*Update February 12th, 2009*
Unfortunately, due to low response this has been canceled (for now at least).
Pen & Ink is a new comic and art publication based out of Medicine Hat, run by Kelly Bryksa of KB Graphics Inc. It will be printed six times a year and will feature local artists’ work in the forms of comic strips/art, sketches, or fine art. I think this will be a great thing for all our local artists to either get known or get some of their work published. The deadline for the first issue is quickly approaching, which is Friday, February 6th. The first issue will be released on February 27th. If you just found out about it now, you can maybe work on making the next deadline which is to be announced.
Pen & Ink Logo
There’s a couple stipulations for submissions. Currently there’s three rules posted on the official web page: no nudity, no explicit language and the best rule of them all, no use of Comic Sans. I use to write and draw a lot of comic strips as a kid, and I even used to sell them at the school. I swear I made like 20 bucks selling them at 10 cents a piece. Anyways, that’s a little besides the point, but It makes me want to get into it again, at least the writing portion, not so much the drawing. Which is another good thing about the publication, it offers strict writers the chance to get paired up with artists that do not wish to write, or simply aren’t good enough at it (like I’m not good enough at drawing for example).
Also, to those of you “not in the know”, Kelly Bryksa is a 2001 graduate of the Medicine Hat College Visual Communications program. You can get in contact with him at pen_and_ink@kbgraphics.ca or phone 403-527-3355.
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts will be hosting a workshop for art grants and funding on January 30th and 31st. This event is for artists and organization that want or are thinking about applying for an art grant. Individuals are asked to attend on January 30th from 3PM until 4:30PM and organizations are asked to attend on January 31st from 10AM to 11:30AM. The workshops will be held at the Medicine Hat College in room f-135 and led by AFFTA director, Al Chapman. For more information please contact affta@ab.ca or head on over to their website:
Just a reminder, the reception for Whole Being starts at 8PM on Thursday, January 22 at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre. Most of the Visual Communications staff will have entries in, and being seasoned artists in their prime, you can expect a good show.
Admission is free, there also will undoubtedly be some free foods and drinks for all who attend.
Whole Being Artists - Image found at viscomonline.ca
As plastered on the front page of the Medicine Hat News, Gregory Fritzke has been arrested and charged with accessing and distributing child pornography. Okay… pretty sick, but to make matters worse, he was the vice-principle at Ross Glen School. Start the angry parents riot! Parents of children that go to Ross Glen are going crazy, and this is just from the comments posted on the Medicine Hat News website (most of the comments are now gone when the Medicine Hat News website was updated), who knows what the future of Ticked Off & Tickled Pink will look like.
Greg Fritzke, 43 - Image from CTV Calgary
Quotes have appeared like “We as a society need to screen the people involved in our childrens lives on a daily basis more carefully” from one commenter. Comments like this remind me of the Grey Hound bus situation – one person gets killed, or one sick bastard is all it takes to warrant spending thousands if not millions of dollars for these “screening” procedures. Obviously in this case, I believe the commenter is referring to using ourselves as a “screen” to weed out child pornography collectors (somehow). This is a rare and isolated event in this community – just like the Grey Hound bus slaying. There’s no magic “pedophile-meter”, just like there is no method to gauge if somebody is just going to wind up and kill somebody; obviously there are warning signs to these types of psychological issues, but they aren’t accurate, even so, the average person is not trained to spot these “warning signs”. In no way am I defending Gregory Fritzke or his actions, I’m just against the irrationality involved with people commenting and ranting over these isolated events (isolated in terms of the Medicine Hat community, not on a global scale).
Supposedly Gregory Fritzke did not have any images/photography of children at the school in his stash – but the fact of the matter is he was a vice-principle and he seen kids all day. Obviously this makes parents feel pretty sick even if he didn’t actually harm any children at the school. Psychologically speaking, Gregory Fritzke knew that what he was doing was wrong which is why he never acted out on his thoughts at school, instead he went home and downloaded child porn to satisfy his urge. Obviously I’m not a psychologist but I’ve read enough on the subject to know that most of these people aren’t pure evil, Satan incarnates; rather, they may have psychologically traumatized in their past or some past experience made him this way (maybe he was molested as a child). Obviously I’m being general and pretty speculative on the incident until actual details arrive. The bottom line is he downloaded and looked at child pornography which is wrong, granted, but he is NOT a child molester, child rapist, nor did he physically abuse children in any way as far as anybody knows currently (this may have changed though – see below). Guilty before proven innocent? I guess there is no gray area to most people…
*UPDATE – February 11th, 2009*
More charges have been laid against Fritzke which leads me to not retract my above statement but to clarify. I said that “nor did he physically abuse children in any way as far as anybody knows currently” which is still the case right now since he has NOT been found guilty.
I have recently seen an article in the paper that prompted anybody interested in local arts, culture and heritage (I’m looking at you, visual communications students and alumni) to attend a meeting coming up. Every month the Cultural Development program in the city hosts a luncheon where people get together to network and discuss cultural happening and events. Over the years, the attendance has been dwindling since it started 10 years ago. The purpose of the article written in the paper, and even the purpose of me posting here is to maybe bring some old and new faces to the meetings. This meeting, Carol Beatty (Manager of Cultural Development for the City of Medicine Hat) will be talking about a program called “Cultural Capitals of Canada”. The program supports communities that are engaged in the arts and culture through money grants – which would be greatly support local artists as well as bring more art events to the city.
The meeting is to take place on January 29th, 10AM to noon at the Esplanade Studio Theatre. Anybody that will be attending are asked to RSVP to Terry Gill at 403-502-8795 or tergil@medicinehat.ca
Sushi Miso is a quaint sushi restaurant located at 1561 Dunmore Road SE in Medicine Hat.
The food is prepared rather quickly and almost entirely made by hand, but nevertheless, I have never been disappointed. The restaurant boasts a wide selection of menu items, ranging from the archetypal raw fish to more “Americanized” sushi, which has chicken in it, to anything else you might ask for in a sushi restaurant.
The norm for me and friends to get is Miso Soup to start with, which is a salty broth filled with chives and tofu, followed by at least a roll (sliced into 6 smaller rolls) each, or three rolls (18) for two of us, or 5 rolls (42) for three of us. Despite looking like a small portion of food, one roll sliced into six smaller ones is enough to fill me up, and what is more, the ends of the roll are usually left untouched, so you get a little bit extra salmon, chicken, or whatever you ordered, sticking out of the ends.
The great thing about Sushi Miso is definitely the fact that it is not fast food and does not have all the additives and preservatives that other fast food places have. When I am done eating, I do not feel physically bad from eating it, as I might from McDonalds or any other fast burger place. Our bills at the end of the meal generally range between $6.00 and $10.00, comparable to most restaurants.
Sushi Miso:
1561 Dunmore Road SE.
403-528-9881
If you are like me then your favourite section of the Medicine Hat News is reading the commentary, and one section in particular “tickles” your fancy – Ticked Off & Tickled Pink. Home to the strange, weird, stupid, infuriating and funny comments from people around the city. Recently the Medicine Hat News website has posted a “best of” list showcasing 20 of the funniest (stupidest) comments submitted this last year.
Medicine Hat News – Ticked Off/Tickled Pink – Best of 2008
Some of my favourites from the list:
A little specific aren’t we?
“Ticked Off: I’m ticked off that my assistant CEO is allowed to abuse employees by throwing shoes at them. It’s a degrading and an embarrassment to our industry. Something needs to be done.”
Definition of irony?
“Ticked Off: I’m a little bit ticked off because all you have in the Ticked Off/Tickled Pink column is ticked off. Nothing positive, everything is negative. How about putting some stuff that is a little brighter so everyone can smile and laugh.”
Wow… possibly the best comment ever?
“Tickled Pink: I am tickled pink that the 1970s cheesy, pornstar, handlebar mustache still exists in this world. It can turn a little man into a big man, especially if he suffers from small man syndrome.”
Definitely has their priorities in order:
“Ticked Off: I’m fed up with the constant time change every six months. In our house, the clocks are not changed and every six months we are right on time.”
1 word: Google
“Ticked Off: I’m ticked off on Thursday’s paper, it shows Malcolm Bauld, a Montreal based artist, coming to play in Medicine Hat at the Ottoman Lounge. I’d like to know where the Ottoman Lounge is. Is it in Medicine Hat? In Montreal? Or Calgary?”
Yes, I know this post is kind of late, but here’s my pick of the top five places that I ate at in 2008. I’ve eaten at a lot of places around this city looking back on this last year, which is probably why I am trying to go on a diet now to recoup for my “gain”. This list isn’t necessarily ordered in any way, I could almost think of these five places as equals in most regards. All photography provided by the Medicine Hat Restaurants website.
1. Pho Dao Vietnamese Noodle House
Pho Dao is a very fresh and very fast Vietnamese-style restaurant. It’s not your typical Americanized Chinese restaurant, the food here seems very authentic, or at least different from some of the other restaurants in the city. It’s also very fast, sometimes me and my girlfriend get our food within minutes, way faster than any fast food place. The dishes consist of many different types of noodles with different combinations. Other traditional dishes are also available and combo meals, consisting of rice, pork, chicken, shrimp, vegetables and other things. Their spring/meat rolls are some of the most tastiest I’ve ever had. My favourite pick from Pho Dao is Combo #4: Steamed vegetables, rice, charbroiled pork & chicken, wonton soup and spring rolls.
Pho Dao - Spring Rolls
2. Thai Orchid Room
Thai Orchid Room is a very nice place to eat and could definitely be considered fine dinning. They have many beautiful dishes most of which are on the pricier side but it’s definitely worth it. The food is truly an authentic Thai experience with a very large menu consisting of curries, stir-frys, vegetable dishes, noodles, rice, soups and salads. My girlfriend loves it because of all the different curry meals you can get (one of the only places in town for good curry), but I love some of the other stir-fry meals as well. They are definately a little different than what you are used to, especially if you get some of the hotter (spicy) dishes.
Thai Orchid Rom - Green Curry Pork
HotTubX-Press.com just came out with a new website showcasing their huge selection of hot tubs. They also offer a line of tanning beds, saunas and gazebos, and if that was not enough, they are also the exclusive dealer in Medicine Hat for Softubs.
Behind the website and in the store is the owner, Eldon Wells; a well-known name in Medicine Hat, and a friendly guy to boot. If you are looking for a hot tub, sauna, tanning bed or gazebo, be sure to check out Hot Tub X-Press, their collection of over twenty different kinds of tubs alone sets them above the crowd.
1027 South Railway St. SE
Website no longer online.
EverythingEco Logo
*Updated*
EverythingEco is no longer Medicine Hat based – they now are based out of Calgary; however, that shouldn’t stop locals from ordering from the site.
EverythingEco is a Medicine Hat based shopping website dedicated to selling environmentally friendly items. They have a large variety of manufacturers and items. You can shop for anything from sweet recycle-made handbags to natural cleaning and body products. I’m a big fan of the Haversack bags made from recycled inner bike tubes and seat-belts.
Stephen & Kim Platt are two dedicated eco-friendly people that manage and stock the site personally. They even write some articles and eco-friendly tips on the site from time to time. The best part about EverythingEco is they deliver within the Medicine Hat area for free!
I think the site and service is a really good idea, especially here in Medicine Hat since there isn’t many stores like this in Medicine Hat. I think a lot of people in Medicine Hat are too traditional and behind in the times in terms of internet and internet-based purchases. Hopefully more online stores like this start popping up in Medicine Hat so people will begin to come to embrace the internet and home/community/personal/local businesses like EverythingEco.
My Favourite - The Haversack Bag (Photo by Stephen Platt)
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