Art & Soul at the WAG, Feb 25 2012

Birchwood BMW, Art & Soul 2012: Après Ski

Art & Soul is back and better than ever in 2012 with Après Ski!
Held February 25, 2012 at the WAG, Art & Soul: Après Ski will bring the best of Swiss Alps prestige and glamour to life in Winnipeg. Art & Soul: Après Ski promises to be the sexiest winter event of the year! Expect the unexpected with engaging exhibits, themed ski attire, and all things Après Ski.
Live DJs on each floor, gallery tours, and winter beverages are only the beginning. Euro themed decor, mountain chalets, cozy fireplaces, and ski lifts will adorn the WAG and serve to attract Winnipeg’s most influential crowd. Engaging costume contests, tantalizing aperitifs, and exquisite gourmet hors d’oeuvres are among the many returning features highly anticipated by Art & Soul enthusiasts.

Birchwood BMW and EQ3 are the major sponsors.

The two feet of powder and blue bird skies were epic but it’s Saturday night now and Après Ski is about to take over.
You walk into the chalet where the band and beer steins are already bump’n. From Munich with love, it’s Hannah and Lena all dolled up in dirndl,

and Donald is taking more cowbell to a whole new level on the dance floor!
You walk over to the cozy fireplace and see poor Steve with his propped up leg cast. Maybe that double black diamond run wasn’t a good idea after all, but nothing a good Après Ski can’t fix.
You stroll over to the piano lounge where Ingrid and martini is the Après Ski. This crowd is fur sure high roll’n tonight.
A crew of ski bunnies convinces you to come over to the bar for some Après style cocktails. It’s finally their first ski trip without the parents and it’s probably not the altitude getting to their head this time. There’s more cowboy boots than ski boots at this bar, and the outfits are almost as over-the-top as the bank accounts. This is one of the best ski resorts in the world and you have to be either dumb or dumber to pass up this place.
Big Air Jeremy blinds you with his one piece neon, telling you about his totally rad run and the next thing you know you’re at the best club in the village. You recognize that girl from the slopes! Her turns were tight but her ski suit is even tighter! This Après party is hitting a peak with a DJ taking over a dance floor that’s about to set off an avalanche if it gets any bigger.
You haven’t been to an Après Ski this amazing since Lake Tahoe in ’96 … or was that Whistler … maybe St. Moritz?!

_MG_4992 — EQ3 makes nice furniture! Winnipeg Art Gallery

http://patlazo.tumblr.com/

_MG_5002 — High Tea Bakery made some nice cookies!

_MG_5006 — Close up of an EQ3 string sphere lamp

_MG_5026 — Cute girls are folding the paper cabins!

_MG_5038 — The Art & Soul 2012 Committee

_MG_5071 — Gords ski and cycle was there too!

_MG_5086 — Stephen and Hazel Borys, looking cool at the party

_MG_5094 — Lennard Taylor paints some custom t shirts

_MG_5099 — Constance Popp makes good chocolate, sometimes for the Oscars, but for now, she's relaxing at the party!

_MG_5117 — The BMW's were popular with the girls

_MG_5236 — The LED lights made things look neat!

_MG_5244 — Oh So Popular featuring Justin Séguin

_MG_5253 — The EQ3 lounge is always a big hit, Winnipeg Art Gallery

_MG_5284 — Cookies were the mode in the VIP room

_MG_5325 — The Jägermeister Shot Ski (I remember drinking Jag back in the 90's when nobody thought it was cool)

_MG_5425 — Robot at the party, Winnipeg Art Gallery

_MG_5449 — The bar was packed, Winnipeg Art Gallery

_MG_5495 — Don't point that camera at me when I'm dancing!

_MG_5544 — The biggest furry hat I have ever seen

_MG_5557 — Crazy pant leg stocking long john thingers

_MG_5564 — Ron Cantiveros, Winnipeg photographer, says thumbs up to the party

_MG_5582 — Sarah Zaharia busts a move with Eric

_MG_5657 — The Alpine Search and Rescue team, not really

_MG_5664 — The Winnipeg Art Gallery, and Art & Soul, have very good taste in Gin. Hendrick's Gin is amazing!

_MG_5698 — Get your picture taken with Norman Rockwell!

123 Princess St, Aqua Books new location, Feb 24 2012

I took some pics of a snowy Winnipeg day around the Exchange District too:

_MG_4260 — 284 William Ave, has seen better days.

_MG_4267 — Winnipeg's Public Safety Building seems to be slowly falling apart

In the Spring of 2012 Aqua Books will be opening at a new location.

See the old location here!

The basement of 123 Princess Street was going to be a restaurant, and now bookstore owner Kelly Hughes will turn it into the new Aqua books.

The building was home previously to raves in the 90’s, an elevator company run by some Icelandic brothers, and a type foundry that helped originate the Bookman and Century Oldstyle fonts.

I love fonts!

Click here for more info on the building

Screen Shot 2012-02-25 at 5.15.06 PM — Bookman Font

_MG_4270 — 123 Princess street, Winnipeg, built 1905

123 Princess street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Miller and Richard Type Founders Building (Western Elevator and Motor Company)

Together with the adjacent Maw & Co. Garage on Princess Street, the Miller and Richard Type Founders building remains an important part of turn-of-the-century commercial streetscape that still exists in the warehouse district southwest of City Hall.

The Miller and Richard Company which supplied metal type and printers’ machinery occupied the building in 1905. Originating in Scotland, the firm established a base in eastern Canada, expanding to Winnipeg in response to the city’s flourishing printing and publishing trade that needed ready access to specialty equipment and repair services. The firm remained in the building until 1931 when it left the city. Another original tenant, the printing and bookbinding enterprise of Douglass-McIntyre Company, did not move from 121 Princess until the early 1940s.

The Western Elevator and Motor Company, and the Power and Mine Supply Company, moved into 123 Princess in 1933. Since its purchase from the Richard family in 1942, the building has been owned by one of these firms. Western Elevator sold the site in 1984 and the two firms relocated to another part of Winnipeg.

The structure retains much of its original design and materials. The first-floor openings now contain glass bricks instead of display windows, thus eliminating an interior view from the street. Interior elements include rough fir floors and uncovered brick. The front part of both the first and second floors holds office and retail facilities; the remainder of the space has been used for storage. The original layout of the two upper storeys has been retained.

_MG_4291 — Winnipeg's Exchange District, from a slightly different angle

_MG_4298 — the basement of 123 Princess street, Winnipeg Large metal wheels for transporting foundry equipment?

Screen Shot 2012-02-25 at 12.25.12 AM — Printers' Supplies, 1905 Winnipeg

_MG_4303 — Kelly Hughes,in the "before" picture. Feb 2012

_MG_4310 — Huge wooden beams. The trees were probably saplings when Beethoven was still alive

_MG_4335 — Iron staircase originally from the Merchant's Block

_MG_4341 — Possibly Winnipeg's scariest "bathroom". Really it's just a toilet next to a wall

_MG_4356 — Steam Boiler Inspection Certificate

_MG_4362 — Very sturdy old wooden beam construction

_MG_4373 — The old coal room still has bricks blackened with, um, coal

_MG_4375 — Ideal, four leaf clover, steam heater

_MG_4385 — smashed glass and dirty undies. This place needs a clean

_MG_4388 — Vulcan Iron Co, of Winnipeg Manitoba

_MG_4389 — Old stickers and Exchange District banners

_MG_4391 — Another view of the "Trainspotting" toilet

_MG_4395 — Many many pipes. I like the industrial look!

The Forks River Trail, Feb 20 2012

Winter seems to be giving up entirely at The Forks in Winnipeg.

People were skating through mush.

Spring is just around the corner!

_MG_3585 — So warm they shut the ice rink down, Winnipeg

_MG_3590 — The family heads out for some skating

_MG_3622 — The Forks in Winter, Winnipeg

_MG_3685 — Some chopped wood to keep us warm

_MG_3833 — This Winter in Winnipeg was a little warm

_MG_3866 — Strap on the skates and hit the ice

_MG_3882 — The skatepark at the Forks looks a bit sad under the snow

Ice it to Work, Feb 17 2012

Friday, February 17, 2012
Ice It To Work

http://www.rivertrail.ca/wp/

“Join us on the ice on the Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail and skate, ski, snowshoe, bike, run or walk TO WORK! Be a part of the first annual “Ice It To Work” Day on The Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail – the Guinness World Record’s longest naturally frozen skating trail!

Energize yourself along the way at one of the “Cocoa Fire Pit Stops’! Experience the allure of the river trail in the early morning hours – this picturesque commute along the Assiniboine and Red Rivers is an exceptional Winnipeg way to start your day! First 100 commuters to stop by a Cocoa Fire Pit Stop (Churchill Drive, Balsam Bay, Norwood Bridge and The Forks), will receive free Winnipeg cycling and trails map and other special surprises and gifts!”

I don’t normally get up at 6:30 am, drive a bike along a frozen river, and photograph a Yeti; but today I did.

_MG_3325 — The Forks Pit Stop was hosted by the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, and Downtown Peggy (7 am)

_MG_3328 — Downtown Peggy looks a little under dressed

_MG_3368 — some fire breathing performers were there to warm us up!

_MG_3370 — eating fire on the frozen river, Winnipeg

http://actifepi.ca/about/

“In February 2012, people from all walks of life will come together to celebrate human resilience. Because around here, we don’t just survive winter. We thrive in it.

Set against the backdrop of a 130km bike race in the cold weather and brutal winds of a Southeastern Manitoba winter, five festival sites will glow with the warmth of community spirit, the strength of human ingenuity and the beauty of having fun whatever the temperature.

Actif Epica is a celebration of human resilience. Featuring community initiated outdoor activities dotted along a long-distance bike race route, snow structures that anyone can build and opportunities to learn. With the bike race as its geographic and organizational spine, these four activities will celebrate our human resilience, collectively and individually, in our home—the beautiful, challenging Manitoba winter.”

_MG_3405 — green Action centre hosted one of the Hot chocolate warming huts

Screen Shot 2012-02-17 at 10.37.12 AM — http://greenactioncentre.ca/

_MG_3407 — A happy Winnipeg winter commuter riding his bike on the frozen Red River

_MG_3412 — Shorts in the middle of winter! Winnipeg bikers are hardcore!

_MG_3437 — Lacing up the skates and heading to downtown Winnipeg to work

Screen Shot 2012-02-17 at 10.40.54 AM — http://biketothefuture.org/

_MG_3453 — Winnipeg Trails and Bike to the Future host the last hut down by Churchill Drive

Screen Shot 2012-02-17 at 10.42.08 AM — http://www.winnipegtrails.ca/

_MG_3514 — A very Winter ready bike. Fatty tires. Mitten handlebars. (Surly)

_MG_3520 — Get your photo taken with a Yeti

_MG_3537 — The fire helps to warm our tingly fingers

_MG_3547 — Trees along the frozen Red riverbank

_MG_3564 — The local media was out interviewing the Famous Karen Mott (8:15am)

389 Main street Winnipeg, Feb 16 2012

Canadian Bank of Commerce

(Millenium Centre) 389 Main Street

_MG_3071 — 389 Main street Winnipeg, opened 1912

Expanding interests in the West, the Commerce purchased the Bannatyne Block and in 1900 architects Darling & Pearson designed a monumental structure for 389 Main Street.

http://winnipegdowntownplaces.blogspot.com/2010/08/389-main-street-millennium-centre.html

_MG_3081 — The Millennium Centre, Winnipeg

_MG_3103 — Little Bronze Cherubs on the "VIP" door of the Bank of Commerce. They represent Art, Industry, learning...

_MG_3107 — A snowy night on Main street, Winnipeg (yes it has been over Lightroomed and Photoshopped)

_MG_3114 — World War One Memorial, Winnipeg

_MG_3135 — 389 Main street Winnipeg, The Millennium Centre

_MG_3141 — An old vintage Star Trek Pinball machine

_MG_3148 — The Millennium Centre, Winnipeg. Many many receptions and Weddings are held here.

_MG_3149 — Solid wood and brass on the floor

_MG_3154 — The tour tramps up the marble stairs

_MG_3159 — The Vice President of the Canadian Bank of Commerce had the most amazing wood panelled office, and his own private toilet, a big deal!

_MG_3161 — 389 Main street Winnipeg, The Millennium Centre

_MG_3181 — An old fashioned office. Looks like the secretary pool from the 1950's

_MG_3185 — Detective painted on the glass door in gold

_MG_3193 — Randy Joynt, Executive Director Artspace Inc. shows us around the place

_MG_3204 — The upper floors of 389 Main street Winnipeg, The Millennium Centre

_MG_3235 — 389 Main street; Looking down the stairwell

_MG_3271 — The huge skylight used to be open to actual light from the sky, but it leaked too much, so they put a roof over it and artificial lights inside it.

_MG_3284 — Banks are not made of solid stone anymore

_MG_3304-Edit — 389 Main street, Winnipeg. Greek Roman looking metal relief

_MG_3312 — Symbols of Justice and Truth. Banks don't display these sentiments anymore

Aqua Books at 274 Garry, Feb 16 2012

The New Aqua Books to Take Root in The Exchange District National Historic Site

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Hi. Kelly Hughes, Mayor of Winnipeg’s Cultural City Hall here.

On August 11, 2011, we announced that Aqua Books would be closing its doors forever. A groundswell of public support followed, and we have spent the intervening months working on just the right plan. A new non-profit called Winnipeg’s Cultural City Hall Inc. was eventually set up, to take over operations and help usher in the next phase of our existence. After weeks of putting our heads together, negotiations, meetings, paperwork, and tears (from putting our heads together too hard), the wait is over.The sale of 274 Garry Street is being finalized, and in April 2012, the New Aqua Books will be rocking our new space at 123 Princess Street. This leaner, meaner (okay I’ll try to be less mean) version of Winnipeg’s Cultural City Hall will feature a larger theatre, workshop space, books, full bar, and food service. More details will be released in the weeks to come.(Since this is also going out to the media, and media people will only read the first few words, let me insert a note here.There will be a walk-through for the media today, Wed. Feb. 15 at 11am at 123 Princess. Please email me at kelly@aquabooks.ca, or call 943-7555 if you wish to attend.)When we moved out of The Exchange in 2008 to rehabilitate an old tumble-down Chinese restaurant, our goal was to help revitalize Downtown Winnipeg. Well we did it! We moved downtown and then The Jets came back. Now that our work downtown is done, we’re moving back to the city’s artists village that nurtured us for so long. Finding a wonderful building a mere block up from where we spent five years (at 89 Princess) feels like a real homecoming. What better place for us than a former warehouse for printers and bookbinders?Transitioning from this big building we’ve been in, into a wonderful but smaller space is really making us be creative. (You’re right, we’re always creative.) And I know you’re going to love what we do with the place. Imagine yourself walking down the street in 1920s Paris or Berlin. You see a lit doorway ahead. You enter, walk down the stairs. This place has been taken over by actors and musicians and artists. Are they supposed to be here, or have they broken in and beckoned you inside? But don’t worry that you might not be cool enough. It’s inclusive, not exclusive. As soon as you’re inside, you’re in. Like it so far?We will be working intensely over the next two months with building owner Pat Hitchcock, who has been blazing his own trail for years. Pat bought the building in 1999 and started turning it into condos. (That’s the year we started selling books, two and a half blocks away.) We’re really excited about working with an independent-minded person who has overcome red tape and circumstance to get things done. An anecdote. When asked about his big 90th birthday, Pete Seeger said, Normally, I’m against big things. I think the world’s going to be solved by millions of small things. Well it’s not The Jets or big projects that make our city great. It’s people like Pat, pouring his blood, sweat and tears into making The Exchange so killin’ (as the jazz kids would say). We’re super chuffed (as the English would say) to be part of that great energy again.

We’re taking the best of what we’ve been doing at 274 Garry Street and creating something the same, only different. At 274, we started doing our events (at least partly) as a way to get people into the bookstore and the restaurant. At 123, the stage is now the main event. The room is very open. You will know exactly what’s going on the moment you walk in the door. What a great way to showcase all of the creative things that our friends and partners are doing. Producer Larry Roy will be creating an acoustic architecture for us that will blow the old theatre away. Comedy Fest is coming. Jazz Fest. Six shows a day for Fringe, plus Kelly Hughes Live! Fringe of the Night. And all of this just a mini-donut’s throw from the awesome and hated Cube. You know this is where you’ll be able to find your favourite writers, actors, musicians, artists….interesting people, movers and shakers. You probably will not see Sam Katz here.

So that’s it for now. Don’t forget about our big fundraiser for the new place, Hello 123 (now you understand the name), featuring Fred Penner and the Royal Canadian Navy Band of HMCS Chippawa:http://www.aquabooks.ca/events.php#hello It’s March 3, at the MTYP theatre at The Forks.

Much more to come in the weeks ahead. I’ve been saying Watch the Skies, but I think now I should say Watch the Streets, ‘cuz all roads lead to 123 Princess…

For further info, contact Kelly Hughes, Mayor of Winnipeg’s Cultural City Hall.

Aqua Books opened in 1999, and will soon be operated by Winnipeg’s Cultural City Hall Inc. (Here’s our board: http://culturalcityhall.ca/board/) Aqua Books is currently open at 274 Garry Street, and will live at 123 Princess come April.

—
Kelly Hughes
Aqua Books
274 Garry Street Winnipeg MB R3C 1H3
http://aquabooks.ca
204-943-7555

_MG_2883 — Downtown Winnipeg, in the winter

_MG_2889 — Garry street, looking north towards Portage Ave, Winnipeg

_MG_2893 — Aqua Books, 274 Garry street Feb 16 2012

_MG_2902 — a solo tree in downtown Winnipeg

_MG_2911 — J. Norris Tailor, on Garry street

_MG_2932 — strange pipes and things in the basement

_MG_2941 — Kelly Hughes spots the problem

_MG_2943 — I think this used to be a prep room for the old Chinese restaurant that used to be here.

_MG_2953 — Little holes to put valuable papers in?

_MG_2955 — I never went to the Royal Palace Chinese Restaurant

_MG_2959 — more strange looking pipes in the basement of 274 Garry street

_MG_2961 — wires and cables and pipes and electricity!

_MG_2981 — the great chandelier from the old restaurant

_MG_2991 — This table is final markdown $1

_MG_2996 — Aqua books and its great women's bathroom!

_MG_2999 — tons of old books. Legal books.They make good wallpaper

_MG_3001 — Books can almost become furniture

_MG_3003 — Vintage Remington typewriter.

_MG_3008 — the famous upstairs room at Aqua Books. Home of poetry slams, speaking crow open mic nights and almost any other type of musical, theatre, chat show craziness you could ask for

_MG_3019 — The rooms for the artists in residence at Aqua Books

_MG_3027 — an excellent old chaise or fainting couch or a Freud couch or whatever

_MG_3053 — Canada Law Reports from the 1940's

_MG_3056 — Sir John Martin Harvey as Richard the third Painted by Frank O Salisbury Exhibted in the Royal Academy 1925

_MG_3058 — Sir John Martin Harvey as Richard the third Painted by Frank O Salisbury Exhibted in the Royal Academy 1925

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_O._Salisbury

Warming Huts at the Forks, Jan 29 2012

WARMING HUTS V.2012

Competition on Ice:
Designs by World Renowned Architect Frank Gehry and Four Other Competition Winners Unveiled

The Forks, Winnipeg – The warming huts on this year’s river trail are an eclectic collection of varying interpretations of shelter, it was revealed today.

Five new huts will grace the trail this year with their combination of warming functionality and stunning art and architecture.

The first, and possibly the most anticipated hut, comes from world renowned invited architect, Frank Gehry. “Over the past two years this competition has grown exponentially in terms of international recognition. Case in point, Frank Gehry agreed to participate base on an ask by letter,” says Paul Jordan, Chief Operating Officer, The Forks. “Having Gehry and his team participate is the icing on a very big cake.”

Gehry, the designer behind such iconic projects as the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Dancing House in Prague, and the Strata Center in Cambridge, will design a hut made from large blocks of ice entitled, FIVE-HOLE. The blocks are slated to be shipped from Montreal especially for Gehry’s project.

Three huts were chosen from over 40 other entries in the open design competition. The winning designs, WIND CATCHER, Ice Pillows, and ROPE Pavilion represent Norway, Czech Republic and New York respectively.

“We saw some spectacular and fantastic ideas,” says Jordan, “It was a difficult task for the jury to only choose three designs. These three are going to blow people’s minds once they are built because they truly push the design envelope.”

The fifth and final hut, entitled HOTHUT, came from a call to University of Manitoba Architecture students who competed in teams for the final coveted spot.

”The University has developed a unique and functional hut providing more than just a shelter from the elements” says Jordan. “They plan to engage visitors in a social and cultural experience.”

The competition, supported in part by the Manitoba Association of Architects, was announced September 2011 with an open call for submissions through the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), the American Institute of Architecture, online at archiforum.com, and other prominent architectural websites.

The Warming Huts v.2011 An Art +Architecture Competition on Ice is made possible through the generous support of: Inn at the Forks, Manitoba Association of Architects, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Architects & Partners Program and KGS Group.

It is estimated the huts will be built in early January on site (weather pending) and brought down the river trail shortly after. Seven huts from previous years will join the five new huts on the ice.

ABOUT WARMING HUTS V.2012: AN ART + ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION ON ICE

Warming Huts v.2011: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice, was an open competition, endorsed by the Manitoba Association of Architects. Proposals for the competition were all submitted online at www.warminghuts.com. The jury, comprised of last years’ participants have selected the designs that best “push the envelope of design, craft and art.

Three huts were chosen from the open submission process, one from a separate University of Manitoba competition and one is being designed by invited architect Frank Gehry.

_MG_0787 — DJ co-op Tim Hoover is really excited

Manitoba Craft Council member show, Jan 27 2012

at the Cre8ery Gallery

125 Adelaide st, Winnipeg

_MG_8914 — The Vamp, Evelyn Richter; stoneware, cast iron, tarnished nickel

_MG_8918 — Porcelain Bud Vase, woodfired porcelain, Jen Sonnenburg

_MG_8927 — unglazed porcelain styrofoam cup, Jessica Hodgson

_MG_8938 — Earthenware slip cast vase by PJ Anderson

_MG_8940 — Earthenware slip cast vase by PJ Anderson

_MG_8945 — Ceramic Sheep Trio by Mary Lowe

_MG_8948 — cotton sweater set by Carol James

_MG_8959 — ceramic tray with root handle, Anne Fallis

_MG_8962 — ceramic tray with root handle, Anne Fallis

_MG_8966 — ceramic mare and filly, Mary Lowe

_MG_8971 — porcelain and terra cotta, casserole sculptures, Brigitta Urben

_MG_8974 — porcelain and terra cotta, casserole sculptures, Brigitta Urben

_MG_8981 — smallbird jewelry, Kathryn MacKenzie & Dale Missyabit

_MG_8984 — white feathered hat, Natasha Haladya

_MG_8987 — Ceramic Sheep Trio by Mary Lowe

_MG_8988 — Tumbleweed pot, porcelain and beadwork, Joyce Tripp

_MG_8998 — unglazed porcelain styrofoam cup, Jessica Hodgson

_MG_9003 — Blackberry Widow, Annette Henderson

_MG_9006 — handbuilt earthenware, Gaëtanne Sylvester

_MG_9011 — Wood fired porcelain, Jen Sonnenberg

_MG_9014 — Fused glass with glass grit, June Derksen

_MG_9039 — porcelain and glass, Karen Taylor

Takashi Iwasaki Art Opening at Parlour Coffee, Jan 27 2012

Winnipeg's smallest art gallery is actually a coffee shop and can only handle one work at a time

Next door at Antiques and Funk, there were some stuffed rodents

Warming Huts at the Forks and the Riverwalk, Jan 24 2012

_MG_8595 — A sunny winter day in Winnipeg

_MG_8598 — I find the shadows on the snow interesting. Maybe nobody else does. Anyone?

_MG_8600 — winter snow biking in Winnipeg

_MG_8606 — signs, signs, everywhere are signs

_MG_8611 — stairs leading down to the Assiniboine River

_MG_8612 — The Riverwalk in winter, Winnipeg

_MG_8617 — Some daring people cross the river even though it might be thin ice

_MG_8619 — McFadyen Park has seen better days

_MG_8623 — These nice new wooden benches down by the river have already been ruined with graffiti. Jerks!

_MG_8624 — The squirrels have been jumping around in the snow

_MG_8626 — This is some interesting graffiti. On the bridge. In Winnipeg. In winter.

_MG_8631 — Under the Donald street bridge in Winnipeg

_MG_8637 — Winnipeg's fantastic trees down by the river

_MG_8645 — Danger Thin Ice Keep Off the river

_MG_8651 — It was minus forty last week and the Assiniboine river still has not frozen

_MG_8659 — The engineer actually waved at me!

_MG_8663 — Winnipeggers love a bargain - and it doesn't get much thriftier than a Frank Gehry structure for $20K. As part of the third annual competition for River Trail warming huts, Gehry has contributed an elegant design of Douglas fir and semi-translucent ice blocks. The participation of the Toronto-born, L.A-based architect, best known for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, confirms the competition's rapidly rising international profile.

_MG_8666 — Nice patterns of snow on ice. Maybe squirrels?

_MG_8719 — Frank Gehry's ice and wood warming hut in Winnipeg

_MG_8771 — Railway bridge near the Forks, Winnipeg

Fashion Art Jazz show at the Exchange Church, Jan 20 2012

Art by Brenda Mose.

Fashion designs by Alex Stornel (Centre of the Chaos designs) and Diana, who likes the Steam Punk aesthetic.

Music by, a yet un-named jazz band full of young fresh musicians and Nicolette Kiige

_MG_5246 — a strange ceramic guy next to the sound board

_MG_5258 — Brenda Mose is not only an artist, but also makes great tarts!

_MG_5346 — all of the designers and models

_MG_5369 — Fran wears a Gold Edwardian walking set by Diana

_MG_5383 — Tracy wears a Steam Punk Afternoon Travel set by Diana

_MG_5433 — Brenda Mose, artist in front of one of her creations

_MG_5457 — Red and Black wedding dress by Diana

Street Photography Meanderings, Jan 14 2012

_MG_4038 — Coffee oil bubbles on the Latte at Parlour look like a rainbow

_MG_4046 — Ed Ackerman shows me the Free Press newspaper where it is mentioned the Bay building downtown could be sold for $1

_MG_4111 — Jets Hockey fans outside the Arena

_MG_4121 — The renovations to 273 Portage Ave, ex Kung Fu School

_MG_4137 — some yarn bombing in Winnipeg

The Tallest Poppy, Jan 14 2012

The Tallest Poppy

a fantastic restaurant in Winnipeg on historic Main street

Screen Shot 2012-01-14 at 7.21.39 PM — click on the image to go to their website!

Phone: 204.957.1708
Email: thetallestpoppy@yahoo.com

The Tallest Poppy Artist Residency Blog
Twitter
Facebook

Fall/Winter Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 7:30 am – 3:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 9 am- 2 pm

Located at:
631 Main Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
R3B 1E1

Click here for Sarah Zaharia’s article about Talia Syrie and this nifty place.

_MG_3872 — The Tallest Poppy, 631 Main street, Winnipeg

_MG_3880 — Raspberry Jam, probably made by some nice person

_MG_3897 — Amazing wooden art wall hanging with birds and flowers

_MG_3905 — coffee fresh from the machine!

_MG_3910 — The Tallest Poppy, 631 Main street, Winnipeg

_MG_3919 — forks and spoons and shiny silver cutlery

_MG_3942 — Talia Potash has a nice photographic studio

_MG_3955 — Film makers Ryan Simmons and Aaron Zeghers, being nuisances

_MG_3957 — Age and height written on the door frame, from no idea how long ago

_MG_3974 — The Tallest Poppy, 631 Main street, Winnipeg

_MG_4009a — The Tallest Poppy, 631 Main street, Winnipeg. Amazing Food!

_MG_4013 — Sarah Zaharia is ready to give you some food!

Downtown Winnipeg Street Photography at Night, Jan 9 2012

_MG_3070 — A view of downtown Winnipeg at night from Graham and Smith Ave

_MG_3073 — The old Post office building on Graham Ave, Winnipeg

_MG_3076 — The back of 283 Garry street, Winnipeg

_MG_3092 — Tree shadows at night on Garry street

_MG_3101 — The Garrick Hotel and Bar, Winnipeg

_MG_3108 — The circular spiral car park on Garry street, Winnipeg

_MG_3119 — Looking south along Garry Street at about 291 Garry, just south of Portage Ave

_MG_3137 — View up at 254 Portage Ave, one of the cooler old buildings in Winnipeg

_MG_3155 — Winnipeg's Dominion News. All the magazines you want, and even a few you don't! 262 Portage ave

_MG_3164 — The Downtown BIZ's Downtown Watch and Outreach program deal with some bus shack shenanigans

_MG_3165 — Winnipeg's Downtown Outreach program deal with another local

_MG_3265 — A nice black and white night time tree photograph, with a Winnipeg bus

_MG_3275 — Graham Ave at Kennedy looking West towards the Bay

_MG_3280 — The Parkade at the Medical Arts Building.

_MG_3331 — The green glow from 183 Kennedy street, Winnipeg

_MG_3336 — The Parkade at about 177 Kennedy street, Winnipeg

_MG_3343 — They shoved all the snow off the roof and it went splat in the back alley

Takashi Iwasaki at McNally Robinson, Jan 9 2012

Takashi Iwasaki

The World We Live in and Beyond

Visual art on display at Prairie Ink Restaurant

at McNally Robinson Grant Park Mall, Winnipeg

from Jan 9 to Feb 5 2012

_MG_2939 — Grant Park shopping centre, Winnipeg

_MG_2950 — Takashi Iwasaki Gallery Opening

_MG_3037 — John Toews, Event Coordinator at McNally Robinson Winnipeg. He has an excellent speaking voice. I want him to read the menu to me

_MG_3060 — The future famous artist Michael Benjamin Brown

Rhymes With Orange Vintage shop, Dec 30 2011

“Rhymes With Orange”

on a related note, Blorenge is a Hill in South East Wales.

Winnipeg’s newest Vintage clothing and housewares boutique opened at the beginning of December 2011.

Doug Shand, Stefanie Hiebert and Erin Thiessen team up in the former location of All City Modern Convenience at 223 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg.

Doug used to be around the corner at 88 Albert street and the store was called Vintage Glory. See images HERE.

Stefanie and Erin were selling their vintage clothes and housewares out of a fab 1956 trailer calling the operation “oh so lovely!”, and before that worked at Para-Mix in Osborne Village.

223 McDermot Ave used to be a place called Pure Lard. A fantastic restaurant that was only around for a few years in the early 90’s. They had “exotic” stuff like lemon grass soup and a Tom Baker Dr Who pinball machine in the back.

Click on these links for more info!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rhymes-With-Orange/275759185795697

http://ohsolovelyvintage.blogspot.com/2011/12/tour-of-our-vintage-boutique-rhymes.html

_MG_1314 — Stefanie Hiebert of Rhymes with Orange

_MG_1302 — Erin Thiessen of Rhymes with Orange

_MG_1344 — hand painted 1950’s cocktail tie with a semi naked girl on it

_MG_1356 — Doug Shand, finder of awesome Vintage stuff in Winnipeg

_MG_1293 — vintage kitchen stuff in Winnipeg

_MG_1276 — Rhymes with Orange Vintage reminds you of the 60’s

_MG_1255 — Rhymes with Orange Vintage Clothing, Accessories & Housewares, 223 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg

_MG_1252 — Rhymes with Orange Vintage clothing and housewares, 223 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg. In the Bate building

_MG_1236 — One plus One design also sell their stuff here.

oneplusone

TYLER + JESSIE THIESSEN

Design + Illustration

oneplusonedesign.ca

card sets, screen prints, tags

_MG_1232 — Knitted Hipster sweaters. Used to be awful. Now totally cool.

_MG_1224 — Excellent vintage tin ceiling. Winnipeg’s Exchange District

_MG_1185 — An excellent selection of sunglasses

_MG_1124 — Old Miller Beer zippo lighter

Red River Books, Dec 14 2011

92 Arthur street, Winnipeg

Red River Books has been a wonderful jumble of used books and magazines (and VHS tapes and comics and vinyl records) for years. It’s kind of a store and a treasure hunt at the same time.

It is definitely a destination for all people who visit Winnipeg!

Denis, owner operator, says “It’s always the book you didn’t buy that you regret the most, not the book you actually bought and was disappointed with.”

_MG_8059 — Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street, Winnipeg

_MG_8062 — Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street, Winnipeg

_MG_8063 — Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street

_MG_8068 — The first Winnipeg Fringe Festival poster from 1987. It used to hang in the Macaroni Bar, on the second floor of the Mother Tuckers Restaurant which was in the Masonic Temple built in 1895 on the corner of Donald and Ellice

_MG_8069 — And Denis also has the second Fringe poster from 1988 too…

_MG_8077 — One of my favourite photos. Plant in the window.

_MG_8083 — Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street, Winnipeg

_MG_8086 — There used to be a toilet here; now there is just a stool…

_MG_8087 — Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street, Winnipeg

_MG_8092 — excellent Winnipeg Exchange District vintage tin ceiling

_MG_8093 — thousands of comics @ Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street

_MG_8096 — Crosby, Stills & Nash vinyl record

_MG_8099 — a vintage Viking 8 track, record player

_MG_8100 — Denis collects bikes for sale, and also he rides some of them.

_MG_8115 — The Penguin Box of Quotations

_MG_8117 — Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street. A wall of books

_MG_8119 — Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street.

_MG_8128 — Red River Books, 92 Arthur Street, Winnipeg

_MG_8130-2 — Denis is a fan of Alex Nino, a science fiction illustrator

_MG_8143 — One of the famous Horse Carriage tunnels in Winnipeg’s Exchange District

Wagon Wheel Lunch, Dec 14 2011

Winnipeg’s famous Wagon Wheel Lunch has been around since the 1950’s.

In 1958 Louis Mathez’ father and uncle bought it and Louis worked there until his death in Feb 2010.

Then it was taken over by Fran Gomez, one of Louis’ employees.

The building is not exactly an architectural gem but the seats in the diner are well worn and the grill is irreplaceable.

Click HERE for the BreakfastWinnipeg.com article

_MG_7881 — The corner of Portage Ave and Hargrave, Winnipeg

_MG_7887 — The Norlyn Building, Winnipeg

In Sept 2012 they started knocking down the Norlyn building…

Demolition if the Building the Wagon Wheel was in. Winnipeg Sept 2012

Many Winnipeg buildings in the downtown block within Portage, Hargrave, Ellice and Donald are being torn down. Sept 2012

_MG_7889 — The Wagon Wheel Lunch, 305 Hargrave, Winnipeg Dec 2011

_MG_7893 — The Norlyn building, December 2011, Winnipeg

_MG_7897 — The Wagon Wheel Lunch, 305 Hargrave, Winnipeg, home of the Clubhouse

_MG_7912 — the famous Winnipeg Wagon Wheel Clubhouse sandwich

_MG_7915 — Mike Maryniuk (doing a doc about the Wagon Wheel) and Marissa

_MG_7922-2 — excellent vintage thermostat (mercoid coil)

_MG_7929 — Fran busy in the kitchen. Notice the very very old wooden freezer/ fridge

_MG_7931 — The Grill where Louis Matthez worked for 50 years

_MG_7962 — Shelves built to hold pies. Amazing!

_MG_7966 — bacon! In a pile on the grill!

_MG_7994 — click on image for larger view

_MG_8004 — click on image for larger view

Click here to see the bigger photo. Free Press Nov 9 2011 Wagon Wheel

Winnipeg Free Press – PRINT EDITION

Wagon Wheel’s days could be few

Forced to relocate, owner considers closing iconic downtown diner

By: Geoff Kirbyson

Posted: 11/9/2011 1:00 AM

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREEPRESS archives<br /> Franny Gomez: Wagon Wheel proprietor

Enlarge Image

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREEPRESS archives Franny Gomez: Wagon Wheel proprietor

“Winnipeg’s favourite clubhouse sandwich is on the endangered species list and could become extinct early in the new year.

The Wagon Wheel Lunch restaurant has operated out of the Norlyn Building since 1958, but it has to move out by March. That’s when the Hargrave Street structure will meet with the wrecking ball as part of the downtown Winnipeg SHED (sports hospitality and entertainment district) plans.

The extensive revitalization blueprints include the construction of a new hotel, a parkade, new office and retail space and a central meeting place over the next few years. There is no firm cost estimate on the massive project, but insiders say it will run well into the “hundreds of millions” of dollars.

Franny Gomez, who took over the Winnipeg culinary institution last year after the death of longtime owner Louis Mathez, said she’s unsure whether she can afford to keep it running.

“I’m still undecided. Do I continue or do I just quit? I know (potential sites) out there are expensive. It’s very hard to afford to move (the restaurant) somewhere else. I’ve been shopping around but I haven’t found anything yet,” she said.

“It’s a possibility that we could shut down.”

Ross McGowan, president and CEO of CentreVenture, the downtown Winnipeg development agency, said he’s working to make sure that doesn’t happen. He said the Wagon Wheel is the only tenant in the Norlyn Building he’s worried about because of its longevity and place in the city’s restaurant history.”

Winnipeg Stadium under construction, Dec 7 2011

stuart olson dominion

was once again kind enough to show me around the building site of Winnipeg’s new Stadium

Project Coordinator Stephen Maruschak CIM gave me the tour.

Other contractors and collaborators are:

Raymond SC Wan Architect

Westwood Mechanical Inc

STRUCTAL

McCaine Electric

Crosier Kilgour & Partners Ltd.

Click here to see pictures of the construction from October 2011

_MG_3026 — Construction of Winnipeg's new Stadium, December 2011

_MG_3055-2 — Not many people get to see the other worldly orange glow inside a huge tarp structure

_MG_3075 — Construction of Winnipeg's new Stadium, December 2011

_MG_3085 — Construction of Winnipeg's new Stadium, December 2011

_MG_3105 — Construction of Winnipeg's new Stadium, December 2011

_MG_3112 — Mr Maruschak showed me where all the good views were

_MG_3128 — This was the south entrance to the field where all the trucks came and went. Now it is being finished off and trucks will enter from the North Side

_MG_3132 — Construction of Winnipeg's new Stadium, December 2011

_MG_3163-2 — housing for the air machines that will help inflate a really big golf dome like structure over the field

_MG_3168 — the first three canopy beams are up

_MG_3175 — A490 LE Bolts. Those are the good ones

_MG_3179 — A pre cast concrete bleacher going in

_MG_3186 — One of the large beams that will support the canopy

_MG_3188 — horizontal canopy beams yet to be installed

_MG_3202 — The ground froze, and left the waffle patterns from the heavy equipment in the mud

hutK furniture and design, Dec 3 2011

hutK

Modern. Cool. Retail. Design.

74 Princess street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

(there is a funky new furniture store in Winnipeg’s Exchange)

(is hip the new funky? is cool the new hip?)

Not quite open yet, but open for a preview of some excellent decor and design.

Dane Kofoed plans to bring some fresh air to your dwelling.

hutK.ca

blu dot Tom Dixon DESIGN HOUSE Stockholm BEN SEN Wood Anchor

_MG_9233 — it's not really purple, i added the purple, it makes the yellow lamp really jump

_MG_9236 — I vote for this to be an iconic Winnipeg photograph

_MG_9238 — nice aggregate flooring from either the 1950's or the 1890's

_MG_9246 — It was snowing upwards outside

_MG_9259 — still working on the chair wall

_MG_9266 — there used to be a door in this brick wall

_MG_9277 — the old victorian windows have been replaced

_MG_9284 — rug made from wrapped and bound newspapers from around the world. Re use!

_MG_9291 — awesome cast glass light bulb light

_MG_9295 — this office used to be Little Grand Rapids Education Authority and was most recently a copy shop

_MG_9297 — the design and decor found next door at the Goodwill store offers the Yin to Dane's Yang

Occupy Winnipeg in the Snow and the Manitoba Legislature, Nov 27 2011

There was a big dump of snow on Nov 26 2011.
Some of the tents collapsed and some people left.

Here are some pictures of the Occupy Camp from a month earlier: https://leifnorman.net/occupy-winnipeg-oct-23-2011/

_MG_9765 — Winter in Winnipeg on Memorial Blvd

_MG_9775 — Winter Bike (bike plus icicles equals bicycles)

_MG_9776 — Occupy Winnipeg Camp Nov 2011

_MG_9777 — Occupy Protests in the news papers

_MG_9783 — Occupy Winnipeg Camp Nov 2011

_MG_9792 — Occupy Winnipeg Camp Nov 2011

_MG_9809 — If you reach out, sometimes you get snapped off

_MG_9814 — step across the line, and don't look back

_MG_9817 — the long shadows reach towards downtown

_MG_9823 — The best lit bus shack in Winnipeg

_MG_9833 — The Earl of Dufferin statue (1826 - 1902)

_MG_9834 — either go straight on, or go left (no parking)

_MG_9836 — The formidable might of the Manitoba Legislature

_MG_9838 — Louis Riel looks down at the river, and waits for the spring floods

_MG_9841 — The Assiniboine River has just begun to freeze

Germaine Koh, DIY Field, Ellice and Edmonton, Nov 15 2011

DIY Field 2011

Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011, permanent public commission for Central Park, Winnipeg.

Germaine Koh website

“DIY Field is an interactive grid of 38 pedestrian-scale light posts on a sloped piece of ground in Winnipeg’s Central Park. In keeping with the themes of play developed throughout the park, each post’s light and colour is controllable by park users, creating a flexible field that is configurable by individuals for emergent game play and other uses.

Each simple metal post contains energy-efficient RGB (red, green, blue) LED lights with three robust buttons to turn each colour channel on and off separately. Combinations of the three primary colours permit eight light colours per post: red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, magenta, white, and no light.

The poles recall game- and sports equipment such as pylons, slalom markers, goal posts, and signaling devices. They minimally articulate a space that is otherwise left open for the public to animate and invent uses. Besides creating a situation for play by giving users and residents a measure of control over the character and mood of the space, the project also communicates a vision of public space that is shaped by how it is used and negotiated by citizens in real life, as much by how it is planned.”

Grand opening on Nov 15 2011.

(photos by Leif Norman

commissioned by the Winnipeg Arts Council)

_MG_8601 — Push the buttons, and the lights change colour!

_MG_8607-2 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011, permanent public commission for Central Park, Winnipeg.

Winnipeg Arts Council Annual General Report 2011, cover photo by Leif Norman

Winnipeg Arts Council Annual General Report 2011, numerous inside photos by Leif Norman

Winnipeg Arts Council Annual General Report 2011, Top Left photo by Leif Norman, Natasha Torres Garner’s “a way in” dance piece

Germaine Koh’s DIY Field on the cover of Galleries West Magazine Spring 2013, photo by Leif Norman

_MG_8787 — Red Green Blue Yellow Purple White

_MG_8816 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011, permanent public commission for Central Park, Winnipeg.

_MG_8969 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011, permanent public commission for Central Park, Winnipeg.

_MG_9010 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011, permanent public commission for Central Park, Winnipeg.

_MG_9576 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011, permanent public commission for Central Park, Winnipeg.

_MG_9578 — On Nov 15 2011 there was an opening ceremony for the DIY Field

_MG_9585 — Cookies and a Coffee on a cold night!

_MG_9599 — Laird Rankin, Chair, Winnipeg Arts Council, and Harvey Smith, Winnipeg City Councillor for Daniel McIntyre

_MG_9608 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011, permanent public commission for Central Park, Winnipeg.

_MG_9640 — Germaine Koh, Kenny Boyce, Trish Wasny

_MG_9664 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011, permanent public commission for Central Park, Winnipeg.

_MG_9701 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011 Winnipeg

_MG_9710 — A fair sized crowd gathered on a cold night

_MG_9738 — Robert Enright inspects the Public Art closely

_MG_9746 — Germaine Koh, DIY Field, 2011 Winnipeg

_MG_9820 — Jeremy Williamez on the Shaw patrol

Ragpickers Anti-Fashion Emporium, Nov 2 2011

Ragpickers

216 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg Manitoba Canada

Winnipeg’s famous vintage fashion shop in the Exchange District has been around since 1984 and is undergoing some changes.

I figured we should document the space for posterity.

Click HERE for some more nice pics of Kristen.

Winnipeg’s most eccentric and best-loved independent costume shop is giving it all away- to Alternative Entrepreneurship.

Occupy Winnipeg video

Uniter article Nov 2 2011 — University of Winnipeg Uniter Article Nov 2 2011 Ragpickers

October 31, 2011

Winnipeg, MB- After 27 years in the Historic Exchange District, Ragpickers Anti-fashion Emporium and Books owner Kristen Andrews is giving Ragpickers over to a retail co-op model.

As part of a vision she has worked toward for decades, Andrews is inviting all those interested to discuss, create and implement a sustainable Alternative Entrepreneurship Co-Operative, slated for November 15 at 7:00 PM. In the Ragpickers Theatre, 2nd floor- 216 McDermot Ave.

The date also marks the last night this space will exist as it has been long known and valued by both the local and global community.

Following an impassioned speech on October 15 (the first day of the Occupy Winnipeg movement) Andrews is following through on her commitment to foster “Alternative Entrepreneurship,” a vision toward a new co-op structure.

This multi-shareholder model is not new or unheard of, and even coincides with the United Nations’ recent declaration that “2012 is the International Year of the Co-Operative.” That said, it in not common for a business to convert to this model after firmly establishing itself otherwise.

Ragpickers Theatre and Bookstore is still thriving in the second floor of the 216 McDermot Building, which has been home to the theatre and 10, 000-title-strong bookstore for years. However, this leased space will soon close at the behest of the building’s owner, to allow the owner’s undisclosed, new development.

“In the shadow of many shop closures and the gradual gentrification of many parts of downtown Winnipeg, the cultural capital that Ragpickers has fostered will change and morph once again, and as never before,” said Andrews.

“There are exciting new co-op models being legislated in Manitoba, and in light of the wave of discontent with traditional corporate models, the intuition, beliefs and dreams I have held for years have only been further validated,” said Andrews, who welcomes those who seek sharing in these collaborate aims.

“Alternative Entrepreneurs are the pioneers that will lead the way for us to be focused on human needs- not human greed. This is the time to apply the collective knowledge we have about co-operative working, to re-create the way we make our living and transform economic and social structures that will reflect a more sustainable, ethical, and values-based livelihood,” she said.

While Ragpickers is seeking a new home for the co-op in 2012, there are already plans to move the bookstore and theatre into other independent community centres. For example: the Atomic Centre- a likeminded gallery/music venue- will house Ragpickers’ book collection; the Rudolph Rocker- a similarly inspired Exchange District hub- will allow the Flaming Trolleys Community Orchestra to continue to flourish.

“In the spirit of a changing economic landscape, I believe that ethical employment and sustainable community models are what will enable the new co-op members to have autonomy from the consumer/capitalist model,” said Andrews

Ragpickers Theatre and Bookstore has been host to many years of Winnipeg Fringe Festival Performances, to play-writers’ festival productions, as well as to burlesque and vaudeville shows. It has also welcomed touring acts, film festivals, as well as workshops in poetry, dance, yoga and circus, and has been a much-loved, all-ages music venue, providing countless local bands with invaluable live performance and recording opportunities. Plans are underway to accommodate the last ever $20 All You Can Wear Sale – one of Winnipeg’s most unique sale promotions that annually sees hundreds and hundreds of savvy shoppers brave the January cold to participate in an action driven sale event like no other.

_MG_5668 — Ragpickers. 216 McDermot Ave Winnipeg

_MG_5669 — Near McDermot and Main street, Winnipeg

_MG_5670 — Ragpickers; Vintage Clothing, Books, Costumes, Curiosities

_MG_5678 — Ragpickers. 216 McDermot Ave Winnipeg

_MG_5680 — The new arrivals of books are immediately inside the front door

_MG_5691 — Yuri and Veronica love the place

_MG_5702 — The windy stairs lead up to the Book store

_MG_5716 — The little crows nest like sitting area on the landing up to the bookstore. Quaint!

_MG_5720 — Ragpickers. 216 McDermot Ave winnipeg

_MG_5754 — The original wood floor repaired with sheets of tin

_MG_5758 — Manitoba’s creakiest stairs. Clomp clomp squeak!

_MG_5768 — Venue 13 on the second floor of Ragpickers

_MG_5770 — Many Fringe shows and musicians have played here. Wax Mannequin, The Molestics, Grand Guignol on the Prairie

_MG_5773 — The sound and lighting booth for the venue

_MG_5819 — Ragpickers used to be in the same building as the Underground Cafe

_MG_5838 — These stairs used to lead back up, but they blocked it off and put a floor above them

Antiques & Funk, Oct 27 2011

Antiques & Funk (Antiques and Funk) have been selling cool vintage stuff in Winnipeg since 1986

and have been at 474 Main street since 1997.

This building used to have another storey, but it burned off a while ago.

Also I have heard this building was home to Winnipeg’s first photo studio. This needs to be confirmed.

Then Birt’s Saddlery occupied the place for many years.

And there is a small earthen cell in the basement that people say was the place where Louis Riel was kept during his trial.

Though the truth of this is up for debate.

_MG_3403 — Antiques and Funk, Winnipeg. Notice the Mural by Sarah Riel of Iceland above it.

_MG_3433 — Close up of the 1950's lampshade

_MG_3511 — The Birt Saddlery used to be here. Winnipeg's downtown had a strong history of farming and horses

_MG_3425 — Awesome vintage stuff at Antiques and Funk

_MG_3415 — excellent windows at Antiques and Funk on Main street

_MG_3409 — The view from Main and Bannatyne

_MG_3408 — The view from Main and Bannatyne

_MG_3389 — A nice collection of vintage lamps

_MG_3376 — Children don't play with marbles anymore, do they?

_MG_3369 — Hudson's Bay Company 1910 catalogue

_MG_3350 — A Globe. Canada is not as colourful as the USA

_MG_3341 — A souvenir from Pinawa Manitoba

_MG_3314 — Drewry's Beer mug from Winnipeg

_MG_3311 — P. Frenzeny print from 1878 "at work at the wine presses"

_MG_3310 — close up of an old cash register

_MG_3309 — Some nice ceramics: Russel Wright; Steubenville

Russel Wright Ceramics mfg by Steubenville

_MG_8036 — the cell in the basement where Louis Riel was allegedly kept. There used to be bars on this door (?)

_MG_8042 — vintage Johnson outboard motor

_MG_8043 — the treasure filled basement of Antiques and Funk

_MG_8044 — long ago there was a fire. it burned off the second and third floors. in the basement you can still see the charred beams

_MG_8055 — the unused stairs to the second floor

_MG_8058 — the door on the right leads to the unused staircase to the second floor which does not exist

Occupy Winnipeg, Oct 23 2011

Some people call it the the opposite of the “Tea Party”.

Some people call them a bunch of smelly hippies.

Some people say all Libertarian (extremist) movements are all the same.

And some people think that protests of any kind don’t really do anything because everyone causes the most social effect by voting with their feet and wallets.