Happy New Year!! We hope that 2022 is a year of growth, strength, and opportunity for our team and the community. With the new year comes new changes, and whether positive or negative, we will work through them together!
Regarding the latest Covid-19 restrictions, we, unfortunately, have to postpone our Sinai Sessions fundraiser that was originally to take place on January 16th. For now, we don’t have a new date in mind, but we will continue to monitor the situation and hopefully reschedule for a time in February. Rest assured with the extra planning time, we will be able to put on an even more exciting event! We will continue to make updates on our social media accounts when we have a better idea of when we can proceed.
We have also made the decision to make Dandelion Diaries a bi-monthly newsletter meaning the next one after this will be released in March. With this change, we will have more updates to share for each newsletter and we don’t have to hound the Dandelion team for recommendations every month! There is only so much media our team can consume before we run out of recommendations. We hope this bi-monthly adjustment will make for more exciting and engaging newsletters that feature new recommendations and more community content! If we feel we have more to say or you miss hearing from us every month, we can change back to monthly with no problem at all! Let us know what you think!
Recommendations:
Here you can find recommendations from Dandelion’s team members! Each diary will include a new list of our updated favourites! Have you watched or read something that you think we should know about? Shoot us a message on our facebook, instagram, or twitter with your recommendations!
The Break by Katherena Vermette
“This is a fantastic book that I had the privilege to read in an undergraduate class and have recently returned to because it’s one of my favourites. The novel is written by an Indigenous writer that explores themes of family, generational trauma, and violence against women. The story follows a family going through a tragic event as they try to uncover the mystery of how it happened and who did it. I will be honest and say that it is a heavy read with graphic content, so proceed with caution. The Break, though tragic, is a beautifully written story with so much tender love and care. This book is incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking - I read it more than a year ago for the first time, thought about it almost every day since, and now rereading it again I am finding new things to think and reflect on. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a meaningful read this new year!” - Emily Doucette (Managing Director)
Don't Look Up
“I had been anticipating this one for a while, as I’m sure a lot of people were. The cast list alone is enough to warrant a watch with 9 Oscars (and countless nominations) between them, and Adam McKay’s directorial style has proven very striking and effective in depicting a certain heightened view of capitalistic society. I was surprised when the film was largely maligned by critics, because it struck a serious chord with me emotionally and artistically. It watches like something of a “Doctor Strangelove” of the environmental crisis, with an impressive range of characters playing through vignettes in a startlingly believable and horrifying apocalyptic setting. Leonardo DiCaprio as always steals the show, with Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill and Timothy Chalamet providing hilarious and grounded supporting performances. Meryl Streep and Mark Rylance provide wonderful antitheses to DiCaprio and Lawrence’s scientists, and their experience shines through. You can’t help but watch them. Anchored by impressively seasoned performances, this film has a feeling of controlled chaos as we watch our world fall prey to petty divisions in the face of a highly avoidable, yet nonetheless catastrophic event. Adam McKay’s visual style is deliberately jarring and highly memorably, taking us on a depressing and stylish tour of the end of days.” - Max Ackerman (Artistic Director)
Parks and Recreation
“Reviewing a show that came out in 2009??? Listen, it’s been a stressful time to be alive I can’t handle the unknown twists and turns of a new tv show, I must re-watch old comforting ones. And the best one to re-watch non-stop: Parks and Recreation! Because Amy Poehler is a treasure! It is seven seasons of lovely mockumentary style friendship-based comfort! In its first season it starts off seeming like it’s trying to be The Office (as it is produced by the same people) but after that first season it really becomes its own entity and I think it really gets good at the third season!
I have forced many a person to watch it, specific shoutout to Emily (woohoo!!!) who just started watching it herself, so you can rest assured that this review is proofed by more than a few people. So basically, if you’re one of the few wierdos who haven’t watched this 2009 sitcom…what are you waiting for its 2022!! Get on it!” - Reid Martin (Outreach Coordinator)
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