tim’s thought property

Winnipeg, with it’s on-again-off-again spurt of development and re-development has recently completed it’s overhaul of the Downtown Library. Adjacent to the new MTS Centre, the Millennium Library is now complete. With the re-construction, the addition of a fourth floor has really opened up the place. The South-east wall is one of glass and steel and allows a massive amount of natural light in. As the stairs upward progress, there are study cubicles and terraces all along the four storey incline. There is a statue at the base of the new reading terrace, which I believe are the letters “T, H” and “E”, but I have some friends who would dispute this.
All the wings are expanded, there is a couple of conference rooms as well as a fairly large area dedicated to microfilm. I’ve been there three times now, but never to read. It’s normally a stop on a list of things to see or do, and it’s one of the nicer stops. Although I’ve never been there, I would say that this redesign has a very European feel to it. With a lot of steel and concrete and glass, it seems to be one of the more “hip” structures put forth in recent years in this city. The MEC building is quite nice and is right in the neighbourhood as well. But I digress.
One of these days I’ll stay in for a read. I promise. As for now, here are some pictures of the new place, for your viewing pleasure.

Former River East Collegiate Drama Teacher, Tim Froese has now become a sculptor. Amidst his bouts of occasional substitute teaching, he has now entered into the realm of artist, by finding a way to market his one-time hobby of clay sculpting. With his knack for the strange and somewhat off-kilter, his cats are right where he should be.
With the official launch of his pieces, he opened his home to many friends, family, art enthusiasts and former students. With his narrow Wolsely home filled with well-wishers, it was a cozy little gathering. As Tim (Penner) and I arrived at the shindig, there were already close to twenty-five people all about. The Free Press had a photographer there, getting a fair number of angles of the man and his cats. Penner was called in as live music, strumming away on his six-string, as I wandered about the abode with my camera, taking shots of the still, glazed felines.
With Froese’s weird sense of creation, he had some of his more creative cats on display. A cat with green trim, and a clover leaf on its face, appropriately called Lucky. Another cubist expression named Pablo; and even a red bodied, black booted feline aptly called Nick. I was to remark to Penner later on, “Oh! I get it. Nick. As in Saint Nick. Santa……that’s clever.”
I had provided coffee on behalf of my work, and was there to pick the cambros up this morning. It turned out he had ninety people come through the doors through the course of the evening. It was a good boost, I would presume. He has a space at the Mayberry Gallery off of Corydon, and is selling through them. They are a gallery which supports many local artists. Offered up are a couple of shots of the opening, his signature Timcat; and a shot of the artist and photographer from the Press.

I suppose this will also have a concert review as well.

Last Saturday at Le Rondez-Vous, a Winnipeg venue, I went to see Broken Social Scene. Marc and I had bought tickets all the way back in October, and I had to do a bit of micro-managing to get a shift switched so I could attend.
Well, the show opened with the Most Serene Republic, a young band from Ontario, on the Arts and Crafts label. These guys took to the stage, with their instruments and showmanship and did a great job. The singer was dressed in a blazer resembling something from Sgt. Pepper’s; in fact with his hair and moustache, he looked like George Harrison. With only a friend’s dictation about this group, I had no idea what to expect. They played strong and tight, one not realizing their youth. They had struck a chord with In places, empty spaces and their song Content was always my favour. But I think hearing Proposition 61 finally made me decide to buy their album.
They have a versatility that is not uncommon with the other bands on this label. When I was watching them perform, I had recollections to Stars, hearing the harmonies with Emma Ditchburn, their female guitarist/vocalist. But to their credit, they are carving their own sound with good use of the keyboard and horns, Adrain Jewett, the singer also plays trombone. Most definitely, Adrian had all the energy needed to drive the show onward.

Taking the stage next was Broken Social Scene, the band all of us had expected to see. The touring group had nine members on stage at its fullest, ten when their sound tech Mitch came in for a song. At it’s peak, the band was boasting five guitarists, two drummers, a violinist and a female vocalist. The crowd was a sell-out, yet the band had fallen to some kind of “last show” sloppiness. Due to the concrete-community-centre-style structure of Le Rondez-Vous, the sound had a bad re verb off the back wall. Combine the fact that they didn’t sound check, and it proved for a difficult flow for the show. Although they played for over an hour and a half, they had constant re-tunings between their songs. At one point the decision was made for the band to turn up their amps to drown out the drums and play on.
Technicalities aside, they performed their songs quite well. KC Accidental and Cause=Time were done to perfection. With the crowd calling out for Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl, the band performed it with new vocalist Lisa Lobsinger. With almost every member having the skill to play a second instrument, it was exciting to watch exactly who played what, at which point and on which song. The show should have ended on the high note of Lover’s Spit, but the encore that happened seemed anti-climactic.
Aside from the silent apathy towards the venue and somewhat lack of involvement with the audience, the show was entertaining. Nobody bats a hundred, or so I’m told. And not everyone enjoys Winnipeg either. I don’t hold it against them.

So, I bought Underwater Cinematographer and You Forgot it in People at the show.
The next week, I purchased O by Damien Rice.
He is an Irish musician, who has quite a talent for writing of love and heartbreak. This album predominantly features acoustic guitar, cello and both male and female parts. There is a richness to the music and a tragedy to it too. Blower’s Daughter is a love song to Rice’s Clarinet Teacher’s daughter; Volcano is a tormented song about two lovers falling apart. I remember is two part song, between Rice and Lisa Hannigan, wherein both recount a relationship’s end, but with two different points of view.
There is a creativity that lies in these songs from clever juxtapositions as in Cannonball: “stones taught me to fly/love taught me to lie/life, it taught me to die/so it’s not hard to fall/when you float like a cannonball“; to the ornate strings on Eskimo. I had listened to this album a lot with Andrew back on the Internship last year, but never fully appreciated it until recently. If anyone knows good music, it is that man.

Now one last thing to takk on.
Interestingly enough…
Marc lent me his copy of Takk by Sigur Ros.
I’ve mentioned these guys before. They’re the atmospheric Icelandic band with the invented language. Their latest album is a tour de force, on the sound-scapes that they so frequently create. With such driving rhythms on Glôsôli and Soeqlôpur it is hard not to repeatedly play them. Track three, Hoppipolla and four, Meà Blôtnasir are kind of in tandem, for Meà… starts off with the rewinding of Hoppipolla. Needless to say I have lost myself in these sounds so much this week. Much to the point where I almost fell asleep before leaving for work.
As opposed to their previous work on ( ), this album seems to have a much more positive outlook and sound. There is a hopefulness in the melodies that ring out on this album.

In order of my viewing:
Walk the Line (2005) - starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspooon
November 18, 2005
From his troubled beginnings in the Deep South, to his first marriage and musical success, Cash’s life was no doubt the turmoil that drives a musician to create. The film was done in such a way that it took the rise of Johnny Cash to the screen, and not his entire rise, fall and re-birth. Granted, an entire life’s retrospective would have been very enthralling, such a film would no doubt have to be augmented to pass advisory committees.
When I heard that Joaquin Phoenix was playing the part of the Man in Black, I was at first delighted. He is a fine actor and I thought he would do well. Then, I was a little concerned with the look. He didn’t really seem to have the Cash look to me. But when he took to the stage and sung out Jackson, Get Rhythm and Ring of Fire; the line from actor to character was blurred. I thought I was watching Johnny Cash.
The film was a great telling of the early life of Cash - his first marriage, amphetamine addiction and rise to musicianship. The fact that Witherspoon, Phoenix and all the other singers had sung their own parts just increased the respect I had with the film. It was a feat to sing in such a way that did Cash justice, but also not to sound like an imitation.
It was based around the material in two of Cash’s biographies, I still am not so sure about some of the consistency. Some of his early songs recorded or sung in the film were written and finished much later in his career. But, there must be an appeasement to the masses, I suppose. What is storytelling without embellishing?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) - starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes
November 20, 2005
I’m a Potter fan, and we’ll leave it at that.
The film had the tall task of carving up a 700+ page book, and what it came out with was (from what I recall) the best material. The mood and tone of the film is appropriately dark, and the acting on behalf of the three young leads is getting ever better. The story is based around a wizarding tournament set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and two other schools come to compete. It can mean certain death for those who enter, and someone has put Harry Potter’s name into the Goblet of Fire to be drawn for the challenge. Suffice it to say, Harry has to undertake some daunting challenges; the disdain of classmates and his friends; and ultimately the return of Lord Voldemort, the wizard who tried to kill Harry.
Ralph Fiennes played the part of Voldemort and he played it to the “T”. Although his screen time isn’t very long, his presence is powerful and drawing. The high calibre actors, such as Branden Gleeson, Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, Robbie Coltrane and Maggie Smith only further add to the excellent characterization of their parts.
When looking at this kind of film, people often write it off as kids stuff or just rubbish. I can assure you I did the same. But once I watched it, I found the story and acting to be very captivating and very well done. One can look down on any actor in this film and write them off for doing something frivolous, but what is acting after all? It is making someone believe you are someone else. And by that definition, this film has some of the finest examples of that.

Good Night and Good Luck (2005) - starring David Strathairn, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr.
November 25 2005
Set amidst the rise of television in the fifties, this film is centered around the media’s reaction to the current affair. Senator Joe MacCarthy is set upon exposing and trying all those Communist and Communist sympathizers. In this day and age, television is the new medium in which to broadcast. Edward R. Murrow, played by Strathairn, is the newscaster who dares to attack such a sensitive issue on his program.
The film is done in black and white, and beautifully so. In some ways to reflect the era, in other ways, I think, as a commentary on the situation of the times. Where there were only two camps in which to stand - Traitor or Patriot. There were a lot of wonderful shots and juxtapositions in the film, all to do with perception and social commentary. The most chilling parts of the film were the opening and closing speeches done by Murrow. In there he explained that the power of television can be used to denounce and decry injustice, but “if we’re not careful, it will be used only to entertain and pacify. It will then only be colours and lights.” And he was right.
To the state of things now, we have such a high demand for entertainment, and even the news is sensationalized. It seems that the hopeful future of the tool of television was never achieved, and even what we have to classify as such, still is so glossed with entertainment.
The film was a great piece about a moment in history and even more so to commentary of cultural paranoia. So easy it is to not stand up when injustice is committed, and to take the risk to do so. This film, one you may likely not see much longer in the theatres, is definitely one to go watch.