Red River Ex 2019 Crash Test Dummies Saturday Night

Scenes from Saturday at Red River Ex and Crash Test Dummies performing on the Main Stage.

Main Stage a few hours before show.

Canadian flag over Midway.

Intimate Crash Test Dummies

Performance on windy Saturday night.

Sun just setting on Main Stage.

That Crash Test Dummies voice recognizable anywhere.

Hmm, Pizza or Footlong?

Look how hard that wind is blowing. Almost everyone has a jacket just to make sure.

I see some cheese.

Everywhere I look it is mini-donuts.

Oh my. Fries.

Is that lemonade I see there?

And Skinners Hotdogs with a line-up.

Off to the Midway.

Roller coaster fun.

Merry go round is my speed.

Suns going now and I might not make fireworks.

Haunted Mansion is safe, right?

Yeah baby, let's swing!

Sun slowly sinking. It stays bright so late this time of year!

Often forgotten at the Ex is the amazing arts!

What the devil?

Amazing work.

Looked west from Ex. Yawn, I can't make it to the fireworks. Better pics next year when I remember to bring a better camera.

Fanquest Winnipeg 2019

This is the third year for Fanquest in Winnipeg and second at Red River College's downtown campus. It runs Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 6. With the hiatus of Comic Con this year, a number of people will be looking for events where they can celebrate their interest in genre media and music. Fanquest fits in nicely with the remaining genre conventions of Keycon and Ai-Kon.

Costumes, gaming, panel discussions and special guests abound for the event which will inside Red River College's Exchange campus. It will be busy in the area with nearby Jazz Fest taking place so be sure to that into account when heading downtown.

Cosplay and costumes are one of the main reasons to come to Fanquest and it is quite the mix of sci-fi and fantasy inside. Attendance has grown and the convention looks to see a thousand people pass through the door versus last year's 750.

Weather forecast for Saturday looks a little wet so some Jazz Fest and Red River Ex attendees could have a place to go till the weather clears!

Popeye's Louisiana Chicken Coming to Portage Avenue West

Until recently, Hakim Optical called 3420 Portage Avenue home in the St. James area. Long before that it was a Wendy's. In fact, it still looks like a Wendy's in terms of the bricks and design and still has the drive-thru configuration.

Hakim went big when it entered the Winnipeg market and put locations in a variety of storefronts that seemed unlikely at first. In some cases they ended up being closed as the company opened better locations. In the case of Portage Avenue West, Hakim probably had interested buyers of their property, especially restaurants wanting drive-thrus.

Less than a year ago Popeye's Louisiana Chicken opened up in Seasons of Tuxedo courtesy of the group that owns Boston Pizza's in Manitoba. The crowds continue to be enormous there. At the time there was a promise that more franchises were coming.

It is very likely that this location will be quite successful for the restaurant operator as Portage Avenue remains one of the biggest commercial streets in the city. Look to see the restaurant open up in the summer sometime.

2019 Red River Ex June 14 to June 23

The Red River Ex has been a tradition since 1952 for Manitoba and since 1997 has called the spot by Assiniboia Downs their home. The 90 acres of Red River Exhibition Park features a midway, concert stages and an exhibition hall and agricultural grounds. The non-profit has music groups from classic rock to country to pop to symphony.

Crash Test Dummies, Doc Walker, Bif Naked and Trooper are some of the headliners this year. The Dummies performed way back in 1992 and the old arena/stadium site and brought the house down. The Royal Canadian Air Force Band will opening on the first Friday night.

Other stages will be geared to kids and families and will feature some music, magic and other entertainment. There will be opportunities for those who attend to be part of the talent or just be able to dance and enjoy.

The midway is what lots of kids gravitate too. If it spins, drops or speeds, it is attractive to kids and families. I hit too many in a recent year and combined with a hot sunny day I was left a little spun out. Fair warning for parents with barfy kids or feel barfy themselves. I'm usually fairly hardy but park overload is a thing.

Sometimes it is good to just find the animals and stop spinning. Find the ag grounds and enjoy the events and farm animals encounters. Or go to exhibition hall and browse vendors and crafts. Dog agility shows and exotic creature shows are also featured.

And don't forget about food. Red River Ex has everything from mini-donuts to funnel cakes to hotdogs to Asian dishes. A time interval might be required to stop the world from spinning first.

Leopold's Coming to Academy Road

Leopold's Tavern opened last year next to the Park Theatre on Osborne. The July 2018 opening brought the total number of restaurant/bars to nine across the prairie provinces. The vibe the bar wants is for customers to feel the place is theirs and subsequently all sorts of stuff is tacked to the walls. They advertise themselves as a dive bar but it is probably more of a friendly neighbourhood clubhouse feel.

The Regina-based company has steered away from from some more obvious choices. The Osborne location was not in the Village but being beside the Park, there was a certain synergy the two businesses could create. And they have. Both places draw people.

Academy Road is tricky place. Homeowners routinely complain about businesses on the street. It is all about parking mostly or fear of noise. There are cars in an unbroken chain from Wellington Crescent all the way to Taylor. On EVERY street. Why? It isn't generally about the businesses. It is that River Heights residents have multiple cars and most homes have one car garages. Moreover the neighbourhood has people passing through it every day as quickly as they can to go elsewhere.

Some homeowners have gone so far as to seek zoning to create a permanent residential designation to avoid any commercial development. Bowling alley landlords complain about future restaurants making noise. A furniture retailer complains about a medical clinic going up. And so it goes. The real issue is now many cars each house has in Winnipeg including River Heights.

The location that Leopold's will open has recently gotten attention and has some real curb appeal as a building. It is possible to renovations and rent increases led to Inferno's Bistro closing there. They had occupied the building for six years. Prior to that it had been J Fox's Restaurant and Local. It is a phenomenon known as luxury blight. High rent chasing away one business after another. It could explain why some businesses have moved over the years to other places or simply shut down.

Leopold's could be a walkable favourite in the neighbourhood. With a relaxed "dive bar" atmosphere, it could make the area have a more livable feel. The best commercial streets will have something for locals in addition to posh shops and restaurants. It used to be that people would walk to their pharmacies or dentist office on Academy Road but that happens less now. We need more of that.

Leopold's plans more locations so that other neighbourhoods could have their places to hang out. It will be interesting to see what sort of impact it will have in River Heights or whether residents and landlords will chase away all the business and create a re-newed restaurant and shop desert with no street life.

The End of Space Channel

Space, the Imagination Station came into existence in 1997 primarily to block the entry of the American Sci-Fi Channel which started in 1992. The CHUM network was the original owner and where it might not have had a lot of original Canadian dramatic material produced in the beginning, it did produce innovative entertainment and news covering sci-fi and science in general.

The first movie aired was Forbidden Planet followed a commentary from Canadian author Robert Sawyer. Mars Attacks! came next. And so it was that a mix of old and new sci-fi became the staple of programming with zippy documentary style snippets in between. Canadian programming produced on other networks such as Relic Hunter would find a home on Space as did Stargate SG-1. In the past such programming might find it hard to land a spot as second run or syndicated programming. Not every program such as Star Trek was as lucky to be continually running in syndication. On Space, not only Star Trek but every American as well as Canadian program that had even an inkling of sci-fi in it would land on the network.

In some ways Space was able to land programming that even Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. couldn't land as studios would direct their second run stuff to affiliated cable networks. In Canada, Space was almost always the central repository of sci-fi programming whatever country, network or studio originally aired it. CTVglobemedia acquired CHUM in 2007 and the formula continued of broadcasting sc-fi from around the world and from Canada. in 2011, Space went high definition. That same year Bell took 100% control of Space.

In 2013, Bell began its first re-branding of Space by changing the logo and the slogan to "It's all around you." This coincided with the Canadian co-production of Orphan Black and the network was concerned that the audience associated Space with Star Trek and the like and not on fantasy or speculative fiction.

This was untrue of course. The original slogan of the network was "The imagination station." It was an attempt to broaden Bell's programming restrictions which they chafed at constantly. They always wanted less Canadian in CRTC hearings and as it turned out, less sci-fi programming. Somehow the least sci-fi program Castle was broadcast non-stop on the station.

In the U.S., the Sci-Fi Channel was re-branded SyFy in the same year of 2013 to give Universal a trademark name. This spread all over the world or alternatively Universal channel which was owned by NBCUniversal. To the annoyance of sci-fi fans as early as 2006 the U.S. network was airing Law and Order spin-offs and well as other non-sci-fi entertainment.

Space remains Canadian owned and this will fall will be re-branded once more at CTV Sci-Fi. It will have sister stations CTV Drama, CTV Life and CTV Comedy. The CRTC remains steadfast on Canadian content and the success of some Canadian produced shows has encouraged networks not only to broadcast material but take ownership stakes in it.

Canada is a top producer of TV and film programming but it remains to be seen if the new CTV branding strategy is to help production or to package the entire company for an international sale under a new government.

Three New Goodlife Fitness Locations for Winnipeg 2019/2020

Safe to say that Winnipeg is experiencing a building boom when it comes to fitness center across the city. The reasons for this vary but in part it can be explained as community centers not having nearly enough space or resources for a mature market of people wanting exercise centers. After graduating from schools and universities the choices for the adult fitness market are more often than not private fitness places. Moreover, how people keep fit can change as we age out of school and community sports like hockey, football and basketball. It is difficult to keep active with team sports due to work, family commitments or wear and tear.

Fitness is a solo thing save for joining group exercises such as yoga, cycling or dance/weight classes. We can still do our regular stuff such as swimming and biking, gardening and golfing but Canada is a winter country and daylight hours wane away so have created an infrastructure of indoor recreation facilities nation-wide.

Until recently you would really only be able to point to the Y as being the one true national fitness center. However, the Y kind of gives away its mission statement. It skews young and always will. It is a family friendly place and make no apologies for it. And over the years many of their facilities and services have upgraded and they do their job very well.

Goodlife, on the other hand, is a genuine Canadian coast to coast fitness center with a large presence in Winnipeg. That presence is about to get bigger. Goodlife is going to spend $30 million on two new clubs, relocation of one club and renovations on the rest. And by big, that means big. As reported already here on this blog, a 60,000 square foot club is going up on Bishop Grandin between Pembina Highway and Waverley along the north side. It will be double the size of Grant Park and Kenaston locations.

The Bishop Grandin location above will have a women's only section, a pool, a hot yoga studio and meditation space. The fitness center is scheduled to open in December. It would appear to be that it is in a race with the Altea fitness center which looks to be complete about the same time in the Bridgwater area on far south Kenaston. The Altea will be even larger and feature its own exclusive amenities. The continuing residential development and density building along Kenaston and now Bishop Grandin might generate the population to sustain the large facilities. In the case of Bridgwater, this growing area seems to have an anemic public recreation area so Altea might be only place for several years to come. As far as Bishop Grandin, the new bus rapid transit and high rises are right along the route the new Goodlife will stand on.

The Kenaston Goodlife is likely to benefit from a huge residential component in Kapyong and along Sterling Lyon while the Grant Park location is surrounded by apartments and is also adjacent to bus rapid transit. A lot of thought has gone into these multi-million dollar developments. Winnipeg is growing and the competition to serve the city means we are seeing some top notch building taking place.

Goodlife has indicated clubs in existence will be getting renovations. In this heavy competition, fitness centers will have to look to upgrade faster lest people look elsewhere. As far as other fitness centers like Shapes, Planet Fitness, Snap or Anytime Fitness, they will have to compete on price, location and amenities. Big won't always win the race. For those not in a car, the presence of a gym in a place such as the Osborne Village will be the choice they often make.

It is obvious Winnipeg has seen a dramatic increase in fitness centers across every geographic area but one area has been sadly lacking: St. Vital. The rumours have been true all along and Goodlife will be building in St. Vital Mall likely in the old Sears location. The location will be 27,000 square feet and be ready in spring on 2020.

The third new club will be at 330 Main Street in what people still call the Trizec building. It will be part of the residential/commercial component being building above Winnipeg Square and will be ready in summer of 2020. Once it is complete, the old Goodlife in what was the TD/Canwest building will be shut down. The new club will be about 24,000 square feet.

Once complete the new clubs will add about 200 jobs to the market.

The growth of Winnipeg by the tens of thousands in recent years and a desire to get healthy will probably fuel this competition for the next few years. It is interesting to note that malls such as Winnipeg Square, Garden City, Grant Park and now St. Vital Mall are adding fitness centers to drive traffic. It is difficult to imagine it happening 10 years ago in the city.

2019 Home Opener for Goldeyes Tonight

The usual long road trip to start the season for the Goldeyes has ended and they return to Winnipeg tonight, May 24, 7:00 PM to start their home opener weekend of three games against the Kansas City T-Bones. The 5-2 Goldeyes have been seeing some hot pitching and their bats are just getting warmed up when they face T-Bones who are 2-1 to start.

Might be some rain tonight so prepare accordingly but the weather improves as the weekend continues.

As with every year the Goldeyes return with fan favourites such as Reggie Abercrombie and perform in one of the more beautiful independent league ball fields in North America. Not to mention some of the tastiest food and off field ambiance. Who hasn't adored a train circling the grandstand?

The Goldeyes have consistent delivered the goods even though they were three-peat champions last year. But they are generally always play-off strong and regular season produces some of the best family entertainment on offer.

Look forward to a new season!

Movie Review: Avengers Endgame

In Hollywood history there is nothing really to compare to Marvel's 22 movies over a ten year period leading up to a crescendo finale with the stars of all the previous movies in it. The budgets generally were in the hundreds of millions and the box office would eventually grow to $21 billion. Actors, directors, writers and the best crews in the business collaborated on something called the Marvel Cinematic Universe on a story that originally was told in a comic book.

It could have all gone so wrong.

Marvel knew the only sure way for the business plan to work was to go back to their expansive cast of characters and work with material they exclusively held the rights to. This was no easy task as the company has already licensed Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four and others to Columbia, New Line and 20th Century Fox, It was unlikely any of those studios would want their own movie franchises hurt by a competing Marvel Studios.

It would all start in 2008 with Iron Man and the casting of Robert Downey Jr. in what was supported to be the start of a new self-financed series of movies. It might have seemed like a slam dunk at the time but there was nervousness about Downey and of the story itself connecting. There was no real telling if acceptance of the whole franchise would be forthcoming. In the end, Marvel's decision and the work of some key people and a whole lot of collaboration made the whole thing seem flawless.

To view Avengers Endgame as a stand alone movie would be like turning to a book and reading the last chapter and understanding all that came before. This became the fun in each movie over the last ten years. A thread of storylines, clues and previews were intertwined and some characters would appear in a number of movies whether it be Nick Fury or Black Widow or Hulk himself. To this end all of the characters would unite as the Avengers. This happened over four movies. The best way to think of Endgame is to think of it as part 2 of the previous Infinity Wars. Endgame takes place three weeks after the events of that movie.

Since the movie is entering just shy of a month in theatres, most of the spoilers are now out of the way but for those that have not seen it stop reading now.

Snap.

The Russo Brothers as directors and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely as writers continue from Infinity Wars into Endgame. The two movies were shot back to back but the snap of Thano's fingers has cut the universe's population in half. It also means half the Avengers are gone and we have a defeated and demoralized group of superheroes left. Some of the questions of why some characters were missing from the last movie are answered. Captain Marvel played by Brie Larsen, Ant-Man played by Paul Rudd and Hawkeye played by Jeremy Renner have their absences accounted for. In the case of Hawkeye, choosing to be with his family instead of the Avengers cost Clint Barton his whole family and turned him to a man wracked with grief and anger.

Tony Stark/Iron Man played by Robert Downey's Jr. is nursing terrible physical and mental wounds while marooned on a ship with Nebula played by Ken Gillan. They are the only ones left after fighting Thanos and losing. Tony is full of regrets over his love with Pepper Potts and of losing teen Spider-Man to the snap that also took Dr. Strange and most of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Only Captain Marvel's rescue after three weeks of drifting brings Tony and Nebula back to Earth.

The rump of Avengers and left and Nebula include Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Rocket Racoon, War Machine, Captain America and Iron Man quickly locate Thanos and pursue him only to find he had destroyed the Infinity Stones. Nebula says Thanos would not lie on such a thing and his injuries indicate he was exposed to great energy, presumably when the stones were eliminated. Thor, knowing there is now no way to undo The Snap, kills Thanos in a rage.

Five years jump in the story and back on Earth, the devastation of losing half the population brings an relenting mourning for some. For others like Tony, he still has Pepper with who he retreats with and builds a life away from grief and guilt, particularly of Spider-Man who he was extremely fond of. The opposite side the coin in Clint Barton/Hawkeye who did not take part in the Infinity Wars yet loses his entire family to The Snap. His rage turn him into vigilante killer of all those deemed evil who remain alive.

The arrival of Scott Lang Ant-Man from the time realm changes the course of the Avengers. He too was not present during the Infinity Wars but his safe and successful trip through time shows a possible way to reverse what Thanos has done. This raises a lot of questions as well as resistance from the group. For Tony Stark who has carved out some happiness with Pepper as well as having a child, it could reverse all that. He only agrees with Pepper's blessing and the promise that restoration will only happen doesn't erase the past five years.

The last five years have been hard ones for others. Natasha Romanoff has basically been head of Avengers/Shield and doing what she can with Captain America, Rhodes and Rocket along with Captain Marvel. She is exhausted, especially since Hulk, Thor and Iron-Man have taken leave.

Avengers Endgame explore how grief has strained the team to the limits and who has stepped up, almost unexpectedly so. However, Ant-Man's return brings a new enthusiasm  as well as some humour to the prospect that the The Snap can be undone. Funny discussions related to time travel and pop culture were particularly noteworthy.

The explain the plot surrounding the actual time travel and retrieval of the Infinity Stones and the renewed battle with Thanos really defies description. But a Smart Hulk, an overweight and distracted Thor and too smart for his own good Iron Man make for a lot of fun, if confusing, action pieces. The Snap is reversed and Hulk wounded badly but the battle is not over as Thanos travels from the past into the future to stop the plan. This time though he faces a full restored Avengers and allies team that tips the balance. Captain Marvel is a difference maker in the fight but it is Tony Stark as Iron Man who makes the sacrifice for them all.

It is a satisfying ending to ten years of filmmaking. Even if a character is brought back (does anyone ever really die in comics?) it will probably not be the same actors we have grown to love. But this might not be a bad thing. How many actors have played Spider-Man, Hulk, Rhodes? Audiences have shown a willingness to go on. And so the series will. At the end of the movie was a trailer for the new Spider-Man that picks up right where Avengers leaves off.

Here's to the next 10 years.

Winnipeg's Valour FC Opening Night May 4, 2019

It was about 13 C for field conditions, some sun and fairly gusty when the game started at 5 PM on Saturday, May the Fourth. The fan club Red River Rising led a procession from a nearby bar to Investors Group Field and took their seats in The Trench even before the anthem was sung. A small fan group from FC Edmonton was present and was fairly focal too. However, the hometown crowd of 9,699 was in full and loud support of Winnipeg's Valour FC. After nearly three decades professional soccer has returned to Winnipeg.

We'll let photographer Matraisa Klippenstein tell the story of Winnipeg's season opener that ended in  2-1 loss. The score did not really tell the story of the team's on field dominance.

Matraisa's site: http://sundogphoto.ca/

Movie Review: Long Shot

Long Shot as a romantic comedy is definitely going to be different if Seth Rogen in it. No amount of personal humiliation limits him. Charlize Theron has a wide range of material which includes some romance stuff but in recent years her fare has leaned towards action and drama befitting an Oscar-winning performer. It is not surprising that the script by Dan Sterling (The Interview) and Liz Hannah (The Post) had them both come aboard as producers and stars since the roles play to each of their strengths. Directed by Jonathan Levine (50/50) the story is of a U.S. Secretary of State slowing falling for a lefty journalist who is brought on to write for her in the lead to a potential presidential run.

Charlize Theron channels her inner Veep, Clinton and Madam Secretary to make for a compelling single and earnest Secretary of State. The President played by Bob Odenkirk is a ridiculous Trump-like cutout of a man who gained office via acting in television and wants to leave the presidency after a single term to pursue an acting career in the movies. This opens the door to Theron's character making a run for the president.

There is some political satire in watching Theron playing Charlotte Field running for president but it is Shallow State versus Deep State. It is likely many women will recognize the standard for them is different than for a man. In a meeting looking at her strengths it is revealed none of it is related to her policy but on perceived likability. It is there that she finds that polls say her weakness is humour.
This information is related to her by a very funny Lisa Kudrow in all to short appearance.

Seth Rogen plays Fred Flarsky  a recently unemployed journalist who quit when a FOX-like owner played by Andy Serkis buys his publication. His best friend played by the very funny O'Shea Jackson Jr. drops everything to commiserate with Fred and take him to a swish part featuring Boyz II Men. Little does Fred know that his former babysitter and girl crush Charlotte will be there.

There is good chemistry between Rogen and Theron that comes from mostly good writing, acting that throw it all out there and good foils in supporting cast. In Theron's case, some of the funny moments to work off comes from her assistants June Dianne Raphael and Ravi Patel. When Charlotte sees Fred at the party as well as his encounter with the man who caused him to quit journalism, she is amused and intrigued. Despite strong misgivings of her staff she looks at his writing and sees in Fred a person that might be able to find a relateable and funny voice she can communicate policy.

Fred is not interested in the job unless it is full out policy change and not the typical politician program than means nothing. She agrees and soon it becomes clear that he is the right man for the job and helps her connect and make real progress on a world-wide tour the get an environmental agreement. The Canadian prime minister played by appears throughout as a genial, handsome empty suit with an unfortunate laugh. It is hilarious as a send up of Trudeau.

Theron is an exceptional actor who makes you believe that she is a real person trying to make it in a fake world. In the movie she swears, fills her face, wants to have rough sex and take drugs. With Fred she feels she can let her hair down although her and she knows that her image can't show this. Despite all this they fall in love.

This is a romantic comedy at its heart and while it is some politics, lots of raunch and quite a bit of satire, it has a sweetness about it that wins the audience over. The continued dominance of superheroes in the movies might just leave a window open for some funny entertainment mixed with a 90s nostalgia vibe. But this isn't your momma's rom-com unless she liked to be spanked. Also, there is one Seth Rogen moment right out of There's Something About Mary that had the audience laughing for several minutes afterwards. A sweet movie...yes, but be prepared for outrageous moments that are as crude as you might find on the screen anywhere.