The "Shape-ups" challenge

Recently, a good friend of mine introduced me to her new Sketchers “Shape-ups.”

They are specially designed running shoes that apparently work out a person’s legs, butt and core without the hassle of a regular workout.

She swears she can feel herself “getting into shape” just by walking around everyday. I – on the other hand – am quite skeptical of the actual benefits of the shoes.

Therefore, I decided to conduct an experiment…

I purchased a pair of “Shape-ups” sandals (which set me back about $60). I will wear them every single day for one month. My job at MPI involves a lot of walking around, so it will provide what I feel is a fairly accurate representation of their effectiveness.

Throughout the month, I will blog when I notice anything report-worthy. At the end of the month, I will decide if the shoes are legitimate or simply another gimmick designed to convince women they could look fantastic with minimal effort.

Sorry, Sketchers. I’m going to try to call your bluff…

Stay tuned.

Experiencing the carnage firsthand

On my first day at Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), I was taken to the main car lot on Plessis Avenue in Winnipeg.

We were on our way to my first event of the season, but my supervisor wanted to drive me through the lot first. She said it was an experience I wouldn’t forget, and something every new MPI employee should see.

And she was definitely right…

The MPI car lot at Plessis is a never-ending jungle of mangled vehicles. When a vehicle is in a collision – and is written off – it ends up at the lot eventually. It is basically the final resting place where cars, vans, trucks and everything in between go to die after they have been deemed “un-drivable.”

As my supervisor drove through row after row of vehicle carnage, I looked in all directions and took in the scene around me. Windows were smashed, airbags were heaped in piles where they had deflated, and bumpers, trunks, doors and roofs were bent in a plethora of unnatural angles. I could tell where a person’s head hit a windshield in one vehicle, and I knew someone had been thrown out a window in another.

But what disturbed me more than anything were the vehicles that had “blood” written on them in red marker.

Everything in the lot is auctioned off, which means MPI must be up-front and honest about the condition of what someone will be purchasing. Some collisions – as we all know – are fatal. Sometimes they are messy. When that happens, the employees at the lot write blood on the vehicle so potential buyers know exactly what they are getting into.

As part of my job, I travel around Manitoba and teach junior high and high school students about the importance of wearing a seat belt. I wish I could drive each and every one of them through the lot so they are able to witness the devastation firsthand.

I bet it would scare a few more kids into wearing his or her seat belt. I bet it would also make a few people think twice about drinking and driving or behaving like a jerk on the road.

Hopefully I will never see a vehicle of someone I know in that lot. It’s not a place where you want your car to end up…

Thin Air 2011 presents Peter Robinson in Winnipeg

INTERNATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED CRIME WRITER, PETER ROBINSON, PERFORMS IN WINNIPEG

WINNIPEG – May 26, 2011 – The Winnipeg International Writers Festival is pleased to announce that Peter Robinson, creator of the Inspector Banks novels, will appear on stage at the CanWest Global Performing Arts Centre (MTYP) on Saturday, June 11, at 8:00 p.m. The evening includes an extended reading from his newest novel, Bad Boy, as well as live music and an on-stage interview with Festival Director Charlene Diehl.

Robinson was born in Yorkshire, England—the setting for his Inspector Banks novels—but has been based in Canada since coming here to attend graduate school. Over the past two dozen years, he has published nineteen novels in the Banks series, and his work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the prestigious Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, the Edgar Award, Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Award, and several Arthur Ellis best novel awards. In 2002 he was awarded the Dagger in the Library by the British Crime Writers Association. In 2006 he was invited to join the exclusive and prestigious Detection Club, founded in 1928 by a group of mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton.

In Bad Boy, released by McClelland & Stewart in 2010, Banks’ daughter is spirited away by a terrifying young psychopath. Like his other novels, this one has been met with raves from both critics and readers. A reviewer from the Toronto Sun puts it this way: “If you like intelligent mysteries and love a good read, join me as new inductees in the Peter Robinson/Alan Banks fan club. It will be well worth our while.”

THIN AIR presents Peter Robinson:

Date: Saturday, June 11, 2011

Time: 8:00 p.m.

Location: CanWest Global Performing Arts Centre at The Forks

Tickets: $35, $30 for THIN AIR Club Card holders

Books: Available at McNally Robinson Booksellers or www.thinairwinnipeg.ca

About Thin Air

In September each year, Winnipeg welcomes writers from Canada and around the world for a week of readings, lectures, interviews, conversations, book launches and other events. That week of literary feasting—which reaches out into the rural areas of the province as well—is THIN AIR, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival. With programming for adults and children, in English and French, THIN AIR is an infusion of energy into the thriving literary culture of this city.

For more information about THIN AIR, visit www.thinairwinnipeg.ca

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For further information, please contact:

Winnipeg International Writers Festival

204.927.7323

info@thinairwinnipeg.ca

A new office sparks new creativity

It’s funny how something as simple as an office can make me feel creative again.

The first time I walked into the Thin Air office on the sixth floor of the ArtSpace Building, I knew I had found a new home.

The sunny and open office is painted blue, and large, old-fashioned windows let in the sounds of the Exchange District below.

There is a table, a minimal kitchen area and a coffee maker surrounding the entrance.

A bookshelf that almost reaches the ceiling is used as an office divider, and I was delighted to note that I have read quite a few of the novels on the shelf.

I can’t quite figure out why, but every time I am inside the office I feel inspired to start writing another novel. The process of writing a book is a long, occasionally tedious but always enjoyable task that I have longed to repeat since I put down my pen last September.

The Thin Air office feels like the place I will use to start writing again. I’ve already started working on the plot, and hopefully I’ll have something started by the end of summer.

I love finding new and inspiring places to write. It makes life so much more interesting…