I really hope we can entice a few more of you out to this weekend’s “Saturday Night at the Movies” event at the Dunvegan Recreation Hall. Now that the Grenville movie house has closed for good, we’re the only game around, short of going to the Big Smoke. True, we don’t have theatre-style seating, surround sound or a screen the size of a pickle ball court. However, we do have a professional popcorn popper, and our fragrant bags of hot-buttered corn puffs are totally free… of charge, that is. Not calories.
I’m told Bob Garner and Laurie Maus, the event’s organizers, had difficulty deciding on this month’s offering. Nevertheless, when the dust settled, they had chosen on the 2003 remake of The Italian Job starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland. “Great cast.” Laurie remarked in her email, “but in my opinion the superstars of the movie are the Mini Minor cars used in the heist.” I haven’t seen the film, but I too love these diminutive vehicles from the 1960s. Today’s bloated reincarnation of this classic car design is just plain sad. It’s about as close to a real Mini Cooper as HMY Britannia is to a Seadoo.
Laurie tells me that, even if you saw The Italian Job with Michael Cain, Noël Coward and Benny Hill, this 2003 American redux is well worth a watch. “Despite the shared title,” she told me, “the plot and characters of this film differ from the1969 British film.” The director, F. Gary Gray, described it as paying homage to the original.
If you’d like to join us on Saturday, November 19th, I’d recommend bringing your own favourite beverage… plus a comfy chair, or a cushion for one of the DRA’s folding seats. Admission is free, but a freewill donation jar will be available. The show starts at 7:00 pm.
Tickets almost gone
I keep being asked if tickets are still available for this year’s madcap “Music & Mayhem” revue, so I checked with the show’s producer/director, Rosemary Chatterson. Here’s the scoop, as of this writing (Sunday). “By last count, we had sold nearly two-thirds of the seats,” Rosemary wrote. “The matinees are both sold out, but there are still tickets left for the evening performances.” To purchase one, go to www.beyond21.org and click on the ‘Events’ tab.
Rosemary also wanted me to clear up a misconception about Beyond21’s online ‘box office’… you will not receive an e-ticket. You will get a follow-up email, but it’s only a receipt. On the day of your performance, all you need do is show up. Your name will be on an alphabetic checklist at the door.
Barn quilts of wood
Last Friday, I had the delight of seeing something entirely new… for me, at least. I had dropped in on honourary Dunveganites, Blair and Jean Williams, at their home on the 4th of Kenyon. The pieces of art struck me the moment I stepped out of the car, grabbing my eyeballs and refusing to let go. At first, I thought they were painted on the shed’s weathered wood wall, much like the colourful geometric patterns on the sides of old Pennsylvanian Dutch barns. Four different designs, each about three feet square. Each unique, but obviously of a family. Each brightly painted in bold primary colours.
Upon closer examination, though, it came clear that they were not just painted designs. They were fanciful picture frames that held oversize approximations of antique quilt patterns like Crown of Thorns, Grandmother’s Engagement Ring and Right Hand of Friendship. What made these ‘folk’ objets d’art unique is that the patterns were three-dimensional. Much like a Kumiko panel, the ancient Japanese latticework tradition used in Shoji screens and sliding doors.
When I asked Blair and Jean who the artist was behind this latest addition to their art collection, Blair raised his hand. He told me that he uses ‘found wood’ like window side rails and mullions and chair back spindles. But as the saying goes – one man’s trash is another’s treasure – and, in Blair’s hands, these humble materials are magically transformed.Appropriately, he has named the pieces of art: Barn Quilts. He also reminded me that his ‘quilts’ have a Dunvegan connection. The paints he uses came from Terry’s old furniture stripping shop. She carried a line of Canadian-made milk paints that she gifted to Blair and his sons when she cleaned out her former supply closet.
The wall that displays this art faces their house, which is probably a good thing. True, if they were on the road-facing wall, the world of passers-by would be able to appreciate it. However, there’s also a real risk a pair of Social Justice Warriors would want to glue themselves to the side of the Williams’ shed.
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