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- Bringing local living to KW: Juliana Gomez
  
  Posted at 8:15 am by Red leather booth, on August 20, 2015
  #LiveLocalKW – September 13-19, 2015
  
  So you live in Kitchener-Waterloo; work in Kitchener-Waterloo; and play in Kitchener-Waterloo. Then you are just who Juliana Gomez is looking for.
  
  She wants you to be part of LiveLocalKW during the week of September 13-19, 2015: a one-week challenge where people pledge to eat, shop and play local.
  
  “This is a great chance to grow our sense of community and belonging,” says Juliana. “I really want people to think about the role they can play in their city and intentionally connect with their region and all it offers,” she says.
  
  Tweets from last year’s #livelocalKW challenge
  
  In its second year, the idea initially came to Juliana when she was thinking about what she would tweet about if she ever got to take over the community-hosted Twitter account @peopleofkw. “I thought it would be cool to document a week where I ate, shopped and played local,” she said. “Then I thought, ‘Why don’t I get a bunch of people to do this with me?’ And the idea has grown from there.”
  
  Last year, 150 people pledged to participate for the live local week and 47 businesses offered incentives and discounts to participants. This year, Juliana is hoping to triple those numbers. You can commit to the #livelocalKW week online (I did and it takes about 30 seconds to sign up).
  
  “I hope that this initiative will support our local businesses and feed our local economy and culture,” she says. “But on a more deeper level, I genuinely believe we live happier lives when we feel a sense of community and belonging and this event can help move us in that direction.” Juliana sees this as an opportunity to create and nurture connections between people, businesses and organizations and a way to highlight that we all have an important role to play in our community.
  
  Juliana Gomez, creator of #LiveLocalKW
  
  Keeping the community connections strong, Juliana has arranged a pay-it-forward incentive called “Twoonies for Cheating.” If you happen to forget to shop local during your pledge week, you will be encouraged to donate $2 in support of FoodLink, a not-for-profit connecting Waterloo Region to local food.
  
  So, what can you do? Pledge and #livelocalKW during the week of September 13-19. In the meantime, encourage others to sign up—both K-Dubbers and businesses—and start some social conversations about living local. And if you really can’t participate, then make a feel-good donation to Foodlink. It’s good for you, and your community.
  
  P.S. Juliana’s favorite topic of conversation: stories about people’s lives.
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  Posted in LiveLocalKW challenge | 4 Comments | Tagged #livelocalKW, Kitchener, Waterloo
- Woodland creatures: animal bench bombs
  
  Posted at 8:27 pm by Red leather booth, on July 16, 2013
  The lady and the squirrel
  
  Woodland creature circle at the entrance of the Athletic Club
  
  This morning on the way the gym, still blurry-eyed from my 5:30 am alarm, I caught a quick glimpse of some woodland creatures nestled in the foliage at the entrance of the gym parking lot. Too cute to resist, I pulled over for a closer look.
  
  This critter montage was an early morning delight. Some clever soul decided woodland creatures set amongst the Ira Needles mega-store garden and benches would dazzle drivers on their way to the Athletic Club. It did.
  
  Bench creatures
  
  I don’t know who set up this animal bench bomb or if these creatures were gathered by illicit means, but this little tableau met my art quotient for the day. Thanks animal bench bomber.
  
  Have you ever discovered a surprising art bomb in your neighbourhood? What was it?
  
  43.464258 -80.520410
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  Posted in Art, Installation art, Waterloo Region | 0 Comments | Tagged animal bench bombs, tableau, Waterloo, woodland creatures
- Drawing history: Scott Chantler
  
  Posted at 8:45 am by Red leather booth, on March 7, 2013
  Cartoonist Scott Chantler*
  
  Award-winning cartoonist, Scott Chantler, is a visual storyteller with a passion for history. “History provides us with a catalogue of interesting human drama, which is all the more compelling because it’s true,” says Scott. “Looking back at how people lived offers a goldmine of material.”
  
  And history has offered up a lot of fodder for Scott’s artistic brain. He has written an historical adventure, The Northwest Passage; a graphic memoir, Two Generals, based on his grandfather’s experience in WWII; and a fantasy series called Three Thieves. He is currently at work on the fourth book in the series, due out next year.
  
  Having avoided the mainstream superhero comic scene, Scott lives outside of the stereotypical comic book world, which mostly caters to existing character fans (a la Spider-Man or Wolverine). “My goal was to cast as wide a net as possible with my work,” says Scott. “I wanted to go beyond the realm of “geek” or “fandom” to reach people who simply like to read and appreciate comics.”
  
  From school-aged kids to seniors, Scott’s work is read by a wide audience; from regular comic book readers to people who are new to the medium. His work seems to be something of gateway drug for readers. “I can’t tell you how many people have said mine was their first graphic novel,” says Scott. “It’s wonderful to hear and I am happy to be an ambassador for the art form.”
  
  While busy at work on his forthcoming book and a screenplay project he can’t yet speak about, later this month, Scott’s graphic non-fiction book, Two Generals, will be the feature of a new exhibit at the City of Waterloo Museum. The work of his comic will be brought to life with relics from his grandfather’s WWII experiences along with a suite of rare Canadian comic books on display. “I love it when an opportunity comes along to reach non-comic book readers,” he says.
  
  You can meet Scott in the flesh on March 15 (2-4pm) at the City of Waterloo Museum where he’ll be talking about his book and how awesome comics are. You can also read his musings on Twitter.
  
  P.S. Scott’s favourite topic of conversation: anything a well-read person will talk to him about, except sports.
  
  *photo: Peter Bregg
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  Posted in Books, Comic book, Exhibits, Graphic novel, Museum, Waterloo Region, Writing | 0 Comments | Tagged cartoonist, City of Waterloo Museum, Graphic novel, history, Kitchener, Waterloo, Waterloo Region
- Stirring up a big pot of culture soup: Randolph J. Johnston
  
  Posted at 7:11 pm by Red leather booth, on February 15, 2013
  Tune your radio dial to CKWR 98.5FM every Thursday evening to listen to Culture Soup, where RJ (Randy) Johnston chats with local artists and champions of the arts about the interesting things they are up to in Waterloo Region.
  
  RJ (Randy) Johnston in the CKWR studio
  
  First airing a year ago, RJ and then co-host Tammy Wrice, launched the show to shine a light on the often underappreciated talent in the region. “I’ve been amazed at the photographers, sculptors, actors, musicians, painters, tattoo artists, welders and arts administrators who have been incredibly forthcoming about what makes them tick,” he says. “We find that fascinating and hope our listeners do too.” Recently, local artist Jennifer Gough has joined RJ as co-host.
  
  Culture Soup is on top of his day job as the host of CKWR’s midday show, coincidentally called Midday with RJ, which he landed by accident. CKWR is mostly run by volunteers and a few years ago he took over the time slot from someone who had hosted the show for 50 years. “I’d never done a live radio show before, nor was I remotely familiar with the studio technology,” he says. “What I did have was strong ties to the community and a willingness to make mistakes in an effort to make the show as accessible to listeners as possible. It was a steep learning curve, but it’s the best gig I’ve ever had.”
  
  Being part of a community radio station means he works with a team of passionate volunteers who have a dedication to making the station flourish. “We’re able to deal with our listeners directly and honestly, and we’re allowed to use our best judgement about programming, which is a valuable commodity in any workplace,” he says. “And CKWR is a phenomenal platform for cultural promotion which is really important to me.”
  
  RJ’s other project: The Rando Bando
  
  Like lots of entertainers, RJ is a bit of man-about-town in the arts world. He is an actor, musician, writer, director, producer and auctioneer. Having been a regular guest host on Roger’s Daytime, he is often asked to host community events such as the KW Arts Awards, which is the kind of thing he loves to do. His recent focus has been his musical project, The Rando Bando, a musical comedy group for hire.
  
  Reach out to RJ if you want to talk on air about your latest art project. He’d be happy to hear from you.
  
  P.S. You can listen to a Midday with RJ clip from on location in New Orleans.
  
  P.P.S. RJ’s favourite topics of conversation: language (how words are altered, adapted and interpreted) and the diversity and evolution of birds. (Yes, birds).
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  Posted in Art, Culture, Radio, Waterloo Region | 0 Comments | Tagged CKWR, Culture Soup, Kitchener, volunteer, Waterloo, Waterloo Region
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