Sweet voice, salty language

Free Press arts team shares books for passing the dog days

When most people mention a “summer read” or a “beach book,” the types of writing they’re referring to is lighter fare most of us would consider enjoyable but not overly profound: think cosy mysteries, historical bodice rippers, otherworldy romantasies, fast-paced whodunits, chilling (but not too chilling) horror and, notably as of late, romance novels of all persuasions — perhaps, say, between two hockey players?

But not everyone dives into such popular picks over the summer months. Here’s what the Free Press arts and life team has been poring over in the past months…

Temporary Palaces, by Jeff Miller

If you spent your youth in the late 1990s/early 2000s going to protests, making zines, DIY art or punk rock — or, failing that, reading about it all in Adbusters magazine — and consider yourself a hopeless romantic, this new novel from Nova Scotia’s Jeff Miller is for you. Themes of idealism, artistic integrity, heartbreak and shared trauma are all on the menu for this will-they-won’t they pairing of punk rocker Ben and visual artist Alex, set amid the squats of Ottawa and the art lofts of Montreal.

City inundated with thousands of complaints after launch of new transit system

Despite complaints from thousands of dissatisfied users, Winnipeg hasn't hit the brakes on the rollout of its new primary transit network. And it appears that ignoring the public response cost Winnipeg Transit millions of dollars in lost revenue and ridership.

Sweet voice, salty language

Don't get taken in by the honey-blond wholesomeness of Shirley Gnome, the Vancouver singer-songwriter's angelic voice or her down-home congeniality.

She may look like a fetching cross between Joni Mitchell and LeAnn Rimes in her rose sequinned cowgirl hat and black boots, but her tunes are downright R-rated, as in raunchy and risqué. The 31-year-old free spirit is a little bit country -- she spells country without the letter "o" -- and a whole lot of smutty.

"I certainly like to play with people's expectations, because some people really think this blond girl in cowboy boots is going to be their male fantasy and it never turns out the way they want it to," says Gnome.

The self-described "chanteuse-provocatrice" is making her Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival debut with her solo show, Shirley Gnome: Real Mature, an hour-long series of original music and hardcore musings.

The trolls inside the Conservative tent

The Conservative Party of Canada has a troll problem. And it’s coming from inside the tent.

Once, trolls existed only in imagination. They were figures of mythical proportion, big and small. They lived solitary lives under bridges, in caves, or forests. They were considered dim-witted and mean. Best avoided.

Today, they are real, unavoidable, and ubiquitous on social media. They are anything but solitary. There are tribes of them out there and tribal is how they think and post. As for dim-witted and mean, others can opine but they are uniformly mean and dismissive.

Mean to anyone who disagrees with their views. Dismissive of any view but their own. They distribute questionable, at best, facts and opinions grounded in hostility towards anything or anyone deemed disagreeable or heretical to their world view.

Letters, Aug 24

The article says the Wolseley Residents Association has fundraised about $20,000 to inoculate publicly owned trees in Wolseley against Dutch elm disease. Ian Dyck is a member of the association’s tree committee, and he says that the Wolseley Residents Association hopes that others will follow their lead. This project will pay for 150 American elms to be protected against the disease for about three years.

Cool spots for more summer sweets

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream. Missed seeing your favourite ice cream joint in last month’s Chill Out feature? Cheer up: we’ve compiled our reader suggestions below.

Despite the cooler weather and slight drizzle, it’s still summer and there’s time to to grab a scoop or two of your favourite flavours. So what are you waiting for?

Living up to its name Not a Waffle (2-709 Corydon Avenue) serves ice creams not in traditional waffle cones but heaped into Japanese taiyaki, a fish-shaped sturdy cake. Ice cream flavours on offer include the ever-popular ube, sakura and matcha in soft serve and for hard scoops there are vanilla, chocolate brownie, cookie dough and something called heavenly heart, which is a chocolate and almond combo. The soft serves are on until October this year so there’s still time if you’d like to give this a try.

Our readers simply adore Dug & Betty’s (309 Rue Des Meurons) for their ice cream fix. Made in small batches, popular flavours include sour cherry and chocolate, strawberry balsamic honey and black pepper and lemon meringue pie. There are seven dairy-free options, including soy chocolate caramel cookie dough and oatmeal apple caramel crunch.