Online crowd funding may make it easer on indie filmmakers to get the cameras rolling, but nothing beats a good old fashioned fundraiser — especially if it takes place at the lovely (and fully functional after last year’s floodageddon) River Cafe.It turns out that Chronic Wasting Disease (the ‘mad cow’ of elk and deer) is a highly contagious brain-destroying disease that can jump to humans. Not cool. Scientist Darrel Rowledge, at the podium, explains that this could make AIDS look like a picnic. Like the film’s title, it’s No Accident. Domesticating wildlife through game farming has created a situation similar to influenza from chickens and SARS from palm civets.Brian Keating, world-renowned naturalist, took time out from his birthday to tell the untold story. The filmmakers hope to raise $1.7 million to produce An Inconvenient Truth meets Sicko documentary. I counted 4 polo players in attendance: Rob and Ruth Peters, Shannon Peters and Jessica Schneider. And myself. As someone who almost got run over by an elk taking my horse out of the pasture last week, I hope this fundraising mission succeeds. This is a film people need to see.
Month: May 2014
WEEKEND Max Mara Opens
Taking the neighborhood between Le Chateau and RW&Co up a notch, WEEKEND Max Mara opened its doors this morning at Chinook Centre —just in time for the weekend.Vancouver has three of ’em, but this is the first WEEKEND Max Mara in Calgary. Invited guests were treated to an informal fashion show to get a grip on the brand’s style MO.Bright colors and florals borrowed from the 80’s are cycling into resurgence.The black and white stripe story is back, just like it is every spring. But Max Mara, which makes its own fabrics and runs its own factories, gives it a high-end twist. In business journalism I believe they call that an industry vertical. But we don’t need to worry our pretty little heads about that…… especially when the stripes are horizontal.Catherine Guadagnuolo, founder of the Vestis Fashion Group which licensed the store in Western Canada, shows off a cashmere wrap coat. Coats are the core of the Max Mara brand and have been worn by multiple princesses, both real and of the tabloid variety. However, Kate Windsor and Kim Kardashian weren’t in attendance today.She also assured me that the parkas and scarves on display weren’t shipped in especially for Calgary’s psycho summer weather. Those stylish Italians just wear scarves all year long.No unique design details for Cowtown in the 1660 square foot space. In the interest of brand cohesiveness, all decor was brought in from Italy. Presumably, so were these super cool mannequins. This is only our first taste of Max Mara. Their luxury store is slated to open at Chinook in November of next year. Welcome to Calgary!
Bocce Sneak Peek
Spring has finally sprung in Calgary. With the green shoots and fresh new leaves comes another new restaurant, with a green Italian mascot parked faithfully outside.Green is the theme on the inside as well, as far as the server’s hip baseball tees go. They’re a casual contrast to the stylish, airy decor of the shoebox-shaped room with a deluge of daylight. Bocce has managed to create a comfortable vibe inside the newly constructed building on the corner of Fourth Street and 22nd Avenue SW. The Tiffany blue accent wall (which I love, of course) reminds me of a similar wall at Black Pig Bistro. Which is a good thing. Calgary could never have enough Tiffany blue. However, the horde of hungry food bloggers was focused on a tastier topic: the food. With three restaurants within 3 blocks of each other, Dominic Caracciolo is the Don of Fourth Street. The man behind Mercato takes his Italian food verrrry seriously. After trying several Bocce pastas (the one with the mushrooms was my favorite) and some amazing calamari, I appreciate his fierce foodiness, even if it means he’s so intent on delivering a meal he can’t meander for a brief photo op. His determination has created a delectable situation — I even heard one food blogger say she thinks the pizza here is better than Double Zero. Uh oh — them’s fighting words! Still, don’t go typecasting Dom as all Italian, all the time. The third restaurant in his Mission triple savory slam is Wurst — a German beer hall.If the permit gods are with them, Bocce will open to the public next week, with their delivery service up and running (or maybe driving in that green Fiat) by the end of June.