Yesterday evening I met up with a Winnipeg legend of sorts. For many years Ed Ackerman has been considered an irritant for several Winnipeggers. I found him to be rather interesting and certainly an avid conversationalist! At first I didn’t realize who I was talking to until later in the evening when I returned home and put two and two together. Ackerman is an animator, cinematographer, director, activist and in more recent years, a man on a mission. He is no stranger to the Canadian legal system having gone to court for a variety of reasons, suing many and finding himself on the losing end of several battles over his three properties which were all demolished several years ago – due to their dilapidated state. Ed and I talked about many things; topics that covered religion, the universe, the state of Winnipeg along with several jokes thrown in throughout. Needless to say, he’s quick witted and full of unique insights.

The conversation developed an additional layer when his friend Yvette joined us. She was pure electricity. The photo I show of her does not do justice to the eccentric nature of her personality. She’s a piano player (a good one from what I gathered) and from what I could tell, a master at accents. She would quickly change her voice to suit the conversation – which was both bizarre and brilliant. When her and Ed talked, it was like witnessing two lightning bolts blasting back and forth. This was one moment I should have finally tried out the video feature on my M240 because photos aren’t enough to express this conversation. In fact, I was so engaged with what they were saying, I barely touched my camera for the time we spent talking on the sidewalk.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked; get it? ;)