours to get the story and have it printed. For the Bomber's, we had 4 days. And I obsessed. I can't even tell you how many times I changed the same paragraph before it ended up the same as how I had it in the first place. 
In the end,  I went with the Timbit story though now I'm second-guessing my choice. But, it turned out good. I'm looking forward to getting it back....kind of. 

The Banana Statue

Melita is a small town located in the southwestern part of Manitoba. With a population of approximately 1100, it is known as the Grasslands Bird Capital of Manitoba. It is also known as the Banana Belt due to its slightly warmer climate than the rest of the province.
As a way of attracting tourists to the small town, the community decided to erect a 30-foot, 6200 pound banana statue. This statue was unveiled last month on August 7th. The town is holding a naming contest until midnight on September 30th to give the banana a name on it's champion wrestler-looking belt, underneath the inscription "Welcome to the Banana Belt."
Two names will be chosen, one for the banana and one for the blue jay that is perched on the right arm of the banana, representing how the town is well-known for it's bird population. This contest is open to everyone, so I encourage all to participate in the naming process.. I mean how often do you get to name a 30-foot banana? To fill out an entry form, click here.
The banana statue was built in Calgary by Heavy Industries, a manufacturing company. It was brought to Melita on a flatbed truck and unveiled during the town's Banana Days. During this special occasion, the town gave out free banana splits to all those who attended. If only I had known.. who doesn't love a free banana split?
You can join the Banana Belt Facebook group to get to know the banana better. 

This photo was taken by the Brandon Sun prior to the banana taking its upright position.

BODIES...The Exhibition

Last night I went to the opening of the BODIES...The Exhibition in Winnipeg at the MTS centre exhibition place on Portage Ave. The tickets cost me about $19.00 each when I bought them online. I was really looking forward to this part of my province exploration because of how controversial it was for some people in the city.
The controversial topics are:

•  How the bodies are accumulated (prisoners from China?)
•  How the bodies are treated (skinned, de-boned, pulled apart, etc)
• Respecting the dead
• The fetal development section

Upon arriving at the centre, my group was informed that photographs, cellphones, and chewing gum were forbidden. This both surprised and disappointed me as nowhere on the tickets did it say that cameras weren't allowed, which is typically what TicketMaster does. The exhibition hosts did, however, offer to take my picture at the entrance and PhotoShop in a body for a whopping $8.00. So I did what any starving student would do, I stealthily took pictures when no one was looking(thanks to my awesome new Ipod Touch)! That being said, please excuse any mediocre or just plain bad pictures. I was under stress.

The two-floor exhibit starts at the top of a stair case with cases showing the muscles in different parts of the body. I had (for the price of $5.00) bought an audio guide to help me understand just what was going on in front of me. Each body part came with two sets of numbers. One set was for adults and the other for children. I, being completely biologically inept, selected the children's take on the body.

We arrived very shortly after the doors opened at 6:30 pm to a relatively empty exhibit. But soon after, the place was full of people. I was happy to see this because then my audio guide explaining things to me in "childspeak" wouldn't be echoing in the quiet hall (embarrasssing) and I could get a look at what kind of people are creepy enough to check it out- besides me, obviously! Although, this surge of people made it harder and harder to sneak pictures.

< This is a picture of the skull and the arteries in the head.

**FUN FACT: Girls' brains account for 2.5% of their body weight whereas boys' brains only account for 2%.** I felt a silent victory when reading this until it sunk in that girls typically weigh less than boys...

Speaking of the brain, I HELD ONE LAST NIGHT! No big deal. It was in my hands while a biology student regaled me with the story about Phineas Gage and how brain damage affected his personality. Apparently I learned that in Intro to Psych but it was way more memorable this time. I suspect this is because of the actual brain.. in my hands.

I decided it was best to leave out pictures of the fetal development section. It was interesting to see how a baby's skin changes and what they look like at different stages.. but I wasn't going to be the person posting (unauthorized)pictures of babies floating in jars on the internet.

<I really enjoyed this hitchhiking skeleton

I think the BODIES exhibit was really interesting. It is only in Winnipeg until January so I reccommend that everyone go and check it out. I didn't find that I was offended by how the bodies were displayed but I did find a sign regarding that subject that I wanted to share with my blog readers.

I know it is really hard to read because of the horrible photograpy skills so I will rewrite it."The bodies in this Exhibit have been displayed with the dignity and respect they so richly deserve."

This sign (that was located right by the Exit) made me laugh because of it's last attempt efforts of dissuading people from being offended by the exhibit. I suspect this sign was intended to be geniune but it ended up just sounding sarcastic. Or is that just me?

To see the rest of my pictures, please click on the following like:
BODIES... The Slideshow

The Twitter World

Today was Day 1 of Twitter-ing. I had made a point of boycotting the social networking site for as long as possible... And then it was required in school this year. So much for sticking it to Twitter.

My exploration of the province will continue tomorrow with an educational exhibit happening at the MTS exhibition hall until January 9th.

Check out my pictures and information from the show tomorrow!! I'm sure it will be twitter-ific!
Is it weird that I'm really excited about it? Some people seem to be really offended by it...

Plaza at the Forks- One of Canada's Largest Skateparks

Another Manitoba attraction built with the help from The James Burns Family Foundation and Centre Venture is the Park Plaza Skate Park. This park is one of the largest skate parks in Canada, possesses 30,000 square feet of foot skate area and 8,500 square foot bowel complex. It cost a whopping 2.5 million dollars to construct a park of this size for skateboarders, roller bladers, and BMXers to have a safe place to try out their skills.
Find out more information at:
The Plaza at the Forks
To view photos from the Opening Day



In 2006, Tony Hawk, the pro skateboarder, briefly visited the Plaza at the Forks to film scenes for his movie Secret Skate Park Tour 3. According to Global News, Tony Hawk dubbed the park "one of the best he has seen." Check out this rest of this article.
I've witnessed a wide variety of ages at this park and always find it nice to see the older skaters helping the younger ones learn new tricks. This park is known to have a happy and safe atmosphere.

"There seems to be a code of graciousness in this park. Everyone seems to take their turn and help each other," said a person passing by who likes to frequent the area. 

"I went to Winnipeg on the Tony Hawk secret skateboard tour...and that park's amazing-probably the best in North America right now."

 -Alex Chapman

First Stop- The Wave Artists' Studio Tour

I decided to start off my tour of the province on Sunday (September 5th) with the Interlake Art Tour, officially known as the Wave Artists' Studio Tour. This was my first time ever attending it and, truth be told, I had never heard of it in the past. 2010 was the tour's 9th running year. I didn't really know what to expect when I began the tour. For some reason I had this weird expectation of walking through some large building, like the Convention Centre, gazing at the artwork of extremely talented people. While I was right about the extreme talent, I was wrong about the location. It was an art TOUR, duh, so I visited each artists' studio. Luckily the people I was touring with knew this and maps were printed with the names and art type of each exhibitor. This tour extended from close to Oak Hammock Marsh all the way up to the Northern part of Gimli. We ended up visiting 10 places in total but will only document on a few.

My first visit was to the workshop of Alan Lacovetsky, who specializes in wood fired pottery. My first thought when I arrived there was, "Are we in the right place?" I don't really know what my expectations were but it wasn't until I looked towards an old garage/shed type building on the North side of his yard, that I saw multiple tables of beautiful pottery. I immediately fell in love with his work, wishing that I didn't live off the salary of a student so I could buy the whole place out. He took us further inside his workplace, where I saw the massive window that provides him with inspiration, his old style pottery tables, and the ancient (somewhat decrepit) looking wood-burning kilns. According to the Wave handbook, Lacovetsky's work is showcased nationally throughout Canada, and internationally throughout the US, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, and France. He informed my group of Manitoban tourists that he would be taking off for China in the near future to teach the fine art of pottery and to indulge his inspirations further. What a place to start! 
Check out his website: http://www.alclay.ca  

My second stop was to see the glass creations of Angel Calnek. She specializes in slumped glass and kiln casting. Her pieces are heavily influenced by nature and her spirituality. Her love of creating was very apparent in the variety of work that she had on display and in her reportoire. While recently recuping from a medical condition that rendered her unable to work with glass, she spent much of her time knitting dish cloths and towels.

Calnek is not only known for her artistic abilities with glass, however. She is also a vocalist in the local band, Hillbilly Burlesque. The band describes their music as "raunchy blues with a down-home feel." They performed at the Neepawa Lily Festival on July 25th and have a show coming up on September 24 at the Women In The Wilds Blues Festival. I will admit that the group's name threw me off because of it's juxtaposition meaning. But, after hearing a few tracks, I could understand their appeal to some listeners. Calnek has a strong voice and her bandmates are a talented group of people. 
The website for Angel Calnek's artwork is:http://www.angelcalnek.com/Art.html 
Hillbilly Burlesque also has a MySpace page. Click on the following link and hear the musical stylings of these women:
http://www.myspace.com/hillbillyburlesque 

 After heading out from Angel's, we drove to where Tim Schouten works with wax at Tunnelwood Studios. When we got out of the car, we were greeted by three of Schouten's most popular muses-his dogs. Following these muses into the studio, we noticed immediately how often they appeared in his work. I really appreciated how different his pictures were from the usual art that I encounter. Schouten begins every new canvas with a photo. From his picture, he brings to life a wax creation of the same image. The end result is a much more abstract version of his photograph but unique and eye-catching. He has been recognized by the Canada Council of the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, and the Ontario Arts Council. 
His work can be found at: http://www.timschouten.com

One of our final stops was to the Mermaid's Kiss Gallery. At this gallery, there were multiple local and national artists on display. Alan Lacovetsky had several pottery pieces there for sale. I particularly enjoyed Linda Vermeulen's artwork. She won awards for her ability to capture dramatic moments depicting the Interlake region through photograph and printing them on watercolour paper. One of her limited edition pieces that was on display was titled "Don't Look Back."

Photo by: Linda Vermeulen

You can experience the variety of art available at the Mermaid's Kiss Gallery on their website as well:

http://www.mermaidskissgallery.com 

Operation Exploring Home

I am 21 years old and am attending Red River College for the Creative Communications Program. I live on a farm South of Stonewall, Manitoba. Since I grew up in a town outside of Winnipeg, I have had the opportunity to experience places and events in and outside of the city limits. However, much like any person native to a certain area, there are landmarks and attractions that go unseen and unappreciated. Most people don't discover home through the same eyes as a tourist. As part of the Creative Communications program, each student is required to create a blog about any topic of their choice that they feel they could write about for a great length of time. So my blog will document my exploration of Manitoba, the province in which I was born and raised. I will research and seek out places around home that I have never been to or feel deserve recognition. Suggestions of locations around the province are extremely welcome. I will provide more information during research and when day trips are being planned.