mag
NOVEMBER 2014 | VOL. 4 N o . 3 DECEMBER 2014
HAPPY HOLIDAYS 08
EPIGRAPH COLLECTIVE Independent Theatre Company
2 | ARTICHOKE
CONTRIBUTORS EDITOR IN CHIEF
Emma Beckett
ART DIRECTORS WRITERS
Camellia De Castro Charlotte Fowlow Craig Clark Curtis te Brinke Diana Edelhauser Eric Schoenberger Jamielyn Mariano Malinda Sintnicolaas Melissa D’Angelo Nadia Rompas Nikky Waxman Peter Ellman Tavish Gudgeon
DESIGNERS
Jacob Colosi Karen Keung
Amanda Hoff Ally Pelligrino Anna Campbell Emily Munro Erika Sternberg Heather McAlpine Lucy Bilson Maryanne Cruz Michelle Fok Scott Osborne Sarah El Sherbini Thaddeus Miya
3 | WINTERS
WWC UPDATE NOVEMBER 2014 EVENTS: Wed. Nov 5th:
| Acoustic Night (Absinthe Pub, 9pm)
Wed. Nov 12th:
| Karaoke Night (Absinthe Pub, 9pm)
Tues. Nov 18th:
| Band Night (Winters JCR, 8pm)
Tues. Nov 25th:
| Comedy Night (Winters JCR, 8pm)
Wed. Nov 26th:
| Poetry Night (EWAG, 8pm)
JERSEY PUB NIGHT Absinthe Pub, 9pm Come out to the Absinthe Pub on Thursday, November 13th, 2014 and represent your favourite sports teams. Come supporting your favourite sports teams by either representing their jersey, team logo, painting your face, anything you want to show pride in your favourite teams.
4 | ARTICHOKE
CASA UPDATE CASA presents:
CONSTELLATION 2015 Interdisciplinary Arts Festival 2015 . 03 . 12 Call For Submissions: performances, designs, digital media, films, bands, plays, artworks, curated exhibits, and more! All submissions due Friday, February 27th. Application form and details on creativestudents.ca
CASA presents:
COFFEE HOUSE Free coffee and refreshments every week Mondays 12 - 2 PM in the CFT Fireside Lounge
CONTENTS
VOL 4.
EPIGRAPH COLLECTIVE 08
Epigraph Collective Independent Theatre Company
MAJOR SPEAK
ENTERTAINMENT
12
ENGLISH The Giller Prize
18
MUSIC We Ought to Move Out
14
STUDY ABROAD York International
20
PLAYLIST Favourite Albums of 2014
16
THEATRE When to Modernize
22
VIC Vanier Improv Company
LIFEST YLE
HEALTH
24
SCUBA Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere
32 MENTAL HEALTH Depression
26
STYLE The Hipster
34
MUSCLES Lest We Forget Our Muscles
28
WANDERLUST For the Poor, Passionate Wanderluster
36
PSYCHOLOGY The Illusion of Self
30
BEAUTY Raising Eyebrows
40
RECIPE Holiday Shortbread
No. 3 | NOVEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2014
6 | ARTICHOKE
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Hey there Winters! Your EIC here, wishing you all a happy holiday season and thanking you all for another great year supporting the Artichoke Magazine. This is our last issue of 2014, and it has been so much fun. I also wanted to let you all know that Artichoke will most likely be going through some changes in the new year! We don’t have confirmation on which issue we will be starting the new version yet, but at some point in the new semester we will be transferring the majority of the Artichoke content online. It will still be published in the same format, 40 pages once a month, but it will be available to check out
and flip through online, with links on Facebook, the Winters Council website, and hopefully other networks as well! For those of you still stuck in the 20th century we will also be printing a few physical copies for distribution around Winters College, and for our archives in the Artichoke office.
Emma Beckett EIC wintersfreepress@winterscouncil.com
See you all in the new year!!
7 | Section
8 | ARTICHOKE
EPI COL
“oh jeeze
”
9 | WINTERS
PIGRAPH OLLECTIVE BY CURTIS TE BRINKE
CREATION Epigraph Collective is an independent theatre company that formed in the fall of 2013 on the York campus. We initially formed as a way to stage a series of short plays I had written between January and August of the same year, in a November workshop I called The January Project. Our audience’s confusion was more than enough to teach me about the work that needs to go into title making. Mainly that often your first idea is not actually your best. Over two nights we showed stagings of three plays, who’s content ranged from sexual encounters to science fictional dream trafficking. The workshop proved to be a worthwhile endeavour for us all, with the feedback being instrumental in further creation of the next stage of the company. Two of our plays had been picked up for the 2014 Theatre at York playGround Festival. Both two handers. Our workshops showed us that the physicality of the shows was what made the text work, so for round two we got physical in a way that even Olivia Newton-John might take issue with. Our first show of the night was:
Rope “The audience walks in on a man bound in rope and beaten bloody. Witnessing the very end of a lengthy torture session, we see what happens when an unnamed captor forces him to confront his past.” While maintaining the original text, we turned the piece into ten minutes of straight beating, pitting our protagonist against a small but deceivingly strong woman dressed in black. Standing at the back of the house on closing and listening to the audience wince and mutter “oh jeeze” under their breath made the all the intense staging work worth it. strangeness and breath
“Intimacy, self perception,identity and our pull towards others are connected. When you take your clothes off everything comes spilling out. Through heavy movement and text we experience a sexual encounter between two twenty something year old men, moving between both their bodies and their minds.” After an almost complete rewrite of the original text that went deeper and more lyrical, we created
10 | ARTICHOKE
a piece that swung between a post coital conversation and a world that merges the two character’s bodies and minds, where all rules are off the table. This production had me bring Luke Pieroni on as performer and co creator. Currently in Production: The Lunar Cycle. February 27th, 28th, March 1st 2015 Post playGround had Epigraph slowly turning our gears towards our next steps. I brought my strangeness co creator/ performer Luke Pieroni, who was instrumental in developing the show past its unsure January Project origins, on as co artistic director. We made our first steps at branching out and took on Becky McFadden and her un-produced Fight the Moon. Being staged on York campus.
explore the darker, hidden corners
Fight The Moon “Becky McFadden’s new play examines the intimate relationship between a girl and her depression when it manifests itself as the Moon. A physical theatre piece that examines the often unspoken ways that we interact with our demons.” Moon is currently being developed as a workshop production, with a cast of six and Becky herself on as project head. It is shaping up to be a mental health focussed theatre piece like you have never seen before. Awake in the Night “Three teens push each other too far as they struggle with who they are becoming. With influences from Greek mythology and inspiration from Frank Wedekinds’ Spring Awakening, this new play pits self discovery against self destruction.”
Awake will be our longest production yet, and it maintains many tenants from our previous work. Awake is about what happens when you destroy your old life in order to become someone new, and what happens when who we are clashes with who we want to be. Like the rest of our work it is fluid, violent, sexual, poetic and harsh. Currently in development.
11 | WINTERS
MANDATE Tacking on a specific mandate during the early days of a young company can be dangerous. They have a way of painting your work into a corner. Keeping this in mind, I developed a loose mandate to inspire rather than limit us: ““We aim to explore the darker, hidden corners of the mind. We are cerebral and sexual, mysterious and explicit. We offer a glimpse into a world with no universal truth.” Epigraph is all about playing with stark contrast and getting weird. We tend to work from post-modern influences and explore ideas rather than seek to give answers. Typically we want our audience to leave being able to discuss as many thoughts and conflicting ideas as possible. PROCESS Text: Epigraph has been described as “a bastardized form of devised theatre” in that our work does not come from the ground up in the studio. As a text based company, we create based around text. Our emphasis is text, not only scripts. It opens the possibilities to use styles such as prose or found text to create work. The scripts themselves (to this date) have never been finished products. All of them, including Fight the Moon, our first work from a new playwright, have been scripts that are still in their first few drafts. We allow the text to develop and create the work just as much as we let the work develop the text.
Devised Theatre: Epigraph is made up primarily of Devised Theatre students. We study collective creation forms of experimental theatre, as designers, directors, performers and all around theatre artists. The creation of the company involved a focus on devised work, and operated as a bit of a free for all. Within Epigraph the idea is that everyone takes on specific roles (more often than not doubling/ tripling up). While everyone serves their own purpose, we maintain shared creative input. My co-AD said something along the lines of “Lets all just be people in a studio making theatre together” and we’ve held that focus since. This season we are making a push to focus our efforts. Working with Molly Thomas as our outside eye/director, the three of us in Awake are able to be creators and performers, with an external focus taking the puppy dog energy in the room and making it work. The same can be said for Moon, which currently has McFadden herself as outside eye/ director. We have also branched out and currently have a theatre production major on Awake’s creative team as well as a film major performing in Moon. PLAY DEVELOPMENT Epigraph is a young company, and we are trying to keep our relatively short lived momentum going. Our current efforts are to take our previous work and push it forward, beginning with strangeness and breath. This new version expands on the concept of the original, while
going further and bigger with the ideas explored. Produced in a joint effort with Luke Reece’s Little Black Afro Theatre Co, strangeness will be back in 2015 with its original crew intact, having added the talents of Michael Pintucci as a member of the creative team.
Epigraph is continuously evolving, and our future is focussed on getting bigger in capability and better at what we do. We look to take on new playwrights and artists, and expand our artistic vision. The end of this month will see us workshopping the projects that will be staged in November, and using these workshops to create fully realized plays for February. Thanks for reading. We hope to see you in the audience for our next venture. Come get weird and theatrical with us.
We are cerebral and sexual, mysterious
12 | ARTICHOKE
AND THE GILLER PRIZE GOES TO… BY: CAMELLIA DE CASTRO You’re sitting in a room of over 500 people. Each person sports an outfit that follows the ‘black-tie dinner’ dress code. Most people surrounding you hail from Canada’s publishing world; some are even your fellow competition. Then, the anticipated words fall from the host’s lips: “This year’s Giller Prize winner is…” I imagine this is how it feels to attend the Giller Prize award ceremony. The Giller Prize is a literary award given to a novel or short story collection published by a Canadian author in the previous year. It’s also known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize after establishing an endorsement deal with Scotiabank in 2005. Luckily, we can watch the Giller Prize award ceremony unfold from our own homes because the award ceremony will be televised live – catch it this month on Monday, November 10 at 9:00 p.m. on CBC Television.
Following last year’s Giller Prize winner Lynn Coady (awarded for her intriguing short story collection Hellgoing), the 2014 Giller Prize winner will join the esteemed list of previous Giller Prize winners, such as Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro and York University’s own Joseph Boyden. Okay, so it was recently announced that this year’s prize money doubled to $100 000 for the winner and there also exists this so-called Giller Effect where the Giller winning book spikes in sales by 543 percent (according to BookNet Canada). But, it’s not just another glitzy award ceremony since it originated from humble beginnings. It was 1993 when Doris Giller, Canadian literary journalist for publications like the Montreal Gazette and the Toronto Star, passed away from cancer. And, to pay tribute to Doris’s life and the industry she adored, her husband Jack Rabinovitch
launched the annual Giller Prize in her honour. Because of the Giller Prize, the Canadian literature scene changed. Winning a Giller propels writers to a prestigious status as it is highly regarded by many publishers and readers. Winning a Giller provides affirmation of achievement to writers who often struggle for years before their work becomes recognized. Winning a Giller changes everything for writers. And soon, everything will change for David Bezmozgis, Frances Itani, Sean Michaels, Heather O’Neill, Miriam Toews or Padma Viswanathan – the six writers nominated for the 2014 Giller Prize.
13 | MAJOR SPEAK
Here are the six shortlisted books: The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Meet Baruch Kotler, now a disgraced Israeli politician, who refuses to back down from his stand regarding the settlements in the West Bank. So for revenge, Kotler’s political opponents disclose his affair with his much younger mistress forcing them to flee to Yalta, a resort from his youth.
There’s Elf who’s a world-renowned pianist and happily married, then there’s her sister Yoli who’s broke and divorced. Elf wants to die, but Yoli wants to keep her sister alive. Elf’s recent suicide attempt has left Yoli with a frightening decision.
The Girl Who Was Saturday Night by Heather O’Neill
The Ever After of Ashwin Rao by Padma Viswanathan
Twins Noushcka and Nicolas Tremblay, children of legendary Québécois folksinger Étienne Tremblay, have always lived in the public eye. Fast-forward to the twins’ 20th birthday when Noushcka agrees to be the beauty queen in the local St. Jean Baptiste Day parade and the media attempts to expose the faults within the family’s relationships.
It’s twenty years later when two suspects are on trial for the crime of the bombing of an Air India flight from Vancouver. So Ashwin Rao, an Indian psychologist, decides to interview people who lost loved ones in the incident, while failing to admit that he also had loved ones on that plane attack.
Tell by Frances Itani It’s 1919 and the Great War has ended. Kenan, a young soldier, returns home to his wife Tress and brings home his trauma from the war which changes their marriage. Tress seeks help from her Aunt Maggie and her husband Am but they have sorrows within their own marriage as well. Us Conductors by Sean Michaels Inspired by Russian scientist, inventor and spy Lev Termen, we see Termen’s life before he becomes entangled with Russian spooks and the Cold War. There are flashbacks to Termen creating the instrument, theremin and to Termen falling in love with theremin player, Clara.
Now, any thoughts on who may covet the Giller?
This year’s judging panel consists of Francine Prose (American writer and critic), Justin Cartwright (British novelist) and Shauna Singh Baldwin (Canadian author who was shortlisted for the Giller in 2004). But you be the judge! If you have not yet read any of these nominated books, I challenge you to do so. And, to all you aspiring writers out there, I challenge you to be so passionate and dedicated that one day you just might be nominated for a Giller yourself.
14 | ARTICHOKE
YORK INTERNATIONAL BY CHARLOTTE FOWLOW Hey, you! Are you interested in learning about a different language or culture? Have you always dreamt of living abroad but never really had the opportunity? If so, then an exchange could be perfect for you! As someone who just recently returned from a semester abroad, I can honestly say that it was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. So many
people wander aimlessly through their undergraduate degree, constantly pondering what else might be out there. Though some may acknowledge this longing for something more, a flurry of tests, assignments, and alcohol-fuelled weekends can often drown it out. For many of us, the prospect of staying in one place for four whole years seems almost as
15 | MAJOR SPEAK daunting as picking up and moving to the other side of the globe for four months. Luckily, as York University students, there are numerous services available to us to help turn our dreams of travelling the world into reality. If you are considering studying abroad, York International should be your first stop. They have a host of friendly staff members located at 200 York Lanes, and hold exchange information sessions every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon until early December. If you’re looking to spend one or two full semesters at a different university, then an exchange program is what you’re after. York University has affiliations with universities in over 40 countries, leaving you with the delightfully difficult task of simply choosing where to go! Once you have decided on a few options, you can apply for the exchange program through York International. It is important to note that in addition to the exchange program offered to all York students. There are also faculty -specific exchange programs, including many Fine Arts specific affiliations. One of the greatest things about doing an exchange through one of York’s partners is that you not only receive assistance throughout the application process, but you are able to avoid spiked international tuition
fees, as you just pay your regular York tuition for the time spend aboard. If factors such as work, family, course load, or just plain homesickness prevent you from spending a full semester or two away, there many alternate options for gaining international experience through York International. The summer abroad program offers York University summer courses in an international setting. The courses typically begin at York for a few weeks, and then continue at the host institution for up to a month. Additionally, York International offers global internships within Canada and internationally. These typically take place in the summer months as well, and offer students the opportunity to gain hands on work experience in a field of interest while experiencing an entirely new culture. While it can be easy to shy away from change and stay in our comfort zones, I believe that our most valuable experiences occur when we step outside of them. My experience studying abroad was nothing but positive, and the memories and friendships I’ve made through it will last a lifetime. If you have the opportunity to work or study abroad, I strongly urge you to take it, and I promise you won’t ever look back.
Have questions about the exchange process? Feel free to email me at: charlottefowlow1@gmail.com
16 | ARTICHOKE
WHEN TO
MODERNIZE BY ERIC SCHOENBERGER
Many people say that originality is dead. While I will almost always disagree due to the many original projects in theatre, film, and literature which are still popping up all the time even I cannot deny that we seem to live in a time in which remakes and “reimaginings” are flooding our pool of collective media. One of the most popular forms of remake over the last two decades or seems to be the modernization, taking a previous story set in an older period and move it to modern day with all of our modern culture. We’ve even seen these sorts of plays at York with the modern
version of “The Beggar’s Opera” last year and the upcoming version of “Hamlet” which, from the poster and what I have been able to find online about it, seems to be a futuristic take on the classic being put on soon. That is of course not to say that either of those performances were or are going to be poor, however I wonder if the changes made are necessary as it’s not an inherently poor way of retelling a story but I can’t help but wonder, in the theatre world at least, when exactly it’s right to modernize a classic work?
The fact that “Hamlet” is being brought up is the most recent play undergoing this treatment isn’t really a surprise due to the fact that Shakespeare is one of the most commonly modernized playwright. However, most takes on his work don’t just change a few things; they tend to change much of a play’s basic framework. For example, almost every modernized version of “Romeo and Juliet” tends to falter in its plot and storytelling due to the fact that, in modern society at least, we don’t typically have two wealthy, well known families openly committing
17 | MAJOR SPEAK
acts of violence towards each other in a major city because that wouldn’t be allowed by modern laws and societal standards. On the other hand there have also been some productions which use that to their advantage by just taking certain plot elements of the original and modern setting to their advantage à la “West Side Story”. However, what’s most interesting when examining Shakespeare adaptations is that a pattern tends to emerge in regards to their quality. It would seem that, on average, the plays of his which are more rooted in their time work much better when they’re modernized as opposed to the ones in which the setting, morals, and characters exist in a more vague period. Of course “Romeo and Juliet” has already shown us one end of the spectrum of modernization but let’s take one of his more controversial works “The Taming of the Shrew” as a different sort of example. The original, like all of Shakespeare’s plays, has been adapted several times in both theatre and film with some being considered more successful than others. The original is also rooted in the extremely misogynistic societal views of the age and as such tends to feel very outdated in the modern era. This however has in some ways made it the perfect subject for modernizing as it keeps the story alive but changes it to match modern sensibilities. While something like “Romeo and Juliet” is still rooted in its time thanks its aforementioned family politics, the main focus in “The Taming of the Shrew” is the story of the confused coupling between Petruchio and Katherina and the plot to get the two married in order to make her Katherina’s sister available to be wed as well. As such, when you update the play to a 90’s setting, put it in a
highschool, remove the misogynistic elements, and rename it “10 Things I Hate About You” you still manage to both preserve the main elements of the original while giving it a necessary modernizing. On the other hand when you attempt to do much of the same to, once again, “Romeo and Juliet” and give it the name “Romeo + Juliet” you end up making a film which, while an interesting idea, falls short of recreating the spirit of the original due to the lack of proper context. So now we get down to the heart of the matter. When exactly is it right to modernize a classic? Unfortunately that is likely going to be a matter of opinion. If you feel that a particular play no longer holds up due to cultural difference but still feel that the original holds something of value for its audience then you’ll probably love a modernization of that play. However, if you feel that a play loses something from being taken out of its original time then you’ll probably hate the changes they make to the original and most likely not like the play as a whole. Because of this, it’s important that any playwright or director must approach any modernization they wish to do with extreme caution in order to make sure they know exactly what they need to do in order to keep the important parts of the original. Likewise however, it’s important for audiences to keep an open mind about this. Don’t just dismiss one of these reimaginings as another example of “unoriginality”. Instead give it a real chance and if you don’t like it the original is still there to go back to. If you do like it though you might begin to see the original in a whole new light and truly make it new again.
18 | ARTICHOKE
WE TO LOOK OUT On a relatively quiet Friday night, I made my way to the dimly lit Hard Luck Bar on Dundas Street West, a place where I was ought to get drenched in some post-punk goodness by the band Ought. BY NADIA ROMPAS The release of their debut album More Than Other Day in April via Constellation Records, home of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Three Silver Mt. Zion, has the local music scene turning their heads (or rather, ears) to the four-piece. Although based in Montreal, Ought is pretty much an American band – fronted by New Hampshire folk musician Tim Beeler, New Jerseyan keyboardist Matt May, Portland’s Ben Stidworthy on bass, and anomalous Australian drummer Tim Keen. Together, they revive a newer breath of punk and indie rock that makes 2014 seem like 1980 again. Ought’s music requires multiple listens. Feeling as confused as enduring a poorly structured lecture, the disoriented and experimental post-punk characteristics might turn you away at first, but the extremely repetitive catchy hooks may be what
keeps you coming back. As you get more acquainted with their music, you start to notice the Television spirit, deep sloppy sounding Tom Vek vocals, and bass grooves that point straight to Talking Heads, which are all seamlessly sown in songs like “Around Again”, “The Weather Song” and “Pleasant Heart”. This release is a step up from 2012’s New Calm EP, showcasing more sophisticated songwriting and better sound recordings – all probably because they have access to superior resources after getting signed. Although Ought does not seem to provide anything new in the local music scene, you start to look around and realize that there is currently no real competitor in this genre (or at least I think so). Despite the post-punk label, Ought certainly does not act anywhere near it. In fact, the band’s casual t-shirt-and-jeans style with
19 | ENTERTAINMENT
their clean cut hair show nothing but normcore, especially when Beeler composedly shouts, “So open up your textbooks or a magazine or a novel, any kind of reading material will do,” in the opening number “Today More Than Any Other Day” which make their gigs family friendly. More of their random lyrics may confuse first-time listeners at the gig as Beeler repeatedly yells, “Last time!” followed by easily sung papapadapa’s in “New Calm Pt. 2”, a personal peak of the night as The Mouthbreathers’ Lucy Niles joins the band on guitar and Beeler lets lose. The thrilling vibe mentally shortened the one-hour gig into fifteen minutes, and the crowd seems to think the same judging by the guy hardcore dancing on the side and well-behaved thirty-yearolds screaming, “We want more!” (They didn’t give us more). Ought’s exciting music and the crowd’s lame puns compensate for their standstill stage presence, which shows great promise and potential for the band’s studio life.
Ought’s music demands attention for those who are more well versed with the usual pop song structure. As you dig more into their sound and start to remember those random lyrics, trust me, it is hard to resist the urge to sing it in a bus full of strangers. Despite the less physically engaging performance, Ought’s plainly fun post-punk music creates the same listening experience on and off your headphones. At the end, this shining quality goes to show their growing musicianship, which reminds us why we ought to look out for them in the future.
“They revive a newer breath of punk and indie rock that makes 2014 seem like 1980 again.”
20 | ARTICHOKE
FAVOURITE ALBUMS
of 2014 BY PETER ELLMAN Think of this list (and every other ‘best of’ list) as an episode of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”- everything is made up and the points don’t matter. That said, here are some of my favourite albums of the year. Sharon Van Etten – Are We There I’ve been a fan of this woman’s gorgeous voice and raw, honest, personal songwriting since hearing her first album, “Because I Was in Love,” several years ago. Her instrumentation and openness to collaborating with others have broadened over her last 3 albums, and her own talents and skills have become more refined and honed. After co-producing with Aaron Dessner of The National on her last album, it seems Van Etten has absorbed what knowledge he had to share, and distilled it into her own expressive production style. Texture is no stumbling block—as it is for some—but a tool in her expanding skill set. The organ sounds and subtle saxophone flourishes on “Tarifa” help nail the nostalgic soul vibe. The clean guitar and piano on “Afraid of Nothing” are fleshed out with lovely romantic string arrangements. Recording with her touring band of the last 2 or 3 years imbues the whole album with a rare cohesion and live sensibility. The songwriting is full of heartbreaking lines like “I Love You But I’m Lost” and “Your Love is Killing Me”, but far from drowning in morose self pity, Van Etten offers these up for the listener who might take solace or catharsis in her struggle. More than anything, her strong voice and even stronger spirit rise above it all, perhaps most defiantly on closing track “Every Time the Sun Comes Up.” The song ends with a blooper – her headphones falling off in the studio – and her giddy laughter, as if to say it’ll all be okay. Album of the year.
The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream Like many singer-songwriters (the likes of which this list may seem biased towards), Adam Granduciel, head of The War on Drugs, is much more than a beardo strumming cowboy chords (though I like that stuff too). He has a specific vision for the sounds and moods he creates. For example, he blends drum machines and live drumming for a dynamic shift in percussion texture (Sharon Van Etten does this too). The heavily effected lead guitar and warm synth pads are reminiscent of late 70’s - early 80’s radio rock like Springsteen, Petty, and The Police. More than just empty nostalgia though, Granduciel seems to be commenting on the blurry distinction between ‘dream’ and memory, showing our past experiences as coloured by the stories we tell ourselves about them. Timber Timbre – Hot Dreams Here is another ‘dreamy’ title, but instead of parsing nostalgia and memory like The War on Drugs, Taylor Kirk’s titular ‘dreams’ exist in the night as a place of danger. He too has been refining his sound over his last few albums, that is, a dark, bluesy, gothic, horrorfilm-score-ish creole of creepiness. His newest work incorporates more country, jazz, and a little more of his pitch black sense of humour. Few modern artists can claim to such a unique and self-contained sonic mythology.
21 | MAJOR SPEAK BadBadNotGood – III This Toronto trio of former Humber jazz students bravely walks that fine line between complete innovation and accessibility, their latest album offering a mix of quirky post-jazz, slumping hip hop, and menacing shades of doom. Their melodic bass-lines, twinkling piano embellishments, and beats verging on trap and dub-step somehow slayed at the Field Trip festival this summer. The album includes various keyboard and synth textures, menacing drones, as well as guest woodwinds that broaden the scale of their colour palette. Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun This talented singer-songwriter has released several great albums and yet chooses to keep reinventing his sonic world- and he pulls it off! While some of his earlier work might be shrugged off as sad-white-guy-bedroomfolk, his newest material has ventured into psychedelia, incorporating noise, minor blues licks, choirs, and delayed and reverb-ed out vocals. Jurado’s voice and way with melody are so compelling that he was a featured guest vocalist on a recent Moby album, and was also the subject of an expansive covers series curated by music blog Slowcoustic. Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire For No Witness While much younger in her solo career than Jurado, Angel Olsen’s voice is just as compelling. She gives goosebumps with a dry, muffled mumble, her belted almost-yodel can break your heart; she’ll warble with a classy vibrato and then slide into a clear, dulcet pop timbre. Her reverb-ed falsetto begging, “what’s so wrong with the light?” on closer “Windows” is haunting. She also does a great job of channeling Leonard Cohen on the 7-minute “White Fire.” Emma Ruth Rundle – Some Heavy Ocean The great thing about this being my own list with my own biases, is that if you agree with me about 1 or 2 picks here, you’ll probably agree with me on 1 or 2 more. If you like Van Etten or Olsen, you might also like Emma Ruth
Rundle. While she doesn’t quite cover the timbral range that Olsen does, her use of dynamics is quite impressive: whispers to near-yells. Her guitar playing might outshine Olsen’s though, having honed her skills in bands with ex-members of sludge/post-metal pioneers Isis. She weaves together a variety of textures and effects to build sonic landscape full of longing, regret, desolation, and hope. Flying Lotus – You’re Dead! Listing jazz, trip hop, sample-based electronica, and psychedic rock might give you the impression that Flylo actually fits into one of those genres easily. Make no mistake - this dude is on his own next level shit. Surely, the jazzy hip hop of BadBadNotGood or the samples and psychedelia of Caribou* come to mind here, but neither could blend in guest appearances by Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg without overshadowing their own work. Here those voices are just more threads in the trippy tapestry. This might’ve been higher on my list if I’d heard it sooner and had more time with it before writing this. As I write this, I also wish I’d had more time with Caribou’s “Our Love,” so I could include it here too. That’s life though. Chad VanGaalen – Shrink Dust This man is also in his own eccentric and idiosyncratic world. His music is mostly guitar based singer-songwriter fare, but blends Sonic Youth-like noise, wonky guitar effects, and any toy or home-made instrument he has lying around his Calgary home. His delicate, waxen tenor makes macabre lyrics like “cut off both my hands and throw them in the sand / watch them swim away like a pair of bloody crabs” come off strangely cute and heartwarming. That’s it! Honourable mentions to Alt-J, Code Orange, The Hotelier, Marissa Nadler, and Every Time I Die. Default props to Radiohead, Leonard Cohen, and Caribou, whose newest efforts I know I will like. Disagree and think my list sucks? Tell me @peterxellman on twitter or write your own! Wake Up Sheeple!
22 | ARTICHOKE
BY MAYEESHA CHO
IMPROV COMPANY
I am an avid comedy junkie, and a lover of all late night variety shows. Therefore quick wit and spontaneous humour are two things that uniquely appeal to me. It was, therefore, no shock that I jumped right on when I realized York had their own Saturday Night Live equivalent going on. Vanier’s theatre company features one of the most versatile and talented ensembles who put up an improv show around twice every month. Having been in York for two years now, I was shocked that I had never heard of these shows, and their location is probably why. You could call this one of the hidden gems, because the theater is literally hidden in a corner on the second floor of Vanier College. Fred Thury theater is a relatively small venue, with an intimate atmosphere, and perfect for their interactive shows. But before I delve deep into the wits and ways of VIC, you should know what the company is really about. Vanier College Production is the only theatre company at York that is not directly affiliated with the theatre program. They provide an open platform for theater enthusiasts across many different disciplines to come together and develop as actors, playwrights, directors, anything theatre related. Vanier improv company (VIC), functions under vcp and is probably one of the most impressive ensembles in our close proximity, both these companies have put out some seriously well executed shows in the past, and are continuing to do so.
23 | ENTERTAINMENT
CURRENT SEASON: 7 STORIES 7 stories, the upcoming play, is a dark comedy which circles around a man’s conscience as he contemplates suicide. It’s a contemporary Canadian play, which very meticulously synthesizes elements of comedy and harsh reality to produce a unique and honest outlook on the human condition. The company takes matters in their own hands with a uniquely talented and funny cast, who have put their own twists into these complex yet humorous characters.
7 Stories by Morris Panych NOVEMBER 21-30, 2014 FRI-SAT @ 8 PM; SUN @ 2 PM
VIC SHOWS The improv company are putting out 7 shows this season. The season opened on the 7th of October, featuring various skits which were as clever as they were funny. The show opened with a skit tiled “World’s Worst” where the cast members worked with the superlative on spot, which made for some funny one liners. The show only got better from then onwards as a lot of the skits involved some ironic pokes a popular culture, and overall a unique humour. The shows main strength was the actor’s abilities to generate these witty one-liners which would leave the audience roaring with laughter. The show-runner built a rapport with the audience by creating situations with input from the audience, which worked brilliantly with the crowd and also highlighted one of the best things about the art of improvisation. Overall, the 2 hour performance adhered to the format of any variety show like MadTV or SNL, and had short, witty skits, with 30 second intervals for commercials. Now, I know what you’re thinking, how can something on stage have commercials- this was all answered in the skit, titled the “infomercial”. It was probably one of the cleverest executions I have seen, featured a prolonged skit in the form of 30 second infomercials, set out to eliminate our day-to-day problems. I personally thought that was extremely interesting use of prep-time, and played very well with the format of the show. The 7 shows all happen on Tuesdays and features an amazing cast, a witty showrunner and a great atmosphere. I would definitely recommend it!
VIC Comedy shows that will have you laughing out of your seat! TUESDAYS @ 8:30 PM OCTOBER 7, 2014 OCTOBER 28, 2014 NOVEMBER 11, 2014 DECEMBER 2, 2014 JANUARY 27, 2015 FEBRUARY 10, 2015 March 24, 2015
24 | ARTICHOKE
Self Contained Underwater Bubble Apparatus BY NIKKY WAXMAN
Bubbles. Bubbles everywhere. That’s the first thing anyone remembers about his or her first dive underwater. The endless upwards stream that bursts forth every single time you take a breath. So many of them, all wobbly and various. When they reach the surface of the water they break, seemingly simultaneously, like fireworks. It seems such a simple thing, these bubbles, but it is one of the many astounding joys that one experiences when they wade into the world of scuba diving. To many it seems like such a scary thought: suspended dozens of feet, nowhere near the surface, with nothing but a tank of air to keep you alive. But once people are brought underwater for the first time, many of them leave their fears at the surface. Scuba diving, which stands for SelfContained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, involves being underwater for, recreationally, up to forty-five minutes, breathing from a tank that is strapped to your back. The tank is
held in place by a Buoyancy Control Device (BCD), which allows you to control whether you float higher or sink deeper by utilizing the amount of air it holds. It all appears really complicated, but it’s really a vest with a tank on the pack with some buttons that you push. That being said, scuba diving is an extremely scientific activity. It has to be. There are very strict limitations on what you can and cannot do in order to stay alive. For example, when you are training to become certified, you learn how to calculate the safest depth and time at that depth for the air that you breath. Previously it would be done manually on a set of tables, but now there’s an electronic device that does it for you. Either way, it’s vital to know how deep you can go and for how long. This is all due to the pressures that are working on your body as soon as you leave the surface. Every 33ft is considered one atmosphere of pressure. The air we breathe on the surface of the Earth is
25 | LIFESTYLE 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, but to compensate for the external pressures of the water, divers who dive deeper than 130ft usually use air with higher percentages of oxygen, to reduce the buildup of nitrogen. At depth, nitrogen can be a major problem. The two biggest concerns for any diver is the possibility of Nitrogen Narcosis and Decompression Illness. To be “narc-ed” is to be drunk underwater. The nitrogen buildup, past a certain depth, alters your consciousness, with a common symptom of over-confidence. This is obviously something you do not want to have while you’re 100ft beneath the surface of the Earth. Decompression illness, on the other hand, occurs when there is a buildup of gases that dissolve into bubbles in the bloodstream, in the worst cases causing paralysis and seizures. Suffice it to say that diving does not come without risk. But it is an experience unlike any other. Picture this: you’re floating in the open
ocean; the only thing around you is a reef wall that stretches into the dark below you, teeming with life and constantly moving. Everywhere else is nothing. Just endless space. You maybe catch a silhouette of a creature way off in the distance, but you can’t be sure. You approach the reef wall and a school of fish swims around you, coming so close you can feel them against your leg. You look up and the sun is shining through the water, turning it into several shades of blue. But this is only one possible scenario. Many experienced divers tend to prefer a certain type of diving to others. These include: reef diving, shipwreck diving, deep diving, drift diving (when you jump into currents that carry you), and shark diving. It all depends on what you like and what you’re comfortable with. Everyone gives you a weird look when you say you’re a scuba diver in Canada. “Where do you even dive around here?” is a common question. What entices Northern Divers, besides
promising vacations, is a surplus of great freshwater diving in the Great Lakes, numerous quarries, and the St. Lawrence River. The Great Lakes are home to thousands of shipwrecks that are well-preserved thanks to the lack of salt. The St. Lawrence boasts unusually warm waters, earning itself the nickname “Caribbean of the North”. Considering our northern climate, Canada has a growing population of divers across the country. Locally or on your next vacation, scuba diving is something at least worth considering. For some it may be a one-time experience, something to cross off the bucket list. For some it is about the fish, others about the physical freedom. For me it was about the bubbles, carrying my breaths from the depths, proving that impossible
26 | ARTICHOKE
THE
Hipster BY CRAIG CLARK
Found in the dwellings of major cities the Hipster’s fumes seep up into the counter-culture. We follow the stench wafting through the sky as it watches from high above. It circles loudly cawing at pass-byers who dare to objectify their moral beliefs. Until they swoop in and their wingspan destroys everything along the way, taking up tons of space and ruining things non-hipsters have loved for years. Their subconscious is full of, what they believe to be, the forefront of culture, but are just an evolved state of emo, hippie and beatnik. It walks pacing above on the telephone wire with its chest puffed out and vintage feathers. The hipster’s loud call, of boasting irrelevant knowledge, echoes through the streets. Before they find a suitable partner they must make sure their
27 | Lifestyle
“Their talons dig deep into the side of the world of art and culture” potential suitor doesn’t know more about TV shows, local art and vinyl records. They only surround themselves with others who they believe will never intellectually surpass them so they can always be at the forefront of the art world in their small packs. Their grey, drab exterior likens to a children’s toy found in the 1960s. Their thick frame glasses used to represent nerds, but now are the windows into pretentiousness. Their beak sits far out front of their face, high above their subjects below. Their keen smell can pick out every ingredient in the vegan hummus, which is quite the achievement considering they’re only part-time vegetarian. Their talons dig deep into the side of the world of art and culture, but always hanging from the outside representing a time other species should move on. The hipster’s crow like appearance attracts attention as it stands ten-feet tall. It begins to caw at such a high pitch that windows smash. It sticks its head into all art galleries condescending to the years of work that is scattered around the room. The hipster poetically walks down the street in autumn. It smashes its wings through all major business chains destroying the city streets along the way. Pedestrians start to run and scatter as the hipster anxiously looks to find a decent cup of coffee. Further down the toad a barista slowly approaches the giant bird. They reach out their arm with the coffee as the hipster’s head frantically looks around. The giant bird grabs the coffee cup and throws into its big flapping beak. The coffee revitalizes the big hipster as it lets out a loud caw that echoes through the downtown core.
As the crowds of people begin to run in the distance giant thuds rolled through the buildings. The hipster walks along cawing until a giant lizard like creature jumps from high above tackling the bird to the ground. They roll destroying cars, storefronts and everything in their path. Once they are able to get back to their feet the giant lizard punches the hipster. It flew back and smashes into the store. The lizard walks over picks up the bird and throws it down the street. The hipster tumbled down the row of parked cars obliterating everything. Cars begin to catch fire, all of the people disperse and the city has a dark fog settling over the warzone. Feathers are strewn everywhere. The hipster lays letting out small groans. The giant lizard waddles down the road between the destruction as his huge tail swings from side-to-side. He is much taller and bigger than the hipster. Standing over the dying bird he lets out one rumbling roar as he kicks the hipster in the ribs on last time. The giant lizard disappears back into the darkness. Emergency crews and pedestrians begin to gather. The hipster lays spread out over the cultural hub of the city. Independent bookstores, cafes and retailers are burnt and obliterated as a silence falls over the city. People look on stunned. There is grey feathers, reminisce of thick frame glasses and a forced presence of melancholy scattered over the street. The public let out a huge cry of relief as another cultural plague lay dead in the street, but they knew it was only a matter of time until everyone’s favourite things will be ruined by a big screeching crow.
FOR THE POOR, PASSIONATE WANDERLUSTER 28 | ARTICHOKE
BY JAMIELYN MARIANO Sometimes, when you listen close enough, you can hear the light breeze around you, feel it calling you, tempting you to follow. That’s what the term wanderlust is to me: the urge to follow, to wander, as the wind. With travelling comes a lot of risks, especially when venturing into a completely new environment. Truth is, a little bit of risk will never hurt anyone. However, it’d be unwise not to take into account what may possibly be the biggest barrier for travellers: money. If you have money flowing out of your back pockets, then you need not worry – but like most students struggling to pay off debts and loans, it’s hard to feed the fire when you have no matches to burn. So if you’re one who wanderlusts to an unreasonable extent as I have, here are a few strategies to consider that are realistic and achievable: Start off Small: Not everyone can Eat, Pray, Love in a snap – especially when we have current responsibilities towards school, friends, and family. First
and foremost, however, we have a responsibility to ourselves, which is why starting off small is always a safe route to go. If you need a change of scenery, Rouge Park, located east of the city, is known for its natural hiking and biking trails, picturesque landscapes, diverse wildlife, and historic value – just one of Toronto’s distinct natural ravine systems to explore. Though the weather may be getting cooler, fall is a perfect time to take in the wonderful changing colours… all the while saving your money for an even bigger trip! Or, Start off Big: This year, I took a summer abroad course in London, England – an experience that still reigns at the top of my list. Sure, the tuition and accommodation fees were costly, but it still doesn’t amount to what I learned out there. Each year, York International offers countless study abroad programs along with scholarships; it is a huge opportunity to consider, but it certainly benefits both the student, and the wanderlusting side in us. Visit http://yorkinternational.yorku. ca for more information.
29 | HEALTH Taste Another Town: …In Toronto! Greektown along Danforth, Little Italy on College Street, and Chinatown down Spadina – these are a few places in Toronto that are significant in distinct culture. It may be just a taste of the country, but you can still absorb even a bit of its lovely culture. My favourite part? Discovering independent cafés and restaurants as I wander around the little neighbourhoods.
“Many of us need a bit of change in our lives, even for a moment.”
No-Rules Road Trip: Personally, road trips have been some of my most blissful moments. Take a few friends, or even make it a personal road trip for yourself: it’s so easy and freeing to get lost in the beautiful sights whilst on the road. A drive up north of Ontario contains some of the most scenic routes – if you’re worried about gas prices, my favourite sites are Algonquin Park and the Muskoka region (approximately a 3-hour drive from Toronto). Feed the Escapist Mind: While the lack of money limits our travel distance, there is no restraint for where our minds wander to. It’s important to keep in touch with reality, but don’t be afraid to give yourself a little temporary escape. Toronto is filled with cultural events throughout the year – from concerts to film festivals, art shows to live theatre shows, events around the city are a fun way to get involved and escape the constraints of everyday life. TIFF may be over, but there are still a ton of Toronto film festivals that I cannot wait to see. The Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival (BITS) in particular is a fairly new film event that celebrates contemporary horror filmmaking in the country. The weekend-long festival runs from November 28th-30th this year, in Carlton Cinemas.
Take a Greyhound: Greyhounds, trains, travel tour buses – travelling on land is definitely the cheaper way to go. Canada’s Via Rail train service can be incredibly inexpensive, but if you’re looking for the entire package deal, bus tours are reasonably priced, especially if you’re looking to get out of the province. If a 3-day round-trip to Montreal doesn’t satisfy the wanderlust, there are tours that’ll take you to Canada’s beautiful east coast in Prince Edward Island, a weeklong trip no more than $500. For me, the trick is to search thoroughly online – you’ll find tickets that will take you across the country and back for less than the price of one plane ticket! Get Lost: Of course, the strategies mentioned here are suggestions for fulfilling that wanderlust urge. While everyone’s situation is different, what’s most important to remember is to get lost. Walk a path you haven’t been before, take a road trip to the edge of an unknown town, climb a mountain – whatever it is, wander. The act of wandering is free, inexpensive at best, and allows you to explore parts of the world in your own terms. You can even bring a map, if you wish: the point is to get lost, not aimlessly, but intentionally. Wanderlust is a common feeling to have, not just for students, but for anyone who feels trapped or stuck in their current situation as well. Many of us need a bit of change in our lives, even for a moment. While money shouldn’t be a problem, alas, it is an overwhelming factor to a lot of us. Regardless, we need to explore and discover and interact with the world beyond just what we know – it is the only way to broaden our experiences and refuel that creative energy burning inside us.
30 | ARTICHOKE
raising
EYEBROWS BY DIANA EDELHAUSER
If you would’ve asked me five years ago what the most important part of my look is, I probably would’ve stumbled around before mumbling “… my jeans?”. Not only would I have not understood the question, but I also would’ve never imagined what millions of men and women alike would answer just a few years later: eyebrows. Thick, furry, dark eyebrows used to be a scary thing to see. Plucking those babies to damn near extinction till they became thin as lines drawn by a ballpoint pen was the norm, and if it wasn’t your norm, then it probably was your best friend’s. But times have changed, and there’s more attention being paid to those two lines of fur above your eyes.
For me personally, it was Raina Hein’s shapely face-framers that caught my eye on cycle 14 of America’s Next Top Model. It seemed so gutsy that a girl would aim for artistic success without reducing her eyebrows to an absolute minimum. I guess we all forgot about Frida Kahlo. Before that, however, I’d never given my eyebrows a second thought. Quickly after that season of ANTM ended, I rushed to get my first brow waxing. It changed my face- my eyes seemed brighter, my forehead seemed smoother, my overall look was far more feminine (and I remind you, this was at the tender age of 15-16, so bear with me). The post-ANTM phase didn’t last very long for me. Perhaps it was that they had been waxed too thin and I just didn’t
know yet that my face was yearning for some thicker brow action. Fastforward three years. We’re seeing beautiful female celebrities embracing their full eyebrows! Cara Delevingne, Jessica Brown Findlay and Lily Collins are just a few examples of en vogue girlies rockin’ em thick, and how liberating is that? I mean face it; we don’t really feel like something is socially acceptable until we see a celeb doing it. So here is some permission to let your eyebrows reach new levels of stylish unkemptness! Phewf! Furthermore, I’ve been running into lots of guys who have great eyebrows themselves and take pride in their maintenance… Talk about a trend!
31 | LIFESTYLE
Thick, furry, dark eyebrows used to be a scary thing to see.
But what if your brows are naturally fine and sparse? Or what if even thinking about those hairs above your lids sparks an anxiety-ridden migraine? Don’t worry. I’ve been there, so I got you covered. Problem: No Arch Solution: You could always fake one! Brush your brows up, and then out! For best results, use a spooled brush (you can find one on the end of most eyebrow pencils, or a clean mascara wand works, too), and highlight underneath the outer half of the eyebrow (try: Brow Duality by Anastasia Beverly Hills, $30 @ Sephora). Problem: Bald Spots Solution: Just dust on some eyebrow powder- this is the easiest problem to fix! Make sure you choose a shade close to your current hair colour otherwise you risk some crazy contrast (unless that’s the look you’re going for, in which case, you
do you). Personally, I’ve been using Brow Zings by Benefit Cosmetics ($38 @ Shoppers). This product comes with a tiny angled brush, an equally tiny blending brush, teensy weensy tweezers, a setting powder and pigmented wax! Totally worth the money, and a simple solution to my occasionally unimpressive brows. Problem: Ridiculously Unruly Brows Solution: If you’ve never shaped your own brows, or haven’t in a long time, there are a few key tips to keep in mind: 1. The inner edge of your eyebrow should line up with the outer edge of your nose; 2. The highest point of your arch should be where the diagonal line extending from the outside of your nose to the outside of your pupil would hit; 3. The outer edge of your brow should taper off at the point where your eyebrow and the diagonal line from your nose to the outside corner of your eye
would intersect; 4. The bottom of the inner and outer edges of your brow should line up horizontally. These tips were found on www.makeup.com. The best part of this new worldwide appreciation for eyebrows is that really, you don’t even have to touch them! You can worry about something else for a change, like those readings you’ve got piling up. So go on, love your Frida Kahlos!
32 | ARTICHOKE
Coping with Someone Who Suffers from Depression or Anxiety BY, MALINA SINTNICOLAAS
Last month I spoke briefly about suffering from anxiety disorders, different types of anxiety disorders and how to cope with them, but this time I wanted to focus more about something that is not frequently talked about, but what I am sure almost everyone could use advice on when someone close with them is suffering of this psychiatric illness: how does one cope with someone who is suffering from depression or an anxiety disorder? Some of the information that I give in this article could also apply to helping someone deal with other mental disorders as well. As we know, these disorders are extremely common, especially during this generation. There are many factors that are responsible for this, one is that people are simply becoming more aware of psychiatric illnesses, and are able to accept when they have one. Two there is a lot of pressure put on this generation because our economy is not as strong as it has been in the past. Job opportunities are dwindling, and even if you are successful to be hired, there is no guarantee that you will have the job in the next ten years. University students are being told to get a good
education, and then at the same time they are being reinforced that even with a good education, they may not be able to use it because the job market has gone downhill. These of course, are not the only factors that feed anxiety and depression, there are many personal causes that only the specific person suffering with the disorder will experience. For example as a sufferer of major depression, chronic anxiety and OCD, sometimes I will get a panic attack because of my obsession with the English language, and I will be afraid that there will no longer be proper words. Already, the repulsive word “twerk” has been added into the dictionary, and the younger generations are now beginning to barely spell correctly in emails and they are using acronyms such as “tbh” instead of “to be honest.” If you look back at novels written in the end of the nineteenth century, tomorrow would be written properly as “to-morrow” and now we instead spell it as it is today. I will be afraid that our generation’s children will be subjected to having to spell “people” as “ppl” instead, and that the English language which has kept us together as a society will eventually disappear. It sounds absurd, but it sometimes
makes me have panic attacks, and all others who suffer of a mood disorder like this will have their specific ticks as well that no one else would be able to relate to. Moreover while they are experiencing these phobias or episodes of unfathomable sadness and self-doubt, there is usually always someone around to see their suffering. It can be a parent, a sibling, a friend, a boyfriend or girlfriend, and whatever the case may be, this person may experience extreme helplessness, confusion, or sadness themselves because they do not know how to help their loved one with the disorder. So here are a few ideas for how to help your loved one when their symptoms of anxiety or depression are occurring: Never say “just get over it.” Indeed, out of frustration we are all guilty of saying this, but a person tormented by any mental illness can never just “get over it.” They are not throwing selfish hissy-fit, they are displaying symptoms of a chemical imbalance in the brain, and saying things to them like “get over it” or “you just have to let it go” can be something they are not capable of in their fragile state. If anything, that phrase would only deepen the
33 | Health
depression or anxiety because they could possibly think that you’re giving up on them, or that they are becoming a burden to you. The best thing to do, which will lead to my following point is just listen to them if they feel like discussing their emotions. Yes, it is difficult because in some cases they will find their emotions to be too personal to express them. They could feel that you would react badly to what they have to say, or else they may not know how to describe their emotions with words, but at least by listening to them and telling them that you’re there for them, they will know that they can go to you when needed. Another thing to do is just wait it out. This does not mean walk away from the person with anxiety or depression, because as stated they may not be able to identify the source of their malicious emotions. This means reminding them that you are near, but not getting in their face by demanding what is wrong with them. Keep an eye on them to make sure they will not do anything destructive – if that is something they tend to do. This could mean going into another room and letting them have their space, or if you are not living with this person then this could be done by sending them a text message or a phone call a while after to make sure everything is all right. Remember when we were children and if we were having an episode, we were asked to go in the corner, take a few
deep breaths and count to ten? That is basically the technique used in this situation. Another thing to remember is that it is okay to use medication to help cope with mental illnesses, medicine prescribed by a doctor that is. Unfortunately, despite how modern our medicine may be in this decade, and even though awareness has been spread regarding mental health, mental illnesses are still something that people do not always seem to be educated on. Some people have this idea that unless someone is about to make clothing out of people’s skin or jump off a cliff into a watery grave, they think that psychological disorders are something to just “tough out.” They are wrong. The blunt truth is that whatever psychological disorder a person may have, it is still an illness, and unless properly treated, the person is not going to get better. If someone had diabetes, they would get themselves insulin, they would not try to “tough it out.” Not every anti-depressant works exactly the same way, therefore it is good to discuss the symptoms with a doctor as well as discuss other methods of therapy. Going to see a psychotherapist is not something to be ashamed or embarrassed of. Many people seek out help from therapists for all sorts of reasons, hence do not avoid it if you have a fear of being judged. They are paid to sit before you and listen, but this does not
mean that the person with the mood disorder will no longer need help from their loved ones. Another thing to do to help is try to take them away from whatever is triggering their depression or anxiety. Though by looking at the overall picture, this cannot easily be achieved without years of psychological healing, but if the person suffering from depression/anxiety is being triggered by something somewhat manageable for example school, a fight with a family member, work, money problems etc, take time to temporarily take them out of the situation until they are able to regain control of their mental state. This can be done by simply going on a walk in a calmer setting, taking them out to lunch, just something that you know they will enjoy and that will help them relax. Helping someone with a mood disorder is never easy, it is okay to acknowledge that. Just remember that your loved one that may be suffering of depression or anxiety wants and needs your love and compassion. It is something they will not be able to heal without.
34 | ARTICHOKE
BY MELISSA D’ANGELO ...Do they ever really forget about us? No. Why? Because muscles have the ability to remember actions and sequences practiced on a regular basis. This is where we get that saying, “you can never forget how to ride a bike.” It’s simply because you cant! Our muscles do more work for us than simply moving us around: they memorize movements! The term Muscle Memory reflects the brain’s capacity to recognize and produce the neurological functions needed for motor skills. So what am I trying to say? I’m saying for those athletes out there and all those healthy active individuals who have been injured and think, “why go back?” ... go back, because it’s not as hard as you think!
Sure, you’ll have to work at getting to that peak threshold you previously excelled at, BUT, it wont be as hard as when you first begain training for such high expectations. Now, why am I saying this? I’m passing on to you research as proof and motivation to get back onto that field...or ice... or whatever your passion may be; there is no need to give up for the sake of an injury. No matter what the case, there is always an alternative, even if your injury disrupts your return to play. This doesn’t mean you can simply jump right back in, and continue from where you left off. NO. This means recovering from the injury and then reintegrating yourself into the sport. The brain facilitates movement using motor neurons; these neurons cause contractions and generate the force needed to move. These movements are then stored in the brain’s memory by repetition and attentiveness when being performed. “Much of the motor learning in the brain is located in the cerebellum which is the part of the brain in charge of controlling sensory and cognitive functions.” Once actions are stored in the brain, our muscles
35 | HEALTH
train to act quickly, in a fluid manner, using the appropriate movement for the task at hand; practicing these movements increases the speed at which the action is performed and applied in a relevant manner. When you practice and fulfill training exercises, you enhance the synapses in your muscles which increases the speed that an impulse will travel from the brain through the nervous system to the muscles. This lowers the time between the brain deciding to complete a movement to when the muscles actually start to move. When you find those optimum skills that allow you to be the athlete you want to be, the brain begins to memorize what that feels like and the actions become easier to carry. For example, if you keep practicing how to kick a ball and your accuracy is off, the more you practice the better your aim - this repetiton and skill remains in memory so that the muscles can easily perform the action the same way each time. So, what’s the purpose of all this? It’s important to remember that returning to the beautiful game sounds harder than the work actually needed to continue what you love. I’ve now recovered from my fifth concussion from soccer, so I understand it is definitely hard getting back into the mind set and routine of sport and activity. Yes, you will struggle at the beginning, but after a few weeks of activity sessions, you will notice that you do remember how to do what you love and the
muscles strains will ease up when you get that groove going. A year and a half has passed and I’m thrilled to say that I’ve been given clearance to continue training with the varsity team and I have been to our gym lifts and practices. As expected, the transition was difficult for me and my body, however, the physical pain has gradually subsided and my body can sustain an entire 2 hour practice and complete our scheduled conditioning plans. How does this relate to you? For those of you who dont always have that time to hit the gym, your muscles havent forgotten you. Simple, everyday movements, such as getting out of bed, walking to your kitchen, and even opening your fridge door require the same memorized movements that an athlete’s muslces would experience. Your muscles must remember these movements in order for your body to complete them without hesitation, as if it’s almost an innate reaction. Your muscles require a certain amount of memory retention in order for these simple movements to remain fluid and continuous. Whether you’re preparing for a game or picking up a book to read, your muscles are designed to facilitate the necessary actions that they’ve come accustomed to performing. ...pause for a moment of silence this month to pay respect to that special group who will never forget about you: your muscles.
“Much of the motor learning in the brain is located in the cerebellum which is the part of the brain in charge of controlling sensory and cognitive functions.”
36 | ARTICHOKE
MIRROR, MIRROR: THE ILLUSION OF SELF BY MELISSA D’ANGELO
The self is nothing more than a cleverly conceived narrative.
Have you ever mixed Heinz Classic Beans in Tomato Sauce together with Heinz Beans in Maple Flavour Sauce? Heinz uses real Quebecois maple syrup. I bet you may or may not have known that. By sitting down and eating this medley of Heinz Classic Beans and Real Quebecois Maple Syrup (flavour?) It would be true to say that one could feel immersed in Canadiana or some patriotic aura. It may also be true to say that one was simply loading up on the easiest carbohydrates they could pull out of their cupboard because “A girl’s gotta eat right?” It could even be true that one was appropriately stoned on government issued Percocet, complimentary after a free surgery, and any peculiar decision they make would find a direct correlation to that perky wonder drug. Which one of these feelings were results of our
own individual personality taking the reins of our brain and making a decision? Which were the results of extraneous cultural or pharmaceutical influences? How much of ourselves do we implicitly create, and how much is an explicit molestation of our personality? And what’s with the goddamn beans!?!? These questions can’t help but bring up the haunting notion that the self is nothing more than a cleverly conceived narrative, concocted by the parts of your brain that know what you want before you ever get a chance to. It’s curious how the human state of conscious can be manipulated with such an exterior precision; it sort of makes you (or at least it makes me [hence you, vicariously]) wonder to what degree of control your sober, self-regulating person has. It makes you wonder how lucid your emotions
37 | HEALTH
and instincts truly are: as socially dignified creatures with any extent of self-conscious knowledge. To be or not to be: a famous saying by a dead guy; we seem to believe we are in control of our reality and that all of our decisions are our own. As members of society, why are we just supposed to stand there politely fake smiling at that weird Adam Schurman guy from our film history course telling us a story about the one time he popped a wheelie on his longboard? If we think the fact that he is for some reason bragging about that to be lame beyond belief, then why in Freud’s name are we smiling? Because how we were raised taught us it is better to be polite than to express ourselves. Our environment influences our behaviour which influences our sense of self. That fake smile was a result
of experience telling us what to do; it was not a conscious decision. In psychology there is an effect known as “priming”. What priming does is wire the brain to be hypersensitive to recognizing specific stimulus. For instance, if you see a massive billboard with a sexy waitress drinking from an ice cold cup of coke, the next time a sexy waitress asks you what you would like to drink, you are probably going to ask for a sexy glass of sexy ice cold sexy coke! The billboard has primed your response. How many pictures, messages, or images have you received and in turn subconsciously internalized to make you grimace when your waiter says “Sorry, all we got is Pepsi”? An identity is a scrutinized thing; a biologist may call it natural, a surrealist may call it confounding, a narcissist may call
it beautiful, a madman may call it through the telephone. But yet the concept of an identity is what allows us to call ourselves biologists, Coke guys, romantics, or Adam Schurmans. I seek not to find any answers about the truth of the illusion of self; my only aim is to maybe heighten awareness about our own identities by opening up a huge can of beans. Now who else is hungry?
38 | ARTICHOKE
Holiday
SHORTBREAD BY JACOB COLOSI Starbucks has rolled out their holiday specials and the Hudson’s Bay window’s have been transformed into their traditional Christmas displays. November is quickly slipping by and the social acceptability of ugly sweaters is once again at its peak. The holiday season means many things, but to me it can be summed up in one word: butter. Seasonal baking is a tradition in my house and a time when every spare moment the oven isn’t cooking dinner, its baking a new batch of goodies. When I get a chance to relax, and do anything but schoolwork, nothing wipes my stress away like mixing together a nice buttery cookie dough. A traditional shortbread with a holiday twist, stuffed with butter, chocolate chips, and maraschino cherries, is sure to be a hit at your next ugly sweater Christmas party.
39 | HEALTH
YEILD: ABOUT 24 COOKIES INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1/2 cup confectioners sugar 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup maraschino cherries, chopped (Red & Green) 1/2 cup white and/or dark chocolate chips 1/2 tbs vanilla extract
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and butter thoroughly. Pour in the flour and salt together and then mix into the butter mixture until large clumps form. Mix in the maraschino cherries, chocolate chips and vanilla extract. You can form the dough into whatever shape you want (long rectangular or circular logs work well) and then cover the dough in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the fridge for at least an hour. Once chilled, you can cut the dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and place then on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake the cookies at 325F for about 10 - 15 minutes, or until they begin to turn light golden brown. Let them cool before eating and enjoy with a nice cup of tea.
YSDN BAKESALE You can enjoy this recipe and many more holiday bake goods at the Design Students Association’s christmas bake sale:
POP-UP PATISSERIE NOVEMBER 20TH 11AM - 4PM YUM FARMER’S MARKET TEL BUILDING