Keeping It Classy

This Saturday is Nuit Blanche. And I'm determined to make it there. 

I haven't had a lot of luck in the past. Whether it's going to the WAG- or any other venue for that matter- my celebration has always been deterred. 

There were the unfortunate times when it was full by the time of my arrival, and even by sheer determination to wait it out. Just. In. Case. Not enough people left in order to let me in. 

Other times, I've just been sick. And this is not the kind of sick that you can cover up on Cold FX. No, it's the kind of sickness that keeps you bundled up on your couch mourning and reading your friend's texts and status updates detailing how much fun they're having at Nuit Blanche. A big side-eye to whenever that happens. 

This year, however, it will be different. I'm prepared. I'm popping vitamin C, making sure I have the night off (and morning), and resting, obviously.

Well... as much as I can being a student in Creative Communications. Sigh.

Yet, what I'm terribly excited about this year is the Mad Men inspired party happening at the Manitoba Museum. I'm all about fancy dress parties. In fact I live for these kind of parties. They don't happen enough in Winnipeg, and whenever I suggest themed parties to my friends, it is largely ignored. "Hells bells!"

Betty and Don Draper in Rome

Ahem.

Anyway, ideally for this, I want to emulate Betty Draper's hair and outfit from the episode "Souvenir". It's a pretty sweet up-do, and the dress is fabulous as well. Of course I have neither the money nor the expertise to craft this look, but I'm going to try pretty damn hard regardless.

Let's hope I have enough time.

Luckily for me, though, there's the internet- my saviour. Youtube is filled with tutorials on sixties hair and makeup, and what makes these videos so useful are the variety of ways in which you can learn. For me, if I can't do one hairdo, I can go onto the next. It's amateur hairdressing at its finest, and I like to keep it classy. Not too mention reading some of the comments can be a delight for the eyes. Trolling is an art form.

For this weekend I plan to drink an Old Fashioned, or maybe just a classic gin martini... possibly more, but that's to be expected, and I'm all about authenticity. Roger Sterling understands my dilemma:

Hope to see you there!

"Hair-swinging" and "Finger-wagging"

As I was the reading the weekend edition of the Winnipeg Free Press, I came across an article on Michelle Obama. I've always been a supporter of Mrs. Obama, from her crusade for healthier eating, to her ability to appear so approachable and friendly that I could imagine myself in the White House baking cupcakes with her. It's a dream.

Courtesy of People

I'm embarrassed to admit though, I didn't read the newspaper as religiously as I do now. Especially during President Obama's presidential candidacy. However, Helena Andrews article "Michelle Obama Superstar" enlightened me to how the media originally viewed Michelle Obama. Andrew wrote Obama was considered "too militant, too angry, too unpatriotic, too deprecating of her husband or too hard. Just too much."

Furthermore, Obama said the media seemed to want to pin her down "as some angry black woman." And yet, Obama has shown to be far from this stereotypical and insulting observation that was so quickly thrust upon her.

It seems that words like "angry", "militant", and "hard" are used often and carelessly to describe women like Obama in the media.

"People aren't used to strong women; we don't know how to talk about them"says Obama and I have to agree. Last year I wrote a paper on the identity of gender in the media. I based my paper on an article written by John Doyle from the Globe and Mail. His article focused on Sara MacIntyre, BC Premier Christy Clark's new director of communications.

Courtesy of the Vancouver Observer

There was an incident where MacIntyre refused to let the media talk to Clark. This is how Doyle described it:

"It’s tremendous television. MacIntyre, all gum-chewing, hair-swinging, finger-wagging, mall-rat malice and attitude, expressed her utter contempt for the reporters and TV crews with aplomb. She was so sharp it looked like she’d even cut herself if she happened to look at herself. The idea that a reporter might want to ask the Premier a question was, to her, so patently outlandish that one imagined her cackling with derision in her dark

lair after the event."

I'm not going to assume anything about MacIntyre, or even Doyle. The actual topic of the article doesn't bother me. In fact I agree with Doyle's account of the "CTV reporter in Vancouver [who] condemned the hostility to the press as undemocratic, a rebuke to voters who want to see politicians questioned." What I don't agree with is the language Doyle uses in his article to describe MacIntyre.

This isn't just a fanciful recreation of events. What Doyle is actually inferring here, is to make MacIntyre’s behaviour appear erratic, inadequate, and unacceptable for the circumstances. One has to wonder if Doyle’s description of MacIntyre would be the same if she had been a man instead. It's this idea that is perpetuated in which women cannot be strong or powerful- they have to be cold, calculating and villainous.

It's a social problem, but it's also an easy scapegoat when we don't want to recognize that a woman like MacIntyre can rival her male counterparts- or do her job, which may not be what the media or the public want, but what she was hired to do. 

This is apparent to Meryl Streep as well. Streep calls this a "special venom" reserved for powerful women. Streep says "[that] culture wants to cast them as cold. As if somehow they’ve lost their maternal bearings, their essential womanhood, to occupy this space. As if they’ve had to cut off their…whatever it is…to succeed" (W Magazine).

The Iron Lady

Streep, who has portrayed Margaret Thatcher, appears to understand the dichotomy regarding strong women. We can't be both powerful and retain our womanhood. Thatcher made sacrifices in her political career that are never fully realized or appreciated. While I don't agree with all of her political decisions, I have to respect that she stood by them. Isn't that what we expect in a political leader? Why then is a woman still being chastised when she pretends otherwise? 

Power is considered a mans forte, but rather ironically, having to give it up is his weakness. What MacIntyre had was the power to control the media, which in general is never well-received, but this was particularly venomous. Perhaps she could have handled it better, but again, what if Clark's  director of communications had been a man? Would this have generated the same kind of controversy?

While Michelle Obama has quickly turned her "militant ways" into a "mom-in-chief" can-do attitude. Not all women are afforded a "second" chance. 

However, this isn't to disregard her. Not at all. Michelle Obama is paving the way. Her DNC speech is something to watch:

Yet, whether it's "angry black woman", "bitch", or "cold" these words reflect back a detrimental picture of ourselves. While many groups of people will take words and make them their own, as women, should we do this as well? It isn't uncommon to hear a woman who takes the lead to be referred to as a bitch. Even I, regrettably, use the word sometimes. Do we have to re-appropriate this word to become our own? To have its connotations become positive? 

We deserve to be strong and powerful, and have it recognized as strength. Not as some coinage made famous in a song from the nineties. 

What do you think?

"Time spent with cats is never wasted"

Time spent with cats is never wasted - Sigmund Freud

I recently wrote a blog on how much I love cupcakes, and now I want to share with you how much I love cats. I honestly don't understand how anyone could not like cats. Unless your allergic, but then again I'm allergic... so... that's a wash. There's no excuse.

My oldest cat Puff died this summer. He was nineteen years old and outlived his life expectancy, according to the Vet. He was a trooper though, and had some serious attitude. He had this expectation that he should be carried around the house like an Egyptian Prince- I'm not lying, he would cry if you ignored him.

He was a great cat and it was heart-breaking to let him go.

Puff, Ashley, and I

Feel free to giggle at our matching outfits. Although I'm truly surprised my mom didn't make a matching one for Puff too.

Anyway, I always love prowling (pun!) the internet for interesting cat-related delights. Today I came across "Colourful Cats- The Art Of Painted Kitties" on the website So Bad So Good. 

As you can see, it's pretty cool. One would say puurrrfect (okay I will stop. It was reaching, I know). ANYWAY, Heather Busch and Burton Silver, who look to love cats as much as me, created these amazing pictures through photoshop. I recommend following the link: 

http://sobadsogood.com/2012/09/11/cats-of-colour-the-art-of-painted-kitties-by-burton-silver-and-heather-busch/ 

I know cat memes, pictures, tumblrs, blogs are a dime a dozen, but if you have anything to share with me I'd love to see/ read it! And if you have Instagram, check out nala_cat. It's one way to lose hours. Seriously.


Rebecca

Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes

If you don't already know, I have a severe addiction to cupcakes. I use the word "severe" like I'm pretending that this is a bad thing. That delusion, however, needs to stop because if we want to be honest with one another: cupcakes are never a bad thing.

My love for cupcakes was realized with my discovery of Cake-ology in the Exchange District. I
remember my first trip through the large black doors on Arthur Street under the magnificent sign of a two-layered white cake. Once inside I was overwhelmed by the selection, not just of cupcakes, but of cakettes and then real cakes! As I racked my brain for an occasion to buy an actual cake, I instead showed a rare act of restraint and simply bought a carrot cake cupcake. It was for the best, really.

Photo courtesy of Cake-ology

Alas, this carrot cake cupcake was amazing. Despite having a bias towards all things carrot-y, I find that sometimes people can screw up the delicate taste such as putting walnuts or pecans in the cake. In the words of the Princess Bride's Vizzini that's "inconceivable!" but people continue to do it anyway.

Cake-ology then, did it perfectly. Not to mention as a consumer (literally), you are spoiled with cream cheese icing.

I recommend anyone looking to satisfy their sweet-tooth to go there. Here's the contact link: http://www.cake-ology.ca/contact/

Now, lets get down to serious business: Cupcake Wars. This is a show on TLC and it is about people baking cupcakes to win a $10,000 grand prize. How I wish I could be a judge on this show and be able to say: "This cake made my stomach angry."

An episode during the sixth season had the competitors compete to have their cupcakes showcased at a kick off party for the game app "Angry Birds Space". Again, why am I not a part of this?

Below is a clip of the first, second and third part of this episode. And what I love about this show is the little montage at the beginning with the amazing quips about how wonderfully snotty the judges are and how much these people secretly want to flip a table on their baking partner.

What I took from this episode is: sweet or savoury? That is the question m'dears and generally I prefer my cupcakes sweet and topped with gratuitous amounts of cream cheese icing. Yum.

Photo courtesy of Delicious Cooks

What is your preference then? Sound off below or let me in on the other amazing cupcakerys, which Winnipeg has to offer!

Bloggin' at ya soon,

Becky

Shamelessness and ManyFest

This past  year, I had the opportunity to work for the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ as their PR intern. Not only did I get to hang out with some pretty amazing people, but I also learned some very valuable skills.

During this summer I was given the task to coordinate an event that would interrupt the press conference for one of the biggest festivals this city has to offer. Of course, I'm referring to ManyFest. ManyFest is a collection of entertainment, arts, community, and healthy living that takes over Broadway on September 7th, 8th, and 9th.

The best part of the festival is the wine tasting, but that's just me.

Dancing in the street

Courtesy of Poster





 The press conference for ManyFest was on September 4th in front of the Fyxx on Broadway. If you weren't there, or didn't catch it on the news, here's a video-link to watch:

http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/other/2012/09/04/manyfest/

As you can see, the press conference gave a little taste of what's to come, and that little flashmob there- I coordinated it! And it makes me immesaurably proud and shameless to say so. Furthermore, the amazing Reanna Joseph from BOSS Studio chereographed the dance and I will shamelessly promote her as well. She's fantastic.

Although it was one of the most anxiety inducing assignments I've been given in a long time, it also was the most exhillerating, exciting, and fulfilling one as well.

For more information about ManyFest, please visit the website at http://www.manyfest.ca/.

I'm assuming I will see you this weekend, then?


Becky

Introduction

My name is Rebecca Henderson and I am a Creative Communications student at Red River College.

I want to have an idea of what to write for this blog, but I haven't gotten that far yet. I've just managed to make it super pretty... Sigh... Which is also not to say that I don't have ideas. My problem remains that every idea seems better than my last and by the time I begin to work one out in my head, I find I've come full circle, back, to my first idea. 

What I've come to learn about blogs though, through reading a million of them a day when I'm supposed to be working or doing chores, is that they need dedication but they also need brilliance. Therefore, I want this blog to be better than my first blog, which I abandoned very quickly. So, in the meantime, while I think of something terribly brilliant to write, I will share a picture from my desktop that I think everyone WILL enjoy: 

And while you're admiring this little eye delight, listen to this lovely cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm Going Down" by Vampire Weekend. It's very good.

And in the end, think of me and my great idea. 

Bloggin' at ya' soon!

Becky