Cord Community Edition March 2013 issue

outer islands set sail page 21

why a casino is wrong for waterloo page 9

Arts

oPinion

on the town with olivia Chow page 5 nEWs

ORD COMMUNITY COMMUNITY.THECORD.CA

MARCH 2013

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6

Little farm in the city How to go off grid and be an urban farmer Page 11

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

75 University Ave. W Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5 519-884-0710 x3564

3 News A day at THEMUSEUM with Olivia Chow, crime and coyote prevention and a date with a know-it-all

9 Civic Space

The case against a potential Waterloo casino + 10 ideas to change Waterloo

11 Features

Urban Roots: We get our hands dirty with K-W’s urban farmers

14 Urban Exploring

A day at the circus, a night at the derby and a weekend eating cake pops

18 Community Conversations

With Sustainable Waterloo Region

19 Arts and Culture

For the love of books, islands, world music and Kitchener lore

Volume 1, Issue #5 Next issue: March 15, 2013 Advertising All advertising inquiries should be directed to Angela Endicott at 519-884-0710 x3560 angela.taylor@wlusp.com CONTRIBUTORS Editor-in-Chief H.G. Watson hwatson@thecord.ca

Photography Manager Nick Lachance nlachance@thecord.ca

Publisher Bryn Ossington Bryn.ossington@wlusp.com

Photography Manager Kate Turner kturner@thecord.ca

Cord Editor-in-Chief Justin Fauteux jfauteux@thecord.ca

Copy Editor Erin O’Neil

Creative Designer Taylor Gayowsky Taylor.gayowsky@wlusp.com Colleen Connolly Katelyn Cullum Heather Davidson Kevin Delaney Danielle Dmytrazsko Bob Egan Taryn Graham Helen Hall Sara Hanafi WLUSP administration President Executive Director Advertising Manager Treasurer Vice-Chair Director Director Corporate Secretary Distribution Manager Web Manager

Stephen Hargreaves Veronica Naas Adele Palmquist Mark Shiffer Wade Thompson Stephanie Truong Lena Yang

Emily Frost Bryn Ossington Angela Endicott Tom Paddock Jon Pryce Kayla Darrach Joseph McNinch-Pazzano Allie Hincks Angela Endicott Adam Lazzarato

The Cord Community Edition is the monthly magazine version of the Cord, the official student newspaper of the Wilfrid Laurier University community.

Started in 2012, The Cord Community Edition is an editorially independent newspaper published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. WLUSP is governed by its board of directors.

22 Reviews

Opinions expressed within The Cord Community Edition are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, The Cord, WLUSP, WLU or CanWeb Printing Inc. All content appearing in The Cord Community Edition bears the copyright expressly of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent.

23 Monthly Events

The Cord Community Edition is created using Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.5 using Adobe Creative Suite 4. Canon cameras are used for principal photography.

MESSAGE BOARD Editor’s note

Notes When it came time to do our cover shoot this issue, we never thought we’d get so lucky to get a model who actually digs urban gardening! Danielle has a plot in her backyard inspired by the book Radical Gardening — you can read more about that on Page 13.

As for Luke, we’re hoping this month’s feature peeks his interest.

Waterloo Gothic, featuring our models (and friends of the CCE) Danielle Archer and Luke Schulz.

Photo by Nick Lachance, designed

by Lena Yang.

This issue also features a bunch of great new and old friends and family of the CCE. Bob Egan, a member of Blue Rodeo, joins us as a writer this issue, telling us all about his pal Danny Michel’s recent JUNO nom (Page 20).

Sustainable Waterloo Region also gets us pumped for their upcoming annual gala on Page 18. All this and more awaits inside the March CCE. -H.G. Watson

The CCE is always looking for talented writers, artists, designers and photographers. If you’d like to get involved, email us at communityeditor@thecord.ca Corrections: In the February 2013 article, “Library Overhaul,” the graphic accompanying the article stated there was 10,000 members of the Kitchener Public Library. there are in fact 100,000.

The Cord Community Edition has been a proud member of the Ontario Press Council since 2012. Any unsatisfied complaints can be sent to the council at info@ontpress.com.

The Cord Community Edition circulates monthly. Normal circulation is 33,000 and enjoys a readership of over 60,000.

Cord Community Edition subscription rates are $20.00 per term for addresses within Canada.

Campus Plus is The Cord’s national advertising agency.

Preamble to The Cord Constitution The Cord Community Edition will keep faith with its readers by presenting news and expressions of opinions comprehensively, accurately and fairly. The Cord believes in a balanced and impartial presentation of all relevant facts in a news report, and of all substantial opinions in a matter of controversy.

The staff of The Cord shall uphold all commonly held ethical conventions of journalism. When an error of omission or of commission has occurred, that error shall be acknowledged promptly. When statements are made that are critical of an individual, or an organization, we shall give those affected the opportunity to reply at the earliest time possible. Ethical journalism requires impartiality, and consequently conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest will be avoided by all staff.

The only limits of any newspaper are those of the world around it, and so The Cord will attempt to cover its world with a special focus on the community of Kitchener-Waterloo. Ultimately, The Cord Community Edition will be bound by neither philosophy nor geography in its mandate.

The Cord has an obligation to foster freedom of the press and freedom of speech. This obligation is best fulfilled when debate and dissent are encouraged, both in the internal workings of the paper, and through The Cord’s contact with the community.

The Cord will always attempt to do what is right, with fear of neither repercussions, nor retaliation. The purpose of community press is to act as an agent of social awareness, and so shall conduct the affairs of our magazine.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

NEWs NEWS LINE

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This month we’re talking about...

Mel’s back in business Almost three years after the original Mel’s was burnt down, this Waterloo staple is back at its old location on University Ave. It’s hard to say who is most excited about this news: the owners, happy to return to their old stomping ground, or the drunken hordes who were missing out on that 24-hour greasy food fix.

that’s all (transit) folks March 19 marks the last day the Central Transit Corridor Community Building Strategy will take public feedback. The organization will soon present a finalized report to Waterloo Regional council on how to build communities around transit. After that, we’re sure no one, anywhere, ever will have any more complaints about transit in the region.

Weiler throws her hat back in the ring Do you smell that in the air? No, it’s not spring! It’s an impending provincial election. With many critics expecting that Ontario might be headed back to the polls in the coming months, Tracey Weiler announced she would run again against NDP MPP Catherine Fife, who defeated Weiler in the September 2012 by-election.

to space and beyond!

The federal government pledged $6.5 million to Communitech so they can launch two research satellites into space. The satellites will help the local tech incubator track the movement of ships with partner exactEarth. If they happen to discover alien life at the same time, that’s just a nice bonus.

Another day, another high rise You can add one more residence to the ever-growing skyline of Waterloo. A 22-storey building with an expected completion date of July 2014 is slated for construction on the corner of King St. N and Columbia St. W.

in FoCus

A young patron enjoys the ice slide at mid-February’s Winterloo festival. • NICK LACHANCE PHOTOgRAPHY MANAgER

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

trACinG the roots oF CriMe JUSTIN SMIrlIES CCE CONTRIBUTOR

t

he Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council (WRCPC) took a different approach last November with their release of “A Snapshot in Time: The Root Cause of Crime in Waterloo.” Instead of taking a reactive look at crime prevention, the council decided to do a study on the origins of crimes and how they can be mitigated.

Spearheaded by Anthony Piscitelli, the supervisor of planning and research at WRCPC, the report — which was accompanied by an easy to follow infographic — looked at many of the root causes of crime such as social competency in children, community trust, homeless rates and the overall fear of crime.

“The hope was to put together a report that served a couple of functions,” explained Piscitelli. “One of the functions was for planning purposes.”

“If we have a long-term goal of reducing crime victimization and fear of crime, what we need to do is understand what’s driving those problems,” he added. “We would like to get people to start thinking about the root causes of crime and not just crime itself.”

According to the report, 66 per cent of the people in Waterloo Region have trust in their neighbours. Piscitelli noted that this figure — which is also been labeled as “social capital” — was one of the key findings in report and was “significantly higher than Canada or Ontario” averages.

“What this is indicates that we live in a community where people are more trusting in one another,” he said.

As a result, 12 per cent of people in the region say they feel unsafe walking alone after dusk. Piscitelli explained that the reason WRCPC compiled these statistics into the report was because socio-economic factors shouldn’t be the sole reasons of gauging the level of crime in a neighbourhood.

“If a child with higher risk is in kindergarten right now, now’s the time to intervene.”

—Anthony Piscitelli, supervisor of planning and research at WRCPC

“If a child with higher risk is in kindergarten right now, now’s the time to intervene,” Piscitelli said, adding that some of the things that they will be addressing in the future is the prevalence of cyber-bullying at schools.

Christiane Sadeler, the council’s executive director, said that the report received positive feedback from the public and the agencies they work with. With this information, the council will then work with various community agencies, groups and the cities and townships to suggest measures and practices.

“I think it affirmed for them a number of things. One is that we understand crime prevention in a very similar way, we see it as one ecological model,” she said of the report.

The one thing that Piscitelli felt the report was missing, however, was the influence of drugs and alcohol on crime, something he said is extremely difficult to measure.

He hopes to include such information in future reports.

“There’s no easy way to get that information,” he added.

Sadeler commented on the use of alcohol and drugs as one of the things they are working on researching in the future — primarily overdoses.

According to Piscitelli, Chicago did a similar study and found that some neighbourhoods with the stats that would suggest their neighbourhood would be dangerous but didn’t have high crime rates was because of a high social capital.

“Overdose is the third-leading cause of death in Ontario, [and] it’s a lesser known risk unfortunately. So we’re trying to bring some public awareness to that and train the appropriate people to deal with that,” Sadeler explained.

“What they also found was that social capital serves as a very protective factor,” said Piscitelli about that particular report.

The council will continue to work on similar reports in the future not just to find preventative measures, but also to create a different culture of thinking when it comes to crime. When asked what was the largest obstacle for the WRCPC, Sadeler said that it was representation of crime in the media, politics and wider public.

The aspect of the report that showed Waterloo Region below the provincial average was the level of social competency in children. 9.3 per cent of children in Ontario have low social competency whereas the figure is 10.5 per cent in Waterloo Region.

WADE THOMPsON WATERLOO CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

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CurAtinG CoMMunitY olivia Chow visits theMuseuM to discuss art’s vital role in society

Olivia Chow addresses the crowd gathered to hear her speak about the importance of museums and art at THE MUSEUM Mar. 3. . • NICK LACHANCE PHOTOgRAPHY MANAgER

kATElyN CUllUM CCE CONTRIBUTOR

F

or Toronto MP Olivia Chow, art and culture is an essential part of building a vibrant and healthy city.

The New Democrat was in Kitchener March 3 at THEMUSEUM to address the importance that museums have in a community.

al Ontario Museum, to the Art Gallery, where I was able to learn and enjoy so much about art and history and culture.

“These museums became my life long friends, and I was very privileged to be able to represent them.”

Chow stressed that the financial needs for museums are growing.

“Art creates a new sense of identity, you can learn about the history and the culture of a people through its art,” she said.

“At the end of this month [in the upcoming budget] we want to make sure that we have all the funding in place,” she said.

“Cultural institutions are important to the economic life and, of course, to the civic life of our cities. To the quality of life, and a vibrant economy in a vibrant city,”

“We recognize the important role of museums in the cultural light of Canada, of Canadians, and we believe that they should receive stable, long-term funding from the federal government and of course from the provincial and city government too.”

Chow was born in Hong Kong and came to Toronto to study philosophy and art prior to her introduction to politics. She emphasized the significance that museums and art galleries played in her understanding of Canada as a new immigrant.

“I didn’t know a whole lot of people,” Chow explained. “I had this wonderful opportunity to be able to walk to the Roy-

Chow was given a guided tour of “The Treasures of China” exhibit, which houses a collection of ancient Chinese Sculptures, as well as a collection of contemporary paintings. She also visited THEMUSEUM’s Bob Marley exhibition and the Justin Bieber display.

Chow was accompanied by David Marskell, the CEO of THEMUSEUM, along with Carl Zehr, Mayor of Kitchener and Kitchener city councillor Berry Vrbanovic.

“I just wanted people here to understand that other people say we’re doing a good job around culture,” said Marskell.

“There’s no better person than her.” THEMUSEUM CEO pointed out that Chow’s riding is home to some of the biggest arts and cultural institutions in Canada, including the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario, giving her special insight into how the arts sector benefits cities.

“The message that the economy and the creative knowledge economy are connected needs to be a part of our strategy in moving forward,” Chow said.

Catherine Fife, in the MPP for KitchenerWaterloo expressed her satisfaction at Chow’s discussion.

In response to Chow’s request of audience members to generate ideas for how to represent art and culture through exhibits

and museums, Fife explained that she would “love to see a history of our industrial past and see a connection to the modern conversation.”

Chow also expressed her admiration for THEMUSEUM and its ability to think in a creative way. “The fact that you can have these kinds of high quality, international exhibits right here tells me that you are thinking outside the box.”

The MP discussed the opportunity Canadian museums have to learn from the cultural initiatives that European countries have taken to ensure the support of the arts. Many European countries combine cultural and museum passes with transit passes, making the arts more accessible to the community.

“We are a country with a lot of diversity,” Chow said. “We are able, therefore, to have people from different parts of the world all becoming Canadian citizens.

That makes our culture that much more unique and that much more rich and that much more Canadian.”

With files from H.G. Watson.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

CITY OF WATERLOO | OUR COMMUNITY w6 WARD 6 COUNCILLOR

Jeff Henry t: 519.747.8784 c: 519.998.5883 jeff.henry@waterloo.ca

Waterloo’s population is growing and with that growth comes a demand for more sustainable methods of transportation. The Region of Waterloo’s Transportation Master Plan (RTMP) is a document that outlines ridership targets through the implementation of rapid transit and an integrated bus network.

Every two years, the Grand River Transit (GRT) submits a business plan that details service improvement priorities and local route restructuring in an effort to support the RTMP. This fall, the GRT proposes to make a significant number of route changes to meet the ridership targets set forth by the Region.

Initial public consultation centres (PCCs) were

w7 WARD 7 COUNCILLOR

Melissa Durrell t: 519.747.8784 c: 226.808.6043 mellisa.durrell@waterloo.ca

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner.

Though not an official public holiday, it is widely celebrated and revered just the same. The Failte Irish Pub in uptown Waterloo starts its countdown every March 18 and many people take a vacation day in order to properly celebrate. What is it about St. Patrick’s Day that inspires people so?

held back in November to solicit feedback on the proposed changes. Participants were asked to provide comments on three alternative service options for both the east and west sides of Waterloo. This feedback lays the ground work for the 2013 Transit Service Improvement Plan, which proposes the following:

• Relocate Route 12 Conestoga Mall from Carter Ave. to the Lincoln Rd. area via Weber St. and Lincoln Rd. or Marshall St.

• New University iXpress route between The Boardwalk at Ira Needles Blvd. and the University Avenue and Northfield Dr. E. employment area via Erb St. W. and University Ave.

• Modify Route 35 Eastbridge to provide direct service between downtown Kitchener and the Eastbridge neighbourhood via Bridge St., Lancaster St., and Wellington St.. Provide Sunday service on Route 35.

• Extend the existing 201 Fischer-Hallman iXpress to Conestoga Mall and the University Avenue and Northfield Dr. E. employment area.

• Provide two-way service on Route 13 Laurelwood and extend to The Boardwalk at Ira Needles Blvd.

• Provide two-way service on Route 5 Erb St. W. and extend route to The Boardwalk at Ira Needles Boulevard.

St. Patrick was a missionary who worked in Ireland converting the inhabitants to Christianity. It is said he died on March 17 in the fifth century and his feast day is an opportunity to celebrate Irish culture. The first recorded celebration of St. Patrick’s Day was in 1759, when Irish soldiers, serving with the British army, rejoiced in their conquest of part of New France, a French colony in North America. Across Canada and the world, people commemorate St. Patrick’s life with parades, festivals and traditional Irish food.

Here in Waterloo, local restaurants and pubs will be full to capacity early Sunday afternoon with a sea of green, as people of all ages don their Shamrock-coloured

• Modify Route 31 Lexington to provide service along Chesapeake Rd., New Bedford Dr., and Eastbridge Blvd; and extend service along Columbia St. W. Provide Saturday service on Route 31.

Mon. Mar. 18

University of Waterloo Noon to 4 p.m.

Tues. Mar. 19 4 to 8 p.m.

K-W Bilingual School

Thurs. Mar. 21 Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church 4 to 8 p.m.

• Modify Route 6 Bridgeport to travel between Uptown Waterloo and the Bridgeport neighbourhood via Bridgeport Rd. and Erb St. E.

Fri. Mar. 22

Wilfrid Laurier University Noon to 4 p.m.

The feedback received from these sessions will be used to finalize the 2013 Transit Service Improvement Plan, which be presented to Regional Council in May 2013.

Once the plan is approved, it could be implemented in September 2013.

For more information, please visit the Grand River Transit website at www.grt.ca

The public is invited to attend the next round of PCCs to provide their input on the routes and their preferred options on Route 5, 12, and 35. These consultation centres are scheduled as follows:

clothing with pride – whether they are Irish or not – and partake in refreshing green beer and delicious Irish fare.

I believe St. Patrick’s Day represents more than just the life of a missionary and the Irish culture – it also signifies the start of a new season – spring! The first day of spring is March 20 and after the winter we’ve had, there is that much more to celebrate! It’s sure to be a fun and exciting day and I am looking forward to joining the festivities!

Whether your St. Patrick’s Day plans take you to a local pub or restaurant or to a house party, please remember these important tips:

Waterloo at the Station or Regina lots, or for a nominal fee at the UpTown Parkade • Encourage your guests to register their vehicles using our online overnight parking registry at www.waterloo.ca/ parking • Keep your property tidy – collect empty bottles and secure them in your recycling bins • Consider your neighbours – keep the party under control and think about reducing noise by 11 p.m.

So grab your “Kiss me, I’m Irish” shirts, your “Luck o’ the Irish” shamrock pins, green top hats and leprechaun ties and enjoy St. Patrick’s Day!

• Plan ahead – park for free in uptown

A Message From City of Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran ...

As the Mayor of the City of Waterloo, I feel blessed to live in such a great city with so many exciting things to see and do. Waterloo embraces multiculturalism and our vibrant and diverse mix of culture is just one of many things that make Waterloo a great place to live.

We just celebrated the magic of winter with Winterloo. Formerly known as the Ice Dogs Festival, this event celebrates all things winter. We marked the 10th anniversary of this event with ice skating, an ice carving competition, dog sled rides and hot chocolate in the Uptown Public Square over the Family Day weekend. It was a wonderful event – over 4,000 people came out to enjoy themselves.

One of my favorite community events to attend is Chinese New Year and this year I was fortunate enough to attend a number of celebrations to help ring in the Year of the Snake. It was wonderful

to see so many friends from the Central Ontario Chinese Cultural Centre, the Waterloo Region Chinese Community Association and the Grand River Chinese School enjoying the food, music, dancing and costumes.

One of the highlights of the year for me is my State of the City address. Please mark your calendar – this event is scheduled for March 22 at RIM Park. It gives me the opportunity to discuss our successes as well as the challenges we face. If you’d like to attend, please purchase your tickets online at ... http:// waterloomayorsbreakfast.eventbrite.com Proceeds will benefit KidsAbility, a local not-for-profit organization that empowers children and youth with disabilities.

Waterloo is a great place to live, work, learn and play and I am so thankful that I get to experience it with all of you.

Visit us online and join in the conversation at

/citywaterloo

The City of Waterloo is committed to providing accessible formats and communication supports for persons with disabilities. If another format would work better for you, please contact:

P. 519.886.1550

E. communications@waterloo.ca

TTY. 1.866.786.3941

www.waterloo.ca

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

CLMF honours herb epp

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JUSTIN FAUTEUX cORD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

E

ven months before his death, Herb Epp was going out of his way to help people.

First elected to city council in 1968, Epp served three terms as Waterloo’s mayor before moving on to represent the former riding of Waterloo North at Queen’s Park for four terms. He was most recently mayor of Waterloo from 2003 to 2006 but when his career in politics ended in 2006, Epp didn’t stop serving.

In 2009, he became chair of the board of directors of the Canadian Landmines Foundation (CLMF), an organization founded following the signing of the Ottawa Treaty, which banned antipersonnel landmines. And according to John English, a veteran member of the Foundation’s board of directors, it wasn’t a moment too soon.

“If he hadn’t of stepped in when he did, it would’ve closed down,” said English, explaning that before Epp got involved, administrative costs were beginning to outweigh donations and the organization was moving down an unsustainable path.

“Everybody on the board knows that without Herb, the organization would be dead.”

English explained that immediately, Epp was able to raise money for the foundation to increase its work funding demining and victim support projects in Afghanistan, Mozambique and Cambodia, among others. Epp was also instrumental

Herb Epp (left) became chair of the Canadian Landmines Foundation in 2009. • NICK LACHANCE FILE PHOTO

in working out an agreement between the CLMF and the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Strategies (LCMSDS), which moved the organization’s hub to Waterloo, drastically reducing cost and allowing for more money to be put into donations.

“Herb was very good at bringing people together and getting them to work towards a common goal,” said Geoff Keelan, a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo who works at both the LCMSDS and the CLMF. “In Waterloo, he had a lot of connections, which helped us enormously with fundraising. He always knew who he had to talk to or how to get people to come

out to events.”

“He was the best fundraiser I’ve ever seen,” added English. “There was certainly no one else like him in KitchenerWaterloo.”

Even at the end of a long and successful career in politics, Epp’s passion wasn’t lacking when it came to the CLMF. “I think throughout his life he was very much involved in the community, always concentrating on giving back to people,” said Keelan. “He always seemed inspired to help out and keep supporting the issue.”

Remembering a fundraising dinner Epp organized that raised over $40,000,

English could see that it was simple what made Epp so successful in his many endeavours.“He was tenacious,” English said with a chuckle.

“Herb just put so much life in it. He used to drive me crazy with phone calls, telling me I had to be doing this or that, and he’d always say ‘well you got me in there.’”

But above all, the CLMF is yet another area in which Epp was an inspiring figure.

“He made people feel good about doing good. I guess that’s the key to it,” said English. “We’ll miss him enormously.”

English added that a scholarship will be set up at WLU in Epp’s memory, aimed at students working in international areas.

From know it all to space explorer JUSTIN FAUTEUX cORD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A

ndrew Rader has a degree in aerospace engineering, hosts “Star Wars dinner parties” and readily admits to being a sci-fi nut. But according to some, he’s “not geeky enough.”

Rader, who until recently resided in Cambridge, spent last June filming as one of ten contestants on the Discovery Channel’s Canada’s Greatest Know It All, which began airing in January and concluded March 11. As of press time, Rader was in the final three. However, this wasn’t the PhD’s first crack at reality television.

“I applied for Beauty and the Geek about five years ago and I almost got on but at the last minute, they said I wasn’t geeky enough,” said Rader. “But I liked this show a lot better. I actually don’t like reality television that much, but this one seemed like a really good engineering and science-based show.”

Originally from Ottawa, Rader attended Carleton University for his bachelor’s and

masters degrees before earning a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he recently started teaching and doing research. In 2009, he moved to Cambridge to work at Com Dev International designing satellites.

On Canada’s Greatest Know It All, Rader and his fellow contestants took part in a variety of challenges, most of which were engineering-based.

“There were some trivia elements, but it’s certainly not Jeopardy,” said Rader. “It’s a very active game, it’s a competition that has you running around, building things and solving problems on the spot. There’s also a big element of stress. They make a big effort to stress you out and put you out of your element.”

However, for the most part during the competition, Rader found himself very much in his element — or at least close to it.

“There were a couple of challenges that were just totally up my alley. The geography challenges in particular,” he said.

“Other than those, I actually wasn’t the best at anything. I tended not to be the worst either.”

While Rader got a chance to show off his nerdy knowledge on Canada’s Greatest Know It All, his future aspirations aim a little higher: “My mission in life is to get humans to Mars,” he said matter of factly.

Rader has done extensive research on space travel, specifically on how to keep humans alive on long space voyages.

Namely, a potential mission to Mars, something he believes is vital to the future of human kind.

“We really need a separate branch of human civilization to guarantee our survival in the long run. It’s kind of risky to all be stuck on a single planet,” said Rader, adding that studying how humans could survive on Mars can also have a lot of benefits back here on Earth. While many dismiss the idea of humans living on Mars as science fiction, Rader says that’s far from the case. “If you look into it, we could do a mission to Mars with 1960s technology,” he said.

Rader explained that the reason a mission to Mars is so oft-dismissed is because no politician wants to take that kind of risk: “[U.S. President Barack] Obama would never say ‘let’s go to Mars,’ because if it failed, he’d look like an idiot.”

However, Rader added that private companies have begun to get into the world of space travel, which could open a lot of possibilities. Possibilities such as multimillionaire Dennis Tito’s Mars flyby, which aims to send a couple on a flight past Mars by 2018 or Mars One, which hopes to create the first human settlement on Mars by 2023. “Private companies are much better risk takers than the government is,” he said.

Rader concluded by saying his ultimate goal is to be part of the Mars One settlement, the application process for which is opening soon. However, in the short term, he’s got his sights set on the AXE Apollo Space Academy, which will send contest winners 103 kilometres into space. To help send Andrew to space visit voteandrewtospace.com or visit his Facebook page (facebook.com/rader.andrew).

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

CoYote uGLY with warmer weather approaching, coyote sightings may increase • STEPHANIE TRUONG CCE CONTRIBUTOR

SArA hANAFI CCE CONTRIBUTOR

w

ith winter drawing to a close and spring just around the corner, encounters with coyotes may become more frequent.

However, residents of the Kitchener-Waterloo area shouldn’t be too concerned.

Keith Pothier, the president of Urban Wildlife Control Inc., said that coyotes are common in the area but rarely pose any threat.

“We might get one call a month reporting a sighting,” he said. “Based on that, we don’t have a real problem in the area.”

A coyote’s habitat mainly consists of green spaces and urban natural areas, preferably close to water which makes KitchenerWaterloo an excellent spot to live and raise their young, according to the Urban Forestry website.

It is possible to coexist with coyotes as long as there is a respect for their space. Coyotes will occasionally wander into the city in search of food, but are wary of humans and avoid people whenever possible.

as they’re more afraid of us than we are of them,” she said. “Just like any other wild animal, they will defend their territory if they feel threatened. I don’t think they would go out of their way to hurt a human.”

According to Statistics Canada, the chances of having a negative encounter with a coyote are very low. In more than 10 years, only two people have been scratched or bitten. In comparison, 200 people are struck by lightning in Canada per year.

Sightings are more common near ravines, woodlots and vacant fields, Pothier said.

“The main thing is to ensure no food is available to them,” Pothier said, adding that small dogs and cats should not be left alone near coyote habitats.

“Coyotes are generally not dangerous,” Pothier said. “But like any wild animal, they are unpredictable and should never be fed or approached.”

Kitchener resident Robin Schulz lives on a property that backs onto the Grand River. “There are nights when you can hear them hunting,” she said. “They don’t usually come up to the level the houses are on. They stay down by the river.”

Schulz said she has never actually seen a coyote. “I don’t think they’re dangerous as long as they’re left alone. I think of it

bLue bin bLues: hElEN hAll KITCHENER CITIZEN EDITOR

i

n the last five years, the Region of Waterloo has given away about 250,000 blue recycling boxes.

That’s almost 1,000 blue boxes a week, and it was a cost that “just wasn’t sustainable,” says Waste Management Program

If you are approached by a coyote, stay calm and do not run, but instead back away slowly, allowing as much space between the animal and you as possible.

To report a coyote sighting, you can call the Urban Wildlife Control Inc. toll free at 877-UWC-WILD (877-892-9453).

only new residents get free blue boxes from the region

Manager Cari Rastas Howard. Regional council voted to trim some services provided by its Waste Management division during the 2013 budget deliberations.

As a result, new homeowners can still get a free blue box, but replacement boxes must now be purchased by homeowners.

The Region will not sell blue boxes at the landfill. Boxes can be purchased at most hardware stores, as well as many other retail stores in the region.

Howard said while some residents are disappointed they can’t get free replacement boxes, others are “blown away” at the number that were picked up free each year.

There are about 150,000 individual curbside garbage stops in Waterloo Region.

Data from the last five years indicates that 50,000 free replacement boxes were picked up each year — which roughly

translates into a new box for every stop every three years.

“Residents now have to treat it like their garbage containers,” Howard said. Homeowners have always been responsible for purchasing their own garbage can and replacing it when it gets damaged.

The region estimates it will save $200,000 a year by discontinuing this free service.

In addition, starting April 2, there will be a new $2 minimum tipping fee for dumping waste at the Waterloo landfill.

Currently, there is no charge for the first 50 kilograms weighed on the scale, and loads over 50 kilograms are charged the tipping fee of $7.40 per 100 kilograms.

After April 2, loads under 50 kilograms will be charged the flat rate of $2, and fees will remain the same for loads over 50 kilograms.

Howard said other municipalities have a minimum fee of between $5 and $20.

This new fee does not apply to items that are free to drop off, such as household hazardous waste, oil, paint or Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity ReStore donations.

To save staffing costs, the public area of the Waterloo landfill will now be closed on all statutory holidays. In the past, it only closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day. For more information on waste collection visit www.regionofwaterloo/waste.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

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civic space CasiNO CCE writer Mark Shiffer explains why a casino is wrong for the Region Mark shiffer CCE CONTRIBUTOR

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation are courting the various municipalities of Waterloo Region. Their goal is to establish a full service casino, similar to those already in places like Niagara Falls, Orillia and Windsor. There are numerous gaming establishments in Ontario.

It would be unwise to bring one here for many reasons.

The main reason for a municipality to want a casino is the lure of financial rewards. Yet the economic benefits are usually overrated. The host municipality would only get five per cent of the casino’s revenue. In the Region of Waterloo, all the neighbouring cities and towns would get nothing out of it.

For example, if Woolwich Township gets a gambling establishment Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge would see no extra revenue. In fact, these cities would actually bear the added burden of extra regional policing and social services costs. One of the usual arguments in favour of a casino is that it creates jobs. Yet what is the quality of these occupations?

Many jobs in a casino tend to be lower-

Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, is one of the few casinos approved in the province • STEPHEN HARGREAVES THE LANCE

paid, shift-work-type of employment and without benefits. A new casino would also likely cause the loss of employment in surrounding competitive industries such as restaurants, bars and entertainment. Additionally, if a new casino were created, the existing gaming site at Grand River Raceway in Elora would likely have to close its operations.

The social costs cannot be ignored. Issues such addiction and potential crime must be considered when discussing gambling.

The Region of Waterloo Public Health warns that problem gambling and its associated risks have been identified as a

significant public health issue. A report from Toronto’s Public Health Department was recently submitted regarding a potential casino in that city. The report concluded that overall it anticipated that there would be more adverse social impacts than beneficial ones.

addiction also affects people with lower incomes such as seniors, young adults and new Canadians. They are some of the biggest contributors to gaming and stand to lose the most. After dealing with all the social costs of gambling, how much revenue is really generated for governments?

It is worrisome that the provincial government and many municipalities seem to be politically addicted to gambling revenue. Increasingly they are pursuing it to fight growing deficits. In essence, governments are encouraging their citizens to gamble away their own money as a sort of voluntary tax. Unfortunately, gambling

Bringing in a new gambling establishment has become a divisive issue within our community. Overall there are enough negative components to reject it. Waterloo Region does not need a new casino.

It’s the last thing we need. If you want to pump some money into this area, it should be into arts and culture, not gambling and addiction.

Richard Fuller, museum conservator

I don’t think we really need it.

Amy Martz, teacher

Follow Mark Shiffer on Twitter @sledgebb.

Vocal Cord Do you think there should be a casino in Waterloo Region?

Sure. I don’t really know enough about the logistics of having a casino in the area to question it.

Derek Yeung, University of Waterloo student

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

This May, The Cord Community Edition is looking for ten great ideas. Be they big or small, we want to know what you’re doing to make Waterloo Region an amazing place.

Ideas to Change Waterloo

We want to showcase the ten ideas from Waterloo Region that will have the most impact in the shaping and improving the future growth of this community.

ENTRIES ARE DUE APRIL 5, 2013 For rules, regulations and submission information visit community.thecord.ca What can the ideas be about?

Who chooses the ideas?

What do the chosen ideas get?

Anything from transit, arts and culture, civic engagement, heritage, agriculture, small business and more! The limit is your imagination.

Ideas will be selected by a group of engaged Waterloo Region citizens, CCE staff and online voting. This is your time to shine.

Ideas selected will be paired with one of the CCE’s writers to have a story produced about their project, which will appear in the May issue.

This month on community.thecord.ca...

We asked: Do you think an LRT in Waterloo is a good idea?

86 per cent of you think the LRT plan is great!

11 per cent are against because they fear traffic congestion.

And just one person was a cautious skeptic and voted maybe.

Courtesy Truthout.org/Creative Commons

This month’s poll : how long did it take you to find a family doctor in Waterloo? Take our poll online today.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

FEATURE

11

Michele Sip tends to basil seedlings at the GROW market garden, funded by the Working Centre. • HG Watson CCE editor-in-chief

URBAN ROOTS

Community gardens and urban farms are becoming more popular. We go digging for the dirt on growing in the city.

HG Watson CCE Editor-in-chief

M

arch has begun, yet on a Wednesday in Kitchener, the ground is still covered in two feet of snow and there’s a distinct chill in the air. It’s hard to believe spring is just around the corner.

Inside the GROW gardens greenhouse, it’s another story. The small shed is awash in green thanks to a recent planting of microgreens and other produce that the market garden — funded and owned by The Working Centre — has been cultivating throughout the winter. In here, it seems we’ve been transported about a month into spring.

Adam Kramer and Michele Sip are showing me around their little piece of bio-heaven. Both of them have worked here throughout the winter season.

Kramer is the full-time staff person for GROW, as well as The Working Centre’s other agriculture project, Hacienda Sarria Market Garden, while Sip will return to Rockaway Gardens in the spring.

They point out a tub where fish will soon be living, and the flat full of pots of basil

seeds waiting to sprout up. “Here,” says Kramer, passing me a handful of little plants he plucks straight out of a tray, “try these radish sprouts.” The leafy greens with long red stems don’t look much like radishes.

what we eat and where it’s come from.

Movements like Slow Food encourage people to eat only what’s local, and it’s not entirely uncommon to walk into a downtown apartment and find pots full of cooking herbs lining the window sill.

I pop the plants into my mouth and suddenly my taste buds are overwhelmed and I get the feeling that my sinuses may spring out of my skull. These are some

Kramer has definitely noticed the upsurge in gardening culture in K-W. “Even two years ago there were people doing great stuff,” he says. But in the last year, he

Greg Roberts and his partner, Karin, are the co-owners of Little City Farm, an urban homestead in the heart of downtown Kitchener. “We always thought we would move to the country and live our homestead dream,” he says. “But we never found property that suited us.” They realized that the property they owned was already big enough to support smallscale agriculture. Plus it was close to the culture and community that they wanted to be near.

Little City Farm goes beyond just farming. It’s also a bed and breakfast and a place where people can learn the tips and tricks to become independent growers themselves. Greg and Karin offer workshops in everything you’d need to know to become self-sufficient, from seed starting, to soap and cheese making.

Rows of microgreens ready for warm weather. • HG Watson CCE editor-in-chief

high quality microgreens, grown not far away from where people go to work every day.

It might be hard for some people to conceive of vegetable gardening as a trendy thing to do. But several generations are becoming more and more interested in

points out that several new community gardens and farms have sprung up.

For some, the prospect of growing all the food that will end up on your table might seem a little daunting. But it’s not the challenge you might think.

For them it’s not necessarily about making everyone become an urban homesteader. “I like the idea of cultivating ideas,” says Roberts. “It’s simply making others realize they can do it and are doing it by creating a few window boxes on their patio or growing sprouts in the winter. It’s meant to be achievable.”

Continued on page 12 >>

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

CONTAINER GARDENING: A HOW TO This guide will help you build a self-watering water bottle container to grow herbs in. You need: • • • •

•

a bottle with a spout soil some rocks a piece of cotton or water absorbent fabric (it needs to plug the hole of the spout) seeds, or an herb starter

Step 1) Cut the water bottle about ¼ from the bottom so that the planting area is larger than the water reservoir Step 2) Place your fabric through the spout and tie a knot in the side that will make up the planting area. This is so soil doesn’t breach through.

Step 3) Put some drainage rocks in the bottle all around the fabric — this provides drainage and stops the soil for mixing with the water.

Step 4) Add soil and seeds. The seeds should be planted just a fingernail length in the soil. Add some water into the reservoir area. You can also buy a plant starter — this plant is already alive and growing, you just have to keep it healthy.

Step 5) Once all these steps are complete, water the plant once from the top — after that, the plant will get all the water it needs from the water reservoir.

GROW market ga

Continued from page 11 >>

The problem with people wanting to garden isn’t that there are too few; there are now so many, finding space to plant has become a challenge. Some gardens run by the municipalities have long waiting lists. The Queens Greens Community Garden, at the corner of Mill St. and Queen St. in Kitchener — which is also affiliated with the Working Centre — also has a long wait.

While there’s more space the further you go outside of the downtown core, for many the appeal is the ability to walk to where their own vegetables and fruits are growing. Unfortunately the number of gardens actually run by the municipalities is low in downtown areas.

Carol Popovic is a Public Health nurse at the Region of Waterloo Public Health. When people can’t find a community garden to join, she looks for them or in some cases, gets them on the right track to start their own. “Younger people are getting involved and that’s exciting,” she says. “The older guard wants to pass the tricks of the trade down.”

Recent City of Waterloo bylaw changes mean that community gardens can be put up in any residential or business zone. In Kitchener, funding exists to support gardens that are built on city or private land. This has been good news for a lot of groups throughout the region.

“Many of the faith organizations have gardens and the city is willing to provide them with some start-up funds,” says Popovic.

Accessibility is also a challenge for people with mobility issues. Some gardens have implemented raised beds to address this, but the number of gardens that can be used by people with physical disabilities is still limited.

While it may be difficult to find plots run by the cities, there are gardens run by organizations including Urban Harvester, University of Waterloo and the Multicultural Centre.

Services like a yard share also allow gardeners to borrow land from homeowners who may not be using their own backyards.

However, the tide is changing as the Region begins to see the value of urban agriculture.

The Region is taking community gardening seriously as a viable way of keeping people

Canning & Preserving With Ashley English

by Ashley English For those winter months when you can’t grow as much as you’d like, Ashley English’s guide will help you store food for months. She’s also written books on bee keeping, chickens and home dairy just to make sure you have all your bases covered.

Grow Great Grub

by Gayla Trail This guide is helpful for folks who don’t have access to a backyard or community garden.

Gayla Trail demonstrates how to cultivate excellent food on everything from your balcony to your fire escape (you can also find more tips on yougrowgirl.com).

The New Ontario Naturalized Garden

by Lorraine Johnson Naturalized gardens became popular in the last few years amongst people who are tired of spending a lot of money to have a perfectly manicured lawn. This guide shows people how to transition their lawns into perfectly messy beauty.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

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HOW TO START YOUR COMMUNITY GARDEN Step 1: Find some friends willing to literally get their hands dirty Step 2: Find some land – make sure you can use it for a community garden!

Step 3: Go out and get some partners and funding!

Step 4: Get your resources, including seeds, compost and gardening equipment Step 5: Start growing and having fun!

This is a simplified form of the “Starting a Community Garden in Waterloo Region 2007” from the Community Garden Council of Waterloo Region.

arden uses hydroponics to grow microgreens for sale all over Waterloo Region. • HG WATSON CCe editor-in-ChieF

healthy. “We’re not consuming the recommended level of vegetables and fruits that gives us the protective factor against cardiovascular disease,” says Popovic. “Anything that will provide a support to the community and encourage [people] to eat more of those foods that will prevent chronic disease, the better.”

can live well with less,” says Kramer.

Of course, there are other ways to eat local and healthy other than growing food yourself.

At the Kitchener Market, local vendors can be found year round.

In the end, what is it that drives the popularity of community gardening? Is it the chance to get healthy? Or a way of feeling connected to how our food grows?

“We have a couple [local community producers], and that’s just started in the last few years,” says Kim Feere, the interim manager of the Kitchener Market, who estimates they add about one or two new vendors from within the city each year.

Roberts thinks that the truth lies in the “community” part of community garden. “It’s something other than email or smartphones,” he says, adding that he sees the social aspect come out in workshops at the Little City Farm. “It’s a place people want to connect with others.”

It’s why gardens have always been attractive to people in the first place.

Another option is buying into a CSA, short for Community Supported Agriculture. For your share, you get a box of veggies and fruits each week (the content will depend on what was ready to pick at the farm). Hacienda Sarria Market Garden is offering a CSA this year, a prospect Kramer is very excited about. It’s in keeping with the community centered philosophy that is behind both the GROW greenhouse and Hacienda. “It’s showing that you

GROW and Hacienda represent another opportunity for K-W residents to literally get their hands dirty; both market gardens are always looking for volunteers.

-Container Gardening: A how to was written by HG Watson and originally appeared in The Lance (Windsor). Container graphic courtesy Stephen Hargreaves (The Lance). Book cover images courtesy amazon.ca. Feature layout and graphics by Lena Yang.

Further reAdinG The Urban Homestead

by Kelly Coyne This handy book list covers everything you might need to know to become completely dependent on yourself from the day-to-day (making your own cleaning supplies) to more advanced tasks (installing your own solar panels).

Radical Gardening: Politics, Idealism & Rebellion in the Garden

by George McKay Gardening isn’t just a great way to access good veggies. It’s also, for some, an act of resistance.

Radical Gardening makes the connections between agriculture and counterculture.

Food That Really Schmecks

by Edna Staebler No sense in having all this great food if you don’t know what to do with it. Local author Edna Staebler shows you how to cook meals using traditional Mennonite techniques.

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

URBAN ExPLORINg

whip it the agony and the ecstasy of being a tri-City roller Girl CollEEN CoNNolly CCE CONTRIBUTOR

b

y day, Kat Hiller is a legal assistant working towards her masters in counselling psychology. But by night, Wednesdays and Sundays to be exact, she is Nekro Nancy, a hard-bitten blocker for Vicious Dishes of the Tri-City Roller Girls.

“I think that we create a version of ourselves that we really like,” said Hillier of the derby alter ego. “You can’t bring your derby self to the office … It’s a really healthy way to channel any frustrations you have, I consider it therapy.”

Hillier’s first interaction with roller derby happened near a year ago when she came across an ad in the newspaper calling for “fresh meat” and thought it might be a good way to get some exercise.

“I went to the try out and they had me put on quad skates and try that out,” she recalled. “I didn’t completely eat floor so we went from there” Roller derby is an entirely female contact sport that has been gradually gaining recognition since its resurgence in Texas in 2001. Scott Jones, media chair for the Roller Derby Association of Canada, referred to this as its first wave.

“It was girls who wanted something that they could call their own,” said Jones.

“There was no pre conceptions, no ‘you can’t do this, you’re not good enough,’ no ‘you’re just doing what your boyfriend does,’ total blank slate for everybody.”

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF TRI-CITY ROLLER GIRLS FLICKR

Now in what Jones would call the second wave of derby, the sport has begun to develop focus and structure. However, it is still in its early stages and maintains it grassroots nature. Any number of

women, no matter their age or skill level, can form or join a league.

“Everybody is so different,” said Hillier.

“You have housewives, you have religious people, you have country girls, you have all sorts of punks. There is no limit on what people could be into. Its open, anyone could play.”

Tri-City is divided up into three home teams and one all-star team, the Tri-City Thunder, which is customary of leagues across Canada. However, there is a strong sense of community between the girls as a whole, not only in Kitchener’s league but within and between those across the country.

“You get that many girls together, there’s bound to be drama. But it’s dealt with on the track and it’s left there. As soon as the game is done, we’re talking about ‘where’s the after party’ and ‘let’s go have a drink.’”

Hillier participated in her first league game this past Friday against London’s Thames Fatales, kicking off Tri-City’s season which will last until October. A boot camp runs simultaneously as an extended try out for women wishing to be drafted for a team at the end of the year.

Men have even taken up an interest in the flourishing sport, with co-ed scrimmages becoming increasingly common amongst leagues. Jones explained that this interest began with male referees skating with the girls and wishing to try it out for themselves.

However, there are certain aspects of derby that have carried over from its former status as largely a scripted means of entertainment which males may not be as eager to try.

From players sporting fishnets and color-

ful accessories to showing off with fancy footwork after a score, “it’s not only a game,” said Hillier. “It’s also a show.”

Although this is a large appeal of roller derby, Jones guesses that it contributed greatly to the sport’s falling out during the 60s and 70s when women’s movements had women revaluating events which put females on display. However, derby has come a long way from that.

“There’s the clichés like guys go to roller derby because they want to see girls in miniskirts and booty shorts and that kind of stuff. Of course those things exist but it’s not the focus,” said Hillier. “Generally speaking derby girls don’t go to make a big scene of it, they don’t want to be viewed as sex objects ideally, this is a sport.

“As far as the future of derby it is wide open,” Jones concluded. “They are talking Olympics, we have another world cup coming up, there is a lot happening. My hope is that eventually these girls start getting paid.”

“You You can’t bring your derby self to the office ..”

—Kat Hiller, better known as Nekro Nancy , a blocker for the Tri-City Roller Girls

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

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UNDER THE BIG TOP

Our intrepid writer TOP: takes on the high wire at the Circus! and BOTTOM: the trapeze at the Waterloo Region Museum • HG WATSON CCE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

danielle Dmytraszko CCE CONTRIBUTOR

W

aterloo Region Museum’s exhibition “Circus! Science Under the Big Top” runs until May 5. Created by the Ontario Science Centre, Circus! is both an educational and interactive exhibit. Among the twenty exhibits, Circus! portrays how the wonderment of the circus depends on the power of science.

Before technology shaped popular culture, the circus was the main source of entertainment for small towns like Waterloo at the turn of the century. The circus also allowed for citizenship; individuals once labeled “outsiders” were the main source of amusement. The exhibition highlights the cultural relevance of the circus by showcasing the history through participatory, yet educational exhibits.

I had the pleasure of visiting, and although Circus! is mainly family-oriented, I believe this exhibit has something to offer to all ages. Although I did feel quite dorky participating in most of the exhibits, being a bit older than the target audience, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Upon entry, I tested my knowledge on circus animal feces in “Who Dung It?” Sadly, to my dismay, I could not identify any correctly. Redemption came quickly as I exceeded expectation in the tightrope simulation. Designed to replicate the technical difficulties of tightrope walking, I smugly balanced myself for ten seconds.

The next exhibit to further boost my confidence required me to push as hard as I could on a bar to test my feat of strength, which surely rivaled anybody under the age of twelve. Sadly, I was not victorious, failing miserably at the contortion exhibit, which includes a video of a contortionist folding herself into a tiny little box. I gave up after two tries and concluded that I will leave the body bending and folding to the professionals.

The next two exhibits required me to wear a harness. The High Wire exhibit and the Elastic Trapeze were the most interactive exhibits at Circus! and were my favorites. The attentive and knowledgeable employees safely strapped me into my harness and told me to walk along the suspended wire, three feet off the ground.

I did have some trepidation, but calmly walked back and forth, not falling once.

The Elastic Trapeze was designed to repli-

cate how physically demanding and technically complex the trapeze is. Strapped in a different harness, I was elevated off the ground and told to bounce up and down in the air. The staff informed me that those who are brave will attempt a back flip and I proudly concluded my time at the Circus! with two impeccable back flips.

A word about the museum itself: Waterloo Region Museum encapsulates the past and present of the Kitchener-Waterloo Region. To truly understand the historical significance of the museum, one must visit and experience the deep-rooted culture.

Waterloo Region Museum is built on the Huron Road, which was constructed in the 1800’s. The main foyer is partially walled in glass to showcase the railway crossing, which was built in 1871.

Waterloo Region Museum is the entrance for Doon Heritage Village; spanning over sixty-acres, the village portrays life in Waterloo during 1914.

Overall, Circus! Science Under the Big Top was very enjoyable, I encourage everyone to take time out of their busy schedules and visit the Waterloo Region Museum. A Tuesday morning spent at the museum was a great way to channel the inner child we so often forget is within us.

Waterloo Region Museum is located at 10 Huron Road in Kitchener.

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

HOW TO BE A CAKE POP BOSS 1

You’ve likely bought a cake pop — the hand-held, twobite, eye-catching dessert — from Starbucks or the dessert counter in Vincenzo’s. The treat went viral in 2009 courtesy of blogger Angie Dudley, (who can be found at bakerella.com) and continues to be popular.

The CCE’s Veronica Naas consulted with local creative talent Linda Zavarella to learn the tips, tricks and techniques for mastering this popular dessert on a stick.

6

7

Make the cake: Follow directions on the cake mix box and let the finished cake cool for approximately 20 minutes. Yes, box cake works great. For those seasoned bakers who just gasped, you’re welcome to bake a cake from scratch.

2

Combine cake and frosting: Once cooled, the cake will be at its most moist point. Crumble the cake using your hands, then add one generous teaspoon of frosting and mix. The dough consistency should be like Plasticine — moist, yet moldable. Add more frosting if needed.

4

3

Make shapes: Roll the mixture with your hands like you would a meatball.

It should be approximately 1.5 inches in diameter and have a smooth surface.

Place the pops in a container; let them set in the fridge for 15 minutes or freezer for five minutes.

Dipping: Take the pops out of the fridge and let them warm to room temperature.

Plunge the entire pop into the chocolate.

Shift the stick in four directions to seal chocolate around the stick. Don’t twist the stick as it can detach. Hold the stick on an angle over the chocolate; using the handle of a knife gently twirl the stick while tapping the excess chocolate off.

Decorating: Place the cake pop upright in a Styrofoam block. If you are decorating your cake pops, add embellishments, like candy and sprinkles within 30 to 40 seconds of dipping.

For presentation purposes, you can decorate the Styrofoam to suit the colour or theme of your event, lay the cake pops on a platter or wrap them in plastic lunch bags tied off with colourful ribbon.

5

Complete steps one through three two days before needed then the day prior do steps four through six. Baking should be fun — give yourself some breathing room to enjoy the process.

Melt the chocolate: Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate (if you want to jazz up your pops with colour, you can buy coloured Merckens). It should have the consistency of pancake batter. If the chocolate seizes, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil. If water comes in contact with the chocolate, you will need to start again.

Pops and sticks: Take the cake pops out fridge; let them warm to room temperature. Dip the lollipop sticks about half an inch into the chocolate. Push the chocolate covered stick half an inch into the pop and place it in another container.

When done, place the container in the fridge for five minutes.

• ALL PHOTOS BY Jody Waardenburg staff photographer

You’re now ready to impress guests at your next dinner party or amaze coworkers with your new cake pop making skills!

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

17

re-DEVELOPMENT The NCR property

Walk in the park No one trick pony

The 16 hectares (40 acres) that made up the sold NCR property will serve many purposes. It will house modern, loft-style office space, medical offices, restaurants, corporate office buildings, a data centre and retail space.

Office space

The first signs of change you’re likely to notice on the property is the erection of two loft-style office buildings. Both are scheduled to open this coming fall.

According to the developers, the redevelopment will feature an ample amount of green space and bike-friendly areas.

No car? No problem

The new NCR property will not only be “pedestrian friendly”, but there is also a stop on Waterloo’s planned Light Rail Transit line slated to go across the street.

• Photo by Heather Davidson STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

MY FIRST YEAR IN WATERLOO ANDREW RADER Originally from Ottawa, Andrew Rader completed his bachelor’s and masters degrees in aerospace engineering at Carleton University before going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his PhD. He moved to Waterloo Region in 2009 to work for Com Dev International in Cambridge.

While living in Cambridge, Rader competed on the Discovery Channel reality show Canada’s Greatest Know it All, making the final three at press time.

I worked…

“Designing satellites in Cambridge at ComDev.” My first impression…

“Kitchener-Waterloo is such an innovative place. It feels like a big college town. You meet lots of interesting people there.”

I enjoyed…

“I really liked the Perimeter Institute talks. The public lectures, they were fantastic.”

I ate/explored…

“Just the whole Public Square area. There’s all kinds of nice restaurants and little shops in that area.”

What I still love…

“I think Kitchener-Waterloo is one of the best places to live in all of Canada. Toronto is obviously acceptable, there’s a lot of excitement if you need it, if you want to go to a big show. However I find it’s actually much nicer to live in a place like Kitchener-Waterloo because everyone is so friendly, it’s a really interesting place that has lots of good research, Perimeter Institute, great universities, a nice college scene, good social events, it’s a really nice, friendly place to live.”

Andrew Rader on Canada’s Greatest Know It All. • PHOTO COURTESy OF ANDREW RADER

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THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS with Sustainable Waterloo Region

As spring begins, Sustainable Waterloo Region reflects on the postive changes to our region’s susatinablility landscape that have taken place over the past 12 months Spring is just around the corner and with warming weather comes a sense of reflection and renewal. At Sustainable Waterloo Region (SWR), work to complete our 2012 report has provided ample opportunity to reflect on the Waterloo Region’s sustainability landscape over the last 12 months.

This year, we celebrate the sustainability network that is emerging within Waterloo Region. From where we live, to where we work, to how we commute, the people of Waterloo Region have unprecedented opportunity to integrate environmental sustainability into their day-to-day lives.

SWR’s flagship program, the Regional Carbon Initiative (RCI), works with organizations across Waterloo Region to advance the sustainability of their operations through greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions.

In February 2013, the RCI reached a new membership milestone when Sutherland-Schultz joined as its 60th member. Other RCI members include leading institutions like Sun Life Financial, Ernst & Young, the Region of Waterloo and Grand River Hospital.

This growth illustrates that, increasingly, business leaders, entrepreneurs and key decision makers recognize the real value of incorporating environmental sustainability in to their business decisions.

Beyond the RCI, SWR provides support services for TravelWise — the Region of Waterloo’s new Transportation Management Association — and is proud of the continued success of the program. TravelWise partners with 17 member organizations that represent more than 20,000 employees to provide information and tools to help reduce single occupancy vehicle travel.

These efforts can help relieve traffic congestion, reduce GHG emissions, promote healthy lifestyles, and improve quality of life for all members of Waterloo Region.

SWR is also incredibly proud to be a part of ClimateActionWR, along with REEP Green Solutions and the Region of Waterloo, and in valuable collaboration with area municipalities and local electric and natural gas utilities.

This initiative is building on the success of the RCI by working

collaboratively with a range of stakeholders to create a community-wide GHG inventory and forecast, reduction targets and action plan for all of Waterloo Region. Although many communities across Canada are at various stages of measuring their carbon emissions and creating an action plan, Waterloo Region is using a unique approach with leadership from two local non-profits and all four municipalities working together. This work has connections to sustainable transportation, water conservation, energy savings and rural land conservation, among other community benefits.

The Climate Action Plan, when implemented, will propel local sustainability efforts forward and allow for community-wide measurement of emissions reductions as we collectively progress towards lowering carbon impact and enhancing quality of life in Waterloo Region.

On March 19, 21 and 25, a series of community forums will be held throughout Waterloo Region to gather community input towards creating a plan and setting a target for reducing community GHG emissions over the

next 10 years.

As organizations and community members continue to apply and share their knowledge, progressive ideas and passion for Waterloo Region, endeavors in sustainability will assuredly continue to trail-blaze a path to a healthy environment with a thriving economy.

We encourage you to participate in the ClimateActionWR Community Forums and join us on April 18 at the Waterloo Inn for SWR’s Evening of Recognition for the release of SWR’s 2012 report. Attendees will learn about the growing impacts of this sustainability network by connecting with representatives from local businesses and the community, while hearing from RCI member organizations making ambitious GHG reduction commitments and collaborating to achieve these targets.

For more information on registering for the Evening of Recognition and the ClimateActionWR community forums, visit sustainablewaterlooregion.ca/ events/upcoming-events.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

ARTs AND CULTURE oLd books in A new AGe

19

Visiting used bookstores around the area, CCe Contributor Colleen Connolly investigates their sound position in a digital world and what the future holds for the written word Floor to ceiling makeshift shelves, tightly packed with an ancient, musty medium, line the quiet, crowded rooms of Old Goat Books in Uptown Waterloo. These volumes have supplied Michael Loubert’s basic income for the past 12 years since he and his former co-owner Scott Wicken first started the business after gaining experience working at Second Look Books down the street.

Managing a used bookstore stands apart from entrepreneurship, however, because it is not substantially lucrative but provides fulfillment in ulterior ways.

“An entrepreneur is somebody whose involved in capital and manipulation of capital and there really isn’t a lot of that in the used book trade,” said Loubert. “I mean you can play around with your stock and try to make some money but the returns are pretty marginal.

“If you got into the trade to make a ton of money, you’re in the wrong trade. It’s not going to provide that for you. It’s going to provide you with a lot of work satisfaction.”

Owning a used bookstore can offer a comfortable living in a modern technological era, one that independent bookstores, who are forced to compete with the likes of Amazon and Chapters, have not been able to withstand.

Prior to teaching print communication and culture at Wilfrid Laurier University, Gregory Cameron managed a bookstore in Halifax during the late 1980s when book super stores were on the rise and forcing smaller stores out of business.

“It wasn’t really whether or not people were buying books that drove the small bookstores out of business, it was the amount of profit per book,” said Cameron. People were still buying books, but larger stock and variety had them flocking to chains such as Indigo and Chapters, where they bought their publications for a fixed price, despite the profit that the company was receiving due to having bought the books in bulk. Being smaller in size, independent bookstores were forced to pay more for less and could not keep up. But used bookstores can bargain their own price.

the majority of his inventory from book sales and thrift shops.

getting to know their product better as with Marg Clark, owner of The Bookworm.

“We’re basically just using our liberal arts education and our instincts when we look at what we want. And also, you get a feel for stuff that’s sat on the shelf,” said Konyndyk. Having to seek out what comes into his store, Konyndyk has developed a sense of what to look for and what to avoid.

The Bookworm has existed in Waterloo for over 18 years, originally a family-owned business until Clark and her husband took over nine years ago as avid readers looking to own their own business.

Without much past experience, Clark has and continues to spend much of her time on the Internet researching books and becoming increasingly familiar with the industry.

“What you have to be careful of is stuff that dates rather rapidly,” he cautioned. This applies to travel books and textbooks in particular. However, Konyndyk added that there’s a large market in nostalgia books, old reads that people experienced as kids, this category often intersects with collectables.

“In the used book business, there is a collectability factor,” said Konyndyk. “[But] just because a book is rare doesn’t mean it’s going to be valuable. Some books are deservedly rare.”

The public’s interest in rare and old publications pushes against the surfacing threat of books being read digitally, which could have the potential to put even used bookstores out of business.”

Just in the last few years there’s been the impact of the e-book and e-readers and that’s mostly affected the best-seller mass market sale which has shrunk,” said Loubert. “I’ve shifted the focus of the store away from that and more towards the books as cultural artifacts as well as books being very interesting, they’re attractive and they furnish a room.

“Just the fact that you’re handling a book that is 50 or 60 or 100 years old is an experience that you can’t replicate on the Internet.”

In a sense, no book can be replicated in the digital world for the experience of handling a publication as opposed to viewing it on a screen alters the experience of reading it.

“You can’t really compare used bookstores to a retail bookstore because the situations are completely different. I’m not buying books from a wholesale distributor, I’m buying them from the public,” said Loubert.

“The problem with e-readers and reading from the computer is that although you can scroll to any part, flip to any part in a sense, the tactility of the position of the work that your reading in relation to the whole is lost,” said Cameron.

Simply by looking at a book, its reader is able to gauge where they are in the text and this makes it easier to stop and start or flip from one point to the next, especially in regards to research books as Cameron noted. “Reading, after all,” he said, “is a constant process of flipping.”

Loubert acquires most of the books in his shop from locals who have brought them in and received a small sum in return, or conversely store credit. Tom Konyndyk however, who started White Rabbit Books two years ago in the smaller market of Georgetown, Ont. has had to gather

With this technology only improving in increments, used bookstores and the big box bookstores are actually benefitting from digitization in regards to the Internet, allowing sales to occur over vast distances, providing advertising through online catalogues and even assisting business owners in

Big box bookstores have especially profited from the Internet, building warehouses for the books they can’t fit in their stores and selling them online so they can place larger orders. These days, many of the warehouses contain more books than the stores.

“With something like Chapters where it’s both, they have the mega store and they have the warehouses, you go in there and you look around and it’s like advertising,” said Cameron. The experience of being in a regular bookstore has become similar to window shopping, it is a place where people can go and take in the inventory full scale, scan titles and flip through pages, then head home to their computer and order or download their findings online at often a cheaper price.

“I think you need both, do the downloading which is great but I think you need to go to the library and see the books or go to a used bookstore and see the book,” said Clark. “I judge a lot of books by their covers and I’ll buy them based on what the cover looks like.”

Cameron predicts that there will definitely be a demand for both the digital and the physical book in the future, but the industry will certainly look different than it does at present.

“It’s very similar to vinyl. People who really love music listen to their music on vinyl … the technology of music reproduction is getting better for the computer but it’s still nowhere near the quality of vinyl,” he said.

“Books are going to become specialized in the same way a vinyl is specialized. There’s going to be experts on books or on texts that are going to use books. People who are just reading will use e-readers or whatever is being used 50 years from now.”

For now, books, and consequently the stores that are successful at selling them, have no expiration date in sight. But there is no way of being sure what is coming.

“Really, I do think that books themselves are safe, they’re not going anywhere,” Cameron said. “They will remain a part of our world, especially the university, at least for the next generation.”

• PHOTO BY KATE TURNER

20

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

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Danny Michel practices in his studio • COURTESY BOB EGAN

bob egan catches up with Juno nominee Danny Michel to find out how a K-W native got nominated for the World Music Album of the Year.

BoB EGAN CCE CONTRIBUTOR

w

hen the nominees for the 2013 JUNO awards were announced recently, no one was surprised to see K-W’s own Danny Michel on the list. After all Michel has been nurturing his singer/songwriter craft to critical acclaim for well over two decades. What was surprising was that he was not nominated for the expected categories (e.g., Songwriter or Roots Album) but for the World Music Album of the Year.

How on earth did that happen?

“I had a vacation in Belize many years ago and fell in love with the place. I found myself returning every year or so and getting drawn into the richness of the culture and the kindness of the people.

After a while I wanted to give back to Belize and become more than just a tourist who takes,” said Michel.

Michel decided he could make a difference in this paradise of crushing poverty by raising money to pay high school tuitions for the countless children whose families could not afford it.

His commitment to help made him much more than the average tropical tourist, so when he inquired about doing a bit of recording at Belize’s only recording studio he was welcomed with open arms and open hearts. The cream of Belize’s traditional musicians, the Garifuna Collective, turned out to accompany Michel on the cross-cultural musical journey of a lifetime.

The result is Michel’s stunning new release Black Birds are Dancing Over Me. This music, born from a love of culture and compassion, has resonated across the musical landscape. The critics are effusive. Music fans of all stripes are moved.

The big festival bookers are calling and the record is being released worldwide.

How did a kid from KW with a dream

make the journey from the bars of Waterloo County to playing the world’s biggest stages with internationally acclaimed musicians earning critical respect and a JUNO nomination along the way?

I caught up with Michel recently — between sessions in his local studio where he was doing some demo work with Madison Violet in preparation for their fifth record — to find out.

“Hard work,” was Michel’s answer. “The highs are high but the lows are really low. It takes a lot of hard work, really sustained hard work to make it through.

Being a musician is a constant struggle.

Not only do you have to work hard, you have to know about the business too, especially these days. Being a great guitar player isn’t enough. You have to be smart about the business.”

Does he have a specific high he remembers? “The first time I stepped onto the stage at Massey Hall and stood where my hero Tom Waits stood. I looked out to the seat where I sat many years before as a young man watching him and I remembered that being here performing on this stage was once my dream.”

What about the lows? “Those you tend to forget.”

Luckily for us music lovers and for the kids of Belize, Michel has forgotten the lows and worked hard to follow his passion. He is the humanitarian and travelling troubadour that makes K-W proud.

Michel is offering free downloads of one of his songs for followers of his Twitter @dannymichel or fans of his Facebook page facebook.com/danny.michel.music.

You can learn more about Michel at dannymichel.com.

Bob Egan has been a member of Blue Rodeo for thirteen years. He also runs Bob’s Guitar Service in Kitchener, Ontario.

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

STEPhEN hArGrEAVES THE LANCE

b

orn of the ashes of long-running and much acclaimed Kitchener band Vacuity, Outer Islands is the new solo project of guitarist/vocalist Rob McFee. The live incarnation of the indieguitar-pop meets electro project includes the capable hands of K-W comrade, multi-instrumentalist Duncan Nicholls, who collectively introduced a string of highly-crafted songs to the world last Saturday at Phog Lounge, in Windsor, Ont. in Outer Islands’ first performance outside of Mcfee’s basement studio.

MARCH 2013

21

breAkinG wAVes

Local music heroes gear up for first show as Outer Islands

Stephen Hargreaves: Rob, you were in quite a successful band that has played in this very venue in the past?

RM: I was in Vacuity but we parted ways.

SH: Why did Vacuity separate?

Rob Mcfee: We were in a band together for 15 years, like from high school. We put out an album, we played a pretty successful tour in summer in support of the album and after that it was like what is next.

SH: Were you looking for something more?

RM: I don’t know. When you are in a group with people for a long time, sometimes things are super positive and others, not and for the last couple of years and we worked really hard and then it was like “what’s next?” I had a bunch of songs and I invited Duncan over to work on something with me on what has become Outer Islands.

SH: So when did you guys get going then?

Duncan Nicholls: About one month ago.

SH: Have you played yet?

DN: March 23 is our first hometown gig; this is our maiden voyage tonight.

SH: I heard some backing tracks, some loops and synths mixed in with the gui-

Rob Mcfee & Duncan Nicholls play their first show as Other Islands at Phog Lounge in Windsor, On Mar. 9 • STEPHEN HARGREAVES the LAnCe

tars at sound check. What is your sound like?

RM: We sound kinda like Pixies or Radiohead but we don’t. I think we are going for pop that is like not too smooth.

SH: What do you think about the scene in Kitchener-Waterloo?

RM: There are some pretty great bands in Kitchener. It’s like a mixed bag. I am really into a band called Sex Dwarf. Their band name and song names are silly, but they write great songs.

show tonight at Phog and the Boathouse at Kitchener. We plan to try and book [a tour] for June but we haven’t talked about it yet but we will figure it out.

SH: Have you guys recorded anything yet?

DN: We have a whole stack of demos.

When I showed up a month ago Rob was like, “here are a bunch of songs.”

RM: One song, Balloon Capsule, is out now on our website already.

SH: What’s the plan for Outer Islands?

Recording? Touring?

SH: Is there any reason why you decided to come down to Windsor for your first show?

RM: We are doing three shows. We have a

RM: Phog is very exciting. I was trying

to book some stuff out of town. I had a couple of other gigs but they were at bigger places and I ended up calling some of those off. We know James O-L and the Villains and they are playing with us at the Boathouse in Kitchener, so did the show swap thing; they always bring in a lot of people here and it’s always a good time.

SH: For people who are coming to see you on 23rd in Kitchener-Waterloo at the Boathouse, what can they expect to hear?

RM: It is going to be all new songs as opposed to Vacuity stuff.

DN: Catchy little pop gems

inside kitChener historY kEVIN dElANEy CCE CONTRIBUTOR

t

he Lost and Found Theatre has always been a strong supporter of local talent in the Waterloo Region, so it seems only fitting that their latest production, On The Inside, not only takes place in Kitchener, but is also based on a piece of the city’s own history.

Written by University of Waterloo graduate, Dona Massel, On The Inside revolves around the first hanging in the city, then known as Berlin. Seventeenyear-old James Allison has been convicted of murder and is awaiting his execution in the county jail when the Governor’s wife, Olive, takes it upon herself to teach him to read and write. Inevitably, she grows attached to the young man and the story centers on the emotional strain that arises leading up to Allison’s hanging.

Set in late 1897 and early 1898, the action takes place in the Governor’s house, which is attached to the jail and still stands on Queen St. (a stone’s throw from the Registry Theatre where the production is being staged). In fact, it is this building that originally provided Massel with the spark for On The Inside.

“In 1999, Waterloo Regional Councillor Jean Haalboom, in her struggle to save the derelict Waterloo County Gaol from the wrecker’s ball, conducted tours through the historic buildings,” says Massell. “I went on one of those tours and when I arrived in the dining room of the Governor’s House, I heard voices. I went home and wrote a dinner party and, after much research, a whole play.”

While the portrayals of the characters are fictional, they are based on real people and real events. “The dates and time

frame, the controversy within the town of Berlin and the fact that Allison learned to read and write while in Gaol are all true,” says Massel. While this makes for interesting subject matter, it also means the production may face scrutiny from those who are familiar with the history of the area, something the play’s director, Richard Quesnel, sees as an opportunity rather than a challenge.

“The reward of putting on such a play as this is the interest that it is sure to garner from the audience,” says Quesnel. “There are many poignant themes and universal issues in this production, ranging from capital punishment to the long-term effects of physical and emotional abuse that are as important and life-altering today as they were 116 years ago.”

Quesnel is artistic manager of Lost and Found Theatre and his career has

encompassed stage, film and television work across North America. Massel has written five books of poetry and was the recipient of the 2004 Region of Waterloo’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Literature.

This production marks the fist time Massel and Quesnel have ever worked together, but they have known each other for many years through their involvement with Lost and Found Theatre, which prides itself on developing new work primarily with writers based in Waterloo Region.

On The Inside is being performed at The Registry Theatre in Kitchener and runs from March 14 to March 23. Find out more at lostandfoundtheatre.com

22

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

REVIEWS CITY LIGHTS The Button Factory’s new shows draw inspiration from the urban landscape

Cities are the star of the Button Factory’s two March shows, Bright Lights, Big City and Town & Country.

white seems to represent cars and people as they move through the concrete jungle.

Gasbarri’s new show, Town & Country, is a look at much more familiar territory: K-W’s own backyard.

Bright Lights, Big City is the collective effort of Loovre, a student co-op dedicated to fine art. The multimedia show doesn’t flinch from showing any aspect of urbanity.

A series of photos by Roman Dmitri takes the mundane and turns them into works of art. Chemical Valley 1 could be any multitude of nameless factories (the name evokes the nickname for Sarnia, known for its chemical production facilities). In his photo, the play of light and dark creates something intriguing and beautiful.

If the Impressionists had also been urban planners, their work might have looked a little like Gasbarri’s paintings.

Rythym and Stability by Nashid Chowdhury comes as close to experiencing the ebb and flow of city life as one can get through sculpture. A steel frame wrapped with ribbons of red, yellow and

Downstairs, Cambridge artist Fabio

The canvases are small and the colour palette is quite cool, giving the feeling of fall. Yet the work still draws you in closer; you want to see all the details Gasbarri has included in his work.

-Photos and story by H.G. Watson

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN Dir: Malik Bendjelloul Sony Pictures Classics Searching for Sugar Man details the efforts of Stephen ‘Sugar’ Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom of Cape Town, South Africa, to find out if the rumoured death of American musician Rodriguez was true, and, if he was alive, what had happen to Rodriguez and his music.

In 1997, Segerman set up The Great Rodriguez Hunt, a website with the intention of finding any information about the mysterious musician who was rumoured to have committed suicide (some even saying that he’d set himself alight on stage).

The documentary follows the two fans looking for a man, who in South Africa was “bigger than Elvis.” They do find him, in his home town of Detroit doing odd jobs, dirty jobs, living a menial life with his daughters and completely unaware of his fame across the ocean.

C’Mon Arizona Christian Hansen Previously known as The Autistics & Christian Hansen, the Edmonton band has changed not only their name, but their band’s personnel and sound altogether.

WHITE PAINT Hollerado Royal Mountain Records

EXPECTING COMPANY Henry Wagons Thirty Tigers

The Ottawa band’s new sound is more modern indie rock compared to their original tones of guitar pop on their debut album, Record in a Bag.

Australia’s answer to Johnny Cash Henry Wagons Expecting Company roars.

Hansen has brought a brand-new album to the surface; C’Mon Arizona was their second full-length album a released in October 2012, showing their intriguing ability to combine electric dance and rock.

Something is also to be said about their new lyrical changes on White Paint, proving that the band has stepped up and brought a more mature set of tracks that attempt to challenge their audience to listen more closely.

The cutting-edge band of two is a very distinct sound and lyrical experience compared to many other rock and electric dance artists, showing their fearless attitude when it comes to introducing questionable themes.

This album still has an up-beat sound.

They clearly haven’t lost the previous relentless creativity that Record in a Bag brought to the alternative music scene, and continue to set the soundtrack for your everyday car journeys.

-Cassie Hunter (The Lance)

-Cassie Hunter (The Lance)

The dark mood of the record brings about images in the mind of dreary cityscapes and men drinking alone.

After the first to lamenting songs of this relatively short record — a total of seven tracks — things are slowed down with the ballad “Give Things A Chance To Mend.” It’s almost as if the record is self aware of its longing.

The fourth song, “I Still Can’t Find Her,” has a hard time pulling out of ballad mode and is the kind of song you may want to fall asleep to if you have recently had your heart broken and are looking for something cathartic.

-Jay Veerspelt (The Lance)

Rodriguez released two albums 1970’s Cold Fact and 1971’s Coming from Reality. Both were commercial flops in his native country but became the soundtrack of a movement in in apartheid South Africa.

Rodriguez’s frank, yet beautiful, songs about politically, racially, economically and sexually charged lyrics appealed to the dispossessed South Africans. The Swedish Bendjelloul tells his story almost as beautifully.

The film’s streamlined narrative flows nicely, if at times omitting pieces to heighten the suspense, like his success in Australia in the 1980s and his late 2000s American tour.

The satisfaction of discovering he was an icon in South Africa is heart-warming, and the realization that he’s being scammed out of any royalties is devastating.

-Stephen Hargreaves (The Lance)

THE CORD COMMUNITY EDITION

MARCH 2013

MONTHLY EVENTS THIS MONTH WE’RE GOING TO....

MUSIC

Music

Mar. 16

Experience The Beatles with RAIN The Beatles — Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — amazing musicians, and the original heartthrobs of teenage girls.

RAIN is a Beatles tribute band that has studied the way the foursome looked, sounded and performed. Many different people were part of making The Beatles come back to life; in this tribute band, each Beatle is played by multiple actors, as well as more people for keyboard and percussion, and the band’s management team.

Centre in the Square see centre-square.com for ticket details Sunday March 24 @ 7:30 p.m.

Arts Expressions 38 and In|sight Young talent is always awesome to behold. If there’s one place to go and admire young artistic talent from grades one to 12, it’s at the Expressions 38 exhibition at the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery. They put on this exhibition of student artwork every spring. This year’s theme is Strange and Wonderful. Schools from the K-W area submit the work of a few students from their art programs and classes, to be put on display for a month.

KW|AG FREE Thursday March 21 – Sunday April 21 during gallery hours

Community

14th Annual Chicken Wing Competition Wings, wings and more wings! Come to the 14th Annual Chicken Wing Competition to chow down on some samples of the area’s best wings, and be sure to vote for your favourites! There will also be a silent auction and entertainment.

St. George Hall $25 Wednesday March 20 @ 6 p.m.

–Compiled and written by Adele Palmquist

Mar. 15

Andrew McAnsh Quintet The Jazz Room, $15, 8:30p.m.

T’was the Night Before St. Patrick’s with NQ Arbuckle The Jane Bond, $14 advance, 9p.m.

Alex Dean Quintet The Jazz Room, $20, 8:30p.m.

Mar. 20 The Brains wsg. The Beatdown Starlight, $9 advance, 8p.m.

The Music of Annie Lennox & The Eurythmics Centre in the Square, see centre-square. com for ticket details, 7:30p.m.

com for ticket details, 7:30p.m.

Mar. 26

Mar. 22

Electric Six wsg. The Matinee Starlight, $18 advance, 8p.m.

Randy Lyght The Jazz Room, $15, 8:30p.m.

Pierre Schryer Centre in the Square, see centre-square. com for ticket details, 8p.m.

Mar. 23 Mulgrew Miller Quartet The Jazz Room, $20, 8:30p.m.

Pierre Schryer Centre in the Square, see centre-square. com for ticket details, 8p.m.

Mar. 24

Mar. 21

Kristine Schmitt and her Special Powers wsg. Ol’ Timey The Jane Bond, $10, 7p.m.

Limblifter wsg. Seas Starlight, $14 advance, 8p.m.

Mar. 25

The Music of Annie Lennox & The Eurythmics Centre in the Square, see centre-square.

Experience The Beatles with RAIN Centre in the Square, see centre-square. com for ticket details, 7:30p.m.

Conestoga Mall hours

Shamrock Shake Up! Waterloo Town Square, 2p.m.

Mar. 20

SHI 2013 Tournament Kitchener Auditorium Complex and Activa Sportsplex, , 9a.m.

‘Til Mar. 17 Canstruction Conestoga Mall, Free (viewing),

ARTS Mar. 16

The Vagina Monologues and Radical Bodies The Turret (WLU), $10 2 p.m., Planned Parenthood 8 p.m.

Mar. 19

No Name Wednesdays: Get a Different Name Day The Museum, Free Admission (Exhibit admission extra), 6p.m.

Lumberjunk ep 2 Release Starlight, $15 advance, 8p.m.

Mar. 29 Dave Wiffen Quintet The Jazz Room, $15, 8:30p.m.

Bach: Mass in B minor Centre in the Square, see centre-square. com for ticket details, 7:30p.m.

Mar. 30

Pull the Plug presents: Trouble & Daughter, The Dickens & TBA Maxwell’s Music House, $10 advance, 8:30p.m.

Robi Botos Trio The Jazz Room, $18, 8:30p.m.

Apr. 3 Pick a Piper Starlight, $5, 8p.m.

Mar. 27

No Name Wednesdays: Tarantino’s 50th Birthday The Museum, Free Admission (Exhibit admission extra), 6p.m.

Apr. 11

Mar. 26

Cabaret Rouge: 5th Annual Glass Slipper Affair Family Centre, $50, $90 VIP Lounge, 7p.m.

The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, $170, 7p.m.

49th Elmira Maple Syrup Festival Elmira, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., FREE

Mar. 23

Apr. 19-21

Passion for Fashion “Women Helping Women” Benjamin’s Restaurant & Inn, $70, 6p.m.

Workshop: Lace Knitting Waterloo Region Museum, $20, 9:30a.m.

How and Why to get a Literary Agent Waterloo Community Arts Centre, $20, 2p.m.

Earth Fire Light Gala Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, $100, 7:30p.m.

Mar. 21

Apr. 6

Introduction to Handbuilding with Monica Adamo

Mar. 28

COMMUNITY

Mar. 15

‘Til Mar. 16

23

Workshop: Knitting Skills – Cables Waterloo Region Museum, $20, 9:30a.m.

Spring Pottery Sale Waterloo Recreational Complex, 19 @ 1p.m., 20 @ 10a.m., 21 @ 12p.m.

‘Til Apr. 28 Old Masters KW|AG, gallery hours

Sustainable Waterloo Region’s 4th Annual

Evening of Recognition Join us as we release our 2012 Report and celebrate the sustainability accomplishments of an expanding network of organizations in Waterloo Region.

Register online at www.sustainablewaterlooregion.ca/register

Date: Thursday April 18, 2013 Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm Location: The Waterloo Inn, Viennese Ballroom, 475 King Street North, Waterloo

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