Giving Birth to a Better System

 Here's Your Local News, Musings
Jul 312011
 

After months of anticipation, Winnipeg’s new Birth Centre is hiring staff. This is an incredibly exciting thing, and a tribute to the many women in the community and at the Women’s Health Clinic who have long lobbied government to create such a space. Hats off to them — not just as a woman who believes strongly in diversifying birth options, but as a citizen who really likes finding new ideas to improve our public health system. Some months ago I wrote about one of my small fixations on the subject: seniors and weight-training.* But I have other favourite projects in [...click for more...]

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Can We Not Winnipeg, Ep. 1 in a Series: Detroit

 Here's Your Local News
Jul 292011
 

Dear Winnipeggers: Can we not keep comparing Winnipeg to Detroit in the equal, or even (as recently spotted in a comment section) in the negative? I’ve seen and heard this a lot lately, especially since the 2010 crime statistics came out,* and every time I think - have people who made that comparison ever been to Detroit? Or at least, have they been there since, say, the1960s? Do they have any concept of what Detroit is like, what it has become, and the scope of the issues it’s dealing with? Have they seen it? I have a certain emotional attachment [...click for more...]

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I Have Thoughts on the New Jets Logo

 Here's Your Local News
Jul 232011
 

The new Jets logo: it’s crisp, quiet, and maybe even a little boring on the stage. The lines are clean, the colours subdued. It doesn’t jump out at you, and certainly doesn’t scream that it’s going to crush you against the boards. But it gets the job done. Come to think about it, it’s a lot like Mark Chipman. Think about it a little more, and it’s also a lot like the culture True North has repeatedly said it wants to build with Winnipeg’s new NHL franchise — and the culture it’s already started to build, in its actions. Ask around, [...click for more...]

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The Reviewer Writes Back, Part I

 This Is My Job
Jul 162011
 

With the Winnipeg Fringe Festival back in full swing, the discussion about reviewers — who are we, why we suck, what we’re doing right or wrong — is also gathering steam around the local Internetosphere. Some notables: on Google+, Kenton Larsen shared an old post on the subject. On Facebook, there was this fascinating discussion. And this reviewer is going to start writing back. I’ve been reviewing stuff in Winnipeg for over a decade now. And while I’m well aware of the shortcomings of the form, and indeed of the review community, and most of all myself - I also believe in it. I [...click for more...]

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A Small Fringe Fest Beer Tent Story

 Odes to Winnipeg
Jul 142011
 

“Don’t step on the bird!” My head snaps around, swivels, finds the man who yelled this. Admire: the uncanny ability of the brain to map a hundred points on the human face and draw from these a conclusion that this person has just spoke, and was speaking to you. He is a man, broad jaw. Blond stubble. Elbows on the folding table and a half-finished beer in his hand. “Don’t fucking step on the bird!” I trip back on my heel, just in time, just in that exact flicker of a second to see the sparrow skitter under my uplifted toe. He is no bigger than a gumball. His wings flutter frantically, and [...click for more...]

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