The Exchange in flames

This morning, I watched out my bedroom window as my neighbourhood was engulfed in thick grey smoke.

My boyfriend left for work at around 9:30.  As I was getting ready to leave for school, I read a text message from him telling me to take a look outside.  From the top floor of the Lindsay Building, I watched as a grey cloud hovered beside the Royal Albert Hotel.

One fire truck was on the scene.  It looked to me like the fire was sustained, but I realized shortly afterward this was not the case.  Sirens were soon blaring in all directions, and within the hour, over a dozen service vehicles arrived and yellow tape lined the streets.

At some points, the smoke got so thick I could barely see anything from my 10th floor window.  The smell of burning was slowly seeping into my building - even more so as I entered the hallway.

A few bystanders lined Notre Dame with their phones out, snapping away.  The media was beginning to arrive, and Twitter was blowing up with photos of the incident.

The smoke was dense and I could hardly make out which building was on fire.  I later found out War on Music and Ken Hong's took the majority of the damage.  Needless to say, it was a sad day for two notable businesses in the Exchange District community.

Revisiting the scene after a few hours, the fire was almost completely doused and local businesses around the area were reopening their doors.  The streets are flooded, and it will take some effort to finish cleaning up the area.

 Let's hope this is the last time the Exchange will face a fiery fate.

Dionysus in Stony Mountain

I must admit my limited experience and knowledge of prison standards has been tainted by Hollywood’s glamour – feature films in general, but The Shawshank Redemption in particular.

Photo courtesy of http://1.bp.blogspot.com/

That being said, I do realize the dramatization on camera and the real life practices of criminal institutions are like night and day.  Although I’ll probably never get to witness it firsthand, I’d be curious to explore the relationships between inmates and prison staff.

Dionysus in Stony Mountain is a play that examines one version of this relationship.  The play was written by Steven Ratzlaff, directed by Bill Kerr and presented by Theatre Projects Manitoba.  It played from March 29 to April 8 at the Rachel Browne Theatre in Winnipeg’s Exchange District.

Image courtesy of http://www.winnipegscontemporarydancers.ca/

As Ratzlaff’s first full-length play, Dionysus in Stony Mountain began as a one-act production in Winnipeg’s 2009 Fringe Festival.  The second act now completes the two-hour play, focusing on the characters James (a Stony Mountain inmate, played by Ross McMillan), Heidi (a psychiatrist, played by Sarah Constible) and Eric (Heidi’s uncle, also played by Ross McMillan).

Dionysus in Stony Mountain is presented simply as a ping-pong conversation between James and Heidi in the first act, and Heidi and Eric in the second.  The simplicity of its set up allows the intelligent and sometimes witty dialogue to shine through.  And trust me, there is plenty of it.

Photo by Leif Norman

The play begins with James paying a regular visits to his prison psychiatrist.  His parole hearing is quickly approaching, and Heidi expresses she’s concerned he has become unstable after refusing to resume his lithium treatments.  James explains he’s gone off his meds in favour of absorbing Friedrich Nietzsche’s work, a 19^th-century German philosopher.

Friedrich Nietzsche, courtesy of http://www.iep.utm.edu/

Heidi begins to realize that James is probably on to something.  A psychiatrist who feels imprisoned by her work taking advice from someone who’s imprisoned by walls, but completely free in the mind?  The irony behind this concept pushes Heidi to question where her place is in the world, which is further explored in the second act.

Photo by Leif Norman

The over-arching themes on religion, politics and society are fleshed out through carefully written dialogue.  McMillan delivers a riveting performance, although those unfamiliar with Nietzsche may lose some context of the story.  Thankfully, Ratzlaff has made the dialogue easy enough to digest without too much philosophical background.  McMillan carries many interesting points on our justice system, political system and the foundation of religion.  The most impressive feat, however, was his ability to perfectly execute all of his dialogue.

I found the most interesting theme of this play to be the psychiatrist/patient relationship.  Normally, this type of relationship would focus on a one-way stream of dialogue.  As opposed to a question and answer period, their exchanges became more of a discussion, which allowed James to tear down Heidi’s walls of professionalism and get into the mind of the individual behind the nametag.  The turning of the tables is unordinary, but not completely out of left field.  It opens up the discussion of a criminal’s mindset, of sound mind or otherwise.

Artist drawing of Vince Li, courtesy of http://i.thestar.com/

James’ mental condition makes me curious about the preconceived notions our society has about prisoners. There’s often the question of mental health, and whether or not criminals were of sound minds when committing the act.  Take the Vinci Li case, where on March 3, 2009, Li pleaded not criminally responsible for his crime of stabbing, decapitating and cannibalizing Tim McLean. Diagnosed with schizophrenia by a testifying psychiatrist, Li claimed it was God’s voice who told him that McLean was a force of evil and had to be executed.  Certainly, this is not the first of its kind.

Watching this play has heightened my sensitivity to the clockwork of society.  I believe Ratzlaff is an excellent playwright, and has done amazing work in his premiere piece.  Dionysus in Stony Mountain is a thoughtful product and makes the audience critically think about the confusion behind what makes humans tick.

More information on the play can be viewed here.

Did someone say chocolate?

The month of April isn't solely dedicated to chocolate moulds in the form of Easter bunnies. Our city's love for chocolate goes beyond just that, celebrating a monthlong festivity known as the Ciao! ChocolateFest.

Image courtesy of http://puppybunnyguineapretty.wordpress.com

From April 1 to 30, a melting pot of venues will offer their chocolatey creations for the special price of $7. This experience of worldly flavours is a must-do for all you "chocophiles" out there.

The Forks will also host a Tour du Chocolat on April 14 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in centre court, where visitors will be able to flavour a range of different traditional and innovative chocolate creations.  All proceeds of the event go toward the Canadian Cancer Society.

Image courtesy of http://farm2.static.flickr.com/

Image courtesy of http://images.canadianlisted.com/

Throughout the month, Sydney's at The Forks will be offering trios of chocolate cherry morsels, made of chocolate and cookie coated with house made cherry infused marshmallow, white chocolate and cherry ice cream, and milk chocolate panna cotta sprinkled with cherry gelee.  Chop Steakhouse & Bar will be featuring dark chocolate pecan banana cake, a dark chocolate pecan banana cake with house made bourbon caramel served with vanilla ice cream, and a fallen chocolate soufflé cake, a chocolate cake with mascarpone mousse and rest vanilla anglaise.

Image courtesy of http://www.soulofamerica.com/

There are only some of the delectable indulgences you'll find around town.  Here's a list of all the featured restaurants in this year's ChocolateFest:

The Beachcomber
Brooklynn’s Bistro
Caramel Crêpe
Chop Steakhouse and Bar
The Current
Danny’s All-Day Breakfast
Dessert Sinsations Cafe
Fergie’s Fish n’ Chips
Fro-Gurts
Human Bean Coffee & Tea
Kristina’s on Corydon
Lilac Bakery
Maxime’s Restaurant
The Melting Pot
Neon Cone
Nicolino’s
Promenade Bistro
Rudy’s Eat and Drink
Smoothie Bar
Steve’s Bistro
Sweet Impressions
Sydney’s at The Forks

More information on ChocolateFest can be viewed at Ciao! Magazine's website.

Are you "pho"ll yet?

If you’re a fan of Vietnamese cuisine, Winnipeg offers no shortage of fine pho all over town.  With our city’s pockets brimming with delicious Asian dining options, the appropriate question to ask is not where these places are, but which one to go to.  If you’re close to downtown, there’s a place not too far away that might meet your Vietnamese dining desires.

Courtesy of foodpages.ca

It’s hard to miss Pho No. 1’s bright yellow sign as you pass it on the corner of Isabel Street.  Just a brief detour outside of Winnipeg’s city centre, this restaurant offers a decent selection of Vietnamese and Chinese dishes, including noodle soups, meat entrees and combination platters.  They also feature an impressive vegetarian menu.

The restaurant is average in size, and comfortably sits between 30-40 people in cushioned booths and tables.  There’s nothing flashy about their décor, which is a running theme similar to a few other venues of its kind in the city.

After entering the narrow entryway, you’re quickly seated and served a tall glass of water.  I appreciate something as simple as an oversized serving of H2O, considering the restaurant is often busy and glasses are not always actively attended to.  The service isn’t exceptional, but they do try their best to accommodate to your individual needs.

The food usually comes out shortly you order, and rarely ever disappoints.  For lunch, we ordered salad rolls ($5.99), vegetarian spring rolls ($5.99), deluxe wonton soup with BBQ pork, shrimp, chickens and vegetables ($7.99), lemon chicken ($8.99), and vegetarian spring rolls with vermicelli ($6.00).

Their appetizer rolls are always fresh on the inside and out.  Namely, the vegetarian spring rolls were warm, crunchy and filled with a mix of tasty vegetables.  The salad rolls were served with a side of peanut sauce, which tasted fairly similar to other recipes I’ve had in the past.

The deluxe wonton soup was filled with a generous serving of meats and vegetables.  The broth was nicely flavoured from the medley of ingredients.  The lemon chicken was covered in a fluffy batter, and the chicken inside was juicy and tender.  The consistency of the batter was different than most other lemon chicken dishes, with a panko-like shell of crumbs covering its exterior.  The vegetarian vermicelli dish featured the same delicious spring rolls we had as appetizers, however the lettuce in the dish was slightly browned and wilted.

The overall restaurant experience was well above average, with short wait times and fresh, tasty meals.  The only downfalls were the not-so-fresh lettuce and the long absences of our server.  Understandably so, because Pho No. 1 does get quite busy, especially around lunch and dinnertime.  If you plan on paying this restaurant a visit, make sure to spare a few minutes before your meal to beat the afternoon or evening rush.

The journey for justice continues

Last week, our Creative Communications class had the pleasure of listening to Mike McIntyre discuss his latest book, Journey for Justice: How ‘Project Angel’ Cracked the Candace Derksen Case.

Photo courtesy of http://www.globalwinnipeg.com

McIntyre did a great job at interweaving excerpts from Wilma Derksen’s book into his story.  From his detailed accuracy to his emotional insight, you can really sense that McIntyre had a strong relationship with the Derksen family.  The things he wrote about were not simply assumed, but were interpretations of factual stories and feelings shared by the Derksens.

I absolutely loved reading the first part of Journey for Justice.  It was a story that hit home for many reasons, considering the streets, stores and neighbourhoods were all places I recognized.  Someone very close to me was actually around Candace’s age when she passed away.  After reading her story, hearing someone talk about growing up at the same time as she did was a huge wake-up call.  It was a reminder that this crime actually happened, and is far beyond a simple story that you read and later put in the back of your mind.  The reality of this case is somewhat unnerving, but what really impressed me was the perseverance of the Derksen family.  The way they coped with the situation was incredibly humane and sincere.

The only part of the story I really didn’t connect with was the second half.  McIntyre’s writing style is not to blame for this reaction, because it’s the process of the court case that inevitably gets a little longwinded.  There are necessary details in the second half, however, that explain what happened during the Mark Grant trial.  It also included some interesting facts about forensic science and how it’s changed so drastically over the past few decades.  I appreciate that the story shows that DNA testing is not quite as glamorous as it’s cracked up to be.

The key message I took away from McIntyre’s book and presentation was how important it is to be sensitive about the people you’re writing about.  Never once in this story did I question the morals and beliefs of the Derksen family.  Surely, McIntyre considered the way these people were portrayed in the book, and he did a fantastic job in encompassing their compassionate essence.

Another thing I learned about writing crime stories is that it doesn’t always have to be about exploiting someone else’s wrongdoings.  Of course, Mark Grant was highlighted as an abusive and unbalanced human being, but that wasn’t what the whole story was about.  So much more of the book focused on what Wilma, Cliff, her family and her community were going through.  McIntyre wrote their entire story, including the before, during and after, as opposed to simply catching the final verdict of the court case.

Although this may sound like a strange comparison, I do see some similarities between Journey for Justice and the military documentary Restrepo.  Although Restrepo is much more gorey and violent, there are some exceptionally emotional clips that mirror parts of the Candace Derksen story.  The soldiers who survived the war in Afghanistan are so amazingly candid during their interviews, and it made me think of how candid the Derksen family was to include such incredible detail on their painful journey they went through.

All in all, I really enjoyed Journey for Justice and the message it relayed.  It was a heartbreaking story about the strength of a family during a devastating journey, a community coming together to help find their oldest daughter, and how an entire national supported the search for this young Winnipeg girl.  McIntyre and Wilma were so sincere during their presentation, and you can tell that they had such a great relationship during the process of writing this book.  This experience really shone light on the importance of being able to put yourself in another person’s shoes, and knowing where your personal and professional lines are drawn as a journalist. 


Mike McIntyre is a justice reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press.  You can follow him on Twitter here.
Wilma Derksen is the mother of Candace Derksen, and has a blog about her amazing journey here.