What this Bitch Saw at the AGO

Precisely that:

Highlights with a mixture of accessible image.

Angelika Hoerle "Man with Eye Removed"

in Angelika Hoerle: the Comet of Cologne Dada

Kent Monkman "Si Je T'aime prends garde a toi"

in Remix: New Modernities in a Post-Indian World

William Kurelek: new love. Title unknown.

Not seen at the AGO. But I did see one that was similiar to this since it was indeed depicting a prairie night. When I turned around I (seriously) could hear the night and the snow crunching beneath my feet. I had this experience:

in the Thomson Collection

Man Ray - Model in a Dominguez Wheelbarrow

in Surreal Things (the Wheelbarrow was also on exhibit).

Meret Oppenheim - Table with Bird's legs

in Surreal Things – Anthropomorphic Wardrobe was also on exhibit and quite beautiful.

Henry Moore - Atom Piece

in Humanity Refigured

I saw a lot more.

Experimenting with the Mexican(s)

As of late I have taken a dive into the Mexican cuisine all thanks to this book. I’ve always loved cooking but this cookbook has given me some serious inspirations. A lot of the ingredients are a little hard to find – like the Oaxaca cheese (alright most of the cheese). So I ended up substituting Oaxaca for Monterey Jack cheese and using plain cheddar (Miss Tomas would not approve). But what can you do when you are stuck in the dessert? I also added refried beans to the Enchiladas as well as shredded chicken found in your local supermarket’s rotissiere.

This is what an authentic Hispanic picnic looks like…loads of meat (yes, that is BBQ Steak and Italian Sausage…I don’t think the BBQ Pork is shown):

An upclose shot of the delicious Enchiladas.

And the final experiment albondigas!

So there is my proof of my cooking. And my plating skills need a little help.

The cookbook can be found at your local public library. For those living in Lethbridge, Alberta that means the Lethbridge Public Library.

WOODY ALLEN: retrospective with INTERIORS and MANHATTAN

INTERIORS (1978)

Director and Writer – Woody Allen

Starring – Diane Keaton as Renata

Geraldine Page as Eve

E.G. Marshall as Arthur

MANHATTAN (1979)

Director and Writer – Woody Allen

Starring – Woody Allen as Isaac Davis

Diane Keaton as Mary Wilkie

Meryl Streep as Jill Davis

Woody Allen is tied with Billy Wilder (Sunset Blvd.) for most nominated screenwriter and has been nominated for Best Director six times for an Academy Award. But that is neither here nor there. Woody Allen, an American filmmaker who is also a writer, actor, comedian, playwright and apparently, according to Wikipedia, a musician is an accomplished filmmaker who is worth exploring. Allen has directed forty-five films, been evolved in sixty-five writing projects and acted in forty roles. This man is truly prolific. He is known for his start in directing/acting/writing screwball sex comedies like BANANAS which he then progressed to do more serious comedies like ANNIE HALL. But this is only one facet of Woody Allen’s work. Tonight the ULFC will be looking at two of his movies MANHATTAN and INTERIORS. MANHATTAN – a romantic comedy that explores an unconventional relationship between an older man and a younger woman. A topic that seems to hit closer to real life than most of us would like (do we really need to exploit Allen’s wife?) but none the less is something that happens and should be looked at. While INTERIORS is his Ingmar Bergman inspired film which has been said to be devoid of emotion; yet at the same time completely filled with it even if it is strained. Both are very different films but are similiar in their exploration of human relationships and their intricacies.

Tonight in Galileo’s at 6 pm.

Grandma Sitting

My mother is doing her practicum at the moment. For six weeks it will be my job to take care of my grandmother during the morning. My grandmother is 87 years old and has Alzheimer’s. She also doesn’t speak English, except for words like “Hot Dog” or “Thank You”, stuff like that. She is from a completely different world, a third world. Canadian life is very strange to her but it is all that she has at the moment and it is what she will die with. She is always commenting on how far away she is from everything that she has ever known.

This is her life.

Solyaris, The Rules of the Game and Miss Julie

It is reading week for the University of Lethbridge Students and during this reading week I managed to contract a deadly flu. It not only has left me with a constant need to blow my nose and cough but it has also left me with a constant state of pain in the bones and the head. Awful. But in order not to drive myself insane I’ve managed to catch up on some movie watching.

This week I’ve managed to fully watch three Foreign, I’m sure critically acclaimed, films such as: “Solyaris”, “the Rules of the Game” and “Miss Julie”. I wish I could say I finished watching “Ikiru” but it was so depressing that I had to stop it.

Solyaris:
This tells you nothing of the movie. It just introduces the viewer to Solaristics, some weird new science involving outer space and the ocean.

Chris, the main character must go up to investigate how Solyaris is holding up. There has been a death on the ship. Once he gets there, WEIRD THINGS HAPPEN; like his dead wife appears to him and she isn’t an illusion from head trauma, she’s really there. I’m not going to spoil anything for you -so I’m actually not going to review it. Who cares what I think about the movie? Just if you like science fiction, creepy scenes, the Russian language or space in general you should watch this film.

The Rules of the Game:
Ever watch Gosford Park? You know that really boring Altman movie about the ruling class in England. Gosford park documents a hunt extravaganza that seems to be traditional to the bourgeoisie of Europe. The Rules of the Game is something like Gosford park except not boring. It is a comedy that follows the plot of Gosford park, essentially, except the characters are all absurd and wonderful. Oh, did I mention French? Also, the Rules of the Game came first before the Altman crap. So Atlman follows the plot of the Rules of the Game. I love Robert de la Chesnaye played by Marcel Dalio. Jean Renoir – the director – also stars in this film as Octave. I love it when directors casts themselves in their own films.

Miss Julie:
Yawn. I’m sorry but the story of a woman who gets seduced by her butler is really not as riveting as it used to be. I can acknowledge its importance within the development of the woman’s free image (what lo! What does that mean?). Alright, maybe we aren’t free to be the vixens we crave to be…umm. Well, it made a move towards seeing women as other than child bearing machines. Miss Julie, the character just annoyed the crap out of me. Spoiled woman who didn’t play by the rules and got it in the end. Actually, I take that last statement about how this movie aided in some way to liberate the image of a woman. It doesn’t. The protagonist suffers from her sins and we are left feeling sorry for her father. Anyways. I’m not really going to spoil more of the film just in case you still want to watch it and form your own ideas on it. No trailer available on youtube, sadly!

All of these movies can be found at the Lethbridge Public Library. Which means that if you are not from Lethbridge they could be found at your local public library. If you are in Alberta you can get a TAL card and see if you can rent audiovisuals from your local University or Post-education institution Library, they should have all of these films as well.

The Power of the Savage

There were a lot of things I agreed with what Dan Savage said on Monday night, February 09, 2009 in the University of Lethbridge in PE 250 – to be exact! But there were a lot of things that I found surprising and inspiring. First of all. All through out the session I kept on thinking “here is a free man”. And this what the free man thinks:

- vertebea mammals are not monogomous
- having demeaning sex is a good thing in a healthy relationship.
- men and female sexualities are different
- men are kinky fucks
- we live in a heterosexual world
- homosexuality is a mixture of the feminity and masculinity

Alright, so let us look at each point thouroughly. Monogomy was deemed as being unnatural which to many was shocking. Well, it was for me. But then again it made sense…how many monogomous happy couples are there that I know of (not including my parents because they are aliens), like two, perhaps three, alright maybe four – but that’s it! Savage, gave a tip as to what to expect within a relationship – expect to get cheated on – as a form of survival within a relationship. Interesting, no? While I would love to live in a perfect world filled with fidelity and trust it makes sense to me. Sex, in my point of view has been (and will most likely continue) to be a serious matter. I dunno…if we lightened up a bit wouldn’t it make things much easier? People are always going to form sexual attractions with other people when in a relationship (serious or not). And sometimes shit hits the roof, mistakes happen, but if you really love that person and see them for being human, then anything is possible. I’m not saying that promiscuity is the way and people should sleep with EVERYBODY – because that is how STIs and HIV is spread, but that we should see our partners as imperfect beings, that imperfect being that we love…OH SO MUCH!

Demeaning sex as an outlet for the control your partner has over you is healthy. I agree.

Men and Female sexualities are different – shocking because I’ve always thought my sexuality was like a man’s…somewhat perverted? Ha. Maybe I shouldn’t broadcast this over the internet…but I found it a little shocking considering that most of my friends seem to have the same views I have on sex, and they are both male and female. Some men I know are a lot more calmer, less agressive and more sensual than some of my gal pals. In a way I feel that this is a more curve ball statistic then anything, am i right?

Men are kinky fucks —- BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE CHICKS WHO SELL THEIR DIRTY PANTIES TO WOMEN? Alright, I made that up…I’ve only heard of men buying dirty underwear. Neat-O. I think women can be kinky fucks as well.

Heterosexuality is the majority. Okay, maybe I didn’t find that so surprising, I do live in Southern Alberta where the mormons reign. But that homosexuality is a mixture of the femine and masculine is indeed something new to my ears. That lesbians have the same inner ear structure as males and that gay men have the same index finger length as women is pretty interesting. Savage, tied this to why gay men tend to have high pitched voices. This last statement was loosely tied to those two facts.

Anyways. It was a treat having Dan Savage visit the U of L. I think the money was totally worth the two hundred students that showed up. He gave Southern Albertans the views of a gay American man who bases his life on sex. It was beautiful. I wish I could’ve met him but I had to run to get things started for Film Club, which was a fiasco.

This Week the Film Club is screening “Videograms of a Revolution” on Sunday in PE 275 at 6:00 pm and “Punishment Park” on Monday in Galileo’s at 7:00 pm for all those who aren’t heading home for reading week.

This week has been nuts. The weekend should be fun.

-Karla

ULFC – University of Lethbridge Film Club

Today was a day that will go down in my personal history. Today was the day that the Film Club was created; thanks to 16 lovely individuals who came out and supported us. They voted the existing executive in; which made me President! Oh golly! So much responsibility, it is crazy. I feel like opening a bottle of champagne; but will not because it is not the weekend. And I have a paper to write or to think about!

The U of L Film Club screened “Slacker” and it was perfect. Considering it made a call for people to use their eyes as a means of political action, among other things. It was indeed a random filled movie with odd characters running around politicizing and philosophizing (is that a word?) everything. Conspiracy theories are all over this film. If you love that kind of thing, watch this film!

We also came up with a list of screenings that will happen this semester! The list resulted in these six lovely films:
“Gummo”

“The Ruling Class”

“Chumscrubber”

“Punishment Park”

“The Harder They Come”

“Brain Damage”

Good times are to come! I will also post the dates that each film will be screened at a later time.

Cheers!

Karla 11:09 pm.

Coalbanks Inn a Venue Space?

Nothing Specific

Warning: This is nothing serious. Just thoughts that are occurring to the average person. Carry on. This is not about politics, music, le cinema. Nah, just what has been going on. Who has been walking, talking, singing, dancing in my head. Nothing Specific, really. So move on if you are looking for something to put your thumb onto. It isn’t here.

Leslie Dawn has been doing a lot of talking in my head lately. Seriously, he has. I’ve quoted him at least twice. Once in something that he wrote in his most recent book “National visions, national blindness : Canadian art and identities in the 1920s”. The quote may be irrelevant. The other quotes is from a time in class. Both quotes were simplistic. Okay, maybe the quote is important. I will just paraphrase. Paraphrasing is just as good, as hearing the quote, right? The first one was about looking back at our histories as a sign of maturity. It wasn’t merely about looking back but acknowledging our past us a part of our present. Just being mature about your shit and acknowledging that it exists. The second one compared a bureaucracy to a cancerous cell. Brilliant. The first one is obviously the one that has the most impact on my life for personal reasons. The second one, well it ties into the first, yes, but it is mostly just funny; since it is soooo god damn true. The cancerous cell is all about acquiring space and so is bureaucracy. But that was Leslie Dawn last semester. This semester I’m mostly frustrated with what he is talking about. Modernist Art. Oh. my. fucking. god.

The first class we learned about Clement Greenberg, CLEM. Greenberg, was the nut responsible for how Modernist art is looked upon (perhaps to an extent I dunno, he could be God?). He apparently started out beautifully but I guess he ended up creating a motherfucking beast. We’ve covered the beginning of his time. When he started to infect the already diseased minds of the arty. The thought of what a painting really is; is heavily discussed. What a sculpture really is; is discussed. The meshing of painting and sculpture is discussed. The product of this mesh that becomes the object; is what we were discussing in class today. And the differences that lie in between all three points! Is what we’ve been looking at. The progress of the object. Now while all of this can be, ahem, fascinating. It is really boring (REALLY BORING) to look at. Unless….you start to think about a couple points.

First!

This kind of discussion is all his fault…you have to remember that. Greenberg is the one to start this kind of discussion between what an object truly is. The object is form and (to some) colour. This has just been the first three classes and we haven’t really started to cover the 1970s. The 70s, when things start to turn and heat up (hopefully). I’m excited. I just got excited, actually. Because I just realized where this class is going. I know nothing about art. Alright, so if this class keeps going the way I think it is going… I may continue to write about it. Because it may be fascinating in the end. And I may end up enjoying it.

No Second.

Who has been singing and dancing in my head? My ex-boyfriend of course.

Neil Young. I’ve managed to watch “Rust Never Sleeps” three times this week. And each time it has been AH-MAZE-ZING! At first, I thought there were some Star Wars characters in it but, oh, was I mistaken. I was given false information and unfortunately my gullibility screwed me over. It tends to do that to me in life, I’m learning. Anyways, those things that help Neil Young’s concert move along/act in it are called, ah crap, I forget. It is too late to actually reach over and turn on the DVD. So they aren’t Star Wars characters they are apparently made up. They are actually slightly annoying. That is besides the point. (Or are they Star Wars characters? I’m not enough of a Star Wars nut to actually know or care.)

The first part of the DVD is Neil Young, alone. It is beautiful. He ends with “Hey, Hey, My, My (Into the Black)” each time. Each time perfect. Crazy Horse is featured in the second half. You get to enjoy the power dynamics between all four characters. It is a lot of fun: a good time some would say. If you know the implications of Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s relationship. You would know that it is hinted to be one of love. A love for one another (which included, for the most part, the self). Each of them important; but all in love. Of course I’m in love with Talbot. Especially when he gets REALLY into the music and makes his head dance like a snake. AWH-MAZE-ZING! The ending of the film is bad acting but I guess that is the point of the film. It is all an act.

I love this movie and it will hopefully be screened at the University of Lethbridge soon. And if I have anything to do with it…it will be screened twice! Bwahaha haahah haaa?

Nighty Night – 5:09AM.

Not Until My Hands Bleed.

Are the words I was thinking when ferociously clapping as Neil Young finished his concert with “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” in Calgary Sunday night. As the concert came to a close the whole stadium had shrunk into a single charge of energy that had been induced by our very own Canadian Neil Young. Not only has this concert become one of the ultimate experience I will experience next to child birth, it was that miraculous, but it blew mine and my lovely companion’s expectations, as I am sure child birth will for the both of us. Bob Dylan cannot even compare to how amazing Neil Young was.

The show kicked off with a band that had no name, at least they didn’t bother to introduce themselves. All the information that was provided was that they hailed from Los Angeles. Their set was shortly lived but lovely enough to wet your palate for what was to come. Next, a nice surprise, Death Cab for Cutie entertained the filling stadium for about 45 minutes with cute love songs like “I will follow you into the Dark” which makes a nice little mention of Calgary. Their set not only included cute love songs but we had a running commentary of each song’s dynamics provided by the gentlemen seating right behind us. But nothing, not even the commentary could compare to what we were about to experience.

Neil Young. He managed to fill the entire stadium with a wall of sound (which from where we were sitting did not have the detrimental affect of making us shout to each other at the end of the show), provided us with “Hey Hey, My My”, “Cinnamon Girl”, “Oh, Lonesome Me”, “Everybody knows this is nowhere”, “Needle and the Damage Done”, “Old Man”, “Helpless”, “Mother Earth” on the organ while playing the harmonica, finished with “Rockin’ in the Free World” and encored with “A day in a life” by the Beatles. Note: All these songs must be experienced some how, go out and find them! By the end of the show everbody was standing, clapping along and moving to the beat. To experience this kind of effect on thousands of people is something special. To know that at this very moment everybody is happy to be where they are is almost like attaining perfection.

To add to the pure rock’n'roll that was oozing out of the stage he manage to add some visual aspects to the show. I am not talking about a wicked light show with Tusken Raiders helping out; but I am talking about the painting that was happening in the background of his show. It seemed as though a woman and a man where overlapping colours upon colours, like our pre-historic friends did 25 000 years ago, while Neil Young was making his guitar cry out oh so sweetly. The painting started out red, then turned green and went through the changing shades to turn out a mauvish colour. Although this little aspect may not be as mind blowing as Tusken Raiders it was still awesome to see all the creativity that was going on all at once. I wish I could describe it better but unfortunately I was dancing to hard to take in all the details. Maybe it had something to do with how he was dressed. He was wearing a black blazer with splattered paint all over it, work man jeans and brown boots. There was also a random prop next to the drummer: a red rotary phone, of which I wonder why it was placed there. Maybe taking in these three aspects you can come out with the conclusion that here is a man who is a symbol for the common man taking at look at our history (the rotary phone is basically history) and who is producing something more than art which is in the background.

Overall the show was a great success, a show to be remembered and cherished among those that where privileged to experience it. I am sorry you missed it. Hopefully these kind of experiences will be available to us in the future. But who knows according to our government the common man does not enjoy what art leads too but I beg to differ.