Columns

Porkpie Hat—In Praise of Autumn Comforts

October, it seems to me, is the perfect autumn month.  Possibly the most perfect month of the entire year, at least in my pocket of the world.  It’s a time here of rare sustained equilibrium between the yin of the receding summer and the yang of the approaching winter.  Shadows and light, moods and atmospheric… Read more »

In Conversation—with Lavender Fields

L.A.-based singer, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Lavender Fields is both classically trained and completely free of artistic inhibitions.  Wide open to musical influences of all sorts (including sounds she encountered on a trip to India), she uses the Moog, the flute, and her own voice to create original soundscapes that soothe, heal, and enlighten.  She’s… Read more »

The Fit Student—Look Younger

Unless you’re Selena Gomez, you’ll want to look young.  And, if you’re like me, you long to fend off a granny-bod. But stay away from going under the knife.  My doctor had botched plastic surgery.  Now she’s camera shy.  Another friend uses Botox which could harm her facial muscles.  And on TV I saw a… Read more »

Course Exam—HERM 301

HERM 301 (Heritage Resources Management) is a three-credit course that introduces students to heritage resources management and creates a base for further study of the contemporary heritage field.  Students study types of practice and current and emerging issues, as well as the social context, controversies, ethical questions and general concerns that characterize efforts in heritage… Read more »

Dear Barb—Setting Up

Dear Barb: Most of my friends have partners, are living together, or married.  I have two friends who are single and in their mid thirties.  They don’t know each other but I think they would be perfect together.  I really want to set them up.  I talked to a few friends who know them both… Read more »

Porkpie Hat—The Finest Art

I was recently sitting in the serene darkness of the Winnipeg Centennial Concert Hall, watching and listening to Daniel Raiskin, the WSO’s new music director, conducting Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.  As a first impression, Raiskin seems brilliant, a maestro of the classic Russian style, dramatic, bold, firmly in control of and in sync with… Read more »

In Conversation—with Calvin Arsenia

Alternative folk artist Calvin Arsenia is an intensely inventive creator and a truly original mind, mixing genres and instruments (including the Celtic harp) to create vibrant, engaging music.  He recently released the single, “Headlights,” from his project-in-process Cantaloupe, a mix of music, art, and performance.  In “Headlights” he describes his difficult ascent to the wisdom… Read more »

The Fit Student—Kick the Cancer

Knock down your risk of cancer by munching garlic and onions, by swallowing daily citrus fruits, by chomping Brussel sprouts, by shaving your x-rays to once a year, by avoiding the sun, by quitting smoking, and by steering clear of electrical wires, says author Vernon Coleman. I add beware of cell phones.  I’m sure it… Read more »

Fly on the Wall—Over the Mountain, Over the Hill?

“No one here gets out alive” proclaimed a biography of Jim Morrison (Hopkins, Sugerman).  No matter our personal age we must accept that the year is waning and the life of summer has fled.  Autumnal chills with claustrophobic auspices may leave us feeling listless and trapped by the enforced hibernation of winter life.  Even our… Read more »