Put hot conference affair in rear-view mirror

Don’t delete organ concert tickets when scrubbing digital life

There is an organ in Germany that is playing one composition until 2640.

What’s billed as the world’s slowest concert features a piece by American composer John Cage, and was back in the news because it had its first chord change in two years. It’s already been playing for 25 years; only 614 more to go.

Organ music at the end of the world.

The real take-home for me, however, is the fact that there are already “inheritable” tickets for the final Sept. 4, 2640, event being sold for 2,640 euros (US$3,045).

Knit wit: self-taught knitter quit school, job to stitch together new career

It’s the coldest night of the year and inside a cosy North Kildonan cafe, knitter Janine Myska is spinning her yarn.

Not the woolly kind, as one might expect from an expert knitter, but the proverbial sort that details exactly how the charming, 24-year-old Winnipeg entrepreneur went from crafting simple tuques on a loom to operating her own successful online-based knitwear and pattern company.

Seated at a table for two, Myska sets forth that her flourishing company, Knits N’ Knots — knitsnknots.ca. — got off the ground three years ago when the then-21-year-old was a student of Food Science at the University of Manitoba. Around that time, her mother bestowed upon her a plastic, circular knitting loom on which she speedily churned out roughly 50 simple woolly tuques.

“They turned out really nice,” recalls the milliner, who instantly began posting photographs of the double-brim toques on her Instagram account for all of her 20 followers to admire. (Her first @knitsnknotswpg Instagram post on Feb. 18, 2016 shows her sporting a chunky white tuque with a large pom-pom and black stripe; it garnered 109 “likes.”)

Free Press Field Trips

The Free Press is hitting the road this summer — back roads, primarily — in search of little gems of stories from small-town Manitoba.

Four years on, future of 24 Sussex uncertain

OTTAWA - Nearly four years after Justin Trudeau opted not to move into the prime minister's official residence over concerns about its crumbling state, the building remains vacant — except for staff who continue to use the kitchen to prepare meals for Trudeau and his family.

And it appears no decisions will be made on the future of the residence until well after the fall federal election.

The federal Conservatives accuse the Trudeau government of dithering over "critical" upgrades to the stately yet run-down home, and needlessly costing taxpayers more money in the process.

At the same time, none of the main federal party leaders appears willing to opine on whether the building should be torn down or renovated, or whether they would live in the residence if it were upgraded.

Refugees share stories of escape from their homelands and triumphs in their new land

Images of Syrian refugees desperate to get to a safe place have the rest of the world wondering what is going to happen to those people.

Where will they go? What will become of them? Decades later, what stories will they have to tell?

Six Winnipeggers who were forced to flee their home countries over the last 70 years share their personal stories — of tragedy and triumph — of coming to Canada. We asked them five questions:

What and why you were fleeing? What, if any, were the dangers of the journey? What has been your experience since coming to Canada? What does it mean to contribute to Canadian society? What are your thoughts on Canada’s immigration policies? They share their personal journeys and their thoughts on the dire situation in Syria. (Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.)

‘I’m incredibly honoured and humbled to represent the Black community’

The magnitude of becoming Manitoba's first Black cabinet minister didn't sink in until the eve of Audrey Gordon's swearing-in.

"It struck me that we were going to, as a community, achieve such an amazing milestone and goal," the Southdale MLA said Tuesday during her first scrum as the minister for mental health, wellness and recovery.

In 2019, the Progressive Conservative was one of three Blacks elected to the Manitoba legislature, including New Democrats Uzoma Asagwara and Jamie Moses.

She made history Tuesday when Premier Brian Pallister appointed her to the newly created mental health portfolio.