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Tag Archives: Winnipeg
Wedding socials to crowdfunding…
A regular feature in Manitoba was “The Wedding Social“… basically a great big party to raise money to help offset the costs of an even bigger party ie “The Wedding”.
You find a cheap hall to hold it in with a crappy music system, your friend’s band would play, you’d charge a reasonable amount for drinks to make a little but not gouge the wallet, food would be rye bread, kubasa and sliced meats, cheese, slap on some mustard and mayo and voila! Oh and there would be pickles – lots of pickles! Plus a generous side helping of chips and pretzels.
Add to this donations of weird and sometimes wonderful assorted items for raffle / draw / bidding wars! Generally it would be a good time full of laughter and cheer while happening to raise some money too. Real people, real times together in a real community.
Then along came crowdfunding… with its global reach, click of a button payments and the pleas to support, share, begging help! (more…)
The Emma G Days… a tribute to taking a chance!
Once upon a time there was a young lass, who had a crazy notion to run a late night vegetarian café! So she gathered her friends and friends of friends, they pooled their meagre resources, wrangled a Student Business Loan… And voilà! “Emma G’s Deluxe Eatery” was born 25 years ago!
It was a moment in time. Most of us were around 19 years old, we were fearless of failure, didn’t actually care about making money, just wanted a home for aspiring artists, musicians, writers, students and sundry misfits. (more…)
Mmmmm….. mushroom soup!
It’s been awhile since I shared a recipe. So when I picked up a lovely bunch of mushrooms, it was clearly time to make soup!
Feel free to mix it up, however the basic recipe includes: (more…)
Costume Crisis!
Word of warning – before saying ‘yes,’ find out what’s involved!
While my Mumbai theatrical ‘debut‘ was a success… I had two challenges:
- Costume Crisis – 1890s western women’s costumes are not easily available and – ahem – fuller figured females limited in what they can borrow!
- Short hair – Not exactly ‘fashionable’ in the 1890s…
Costume Crisis – Help!
So what? With our theatre connections – surely someone has something that will work! (more…)
Mumbai Theatrical Debut!
Part of my recent blogging ‘disappearing act’ is because I made my Mumbai acting ‘debut’!
Most would know that stage and film is my partner’s profession.
Onno Vivekananda
Few would know that there was a time when I flirted with this too. Waaaay back 30 years ago, along with regular school, I also attended Prairie Theatre Exchange‘s theatre school. Acted in a couple plays, did a TV commercial, taught drama education as a summer job and even landed a Drama Award.
No I wasn’t a drama queen – just enjoyed stage work. You could say I came by it naturally as I grew up hanging out backstage as my mother donned costumes and make-up to go under the bright lights to sing her operatic heart out at the concert hall.
However I left that all behind decades ago until a friend persuaded me to help out a local Bengali community theatre group with a play on Swami Vivekananda. An amateur production with a director who has spent 20+ years writing & putting on plays raising charitable funds for both a cancer patients and girls education – worthy causes indeed! (more…)
“Drive here? Are you nuts!” Cars and re-learning to drive in India
I’m often asked about driving in India… and my response for the longest time was “Drive in India? Are you nuts!?”
My ‘new’ car in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1997
Like a typical Canadian teenager, I got my driver’s license in high school. However less typically, it was a decade later before I owned a car – a 2nd hand Toyota Corolla which survived more than one blizzard in Winnipeg. I did a great job accumulating Manitoba Driver’s License merit points not because I was a particularly good driver but simply that I drove so rarely it was nearly impossible to be caught speeding or get into an accident! So when I moved back to Delhi in 2003, bought a cheap 2nd hand Maruti 800, I also splurged on a wonderful bonus – HIRED A DRIVER.
A Canadian friend visited us in India and remarked that driving around the world is a bit like a video game – Canada is the super easy, reasonably polite entry-level and India is one of the most challenging. Here you dodge everything from cyclists to beggars, camels to cows (less so now), and during particularly hot summers, high tempers combined with arrogant driving can lead to deadly disasters. (more…)
Winter is coming… so make soup!
Winter is coming to my ‘home town’ of Winnipeg… while here in my ‘adopted home’ Mumbai, it is perpetual summer. And yet I find myself in a strangely sentimental mood thinking about friends and family in colder climes. So, what to do? Make a ‘winter’ inspired soup, of course!
Winter is coming! (The Weather Network)
The trick with this ‘Winter soup’ is to predominantly use root vegetables. As with the ‘Sick Chick’ and Monsoon Soup, a pressure cooker makes all the difference.
Here are the ingredients: (more…)
Music Musings – KAN
Growing up in Canada, one is no stranger to celtic music. My sister’s partner is a drummer and for years was in a celtic band best known for rousing and raucous renditions of pub favourites.
KAN (Photo: Louis deCarlo)
Years ago, I saw the celtic folk group Flook perform at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, so when I learned that flautist Brian Finnegan‘s latest group KAN would be performing in Bombay at Bandra Bandstand’s amphitheatre, wasn’t going to miss it!
It was KAN’s 1st performance in India to kick off their tour organized through Celtic Connections and British Council. A warm, humid Bombay greeted these lads from Scotland, Ireland and Northern England, dripping with sweat, they were undaunted by the heat and technical issues, entertaining with jigs, reels and tall tales. (more…)
Daily Prompt: Home Sweet Home 2
Daily Prompt: When you’re away from home, what person, thing, or place do you miss the most?
I travel – at least once a month – typically for a couple of weeks. So ‘being away from home’ is a fact of life.
My concept of ‘home’ has two dimensions:
- Home of my birth – Winnipeg, Canada
- Adopted home – Mumbai, India
Yet my answer for both is simple – family and friends. And warning – this post is unabashedly sentimental! (more…)
Music Musings – Chic Gamine
This week’s feature is from my hometown of Winnipeg (and Montreal).
Years ago in Manitoba there was a remarkable all female acapella group Madrigaia. So when, on a visit to Winnipeg, I heard there was a new incarnation, pulled my parents, brother-in-law and friend out to see Chic Gamine at the West End Cultural Centre. I was utterly captivated, bought their self-titled CD and proceeded to play it (more than once!) for friends in India.
Chic Gamine (Photo: Rebecca Sandulak)
They are quixotic, winsome, wryly witty, multilingual (English, French, Portuguese, German…)… when I listen to their music, can’t help but break out into a giant smile! (more…)
Everyday Asia 