Teemu visits the theatre.

Dionysus In Stony Mountain is a play that I attended as part of a school assignment. The play ran from March 29 to April 8 and was located at the Rachel Browne Theatre, 211 Bannatyne.

Part of my assignment is to write about my experiences at this play, which happens to be uneventful. The theatre is a small theatre that requires you to walk up some stairs before you reach the main stage. Once you arrive you will nestle your way into a cozy spot that I imagine would be quite uncomfortable for those taller than 5-feet 10-inches.

The play challenges middle class liberal values, at least from what I understood. The play makes a call to action for those from River Heights to challenge the way they think and to step outside their comfort zone.

It was funny, being a middle class male from the Wolseley neighborhood I had run into people who I had grown up with who have their Masters in Sociology or some other social sciences and told me how lucky I was to be attending this play and how much they had enjoyed it. All I could think about was hockey and what was happening in the hockey world that night.

The thing about sports fans is that you can’t take your mind of something that you are passionate about and obsess over, especially when the playoffs are in arms reach.

Now back to the play. The play, right, didn’t leave much of an impression on me, I like funny, simple things and this play I believe has a good message for its audiences but just makes it way to complicated. I believe this was actually a contradiction to what the play was trying to accomplish.

I feel that the play was trying to portray the message that middle class people need to think critically about society and especially about our prison system. I think the tone was a bit stuck up and left me uninterested after the first 15 minutes.

The one thing I enjoyed about the play was telling people I was attending the theatre, it made me feel smart. 

Journey for Justice

Journey for Justice

What works in this book? What does not Work? Why?

The book is easy to read and follow. McIntyre provides the reader with an abundance of background information about the case and the people involved in the case. I enjoyed reading the facts and learning about the Derksen family. This allows the reader to feel connected with the family adding to the overall experience.

Sometimes the book seems to drag on, especially with the actual court trial of Mark Grant and when Doctors diagnosed him. This was a bit lengthy at times and more work than leisure.

What can journalists learn from the book, the presentations or the case in general?

Journalists can learn a lot from McIntyre’s presentation. He talked about taking chances and that it never hurts to ask when you’re trying to get your hands on a story. He spoke confidently about what he did and was obviously content with the final product. He showed that journalists can help tell a larger story in the form of a novel and that this can be quite rewarding. It also teaches journalists that writing a novel is something you can do on the side of your regular journalistic duties and how the two of them can be combined in some cases.

How does this book compare to another non-fiction work in any medium?

I find this question a little tough to answer. I’m going to compare it to March of the Penguins which is narrated by Morgan Freeman. March of the Penguins is a video documentary that provides its viewers with everything they could have possibly wanted to know about the species of penguins. Not only are you amazed by the grueling life these penguins endure year and year out, but you come to garner a certain amount of respect for the species. As for Journey for Justice, the readers learn a lot about what happened to Candace Derksen and how the community initially reacted and continued to react over the years. Both are similar in that they are full of details, both have a beginning, middle and end. In both cases you gain respect for characters involved in the story and in Journey for Justices sake you gain distaste for Mark Grant.

I bet that if done right Journey for Justice could turn into a great movie.   

How does it compare to other work by McIntyre, e.g. his stories in the Winnipeg Free Press?

Well I am not all that familiar with McIntyre’s work but after reading a few of his articles I can say that his story although professional is much more conversational. The opportunity he has to tell a story in a novel is greater than in a newspaper publication. His newspaper publications are heavily fact based and don’t seem to have the same human interest aspect that Journey for Justice has.

What was your reaction to the book and the presentations?

I was very happy to hear Wilma Derksen speak. She is a very upbeat and positive lady. I found McIntyre to be very passionate about his work and quite serious in nature. Wilma has a very soothing voice and said just the loveliest things about her daughter Candace. Hearing Wilma speak was refreshing because she demonstrated grace, sophistication and humbleness all at the same time.

The book was okay, I didn’t mind it but I generally don’t read much outside of the sports and political world. Crime stories have never been my thing; I do however enjoy the old episodes of Law& Order.

It was nice to read a story that I was familiar with its settings. It really adds to the experience because I know this community and understand where everything actually took place. This helped me visualize what I was reading.

The book was good and it was nice to hear the author and mother of the victim speak. 

Feeling Groovy

Knowing what you like and don't like usually takes some trial and error. I have error'd many times in my day and with experience have discovered the beauty of finding things that I enjoy in this simple existence I call living.

So if you apply the above rules to Twitter like I have many a times you assume because you like someone in real life that you will like following them on Twitter. This is not always the case as I'm sure you know. I like following sports stars, funny guys and people who have some influence over society only to find that their Tweets are Boring yes with a capital B.

However if you're like me and enjoy thought provoking Tweets, I would suggest you follow John Winsor.

https://twitter.com/#!/jtwinsor

This guy seems like a real nice guy who is interested in promoting creativity and sharing ideas that make you think. His Blog is also kind of neat.

http://www.johnwinsor.com/

So if you have a moment and feel like checking something out that I think is cool,

here you go.
    

The broken vase

Dear blog,

SMASH

Was all I heard late Wednesday evening when I returned home from my hockey game. I was bumbling in through the doors of my apartment when my hockey stick tipped over the nice vase on the counter.

OOPS

I should mention that this vase was a gift to someone who lives in my building, a nice lady who is always pleasant to bump into in the halls or laundry room. She had decided to place a vase on a table right at the entrance with a nice little bouquet of flowers.

Yes it looks nice. No I wasn't be careless, I was just being a little bit thoughtless.

As I gently tapped the vase with my hockey stick, I noticed the vase had started to make its plunge to the unforgiving tile floor. I tried desperately in a panic to stop the vase with my leg, and pushed my leg up against the table that the vase was sitting on, and circus balanced it back and fourth for a few seconds before the lovely decoration met its fate.

CASH$$$$

That's what the moral of this blog post is, if you break it you buy it. When I talked with the lady who owned the vase she explained to me that the vase was very precious, and that she had received it as a gift. This sentiment never makes you feel good about yourself, because no one likes being the barer of bad news. We made an agreement that she would go vase shopping this upcoming weekend and find a suitable replacement for her prized possession.

I can only hope and wait that this ladies taste in vases isn't expensive. How much can they really cost? I guess I will soon find out. But from the research I have done they can range from over 100 bucks to less than 10.

Fingers crossed 

Learning to love the radio

I recently watched the film Pirate Radio. A film that demonstrates radio's struggle with the government in the early sixties in England. These radio disc jockies lived on a boat where they would broadcast live from in order to avoid breaking the law. I don't want to give too much away but if you have time check it out, the movie has a feel good vibe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX1SSiFWF-s

Another film featuring Bill Nighy that I saw recently is Wild Target. A bit bizzare but also worth checking out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8axaecPy3CA


Like Tom Petty said,

"Love is a long road"  

Why I should never own a cat

My love hate relationships with animals goes back as far as I can remember. Growing up in the Winnipeg neighbourhood of Wolseley there was never a shortage of cats on the streets. My family in fact had two cats, Rosie and Rumpel. Rumpel was that cat that all other cats feared on the mean streets of Wolseley. Rumpel was a predator, who on many occasions would come home proudly with his latest catch, usually a bird or small rodent of some kind. Rosie was friendlier and everybody's favourite cat on my block. She was lazy, and did the things you expect a cat to do like lay around and wait for people to make a fuss over her as she relaxed in cozy nooks she found in the shade and sun.

Having cats growing up you would think that I would appreciate their company. This is a false assumption because I never enjoyed the purring and cuddliness of their character. In fact I am allergic to cats and become quite grumpy in the presence of these feline creatures. My eyes begin to water and my skin becomes extremely itchy. Are my parents bad unthoughtful people well the answer is no, they're kind and generous souls who have always wanted the best for their youngest child. They do however enjoy the company of an animal companion and bask in the soothing indulgence these felines offer. I am still surrounded by cats at all of my family dinners and at many of my friends homes. People love cats, I can't stand them. Cuddly warm creatures yes, annoying needy and plenty of work is also some words I would use to describe them.

I may be bitter because I am currently stuffed up and experiencing the negative side effects that come with being around cats. This is unpleasant and my character can be related to that of Scrooge or the Grinch when I am in the presence of one of these adorable creatures.

This is why I should never own a cat, not because I don't like cats but because they make me unhappy.

Teemu gets philosophical

Forest Gump once argued that life is like a box of chocolates, further suggesting that you never know what one you’re going to get. While I do agree with the thought behind this analogy of life being like a box of chocolates I will argue that you do know more or less which one you’re going to get. Lets say for the sake of the argument that you’re in the need of a gift for someone and you find yourself at a local Winnipeg treasure Mordens’ Chocolaterie on Sargent Avenue; You are dumbfounded by the abundance of chocolates that are at your disposal and are considering which box to get. At first glance your eyes catch the delicious and popular Russian Mints but keep looking because you’re unsure if this would make the best gift. You keep looking and decide on the variety pack that comes with a delightful range of candy and also, a guide explaining which chocolate is which.

I apologize for the rant above however I deem it necessary in order for me to get my point across. Yesterday when I was at one of my favorite Bay locations in Winnipeg getting a new black built for my trousers there was a young women causing a big fuss. She was screaming and shouting at two of the employee’s who were of about 40 years of age and was obviously upsetting them and making everybody in the general vicinity uncomfortable. I thought to myself that this would be a great time to practice my tiny amount of chivalrous behavior that I posses and wondered over in a gaily manner and asked if everything was all right? The lady simply responded with “I need to pee” and pulled down her pants in the middle of the store putting on quite the spectacle. This provided me with the perfect opportunity to ask this lady to behave like a grown women and remind her that she was embarrassing herself. She then sat down and used one particular finger to express herself about how she felt about me at that particular moment and said, you’re not doing anything for me. She repeated this sentiment over and over as I reminded her that she shouldn’t pee where she was sitting. By the time the security showed up she was in full out tantrum mode that had generated a curious bunch to take in the afternoon festivities. The lady eventually pulled her pants up and was escorted unwillingly out of the store. In the midst of all this it came to my attention that security guards must have some interesting stories to share if you work in a busy metropolis such as the Winnipeg downtown region.

As I continued on my way to purchase a belt, the main purpose of my visit the two ladies who I had originally rescued for lack of a better word came up to me and thanked me profusely for my deed. At this moment I remembered why we choose to do things and why we don’t. I remembered how important it is in life to realize that even if you believe in faith or karma you still need to make decisions that will impact who you are as a person. I made the decision to check on the situation at the Bay, that lady made the decision to pull her pants down and threaten to pee all over the store. These weren’t random acts of unconsciousness but decisions we chose to make.

I argue that life may be like a box of chocolates in some ways, but at some point you do choose which one you’re going to get.