If there’s one thing that makes people more uncomfortable than talking about sex, it’s talking about sex toys. Although we’re well into the 21st century, and decades past the sexual revolution, sex still has not been able to shake its reputation as something dirty, and is still gets most people squeamish when brought up as [...]
So, it is now after Valentine’s Day. Some of you may have had a night to remember, while others had a night they wish to forget. Or, like me, you had a night just like any other night, preceded by a day like any other day. As a perpetual single person, and professional third, fifth [...]
Coffee is perhaps one of the greatest discoveries as valued by Western civilization. This precious resource was discovered hundreds of years ago in Yemen, and although the exact history of who discovered the coffee bean is in question, there is no doubt that this little bean has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry that dominates Western [...]
As we all know, living in the great city of Winnipeg can present its challenges. We all are way too familiar with the extreme weather, poorly laid out infrastructure and the high crime rates. Another challenge that looms in the back of every Winnipegger’s mind — especially those who happen to live on the banks [...]
Celebrating Black History Month is a traditional way of highlighting the accomplishments and cultural values of black people. Although people, mostly from North America, have actively participated in this kind of celebration, the relative lack of a broad, Winnipeg-based, African community has resulted in a less satisfactory celebration. As a consequence, planning and implementation of [...]
At the end of Federico Fellini’s Amarcord (1973), a peacock belonging to a local aristocrat escapes from his master’s house and lands in the town square. It’s snowing at the time and the film’s young men are throwing snowballs, but the sight of the peacock stops them in their snowy tracks. It’s a powerful scene, [...]
The Komodo Dragon Show has been on the air on UMFM for over 10 years— same name, same host: the venerable Paul Von Wichert. Von Wichert is a U of M faculty of music graduate and a leather-bound library of knowledge when it comes to all types of music. Just don’t ask him about top [...]
Sometimes it takes a fresh set of eyes to see something for what it is, and this is especially true of Manitoba. Manitoba is at the same time introverted and outward-looking. Few of us have any idea of what it is to be Manitoban, and we cannot imagine why these transplants from warmer, more populous [...]
We, as a society, do not always take well to the idea of inherited privilege. Perhaps we think it’s undemocratic; it conjures up some collective memory of monarchy that we’d rather not think about. Still, whether it’s nepotism or genetics, there are all too many examples of hereditary success. Perhaps the place we would be [...]
Five Questions is a continuing column in which we pose a different artist the same five crucial questions. One: The Manitoban: What substance or activity do you find to be creativity-producing? Matt Schellenberg of The Liptonians: Bolthouse strawberry banana [smoothie]. Twenty-seven strawberries, two and a half bananas. Two: M: Who is your preferred teen idol? [...]