A quick digital airbrush painting I completed the other day. Done with the GNU Image Manipulation Program. © Sarah Pynoo 2012
Milk Tiger Lounge
Although I miss the Hardy Boy menus Milk Tiger Lounge had when it initially opened – the menus were encased in old book covers – it’s a relief to see that the food is as delicious as ever, and the atmosphere is excellent.
We decided to start off the evening with a few cocktails. I had watched an episode of Mad Men earlier that evening, so I ordered an Old Fashioned – which was unfortunately a bit too sweet, not very Don Draper-esque at all. My dinner companion had a Suffering Bastard, which was delicious – I love ginger beer. Most of the drinks on the Milk Tiger menu are doubles, so we had a nice buzz by the time our first course came.
Read the full article at Calgary is Awesome.
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]
Awesome Calgary celebrated their first anniversary on pitch night on April 26. The event took place at Endeavor Arts in Calgary. Here are a few photos I shot of the awesome evening!
Here’s a multimedia presentation I completed last year. Make sure to turn on your audio. Joe Barnett is a Calgary elementary school teacher who has won a number of award in the gay rodeo circuit. He is also one of the subjects of an upcoming documentary: Queens & Cowboys - A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo.
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth
My first published photo is up with Sarah Sussman’s article on Calgary Comic Expo. Pretty exciting!
Light Up Peru
Roderick Macintosh and Ada Yee have been in Peru since 2010 establishing the first regional office for Light Up the World in the area. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview them, and they agreed to answer some questions from Facebook and Twitter about what they’re up to!
What do they think you will be doing, or what will this project be doing, in 1, 2, 3 years? Where do you see it going?
LUTW hopes that with our project methodology, qualities of local partners, training of local technicians and the appropriateness of the products we choose to install in the communities all translate into durable, sustainable and robust communities that are using renewable energy and that it has changed their lives for the better. Eventually, LUTW will encounter: more competition (sale of out-of-the-box solar lanterns/pico PV, government projects); less marginalized communities and; less funding opportunities. Our awareness and management of where LUTW works, how LUTW works and what role LUTW plays in the world is a continuous process and part of the incredible dynamics about working in development and with technology.
Here’s a clipping of my last Weal article before summer break, with five costume picks for Calgary Comic Expo. Looking forward to next year already!
I’ve got two articles in the April 5th edition of the Weal. Here’s a clipping of an article on the recent scandal involving universities illegally donating to political parties. Click on the article for a readable version. You can check out the second article in the print edition of the Weal.
Calgary Comic Expo and Vulcan Tourism Star Trek Transporter
Catherine Pooley, manager of Vulcan Tourism, demonstrates the Transporter App at the bus shelter on 4th st. and 17th ave. in Calgary. Photo © Sarah Pynoo
Comic Expo and Vulcan Tourism held a media preview this morning to launch the new Transporter App. The app, which can be obtained at calgaryexpo.com/transporter, allows trekkies and non-trekkies alike to “beam” themselves out of transporter-themed bus shelters. Emily Expo, Calgary Comic Expo’s mascot, and Kandrix Foong, director of the Calgary Expo, were in attendance to demonstrate the app on an iPad.
The transporter will be moved to a permanent interactive display in Vulcan, Alta. for Spock Days (June 7, 8, and 9). There will also be a transporter set up at the Calgary Expo in the Vulcan Tourism (Star Trek Museum) booth.
“This technology is so cool, it’s an interactive way for fans to have some fun,” said Foong. “It’s just one aspect of the celebration for the 25th anniversary of Star Trek” The Next Generation and the cast reunion activities we have planned during the weekend of April 27 - 29.”
Butternut Squash Pie w/ Apple Walnut Crust
I cook and bake so often, and I’m always inventing recipes, so I’ve decided to start sharing them on here. After two attempts, I think I’ve finalized this recipe for gluten-free squash and apple pie - it’s about as healthy as you can get while still staying within the “dessert” category. Click through for the recipe, along with photos of the finished product!
A family member just sent me a lovely piece of history. This is a photo of my great-grandfather Jules Pynoo and my great-grandmother Zoe Pynoo greeting the Queen of England and the Duke. The picture was taken on the steps of the St. Boniface City Hall in Winnipeg in the early 1950s. Jules was the acting mayor at the time. There is actually a street, as well as a bridge, named after him in Winnipeg. I love how stylish everyone looks in the photo. I wish hats and red lipstick were still in vogue.
Vonnegut’s Use of Experimental Language (2009) by Sarah Pynoo
I recently dug up one of the first papers I ever wrote in University, three years ago for a modern english class. It’s interesting to see how much my writing has grown since then - also interesting that I thought it was a good idea to contrast Vonnegut with Atwood and Colonel Kurtz. I remember starting this in a panic at one in the morning - in some respects nothing has changed. I thought I’d share an excerpt:
In Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut finds traditional chronological order insufficient for telling his story. He muses in the first chapter on what the climax of the story should be, and where the climax of the story should fall. He describes an outline he drew in crayon on a piece of wallpaper. On it, he represents each character with a drawn line, passing through the midsection of the story - the Dresden bombing, represented in orange cross-hatching (a vivid symbolic image reminiscent of the flames of the fires raging across the city) - and those who are still alive after the fact reappearing again on the other side. Rather than follow up on this concept, he immediately jumps to the retelling of an event after the war. If Slaughterhouse-Five were represented in a linear diagram like this early concept map of crayon Vonnegut drew, it would be shown as jagged, disconnected pieces of time, with orange cross-hatching permeating each fragment. Slaughterhouse-Five could be a piece of cloth, where the different narratives are interwoven with one central event - and like a piece of cloth, it would be impossible to separate that single thread without ruining the fabric.
Click through to read the entire paper.
My first issue as Opinions Editor for the Weal is on news stands today, pick it up if you have a chance!
In other news, I’ll be live-tweeting Awesome Calgary’s March $1000 Pitch Night at Commonwealth Bar tonight. Pitches start at 6 p.m. It’s going to be awesome!
I’ll be interviewing Rod and Ada, two of Light Up the World’s solar technicians in Peru in the upcoming weeks. We’re hoping to crowdsource some of the interview questions. Let me know in the comment section below, or tell us on Facebook or Twitter. What questions would you ask them if you had the chance?
