Don't Forget Jane's Walk and Great Winnipeg Achievements !

It's going to be a great weekend to be in the city with a number of Jane's Walks taking place, though somehow I manged to again be out of town for them.

Also, this weekend marks a number of historical milestones that remind us of the great, innovative and sometimes quirky place that we live ! Just some of anniversaries:

- Winnipeggers voting in favour of building the Aqueduct (1913);

- the Winnipeg Floodway saving our butts, again, as the Red crests 0.6 metres below dike levels (1997);

- BTO releasing their first album (1973);

- having the honour of being the only city where Phantom of the Paradise was a hit running for 16 months at the Garrick (1975);

- a pioneering Winnipeg Free Press being granted the first private radio broadcasting licence in Canada (1922). A claim to fame for CJCG: the first station to live-broadcast a hockey game (1923) !

For a full list and relevant links see This Was Winnipeg !

A Sad, Good News Story in Vancouver

A very sad 'good' news story in downtown Vancouver as St. Paul's Hospital announced that they are opening a "drop off slot" for unwanted babies at their ER.

I say 'good' news because in the past year police have found three dead babies in Vancouver (here, here, here), goodness knows how many have been disposed of and never discovered.

The first time I saw a site like this was a couple of years ago in Texas. I snapped the above pic on a fire station in Austin.

In 1999 Texas was the first state to create a safe haven law and associated program for unwanted babies dubbed the Baby Moses Project. All 50 have some sort of program in place now.

According to Texas Representative Morrison's website the program is responsible for saving almost 100 babies in her state.

Related
Q and A for mothers in Lancaster, TX
B.C. Hospitals unveil program ... Canadian Press

A Good Sign for Brandon

There are a few signs in Brandon's urban landscape that one would consider 'iconic'. One would be the painted "Mackenzie Seeds" peering down over the downtown. Another might be the Fraser and Ross sign off Rosser Avenue.

As far as built signs go, there really is nothing that compares to The Strand. The former cinema on 10th Street sat empty for a number of years and was expected to be demolished until last year when Renaissance Brandon and the Brandon Folk Music and Art Festival Society teamed up to save it. (For more info see this Brandon Sun story (pdf) and the BFMAS Strand Project page).

This week, the iconic sign was removed for refurbishment and will soon be back up. itvBrandon has some pics and video here.

A little Strand trivia: Initially a theatre, it was closed in 1929 for a major refurbishment. On February 3, 1930 it re-opened as Brandon's first 'talking picture' cinema !

Gordon Brown Pulls a Boner

Heh ... as a former political staffer I particularly enjoyed seeing this this morning on the BBC.

Image: The Guardian

Gordon Brown, anxious to meet the 'average person on the street', went walkabout and encountered pensioner Gillian Duffy. They chit-chatted about the issues when she started in on "...all these Eastern Europeans what are coming in..." Brown handled it well and likely nothing more would have been seen or heard of it until ... back in the campaign car he decided that this mildly uncomfortable few seconds must have been the fault of a staffer:

PM: That was a disaster. Should never have put me with that woman ... whose idea was that?

Second voice: I don't know, I didn't see her.

PM: It's Sue, I think. It's just ridiculous. (Muffled sounds)

Second voice: What did she say?

PM: Ugh, everything - she's just a sort of bigoted woman, said she used to be Labour. It's just ridiculous.

That exchange, too, would never have been seen or heard of again except ... Brown forgot that he was still mic'd ! (For which, surely, another staffer got an ear boxing later in the day !)

Image: BBC

The incident, just a week before e-day, has mushroomed into the gaffe of the campaign, (to date, anyway), and has Brown begging forgiveness.

It's shone a light on the issue of politicians being out of touch, something that all British M.P.'s are particularly sensitive to. In the past year a number of them, including Brown, were forced to repay questionable charges made to their government expense acounts. A handful of MP's even have criminal charges pending against them in the matter.

For Brown there is the added problem of reinforcing claims that he's, well, an asshole toward junior staff. So much so, in fact, that some No. 10 staffers have made use of the civil service anti-bully hotline.

Oh dear... what's a poor staffer to do when the boss puts both feet in it ?

Related
Has Brown finished himself ? The Guardian
Brown 'mortified' by bigoted woman slur BBC
Voters should know the full truth about the cahracter of Brown The Observer

Does Wpg Need More Retro Cinema ?

It's something I think about fairly often and especially so in the last couple of days.

Over the weekend TCM had it's first classic movie festival in Hollywood airing films from many genre and eras.
Also, while loading up my 'This Day in History' posts for the coming week I see that Saturday, May 1st will mark the 35th anniversary of the final screening of the Phantom of the Paradise in Winnipeg after a 17 month run at the Garrick ! (For more on Winnipeg and the Phantom).

I know that Cinemathéque sometimes shows classic films.

I also recall when the Ellice Café and Theatre first opened they showed classic films on Tuesdays, (actually DVDs projected on the big screen). Admission was free, though donations were accepted. A lack of marketing kept audiences pretty small. I remember, though, one night they showed Singin' in the Rain. A few seniors had come down to watch and it was great to hear them swoon when Gene Kelly would appear on screen !

I'm not hooked into the entertainment biz in the city so I could be out to lunch on what sort of draw or expenses would be involved. I also realize that Citizen Kane or Singin' in the Rain on the big screen won't lure masses of people from Date Night and such but, still, a classic film fest or regular classic film night, in my opinion, would be a neat thing.

If I'm missing any classic movie venues or events drop me a line in the comments section !

As Robert Osborne, one of TCM's hosts, says: There's no such thing as an old movie ... just a movie you haven't seen yet.

Related:
TCM: TV's Classiest Movie Network TV Feeds My Family
Old films just need a new marketing makeover The Guardian
Why Winnipeg ?! Phantom of the Paradise.ca

90 years ago - The Falcons win gold !

You may have seen the link in my sidebar but I thought it was worth posting about.

“Officer with members of the Winnipeg Falcons Hockey Team, aboard R.M.S. Grampian en route to the VII Olympiade, Belgium.” Source.

Tomorrow,April 28th, marks an important anniversary in the sporting history of Winnipeg. It's the 90th anniversary of the Falcons winning the first Olympic gold medal for hockey !

For my post about the Winnipeg Falcons and be sure to see the Winnipeg Falcons.com website !

'Data' Cameron for U.K. P.M. ?

Cameron (left), Data (right) - or is it the other way around ?

I saw these comparisons back in February when I was in London; people poking fun at the uncanny resemblance, and some say personality similarities, between Tory leader David Cameron and Star Trek's Data.

Since the start of the campaign, the party / Cameron made an unfortunate choice of official photo for their poster ads. Cameron danced around rumours that it was even airbrushed, intended to give him a look of youthful vigor against the rather craggy Gordon Brown, but instead made him look even more Data-esque.

That one-two punch set off a parallel campaign of poster doctoring that, after the first leaders' debate at least, has been more entertaining than the actual political campaign. A website has been set up My David Cameron.com where challengers are asked to take the Tory ad and doctor the image or slogan as they see fit.
People are also having fun with him on the streets.

For a great look at the advertising, both lighthearted and serious, of the U.K. 2010 campaign, check out the blog Political Advertising.co.uk .

New Life for the Old Avenue

I'm cheating again - a cross post from my Downtown Places blog about yesterday's news about the Avenue Building: Better Times for the Avenue Building.

Hamilton's Code Red

The Hamilton Spectator ran a seven part series, concluding last Saturday, called "Code Red: Where You Live Effects Your Health".

It began with a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood breakdown of the city then looks at health-related disparities between them. One finding, for example: two Hamilton neighbourhoods, separated by just 5 km, have a 21 year difference in life expectancy.

The series goes on to explore some of the underlying issues such as mental health, poverty and access to health care.

It's an interesting look at urban health disparities.

Brandon's Sun

The Brandon Sun is unveiling a new website on Monday. I'm interested to see if it will remain holed up behind one of the most heavily guarded subscription walls a newspaper can have or if they will allow some of their content to peek into the online world !

Brandon Sun offices c.1884. Source.

The Sun is Manitoba's other 'newspaper of record'. It's roots date back to the Brandon Weekly Sun which began publishing in January 1882, before Brandon was even incorporated. (That Sun went bust in July 1897 but soon after reincarnated as The Brandon Sun).

I worked on Brandon projects for a few years and got to know the city fairly well. I always thought it was important that news and views from Brandon / Westman infiltrated the city on occasion. When I did media clippings for assorted government and political offices I made sure to include relevant Sun articles, (even back in the weird old days of needing a daily subscription then hand-cutting articles to fax to HQ !).

Though my Brandon days are done I've kept in touch with people and projects. It's been difficult, considering that the amount of Brandon on-line news content actually went in reverse for a number of years.

CKX's barely-updated website is, of course, gone. The Brandon Sun had an open website but locked it down in 2006. CBC Radio does have a beat office there but has let the position go unfilled on a couple of occasions, the last reporter to hold the spot departed in 2008.

Current on-line Brandon / Westman news sources are few. e-Brandon is really a discussion forum, though does keep a small news section for links to media releases and the like. The Wheat City Journal (now Westman Journal) is a free weekly paper similar to The Lance, though has slightly beefed up its 'newsiness' of late.

The main contenders would have to be CKLQ's news site which is brief on content, not searchable, but is daily and their recent site update allows for embedded audio clips of news stories. The other is the new kid in town itvBrandon which launched a couple of months ago and is still building up steam.

Hopefully the BSun's relaunch will take into account that the world of news and opinion plays out on-line these days. For Brandon / Westman to keep relevant and get their news and views into the mix it's important to have that information available.

I'll check back Monday morning and see what the relaunch looks like, if I'm allowed past the wall, of course !

Let the Road Trips Begin !

Ah, summer's coming. Time to get back out for some road trips !

Last weekend it was Winnipeg to Hadashville through Dugald, Anola and Elma. Without photos and a bit of lunch it would be about a three hour round-trip. Here are some of the sights !

First off, a stop at Transcona Cemetery which has it's own Field of Honour:

In Dugald, there is a nice commemorative area for the Dugald Train Disaster of 1947 which killed 31 and seriously injured dozens of others.

Why did I not know that Dugald was home to the Canadian Wellington Boot Tossing Championship ?!

Some interesting prairie scenes en route to Elma.

If you like abandoned prairie sites then the area around Elma is for you. It always makes me sad seeing dying areas and towns. To be fair, there is life en route ! Anola has a number of businesses on the main drag and Elma has a bustling little grocery store with a pretty good meat counter, as well as a restaurant / gas station / c-store combo. Many of the stores of old, even the hotel, are no more, though.

On to Hadashville !

Despite the 80 kph winds at times it was an enjoyable prairie jaunt !

Some of my previous road trips: Carman way; to Garson; to Altona.

For Sale, Sold: The April 2010 Edition

The April version of my semi-regular look at what's for sale and sold in Winnipeg.

In the West End...

There's a SOLD sign at the former Budget rental car lot at Ellice and Sherbrook, kitty corner to the West End Cultural Centre. In recent years that area has gained the Ellice Cafe and Theatre, Black Sheep Diner and an expanded WECC. I hope that whatever goes in there will build on that.

News that the vacated West End Branch Library at Ellice near Arlington was sold to the Daniel McIntyre/St. Matthews Community Association. The recently formed group had been working out of Orioles / Valour Community club.

Elsewhere Around Town:

The very cool former North West Travellers' Association building is for sale.

For just over half a mil you can pick up one of Central Park's gem houses, the c.1901 Hoover and Town duplex at 368 Edmonton.
Designated a historic building in 1984, (here's the heritage report in pdf), it's a commercial structure now and still looks as grand as it did back in the day. (Bottom photo is c 1903 from the above City of Winnipeg historic report).

Then there's the Hample "Coulda been a contender" Building at 271 Portage. It was cleaned up in the hopes that it could be sold (in the $1.5 range !) to someone willing to take it the rest of the way. In Feb 2009 the owner told the Free Press that if it didn't sell he would convert the top floors to offices and look for a main floor lease tenant. So far, neither has happened.

The Spice World on Main Street is still for sale. Not spicy enough for you ? Why not take that Main Street Strip location and toss in the consumption of alcohol ? The Sutherland Hotel, and it's waiting list of tenants, is for sale.

Here's a true signature locale: The Dynasty Building at a cool $3.1m ! It's just the office / retail, not the attached apartments.

I hope that includes that neat walking garden out front.

mrchristian's Feature Property of the Month...

This time the nod goes to the Manitoba Clothing Company - the business that nobody quite knows what it does. Is it really a department store? Do they make clothes ? Is it a design school ?!

Well, the business is a clothing manufacturer, specializing in uniforms and ladies wear. The factory is upstairs and the main floor and basement is where they sell their wares. I have to admit that I have never been in the place but might take a look in case someone buys it just for the building.

WFP October 26, 1966

This location opened in 1966 but if you purchase the business you get a piece of Winnipeg history. Without the fanfare of other century-plus businesses operating in the city, the Manitoba Clothing Company has been churning out clothing since 1877 !

The Voice, May 24 1901

Incorporated under the Manitoba Clothing Company name in 1895, it began as a retail entity but after financial trouble in 1898 they reorganized, built a new two-storey location at 560 Main then began to hire tailors, seamstresses for a manufacturing arm.

Winnipeg Tribune Aug 25, 1945

By 1909 they had numerous orders, including for the local Street Railway and fire departments, some contracts continued for decades.

Aside from a smart, 60's building you also get that nifty retro sign !