Coco Avant Chanel

I caught this biopic about famed French designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971) at a packed RPL Theatre last night. It stars French actress Audrey Tautou as Chanel, and focuses on the early part of her life. It begins, in fact, with her being dropped off with her sister at a convent at age ten. Raised from that point by nuns (whose austere black habits very definitely influenced her stripped down approach to fashion later in life), Chanel and her sister became cabaret performers after leaving the convent. Both caught the eye of French aristocrats, and lived for a time as kept women. Because of their low social standing, they were not considered to be marriage material, however, and Coco eventually spurned her lover and established herself as a much-sought-after hat and dressmaker in Paris where she began to build her fashion empire. Overall, definitely a film worth seeing, both from a fashion perspective, and for the insight it offers into the class system that existed in pre-WWI Europe. When the 2010 Academy Award nominations are announced Coco Avant Chanel should receive consideration for Best Foreign Language Film. It should also, unfortunately, be a shoo-in for a Hackademy Award (USA Today). Yeah, for that generation of women, smoking was a sign of rebellion. And Chanel was certainly a rebel. But to reinforce that I'm not sure it was necessary to show Tautou with a cigarette in practically every scene. Beauty, fashion, romance and cigarettes--overall, a pretty intoxicating mix. Anyway, here's the trailer for the film which plays tonight at the RPL at 9:15 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. (YouTube)

RPL Open House

I posted something on this last week, then e-mailed the RPL for confirmation and never heard back from them. Received an e-mail from another source today saying that there will be a drop-in open house Wednesday Aug. 19 from 1-5 p.m. at Central Library to discuss progress that's been made on plans for an expanded downtown library. The announcement is framed in terms of an invite to Regina Public Library Stakeholders. I assume that means everyone, but these days it's hard to be sure, as some people/organizations apparently hold bigger stakes in public facilities and policy issues than others. Why else would they receive direct invitations, while others, like prairie dog, only learn of things through word of mouth?


UPDATE FROM WHITWORTH, 2:20 P.M. : I have a call out to the Library and will report back on what this thing is before the end of the day. Is it innocent? Is it sinister? We'll soon find out!

WHITWORTH UPDATE: 2:24 P.M. Amazing what can be cleared up with a phone call. There's no conspiracy, it's an open-to-the-public drop-in. I am told we were definitely sent a media notice (which I can't find). I'll post more details when I have them officially, which will be later this afternoon.

RPL Update

Things have been kind of quiet with respect to the central library expansion since the initiative was first announced this spring. Until July 31, the RPL has this on-line survey operating to gather further input.