Issuu

Vol. 21 Issue. 2

www.ufvcascade.ca

January 16 â€“ 22, 2013

Whipping it out since 1993

E H T L L A ! 2 1 0 2 , T S BE

From movies to music, video games to restaurants, the best of 2012 is laid out in nostalgic fashion. p. 9-14 CIVL DJ finds second home at commercial station p. 3

Tasty morsels of opinion from our mouths to yours p. 9

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE Opinion

News

Arts & Life

Sports & Health

In life there are heroes and jerks, so why should sports be any different? Beau O’Neill discusses the idiots of the sports world so that the rest of us can laugh at them. Such is the price of fame, the lot of those who have achieved greatness only to take the high dive of scandal into the empty concrete pool of infamy.

Hard drive stolen with student SINs

Let’s get sentimental about art

MILF vs. cougar

Government loses a hard drive containing over 500,000 canadian students’ personal information, including Social Insurance Numbers, student debt levels and birthdays. The Imprint’s Erwin-Michael Melocoton at the University of Waterloo explains the situation.

Have you been roaming the halls of the art-infused C building? Well, maybe you should. Dessa Bayrock discusses how the prevalance of visual and multimedia art has turned her into someone who appreciates the intimacy it offers.

Should women be embracing the term MILF? Is it insulting, empowering, or just a moot point? Check out Discussions Below the Belt to find out the difference between a MILF and a “cougar,” what it means to be a MILF and if you should even care.

pg. 4

pg. 8

Sports jerks

pg. 15

pg. 19

GUEST EDITORIAL

THE CASCADE

I tweet. I’m not sure if that’s something I should be ashamed of or not because I know the voices of the Twitter naysayers. I know them well. I was one. Twitter? Isn’t that just a lesser Facebook where people essentially stalk celebrities’ photos about sandwiches? Don’t people just say stupid stuff like, “Just got a coffee. #lol #yolo”? Granted, there are a lot of foolish Twitter users out there and there are a lot of mundane posts, but there are also a lot of great ones. I joined Twitter because of two contributing factors: firstly, the peer pressure from working at a student newspaper got to me, and secondly, I wanted to read comedian Demetri Martin’s (@DemetriMartin) daily snippets of awesome. That was back in November 2011, and the following January I got to test my Twitter skills at the 74th Annual Canadian University Press (CUP) National Conference, or in Twitter-speak, #NASH74. I was wary, at first, immediately doubting the cleverness of a joke as soon as I hit “tweet.” It was vulnerable and terrifying, until I realized it was a lot like going to the gym. You think everyone’s going to be watching, but no one really does. As soon as you realize that, you have the freedom to do your own

Image: Amy Van Veen/The Cascade

@amyvanveen: Pajamas, Plato and PBR > gala-ing. #NASH75 thing. For some this may mean talking about that wicked Frappuccino, for others it may be talking about how hungover they are, but for me and #NASH74, it was about participating in a notable norovirus outbreak at a national student conference in Victoria. Over the last year I got to use

Twitter to share my inane musings, tell my measly number of followers every time something in life reminded me of something from 30 Rock and live-tweet viewings of movies such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Elf. And then around comes January and this year’s 75th Annual CUP

National Conference was held in Toronto. Thankfully no live coverage of a viral outbreak was recorded, but I was given the opportunity to try something new – note-taking via Twitter. With that handy #NASH75 in every tweet, I was able to spread the news about what I was learning at different seminars. As journalist and founder of Regret the Error blog Craig Silverman talked about how journalists can best decipher the truth from the lies in his “BS Detection” seminar, I tweeted his tips and tricks. As Esquire’s writer-at-large Chris Jones talked about his interview process for larger pieces such as “Things That Carried Him”—a story about the process of bringing one soldier’s body back to the U.S.—I tweeted for those not attending the standing-room-only session. As everyone got ready for the final gala and awards show, I sat in my pajamas and quoted Community’s Halloween zombie outbreak episode thanks to the little blue bird. Thanks to Twitter, people were able to attend as many sessions as they desired. Two speakers in one time block? No problem, Twitter’s got it. That person you networked with but forgot the name of? Twitter can help. Want to participate in an awards show but stay in your pajamas? Twitter’s there for you. I tweet. And it’s pretty awesome.

UPCOMING EVENTS Jan 9-20

Jan 17

Jan 19

Little orphan Annie

Idle No More

Writer-in-Residence Rex Wyler

Robbie Burns and Haggis Bash

Will the sun come out tomorrow? Will you bet your bottom dollar? Chilliwack School of Performing Arts will answer all your little orphan questions. To enjoy all the wonders of Annie at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre, contact boxoffice@ chilliwackculturalcentre. ca or 604-391-7469.

Ever come across an Idle No More news piece and want to know more? UFV’s Chilliwack Educational Park will be holding an educational forum on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Aboriginal Gathering Place. Guest speakers Joanne Gutierrez, Sakej Warden, Hamish Telford and Robert Harding will be there to answer questions about the grassroots movement.

Another year brings another writer-in-residence to UFV. Greenpeace International co-founder, writer and ecologist Rex Wyler will be speaking on the relationship between arts, culture and politics in terms of social change and activism. The event takes place Thursday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at U-House and will include refreshments.

Editor-in-chief nick@ufvcascade.ca Nick Ubels Managing editor amy@ufvcascade.ca Amy Van Veen Business manager joe@ufvcascade.ca Joe Johnson Online editor michael@ufvcascade.ca Michael Scoular Production manager stewart@ufvcascade.ca Stewart Seymour

Amy tweets (and that’s okay) AMY VAN VEEN

Volume 21 · Issue 2 Room C1027 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529

“Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race! Aboon them a’ ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy of a grace As lang’s my arm.” Join the 11th Annual Robbie Burns and Haggis Bash on January 19 at the Abbotsford Eagles Hall. For more information, contact 604-859-5405.

Art director anthony@ufvcascade.ca Anthony Biondi Copy editor joel@ufvcascade.ca Joel Smart News editor news@ufvcascade.ca Dessa Bayrock Opinion editor opinion@ufvcascade.ca Nadine Moedt Arts & life editor arts@ufvcascade.ca Sasha Moedt Sports editor sports@ufvcascade.ca Paul Esau News writer jess@ufvcascade.ca Jess Wind Photojournalist blake@ufvcascade.ca Blake McGuire Staff writers Karen Aney, Taylor Johnson Contributors Kyle Balzer, Mike Cadarette, Jeremy Hannaford, Erwin-Michael Melocoton, Beau O’Neill, Jasmine Proctor, Ally Schuurman, Ali Siemens, Kayla St. Louis, J. Timmer, Tim Ubels, Stephanie Vandervelde Printed By International Web exPress The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It provides a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds. The Cascade is published every Wednesday with a circulation of 1500 and is distributed at UFV campuses and throughout Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission. The Cascade is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national cooperative of 75 university and college newspapers from Victoria to St. John’s. The Cascade follows the CUP ethical policy concerning material of a prejudicial or oppressive nature. Submissions are preferred in electronic format through e-mail. Please send submissions in “.txt” or “.doc” format only. Articles and letters to the editor must be typed. The Cascade reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and length. The Cascade will not print any articles that contain racist, sexist, homophobic or libellous content. The writer’s name and student number must be submitted with each submission. Letters to the editor must be under 250 words if intended for print. Only one letter to the editor per writer in any given edition. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of UFV, Cascade staff and collective, or associated members.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

NEWS

CIVL DJ makes the leap to commercial news NICK UBELS THE CASCADE

Regular CIVL listeners might recognize a familiar voice cropping up on a new frequency in Chilliwack. Alicia Williams, CIVL DJ and former music and programming director for the campus radio station, is now in charge of weekend news updates for 89.5 FM The Hawk, a classic rock radio station based in Chilliwack. The jump to commercial radio is a huge step for anyone looking for a career in radio, something Williams knows well. “It’s really, really, really, really important,” she says. “It’s a big get-your-foot-in-the-door kind of industry and it’s just going to look good on my resume.” Her responsibilities include producing 89-second news clips that run during music breaks and between programs. Since starting work in December, she has put together stories ranging from community events to the

Newtown tragedy and the Idle No More movement. According to Williams, content for national and international stories is pulled from news wire services like the Canadian Press. She also works with her own audio for local happenings and updates about the Chilliwack Chiefs and the Abbotsford Heat. Newscasting is a relatively recent field for Williams. She had only completed two weekday news updates with CIVL before she applied for the position at The Hawk. One of the biggest challenges of her new job is reigning in the personal tone of her music shows at CIVL in favour of a more standardized news voice. Williams says that Don Lehn, her boss at The Hawk, told her she spoke in a “sing-songy” way. “I can’t say, ‘So, you know, like,’” she says. “I have to be better.” Williams got her start at CIVL over two years ago as the host of the National Community

and Campus Radio Association award-nominated punk show Mood Swings. She says her experience at CIVL has helped her hone her radio voice and sharpen her skills as a radio host. “It made me comfortable with my voice and what I was capable of and not capable of with it,” Williams says. “[CIVL station manager] Aaron Levy has provided me with a lot of encouragement and mentorship. I don’t think I’d be as far in radio if it wasn’t for his help and CIVL.” One of Williams’ inspirations in her career path comes from an interview she conducted with CHEK and CBC Vancouver news anchor Tony Parsons when he visited UFV last year. “He had started off at this shitty country radio station and then they asked him to start doing the news,” she says. “He went from being a country music radio show host to Tony Parsons, the voice of Vancouver. Big time.” Williams advises anyone inter-

Image: Anthony Biondi/The Cascade

A familiar face around CIVL, Alicia Williams now works for The Hawk. ested in hosting a show at CIVL to try to overcome their fears and stop by the office in C building. “I think people are intimidated because they think it’s harder than it actually is,” Williams says. “But once you get in there, it’s just a couple sliders on a soundboard

and playing music.” “It’s super easy, it’s super fun, and it gives you a place to talk about music and not look like a dick, which is really important to me.”

Double committees cover SUS finances SUS loses reps

following EGM

jess wind

THE CASCADE

SUS is making moves towards a new, more transparent budget process. Those in attendance at November’s EGM will remember two new SUS budgeting committees are voted into existence. Both were designed to avoid a budget crisis like the one that hit the campus pub this fall, and to involve the students in the budget process in future years. The first committee came from Derek Froese’s eight-part motion, which mandated the formation of a Financial Oversight Committee (FOC). This committee would assemble in the event that the deficit contingency fund—a $30,000 line on the new budget—needed to be accessed. The committee itself will be made up of elected executive members from UFV’s clubs and associations with the condition that one representative be from the Business Administration Student’s Association (BASA) or the Accounting Students of the Fraser Valley (ASFV). Derek Froese says he designed the committee as a failsafe, in the event that SUS runs into more financial trouble. “We wanted better preparation, awareness, and oversight for future overages in this fiscal year . . . there is no known need for it yet,” he explained. “Hopefully there won’t be.” Froese also noted that assembling the FOC to access to the deficit contingency fund would be a hassle. “[It] takes some effort to spend,” Froes reasoned, “so it only gets used in true emergencies.” The defining factor of the FOC is that it is short-term; it is part of a motion reliant on his redesigned budget and is only relevant to the 2012/2013 fiscal year and will disintegrate in April with the end of the fiscal year. As a more long-term adjustment, SUS president Shane Potter also passed a motion at the EGM that saw the creation of a budget committee that promises longevity beyond this year. He says it’s

Image: Blake McGuire/The Cascade

Four reps-at-large have resigned from SUS in the past month.

jess wind

THE CASCADE

Image: Blake McGuire/The Cascade

Two student committees will soon help oversee SUS budgets. part of a movement towards full budget reform in which SUS will focus on transparency and involving SUS members in the entire process. Previously, the SUS budget process was internalized, not visible to the student population until showcased at the Annual General Meeting. With Potter’s budget reform, the budget committee will create a budget skeleton and pass it to the SUS finance committee. Like the FOC, the budget committee will involve students not on the SUS board in an effort to create a more collaborative process. “I believe that a lot of the problems came about due to improper budget creation,” Potter said, explaining the new process com-

pared to the old. “[We’re] workshopping something and then getting feedback from the community . . . It’s not a budget, it’s a budget draft.” This more long-term reform will allow everyone to offer feedback on the budget before it gets approved. Potter admitted that they may become overloaded with information by opening it up this much, but for now they want to keep it open. “We are the Student Union Society, we represent the students. So the students should have an involvement in the budget.”

There have been empty seats at recent SUS board meetings following the resignation of four representatives in the last month. The Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in November resulted in a new SUS budget, including the removal of honoraria for any non-executive members of the directorial board. Since then, reps-at-large Rachel Waslewski, Vitor Carvalho and Cole Durrant have left SUS, as well as VP finance Sam Broadfoot who announced his resignation at the meeting. Each member allegedly left for personal reasons unrelated to the result of the EGM. VP internal Greg Stickland commented on the resignations and their relation to the motion. “No one was ecstatic . . . I think maybe the lack of honoraria was a reason not to make them stay but I know they left for a variety of issues and they didn’t cite the lack of honorarium as one,” he confirmed. The motion was part of a new budget put forth by former Computer Information Systems Student Association (CISSA) president Derek Froese. Stickland assured that these cuts will not affect SUS com-

mitment to the students. He expressed that the remaining members have risen to the occasion, offering extra help to the board when it is needed. Stickland went on to explain that SUS reps-at-large get involved because they want to make a difference, be leaders and contribute to their student society. Their loss of honoraria, Stickland explained, doesn’t change those motivations. “It is really . . . a volunteer position. The honorarium is just a thank you for [their] contribution,” he said. Though they have many empty positions on the board, SUS is in no hurry to fill the positions. As their director numbers go down, so does the amount of members required at board meetings in order to make decisions. Stickland added that despite the resignations they had excellent attendance at SUS meetings in December, and concluded by saying that filling the empty positions is more than SUS can expect from students right now. “To have a by-election would be rather frivolous at this point. By the time [the reps would] get in, it’s time to have the general election . . . it would just be asking the students too much at one time.”

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

NEWS

Gov loses over 500,000 students’ personal information ERWIN-MICHAEL MELOCOTON THE IMPRINT

WATERLOO, ONT. – Through a news release on canlearn.ca, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has announced that an external hard drive holding the personal information of Canadians who borrowed money through the Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP) has been lost from their Gatineau, Quebec offices. According to the release, the external hard drive has been missing since Nov. 5, 2012, and affects 583,000 former CSLP clients from 2000-2006. The information stored on the hard drive included names, dates of birth, Social Insurance Numbers, addresses and student loan balances. Personal information of 250 HRSDC employees was also on the device. The hard drive was discovered to be missing during an incident review of the loss of a USB key containing the personal information of 5000 students. Though it was reported missing on Nov. 5, the contents of the missing hard drive were not discovered until Dec. 6. The incident was not reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner until Dec. 14, and it was not released to the public until Friday, Jan. 11. The RCMP is now investigating the incident with the assistance of all related government authorities. “I want all Canadians to know that I have expressed my disappointment to departmental officials at this unacceptable and avoidable incident in handling Canadians’ personal information,”

Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, stated through a press release. “As a result, I have directed that departmental officials take a number of immediate actions to ensure that such an unnecessary situation does not happen again.” The administration at the University of Waterloo has been directing possibly affected alumni and students towards the HRSDC hotline set up by the federal ministry. The hotline, seen in the news release, opened Monday, Jan. 14, after a weekend with the offices closed. The school did not receive any advance in communication about the breach. “Any leak of this nature is extremely serious,” registrar Ken Lavigne said. “It involves sensitive information about people’s financial status . . . The federal government and any agency, including us, will attempt to protect the privacy of our constituents.” University of Waterloo’s Federation of Students (Feds) has responded to Imprint about the data leak through e-mail, and as of right now, no current or former students have contacted Feds. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) did send members an electronic notice on the Friday. HRSDC has not contacted Feds. “I cannot speak specifically to the potential implications for a student whose information was among those lost,” Adam Garcia, Feds vice-president of education, said. Canadian Federation of Students national chair Adam Awad has also issued a statement to Imprint via e-mail. Students have contacted the CFS over the breach

Image: walknboston/flickr.com

A hard drive and USB drive were both lost in November. and states they have reassured students that they are working to find a solution. “We met with Canada Student Loans Program staff to discuss the privacy breach and what steps they’ve taken,” Awad said. “We’re reassured that they’ve involved both the privacy commissioner and the RCMP and have contacted the office that is responsible for Social Insurance Numbers so that they can monitor all of the numbers that were contained on the drive for any suspicious activity.” HRSDC has stated that they intend to send out letters with infor-

mation necessary to help protect the personal information of the individuals who may be affected. Former students who used the program are not happy about the incident, to say the least. “The Canadian government treats recipients of student loans like second-class citizens,” said Anne Thérlaut, a former student at Dalhousie University from 20012003. “The fact that it took them months—plural—to announce the loss of this data is proof of that. “Education, even post-secondary education, should be the right of every citizen of this country and

Image: http://ca.reuters.com/

we shouldn’t be forced to jump through hoops, go heavily into debt, and risk identity theft in order to be able to gain marketable skills.” CSLP is a national program that has clients across the country and works with provincial loan programs such as the Ontario Student Assistance Program. “The minister has directed that the overall policy for security and storage of personal information at HRSDC be strengthened and improved,” stated the HRSDC in their Friday press release. Despite HRSDC’s decision to go in a new direction with security policy, some Canadians are skeptical of the government’s ability to protect their information. “I think anyone would find it rather unnerving that something like this could happen within a government department,” said Ryan Connell, a former student at Conestoga College from 2002– 2005. “I also think the lack of information of how something like this could happen makes me wonder if this is something that can just easily happen again and why there weren’t safeguards in place from the start.” Through the news release, HRSDC has stated on their website that their office will not be available for contact until Monday, Jan. 14. With files from Elizabeth Bate, , Gabriella Grant, Ron Kielstra, Michelle Sterba, and Caz Spidell.

NEWS BRIEFS

Image: http://ca.reuters.com/

Wind shift may have freed whales trapped off Quebec

Canada pledges better water for aboriginals amid blockade threat

Jodie Foster comes out as gay at Golden Globes

RIM shares jump ahead of BlackBerry 10 launch

Canadian native chief will continue hunger strike

(Reuters) – A group of killer whales trapped under the ice of Hudson Bay and taking turns breathing from a small hole may have been freed by a shift in the winds, Canadian media reported on Thursday. The 11 whales, who sometimes appeared to be panicking as they fought for air, created a worldwide sensation as news and a video about their plight spread. The mammals, which likely included two adults and several younger ones, were first spotted by a local Inuit hunter on Tuesday. One resident, Johnny Williams, told the paper that the ice likely broke up from the shifting winds, allowing the creatures to swim to freedom.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada will spend $330.8 million over the next two years to improve water systems on aboriginal lands, as the Conservative government tries to deal with growing unrest on native reservations. The government said it will improve water systems in more than 50 First Nation communities on reserves where residents often complain of deplorable infrastructure and housing. “Our government is committed to addressing water and wastewater issues on reserves to ensure that First Nations communities have access to safe drinking water,” Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan said in a statement.

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Hollywood actress Jodie Foster confirmed long-running speculation that she is gay by coming out at the Golden Globes awards on Sunday, but joked she wouldn’t be holding a news conference to discuss her private life. The notoriously private Foster stunned the audience of stars and Hollywood powerbrokers as she accepted a life-time achievement awarded by announcing she was now single. “Seriously, I hope that you’re not disappointed that there won’t be a big-coming-out speech tonight,” she said. Foster said she had always been up front with trusted friends and family about her sexual orientation.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Shares of Research In Motion Ltd surged as much as 11 per cent on Monday as the countdown toward the January 30 launch of its long-awaited BlackBerry 10 smartphones winds down and carrier support for the new line builds. RIM stock rose as high $15.08 in early Nasdaq trading. Some analysts said a dearth of any major smartphone news at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week boded well for RIM as it inches closer toward unveiling the make-or-break new line. “The lack of new smartphone buzz could be seen as positive given it clears the road for the BlackBerry 10 device announcement January 30,” TD Securities analyst Scott Penner said in a note to clients.

TORONTO (Reuters) – A Canadian aboriginal chief will continue her hunger strike despite meetings on Friday between native leaders and government officials, as a Canada-wide protest movement gets ready for more demonstrations and a day of action later this month. A spokesman said chief Theresa Spence would continue her strike in an effort to force new meetings to discuss Indian rights. Spence, from the remote northern Ontario community of Attawapiskat, has been surviving on a diet of tea and fish soup since early December as one of the most visible faces of a protest movement called Idle No More that wants more money from resource development and better living conditions.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

OPINION

Debunking myths about rape SASHA MOEDT

Tweets of the Week

The best of the 75th annual Canadian University Press Conference Chris Jones @MySecondEmpire Off to Toronto for @CUPnash, to feed on the blood and innocence of young writers. IT STRENGTHENS ME. #nash75

Chris Jones @MySecondEmpire Thanks to the @CUPNash kids. YOUR INNOCENCE WILL SUSTAIN ME UNTIL I NEED TO FEED AGAIN. #nash75

Aidan Whiteley @aidanwhiteley #idlenomore march way more inspirational than any of the neoliberal doublespeak spewed by #nash75 keynotes

sasha moedt @sashasmoot @kateheartfield nah don‘t tone things down. “being pegged as opinionated seems to mean different things for men and women“#NASH75 CUP NASH75 @CUPnash “Ppl are amazing and if all you do is ask them about their lives many will tell you everything that’s going on with them” – @sookyinlee Amy Van Veen @amyvanveen How to be a better writer? “The one easy, easy, easy thing you can do is become a good listener.” @MySecondEmpire #NASH75

Dessa Bayrock @YoDessa “Once you have eyes on your work, you never want to let that go.” --Kate Beaton #NASH75

Nick Ubels @coolshoesnick Law of Incorrect Tweets: initial piece of misinformation will continue to be retweeted. Craig Silverman on online BS detection. #NASH75

Arshy Mann @ArshyMann “Grab the reader by the throat in the first line. But not literally because that’s awkward and possibly illegal.” @ivortossell #NASH75 Emma Godmere @godmere “We’re the reason to be optimistic.” @brianstelter shares a call to arms with this emerging generation of journalists at #NASH75.

THE CASCADE

(Trigger Warning: This article contains discussion of rape, sexual assault and sexual violence against women.)

What is rape? The definition of it—on the surface— seems clear: any act of intercourse that is forced upon a person. But the meaning of the word is becoming blurred in the foggy mess that is rape culture. The phrase “rape culture” has become common in the media with the publicity of several high profile rapes in India. These incidences have sparked an examination of rape our own society. Rape culture is essentially a culture in which rape and sexualized violence is excused, tolerated, normalized and even perpetuated. This is done through everyday means— advertising, TV, movies, music and jokes—things that surround us and bombard us every day. These images and words aren’t obvious. We aren’t dismissing the rapes portrayed on CSI, and there were no blurred lines in whether it was rape on the bus in New Delhi. A feminist activist group, FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture writes on their webpage that dispelling myths about rape is a step that must be taken to progress to a healthier culture: “we have created a cloud of myth around rape to protect ourselves from some uncomfortable truths.” FORCE are most well known for their campaign “operation panty-drop,” or PINK loves CONSENT. PINK (a Victoria’s Secret line marketed towards high school or collge aged females) features cute little thongs that have embroidered on them “sure thing” and “unwrap me” and various other lines. CONSENT panties, dropped by activists in Victoria’s Secret stores next to PINK panties, read: “ask first” and “no means no.”

Here are some of the myths about rape that are perpetuated in our culture:

She shouldn’t have _____. Fill it in. Worn revealing attire. Flirted. Had so many drinks. Gone with him alone, worn so much makeup, laughed at his jokes. We love to blame the victim. But what are we saying about men, then, if they cannot even control their sexuality? FORCE writes: “Rape is not about horny and sex-crazed men who cannot handle themselves. It is about perpetrators who want control so much that they choose to violated and take the control of another person’s body. Rapists are not ‘out of control.’ Rapists are in complete control. Rape is an exercise and demonstration of power.” And if a man’s sexuality is used as a reason for rape, what does this do for other men? “Our culture needs models of not only healthy masculine sexuality but also respectful and honest expressions of it. If male sexual desire was demystified and respected, instead of limited and vilified, its expression would come out less often as violence and more often as consensual (and hopefully awesome) sex!” Let’s not blame the victim in any way. Ever. Let’s not excuse it as natural male sexuality, because it’s not. She should have ______. Like the idea that women provoke rape, there seems to be the idea out there that women should prevent rape. One way of doing this is limiting our freedoms. Don’t go out at night. Don’t travel alone. Another way is by, again, pinning the blame on us. So when a woman fails to protect herself, there is shame – she screwed up, she made a mistake. Boyfriends and spouses have a right to her body. Once she’s said yes, can she say no? No one ever

has the right to your body. Ever. Statistically, rape is almost always perpetrated by someone the victim knows – friends, dates, co-workers, boyfriends and husbands. In the States, only 26 per cent of rapes and attempted rapes are reported to the authorities (US Dept of Justice, 2001). Why? Because the stigma of being a rape victim. The humiliation of who the rapist is, and perhaps in uncertainty. Rape fantasies mean that some girls out there actually want to be raped. No. She doesn’t want it. Rape fantasies are an interesting thing – a very common fantasy for women. But the difference between rape fantasies and rape is control and pleasure. In a rape fantasy, the woman is in complete control as to what the man is doing in her fantasy. His desires are hers. The fantasy is about how much he wants her, and how much he wants to pleasure her, per se. A rape, on the other hand is painful, traumatic, and about the rapist’s desire. Rape is a black and white situation. It’s mostly grey. Rarely is the rapist a stranger. Rarely does the victim behave as an innocent victim because of the stigma, shame and confusion when someone they trust rapes them, perhaps even during the rape. Rarely is the rape our idea of what rape is, because we forget the definition of rape: any act of intercourse that is forced upon a person. Imagine a culture where there wasn’t stigma against a rape victim, but the rapist. Where a victim didn’t have to prove they were raped, but the rapist had to prove there was consent. Where the rapist wasn’t a male displaying a strong sex drive, but a male violating someone’s basic rights and committing a crime that is punished accordingly. There are too many blurred lines.

Hockey schmockey: fickle league, faithful fans J. TIMMER

CONTRIBUTOR

It’s back! January 6, 2013, Canadians everywhere breathed a collective sigh of relief. The infamous lockout is over and hockey, in all its glory, has returned to Canada. In a matter of hours the main topic of casual conversation has shifted completely, from complaining bitterly about hockey to discussing it eagerly and with reverence. The endless stream of comments about greedy millionaires and overpaid, bickering children has quickly transformed to praise for the athletes who compete for our unwaver-

ing faith. What happened to all the promises of ignoring the NHL once it finally came back? How many fans swore that they wouldn’t support a league that mistreated its fans in such a way? If social media is any indication, those promises will ring empty, as fans began to flock back to the association that had neglected them for months. Now just days after the lockout has ended, newspapers are back to their daily trumpeting of hockey, leaving every other sport to battle for page 15 of the sports section. Sportscasts are showing highlights of yearold games, and analysts

are talking about potential trades, trades that will likely never occur. And the NHL season has yet to begin! Worse still are the individuals who have dragged their Canucks jerseys out of the depths of their closets to parade around the campus and show their undying love for the league that has abused them for the better majority of five months. For media to cover the NHL is one thing – it’s their job and it gets the ratings. But for the fans to turn around and accept this abuse without question? I can get the pride that hockey brings Canadians, and I understand the pas-

sion locals have, particularly for the Canucks, but could we not at least collectively pretend to play hard to get? Is it just me who has a hard time swallowing the double doses of irrelevant hockey news and highlights the media shoves down my throat? Don’t get me wrong, hockey is great. I love to watch a game just as much as the average fan, but is it really that all-encompassing in our small little worlds? Instead of turning back to our TV screens to stare at endless highlights of men on ice often thousands of miles away, go to a local sporting event – the Abbotsford

Heat, or any Cascades varsity game. To really turn your world upside down maybe go try and play a sport in your spare time! Whatever you did to fill the seven months of relatively hockey-free time, realize that it was likely more productive than screaming at a glowing box and cursing about power plays and blown saves. That angry person inside you who swore off hockey this year is in there somewhere, and I urge you to find that person before you get buried underneath memories of goals, save percentages and Don Cherry’s obnoxious suits.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

OPINION

“The here and now, goddammit!” NADINE MOEDT

THE CASCADE

Have you ever been walking behind someone who’s texting, and had the urge to swat them in the back of the head? You aren’t alone. Head down, oblivious and having slowed down to a meander, they do make a tempting target. Our addiction to our phones is becoming an issue. The issue isn’t that texting—among other forms of instant messaging—has hurt students’ ability to write a decent essay. Most of us know the difference between sending a text and writing an essay on Homer’s The Odyssey. That line is pretty clear. The issue is that phones have become a crutch; if you’re feeling any

sort of social discomfort, you pull out your phone and check your email, or send a text. We’re avoiding putting ourselves out there and instead putting up a wall of cool indifference. We’ve stopped rising to the occasion socially, stopped expanding our comfort zones and making connections. In my first class of the semester I was surrounded by classmates who would be spending the next four months with me, yet no introductions were attempted. This was mostly because everyone was nonchalantly texting or Facebooking or tweeting on their phones. I opted to text my mother. Yet it’s gone even farther than that. Without knowing it, we become addicted to answering the call of

the ringtone. I was having a conversation with a fellow in the line at Tim Horton’s when I received a text. Immediately I pulled my phone from my pocket and began a half-conversation with a friend. I soon became annoyed with the person standing right in front of me – why did he keep talking? I was in the middle of something, couldn’t he see that? It seems that texting has begun to take precedence over actual conversation. You wouldn’t start talking to someone while in the middle of a conversation with another person – even answering a phone while talking to someone is considered impolite. So why is it okay to answer texts? And does texting impair people’s ability to commu-

Canadian money woes Penny will have us reaching deeper into our pockets STEPHANIE VANDERVELDE CONTRIBUTOR

As of February 4, 2013, pennies—or the lack thereof—will begin to lighten the weight of our wallets in more ways than one. As new procedures come into play, transactions are going to become a question of how much extra cash is sitting in your pockets. According to The Canadian Press, if you pay with cash at the till, your total will be rounded to the nearest five cent increment. However, if you pay with debit or credit, you will pay the exact total that pops up on the screen. While in some cases paying with cash could save you money, it could also begin to cost you. Sure, Canadian taxpayers will be saving some $11 million annually, but what does that really mean when it comes to the cash in our pockets? Who will be responsible for deciding if our total will get rounded up or down? Will the computers be modified to make the necessary changes when the cashier hits the pay by cash button? While it seems simple enough to just round it up, there are so many finite details that are not being addressed or accounted for. Federal government guidelines will have prices ending in .01, .02, .06 or .07 rounded down, and those ending in .03, .04, .08 or .09 rounded up. An example for rounding in Ontario was shown that if a product is offered for sale at $1.08 and the business rounds to the nearest five cent increment, the total including HST will be $1.22 before rounding and $1.20 after rounding. Confused yet? As the scenarios continue to arise, the situation becomes more and more muddled and unclear. Of course the Royal Canadian Mint asked our opin-

nicate without their gadgets? Some would argue that sending a text is an art. One must know when to include a smiling emoticon, or an exclamation mark, or leave it as simple text. Or how one should answer someone whose conversation is unwelcome: ignore them, answer in monosyllables, tell them you’re actually in the middle of something? It’s another social variable one must learn to navigate in order to maintain the pretence of fitting in. But a variable that needs to be able to coexist and not compete with other social occasions. Our addiction to phones has become worse with the rising popularity of Twitter. According to Digital Marketing Ramblings, 200

Some sentimental thoughts about art DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

A penny saved is a penny forgotten. ions on this whole ordeal, so we should feel confident it is the right thing to do. “We want to thank all Canadians for sharing their views with us, especially as it relates to this transition.” Saving $11 million is rather appealing to Canadians. But what we fail to realize is that although we are saving millions in one area, we are spending it somewhere else; that is, on the introduction of new plastic bills. The production cost of these new bills is double that of the old paper bills. While claims that the new bills will last 2.5 times longer should make this cost irrelevant, the recent claims of the plastic bills melting— on the front dashboard of the car on a hot day, or in the dryer—seem to contradict this logic. We may be currently focused on the soon-to-expire penny, for now, but it is only a matter of time before its five cent brother is fol-

Image: kimli/ flickr.com

lowing in its footsteps. Where does this leave the nickel? Canadians have begun hoarding them, much like they have done for decades with the penny. This suggests that the nickel, like the penny, has outgrown its usefulness. Nickels are being forgotten in the bottom of change purses, tossed into fountains and left unwanted in gutters, while the country opts for the larger dime and quarter to fulfill their needs. As time goes on our coins may become larger in worth, or perhaps disappear altogether into electronic transactions. Our money’s future is unpredictable. Considering the slippery slope analogy, when one coin goes out it’s only a matter of time before the next coin follows. And considering Canadians’ money woes, we might not be sorry if the rest of the coins in our pockets turn into bills.

million people are active on Twitter, which has a total of 500 million users. The appeal is clear – it’s a great way for journalists to report on stories instantly, for friends to keep updated and for public figures to gather a following. But for those who are giving updates on everything that’s happening to them, it seems almost ironic. Are they really living in reality? Or are they still thinking of their next pithy and oh-so-clever 140 character update? My feelings are summed up by one phrase in Roman Polanski’s film, Carnage. Sometime before she drops her husband’s phone in a vase of water, Nancy (Kate Winslet) snarls at her husband, “The here and now, goddammit!”

There’s a television set up by the parking meter in Cbuilding. It appeared sometime last week and it’s always on, playing home video footage of a girl singing. I have no idea who she is—I’m assuming an art student—and I can’t even really hear the music over the hustle and bustle of the hallway. But at the same time, I feel like we have a bond. Every time I pass the giant old projection TV, she’s smiling and singing. I know it’s all pre-recorded, and we’ll probably never meet in person, but she’s always looking me in the eye. It should be creepy, but instead, for that single moment when I pass directly in front of the image, I feel like we’re the only two people in the world. It’s weird. I can’t explain it. I’ve never met her and I never will, but I am bursting-heart proud of her. How brave does a person have to be to record who-knowshow-many hours of themselves singing and then put that on display for everyone to see and judge? She’s bared her soul, and that’s got me thinking about what a soul is – what bravery means. Which is probably, to some extent, the point. I walk the halls of Cbuilding with alarming frequency – this semester all of my classes are in C, and it’s also where The Cascade offices are. I don’t really have a reason to travel to any other buildings, to tell you the truth, except for the occasional trek to the cafeteria in search of curly fries. My point is that I’m al-

ways coming face to face with art projects and installations, since C is also where UFV art classes are centred. This week, it was an anonymous singing figure that stopped me in the hall. Last spring it was the sudden and oddly thorough yarnbombing of several campus trees. Last semester I followed a pair of (I can only assume) art students down the hall as they plastered walls and floor with vinyl dots. I picked up a square of cardstock depicting a cat, and followed the instructions on the back – photographing our adventures together and sending them to (I can only assume) the art student running the project. Last year, a sculpture graced the hall between our offices and CIVL, which we lovingly referred to as “the melting man nipples.” When people think of UFV, I’m sure the art program isn’t one that comes to mind. Criminology, sure – or theatre, or agriculture. But we have a blooming art community here as well, popping up all around us in the form of some art student’s project. The best part of art at UFV is the fact that you don’t have to go to a gallery to find it. It sneaks up on you. It pushes itself at you. Sometimes it sings to you. It says, “Hey, hey. Here I am. Look at this. How do I make you feel?” Next time you walk to class, take a moment and stare back at the art that’s staring at you. Discover the bond between you and an art student somewhere, who you will never meet. Maybe even applaud her when she finishes the song.

Curtailed commentary on current conditions

SNAPSHOTS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

No silence: Social comfort not a necessity

Image: photoscott/flickr.com

www.ufvcascade.ca

Holiday turnover gone mad

A call to all mail carriers

I heard an anti-Semitic remark in the hallway the other day. A student was referring to his associate’s frugality in a manner used by doltish eighth graders. I wanted to punch those words back into the slobbery gob whence they came. But I didn’t. Nor did anyone else. Nor did anyone else do anything. I interrupted the conversation and asked him why his companion was “acting like a Jew.” His explanation, I told him, was as ignorant as I expected. It was uncomfortable for everyone within earshot, but social comfort is hardly a constant necessity. Whenever I hear a joke that reinforces stereotypes or prejudices, it feels like a fly just dumped a steamy coiler on my tympanic membrane. I’ll say something that usually fills the atmosphere with tension, because I’m criticizing their normal, idiotic behaviour. It seems like an over-reaction to some people, but these people, I say, underreact to their environment, like vultures only responding to corpses of thought, laid out for their maggoty enjoyment.

The hangover buzz is still in the air, the smell of champagne gone bad lingers on sparkly outfits in the backs of people’s closets and people are wondering why exactly they got so excited about wearing ill-conceived 2013 eyeglasses. But lo! What is that red and pink in the corner of the store? What? It could not be. It would be ridiculous to start this early. It’s . . . It’s Valentine’s Day. The thing is . . . it’s barely January. Valentine’s Day isn’t for a month-and-a-half. And we’ve barely shaken the sparkly dust of New Year’s Eve off our coattails. Is it just me or has the holiday turnover reached new levels of ridiculous? Christmas trees show up in Costco right beside summer flip flops. Cadbury Mini Eggs crop up alongside Christmas clearance. And now red and pink heart-clad tea towels are already making me reach for the wine. Can we slow down, world? Do we have to be in such a rush? How about one moment when holidays aren’t dominating the impulse section? How about a break?

Snail mail may be an old fashioned system, but it is still perfectly viable. Problems, however, do arise. When every week a little boy from down the street is sent to deliver your letters or packages by hand, because the mail carrier has put them in his family’s mail box, I have to wonder how much of my mail has been misplaced or simply gone missing. Since, from my understanding, mail carriers are contract based and are paid by the day and not by the hour, they rush through their work as quickly as possible so they can call it quits sooner. This results in the neighbourhood picking up the slack. But, how many people just throw away letters that aren’t for them? It’s impossible to say. Email may be the way of the future, but it can’t deliver packages or cheques. This is a shout out to postal service carriers: make sure you do your job right!

Beau O’Neill

Amy Van Veen

Anthony Biondi

Germany’s solar energy outshines Canadian attempts

While it may not seem like it out here on the aptlynamed Wet Coast, much of Canada enjoys a lot of sunlight throughout the year. So much so that the Canadian Centre for Energy says that there are “abundant” solar energy resources in Ontario, Quebec, and much of the Prairies. Despite these clean, available resources, Canada only generated 400 Gwh (Gigawatt hours) from solar power in 2011. Meanwhile in Deutschland, 2011 yielded 19,300 Gwh. In 2012? 28,500 Gwh, accounting for a nearly five per cent of Germany’s total electricity consumption for the year. And solar energy production in the country only continues to grow at an incredible rate. Germans are well-known for their techheavy culture, but much of the country faces plenty of rain. Living in north-west Germany for a while myself last year, I saw less sun in June than I usually see in BC in May. After the initial investment, solar power infrastructure rapidly began to drop in price, allowing sales of consumer-level devices to flourish. So what’s the deal, Canada? If Germany can do it, so can you.

Nick Ubels

Rock is dead, or at least dying KAYLA ST. LOUIS

CONTRIBUTOR

Over the past year or so, I’ve come to an unfortunate realisation. In the not so distant future, there will be no more concerts that I’m really dying (excuse the pun) to see, as the artists I listen to will be either dead or incapable of touring any longer. Anyone who knows me will know how much I love concerts—not for the party-hardy atmosphere that often gets associated with them, but for seeing live musical performances by the original artists—so it’s no wonder I’m feeling down in the dumps about this. I was raised on classic rock; my parents were always listening to cassettes by Pink Floyd, Elton John, Heart, Queen, the list goes on on. I have a much harder time remembering “Baby Beluga” than I do Eric Clapton’s “Layla” or the Rolling Stone’s “Tumbling Dice.” But such is life. That’s not to say that I don’t listen to anything new-ish, but they are certainly few and far between. For one thing, the bands I

Image: strummz/flickr.com

The musicians we’ve come to love aren’t the immortal gods we’d like to imagine them to be. consider “newer” are actually from the ‘90s or so – think of bands like Hootie and the Blowfish or The Wallflowers. And what’s more, I keep noticing that bands from the same era, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Nirvana, are being played more and more on classic rock radio stations. Wait, what? I suppose I’m

not the most “hip” and “with-it.” Truth be told, I’m perfectly okay with that, since most of the music from the last five years all sounds the same to me anyway. Needless to say, the artists and bands I listen to the most are getting up there in age, if they’re not already dead. Most of them had

their heyday in the ‘60s or ‘70s, so they’re largely senior citizens now. So even if I am fortunate enough to see them in concert, it’s not quite the same as when they were in their prime – when I saw Roger Waters, Lyndsey Buckingham and The Who, for example, they really were old. They still put on a hell of a show, but

they were definitely old. Plus a host of them, who I would have loved to see in concert, are already dead: Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Freddie Mercury, George Harrison and John Lennon, to name a few. That being said, I have been very fortunate in that I’ve seen a number of artists I’ve listened to all my life. I’ve had to pass on a few because tickets were too outrageous for me to justify, though. I mean sure, it would have been cool to see Bob Dylan or Paul McCartney, but when a ticket could go for $1000 or more, we’re suddenly nearing the cost of tuition for a semester. And the older they get, the more likely it is they’ll die, so the higher the cost with “final” this and “farewell tour” that. Thus, inevitably, a day will come when either my finances have run dry or the artists I’d like to see will all be dead, and so my concertgoing shall cease, along with the music that brought us there. What remains to be seen is which will come first.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

ARTS & LIFE

CROSSWORD 1

And the Golden Globes go to . . . 2

5 7

8 9

ACROSS

DOWN

THe cascade

1. After she won best original song, Adele high-fived this man. (6, 5 letters) 7. ___ and Ferrell took their role as presentors very seriously. (4 letters) 8. According to these SNL presenters, Meryl Streep was nominated for her role as a sassy _____ who tells the town, “You get outta here!” (7 letters) 10. Ben Affleck won for this film set not in Boston. (4 letters) 12. This show won two awards, one for best comedy and one for best actress in a comedy. (5 letters) 13. Claire Danes won for her role in this TV show. (It really doesn’t require any more explanation.) (8 letters) 14. Anne Hathaway thanked this fellow nominee in her acceptance speech for teaching her how to avoid being typecasted. (5, 5 letters)

AMY VAN VEEN

2. Amy Poehler sat on this man’s lap when her name was announced as a nominee for best comedy actress. (6, 7 letters) 3. This former president came out to talk about Lincoln and was later praised as the husband of Hillary. (4, 7 letters) 4. This Australian actor won for his role in the musical of the year and gave an especially adorable thanks to his wife. (4, 7 letters) 5. This Ang Lee film was nomimated and was what Amy Poehler will be calling the six weeks it takes to get out of her dress. (4, 2, 2 letters) 6. This flick won for best animated film depicting a not so typical Scottish Disney princess. (5 letters) 9. _____ Waltz won for supporting actor in Tarantino’s latest film, taking the time to thank the director for the journey of his role. (9 letters) 11. In her acceptance speech, Jennifer Lawrence’s first words were “I beat ____.” (5 letters)

14 EclipseCrossword.com

LAST WEEK’S Answer Key Across 1. SWIVELCHAIR 4. DAISY 7. LANG 9. BRANSON 10. WEEKEND 12. PAMUK 13. SIXBEY

Down 2. CARSON 3. SHELLSHOCK 5. PATMORE 6. LAVINIA 8. GWEN 9. BOER 11. DRIVE

The Weekly Horoscope Star Signs from Swamp Bob Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18

Gemini: May 21 - June 21

Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 22

Aquarius is the water sign, which means that you should eat more lettuce wraps. What? They’re delicious. What do you expect from me?

Next week you will see the Grim. And it’s not Sirius Black.

You should avoid all Prunus persica unless accompanied by large amounts of grand marnier and cream.

Pisces: Feb 19 - March 20

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21

Even though the zombie apocalypse was a huge let down, you should know that the threat of radioactive marmosets is a much greater threat to your safety right now.

Your monetary woes will be set at ease when you find a scratch and win ticket in your couch worth $500.

Your New Year’s resolution to improve your memory will go horribly wrong when your lumosity experience grants you a super human memory, and you now have a perfect recollection of that awkward moment that happened to you in elementary school.

Aries: March 21 - April 19

Leo: July 23 - Aug 22

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21

Ever tried pickled herring?

The planets are in disarray and Justin Bieber is still a star. Take up archery.

You will be in two minds about a great decision this week. The planets would like you to know that the answer to all your concerns is yes.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

Virgo: Aug 23 - Sept 22

You will find something exciting at the bottom of the next bowl of soup you enjoy, unless it is chicken noodle, in which case you will be set upon by a poultry poltergeist bent on revenge.

You will notice that there are less bunnies about. The powers that be just want to set your fears at ease by assuring you that they are, at this moment, planning your untimely demise.

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19 Your cat will wake you up at an ungodly hour demanding sustenance. If you do not own a cat this indicates that you have an infestation of feline and your only choice is to burn your place down, change your name, and move to Azerbaijani.

Theatre Preview

UFV’s Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout ALLY SCHUURMAN

CONTRIBUTOR

As the winter semester gets underway, UFV’s theatre department has been hard at work for months on the second main stage production of the season: Tomson Highway’s Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout. Directed by newcomer to the department, Heather Davis-Fisch, and assistant directed by theatre student Gabby Bohmer, the production features a cast of only four actresses. Plot summaries for the production have been floating around our media outlets for some time. Going in to the theatre of the Chilliwack North campus, we’ve been armed with the information that this particular show follows the story of four First Nations women in their preparations for a very important dinner. The lobby

display is packed with textbook information about the history and struggles of the Shuswap people, prepared by the shows dramaturge Megan Davies. Be sure to arrive early to take in all the information, for interest sake if nothing else. (Fear not, there is no quiz after the show.) Here’s where things get interesting. If you go in to this show expecting a clear Western-style linear narrative, you’ll think that the script falls short. Ernestine focuses less on what is being told and more on how it’s being told. To some theatre goers, this is a totally foreign concept, but considering the subject of the play, it works entirely in its favour. While the play is still defined by the preparation of the dinner, you may find yourself less and less concerned with trout and Saskatoon pies and more with the deeper meanings of

what these women are desperately trying to say. It’s an history-heavy script, utilizing traditional storytelling methods to get really poignant messages across. That being said, don’t underestimate the humour of this show. It has every beaver joke you could ever hope to hear in a single play. In the title role, Lisa Apps’ portrayal of Ernestine is honest and heartfelt. Geneva Perkins’ shines as the powerful Anabelle Okanagan, Mandy Dyck as Isabelle Thompson adds a welcomed feistiness and rounding out the cast is the exceptional talent of first-year student Phaydra-Rae Gagnon as Delilah Rose Johnson. Individually, they thrive. As a group, they really do exemplify the meaning of ensemble. Being only four, the entire show is a testament to how important being in tune with your castmates really is. And seeing as

90 per cent of the show is spent with all four on stage, their talent not only held the show together, but propelled it to a level which the audience should feel privileged to witness. If plot and acting don’t draw you in, come see this show for the design and technical components. With over 350 technical cues, there’s bound to be something that will make your jaw drop. Jay Havens, the scenography designer, has done a phenomenal job of incorporating natural elements of the Okanagan valley with the rustic elements of everyday life in 1910. The shadowy quality of Gabriel Kirkley’s lighting design adds the most beautiful intensity, and Dylan Coulter was able to compliment it perfectly with a fantastic, almost orchestral sound design. Julie Ruffell took reigns of the projection design, adding even

deeper layers to an already stellar looking show. Aaron Froc focused his costume design in perfect conjunction with the personalities for the characters, and Brittany Weisner did an exceedingly admirable job with the props design. Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout is a respectful and brave adaptation of quintessentially Canadiana material. It’s a show you should feel obligated to see, not only for enjoyment, but for the relevance of the subject matter. You’ll emerge from the theatre feeling educated and passionate about conflict, history, determination and the story of four Shuswap women. Catch Ernestine at the Chilliwack North Campus, January 17-20 and 24-27. For more information, check out www.ufv.ca/theatre or call Rick Mawson 604-795-2814.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

ARTS & LIFE

Dine & Dash Nature’s Pickin’s 1356 Sumas Way, Abbotsford BC 604-855-3374 / 604-859-3364 www.naturespickins.ca Hours: Daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Prices: Up to $10

AMY VAN VEEN

THE CASCADE

Do you ever feel like you eat too much fried food? AfterMath, sorry, Campus Lounge has a menu filled with burgers and fries that require several napkins. The cafeteria now has $2 curly fries that are delicious, but leave you feeling like you have ball of lard sitting in your stomach. What about something that satisfies without making you feel like you need a nap? Enter Nature’s Pickin’s. There are some days when you have an awkward amount of time between classes. Not enough to go out and check Sevenoaks sale racks, but too much to spend putzing around campus. And since it’s a new year and resolutions convict everyone and their dog to eat better, Nature’s Pickin’s is the most obvious choice. Plus, it’s five

minutes away on Sumas Way – the perfect distance for that pesky class break. Nature’s Pickin’s—what used to be Vitala Foods—has recently undergone a change of ownership and sits there, beckoning drivers with its fresh fruit and vegetable promises. In the back of the store, amidst deli meats and samosas, sits a soup and sandwich corner where a handful of different sandwich creations are offered for $6.29 and under. Farmer’s markets serving sandwiches? There are a few of them out there and it’s not like they’re anything out of the ordinary, but somehow buying a sandwich from a place that also serves fresh fruit, veggies, delis and breads puts an extra little oompf into the meal. For $5.99 I got a California Lovin’ on multigrain with mustard, mayonnaise, avocado, lettuce, ham or chicken, tomato, cheddar and cucumber. If you don’t want the grains of the multigrain to show up in your teeth, you can also get rye, white or a wrap. For those who require glutenfree options, Nature’s Pickin’s also

Nature’s Pickin’s market on Sumas Way, south of Highway One. offers gluten free salads. I got their roasted tomato garlic soup with chunks of tomato and just enough garlic to enjoy the taste but not too much that vampires run away from you. In five minutes, I got a solid lunch that gave me some much needed nutrients to ward off cold

and flu season while also satisfying me so my stomach didn’t sound off in hungry protest in the middle of an unresponsively silent class. The bonus of this mountainview market? Incredibly friendly staff. The lady making my sandwich also started up an easy con-

Image: Amy Van Veen/The Cascade

versation, keeping any chance of silent awkwardness at bay. The one who I paid chatted with me about the weather and the need for warm soup on chilly days. And I left feeling better than I had come in.

VIDEO GAMES OF THE YEAR 10. Papo and Yo (PSN)

8. XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC, PS3, 360)

6. Dear Esther (PC, Mac)

4. Hotline Miami (PC)

2. The Walking Dead (PC, Mac, PS3, 360, iOS)

Tell Tale Game’s take on The Walking Dead universe gave us one of the most intriguing and emotionally straining stories in gaming history. Alongside simple but entertaining click and choose gameplay, The Walking Dead gave us a story in which every decision truly effected the outcome. But it was the choices that affected Clementine, the girl you spend the whole game protecting, that truly shapes your experience. Despite some minor glitches, The Walking Dead was an unforgettable experience. The game broke new ground, being released episodically (like the TV show), but a boxed-set version wasn’t far behind. ~J.H.

Games don’t traditionally deal with really heavy topics like family dysfunction and alcoholism, but Minority’s Papo and Yo dares to go there. While the game failed to capture a wide audience, its release signaled a step forward for the medium; it deals with the real-life struggles of lead designer Vander Caballero. Players take the role of Quico, a young Brazilian boy escaping his abusive father – who becomes, quite literally, a dangerous monster at points in the game. It’s an adventure-platformer rife with metaphor, and while certain puzzles err on the side of plain, others are incredibly imaginative. It’s an experience that shouldn’t be missed. ~J.S.

Truly one of the underrated games of the year, X-COM: Enemy Unknown was a fantastic turn-based strategy game. Firaxis Games made a balanced, polished and technically great game that gave an intense battle experience as well as a smart strategic micromanaging system. The fear of losing experienced soldiers weighs in on the decisions the player makes on the battlefield. It’s the kind of strategy that is usually missing from a game about war. The game was extremely challenging, especially on harder difficulty settings, but it was addicting as hell! ~J.H.

Despite raising questions about whether it even counts as a “game,” thechineseroom’s Dear Esther is one of the most moving interactive experiences of the year. Trapped alone on an island, missing a woman he had loved, the player explores the gorgeous and evocative landscape as the narrator recites the letters he wrote to her. The letters paint a story about a fatal crash that had happened, though a slightly different story is told in different play-throughs of the game. One of the best segments features an impressive underground cave that is a joy to explore. Dear Esther is a short, but incredibly immersive adventure. ~J.S.

A top-down 2D noir action game inspired in part by the 2011 film Drive and in part by ‘80s culture, Hotline Miami has developed into a cult hit, created by Jonatan Soderstrom and Dennis Wedin. The game is extremely violent and increasingly surreal as the game progresses. It has retro graphics and an iconic (and at times disconcerting) soundtrack that perfectly compliments the tone of the game. The game has a number of weapons, but slinking around unnoticed is another reasonable tactic. It’s a typical game, with straight forward levels and boss battles, but the storytelling is fresh and unique. It’s often fast and bloody, and with a game like this, that’s exactly what you want. ~J.S.

9. The Unfinished Swan (PSN)

7. Super Hexagon (PC, Mac, iOS)

5. Mass Effect 3 (PC, PS3, 360, Wii U)

3. Far Cry 3 (PC, PS3, 360)

1. Journey (PSN)

Giant Sparrow’s artistic debut was the surreal, storybook adventure that video games have been waiting for; Monroe enters a living painting as he attempts to follow the golden footsteps of the unfinished swan. It begins with an entirely white canvas and allows the player to paint the world they’re about to inhabit. In the next three chapters players work with water and light, adding to the variety of the game. The game isn’t difficult and it presents a positive message about egotism—the kingdom was once ruled by a selfish king—making this a great game to introduce to younger audiences as well. Not bad for a creative arthouse indie game available for 15 bucks. ~J.S.

Story can be overrated. In Super Hexagon, players control a small triangle that must escape an everclosing, twisting set of polygons. It’s dizzyingly addictive, and playable in bite-size portions – perfect for the bus ride home or the wait between classes. It won’t capture the same audience as Angry Birds, but this mobile game is perfect for honing both your coordination and your sanity. It’s an extremely simple game, but within its simplicity is its genius. If you only spend one dollar on video games this year, this should be the one. It’s designed by game auteur Terry Cavanagh, known for the brilliant VVVVVV. As a bonus, the music is by Chipzel. ~J.S.

The game that was five years in the making, Mass Effect 3 was the explosive end to Bioware’s sci-fi trilogy. Bringing together all the decisions players made in the previous two games, Commander Shepard brought the final fight against the Reapers in the fight for humanity’s survival. Although the ending was lacking and unsatisfying for some, the events throughout the game were amazing and very well written. Mass Effect 3 sports the best gameplay thus far with fully decked out cover system, intense gun battles and an addicting multiplayer system that no one saw coming. ~J.H.

What would you do if you wound up trapped and alone on a tropical island after a fun party-vacation—complete with jet-skiing and sky-diving—went horribly, horribly awry? With his friends kidnapped by pirates, protagonist Jason Brody must rescue them and escape the island. It’s a first-person-shooter meets RPG meets open-world sandbox game; it’s a mix that really works. The game also works with an emotionally-deep theme – when an everyday person is thrust into the role of a gunman struggling to survive, it can’t ever really end well for them. If you’ve not played the first two games in the series, don’t let that hold you back from giving this one a shot. ~J.S.

Flow and Flower, the previous titles created by Jenova Chen and thatgamecompany, were ambitious, awe-inspiring and awardwinning ventures in their own rights. Journey took things to the next level. Here is game as art, as poetry. It is a highly-polished experience that combines moments of exploration, dedication, desperation and pure elation. Perhaps the most innovative component of the game is its unique take on multiplayer gaming – a second player may be anonymously thrown into the game, with a simple chirpnoise the only way to communicate. They can be ignored, or they can work together to solve puzzles, find secrets and, just, to be together. It’s an experience that even non-gamers should seek out and try – it’s that good. ~J.S.

www.ufvcascade.ca

MOVIES OF THE YEAR

Contributors Paul Esau, Jeremy Hannaford, Michael Scoular, Joel Smart, Nick Ubels, Tim Ubels, Amy Van Veen, Jess Wind

11. Holy Motors The beauty of the Act—sevenfold or one, self-referential or entirely self-contained— becomes the question of the act – how to go on, how to know when the camera’s turned on, when acting is off – becomes the chameleon Beauty of Holy Motors, Leos Carax’s first film in far too long. Does Denis Lavant’s performance(s) exist digitally, virtually, in the mind, on film, through surveillance, as a part of “real life,” and is this a guide through a series of memories of scenes never shot or a resurrection of what has already been – “who were we when we were who we were” sings an actor, and she stands where something real happened, is happening, and Carax can’t, won’t stop the growing momentum until it breaks down – and for a while, it looks totally living. ~M.S.

10. Lincoln Making a movie about Abraham Lincoln is a daunting task, even for Steven Spielberg. For a man who’s fame and pop culture status have relegated to more of a caricature at the theatre, making Lincoln into a believable person is incredibly difficult. Thankfully, Lincoln forgoes the Gettysburg Address, the sweeping speeches and the hard-knock logcarrying childhood of its titular character and focuses in on the months surrounding the passage of the 13th amendment. It depicts a messy congressional process fraught with dubious backroom dealings and a long-winded storyteller of a president. No groundbreaking cinema, but everyone, actors, writer, director, composer, cinematographer, doing everything at full-strength, turning what could have been an emptily sweeping epic into an intimate, nuts and bolts political drama. ~N.U.

15. The Master It can be everything to know where someone’s coming from, so of course The Master offers no help at all. Freddie Quell (Joaquim Phoenix) and Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Peggy Dodd (Amy Adams) arrive interrupted in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, and aside from an early high-velocity reverie—dresses, drinks, demolition—The Master loses sensation, senses, a numbing that leads to following (where double meaning/vision abounds). While The Master “fits” as a too-lengthy explanation of masculinity or a slow post-war period picture of aimlessness, it might be best traced as a companion to something like The Last Temptation of Christ: childish devilry on one side, human on the other, belief and torture somewhere in between. ~M.S.

14. The Kid With a Bike The kid runs away, toward, crashes into, returns to beginnings – as The Kid with a Bike begins, the Dardennes focus in on abandoned Cyril, and apply an ethic of care. The symbolic colors and simple structure make the likening to a tale or seeing license in place of the Dardennes’ usual stronger commitment to realism—dialogue that halfreveals at best and slow progression—an easy label, but The Kid With a Bike isn’t on either side. This is poetry through prose, a heart-quickened extension travelling down wrong turns that takes place in the nearempty, darkened streets of Liège. And then Beethoven sounds, Cécile De France holds on (“but not so tight”) and an ending doesn’t arrive, nor is it “happy” – it is simply rewritten. ~M.S.

13. Bernie

Jack Black’s impressive (and considering it’s Jack Black, impressively subtle) performance as Bernie Tiede, a real-life mortician and beloved community icon in the small East Texas town of Carthage, is some of the best acting of his career. Director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, A Scanner Darkly) turns a true-life tale of transgression, forgiveness and romantic encounters with elderly women into a black, southern gothic comedy. It’s carefully-handled and exhibits surprising depth and generic range, moving between courtrooms, autopsies and elaborate small-town musicals with ease. Propelled by a sincerely-delivered gospel music soundtrack and interviews with real residents of Carthage who knew the embattled mortician, Bernie is a moving rumination on the strange story God, the devil and Bernie Tiede. ~N.U.

9. Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is a rare gem, a movie that both offers a massive, tantalizing panorama, and refuses to subsequently narrow its scope into a single, grungy microcosm. While viewers may be put off by the plot’s eccentricity, the pervasive post-apocalyptic pidgin dialect, or the indulgently grandiose didacticism, Cloud Atlas is a movie with a profound and exciting vision. At 172 minutes, this film is a significant commitment, but its attempt to weave six interlocking stories into one cohesive whole demands evaluation. Are we, as individuals, as closely connected as Cloud Atlas suggests? Can one small artistic work one day inspire a future revolution? In the tapestry of story that is Cloud Atlas, anything is possible. ~P.E.

12. Prometheus

8. Killing Them Softly

The insane two halves of Prometheus: the slow speechless draw of dumb horror (already abandoned, they see something new and . . . reach out towards it, mouths agape) and the quick digital spectacle of wonder at recorded phantoms, visible dreams, and the height of human(?) engineering: an android that can perfectly mimic a film character (Michael Fassbender). And arching over the entire beautiful, ridiculous enterprise is Prometheus as litmus test for belief, a type anyway, discarding timelines and history (they’re there, but it’s fruitless to follow.) There may be a sequel, but taken on its own, Prometheus’ silence in response to “why” and “they must know” both allows for its genre roots to show and mimics its own structure – the momentary thrill of not knowing. ~M.S.

Society is rotten all the way through, from the top to the bottom. That’s the idea behind Killing Them Softly, Andrew Dominik’s adaptation of George V. Higgins 1974 novel Cogan’s Trade. The backdrop of this unsentimental crime drama is a post-Katrina New Orleans during the lead up to the 2008 Presidential election and features sound bites from both President Barack Obama and George W. Bush concerning America’s crumbling economy. Like Dominik’s 2007 tour de force The Assassination of Jesse James, the main characters in Killing Them Softly are all brutal and sly criminals, hit by hard financial times. The subject matter and the honest way in which the movie portrays it make the movie somewhat taxing at times to sit through. However, I think those willing to consider the necessity of telling the story of Killing Them Softly will find it both enthralling and thought-provoking. ~T.U.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

7. Damsels in Distress Against intellectualism, the shame of not knowing, playboy or operator types, and toward a campus life of the constant presentation of a will to help, good sense and scent, and the drug of dancing, so go the declarations of idea leader Violet (Greta Gerwig) . The “campus” qualifier is only because that’s where Damsels in Distress happens to be set. Whit Stillman’s first film in a decade would, must exist for the length of a degree “only numerically.” If the jokes are a bit broader than Metropolitan or Barcelona, Gerwig and Adam Brody still nail Stillman’s style of inflection, pauses, and looks, which reveal more with each watch: “there’s enough material here for a lifetime of social work.” ~M.S.

6. Pitch Perfect A movie about competitive college a cappella groups written by 30 Rock and New Girl writer Kay Cannon starring the scene-stealing Rebel Wilson – where have you been all my life? It’s too easy to hear the summary and complete a Liz Lemon eye roll without first understanding why this movie is worth being played on loop. Rebel Wilson plays Fat Amy, a scene-stealer the likes of Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, producer Elizabeth Banks and Christopher Guest alum John Michael Higgins provide the greatest college a cappella commentary one could dream up, and Cannon’s perfect mix of intelligent humour and body fluid jokes provide just the right amount of memorable quotes to put this movie on the college movie canon. ~A.V.

5. Skyfall Sam Mendes’ addition to the Bond movie franchise may not have wowed everyone, but being my first Bond experience (I’ll let the gasps subside), I thought it was excellent. Certain scenes of Skyfall will forever be ingrained in my memory: Bond fighting amidst the billboard lights in an all-glass Shanghai skyscraper, jumping on the back of a torn apart train car before smoothly adjusting his shirt cuffs, Dame Judi Dench stealing the spotlight as Bond-lady M, and the hairraising opening credits care of Golden Globe winner Adele. Any movie that immediately forces me to go back and watch the preceding films is worth my time. ~A.V.

4. The Cabin in the Woods A horror movie about horror movies, voyeurism, and storytelling itself, The Cabin in the Woods is more than meets the eye. Better experienced without too many details disclosed, yet perhaps even more rewarding after multiple viewings, this movie has fuelled endless conversations about its structure, meanings, and plentiful generic references and callbacks. Created by geek idol Joss Whedon and Cloverfield director and Buffy writing room alum Drew Goddard, it manages to work as both a frightening horror story, self-aware genre comedy, and commentary on the art of storytelling. It’s one of the smartest and rewarding genre films of the year. ~N.U.

www.ufvcascade.ca

3. Looper After eagerly anticipating Rian Johnson’s follow-up to 2008’s The Brothers Bloom, audiences this summer were treated to Johnson’s unique sci-fi vision of the future. However, his future doesn’t look like the cinematic ones we are accustomed to. Looper isn’t full of neon lights, space travel, underground societies or skyscrapers that reach incredible heights. This future is actually very much like our present, but much more dank and dark. And there’s time travel. While the film is filled with bouts of action and mysterious elements, those elements aren’t front and centre, as the film’s strength comes from its slow boil, with the second act challenging the audience to think about why we want to protagonist to achieve their goals. ~T.U.

2. The Avengers

Back in 2008, Marvel Studios put in motion the idea of a shared universe containing its superheroes and villains. Built upon the groundwork of two Iron Man films, Thor, Captain America and The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers takes some of Marvel’s biggest heroes and assembles them via a simple alien invasion, which helped install the idea of all of these characters working together in a believable fashion. Writer and director Joss Whedon has created a film that is an extension of these individual films without rehashing what the audience had already seen in them. In fact, considering what Whedon had to work with, it’s a miracle this movie came together so well. The Avengers is well -polished like the other Marvel films, but it is also heartfelt, witty, exciting and grapples with the meaning of heroism. ~T.U.

1. Moonrise Kingdom “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” The miscommunicated communicated, love explained through images, the past as treasured, exact, but not the place Suzy (Kara Hayward) and Sam (Jared Gilman) are writing to. This isn’t the most-anything of Wes Anderson’s films, but a further refinement, growth, where the question of if any of his characters will grow up, and then if they’ll just end up like the adults (absent from, exasperated with life) is intervened, irrupted by a series of awakenings that do not merely recall Anderson’s range but requite the intimate, finite feeling that rushes through the montages, tracking shots, and time, slowed to a moment, timed to light in silent, grand nature, here in Moonrise Kingdom. ~M.S.

Wes Anderson’s most recent film is the work of someone keenly aware of his strengths as a filmmaker. Ever since the admittedly fun, but distracting excesses of The Life Aquatic and its reactionary, minimal follow-up The Darjeeling Limited, Anderson has been embracing his meticulously detailed film-making process to craft little worlds all their own. In Moonrise Kingdom, this world is an island somewhere in New England. Anderson’s characters inhabit a universe that feels familiar but otherworldly. Moonrise Kingdom is a fairy tale about two young runaways and misfits who fumble their way through pre-adolescent romance and responsibility, cutting a path through a wilderness that poses not necessarily more, but different dangers than those of their day-to-day lives. Their escape transgresses the order of parental authority, siblings, scout troops, the island’s single police officer: the demonstrably broken, adult world. Yet in their escape, these kids consistently strive to recreate the very adult world they struggle against. Captured within the movie’s elaborate artifice is a glimpse of this delicate, inter-generational cycle. ~N.U.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

ARTS & LIFE

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

16. Frankie Rose – Interstellar Having built her name in the industry over a number of years with bands such as Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, and the Chrystal Stilts, she’s now released her second solo album. And it’s one of those albums where it’s so difficult to pick a standout track, as each is just as magnificent as the next. It’s very much about going on a journey, perhaps traveling tranquilly through the interstellar. This is the result of the album having a strong mix of synth sounds which progress in a cool fashion. The album can work with individual tracks but it’s best taken in its entirety to truly appreciate it. ~J.J.

Contributors Kyle Balzer, Dessa Bayrock, Joe Johnson, Michael Scoular, Nick Ubels, Tim Ubels

15. Grimes – Visions

25. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light

22. Julia Holter – Ekstasis

19. Patrick Watson – Adventures In Your Own Backyard

J. Spaceman’s latest space rock opus is gorgeous, sweeping, gospel-inflected and raspy as hell. Nothing particularly groundbreaking for Spiritualized, but a strong, consistent effort nevertheless. “Hey Jane” is an appropriately lengthy roundabout experience that handily primes the listener for the album to follow. There is a danger with artists who produce consistently high-calibre material in under appreciating the unique quality of each new release. Spoon is another great example of such a band. You’ve got to be careful not to ignore. ~N.U.

So much of Ekstasis seems to live in the space between waking and sleep - the space where memory sticks or falls away: “I can’t remember your face, but I want to” Holter re-calls on “In the Same Room.” From opener Marienbad onward the impression is of a lack of structure—spare synths don’t guide but exist as a frame to branch from, wrap around—Holter’s voice ascends into choral registers (“Four Gardens”) and solitary sketches (“Goddess Eyes”), going back and forth, calmness and rising waves – in the end (“This Is Ekstasis”) Holter leaves a sprawling track, divided: “This is/is not quietness,” “This is/is not the ecstasy.” ~M.S.

24. Norah Jones – Broken Little Hearts

21. Angel Olsen – Half Way Home

I’ve never loved a Patrick Watson album more than Wooden Arms, but it looks like I’m going to have to start. Adventures in Your Own Backyard touches a lot of the same notes, echoing without repeating, acknowledging and improving while constructing a monument. As the album title and title track suggest—I choose to think purposefully— the band has chosen to explore their own back yard. The gentle and almost imperceptible homage to Wooden Arms encourages the listener to take another look at the familiar and rediscover the kingdoms in our own backyards – finding the wonder in something every day with a pair of fresh eyes. All in all the album recalls and cherishes the songs from Wooden Arms, reworking it into something both new and simultaneously classic. ~D.B.

Some musical acts tend to get stuck in the same old rut, which is why nobody really knows where the Backstreet Boys are these days and why Snoop Dog evolved into Snoop Lion. Luckily Norah Jones has never had a problem with ruts – her sound evolves with every album she produces, and her music is never boring. Her 2012 offering of Broken Little Hearts is debatably her best work – her clear and effortless voice forms the core of the album, and we hear strong and simple bass lines carry over from previous albums as well. We see brighter tones, faster songs, and despite an album focused on the subject of heartbreak, it is both positive and cheerful. Jones perfectly bridges mellow with catchy – showing her jazz roots, electronic influence, and a touch of country that is both sweet and savoury. Must-listens from this album include the title track and “Say Goodbye” – a breezy anthem perfect for road trips and late night study sessions. ~D.B.

Emotion tempered by by maturity, tumult turned into serenity – this is a rhythm that can’t be matched by words, but Angel Olsen’s voice, leaping into registers unexpected before falling back into a kind of calm, makes Half Way Home a listen that surprises in its seeming limitless store of moments both tender and wise. There’s the temptation to try and assign something lofty, like one song as being above all the others for the year, and “Free,” on first and subsequent listens, in its untranscribable notes, could be that, but then there’s “The Waiting” and “Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow” and “You Are Song” and “The Sky Opened Up,” all short of length but persistent in memory, and all that can be said is that Olsen’s album is something sublime. ~M.S.

23. Niki & The Dove – Instinct

20. Sara Watkins – Sun Midnight Sun

A collective of three out of Stockholm, they’re producing some of the greatest electropop in years. Having only formed a little over two years ago, this freshman album is linked with explosive track after track. It would be easy to imagine hearing the entire playlist at a club, but just as well it works easily as a sit alone listen. It’s cool and clean, even when the distortion is kicking it. While it may not work for everybody, there is also a depth here that lends itself to seem more than a polished marketing effort that’s to be forgotten in six months. And it’s in this same strain of exploration that these songs are given meaning. The best thing I can say is that this is a moving album perfect for soundtracking the night. ~J.J.

With the rich anthemic roar of contemporary bluegrass folk stampeding through this album it’s evident that Watkins is by far at the top of her game. Having previously been a member of the now defunct Nickel Creek, she brings a style that continues to hedge toward something a little different on her sophomore release. Together with Blake Mills producing, the two have crafted 10 wonderful tracks that seemingly float from Watkins’ violin through a warm wooden air that begins on an orchestral piece, “The Foothills”. Though, even despite such a strong atmosphere, this album isn’t stuck behind a closed door that the genre sometimes seems to find itself. Easily inviting, it has a tendency to not let you go. ~J.J.

18. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel... A glance at The Idler Wheel...’s track listing (“Left Alone,” “Regret,” “Periphery”) might suggest a tailspin of an album, and Fiona Apple’s stripping awawy of all sound save brushed, struck, drum palpitations and tumbling piano keys and her singular voice might denote a strained seriousness. But this album, this confession is anything but a wallow in heartbeaten misery, instead a laying out of breaking down as a documentation of staying up – “Every Single Night” continues for the forseeable future. Apple’s up-down lyrics argue against themselves, the authenticity of the album’s sound is broken through by outside noises, and even the note of dissatisfaction, uncrossable division, finds release in the raw voice of “Daredevil” and re-found summation of “Hot Knife.” ~M.S.

17. Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits While they aren’t exactly a supergroup in the same sense of Led Zeppelin in the 1960s, members of Divine Fits have a pretty brilliant history of making music. Consisting of members of Spoon, Handsome Furs and New Bomb Turks, Divine Fits is a fun diversion from each of their main projects and allows its members to push the expectations of a group-centered creative process, lending A Thing Called The Divine Fits a freewheeling nature, which is especially felt on the lead single “Would That Not Be Nice,” “Civilian Stripes” and their excellent cover of the Boys Next Door’s “Shivers.” This strange turnaround of the standard process wherein bands break up and solo careers begin, Divine Fits have instead momentarily teamed up to upgrade the genre of modern rock. ~T.U.

Whether discovering through repeated listens Claire Boucher’s lyrics are not nearly as abstract as they hit on first impression, or through interviews the undercurrents that power already-meaningful songs like lead single “Oblivion,” after a year with Visions it’s clear that while Grimes’ success has attracted attention to side projects and personality, it’s the music that remains the key, checking St. Augustine and Mariah Carey, pushing digital accumulation into new traditions, able to include both melodies and dissonance: soundscapes set up as a framework to work against. Even if the songs that stick out from Visions are the same 12 months later, the way Boucher’s voice is both close and distant, moves between the directness of pop and the ambiguity of personal poetry, makes each electronic reply a refresh – unlike the internet remix culture Boucher is often linked to, Visions, through time, never turns to static. ~M.S.

14. Dum Dum Girls – End of Daze End of Daze flashes by, changing keys despite retaining the weight that hangs over Dum Dum Girls’ every exhalation. Where on LPs like last year’s Only in Dreams, Dee Dee’s weary composition can be said to fall into patterns, never turgid but building to massive finalities like “Coming Down” that don’t top each other so much as continue, and continue, End of Daze, at 18 minutes condenses and cuts everything extraneous, establishing negativity (“I got nothing/left to say,” the hate that covers all on “Trees and Flowers”) but only that it might be overcome. “The buildings tower over me,” and echoes always hang around the background, but then album closer “Season in Hell” arrives already, guitars flitting, drums cracking, and the invitation, despite everything, of “doesn’t the night/look divine,” lets the soon-to-be-replayed album “end,” for a moment, the downtrodden mood. “Lift your gaze.” ~M.S.

13. fun. – Some Nights With the February 21 release of their sophomore album Some Nights, the sonic bombast trio of fun. took the music charts by storm producing and combining their vocal harmonies with a pop influence that’s infectious. Although the music itself is considered to be overloaded and surrounding to singer and frontman Nate Ruess, he’s able to use his unique voice to cut through the noise to deliver honest, heartfelt messages. Songs such as “We Are Young” (featuring Janelle Monae), “Some Nights,” and “Carry On” gave fun. an impressive year and the success of the entire album has earned the band a 2013 Grammy Award nomination . . . well, six to be exact. ~K.B.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

ARTS & LIFE 12. The Men – Open Yr. Heart Propulsive, raw and rambling, The Men come close to embodying the Platonic ideal of debaucherous bar punks with hearts of gold everywhere. Stretching their legs and upping the melodic commitments from their first release, Open Your Heart blisters through 45 minutes of largely instrumental content that showcases the band’s road-tested marksmanship. The band careens dangerously about, playing with unsteady tempos, favouring grit and passion over accuracy. The songs themselves channel country and punk influences, most notably on the acoustic, Stones-esque “Candy”. ~N.U.

11. Literature – Arab Spring Combining full-blast rock, catchy melodies and romantic and social anxieties, Literature borrows musical touchstones from ‘70s act The Buzzcocks with a side of dancey post-punk brattiness courtesy of The Jam. Arab Spring, Literature’s debut full-length record doesn’t drag on, in fact it is over and out in a brisk 22 minutes and is to the point. There is nothing here that is incredibly new or revolutionary, as it gives a nod to its forbearers in the jangle pop and C86 mix tapes, but carry out these songs with impeccable skill that makes it clear that the band adores and consumes a great deal of music. It is completely irresistible, as this Austin, Texas band proves that great music doesn’t have to sound hard to make, even if it is. ~T.U.

10. Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory It’s a fair bet that on first listen, either “Fall In” or “Stay Useless” would be singled out as the best on the album. It’s true that these songs have something extraordinary about them, aside from being the most inviting. However, the rest advances with just as much weight. With this release the band turned darker and more melancholic. It’s quite raw and lo-fi with a general feel that its roots lie in emo, albeit quite a bit more grown up. Pushing through the distortion, lyrically what’s here is soul-bearing and you can’t help but feel that this album has been an outlet for lead singer Dylan Baldi. Attack On Nothing closes with the amazing “Cut You”. ~J.J.

9. HAIM – Forever With only one EP released under their belt, a total of three songs plus a remix, HAIM brought something unique to the scene. Made up of the three Haim sisters from Los Angeles, along with their drummer, the band produces music that’s a little gritty and heart tearing as lead vocalist Danielle Haim pours her heart into each of the songs. Title track “Forever” easily has traces in the ‘80s, she bites into “Go Slow,” and “Better off” is a unique play. One thing all the songs have in common is the angst with which they have at their core. With this one EP, they easily stand above a lot of the year’s music. ~J.J.

8. Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball

Taking cues from his 2006 record We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Bruce Springsteen uses the first half of his 17th studio album Wrecking Ball to protest the greed, hypocrisy, and corruption in the United States. The Boss opens the album with the driving “We Take Care of Our Own”, a track that harkens back to vintage E Street Band, and yields the same sentiment as the powerful opening tracks of 1978’s Darkness on the Edge of Town or 1985’s Born in the U.S.A. Like the latter song however, the casual listener could mistakenly interpret it as a patriotic anthem. The chorus declares, “Wherever this flag’s flown/we take care of our own,” yet the verses describe an America where this much-needed help never appears. ~T.U.

7. Ty Segall – Twins

5. Tame Impala – Lonerism

3. Best Coast – The Only Place

One of three albums issued from Segall’s San Francisco hideout this year, all under slightly different monikers, his only “solo” release outshines the rest and many other albums this year. Segall’s British-tinged and unhinged garage rock made a believer out of me with “Thank God For Sinners,” injecting vitality, danger, and shreds of roaring authenticity into a genre rife with posers and trend-hoppers since its 2000 revival at the hands of The Strokes and The White Stripes. Segall is a punk with a classical education and on Twins, he flaunts this with ringing double-tracked vocals, desperate harmonies, glam-rock strut, psychadelic tempo changes, and anxious guitar harmonies. That’s to say nothing of the haunting female gospel choir that opens “The Hill”. Overflowing with assurance and scrappy skill, Twins is the product of someone at the top of their game. ~N.U.

On their second album, the Australian psychedelic outfit helmed by Kevin Parker strides through the insular and kaleidoscopic world of the loner. It is a celebration and examination of the late night life of someone who prefers their own company. It’s subject matter seems to betray is production: a home studio at Parker’s house which no doubt saw it’s fair share of after-hours shifts. There’s an element of determined perseverance that resembles the headspace of a long-distance runner from the opening drum-backed manifesto: “Gotta be above it/ gotta be above it”. Parker drawls in a Lennon-esque voice that floats somewhere in a washed out, but uncluttered sonic landscape to flesh out his inner world. The lyrics are occasionally difficult to make out, but the feeling of cascading thought they convey is catching. Turn it up and plug in your headphones; everyone else is sleeping. ~N.U.

Hitting it big in 2010 with their dominance of the West coast lo-fi indie surf pop, they were back at it with their second release. The band, a duo of Bethany Cosentino on vocals and Bob Bruno, has made a notable change with this album in how they turned away from their earlier sound for a cleaner production. It kicks off with the fast paced track “The Only Place”, a composition of Consentino’s affection for the state of California. The rest of the album then turns things down a notch for a slower beat – almost as if it’s been derived from a sound of the ‘50s. The album essentially is smoother and reflective of Consentino’s life over the past couple of years. My only complaint would have to be how seemingly short the album can seem. But leaving the listener wanting more is never a bad thing, and hey, California may very well be the only place. ~J.J.

6. Mac DeMarco – 2 Mac DeMarco’s greasy personality and willfully goofy behavior can be at times both charming and unsettling, but fortunately his talent shines through 2, his second release of 2012. The album, which lyrically revolves around an unstable family and a hopeless father with a heavy drug addiction, exhibits twangy and sun-soaked guitar rock in a style reminiscent of last years’ laidback masterpiece Days, by Real Estate. Every song on 2 has such a summery glow that it transports the listener away to a swinging hammock on some forgotten beach, with a beer in one hand and not a care in the world. Although 2 never shifts gears, it also never hits a speed bump, cruising along leisurely until it’s time to start the record over again. ~T.U.

2. Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE 4. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo, Magellan Swing Lo, Magellon is Dirty Projectors scaled back. However, even when the band does so, they are still more stylistically diverse than most bands in the pop genre. Their vocals are spastic and they make use of dynamic shifts in a relaxed and informal fashion. The album contains a loose folk vibe, straightforward arrangements, handclaps and finger naps and warmth not present on their previous releases, like 2009’s Bitte Orca. With Swing Lo, Magellan, Dirty Projectors have successfully continued their unique sound and made it more accessible, but in a curiously jarring and inaccessible way, and it’s enchanting. ~T.U.

Sometimes albums sneak up on you slowly. After a couple of listens, it suddenly clicks that there’s something special going on. Other times, all it takes is a single song to fall in love. For me, “Thinkin’ Bout You,” the second track from Frank Ocean’s stunning debut album, is that song. The moment Ocean’s voice floats upward into that impossible falsetto as he croons “I’ve been thinkin’ bout forever,” was my conversion moment channel ORANGE is a proficient and immersive late night taxi ride through Los Angeles that flirts with all manner of R&B tied together by Ocean’s intimate, melancholic lyrics and effortlessly soulful voice. Breathtaking, sprawling, heartbreaking, but not without a few lesser songs, channel ORANGE’s minor imperfections don’t make a dent in those overwhelming, transcendent and beautiful moments I keep coming back to. ~N.U.

1. Japandroids – Celebration Rock

These are the “droids” you are looking for. The Vancouver rock duo Japandroids follow-up album to their 2009 success PostNothing, Celebration Rock is defined by an exciting sense of reckless youthful righteousness. Each track feels like it’s the album’s lead single, causing the listener to throw their fist into the air and raise a glass to last summers’ memories, knowing that there’s a much brighter future ahead. Japandroids conjure these images with fiercely distorted guitars, punked out energy and relatable lyrics about navigating life’s broken relationships and confessions of youth. There are no surprises here if you’ve heard their first album, just close your eyes and you’ll feel like you are in the middle of a crowd at the gig. ~T.U.

“The responsibility of critical or transgressive art has to be two-fold: it should describe how and why we suffer and imagine a way out of it.” – Marsha Tupitsyn. Celebration Rock—in which driving guitars and drums are not monotonous, noise is never drowned, shouts are not without cares—a manifesto in progress, of love as a political act, revolutionary, against the morose, narcissistic static that is available as a retreat. “Younger Us” is what is wanted – the moments when this album was recorded, before we needed to hear it, before we came to this godforsaken university, before those mistakes? But this is sung to the future – a desire, opposing control, beyond ourselves, never reaching, always moving forward. “Now we know.” ~M.S.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

ARTS & LIFE

RESTAURANTS OF THE YEAR

Contributors Dessa Bayrock, Tony Biondi, Ali Siemens, Joel Smart, Amy Van Veen

10. Vedder Sushi

8. Wendel’s

6. Cookies

Cookies Grill is a restaurant that focuses on the simple things: friendly and familiar waitresses, all day breakfast and an excellent club sandwich. Their eggs benny are some of the best in Chilliwack and their trucker hours are kind to early birds. The hashbrowns have yet to disappoint and their specialty soup—cream of mushroom with chicken and garlic—is good enough to take home for the family, but finish it off before they get there. ~D.B.

Downtown Abbotsford has the good fortune of being filled with adorable bistros and restaurants filling storefronts up and down Montrose and Essendene, and The Roasted Grape is one of these notable eateries. Sitting in what used to be a bank, the vault-turnedkitchen supplies patrons with delicious and local infused meats and cheeses with a variety of wines. It’s the kind of place where you could dress up for an evening and have a sophisticated date or scoot out for a lunch break that turns into a several-hour gab session. Comfortable and elegant, The Roasted Grape knows what they’re doing. ~A.V.

On the border of what Abbotsfordians consider the country, Brambles Bistro provides a getaway spot to take an extra breath and eat some quality food. Their meals make customers feel healthy instead of gross, satisfied instead of stuffed and the fact that it’s situated in Tanglebank Gardens adds that much more to the experience. After all, when one feels so inspired by fresh cooking, purchasing one’s own herb garden on the way out seems logical. And maybe some scented candles. And fun cake plates. And a bouquet of flowers, just because. ~A.V.

9. Rocko’s

7. Hilltop Cafe

5. O’Neill’s

3. Little Farmhouse in the City

1. Mitch MIller’s

If it’s 2 a.m. and you’ve got the munchies, your options in the Fraser Valley are pretty limited. What more could you hope for than 420 different milkshake (and ice cream float) flavour options? How about a burger with two patties, bacon, egg, lettuce, tomato, onion rings and fries between two grilledcheese sandwiches? Deep-fried French toast? You can find it all at Rocko’s Diner on the Lougheed Highway in Mission. Denny’s ain’t got shit on this place. Plus, it’s a family owned and run establishment that’s been in our community since 1956. Oh yeah, and that crazy burger? It’s called the Beau-HeMoth. ~J.S.

I love diner food. There is something about sitting down in a diner with a menu full of semi-unhealthy items that just curls my toes with delight. I would consider myself a clubhouse sandwich connoisseur. The bread shouldn’t cut the roof of your mouth, real bacon, the turkey should be real and not shaved from a deli and you should be able to eat the stacked sandwich without it falling a part in your hands. Hilltop Café has this mastered. Everything is perfect, and it comes with the option of having cranberry sauce on the side. It is served with a side of shoestring cut fries, which are crisped perfectly. Aside from having several movies filmed inside the restaurant, it should also be recognized for its homemade pies. Cold, heated up or alamode I think everyone should put “have a piece of Hilltop Café’s pie” on their bucket list. ~A.S.

If you ever have a hankering for a good sandwich or sandwich-like meal, O’Neill’s has taken my heart away from the mainstream sandwich chains. The sandwiches they produce are of a reasonable cost and are among some of the most delicious I have ever eaten. My biggest complaint has been their hours. They are a lunch joint only, and therefore not open during the evening when I get the largest cravings. As well, there is really only one true “special” sandwich on the menu. If you order another, O’Neill will kindly recommend that you don’t order it. And, if the owner doesn’t have faith in the rest of the menu, it is probably best to trust him. That being said, his flagship dish is still to die for. ~T.B.

If you don’t have a breakfast nook in your own home, Little Farm House in the City offers just that – small but comfy tables accompanied by the ambience of a fireplace. One of my favourite menu items is their breakfast croissant, which is featured in many different dishes. Whether you want a croissant by itself, with a cup of fruit or have it loaded with eggs, cheese, sausages and other toppings, their croissant is delicious however it’s served. Breakfast in my opinion is best served with a great cup of coffee, and this restaurant has mastered the skills of brewing a perfect cup of coffee. Not to mention, the service is always great, so your coffee cup will never be empty. ~A.S.

We live on the West Coast and there are a lot of sushi places. But how can you tell which ones are legitimately good and which ones will give you food poisoning? Well, dear reader, I’m here to lend my glowing recommendation to Vedder Sushi. I’ve been eating there since it opened in 2009 (and quaintly kept the “grand open” banner up until 2011). The chefs are friendly, the miso has sizeable tofu content (which cannot be overstated), the deep-fried California roll is to die for and they succeed in making even basic menu items spectacularly more than basic. ~D.B.

Books and coffee: it’s a logical marriage and one that has been capitalized upon with chain stores across North America, but there’s something about squeezing inside the creaky doors of Wendel’s. The nearness of the tables combined with the mouth-watering display of fresh baking and original wood flooring makes this café restaurant cozy, not claustrophobic. And after a refreshing jaunt down the Fort to Fort trail, sometimes a coffee and slice of pie is anything anyone needs. ~A.V.

Film Review JEREMY HANNAFORD

CONTRIBUTOR

The truth and the fictional truth are one in the same in the uneven but watchable mess that is Gangster Squad. Its focus on the authentic look and feel of the late 1940s is the true highlight of the film which is heavy on the style and light on substance. The phrase “inspired by true events” is just another way of saying “this was sort of true but not really.” After seeing a fully dressed police officer throw a knife into a mobster’s hand across a busy dance floor, the truth has certainly been set free. But Gangster Squad isn’t concerning itself with being a factual film. It acknowledges what it is by having bad guys toting dual Thompson machine guns and old timer cops firing revolver pistols Old West style. The film keeps one entertained with several stylish if that repetitive gun fights and a diverting performance by Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen. His portrayal of the former gangster highly over embellishes Cohen’s actual position in the Los Angeles mob, but it does show how Cohen started up the gambling wire that was connected with Vegas betting rig. The film dips into truth from time to time just to save face with the beginning message stating its partial com-

mitment to the truth. Ganster Squad’s violence isn’t excessive in terms of brutality but in near parody. Director Ruben Fleischer comedic traits break through the mold and teeter Gangster Squad where it shouldn’t. His lack of experience in the action genre is evident throughout the production. At a point during a major gun battle, Fleisher is apparently trying to make you care about all the Christmas ornaments being shot up in the crossfire. His attention is unfocused and the film suffers both in pacing and development. His focus on the style and atmosphere, however, is decent as he envelops the viewer in ‘40s Los Angeles. The city lights and architecture are presented in great clarity and setting. The night life is especially displayed in styles of dining, evening wear and attitude. The choices of songs for the soundtrack help build the envelopment of the timeframe as classy jazz tunes are played during the establishing shots and montages. Gangster Squad’s story is similar to that of The Untouchables. The fight for justice against the mob being taken into the hands of a few rogue cops is straight out of the 1987 Kevin Costner classic. There are moments where Gangster Squad tries to walk the same path as The Untouchables. A long

4. The Roasted Grape

2. Brambles Bistro

Walking into this quaint downtown Abbotsford restaurant is always warm and welcoming. Whether you want breakfast, lunch or dinner, their menu has something for every meal of the day. Their breakfasts are delicious, my personal favourite being their eggs benedict. Whether you want a classic ham and egg, or you’re feeling adventurous and decide to try the portabella mushroom and bacon, you won’t be disappointed. Also, their soups are all made in house, nothing coming from a box or package ensuring maximum flavour and quality. In terms of dinner, their rice and pasta dishes are exceptional, never scarce on veggies. Important to note, their menu also offers extensive glutenfree options as well as many vegetarian dishes. ~A.S.

Gangster Squad tracking shot through a L.A. night club, the group of cops battling a big bad mob boss all harken back to The Untouchables. But the characters in Gangster Squad are nowhere near as developed as Costner’s crew was. The pacing and introduction of the crew is generic to a typical action movie in which you know who will die and you only remember their one single trait instead of their name. Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling give decent performances, but both feel as though they are half done. But with the lack of development for their characters in the script, it is hard to blame them. They never get a moment of true elaboration, just knit pieces here and there. Sean Penn turns out to be the most interesting character. He is given a character that already has his traits laid on the table within the first minute and he has fun with it. Gangster Squad was a troubled spawn right from the start. The change of style for Fleischer proved to be too much for him. In terms of a straight up action film, it delivers. But with such a stellar cast and a world and story it had available, the potential for this film far exceeded what was actually delivered.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

ARTS & LIFE

Black and White FASHION

JASMINE PROCTOR

CONTRIBUTOR

1 2 3

CHARTS

Viper Central Thump & Howl

Fist City Buried b/w Cryptic Transmissions Needles//Pins Getting On Home b/w Picture My Face

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Shuffle AARON LEVY

CIVL DJ/ROUGH RIDER

CIVL station manager Aaron Levy comes from out of town. Here are some of his favorite local artists from the town he came from, Guelph, Ontario!

Teen Daze The Inner Mansions

Oh Village Far Side of the Sea

White Lung Sorry

The Mohawk Lodge Damaged Goods Diamond Rings Free Dimensional Julie Doiron So Many Days Metric Synthetica

Papermaps Inferior Ghost

Modern Superstiti ons Modern Superstition Tame Impala Lonerism Mode Moderne Strange Bruises Ladyhawk No Can Do

AC Newman Shut Down The Streets

17 18

Old Man Luedecke Tender Is The Night Peter Katz Still Mind Still

Ambre Truth”

McLean

–

“Tricky

McLean, of the North Vancouver McLeans, had a major label jazz recording deal back in the day, but snubbed it in favour of doing her own thing, with more creativity, more freedom, and more foot pedals, as indicated by this favourite from her most recent album, Murder at the Smokehouse. Wakeless – “Desolation Diaries” Anchored by former Victory Records’ Arise and Ruin drummer and guitarist, Derek D-Wok Prince-Cox and Greg Richmond, Wakeless was silly enough to offer me a tryout as their lead vocalist the summer I came to the Valley. They’re probably better off without me, wouldn’t you say? I think so, yes. Nathan Coles “Wheeled”

Outfit

–

Despite the audio quality, YouTube videos of Stay out of the Mall will elucidate why his songwriting has haunted me pleasantly since the first time I saw him play his Sunday open mic set at the bar named after the Clash song. A songwriting ox, due to his power and consistency. Run With the Kittens – “Blue Flame” One of the greatest live acts you’ll ever see, not only in bobble-head form, but also in person, as people, but not kittens. They’ve been around for almost 10 years, and I tell you, they’re just about to break. Singer Nate is a YouTube sensation (Jamie’s World). Don’t dare miss’em.

As the temperature drops and we find ourselves starting yet another semester, it is time to face the sad reality: the holidays are officially over. Winter’s looks for the season have come to a close, and as we put away our New Year’s dresses and pull on our warm cardigans, we may want to look at what’s coming next. Although we may still be in the midst of winter, it is never too early to try out an approaching style, especially if it is simplistic and versatile. When referring to simplistic and versatile, one key trend sticks out amongst them. Gracing the runways of designers like Marc Jacobs, Louis Vitton, Chanel and Alexander Wang, a new twist on the classic combination of black and white seems likely to become spring’s hottest style. Stealing a very retro ‘60s mod vibe with bold stripes and checkered print, spring’s looks of black and white were seen all over the catwalks at the spring and summer 2013 fashion week. The key element that made this timeless look so fresh was how designers took a new approach by dramatically colour-blocking the two shades together, incorporating the combination into everything from dresses to pant suits. While some designers sported the style in only a few pieces of their shows, others’ whole collections were dedicated to this simplistic design. Marc Jacob’s collection displayed one of my favourite pieces from all the shows: a simple but structured mini dress with large, vertical black and white

stripes. It is so fresh and minimalistic, yet it still retains an almost doll-like quality to it, making it ideal for this coming spring. As runway designs normally set the stage for what styles will be seen in many retail stores, it is to be expected that this look will soon be coming to the shops we know and love. Already, stores like Forever 21 have jumped on the black and white bandwagon, displaying an affordable selection of moto jackets, button-down blouses, sleek skinnies and woven sweaters, all colour-blocked to perfection. Easy to pair together, the store’s array of choices make it effortless to recreate the runway looks in a more wearable way. Worn alone or together, their colour-blocked collection fully embraces the trend, integrating its pieces you can wear pretty much every day. Looking through their selection, I fell in love with the colour-blocked peplum jacket because it goes so well when combined with either a pair

of black or even faux-leather skinny jeans. For those only looking for a taste of this trend, their cute black and white cross-body flap bag would be perfect, as it adds a touch of this style to any outfit. Of all the trends this season, the black and white style is the easiest to wear for everyday and even just adding a hint of it to any outfit can instantly make you on-trend for this coming spring season. The fact is you may even already have some of the pieces you need, just waiting in your wardrobe. Try a tailored white blazer over a simple black tee (or vice versa), or a black maxi skirt with a fitted white longsleeved shirt. To finish off the look, try adding a piece of chunky or large gold-coloured jewelry, such as a necklace or a cuff bracelet. Doing this will not only add a chic edge to your look, but it will also make your outfit even more sophisticated and ready for spring.

Discussions Below the Belt

MILFs LADY ORACLE

THE CASCADE

Mom I’d Like to Fuck. This sounds distasteful. Considering its origins into mainstream teenage vernacular – American Pie, a classic film about teen lust and efforts to get laid, it does seem to be a cringe-worthy term. But it’s a term that is used commonly enough. Other terms are being taken back by women—slut, bitch, cunt—why not MILF? A Jezebel article discussing the MILF phenomenon cites chef Jessica Porter, author of The MILF Diet, who is in favour of reclaiming the term. “MILF actually reunites two very important parts of a woman – our maternity (we love, we care, we give), and our sexuality (we make love, we desire, and yes, we sometimes “f**k” and want to be “f**ked”),” Porter says. Tracy Moore, writer of the Jezebel article, poses the question: “Should we embrace MILF as a desirable status that’s here to stay, another hotness meter on our lifelong journey to maintain hotness?” Maybe the term MILF extends this journey. When do you stop being a MILF? MILFs seem to be older women (perhaps ones that have teenage sons), though women can

be mothers much, much younger. Maybe when you become a grandmother, then you’re no longer qualified to be a MILF. But why must we define an older woman as “mom?” By reducing a woman to her role as a caregiver, and someone you’d like to fuck, we are belittling her identity. Raising children is very important, and so is our sexuality. But in a patriarchal system, those things are pretty much all women have – and often those roles are used to suppress women. Just combine them together and it’s a bit off-putting. Either an older woman is a mom, or a mom who is fuckable. The unfuckable mom used to be a fuckable woman, but now that she’s a mom she’s just a mom . . . Are moms unfuckable? Perhaps women shouldn’t be labeled mom, because being a mom shouldn’t define them. She might be a mother to her children, but she isn’t a mother to you, so you don’t need to call her a mom, whether you’d like to fuck her or not. How about a cougar? Moore says that “MILFs are women you want to fuck. Cougars are women who want to fuck you.” Ah. So should these terms join

bitch, cunt, slut, (and feminist, for that matter) in an effort for women to empower themselves? Women want to redefine the roles they were once forced into. “Mom” might be one of them. These roles should be as malleable and unique as a woman wants them to be, and for men to be labeling a woman by their desire for her and whether or not she’s had children is restrictive. Any term used to label a person or group without their consent needs to be examined. If a woman wants to embrace this term, power to them. But in all honesty, that woman probably doesn’t give a damn about that 14-year-old’s boner.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

ARTS & LIFE

Mini Album Reviews

SoundBites

Thought Beneath Film Christopher Owens

Recycle Culture

Owen Thomas Languages{Or: Get Dark & Find Yourself.}, the excessively-punctuated debut solo record from The Elms’ former front man, comes as somewhat of a surprise. Arriving over two years after the break-up of the prolifically-touring Indiana rock quartet, Languages launched the day it was announced. Stepping back from The Elms’ barnstorming Midwestern rock, Languages focuses on more open pop numbers and Thomas himself rather than fallow fields and rusted train yards. Its best tracks propelled by fuzz-bass lines and hard-wired backbeats like “Houdini.,” “I Am High Above You.,” and “What You Say & What You Do.” Here Thomas often dwells in much quieter, more reflective territory, like on “Factors.,” stripped of most percussion apart from shaker and occasional tambourine and anchored by a constant organ note. Directly inspired by personal circumstance and crafted in a fairly brief time frame, the album can veer into almost uncomfortably autobiographical territory. The specific details grant listeners insight into Thomas’ inner state sometimes robbed of metaphor. Unchanged from his earlier work is Thomas’ considerable melodic instincts and knack for a killer bridge. It’s fascinating to see him work new ground, like the bopping folk track “Take My Heart To The Bottom,” which wouldn’t have felt so out of place on Taylor Swift’s Red.

Detours

Lysandre

In Transit Moves

Thought Beneath Film—a stillobscure five-piece Ontario band named after an Emily Dickinson poem—self-define their music on Twitter as “noisy, gritty pop jams.” Their five-song EP is filled with just such made-for-radio pop-rock tunes. While it comes off a little too superficial and overproduced, each track is easy on the ears; I’m not typically a fan of “she-bop” as a lyric in a song, but I didn’t mind it in “Sixty Six.” Truthfully, I like the album, it hits the right notes for me – but I’m also a little embarrassed to admit it. They sound like a tamer, parent-friendly version of Green Day or Blink 182 – appropriate, considering the album was mixed by Tom Lord-Alge and mastered by Bob Ludwig who are known for working with those bands (not to mention Nirvana, Coldplay and Weezer). Thought Beneath Film is clearly squeezed out of the same tube. I actually think “If I Could Fix You (You Know That I Would)” is catchy enough to get some major airtime – and maybe that was the goal of this EP. Although, released in late summer, the time for that may have already passed.

Best known for his work as the frontman and songwriter of San Francisco-based Girls, the indie rock critical darlings who he unexpectedly left in July of last year, Christopher Owens’ solo debut is a complete departure from his work with the band. Lysandre is a loose concept album, and acts as a diary about touring for the first time with Girls and a long distance affair he had with the titular Frenchwoman. Owens masterfully minimalist songwriting, frank and potent, yet naive and universal is on display on Lysandre, as his doowop flavour and wry pop melodies come across as charismatic and infectious rather than tacky or cringe-worthy. Summing up his approach to music on “Love Is In The Ear of The Listener,” The wide-eyed Owens first asks, “What if I’m just a bad songwriter, and everything I say has been said before?” before concluding, “Well, everything to say has been said before, and that’s not what makes or breaks a song.” He’s playful and has fun on Lysandre, and although there will be better albums this year, there probably won’t be any quite as honest.

Between words (exposure, attachments) and silence (unknowability, forgetting), Recycle Culture’s In Transit Moves, picking up snatches of conversation, sounds, movements. Unlike Recycle Culture’s somewhat popular remixes (which often seem to miss the point: Taylor Swift’s “State of Grace” reduced to two of its notbest lines) In Transit is both quiet, a calm ambient space that encourages imagination to fill in gaps and anticipate changes, unrepetition. In Transit’s four parts pass through two or three movements, passing through styles and moods in lengthy expanses (each approaches 10 minutes) but avoiding the stuckness sometimes associated with the genre. Layers of sound come and go, electronic then live, crowded and approaching heights of volume then silent, fading, and translucent – every part is visible throughout In Transit, and all the background matters. Perhaps the best part, if one can be said to matter more than any of the others, is the second through fourth movements of “Pt. 4,” where ticking drives the beat, the crowd of a waiting area gives way to a studied (dis)quiet of piano and synthetic strings before a saxaphone signals the end – something close to, yet stranger and slower than the work of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for David Fincher, and a plaintive surprise to open the year.

Joel Smart

Tim Ubels

Michael scoular

Languages...

nICK UBELS

Book Review David Eggers – A Hologram for the King DESSA BAYROCK

THE CASCADE

Sometimes the old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover” is completely out of line. The cover of David Eggers’ novel A Hologram for the King is a deep, gorgeous burnished gold with the title spelled out in stately capitals. It catches the eye and doesn’t let go, which is the only reason I picked it up. I read the first two chapters standing at the sale table in the bookstore without even realizing it, and when something entertains you that long without your knowledge you kind of sit up and pay attention. So I bought the book – partly because it was pretty, partly because it snagged me right away, and partly so the clerk would stop glaring at me. All in all, it’s a quick and light read, constructed with refreshingly simple prose. We flit along the path of the protagonist’s thoughts effortlessly, like butterflies. It’s easy to get in and out of, making it perfect to pick up and put down in between homework.

The novel itself rests between two worlds, straddling tradition and technology. It opens with Alan Clay, our stalwart and everyday hero, sitting on a flight to King Abdullah Economic City somewhere in Saudi Arabia. This immediately places the novel: Alan is a middle-aged, very nearly washedup business man, flying halfway around the world to meet King Abdullah and sell him a hologram. Before Alan reaches his destination, we become extremely familiar with his perpetually underlying anxieties – about his daughter, his ex-wife, whether his father is proud of him, and if he’ll be able to make the deal of his life. Alan’s anxiety is almost perfectly embodied in a lump he has discovered in his neck. Too terrified to talk to a doctor, he secretly prods it, both despising and treasuring it. A tumor? An infection? Some anomalous mass? No matter what it is, Alan imagines it attached to his spine, sucking away his life in imperceptible increments. Alan instead focuses on the problem of the hologram – the

technology is solid, but the transaction will be ruled by a series of power plays. The company the king ultimately chooses to supply holograms to his economic city will be determined by who has the best connections. But Alan feels as though he has the advantage on two counts – first, that he went to school with King Abdullah’s nephew, and second that he needs this deal more than anyone else can possibly need it. Without the bonus he’ll receive with the sealed contract, he’ll lose his house and have to withdraw his daughter from college. This is more than a business transaction – it’s the final battle in Alan’s war for his self-worth. Alan fills the role of foreign business specialist almost sheepishly, trying to balance being polite with demanding his needs be met. The deal, he thinks, will be easy. However, things are not so simple when he finally arrives. The first blow comes when he and his (much younger and boredly competent) team makes are relegated to a giant tent instead of allowed space in

the presentation centre itself. In a second, more forceful hit, it quickly becomes apparent that not only is the king not in the kingdom, but also that no one knows when he’ll be back. Fighting overwhelming desperation, Alan spends several nights wickedly drunk on moonshine – something procures almost by accident, since the kingdom is largely Muslim and alcohol is strictly prohibited. This drunken hotel room becomes Alan’s own kingdom – with fire in his belly, he becomes brave, imperial and sure. Alan becomes brave enough to face his past (by calling his father and writing a letter to his daughter), to face his future (by resolving to to demand better attention from the king’s entourage) and also himself. Steak knife in hand, he courageously and barbarically attacks the alien lump in his own neck, satisfied with the healthy flow of blood and the lack of pain. He gleefully—and somewhat regretfully—decides the lump can’t possibly be attached to anything vital, and with that he

falls into bed and into sleep. This is a theme that prevails subtly throughout the novel: internal versus external, fighting the weakness within one’s own self, and both fearing and battling the foreign. I won’t spoil the ending, other than to say the novel doesn’t quite end. The quest to deliver a hologram to the king remains incomplete, continuing off into the horizon. We’re given a window into Alan’s experience, rather than a complete story, and this works in the novel’s favour. Life, after all, doesn’t often end with closure. Instead, we see a perfect view of Alan – his thoughts, fears, defeats, and subsequent rallies. Our protagonist is quintessentially human, and it’s an utter relief to be let into someone else’s head, to understand and accept another set of anxieties so completely that the reader forgets their own.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

SPORTS & HEALTH

Image: Abbotsford Heat

A flurry of change hits the Abbotsford Heat as NHL training camps commence MIKE CADARETTE CONTRIBUTOR

Everything is returning to normal. The NHL is set to begin next week. Training camps are opening. Players are gearing up for a shortened season that is sure to be a sprint to the playoffs. Sports journalists are in a frenzy trying to cover as much as they can. And fans are looking forward to the gift that is NHL hockey. But all is not so swell in the world of the American Hockey League. Having gotten used to abnormally deep rosters of talent over the past three-and-a-half months, AHL coaches and players are prepping for a dramatic reduction in the level of skill both on their teams and league-wide. What this means for the Heat is that they have lost the usual suspects. Sven Baertschi, the first year pro out of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, and TJ Brodie, the smooth skating offensive defenceman, are the two players most likely to stick in the NHL. The Heat’s leading scorer, Ben Street, and leading goal scorer, Roman Horak, have gotten the call as well. Steve McCarthy, who played for newly appointed Flames head coach Bob Hartley for the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National league, is also making the trip east. Other Abbotsford players who will be heading to the Flames training camp are Chris Breen, Paul Byron and Leland Irving.

To Troy Ward, losing some of his most impactful players doesn’t halt the excitement of seeing his pupils get the chance they’ve been waiting for since they first strapped on a pair of skates. “Ecstatic would be the word I would use. It’s such a good thing. These guys come here and they work hard every day and, you know, the travel kind of stinks at this level. To go up and have a chance to get on a charter versus getting on a commercial flight, it’s just so well worth the wait, however long it took.” While the coaching staff reaps the reward of seeing their players get a shot at making an NHL club, their peers are equally as excited to see their teammates have that opportunity. “It’s the way it should be,” said Heat captain Quintin Laing after Wednesday’s practice. “I mean nobody wanted a lockout to start. So, I’m sure some of those guys weren’t expecting to be down here in the first place. So, they’re going where they should be, where they should be playing. To get to know them a bit, they’re really good kids and I’m going to be happy for each and every one of them that stays up there.” However, what’s not exciting is the Heat losing their top offensive catalysts, at least until the weeklong training camp has completed. On a team that is third last in the AHL in goals for per game (2.35), that’s not a welcome prospect to think about. However, the Heat captain views this as a chance to get the

so-called monkey off the backs of those who haven’t been contributing in the offensive zone. “I don’t think it adds any more pressure,” Laing said. “We put pressure on ourselves to score goals. I think we’ve got a few guys that have been snake bitten in the last month or so and I expect those guys to start scoring. As long as you get your chances and keep putting pucks on net, eventually they’re going to go in. So, as long as you have a positive mind frame, it doesn’t matter who we lose—if they’re offensive of defensive— the pressure on us to score is there every night.” Despite the pressure to score every night, it could prove to be a difficult task amidst a spell of change in the players’ daily environment. Eight Heat players have departed over the Rockies to Calgary while several players have come from the Heat’s ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies, to join Abbotsford’s remaining squad. Late Thursday evening, former Heat playmaker Mitch Wahl was called up from Utah. Wahl, a native of Seal Beach, California, led the Grizzlies in scoring collecting 11 goals and 39 points in 30 games. Adam Estoclet, who started the season in Abbotsford, and defencemen Mike Marczak and Drew Mackenzie were also called up for reinforcements this week. “It’s kind of like the trade deadline,” explained Ward. “Those are one of the

toughest days to coach in the minors… We deal with the ‘process’ every day and we don’t really deal with the ‘result’. So, there’s going to be a result that will come and we’ll say the result is these guys are leaving. But we’re a process driven group. We only really focus on things we can control and we’ve done it that way since I’ve landed here. “I’d like to say history is going to teach us we’ll be okay through this, but you’re going to have the odd individual that obviously might be scarred from this whole thing and that’s the guy you got to help. It’s really important that I have some sensitivity and that my staff has some sensitivity to that and I think we have some humility to it. We know that every player is going to deal with it differently and we have to have the ability to change in today’s game. You have to change from player to player as to how you deal with it.” The good news for Heat coaches, players and fans is that eventually the normality felt by the outside world will soon reach them. NHL training camps opened on Sunday and once the camps have closed and rosters have been finalized, the parent teams will send the remaining players back down to the AHL where the focus will once again be on achieving the ultimate goal: the Calder Cup.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

SPORTS & HEALTH

PAUL ESAU

THE CASCADE

To celebrate the end of the lockout, The Cascade recently attended a national student journalism conference in Toronto (not exactly true, but forgive us for thinking some celebration was in order). While there, we interviewed several sports editors from other student papers across the country to get their take on the glorious return of Canada’s favourite form of organized violence.

A Joyful Reunion?

Student journalists on lockout politics

Rob in formal apparel.

Editor: Brian MacIver Paper: The Campus School: Bishop’s University Location: Lennoxville, Quebec How have you been covering the lockout? I’ve been trying not to go every issue, but whenever there’s a big development. When it started I published a big story about it, midway through just to give an update, and now, next issue I’m actually publishing an article about the end of the lockout. How does your region feel about the lockout? Bishop’s being a very anglophone school and a lot of people from out of province, people miss the rivalry of the bar, that’s the big thing. The big student bar is The Lion, which is a three-minute walk from campus. Whenever there’s a Leafs and Canadiens game that is the place to be. All the Ontario kids got in their corner, all the Quebec kids got in their’s and they just fight it out in the bar . . . that’s something that was really missed. And your personal opinion? A lot of people have been complaining that they’re just fighting over a bunch of money. It’s a lot of money it’s hundreds of millions of dollars. But that’s the thing, it’s hundreds of millions of dollars, and it’s not small issue to divide up billions of dollars . . . I do understand players on this, I’m kind of on the players side, but at the same time the owners, the small market teams are really struggling, and that’s mostly Bettman’s fault because he doesn’t want to move the teams. So there’s a lot of politics behind it, a lot of egos also. Fehr and Bettman are not the most selfless people out there . . . that’s one of the things that will come out of this lockout. It wasn’t necessarily a battle between union and owners. It was a battle between two very stubborn people.

Editor: Kimiya Shokoohi Paper: The Runner School: Kwantlen Polytechnic University Location: Surrey, BC How did you cover the lockout? I didn’t. Our Sports section was constantly growing, we didn’t feel that [the lockout] was really of interest to students. It was being covered to death in the daily newspapers . . . hockey is their thing . . . daily it was lockout coverage, [and more] lockout coverage so we were like ‘okay, I think they’ve got it.’ And were you happy with that coverage as a journalist? Yes and no. I thought the newspapers did an okay job of it, but I thought the broadcasters could have done a better job of it. In sports there’s always a fine line between maintaining that relationship and being a balanced reporter when you’re a broadcaster because you’re a rights holder or you’re trying to maintain a relationship with the gatekeepers so that once hockey is back you can actually go inside and cover it! So I thought they could have done a better job. I was a little disappointed. How has your community responded to the end of the lockout? They’re excited, and I knew they would be in Vancouver. We’re not like Toronto where you have lots of choices of what kind of sports fan you want to be. In Vancouver, yes we have the Whitecaps, yes we have the Lions, but hockey rules that town. You know all the sports fans are going to go back to it because what else are you going to do? Follow the Giants? Or the Heat? Which . . . eeugh. Folks can’t wait to get that Orca back on!

Editor: Adam Williams Paper: The Omega School: Thompson River University Location: Kamloops, BC

How have you been covering the lockout? We covered it very briefly. We had one set of opinions, two opinion columns that were opposing viewpoints that we ran right at the start. And we ran another set of columns by the same two people this past issue. That was all we did for it . . . We don’t do a ton of NHL stuff or professional sports stuff to begin with unless it is a very large issue that we can tie to campus sports. How did you feel about the professional coverage of the issue? I have mixed feelings. My thoughts have kind of changed as the lockout has gone on. It’s obviously frustrating to see millionaires fighting with billionaires about insane amounts of money, but as somebody who looks at sports from a more professional standpoint . . . I do understand that sports is a business. I do find it kind of funny how entitled fans are, and you see it in their reaction to things like the lockout and how outrageously angry some people have been . . . fans do drive the business, they are the customer, but at the same time it is a business and obviously the owners and the players need to each do what is best for themselves and their families. Do you think one side was at fault more than the other? I don’t. I think the players knew from day one they were going to lose some stuff in the lockout for the second time around . . . but because there was so much media coverage of it the parties involved were almost made to look even worse than they are. I don’t think anything that happened during the lockout was anything out of the ordinary for a collective bargaining process in labour deals. How has your community responded to the end of the lockout? Amongst my close friends and I we are all quite happy that hockey is going to be back . . . I know I do have some friends, like our editor-in-chief, for example, who is one of those people who is just boycotting the NHL now and wants nothing to do with it . . . in my area I’ve seen the whole spectrum.

Editor: Robert Murray Paper: The Argosy School: Mount Allison University Location: Sackville, New Brunswick

How have you been covering the lockout? In reality I didn’t cover the lockout much. One of the things for me is that I’m really big on fantasy hockey, and of course I couldn’t do fantasy hockey anymore. I had five different leagues when the NHL was playing, so I’m pretty devoted. I did a story on [my ECHL fantasy hockey pool] and put it on the CUP Wire [Canada University Press website] . . . we did a panel on the lockout, on who’s to blame, but in reality I usually just try to cover the local stuff first and there was a lot of local stuff going on. So what did you think of the professional media coverage of the lockout? I enjoyed it at first, I thought it was good coverage. But when they started, when the NHL and NHLPA, started doing the media blackout, I sobered up to the fact that the media was sort of facilitating all the mudslinging that was going on, and I think it was best that the NHL and NHLPA kept it under wraps. Your personal take? To be honest I was paying attention at first and I kind of zoned out afterwards. People say that hockey was gone, but in reality you could still go to a CHL game, an AHL game, stuff like that. And I enjoyed watching hockey online in different leagues . . . I think the players and the owners have a lot of gaps, and the owners don’t necessarily understand that the players want to play hockey but they deserve to be compensated for what they do. And the players need to understand that the owners are trying to run a business . . . for the owners it is about the bottom line. How was the end of the lockout seen in your region? I have a friend from Saint Albert who goes to school with me and he basically didn’t really care. He found other leagues to watch, he found other things to watch. He’s a huge Edmonton Oilers fan, and he kept track of those playing over in Europe and stuff. He found ways to facilitate it. A lot of different people didn’t really care. They asked me a lot what was happening but it was more just feigned interest, conversation starters. Everyone was zoning out.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

SPORTS & HEALTH

2012 Biggest Sports Jerks of

BEAU O’NEILL CONTRIBUTOR

Around this time every year come the lists of best plays and greatest

moments in sports of the year past. It’s exhilarating to see those moments

1. Lance Armstrong

again and relive them, but these lists, with all their glory, also make it easy to forget the ever-present figure in the world of seven-figure contracts: the Jerk. Those players or coaches or management members who prove their paychecks aren’t relative to their decency as people, or show how easy it is to lose contact with the mortal world after displaying a little excellence in dribbling a ball or riding a damn bicycle.

So here’s a list of four jerks who’ve showed within the last 12 months that they are the biggest sporting buffoons of 2012.

Image: Darrel Chen/flickr

Metta World Peace (Formerly known as Ron Artest)

3. Gary Bettmann

Image: UCinternational/flickr

Justin Verlander If this were 2011, this spot would belong to Luongo (granted it didn’t slip between his pads). Verlander had a great season, went into the All-Stars game strong as a mule, and came out weak as a methadoneaddicted kitten. The American League was stomped on by the National League, and so the San Francisco Giants gained homefield advantage in the World Series against Verlander’s Detroit Tigers. This culminated in him giving up free homeruns in the first game of the series.

Verdict A jerk for not playing consistently.

Most people who watch hockey, whether they’re the sort who watch it while drinking the daily beer special at the pub and care only that it’s two teams playing, or the type whose fantasy roster takes the pooled prized at the end of each season, hate the National Hockey League’s commissioner, Bettman. Search his name on Google and his bio pic shows the man in a zany moment of what’s most likely evil scheming (shown above). Gary Bettman’s a jerk to most people because he represented the management of the NHL in the recent labour dispute, no one seems to care that he’s been a fairly successful commissioner for almost 20 years. But the hockey players should be held up to blame as well. The dispute showed that the pro level of play is set in a world of Olympian-sized incomes. Also, people take professional sports very seriously; I wouldn’t like to see what would happen in Oakland if the NFL went on hiatus for several months. If the NHL had continued its stagnation due to squabbling millionaires and billionaires there would have been riots in the streets. Oh wait, that happens only during the hockey season!

Verdict Everyone who was involved in the lockout is an avaricious jerk. Even the Swedes.

World Peace is the most idiotic last name to ever grace the back of a jersey. Because its owner had agential control over this name change, it is idiotic. Because its owner is a man who spoils the image of the accountable sports player, it is idiotic. Because its owner elbows a man in the face while playing a basketball game and claims it was a celebratory mistake, it is idiotic. Because its owner is one piece of proof that the sports player is no longer an ideal but an idol, fetishized for the sake of entertainment, it is idiotic.

Image:

Armstrong could ride a bicycle very quickly. That’s why he’s number one, leading the pack as usual. The irony of this sports celebrity’s career-and-image-ruining transgression is that it doesn’t affect him as much as the discussion of his doping would make one believe. Until very recently he denied use of performance-enhancing drugs. I can’t look into the man’s blood with a microscope myself, and I don’t think it matters if anyone else does. He had bad PR agents, or someone out to get him, or was just too good to be believed. Whatever it was, he’s a jerk for letting down those who were inspired from the story, almost mythical, of a man who battled a disease that’s taken the lives of many good and strong athletes and people, who could then succeed in a competition of physical endurance and strength.

Verdict Jerk in a yellow jersey.

Verdict Metta World Peace is a jerk for too many reasons to continue.

These jerks are jerks because they’ve dashed fan expectations. I can’t wait to see how 2013 turns out, mainly because there’s always the World Curling Championship, the finals in a sport where they sweep the jerks out whenever they can.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

SPORTS & HEALTH

Basketball returns to the Envision Athletics Centre for 2013

UFV’s Kevon Parchment takes it to the rack.

J. TIMMER

Cascades AlumNUS

The Envision Athletic Centre was abuzz this past weekend with the return of Cascades basketball for the second semester. The season thus far has proven to be highly successful with the men’s team holding down fourth in the country, and the womens team coming off the break newly-minted as the nation’s number one team. After a Friday night that saw the women’s team roll to another easy victory over the visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies and the men’s team come out flat and putter to an underwhelming defeat, the real show began on Saturday night. To open the evening, the women’s team put on an absolute clinic, leaving no doubt in the minds of the spectators that this team is for real. Instead of one or two outstanding players to shoulder the load surrounded by some decent role players—a common scenario for championship teams—the Cascades have a seemingly endless bench of players who can come on to the floor and shoulder the load without missing a step. Not to say that the Cascades are without their stars, their entire starting line could make a case for a league all-star on any night, but there is a definite team mentality that leads to selfless play. Saturday night proved to be a fine example of this teamwork with the Cascades taking the game 74-50 in an effort that made the visiting University of Alberta Pandas look like a team in disrepair. Aieisha Luyken went for 20 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds, all while committing no turnovers. Luyken is steadily making a case to be an All-Canadian this year. The selfless fourth-year guard is quietly captaining the number one team in the country and rarely has an off night. In a game that has been marked on many basketball fans’ calendars for some time, the Univer-

sity of Alberta men’s basketball team made its first visit to the Envision Athletic Centre since the well-documented leave of former UFV head coach Barnaby Craddock to the same position at U of A. From the very start it appeared as though whatever fog the UFV team had been in the previous night had cleared as the night got off to a fast-paced start. Emotion rode high on the court as every basket seemed to be the turning point in the game. UFV was without their usual height and strength inside as their star forward Kyle Grewal was sidelined recovering from what appeared to be a lower leg injury. The absence of Grewal was noticed early and often as Alberta put the ball inside as often as UFV’s scrambling defence would allow. Despite impressive efforts from Nathan Kendall (who was moved to the centre position in Grewal’s absence) U of A was simply too long and strong to be shut down. The turning point of the game had to be when, after a hard fought effort, Kendall finally fouled out. It was a seemingly inevitable event considering the constant waves of bigger, stronger players he was forced to guard. In the closing minutes of the fourth quarter UFV had five guards on the floor and eventually the length of University of Alberta became too much as they pulled away for a 91-81 victory. In the loss the most notable stat of the night was from James York, who put up an impressive doubledouble with 15 points and 12 rebounds and committing only one turnover over the course of his 37 minutes on the floor. Next up for the men’s and women’s teams is a road trip out to the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge. The Cascades return to the Envision Athletic Centre on January 25 and 26 to play the University of Northern British Columbia in a two-game series.

Photos: Blake McGuire