Spring to Life, Sunday 27 April, 2008

*We are pleased to announce that thanks to the generous donations from this workshop, we were able to donate $75 to the Venus Envy Bursary Fund.

Session 1 - 1:30- 3:00

a) Heal thy self: Herbal remedies
The workshop will cover herbal medicine and its uses, including how to use different plants - infusions, decoctions, tinctures, and oils. Participants will also learn about how an alcohol-based tincture is made.

Julie Allard has studied herbal medicine in Montreal and is currently a social work student at Carleton University. She is interested in alternative health within a social justice context.

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b) RAW: Putting dinner on the table - a Raw Asian dinner party
FULL

This workshop will teach you how to make raw appetizers, sides and an entrée. We’re going beyond making a basic salad here! By the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to make a quick and healthy raw dinner consisting of tasty no-rice sushi, a marinated salad and a delicious Asian “noodle” dish. This workshop will also explain the health benefits of the raw lifestyle, the basic ‘rules’ and provide you with tips on how to incorporate more living foods into your diet.

*Allergy warning: Unfortunately there will be a large amount of nuts used in this workshop.

Ben Kaelan René is a Fine Arts graduate of the Ottawa School of Art whose creativity isn’t limited to the studio; it happens in the kitchen too! He became vegan 8 years ago and has been transitioning to raw-veganism over the course of the last year. His passion for veggie culinary arts prompted him to lead his own online cooking club on vegsource.com and start his own vegan cooking blog: A decadent conspiracy. His approach to the raw lifestyle focuses primarily on harnessing the healing power of raw-foods and promoting detoxification.

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c) Chains and grease: Softcore bike repair

FULL

The workshop will focus on the basics of keeping your bike clean and healthy. We will review the parts of a bike and the elements of a safe-bike check. Participants will learn how to clean their chain, fix a flat tire, and adjust their seat and handle height. No prior bike-repair knowledge is required, but bringing your bike is ideal!

Sam McGavin has been a dedicated urban cyclist for ten years, and started learning about bike repair shortly afterwards when she was too broke to visit a mechanic. She thinks fixing bikes is great for getting to know your bike better, being thrifty, being safe, and feeling like a sexy grease-monkey mama.

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Session 2 - 3:00 - 4:30

a) Catch your breath - Yoga at home
Although company is stronger than willpower, setting aside even a few minutes for personal practice at home can deepen your experience of yoga. We will start the workshop with a discussion of bandhas and breathing, as well as considerations for setting up a space. We'll then move through two sequences of postures, one energizing and one relaxing, with suggestions for modifications. Wear comfortable clothes and bring a mat (if you don't have a mat - let us know when you register and we can find you one)

Megan Butcher has been practicing yoga for just over two years, mostly in the Hatha and Ashtanga traditions. She is not a trained instructor; she just really wants to share the joy. When she's not breathing, she is also a librarian and a writer: you can read about her occasionally salacious life at: asteroideapress.com.

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b) RAW: Make me something sweet to eat - Raw decadent desserts
FULL
Leave your easy-bake ovens at home! We’re going to make decadent desserts that are also good for you. These desserts will be devoid of dairy, eggs, sugar, flour and heat but not devoid of taste. Recipes covered include raw-date squares, tasty chocolate-nutty cups, and a raw-some chocolate mousse dessert. We’ll also learn how to make a killer virgin chocolate martini!

*Allergy warning: Unfortunately there will be a large amount of nuts used in this workshop.

Ben Kaelan René is a Fine Arts graduate of the Ottawa School of Art whose creativity isn’t limited to the studio; it happens in the kitchen too! He became vegan 8 years ago and has been transitioning to raw-veganism over the course of the last year. His passion for veggie culinary arts prompted him to lead his own online cooking club on vegsource.com and start his own vegan cooking blog: A decadent conspiracy. His approach to the raw lifestyle focuses primarily on harnessing the healing power of raw-foods and promoting detoxification.

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C) Chains and grease - Hardcore bike repair
FULL

The workshop will focus on brakes and gears. Participants will learn how to tighten and adjust their brakes, replace brake pads, and make minor derailleur adjustments. Time permitting, we will touch on bottom brackets and cable replacement. Although this workshop will be "hardcore", there are no prerequisites besides a willingness to get your hands dirty. Bring your bike if you can.

Stefan Reinecke has been a four-season urban cyclist and periodic mountain biker since he was 14. He was an active member of Recycles Cycles in Kitchener-Waterloo, a community bike workshop where he fixed old abandoned bikes and helped people work on their own bikes. Stefan believes bicycles are: gorgeous, a tool of liberation, and a crapload of fun.

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160 Workshop Series III

Ill Communication- February 24th

160 Workshop Series- Ill Communication

Sunday, February 24th, 2008
1pm-5pm

Take your pick of A-C for the 130pm-3pm timeslot.

A) Video for Virgins: Start Out Shooting PART 1/2
FULL!

This workshop will teach you to videotape and edit a short segment on any topic, from spoof ad, to mini-dramatic moment, to reportage, to poetic collage, to music video, to how to capture those special "moments" with friends and family...whatever you can dream up and execute in 1.5 hours!

In Part I, you'll learn a) the basics of framing and composition, using natural light, b) how to use a mic to improve audio quality, and c) the basics to get a good picture. Your own video camera welcome, but not required.

Ron Evans, who will be leading Part I, has been dabbling in film and video since the mid 1960's starting with Super8 film and progressing through VHS, Hi8, DV and now HDV. His main hobby is shooting archive video with several cameras for local theatre and dance groups. Now retired from his 9-5 job, he has been finding time to make a splash on the Ottawa video scene.

Cathy Edwards, who was instrumental in coming up with the Video for Virgins workshop, has been making fiction and non-fiction films and videos since 1988. She has won regional and national awards, including best news magazine on cable TV in Canada. She's currently working on a six-part documentary series for Canadian Learning TV, Access, and PBS about community TV around the world. You can find her on the web at: www.timescape.ca.


B) Cutting and Pasting Just Got Fun: Intro to Photoshop
FULL!

This workshop will introduce participants to many of the basic tools available to edit your photos in Photoshop and create creative digital artworks. Learn how to balance colours, patch up problem backgrounds or foregrounds, add entirely new layers to your photos and cut and paste like you never imagined. This can be useful for those who want to spice up posters, flyers or art projects more generally.

Jenn Farr is an Ottawa-based artist and event-organizer extraordinaire. In her spare time, she also works for a leading international human rights organization and spends copious amounts of time with those she loves.


C) Fill in the Blanks: Blogs 101
7 Spots Left...

This workshop will introduce participants to the basics in designing and maintaining a blog. By the end of the workshop, participants will know how to set up a blog, add photos, text and video, in addition to linking to other blogs/websites.

Darryl Leroux has been a blogger for a year. He believes that one day we'll live in a radically different world, one that feels much more than the one we currently inhabit. Lost in this dream, he talks to people he doesn't know (and many he does) about surfing, taxidermy and the cost of fresh fruit in 1603.
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Take your Pick of A-C for the 3pm-430pm timeslot.


A) Video Virgins: Intro to editing PART 2 /2
FULL!

This workshop will teach you to videotape and edit a short segment on any topic, from spoof ad, to mini-dramatic moment, to reportage, to poetic collage, to music video, to how to capture those special "moments" with friends and family...whatever you can dream up and execute in 3 hours!

In Part II, you'll learn to upload your shots to a laptop and edit them with Adobe Premiere. Your own laptop welcome but not required.

Carolyn Lecorre, who will be leading Part II, has been working as a video editor for the past four years, lending her skills to corporate, governmental and TV productions, including a youth series, Mon premier emploi (My First Job), which is currently playing on TFO. She has also worked at the University of Ottawa where she taught video editing to students taking Video I and Electronic Journalism courses. She studied audiovisual media in Stuttgart, Germany, at the Fachhochschule Stuttgart - Hochschule der Medien (Stuttgart Media University) and has a Bachelor's degree in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University in Toronto. She keeps learning everyday about her craft and aspires to direct her own documentary someday.


B) Talk With Your Hands: Intro to Sign Language
4 Spots Left...

This workshop will explore such things as basic alphabet and counting systems in American Sign Language (ASL). Participants will have ample opportunity to practice and move during the workshop in order to develop their abilities. By the end of it, participants will be able to ask simple questions and respond accordingly (and maybe add a few key swear words too!)

Alan Jeans is a professional actor, a director, playwright, musician and theatre teacher. He began learning sign language in his teens in order to converse with his deaf aunt, uncle, and cousins. Recently, he has been learning sign language on a more formal level at Canadian Hearing Society and Algonquin College where he has completed level 5 of 8 toward ASL certification.


c) How-to HTML (and a little CSS to make it interesting)
4 Spots Left...

This workshop will focus on easy HTML and CSS on a budget. You will be introduced to free tools (freeware and free software) and simple techniques that will get you coding on your own without investing in high-end design software. You will learn techniques for building your own stand-alone site and/or for marking up your contributions to message boards or social networking sites, and get a modest theoretical grounding in what is going on under the hood in more complicated Web design software. At the end of the workshop, you will have created a tiny Web page with your own content which conforms to modern standards.

In his circuitous path to becoming a health statistician, Eric Hortop learned about Web design as a young entrepreneur (starting back when blink tags were cool), and studied communications and digital and traditional print techniques (where he first met Beth S. in the late 1990's!) along with a fair bit of math at Dawson College and Concordia University in Montreal. His media-building interests lean toward semantic coding, free software and nice readable fonts. He lives in Hull with singer-songwriter-pianist Elizabeth Bruce and his cat Noisette.