Artichoke Vol.4 No.2

mag

OCTOBER 2014 | VOL. 4 N o . 2

JOHN MAYBERRY 07

John Mayberry Master, Winters College

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CONTRIBUTORS EDITOR IN CHIEF

WRITERS

Emma Beckett

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

ART DIRECTORS

Jacob Colosi Karen Keung

DESIGNERS

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

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Hi all, The 2014-2015 school year is my fourth year as a York University student, and my second year as editor of the Winters Free Press, Artichoke Magazine. As is the nature of the university experience, my stint as editor will most likely be coming to an end this year. Two years ago Lindsay Presswell, the previous Editor-In-Chief and co-founder of the Artichoke, worked with me to teach me exactly what being an editor was all about. It has been an incredible learning experience, and an opportunity to demonstrate how much I care about how much I care about Winters College, and to give something back. I would love

to see the Artichoke carry on and flourish after I have graduated, but in order to do so, I will need to find a candidate this year who I can show the ropes of editing before they apply for the position in the new year. If any of you, dear readers, are active (or wanting to be active) members of Winters College, have excellent writing, communication, leadership, and organizational skills, and a little bit of extra time, please email me about applying for an assistant editor position.

Emma Beckettet EIC wintersfreepress@winterscouncil.com

Good Luck!

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WCC

UPDATE Hey Winters affiliates, we need your help to complete our council for the 2014-2015 school year. We plan great events, have lots of fun and ensure our affiliates get the most of winters college!

Our election period will happen in early October so keep an eye out because we will post our election period on our social media pages.

We will be looking for a couple Winters affiliates to fill these positions: 2 first year representatives (only first years) 2 commuter representatives 1 Winters resident representative 1 finance representative We are also hiring two great position for the school year: 1)Webmaster 2)Speakers These positions require a resume and cover letter sent to vpinternal@winterscouncil.com FINALLY..we will need some help with elections, so if you have some time to help please email Juste, the CRO, that would be greatly appreciated!

Any comments or concerns can be sent to Juste the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) at cro@winterscouncil.com or just swing by the Winters Council office.

WINTERS ATHLETICS This month there are various sports happening!

Soccer: Monday and Wednesday Flag Football: Tuesday Ultimate: Thursday Volleyball: Monday and Thursday Ice Hockey European Handball Badminton If interested in joining please message Tamara Leivavpathletics@winterscouncil.com or Jeffrey Collins athleticsdirector@winterscouncil. com!

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EW AG

Eleanor Winters Art Gallery

Update

EWAG WORD NIGHT

NOTE FROM THE CURATOR

Once a month, the Artichoke hosts monthly Word Nights in the Eleanor Winters Art Gallery as a place outside of classes for students to read and workshop short stories and poems that they have been working on. There are very few limitations on what is read, anything that you can read in front of an audience is a go! The sign-ups are first come, first serve, so if you want to read get there on time! The next upcoming Word night is scheduled for Wednesday, October 22nd, see you there!

Eleanor Winters Art Gallery (aka EWAG) is a student-run art gallery located around the corner from the Winters College Master’s Office (rm. 129). It is a space dedicated to the talented and creative minds of the Fine Arts community of York University. The gallery exists to promote and exhibit the artistic and intellectual works of York undergraduates, graduates, and alumni.

We bring you a different exhibition of student artwork every week of the year.

We like to keep EWAG interdisciplinary so we also host music, theatre, and dance performances and workshops. We are currently accepting submissions, if you would like to send us a proposal for an art show or for a creative event, please email us at ewag@yorku.ca

CONTENTS

VOL 4. No. 2 | OCTOBER 2014

JOHN MAYBERRY 07

John Mayberry Master, Winters College

MAJOR SPEAK

ENTERTAINMENT

12

THEATRE Sharing the Stage with Everyone

18

HAUNTED Toronto’s Most Haunted Places

14

ENGLISH Inspire and Be Inspired

20

BOYHOOD Boyhood and the Glory of the Mundane.

16

FASHION Homage to Flowers

22

PLAYLIST Halloween Playlist

24

PEPPERONI PLAYBOY The Rise of the Pepperoni Playboy

LIFEST YLE

HEALTH

26

NETFLIX A T.V Junkie’s Paradise

32

BREAST CANCER CIBC Run for the Cure

28

PROCRASTINATION Procrastination Tips for the Wicked

34

ANXIETY Living in University with an Anxiety Disorder

30

PHILOSOPHY Philosophy and Ice Cream

36

FITNESS Tips and Tricks That Will Keep You Fit

38

RECIPE Spicy Pumpkin Muffins

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MASTER, WINTERS COLLEGE

JOHN MAYBERRY At the end of last year, students of Winters College unfortunately bid farewell to our amazing Master, Marie Rickard.

Marie is and will always be an important figure in Winters, and this year while she is on sabbatical she will be sorely missed. However, on the positive side we now have the opportunity to welcome a new interim Master, John Mayberry! John Mayberry has been a part of Winters College for many years as a Fellow, and in 2010 took on the position of Academic Advisor. John is a dedicated professor in the Theatre Department, and his involvement and participation in Winters College student events throughout his years at York have more than prepared him for the position of Master, Winters College.

BY EMMA BECKETT

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ARTICHOKE: When did you first start working at York?

beneficial to the community, and to the students especially.

JOHN MAYBERRY: I started working here in 1998.

ARTICHOKE: What are some of the most useful resources for student success that Winters College provides?

ARTICHOKE: What was your first impression of Winters College?

J. M.: Hm. I think my first impression was from a late colleague of mine in the Theatre Department, Professor Anatol Schlosser, who had been the Academic Advisor here. He was a mentor for me in the Theatre Department when I started there, and he gave me all kinds of great advice on how to make the change from being a sessional instructor, which is what I had been before --I taught at Ryerson for 18 years before I came here-- to being a tenured, full time faculty member. One of the things that he advised me to do was to get involved with Winters. Honestly my first impression was of having somebody suggest that I get involved with Winters and having no idea what that meant, then finding out a little bit more from Anatol, and starting to attend events, and with the various Masters being more-or-less involved with arranging events and things. But my first impression upon coming here and getting involved with things was what a great, wonderful community and I really want to be a part of it.

ARTICHOKE: What does your job as the Master actually entail?

J. M.: That’s a great question. I am still new, so I am still finding out all kinds of stuff. The way I am approaching the job is that I am assuming that my main job is to facilitate this complex, but pretty functional community. My plan is to be open to whatever seems

J. M.: I think I would just echo what I have heard a lot of students say, which is that is provides an opportunity to network, get to know other students, to make sure that they develop other parts of their personalities, other than the ones that are being developed in their courses and in their program of study. It gives them opportunities to function as student leaders, as community activists, as facilitators of various kinds of community involvement. In another sense Winters gives many students an 'identity', a sense of belonging in a smaller group than the university as a whole. I think in a lot of the Fine Arts programs there are communities within the programs, I know in the Theatre Department there certainly is, but in some of the other programs I think some people feel like they can get lost, and it is nice to have smaller groups to function in. I also think the fact that people can come here and share participation in some of the basic human functions, like eating, drinking, dancing, singing, I think those are just really, really elemental ways that humans have connected with each other for thousands and thousands of years. And we do that here.

ARTICHOKE: How would you compare Winters today to your time as a University student?

J. M.: Hmm. I think I have to be really careful answering that because when I was a university student

at University of Toronto, Victoria College in the 1970's, all I knew was the role of the student. I had no conception of what people were doing to try to facilitate interactions.

I just assumed that the way my little community worked in the residence I was in was accidentally dictated by the architecture of the building I was in. We had this very tightknit community of around twentyfour, it was all men, who lived in this one little unit. That was home, and it was from that little family that I functioned and broke off into other families in my department or in my group friends, or sports, or other interests. Mainly I was just in the soup as a student, and I had no idea. Whereas now, here at Winters, I have more of an idea of the structure, the Dean's Office's role, and the VP students' role, and the student council, and how the architecture and decisions about what activities happen in which place, how that makes things work or not work, whereas I don't really have any, I can't have any, first-hand knowledge about what it is like to be somebody in second year, living with a roommate in the Winters Residence. The two lenses that I am looking through are so different that I am leery of making any comparisons.

But, having said that, I think that the Winters experience is much more concentrated and integrated than my experience was, because even in the 1970’s, living downtown at U of T I was a ten minute walk from the Brunswick House, or Kensington market, so it was a completely different experience. This is much more intense. It is more like being on a cruise ship or a boat. It might be a really big boat, but a lot of people never, or very rarely, get off the boat.

Only when it docks into port, every once in a while you hop off and go

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downtown, so it is very different.

I don’t know if that was anything like what you were asking for, but it just feels quite different from my experience.

ARTICHOKE: Why does the college system exist at York, and how does it improve student’s experiences?

J. M.: Well, I wasn’t here when York was founded so I have no personal experience with how the college system was founded, but my understanding is that they were purposefully modelled on the college system at University of Toronto, and at therefore, earlier, Oxford and Cambridge, where the university is made up of a collection of smaller colleges. People’s identity was with the colleges, and as I understand it people used to graduate with their colleges, though a number of years ago they changed that so people now graduate with their programs.

I think the original intention was to make sure that there were smaller communities that people could feel a part of.

ARTICHOKE: What is one thing that you think could be improved about York University, either within Winters, the Theatre Department, York Administration, or something that you personally are working to improve?

J. M.: I have decided that a goal for this year is to get more of my colleagues, more of the professors from the Faculty of Fine Arts, to come and attend something at Winters.

There are a number of them that I don’t think have ever been in this building. They are all intelligent,

“I don’t know exactly how that works, but I can usually manage to find something delightful in whatever I am doing.” creative, passionate people who have their students’ best interests at heart, and I just have this notion that many of them would see the benefit of interacting with their students over here more than they do. But I think the only way to convince them of that is to have them come over here and see what happens, and see what it’s like. I am going to start with trying to get some of my theatre colleagues over here, and then other folks, even just entice them over with coffee and cookies or something.

ARTICHOKE: What is a particularly charming memory from your time as a professor at York?

J. M.: Oh gosh. I feel like I have so many. I’ll give two, representative of a thousand similar memories.

A few months ago I was downtown with a friend, and we were at the Bathurst subway station. We walked in at street level, and started walking down the stairs, and there, coming up the escalator towards me was Michelle Tracey, a design student who graduated about three years ago, I think. And as we went by I said “Hi Michelle,” and she said “Oh, hi John, how are you?”

And I said “Fine,” and my friend and I continued walking down the stairs. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, there was Vera Watson,

a Production design graduate from about seven years ago, maybe.

Big hug, “How are you, are you still at Home Depot? No, I’m not at Home Depot I’m doing something else now, that’s great nice to see you.”

We go down the stairs just as a train pulls in, the train door opens up, and off the train steps Christie Del Monte, no time for a hug but just a “Hi, how are you, nice to see you!” and we got on the train. We sat down and my friend just looked at me and said, “These are all former students of yours?”

And I said, “Yep,” And she said, “It must be so nice to have a job where you keep bumping into people like that.”

And I said “It is a great job, for exactly that reason.” That happens to me all the time. So that is a charming thing, and indicative of one of my favourite parts of the job.

Then just on Friday, I think it was, Peter McKinnon and I were standing here chatting and Lindsey poked her nose in and said, “A former student of yours just phoned and she is on her way over to see you guys.”

She walked in and we shared big hugs, she was here about four years ago, and we went out the the car and saw her baby, and met her man, and it was just lovely that somebody would come back and say hello like that. Anyway, lots of great, wonderful, charming moments.

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ARTICHOKE: Do you keep in contact with a lot of York Alumni?

J. M.: I always tell my students that their education, as far as I’m concerned, comes with a lifetime guarantee. For the rest of their life– well, the rest of my life–any time they want they can contact me and say “Hey, remember me?” And I get that all the time, especially now with Facebook. I’m on Facebook mostly just so I can watch all the wonderful things my former students do. But I’ve been teaching for long enough now that I’ve got former students who are about to retire.

ARTICHOKE: As the Master are you involved with Alumni events at Winters college?

J. M.: Yep. As I understand it, there have been a number of attempts over the years to get Alumni involved that

have been more or less successful, but this year there is a new committee of recent alumni, and they are all students that have graduated within the last four years, many of them within the last year or two.

They are working really hard to get recent alumni, who they feel have the strongest connection with the college, together for events in the hopes that that will turn into a long term involvement. So there is this committee that has been meeting once a month, or once every few weeks, for the past few months, and I have been going to those meetings and offering advice of what I know about how people work, and how to get people interested and involved in things. They have hosted one event so far which was an event at Pauper’s, which was really successful, I think they had over 50 people come.

ARTICHOKE: From your time as a professor, which class was the most fun to teach?

J. M.: Oh my gosh. Well I think I am really lucky in that most of the time, whatever I am doing at the moment is the most fun thing. I don’t know exactly how that works, but I can usually manage to find something delightful in whatever I am doing.

I have taught a whole bunch of different classes, I taught for eighteen years at Ryerson before coming here, and here [at York] the main course I taught for ten years was the second year stagecraft class. While I was teaching that class I really felt like it was the centre of the universe, that it was the most important foundation class in the production program, and I loved teaching that class. It was a great combination of theory and practice.

For many years I have also taught the third year stagecraft class which is a smaller class, and it is the only upper level artisan craft class that we have that is not in the wardrobe. I loved teaching that too because it was a smaller class, older students, and we could concentrate on a higher level of handcraft and expertise.

For three years they let me teach the first year stagecraft class when Peter McKinnon was chair, and I loved teaching that class. To have sometimes as many as a hundred and fifty first year students, every Friday morning, and to feel that whatever I told them would form a real basis of their understanding of the Theatre Department and how practical theatre works as a profession.

The last two years I have been team teaching the fourth year devised theatre class which has been such

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a treat, because for most of my career I have been in the hands-on, production, making-stuff-out-ofstuff world, and yet I have a fair amount of expertise and experience in improvisational performance, especially in comic performance.

Teaching that class have been really fun because it has felt as though I have walked into the studio with access to all of my personality and all of my experience, rather than narrowing it down for the purpose of the class. Not that I am always very successful at doing that narrowing down. Teaching in the Theatre Department here has mostly been a situation where I have been able to be the same person in the classroom that I am when I am with my friends, and that feels like an amazing luxury.

I have the suspicion that there are a lot of professors, because of what they teach and how they teach, who don’t get to use the whole of their brain and their personality when they are in the classroom, so I feel pretty lucky in that.

ARTICHOKE: What is your favourite motivational quote?

J. M.: Oh, there are so many. The way my brain works, when I read one that I particularly like I go “Oh yeah, that’s exactly right, that’s exactly…” and then a while later I’ll read another one. Let me try to think if I can choose one.

Well I don’t know if it is my favourite, but this one jumps into my mind. My dad used to tell this story of one of his classmates when he was in high school. A bunch of guys hanging around, shooting each other down the

way guys do, and one of his buddies said something. Then one of the other guys turned to him and said “Oh Wilson, that is just typical of you.”

And the conversation went on and around and a little while later this guy Wilson, he said, “I don’t actually see that there is anything wrong with being typical of one’s self.” I have always liked that.

ARTICHOKE: What is the most common question that you get asked about your new position?

J. M.: I think the most common question I get asked is “so what exactly does the Master do?” It is not surprising to me when people outside the university ask me that, but when my colleagues in Fine Arts ask me that, then I think come on over and see what we do, then you’ll see. I have seen that happen a couple times with colleagues, and it goes back to what I want to do for the year to bring more of them over here.

One more thing that I find myself delighting in telling people when I am telling them about this job is that it is a delight to have such a highly functional and polite and well orchestrated staff, that I love coming into work. Emily and Lindsey are always so on top of everything and they help keep me on top of things, and we have all our work study students, and it is just a really functional operation we have going here, and I feel pretty lucky in that.

“People can come here and share participation in some of the basic human functions, like eating, drinking, dancing, singing”

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SHARING THE STAGE WITH EVERYONE

BY ERIC SCHOENBERGER Around the middle of last year one of my professors brought up a production he put on in which he integrated twitter throughout his performance. The way he used it was as an interactive experiment in which the audience was encouraged to use their phones during the performance and make tweets relating to the play using a certain hashtag. These tweets would then be shown on stage and would slightly influence the performance. The story got me thinking, what exactly is the place for audience interaction in traditional theatre? Of course while some schools of theatre like improv are known for directly involving the audience and others will sometimes break the fourth wall in order to suit their purposes typically the role

of the audience in theatre is to be quiet and observe the actors play out the script. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that method of production. It allows for a focused and polished performance and there’s a good reason it’s the norm. However I can’t help but wonder if interactivity could also be possible in a theatrical environment as a means to enhance a performance.

For example, taking an idea from the earlier mentioned usage of Twitter, a play set in modern day could use that same method as a way to present the audience’s reactions to an issue the performance addresses.

This could even be woven into the narrative by having the actors read these responses out loud as if they were made in the universe of the

13 | Lifestyle

performance. This would in turn help the audience feel more directly involved with the performance which may help whatever ideas or messages the play is trying to present hit closer to home. Social media is of course not the only way interactivity can be done in theatre. There are of course performances such as the “murder mystery dinner theatre” in which a company of actors stages a mystery or something akin to that and it is up to the patrons of the restaurant/event (the audience) to solve it. These sorts of performances can work well although they tend to be more for novelty and pure entertainment rather than attempting to say something profound or affect people and often end up somewhat disregarding the actor’s craft in favour

of promoting interactivity. However there are also ways in which the performance can stay focused on the actors and present a message while still involving the audience. The play “Hotel Confessions” for example used interactivity in order to put the performer more into the shoes of the play’s lead character by having the audience follow him as he signs into his hotel room and heads up the elevator to start the real meat of the performance. The play keeps the audience to an incredibly small scale (10 people per performance) as a way of keeping the audience under control, by keeping a careful balance of number between their audience and their actors. If there are too many actors the audience may lose track of who is part of the scene and if there are too few audience members the scene may begin to make them feel uncomfortable as it would be too intimate of a setting. By maintaining this balance they are able to set the mood in such a way that a performance like this is improved through its interactivity while also maintaining the air of traditional theatre.

There are however, still many problems which could arise from this interactivity. For one it could very easily be abused by those who wish to ruin the experience for others and of course the entire concept of interactivity completely tears down the fourth wall and potentially ruins

any sort of immersion which one might feel while watching the play. It would also potentially be taxing on the actors who may need to improvise around audience response and presence regardless of whether or not these actions match up with the direction the plot is heading. However on the other hand interactivity and technology could also present a new avenue for theatre to explore that could bring in a whole new type of audience.

It’s important to keep in mind that I’m not saying this concept should be applied to all performances. As I said, if done incorrectly this interactivity could potentially be disastrous to a performance and make it seem more like it’s trying to pander to the audience in order to keep their attention rather than involve them.

However if handled properly I think this is a possible new avenue for theatre to explore and expand on by combining interactivity with pre-existing theatrical conventions.

It’s a way to potentially get new people interested in theatre and give long-time fans and performers alike a new way to view and present their work. At this point Interactivity in traditional theatre is in an interesting experimental stage which I feel members of the theatre world should give a shot to help share the stage with everyone.

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Inspire & be Inspired

BY CAMELLIA DE CASTRO

I believe that we all crave inspiration. We are in search of people, places, or art that moves us and touches our soul. But, somewhere deep down, I think we also desire to be someone else’s inspiration, to know that we are making a positive impact on others around us. Writers, like any other artist, want to inspire and be inspired through writing.

Thus, it is fitting that Canada’s first ever book fair for all things print and digital is called the INSPIRE! Toronto International Book Fair.

After the cancellation of BookExpo Canada (one of Canada’s very few book fairs) a few years ago, there has been a void in the Canadian literary scene.

So the INSPIRE! Toronto International Book Fair (TIBF), also known as the “re-imagined book fair” has had a lot of buzz surrounding it for quite some time now. INSPIRE! TIBF vows to be “part exhibition, part market and part cultural festival” with the intention of celebrating reading and all components of the book trade.

INSPIRE! TIBF will be the place where words will be celebrated, whether it’s an author’s words or even your own words. So, if there is a certain author who inspires you, then INSPIRE! TIBF is where you want to be…

“I want to inspire & be inspired.”

-Sam Mendes

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Where

The Metro Convention Centre, North Building

When

November 13-16, 2014 ($15 gets you access all four days)

Who

400+ Authors (Canadian and International). 300 Hours of Programming. 8 Stages. Margaret Atwood, Lev Grossman, Kelley Armstrong, Nick Cutter, Gayle Forman, Jeff Kinney, E. Lockhart, Sylvia Day, and many more.

Pretty. Cool. Lineup.

Why

As the INSPIRE! TIBF website states, it will be: “From Literary to Romance, from Science Fiction to Mystery, from Children’s Books to Cookbooks.”

If you consider yourself a book lover, well then why not?

But, perhaps one of the most impressive facets of this book fair is the rich culture and diversity it will exude. The programming will appeal to the English-speaking community, but there is also a stage that will solely showcase the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literary Circle, in addition to other languages.

Furthermore, if you are reading this and you are not an established author (yet!), the INSPIRE! TIBF is providing you the opportunity to inspire as well because you could have entered your story in The Creation of Stories: Canada’s Self-Publishing Awards sponsored by Blurb, Inc. (the indie publishing platform that “is simple yet flexible enough to make everyone an author”). Unfortunately the deadline was September 1, 2014 but mark your calendars for next year. In the meantime, you can brush up on your writing skills with one of the many workshops INSPIRE! TIBF will be offering, such as the “How to Write a Romance Novel and Find Your Market” workshop or the “Beginnings: Learn How and Where to Begin Your Story” workshop.

To get a glimpse of the magnitude of this event of emerging and established talent, please check out the programming lineup at: www. torontobookfair.ca/schedule/. It is overflowing with the opportunity for creativity. As the official poster for INSPIRE! TIBF displays, all you need to do is step into the book fair and “let your imagination take flight.”

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HOMAGE TO

BY DIANA EDELHAUSER I’ve always found myself referencing flowers when trying to illustrate beauty, refinement, and poise. The daintiness of a rose, in its softness and pretty strength, has arguably been the epitome of loveliness for centuries. Artists of various trades would most definitely agree: musicians have referenced flowers in ballads since the beginning of time (Poison’s 1988 hit Every Rose Has its Thorn); painters have mimicked the visual beauty on canvases (Van Gogh’s 1888 Six Sunflowers). And luckily, for flower lovers such as myself, fashion designers have turned the rose, the tulip and nearly every other botanical beauty into a prêt-à-porter piece! So, the end of summer’s warm breeze has never meant saying good-bye to petals. Rather, we can pay them homage through what we choose to wear, and for the past few seasons, floral prints have taken center stage, allowing a fresh and timeless beauty to bloom year round.

We can trace the cultural involvement of flowers in fashion

back to the 17th century, when tulips peaked the interest of the Dutch population thus being propelled to grandiose proportions of cultivation.

By the 19th century, a new flower challenged this tulipomania: the camellia. Delicate and easily spoiled by rain, the camellia was the flower of choice for a lady’s corsage in Victorian London. However as the century neared its end, it was the sunflower that had caught attention and was being embroidered, engraved and envisioned upon thousands of materials. And from there, it’s easy to say that each time period has had its own bouquet of choice, so to speak: the Sixties and the daisy; the Eighties with their cabbage rose; the Nineties paired with an orchid. Presently, designers seem to love the whole garden. In fact, Paris’ 2012 Autumn / Winter Haute Couture event had its runway transformed for the Christian Dior show by creative director Raf Simons. Over one million real, fresh, delightful flowers decorated five rooms of a Parisian mansion from head to toe, all in the aim to give

17 | MAJOR SPEAK

new energy to what the Dior name stands for. The inspiration was obvious, despite the garments presented maintaining a subdued and crisp allure.

Since 2012, flowers have not only been lining the catwalk, but walking it. Valentino’s 2015 resort collection seen in this year’s Fashion Week incorporates folk-style floral print in every single piece. And it would be an absolute sin to simply ignore Dolce and Gabbana’s Summer 2014 line, Alta Moda. An absolute dream, and the best rendition of flower child one could possibly imagine (none of that Veld-flower-headband fad, but raw and beautiful and poetic flower child material). Stefano Gabbana has explained that the duo’s inspiration for the couture collection was cut flowers, exclusively, while Domenico Dolce proudly disclosed that they had negotiated legal rights from various museums to reproduce legendary works of art from artists such as Monet, Klimt and Redon as gowns.

Recreated through mauve chiffon, tea rose lace and prune silks, the

iconic designers gifted their audience with a floral fantasy, blooming with innocence and passion.

Of course, layering on haute couture pieces is not the most practical way to show your love for lilacs (Or your fondness of freesias?

Your care for chrysanthemums?).

Much more readily affordable brands have adopted the floral print and can satisfy your petal craze. For example, the Nike Roshe can be customized with a variety of floral motifs ($110 and up), or indulge in Marc Jacobs’ iconic fragrance, Daisy ($85 for 1.7oz)!

However you choose to do it let us not leave the flower behind with the sunny August nights. Lets keep her nearby. Lets allow ourselves to be inspired by the softness, the hopefulness of a peony bud. Lets wake up with the warmth of a sunflower every morning, even if the closest thing to petals outside are sparkling little snowflakes. Because whatever kind of artist you are, there’s a flower that may one day show you just how to grow. And I choose to pay homage to that.

Presently, designers seem to love the whole garden.

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TORONTO’S MOST HAUNTED PLACES

BY CRAIG CLARK

Unexplainable voices and noises are frequently heard throughout.

October is a time where we all want to be a little scared. With Halloween looming at the end of the month a stale breeze passes through the air.

Many of us will get into the spooky spirit by watching scary movies or visiting local Halloween attractions, but for some the hunt for the purely frightening and mysterious is a feeling like no other. Whether it’s cool air blowing down your neck or the spectral screams rolling over the hills from the unknown Toronto has many places that are thought to be haunted.

Fairmont Royal York The historic hotel is over 80 years old and sits on Front Street facing the lake. There are multiple reports of ghostly activity in the 1930s hotel. On the eighth floor an old man walks the halls, a former employee who hung himself in a stairway leading to the roof and on its own the elevator will go to the Crystal Ballroom. There has also been times where chandeliers shake, loud music heard, lights turning on and off, and the sound of children’s laughter.

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knocked him unconscious and chopped up and buried his body.

There have been reports of moaning and sightings of Radelmuller’s figure wandering the grounds.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery Open in 1876 it was one of the first cemeteries in the city to allowed deceased citizens who didn’t belong to the Roman Catholic Church or Church of England. With around 200 acres of land it is the final resting place of more than 1680,000 people.

Unexplainable voices and noises are frequently heard throughout. Visitors have reported feelings of being watched and unease sometimes to the point of fear. Other paranormal activities include electrical disturbances, touches and tugs by invisible presences and shadowy figures.

Fort York

Gibraltar Point Lighthouse

Queen’s Park

The British Army and Canadian militia troops built the fort in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was intended to defend the new capital Upper Canada and was a battle site during the War of 1812. Hundreds of military personnel have died within its walls. Visitors have reported battle noises such as cannon and gunfire.

Also, there have been sightings of British and American soldiers.

The oldest existing lighthouse on the Great Lakes is located on the Toronto Islands. Completed in 1808, it once stood on the shoreline, but now sand has built up and it stands 100 meters inland. In 1815, the first lighthouse keeper John Paul Radelmuller was murdered while soldiers from Fort York were searching for bootleg beer. They chased him to the top of the tower,

Opened in 1860 the urban park is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. Queen’s Park Crescent East and West outline the oval shaped park. There have been sightings of a woman in tattered clothing hanging by a rope. Also, visitors to the legislative building and surrounding park have heard screams and cries for help.

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BY CURTIS TE BRINKE You’ve probaly been hearing this a lot lately, but if you haven’t seen Boyhood yet you should really get on that. For those unaware, Boyhood is the latest from Slacker and Before Sunrise creator Richard Linklater. It was filmed periodically over twelve years with the same cast and charts the life of a normal boy growing up in Texas. The film was the most intense movie going experience I have ever had. Not much really happens in its three hour run, while at the same time everything happens in its three hour run. What makes the film exceptional is the way it makes itself feel like a memory and the present tense all at the same time.

I’m sure most of us have a less than hollywood ideal perspective on our own “coming of age”. For the most part we are lead to believe that growing up is filled with clearly laid out challenges that are accompanied

by about-to-be-famous indie folk songs and rapid scene changes. We hold on to the idea that the important milestones in our lives are our first kiss, our first drink, losing our virginity and moving out. I don’t know about you, but I happen to remember when all of these things happened in my life. I also remember the strange sense of anti-climax that went along with them. We have a way of building things up in our heads to be life altering events. When our lives feel somehow unaltered, there is a part of us that feels cheated.

Some of these events left a part of me unaffected, while others I managed to forget to celebrate or overlook.

Sitting through Boyhood was is a strange experience, in its refusal to make any one event that “life changing” moment. No one thing is

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given significance over any of the many small details of life it presents.

In fact, for the most part it skips them entirely. It jumps time and shows its character already drinking, smoking pot fooling around with girls.

To him it is already normal, we miss what we believe to be the formative experience he had.

After watching you begin to realize what your own response to this says about you and your own life. Did you want more out of the film? Did you want it to be more entertaining, more interesting?

Should certain things have been given more emotional weight over others?

My theory on the film is that the way people see this is related to how they perceive their own life.

Boyhood is amazing for a big list of reasons, but the one that I’m interested in here is the way it shows life to be made up of tiny little details and mundane, seemingly unimportant events that form a whole. Nothing its main character does is something you find yourself questioning whether or not is realistic.

And if his life is worth spending twelve years filming, three hours watching and millions of dollars of studio money to create: aren’t ours just as valid?

The few hours after watching this film felt entirely significant. All I was doing was searching for food and beers with some friends, but I couldn’t help but feel the importance of it all.

Boyhood’s power lies in its ability to make you relate immediately to everything happening on screen.

Watching it made me think “I’m living a life right the hell now”.

Life isn’t in the big moments, which are few and far between. Life is what you live day to day. Its beautiful and weird and awkward and strange and sad, but even the boring moments are something.

So the next time you feel like you aren’t living a life worth anything because it’s not a story that would get green lit by Fox Searchlight Pictures: Just remember that your life is something worth putting on film.

Because Richard Linklater already did.

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HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST “Carissa” – Sun Kil Moon If you got through “Secant” your reward is the gentle but intricate finger picked acoustic guitar by Sun Kil Moon. To counter your relief, the lyrics will tell you the horribly sad personal story of a family member’s death, and grow into existential pondering. As I said, this is not party music.

BY PETER ELLMAN - Halloween Playlist This selection of songs isn’t meant to soundtrack your costumed kegger, it’s meant to genuinely spook you. Listen to it alone, preferably at night. Also, I’ve focused on songs from albums that were released in 2014 so you can sort of look at it as a selection of some of my favourite releases so far this year. Enjoy!

“Secant” – Ben Frost This song combines punishing industrial samples and shimmering ambience for a uniquely grating experience. (Listen first while you’re still open to the idea, it’ll get softer later.) This composer is a master of electronic textures and it really shows when around a minute in it sounds like ghosts are trying to break out of a machine. Fans of Tim Hecker and The Haxan Cloak will enjoy this.

“JM” – Strand of Oaks This song is a touching tribute to the recently deceased revered songwriter Jason Molina, which recounts adolescent struggles that were quelled by Molina’s music. How is this Halloween-y? The narrator is singing to a dead person as if he’s standing in the same room. The closeness of the whispery vocals in your ear is unnerving and the wailing distorted guitar menacing.

“Living With the Black Dog” – Emma Ruth Rundle The low-tuned guitar and ocean of reverb on this song convey something haunting and powerful. The tempo is foreboding and hypnotizing. All of these feelings are apparent in the lyrics from a narrator who seems haunted by demons from her past.

23 | ENTERTAINMENT “1923” – Marissa Nadler The lower, more present vocal part layered with the airy falsetto will raise the hair on the back of your neck from the first few notes.

The narrator calls out “from another century,” to perhaps a long lost lover, “baby come back to me”. I could see this song being used in the show American Horror Story.

“Monster” – Chad Vangaalen Here is a songwriter who has never shied away from the macabrein fact he embraces it wholeheartedly. His sonic world is coloured by toys and homemade instrumentinventions that make it just goofy enough that anything is possible here, including the “thick, blackened quills springing out of my back”. Maybe being a monster is fun?

“Run From Me” – Timber Timbre This song starts with elegantly simple blues piano but the lyrics are obviously threatening in a horror movie kind of way. Halfway through the song the narrator just fixates on the word “run”, and then a ghastly female chorus joins in for a build into a full out psychedelic jam. It’s wonderfully deranged.

“The Taste of Blood” – Jozef Van Wissem & SQURL This song is from the soundtrack of one of the best movies of the year, Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive.

If you didn’t know it was a vampire movie, this song’s title would’ve at least been a pretty big hint. The simple, repetitive lute and acoustic guitar, plus the droning electric guitar feedback convey the desolation of a burnt out city like Detroit, or the malaise of being an immortal vampire.

“Hal” – Yasmine Hamdan This is another song with breathing-in-your-ear singing that should give you the chills. The achingly long drone fits perfectly with the lyrics about a lovesick vampire.

This is another cut from the abovementioned Only Lovers Left Alive.

Brilliant movie. Beautiful soundtrack.

“To Be Kind” – Swans Swans are known for pioneering all kinds of new forms of heaviness, and here it’s of an ambient and dissonant variety. Throughout the band’s long career the only constant has been leader Michael Gira and his low, creepy, gravelly voice. Even the sweetest sentiment sounds twisted and menacing from his pipes.

“ The achingly long drone f its perfectly with the lyrics about a lovesick vampire”

“Torn by the Fox of the Crescent Moon” – Earth This band is honestly one of my favourite metal bands these days.

These guys pioneered the ambient drone/doom metal genre in the ‘90s and they are still masters of it. The minimalist repetition, ominously slow tempos, and gritty electric guitar chugs make me think I can feel the earth turning.

“Watcher in the Dark” – Pallbearer This band plays a similar brand of heavy, drone-y doom metal to that of Earth, but a little less experimental, and imbued with a strong sense of classical melody. One hears it in their minor-key riffs and clear upper register singing, almost reminiscent of Black Sabbath or even early Sleep.

Also- What a creepy song title!

Happy Halloween!

YOUTUBE PLAYLIST HERE http://bit.ly/YavLKD

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THE RISE OF THE PEPPERONI PLAYBOY BY, NADIA ROMPAS After being one of the headliners for this year’s NXNE, everyone could not stop talking about Mac DeMarco (or maybe they don’t and I just talk a lot about him). Following his increased popularity in the last two years, it seems that wearing a blue 5-panel, baggy rolled up jeans and red vans seem to hold some cultural value in the ‘indie’ world now. Pitchfork reviews have raved since the release of his first album 2 in 2012, and the production of a “macumentary” in April this year have officially made this British Columbia native the

Father of Jizz Jazz, a self-proclaimed genre that weirdly enough perfectly describes his signature combination of slacker rock and sweet jazzy guitar licks.

It’s interesting to see how far Mac DeMarco has come in his musical progression. Starting off with his involvement in the Vancouver music scene, his decision to move to Montreal and focus on his solo material resulted in a Bandcamp release of his first debut EP. This March 2012 debut Rock and Roll Night Club is a less than stellar release,

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Wearing a blue 5-panel, baggy rolled up jeans and red vans seem to hold some cultural value in the ‘indie’ world now. being raw and almost underdone as the deliberate low-pitched Elvis Presley-esque vocals and disorganized guitar progression make it hard to take this release seriously. This earlier work starkly contrasts his October debut LP 2. Despite the continuous sense of not wanting anywhere near the idea of perfection, DeMarco somehow perfected a balance between the carefree vibe of surf music and the soul of jazz by using overly clean, shrill guitar effects and laidback vocals. In ear-piercing songs such as “Freaking Out The Neighbourhood” and “Cooking Up Something Good”, has become the sound that hyped his reputation. This eventually scored him “Best New Music” on Pitchfork.

The release of Salad Days in April 2014 had fulfilled the set expectations people had garnered after his debut LP. While a quick listen may make Salad Days seem forced and rushed, DeMarco’s sound expands after each successive listen of his tracks.

By adding synths and dreamier psychedelic effects, he created music that somewhat parallels to The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, particularly in numbers like “Passing Out Pieces” and the outro of “Brother” as he distorts our thoughts with the combination of dreamy and coarse sound textures.

While some may view his progression as homogenous, the sonic translation of his unique character is a main aspect that continues to seduce people’s interest.

Pepperoni Playboy, a nickname based off of a Salad Days demo, fits hand-in-hand with DeMarco’s playful sweetheart brand. With his grubby look and man-child personality, which makes you wonder exactly how old this guy is (he’s 24, by the way), he unexpectedly has the lyrical talent to make pretty much anyone woo over him as he sings about his kind of woman. Although in this most recent record DeMarco touches on more serious subjects like adulthood, he still slipped in songs to sustain his sweetheart reputation.

Mac DeMarco is slowly becoming one of the most important figures in today’s music. He hasn’t exactly reached to mainstream listeners and his personality can come across as obnoxious for some, but he still remains as one of the first few to prompt the popularization of jazzfusion in the indiesphere. Despite his embodying the characteristics of a man-child, Mac DeMarco’s true potential as a respectable songwriter and his musical progression is truly something to keep an eye on.

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a tv junkie’s

paradise by nikky waxman

27 | LIFESTYLE

Once upon a time families gathered around the television set, cozy in the living room. They would all sit and enjoy shows together and then proceed to avidly discuss them during the commercial break. The following night would be similar. This was 20 years ago.

Presently, the concept of television has taken a dramatic turn.

Instead of the family as the active television-watching unit, it is now the individual. Despite the global participation, television has become more of a solitary activity. One everpopular website that exemplifies this quality is Netflix, the tv junkie’s hope and saviour.

Everyone uses Netflix. Is it because it’s only $8 a month for unlimited movies and tv shows?

That’s probably what initially brought people to it. But now we’re hooked, unable to go a day without watching or rewatching. The convenient ease of Netflix lies in its lack of commercials and usage available on any device (besides an actual television), which propels viewers through filmic material ever faster.

Thus our society had a new pandemic: binge-watching.

Without commercials to break our concentration, and the ability to go from computer to phone to tablet, it is incredibly easy to just watch 4-6 hours a day, which can amount to over half a season of a typical network hour-long show. This amounts to 28-42 hours a week dedicated solely to Netflix.

Recently, Netflix has been branching more into television shows (Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Arrested Development, Bojack Horseman) which vary in their

“...it’s no longer a private family activity but a worldwide phenomenon” genre and style. Because these go by shorter episodes rather than featurelength films, it makes it easy to breeze through seasons. The original material created by Netflix is rising in popularity due to its high quality: the stories are developed, the characters are intriguing, and the themes are unique. So many tv shows, so little time.

Therefore, when everyone in the house falls for a different tv show.

It’s no wonder that they all watch seperatly. Why would you all watch something that you may or may not enjoy when instead you could all seamlessly watch whatever you want simultaneously? Netflix solves this problem cleanly and efficiently; a miracle for avid tv junkies. It gives us the fix whenever we need it.

Television used to be a casual activity, something you could mindlessly turn to if you were bored.

Now it is an endless endeavour to consume as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. It becomes more than a mere distraction, for some it replaces most of their other hobbies, becoming their sole activity besides work or school. Thus television is now both a blessing and a curse in one. The gap between casual watchers and tv junkies is widening, most people seem to either disregard television shows or can’t get enough.

So what does the future hold for television? Right now watching a television show is practically the

same as watching a film. They are becoming thoroughly more cinematic.

Some series, such as BBC’s Sherlock, have episodes that are actually an hour and a half long, the length of a feature film. Game of Thrones season four finale was aired live in theatres across Canada, and most of them were sold out days before the show.

Television is on the rise: it’s no longer a private family activity but a worldwide phenomenon.

With increasing budgets and more networks, television has more quality and appeal than ever before.

There used to be this idea that when television became popular in the 1950’s that it would replace movies in the same way that the motor vehicle replaced the horse. This is clearly not the case. Television has indeed made a name for itself, but more importantly it has become its own entity separate from movies. And, like with movies, it will continue to be a form of entertainment that won’t die out with history. It can only get better from here.

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BY JAMIELYN MARIANO By now most of us have already scratched the surface of this new school year, and by now we have probably all experienced the woes of schoolwork. The essays, readings, weekly papers, and quizzes – the mountainous pile of work knows no bounds. Of course, there are a variety of ways to cope with such stress, but there is one unwavering figure that seems to always catch us when we’re down: our good ol’ friend, Procrastination.

Over the years I’ve grappled with procrastination, never quite having the upper hand until what it seemed like the very last minute of a deadline. Whatever it is that compels us to procrastinate, I think it is the pressure of doing – actually finishing

something worthy enough to put your name on – that makes us hesitate.

Regardless, at the end of the day, we (most people, at least) make it to the finish line. And that’s what matters.

Through whatever means necessary – the sleepless nights, the crazy consumption of coffee, and even the few wicked, guilty pleasures we cave into to pass the time – they ultimately contribute to the finishing process. Sure, procrastination may be a constant, pesky presence in our academic lives, but it can disappear as fast as a dreadfully approaching deadline... with the help of a few stress-free activities, of course.

Below is a list of my current personal favourites:

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THE NETFLIX FIX: When the going gets tough, browsing through Netflix is the perfect remedy. Andy Samberg’s new hit cop-comedy, Brooklyn NineNine, is fun and hilarious – a little something to get the mind off stress, even for a moment.

SWEAT IT OUT: While I’m certainly not a runner, exercising to get the mind running never fails. Yoga is a great alternative to calm the mind and body; it not only strengthens your core but clears the exhaustive pressures of school as well. My personal favorite? Cardio classes. Join a local gym class or invite a friend over – it’s fun and refreshing and gets the blood flowing before you tackle the books!

FOR THE FOOD AT HEART: Food trumps all. Period.

Especially when the stress levels are to the extreme, food is still the answer. For me, watching people make food is just as satisfying as actually eating it. SortedFood’s channel on YouTube is equal parts

mouth-watering and visually stunning. Truthfully, the British accents make it that much easier to follow when making the ultimate white chocolate lava cake.

TV ADDICTS: I don’t recall the last time I’ve only ever watched one show at a time, which is an entirely different story.

Nevertheless, for many, television is the ultimate stress-reliever and form of escapism when one is knee deep in schoolwork. Showcase’s recent TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s hit classic, Outlander, takes us to an 18th century Scotland – a historical fantasy filled with highlanders, time travel, and all the ingredients for those in need of a break.

BOOKAHOLICS: Finding something to read to sidestep that crazy reading schedule can be difficult. What I tend to do is pick out the short and easily readable: Chasers of the Light, a collection of poems written by poet and photographer, Tyler Knott Gregson, is a certain inspiration-booster.

Getting over procrastination is a personal stress-struggle indeed; it takes time to figure out just what exactly helps to push the mind out of that purgatory state – time that most of us have difficulty properly using.

But to beat stress, we must balance it out: take a little personal time for yourself, even if it is a tad bit wicked.

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PHILOSOPHY &

ICE CREAM AN ENTIRELY TOO CONTRIVED INTERPRETATION OF WHAT YOUR FAVOURITE FLAVOUR OF THE COLD STUFF SAYS ABOUT YOUR PERSONALITY.

BY TAVISH GUDGEON

Here’s the scoop: We humans are a polemical bunch by nature, constantly trying to justify our beliefs over those held by our opponents. We relentlessly fight to validate our choices; whether they are which philosophical viewpoint we associate with or what our preferred flavour of ice cream is (you see where I’m going with this). Thankfully all the bickering and rhetoric can be overlooked indefinitely, because I have created a personality chart that demonstrates what your favourite flavour of Ice cream says about your Philosophical beliefs. This isn’t grasping at straws, this is grasping at cones, cones topped with big fat scoops of decadent theoretical scrumptiousness! If you don’t like it, you can lick it.

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TIGER TAIL

ROCKY ROAD

You are an Absurdist, The efforts of humanity to find inherent meaning in life will ultimately fail, and so will you trying to find any in this feline flavour. Tiger Tail boasts an impossibly absurd combination of orange sherbet swirled aimlessly with a black licorice ribbon. Lacking coherence or any real reason, Tiger Tail is sure to obscure your taste buds and question your sense of what it truly means to be ice cream.

You are a Materialist. Matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and all phenomena, including mental phenomena and consciousness, are the result of material interactions.

What makes this flavour phenomena possible, gives credence to its existence, are all the material goodies interacting within it. Chocolate, marshmallows, peanuts, almonds, chocolate chunks, are all the integral ingredients that allow the essence of Rocky Road to be so delicious. It also happened to be Aristotle’s favourite.

Don’t check the facts on that one.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH You are an Existentialist. Systems of thought in which the objects of knowledge are held to be in some way dependent on the activity of mind. The uncooked dough is a metaphor for the potential of your untapped conscious, waiting to be sculpted into delicious beliefs and blossom into the mouth-watering cookie…I mean thoughtful and contributing member to society that you are sure to become. Is it vanilla ice cream with separate cookie dough and chocolate chips mixed into it? Is it an independent entity all in itself?

What will it become? That’s up to you and Plato to decide.

PLAIN VANILLA You are a Fundamentalist, You demand a strict adherence to orthodox theological doctrines, your irreducible beliefs about dessert are ones that you remain unwaveringly faithful to. Vanilla was the original, it is the foundation, and it should never have been tampered with. If there was an Ice cream bible, it would worship Vanilla as the holiest of the flavours.

Doesn’t it just look so divine?

RUM & RAISIN You are a Nihilist. If life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value, then screw it you may as well get drunk. This flavour leaves a sour taste in your mouth, similar to the one mainstream society leaves in your soul. Not to mention raisins are stylistically symbolic representations of the nihilist perception of reality; shriveled up and devoid of significance.

Grapes are for suckers anyways.

NEOPOLITAN You are a Utilitarian. Now this is how ice cream is supposed to be used.

The proper course of human action is the one that maximizes utility, maximizes total benefits and reduces suffering and the negatives. Neopolitan uses ice cream to its full potential, combining three distinct flavours each accomplishing wonderful things for your palate. With strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, there is something everyone can love.

ALL THE FLAVOURS You are a Hedonist.

Ice cream = Pleasure. It’s simple mathematics.

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Put Your Breast Foot Forward!

BY MELISSA D’ANGELO Put your breast foot forward!

Now that October has begun, people coast-to-coast in Canada prepare in pink for the run, taking place on October 5th, 2014. The initiative began at the end of August and marked 50 days until the CIBC Run For The Cure.

The weekly event hosted activities to encourage individuals to sign up for the run. ‘Paint Canada Pink’ this October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and help raise funds for those suffering with cancer.

October is dedicated to increasing our understanding of breast cancer and supporting the foundation that helps people living with this disease.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, 1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. This is the time to encourage individuals to take the steps to remain as healthy as possible while having a detection plan in place. Breast cancer is categorized into roughly 9 types, including those which affect men. To help increase awareness and raise the funds to aid those suffering, walks and fundraisers are held across Canada. An example is the CIBC Run For The Cure, Canada’s largest single day volunteer-led fundraising event. These events make it possible for cancer patients to have peace of mind that research is being conducted, while funding the

treatments and medications needed to fight and prevent returning cancer.

My cousin Lina, who fought EstrogenPositive breast cancer, informed me of the procedures needed to rid her of the disease, as well as her personal story of positivity and strength. She explained to me that after being diagnosed in September of 2008, her weekly routine became visits to the Princess Margaret Hospital. Her type of cancer caused over-production of estrogen which in turn fed the tumor and created a fast-progressing disease. In order to reach her feat of strength, she underwent six weeks of chemo, six weeks of radiation, eighteen injections of Herceptin, a lumpectomy and removal of lymph nodes. This long and intensive treatment would have cost her well over $250,000 however with our OHIP coverage and the help of all those who donate at fundraising events, it was made possible for Lina to have the treatment she needed.

Currently cancer-free and living strong, Lina takes an estrogen blocker in order to prevent further growth and feeding of tumors. Maintaining a healthy diet with her 6-month checkups, she continues to take the necessary preventative measures to remain in remission.

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How can we detect the development of breast cancer? The Canadian Cancer Society and the National Breast Cancer Foundation both provide guidelines and steps to the breast self-test. Checking for lumps or changes in the surrounding skin is an easy task to catching cancer development; currently the survival rate of early stages is 98%! Along with the self-test, women 40 years and older are encouraged to have mammograms every 1 or 2 years.

Women who are younger than 40 and have risk factors for breast cancer should talk to their doctor about whether mammograms are necessary and how often to have them. Finally, both foundations advocate living well and maintaining a healthy life style.

Knowing is only the beginning. Take the time to educate yourself and those around you and walk to paint Canada pink.

“ Though you cannot prevent cancer, there are habits that help reduce the risks�

Though you cannot prevent cancer, there are habits that help reduce the risks: 1. Maintain a healthy weight 2. Stay physically active 3. Eat fruits and vegetables 4. Do not smoke 5. Limit alcohol consumption 6. Be safe in the sun (use UV protection) 7. Having enough Vitamin D in your diet 8. Eating healthy, balanced meals *provided by http://www.cancer.ca/en/ prevention-and-screening/live-well/healthyhabits-for-families/?region=on AND http:// www.nationalbreastcancer.org/healthy-habits*

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Living in University with

an Anxiety Disorder

BY MALINA SINTNICOLAAS

University is a stressful time for every student. There is always an overpowering pressure to succeed in every academic way possible: to achieve not only good grades, but amazing grades; to submit every project on time, and perform outstandingly on every exam. There are social stresses that can be caused by friends or dating, as well as personal stresses to do with family, health issues etc. All of these stresses are ten, sometimes one hundred times worse for someone suffering with an anxiety disorder. The way to distinguish an anxiety disorder

from every day anxiety is that natural butterflies in the stomach eventually turn into chronic pains, you develop small gestures to cope with your anxiety which eventually begin to make your body deteriorate such as grinding teeth, biting fingernails, picking nail beds and pulling out hair. Everything you do is being foreseen by what I like to consider the “What If” voice. This “What If” voice is the personal voice that every person with an anxiety thinks inside their head, usually feeding their fears which causes them to stress out even more. This “voice” is not

an auditory hallucination which would be something that someone suffering with schizophrenia would hear, but only a personal thought which is controlled by the person with the disorder. Having chronic anxiety and OCD myself, my “What If” voice usually gives me excuses to prevent me from doing something.

For example, when I was younger I would think that if I left the house, something horrible would happen to my mother and therefore I would make up excuses to not go to school.

I would pretend to be sick which would cost me a lot of unnecessary

35 | HEALTH trips to the doctor because this habit became so frequent that my parents actually thought that there was something fatally wrong with me.

Now, my “What If” voice is not as extreme, but it will still prevent me from doing things around campus such as going out after a certain hour or even participating in extracurricular activities. It will also prevent me from going to sleep because it will convince me that there are bugs in the room and I will therefore have to sweep the area to ensure that there are not any.

Though anxiety disorders are extremely common, people sometimes have difficulty accepting or acknowledging that they are suffering from one. Of course, there are many different types of anxiety disorders. There is the common General Anxiety Disorder where the person who has it will experience excessive worry about every day matters such as money, family, death, friendship problems, appearance etc.

Panic Disorder is when a person will experience an unbelievable amount of panic at any unpredicted moment, usually triggered by something unspecific. There is Social Anxiety Disorder where the person will prevent themselves from participating in every day social activities in fear of being humiliated or judged by others. There is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder where the person endures a tremendous amount of anxiety caused by a past trauma, and then there are specific phobias where one will experience stress when encountering something they are strongly afraid of or their specific phobia. Sometimes their phobia can be considered irrational. The physical symptoms that the person endures with these conditions are sometimes fidgeting, headaches, nausea (depending on the severity), shaking, change in sleep schedule, heavy breathing, difficulty swallowing, hot flashes, agitation, scratching, difficulty concentrating

and the list goes on. However, because every person is different, not everyone will experience the trauma of having all of these symptoms at once. They may have a couple here and there and then for example, they will be unable to sleep for a certain period of time and then that may change after a few months. However, while some of these symptoms are usually a spur of the moment, people also develop tendencies to cope with their anxiety in which they will be able to distinguish when it is starting up again. Some people may experience a lot of shaking or fidgeting, and that will be when they can realize that their anxiety is really starting to bother them. Moreover, while everyone—even people who do not have an anxiety disorder—experience these symptoms sometime in their lifetime, the way to diagnose an anxiety disorder is if the person is having these symptoms continuously for six months or more. Some can also endure more than one of these disorders at the same time, and there is no denying that like any mental illness, it is extremely difficult to live with if left untreated.

It is difficult to give advice as to how to cope with anxiety, even if the disorder is so common amongst university students. I could easily repeat a conversation that I had with my mother where the only advice that she could give was essentially to let it go and face my fears. Yes, essentially that is the ultimate goal, but anyone suffering of this illness would quickly relate when I say that it is not as easy as that. An anxiety disorder is not always the result of a traumatic upbringing, nor a result of personal weakness, but instead is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.

It will never be as easy as letting it go. The other problem is that it is difficult to tell someone how to cope with an anxiety disorder when every person is so different. The advice that I can give from my personal

experiences is to find someone to talk to. Whether it is a close friend, a beloved significant other, or a parent who is doing everything they can to understand you, it can never be more relieving to vocalize something that has been bothering you for a long time. Next is more difficult, but if possible, acknowledge when your stress is becoming too overbearing and take time to calm yourself. You will know when you need to do this.

You will experience the symptoms that occur whenever your anxiety is beginning to overcome you, and you will be unable to continue with whatever activity you are participating in until your anxiety is acknowledged.

It is okay to step away and take time to calm down. This can either be done through meditation, going for a walk in a safe area, or simply doing something that you know will keep you calm. However you do not want to do this for too long, or else you can end up using too much time to escape from your anxiety and may never overcome what it is that is making you stressed. No matter how stressed that essay is making you, it is better to stress about completing the essay itself than to get anxious over the consequences of never handing it in, but I know it is not always that simple.

I know how it feels. I know that the emotions brewing inside make you feel trapped, they cause you to feel invisible pain, and you feel like the whole world is against you, but it is not. It is all an illusion caused by chemicals in the brain. And I want you to know, how ever alone that you may feel, you never are and you never will be.

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Tips and Tricks THAT WILL KEEP YOU

FIT

BY CHARLOTTE FOWLOW As we all know, getting into a regular health and fitness routine can be difficult to say the least. As university students, we are constantly on the go and it can be easy to slip into the dangerous routine of excuse making and fast food eating. As a dance major, this cycle becomes increasingly difficult to navigate, as a large part of our livelihood relies on maintaining a healthy, functional body. A weekend spent binge drinking and drunk eating becomes all the more real come Monday morning as you prance around in spandex, faced with full length mirrors at every turn. However, in my quest towards maintaining a healthy lifestyle over the years, I have collected some helpful, healthful tools that can be easily incorporated into anyone’s dayto-day life. I’d like to share these with you, starting with a few basic tips that can really make a big difference.

1.CHUG...

Water. Keep it with you at all times and drink regularly throughout the day.. Drinking enough water is one of the most important things you can do to help eliminate waste and keep your metabolism going. If you are not a huge fan of water by itself, try flavoring it. Infusing water with citrus or berries really boosts both its flavor and benefits.

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2.

FOOD PREP.

Block out a couple of hours each week (I prefer Sunday evenings) and dedicate them to preparing food: cut up veggies and fruit for snacks, make salads, make a big pot of soup and freeze it, etc. As university students we are constantly on the go, and having food prepared in advance makes life so much easier. Not only will you be fueling your body well, but you’ll likely also end up saving money that you might’ve otherwise spent on a fast-food option.

MOVE 3.

MORE.

While the weather is still bearable, use our gigantic campus to your advantage by taking the long route to class. Not only will you get a chance to stretch your legs between classes, but you’ll be increasing your heart rate while catching some fresh air as well. In addition to these simple steps, there are a variety of other ways to stay healthy right here at York. The Tait McKenzie center is an excellent facility for students and staff looking to stay active. They offer a variety of fitness classes, ranging from Muay Thai to Zumba. They also offer personal and group fitness training, nutrition coaching, and host a wide range of intramural sports. Of course, this is all in addition to a fully equipped weight/cardio room and a full-length pool. Needless to say, your exercise and recreational needs will be more than satisfied here.

When it comes to leading a balanced lifestyle, nutrition is just as important as exercise, and luckily York has many resources to help you stay on track. One of my favorites is the York University Farmers Market (YUM!). Started just last year, the Market is located in the TEL building and runs every Thursday afternoon. The Market hosts a range of stalls, promoting a diverse range of products that are healthy for both you and the environment. What could be better?

Some highlights include freshly baked goods, natural skincare products, and best of all, fresh fruit and vegetables. The Farmers Market is the perfect resource for accessing fresh, wholesome foods right here on campus. Other great food options include Berries and Blooms in the York Lanes and Mac’s Sushi in the Student Centre. Berries and Blooms offers a great selection of cold salads and smoothies, while Mac’s Sushi

prepares fresh rolls and sashimi daily.

In fact, since Mac’s is so committed to freshness, any sushi that’s left over in the evening is sold at a great discount until closing!

Another great resource for students is HealthEd@York. Led by a combination of peer and professional health educators, HealthEd provides a range of programs to educate students on a variety of health-related topics.

The organization has branches that cover a number of different issues ranging from Active Living to Sexual Health. Be sure to keep an eye out for their many events throughout the year!

As hard as it can be to juggle school, work, a social life, entertainment, nutrition AND exercise into our busy student lives, there are thankfully plenty of resources out there to help us reach our goals and to lead healthier and happier lives.

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Courtesy of Ginny:

Spicy Pumpkin Muffins

When I moved away from home to go to York University, my mother gave me a cookbook that had been written by a woman named Ginny. Ginny had been a friend of my grandmother’s, and the women in my family have been using recipes from this book for generations. In the spirit of the season, Thanksgiving, and family, I wanted to share this recipe with my family here at Winters College. Hope you enjoy!

-Emma Beckett

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These tasty muffins will prove that there’s more to pumpkin than Thanksgiving pies. For non-cream cheese lovers, omit the cream cheese and cinnamon sugar stage and increase the cinnamon to 2 tsp. (10 mL) in the recipe.

INGREDIENTS – ¾ cup canned pumpkin – ¾ cup brown sugar – ½ cup butter or margarine, melted – 2 large eggs – ¼ cup apple juice – 1 ¾ cup flour – 1 tsp. baking soda – 1 tsp. baking powder – ½ tsp. salt – 1 tsp. cinnamon – 1 ½ tsp. ginger – ½ tsp. nutmeg – ¼ tsp. cloves – 2 tsp. cinnamon sugar – 1 4oz. package cream cheese, softened

INSTRUCTIONS Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Combine pumpkin, sugar and butter in a large bowl.

Add eggs and beat until mixture is smooth.

Stir in apple juice. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices into a large bowl. Gradually stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until just mixed. Combine cinnamon sugar and cream cheese. Spoon half of batter into prepared muffin pans, put 2 tsp. (10 mL) cinnamon cream cheese in centre, then add remaining half of batter filling almost to top.

Bake 20-25 minutes.