Home » Posts tagged 'Winnipeg' (Page 3)
Tag Archives: Winnipeg
Bangalore house envy
I experienced a serious case of ‘house envy’ in Bangalore. I had the pleasure of being invited in my one night to two homes plus the guest house and… I gotta admit… the spaciousness compared to our cramped – I mean cosy – flat in Mumbai is extreme. The bathroom alone in the cheerful guest house is bigger than our guest bedroom!
Guest house living room
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not suddenly going to up and move to Bangalore and I love our place, however it did prompt thoughts in choices we make in life and the circumstances we adjust to in living arrangements. (more…)
Music Musings – Coffee
In this week’s feature, film that takes ‘centre stage’ and lead to discovering some catchy music. Think I better add another category to my list of ways to discover new music!
The film guy – Ivan Hughes
Ivan (left) with my uncle (right) – both big whisky fans!
Ivan is a guy who loves mountain climbing, film making and a good whisky. When his wife Angela got a job back in her hometown of Winnipeg a few years ago, they packed up the kids and critters, sold their gorgeous home in Squamish and settled down in the ‘Peg.
It was no surprise that he got involved with the Winnipeg Film Group and joined a private whisky tasting club – The Cabinet. (Hey Ivan – Am I STILL the only woman to enter the hallowed tasting den?)
As for the mountain climbing and adventurous spirit? The Canadian prairies are a loooong way from any serious rock climbing. However don’t let that fool you! Just check out their company Fringe Filmworks – pretty clear there are creative ways to let an adventuresome spirit loose on the world even if the base is Winnipeg!
For Coffee, Ivan did the direction and camera work…
The film guy’s family – Angela Heck ‘The Businesswoman’ & Thea Heck Hughes ‘The Child’ (more…)
Winnipeg Folk Fest Part 2 – With a LOT of help from our friends
I woke up this morning to an email from the Winnipeg Folk Festival asking for my mailing address in India to send a commemorative poster of the 1974 inaugural fest as a thank you for joining the “40 Years of People” workshop. It prompted me to start publishing posts on our recent trip, starting with one I drafted on the flight back from Canada… And missed publishing in the flurry of preparations for the unexpected job in Jakarta. Enjoy!
Goodnight ‘n goodbye all!
It’s officially over and we made it home safe n sound despite our 1st flight being cancelled.
While there are lots to share, want to begin at the end… with a massive heartfelt THANK YOU to many folks who made it possible for us to fly all the way from Mumbai to Winnipeg with zero camping gear. This was luxury camping compared to my old camping stuff (long since wandered way away to better homes).
Here are a few things for which I’m infinitely grateful: (more…)
Teaser Tuesday (6 Aug 2013)
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!
Here’s mine for the week:
“You know the first time I talked about distance in miles, Anja assumed a mile wasn’t very far until I told her a Norweigian mile was equal to ten kilometers. In Canada, a mile is one point six kilometers.”
Pg. 248, Trolls Walk in Words by Randi Skjolden
PS This is a self-published novel by a friend and ex-colleague, based in Winnipeg, Canada. Her book is keeping me company in Jakarta, Indonesia!
“Mauving to Manitoba” from Mumbai Monsoon
We returned to a decidedly wet Mumbai still very much in the midst of monsoon. In an amusing moment, just days after leaving Winnipeg, I was reminded of Manitoba at the most unlikely of places – a Mumbai spa!
View from the backseat… a tenacious Mumbai monsoon (photo: Carissa Hickling)
While I enjoy little indulgences and luxuries, I rarely prioritize such activities. Most days, basic grooming suffices with self-trimmed nails, no polish, skin and hair that gets the most rudimentary daily cleansing and moisturizer. I’m not fussy about getting ready and can go from a slovenly state to shower, make-up, clothes and out the door in 20 mins or less if required!
A dear friend of 20 years, by contrast, delights in pampering and makes a point in her annual visits to Mumbai to fit in spa treatments. We normally have a month or so together each year, so it is a ritual that at least one mani / pedi / hair spa visit is made augmented by calling a masseuse home a couple of times.
“Your flight is cancelled”
It was not a promising beginning…. “I’m so sorry but your flight from Winnipeg to Toronto is cancelled.” Stunned, we explained we had onward flights to Brussels then Bombay so we really HAD to reach Toronto.
En route to the airport, we had just been discussing how in Canada planes now never fly empty. Why? If there aren’t enough passengers to make it somewhat viable, the flight is cancelled.
Ottawa Off & On (photo: Carissa Hickling)
The good thing was the woman helping us immediately grasped our quandary and overcame all sorts of impediments to get us on the next flight to Ottawa connecting immediately to Toronto in time to change terminals and catch our international flight – provided NOTHING was delayed.
Jet lag and a wood chipper? Seriously??
My secret to avoiding conking out in the middle of the afternoon with ‘jet lag’ is keeping busy. We did brilliantly adjusting to the time difference between India and Canada until our first truly relaxing afternoon.
Wood chipper (photo: Carissa Hickling)
While I should have tackled sorting through 60 odd boxes of books, papers and various other items stored at my parents, the lure of a comfortable bed when we planned to camp for the next five days was just too enticing…
About to sink into blissful oblivion, we were startled by the most god awful screeching noise. Something howled and whined its way into the upstairs bedroom at a defeaning volume!
So much for nap time. Up and out I went to discover it was a wood chipper. Yup… a wood chipper.
Gotta admit, a wood chipper as ‘jet lag’ cure was a first for me. What keeps you awake when you are dying to snoooooozzzee??
Related posts:
- Home sweet home – aka how we initially stayed awake in Winnipeg
- TURF – Opening Act for Fest Fun – aka how we stayed awake in Toronto
Home sweet home…
My nephew the monkey – aka veteran tree climber (photo: Carissa Hickling)
We’re back in my hometown of Winnipeg, Canada to visit family, friends and catch the 40th Winnipeg Folk Festival. As it is impossible on these trips to see everyone everywhere, my sister and her partner host a “Meet & Greet”. Typically on a Sunday afternoon, the tradition began almost 10 years ago with a Facebook invite to a few folks and has grown into a lovely multi-generational gathering with an age spread of a few months to 80 plus!
It was a beautifully sunny day with a glorious blue sky typical of the prairies – perfect weather for climbing trees and a BBQ. As always, we had a delightful mix of family and friends from various walks of life. I’ve not been surprised to see a priest joking with an ex con, 80s flashbacks of punk school shenanigans shared with earnest academics, folk fest volunteers, survivalist instructor, aerial dancer, politicos, film, digital media, nanny, scientist, environmentalist, geeks to creative types of all kinds, self-made international business person, homemakers (male and female persuasion)… It’s a kaleidoscope of near and dear – each distinct characters that come together for a rollicking good time. (more…)
TURF – Opening act for fest fun!
We all know the role of the opening act – the band warms up the audience, gets them into the grove and the main act then capitalizes on the energy built to great effect! Thanks to a fabulous friend – music publicist Rebecca Webster (Webster Media Consulting) – my partner and I were VIPs at the Toronto Urban Roots Festival (TURF) on Friday as our ‘warm-up’ for the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
We ARE awake – honest!! (photo: Rebecca Webster)
TURF is a lovely 1st year music festival held in downtown Toronto’s historic Fort York Park – infusing urban energy into the 1793 site best known for the 1813 battle of York. At least the American invaders this time were of the merry musical persuasion and not military!
Here are a few of our TURF highlights:
Winnipeg Folk Fest Part 1 – Making Plans
Winnipeg Folk Fest main stage
Coming from Manitoba, one summer highlight is the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, it is a remarkable community affair. Just imagine Woodstock superbly run for decades! I have terrific childhood memories of dancing to merry tunes, magical musical moments and mischief with friends as a teenager/young adult, and best of all – the joy of contributing as a volunteer – not only during the festival but as a year-round labour of love coordinating the site security (now safety) crew aka “Fun Managers”.
July 2013 is the 40th Anniversary. It is now a five night, four-day affair, exceptionally organized, harnessing the energies of thousands of dedicated volunteers. While the programming has evolved over the years under various artistic directors – the core of folk, local and global music remains. There is always something to discover…
Everyday Asia 