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issue 7 . Winter 2000
December hours
Monday 11:00 - 6:00
Tuesday 11:00 - 6:00
Wednesday 11:00 - 8:00
Thursday 11:00 - 8:00
Friday 11:00 - 8:00
Saturday 10:00 - 6:00
Sunday 1:00 - 6:00
Art and the Artists
December - Tracey Kornblum
Tracy works on many different surfaces, but this show comprises mostly glass. In these pieces, she incorporates rich vibrant colours and reflective surfaces, recycled windows and other found materials, and features female and floral forms.
Opening: December 5, 6:00-7:30
January - Corrine Gorlick
"Phenomenal Women": Works in ink and watercolor and perhaps oils too.
February - Heather B. Watts
Now raising kids at home after being on the road as a musician, Heather says she uses painting to "escape in a creative way." She employs images of cakes and chairs to describe emotions or states of being, and her work blends rich complementary colours and textured 3D surfaces.
March - kim dawn
"swollen lines": kim will be exhibiting work that deals with the perversions hidden within the playful. She explores different media and plays with images both childlike and disturbing; attractive and repellent.
Opening March 6, 6:00-7:30
Community Events
December 9
Halifax Women's Dance. 8:30 pm - 1:00 am at the Halifax Civic Workers
Club on the corner of Bloomfield and Isleville. $7 in advance and $9 at
the door. Tickets available at Entitlement, Reflections, and Venus Envy.
Proceeds to charity. Must be 19.
Annual General meeting of the Midwifery Coalition 2:30-4:30pm. Community room at the Barrington Street Superstore. Call 429-5112 for more info.
December 15
Momentum - a dance work in progress by Sally Morgan. 8pm. at the Khyber
Club. $5
December 16
Owls (Older and Wiser Lesbians) Solstice Celebration. 7pm at the YWCA on
Barrington Street.
For more info call 889-9026 or 443-2775
December 17
1st Annual Dandelion Cafe Holiday Charity Auction. A benefit for the
AIDS Coalition, Manna for Health, and Youth Challenge International. 8pm
to midnight, $5. For info call 422-4116
Every Tuesday
Amy Campbell from Stumble plays at the Dandelion Cafe every Tuesday
evening. More info @ www.stumble.ca.
New Reading Group
Starting in January, Megan from Venus Envy will be leading a women's reading group at the Big Life Cafe on Blowers Street. The theme to start will be "Women writing desire." The first book the group will be reading is By the Light of My Father's Smile by Alice Walker (see review below). Members are asked to bring book suggestions to the first meeting in January. Please contact Megan at books@venusenvy.ca to reserve a space. Meetings to be held at 6:30pm on the last Monday of each month
Book Review
Alice Walker. By the Light of My Fathers's Smile
I opened By the Light of my Father's Smile expecting vintage Alice. You know, the Alice Walker of Possessing the Secret of Joy or Temple of My Familiar. Well, I was in for a surprise. A big, wonderful, fantastic surprise.
It is hard not to become totally immersed in this book. It's one of those reading experiences where you get in the tub, stretch out on the beach, or relax on the couch on a rainy day and simply tune everything else out. Unplug the phone. Don't answer your doorbell. Because good ol' Alice is taking you for a ride like you wouldn't believe.
The opening scene includes some very raunchy sex between two women on an island in Greece, which undoubtedly was what first caught and held my attention (!). The main plot of the novel revolves around family grievance and forgiveness, especially between fathers and daughters (as you may have guessed by the title), mixed in with some soul mates, a magnificent Greek woman's personal history, international development politics and the afterlife. Oh, and don't forget love, True Love.
As in Walker's previous novels, it is difficult to determine what the main plot of the story is because we are whirled into so many subplots, each of which seems as important as the one summarized on the back cover. This involves a rash of characters who might be a challenge to keep straight, but I didn't find myself flipping back through pages already read to remind myself of who the characters were. Each person is important and memorable.
The mix of individual stories and ongoing narratives sometimes leaves the reader feeling some discontinuity that actually becomes almost comforting, and is certainly appropriate given the dimension-hopping we end up doing as a reader. As always, Walker manages to make you believe you are really there the sights, sounds, smells and feelings are so visceral that they are at times even overwhelming. You can smell olive trees, sand, hot sun in Greece. Part of the novel takes place in a remote mountain village in South America, where the main character spent her childhood with her parents, who were missionaries. The mist in the mountains, the smell of campfires and cooking, along with the feelings of hope perfectly countered with hopelessness in every person present in the village are present in every paragraph, every page.
Alice Walker spares no one. Her insights into her characters make them complex and believable; their heartaches and hopes are quickly absorbed as our own. No matter what irreproachable things any of the characters may do, we understand their motivations, their intentions. Rather than making the story a motionless blob of emotional goo, it clarifies the characters, making them seem more real, more knowable, not so unlike ourselves.
While certainly not the most influential book Alice Walker has ever penned having to compete with Color Purple and Temple it is now my favorite of hers. It shows a maturity of style that she was previously striving for and a continuity with her past works that only hints at the marvelous possibilities of what could come next. Walker has always readily grasped the magical as fodder for her stories, and this example is a masterful (or would it be mistressful?) Kneading together of love, truth, destiny and darn good sex. Go Alice go!
-Jen Bowers
Holiday Gift Suggestions
A quick list of great gift ideas for that special person on your list...
Body Bars
Melt this heavenly bar of cocoa butter, organic flax seed
oil, chocolate & essential
oils over your body. For massage, for dry skin, after shaving or after
pouring concrete, to
smooth on a pregnant belly or poor tired feet. Rich in nutrients to
feed your soul and soften
your skin. Flavours: vanilla cream, ginger belly, chocolate mandarin,
peppermint peace and
exotica. Melt it on and rub it in! $9.95.
From the Upper Canada Soap Company in great flavours (lime, raspberry, peach or watermelon):
- Whipped Body Cream Parfait
- his is a luxurious blend of velvety whipped creme and moisturizing gel. $14.95
- Exfoliating Bath Jam
- A yummy cleanser with apricot kernels to gently exfoliate your skin. $8.95
- Juicy Slice Fruit Soap
- They look and smell like big fruit candies! $3.50
Chocolate Body Paint
Cover your lover in chocolate and...well, you
know what to do next! Available in milk or dark chocolate and Irish Cream flavour. $14.95
Dotty and The Twister
Two new silicone vibes from Germany's Fun
Factory. Silky feel, bright
colours and fun new patterns make these great gift choices. $69.95
each.
Twinsu
A Japanese -made dual vibe with rotating pearl shaft plus an
attached wand. $119.95
We also carry a great selection of stocking stuffers: pocket vibes, flavoured and regular lube in fun pillow packs, flavoured and Japanese condoms, feathers, candles, massage oils, natural soaps, magazines, postcards and much more!
Web Site News
Check out the funky new look of Venus Envy online! Our web pages can be found at www.venusenvy.ca and www.venusenvy.ns.ca [not any more], and feature a new, fun, colourful look, as well as more info and more links to cool stuff. Our online catalogue is getting an overhaul as well, and will soon provide easy to use, secure online ordering of a bunch more stuff.
Venus Envy Ottawa
In January 2001, we are opening a second location of Venus Envy in Ottawa! The to-be- announced-soon location is a cozy spot in the Byward Market downtown. See the web site for progress reports and more information.
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