WeCook meals service expands to Winnipeg

Woman who saved child, father from Red River uncomfortable with hero label

A Winnipeg woman who’s been hailed as a hero by police for saving a father and his young child from the Red River says she doesn’t feel like one.

“I’m a mom… and I would do it again,” said Jayclyn Morrissette, who was walking with her neighbour through St. John’s Park on Aug. 24 when they spotted a young girl flailing in the nearby river. “I was meant to be there and that was supposed to happen.”

Morrissette, who spoke to the Free Press Wednesday after police released details about the rescue, said she and her neighbour began looking for the child’s parents and found them at the nearby playground searching for her.

Morrissette waved them over. The father, who she said could not swim, jumped into the river first and immediately began to sink.

What's Up: Smiley Face, Shari Lapena book launch, Winnipeg Comedy Showcase, Ximbombo Dance Party, Mending with Tradition

Smiley FaceDave Barber Cinematheque, 100 Arthur St.Tonight, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 3 p.m.Admission $11.50When all is said and done, and her career on screen is assessed in full, Anna Faris might just be remembered as one of the definitive comic actors of the 2000s.

Aside from starring in the Scary Movie franchise, which has been spoofing prestige and shlock for a quarter of a century, Faris, who turns 50 in November, showed off her comic chops as ex-centrefold Shelley Darlingson in the underrated 2009 film The House Bunny, creating a character who has developed a cult following. On Mom, Faris and co-star Allison Janney balanced producer Chuck Lorre’s penchant for horny humour with genuinely touching performances dealing with thorny issues such as addiction.

All those versions of Faris meet in the centre in filmmaker Gregg Araki’s 2007 stoner comedy Smiley Face, which finds Jane (Faris) sidetracked from the most straightforward mission by cannabis consumption. The extended supporting cast — featuring John Krasinski, Jane Lynch, Marion Ross, Jim Rash and Emmy winner Roscoe Lee Browne in his final role — is loads of fun, with Faris using each scene partner as a funhouse mirror to reflect her ascent into chaotic highness.

Faris, who stars in the current buddy comedy Spa Weekend, will return to more prestigious territory this fall in Primetime, director Lance Oppenheim’s dramatization of the rise of To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen; Faris plays Mary Joan Hansen, the wife of Hansen, played by Robert Pattinson.

Deep Dark Woods brings haunted sound back to city

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Time, after all, is a circle.

For Ryan Boldt, singer and principal songwriter for the long-running, award-winning Canadian folk-rock outfit the Deep Dark Woods, that circle remains unbroken.

“I’ve been playing in bands and going on tour for over half my life now,” Boldt says with a laugh. “It’s really bizarre to think about.”

Founded in Saskatoon in 2005, the Deep Dark Woods has released seven albums of original music, along with two followup volumes to Boldt’s Broadside Ballads series of traditional folk songs.

Letters, Sept. 3

Candidates are promising change and solutions for infrastructure, crime, homelessness, transit and more. But one major issue has received little attention — Winnipeg city council’s governance model.

Neighbours relieved after fire strikes Quickie Mart

As Janina McNaughton watched the Quickie Mart on River Avenue go up in flames on Tuesday, she felt relieved.

“The first thing I see is flames, like a fireball of flames inside,” McNaughton said about watching the blaze from her bedroom across the street.

On Wednesday, the bright green building, at 292 River Ave., was boarded up and charred on the outside.

Crews from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded at 8:13 p.m. Tuesday to battle the blaze, said the city in a news release. It was under control within the hour.

WeCook meals service expands to Winnipeg

The company sells ready-to-eat meals, from small to family portions.