THE STEW Magazine 05-11

May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 1

ISSUE 2.5 | MAY 2011

the rebirth issue Inside: Growing Local Page 4 Local Paranormal Group investigates Page 7 WL Studio Theatre Closes its Season Page 21

PAGE 2 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

If you don’t like mothers, you’re a terrible person.

It’s as simple as that.

May 8: A celebration of motherhood

BY JULI HARLAND THE STEW MAGAZINE

On the Cover: “Spring is sprung Da grass is riz I wonder where dem boidies iz Da little boids is on da wing Ain’t dat absoid Da little wings is on da boid” As we put our May issue to press, it finally seems as if spring is in the air after an unseasonably long winter.

And we’re all pretty happy to see it arrive here at Stew HQ. And while we’ve also been waiting for our own springtime arrival to show her face (read: new baby), she seems intent on not arriving until she is past deadline, as any newspaper baby should be.

May 8 marks Mother’s Day in Canada this year.

In most religions we were spawned from one mother; the beginning, the Alpha, the first maternal symbol. On one hand, there is Eve, meaning ‘living one’ or ‘life’, mother of all mankind – depending on who you talk to; she is the original mother, created by God himself as the perfect parent for man kind.

Or, on the flip side, Mother Earth. The birthplace of all things created. The arms which hold us in her grasp when we curl on the green grass. The subject of ohso-many bumper stickers, and the feature of neo-pagan goddess worship. “Gaia”, earth, the symbolic meeting of the witch, the virgin, and the crone.

In day-to-day life a mother is one who tends to bumps and bruises, who is the house doctor, chauffeur, mediator, teacher, chef, seamstress, and mentor. She gives up her way of life to create a nurturing environment for her children.

In all honesty she may not be the one who bore you, she may not be the one who’s home you spent your early years in. You may have one mother in your life. These days you could have a few. And, unfortunately, there are those who have none.

It is in celebration of the women who have helped shape our lives that Mother’s Day came into existence.

The actual root of Mother’s Day is a hard one to peg down. It seems that throughout history there has been some celebration or another that honors the life-bearers. From the ancient Greek mother-worship customs and the festival of Cybele

-- a great mother of Greek gods -- to the European liturgical-based Mothering Sunday observance which was originally formed to honor the Virgin Mary and the parishioners’ ‘mother’ or ‘home’ church.

The formal North American tradition had its official start back in 1870 when Julie Ward rallied for the ‘Mother’s Day Proclamation’ in the States as a

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pacifist reaction to war.

By the turn of the 20th century many countries had adopted the tradition of a day to celebrate their moms. Because, let’s face it, moms are everywhere. The official dates are different depending on where you are in the world, whether or not there was already a day for mothers, and what other traditional day it may have been combined with. But it is safe to say that most

countries have a day where mom reigns supreme.

Here in Canada, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. The only rule of the day is to celebrate your mom, however that looks in your family. What will you be doing for Mother’s Day this year? Whatever it is, it is sure to be perfect -- after all, she is the woman who helped to make you who you are today.

May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 3

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 24 pgs Servings Per Container 1 Amount Per Serving

Calories 0 % Daily Value* Babies On everyone’s mind, but she pretty much refuses to show up We figure as a newspaper baby, she won’t show up until after deadline Spring Has finally come; No offense, winter, but seeya!

Growing Local Page 4

Ingredients (or things that helped us get through the last month): Wondering when the baby will arrive; wondering when the baby will arrive; wondering when the baby will arrive; briefly thinking that the baby was about to arrive, but no, actually, it’s not quite time yet; returning to wondering when the baby will arrive; let’s just be honest with each other, we’ve spent a lot of time this month thinking about the baby, so let’s just leave that and move on; tasting and bottling our first batch of U-brew wine; starting our first batch of U-brew beer (a tasty dark lager, if you’re curious); finally seeing the damn snow disappear; sparking up the fire-pit for an outdoor barbecue for the first time this year; enjoying the look of the yard after getting all the leaves raked up; cleaning out the storage room of all the old junk so we now have room for all the other junk that didn’t fit in the storage room before; sleep, or at least as much as possible; coffee mochas; piles and piles of pillows; many doctor visits and chats with the doula; the teenager’s birthday and the corresponding ice cream cake; Plants vs Zombies on the DS; a renewed obsession with crocheting; being able to enjoy snow-free walks around Scout Island; the love, care and understanding of our family, friends, and many supporters; sunbeams; and cheese, lots and lots of cheese.

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It’s food.

For thought.

Fitness Challenge Complete Page 17

Marijuana Celebration hits Vancouver Page 18

WL Studio Theatre closes season Page 21

MAGAZINE

PAGE 4 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

Juli has never been able to successfully keep a houseplant without killing it one way or another

GROWING

LOCAL

BY JULI HARLAND THE STEW MAGAZINE

Food. None of us can live without it.

It nourishes. It comforts. It energizes. It provides the necessary components for life itself.

We need it as much as we need air. But how much thought do we put into this vital part of living?

The options for food are endless. TV stations are dedicated to it. Commercials barrage us with images of faster, easier, and, by their standards, ‘better’ foods for Joe Public to consume. But is convenience really helping us?.

Trouble is, we live in a busy world. Who has the time to eat food that is good for you?

Turns out it is easier than you think. Thanks to trends like farmer’s markets, organic markets, and the 100 Mile Diet, as well as more social awareness of the world we live in, real whole food is back on the forefront and it isn’t in the form of TV dinners.

“People are really wanting food. There are so many younger people coming back [to the Cariboo] and starting families,” says local Road’s End Farm owner and operator Terri Smith. “A lot of my friends are wanting to feed their families better. And with all the social media and movies and documentaries people are starting to notice the cost of food on the environment. People think we have a cheap food system, but it is actually quite expensive on the environment. The world is becoming a really unhealthy place and people are starting to notice.”

The result of the current trend? A return to a more natural, and a more local, way of eating. Something, says local Food Policy Council and Interior Health Nutritionist Tatjana Bates, that is good for not only people’s health, but for the community.

“It is a trend,” says Bates, “but we need to think of it as more of a way of life. It is not a trend to protect our food supply and support our farmers. Supporting our local economy and supporting local farmers keeps your money in the community.

Instead of buying staples that travel thousands and thousands of miles for a higher price, buying locally keeps costs down and is just better.”

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In celebration of Cariboo farmers

May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 5

Here, in the Cariboo, the support for local growers and farmers, and the movement to natural living, is creating an ever-growing network of locally grown foods by farmers and producers that are focused on back-to-basic traditions and practices. Outlets like the yearold Cariboo Grower’s storefront which provides farmers and growers a yearround vending space for their goods and the many farmer’s markets throughout the Cariboo-Chilcotin, including a new Saturday group starting in Williams Lake this June, and even local restaurants that base their goodies on either locally grown or organic foods, ensure that locals have plenty of options for good eating all year round.

It seems that people are more and more interested in what they are putting into their bodies. Food has become more than what you stuff in your face, it is the nourishment that keeps you healthy and vibrant. That’s where the local farmers and growers come in and make it easier for people to experience fresh farm foods.

Smith and her partner, Chris Robinson, decided to make the move to fulltime bio-dynamic farming in 2008, after many years of city living in Vancouver and Victoria working the daily grind.

“We wanted to be able to have what we did in the day contribute to our daily needs rather than have it make no sense,” Terri explained. So the two packed up, did some research, and moved on up to Smith’s family property outside of 150 Mile House and started what would be a labour of love and food with Road’s End Farm.

“It is 80 acres, solar powered, and it’s at the end of 15 km of dirt road. We got out there and roto-tilled half an acre and cared for it and manured it, and now we’re up to an acre of garden and we have a 20x48 foot green house outside and we’ve got a greenhouse hooked up to the house for seeding and propagation,” says Smith. “It’s not easy.

“Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, and more. You never know what the day will hold. Our first year the road washed out and we didn’t have access for 22 days. You really have to want to live like that. And we do. Things can be so hard, but every day I can’t believe I get to be here.”

Smith wasn’t always a green thumb. In fact, she says, that farming was a far cry from what she had originally envisioned for herself. With a degree in literature and an art diploma, her original plan was teaching; farming wasn’t anywhere on the agenda. It was the awareness of the effects of society on the environment and a realization that, for her, there didn’t seem to be much point in working hard so that she could live on sub-standard goods just so she could work harder, that made her explore other options.

“I was so scared about the move.

I was where houseplants went to die.

It was scary. We spent a lot of time in

gardens on the island. We went to one in Nanaimo where we planned to stay for a couple of weeks, and we ended up staying for two months. It was a Bio-Dynamic farm, as are we,” Smith recalled.

That farm helped to trigger the desire to make a difference in their own lives through producing foods in ways that are good for the planet, great eating, while maybe even trying to earn a bit of a living while they were at it.

“It is like a step further than organic.

The goal is that somewhere down the road only 10% of your inputs are coming from off the farm. So it is a whole mixed farm. It is the opposite of industrial farming where they separate the animals from the plants. Then you have a fertilizer problem and a waste problem. So this is combining that.

“You also plant by the moon, which actually makes your planting schedule for you. It actually really does make a difference. There is also homeopathic preparations that you are using to help your soil and your compost to make up for the fact that nutrients are leaving your farm when you sell your vegetables.”

The decision turned out to be the right one for the Road’s End team. Currently on only their third growing season, they have managed to create a name for themselves, produce bountiful crops, and even incorporate a shareholder’s box-a-week program providing weekly produce in season, while maintaining a presence at the local annual Farmer’s Markets and the Cariboo Grower’s Coop.

“It’s not like you make a ton of money farming, but you get to eat. We always have food, and you get to live in a beautiful place, and you have satisfaction that what you’re doing is for you and the land and the community. This is my retirement plan. At least I’ll have food,” Smith laughs. “Strangely enough, it all works out.”

And the Road’s End Farm is only one example of the dozens of producers in the Cariboo region.

“There are so many great farmers and producers in our area,” says Bates. “We are really proud of our community and how much they are embracing eating local and growing their own foods.”

According to Bates the community response to venues like the Cariboo Grower’s Co-op and the Farmer’s Markets couldn’t be better.

“We see the same customers every week coming in and asking how we’re doing and supporting us. It’s been beautiful. It is good to have a venue for the local farmers and for the community. Even the city has been very supportive. It’s been great. We’re very pleased to be able to support our farmers and producers.”

And with gas prices being what they are these days, locally grown food is becoming more and more cost effective, also, as imports are raising their prices due to costs of goods sold.

WHERE PEOPLE COME

FIRST. Retail Support Manager Tammy Bremner has been a staple at Canadian Tire for nine years now.

“I’ve managed customer service, housewares, sports, seasonal. I’ve always dealt with the people side of things. It used to be I did people and product, now it’s just people. It’s good. Never a dull moment,” she says.

“The people here keep me around. It’s like another extended family.”

Born and raised in Williams Lake, Tammy certainly is no stranger to extended family. “I have five brothers and one sister, and they are all here. It keeps me busy,” she says. “I think I spend most of my free time just hanging out with friends and family. We do a lot together.”

And if you think that simply doing stuff with friends and family isn’t terribly exciting, you’d be wrong. Tammy is looking forward to a little bit of excitement with her boyfriend very soon.

“We just bought a Harley, so this summer we are going to go cruising,” she says. “We’re going to go and do the Sturgis North (Motorcycle Rally and Music Festival) in July. And then we’re going to go to Alberta. I’ve never been to Sturgis, but there are some people from work who have gone and I saw some some pictures... it was like “Holy Freak!” It is going to be a good time! This will be a whole new adventure. I am excited and a little scared. But it will be good. I’m looking forward to it.”

And everyone at the shop wishes her the coolest of adventures and can’t wait to see her pictures when she returns. Because that’s just how families are.

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PAGE 6 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

We accosted Terri Smith for this photo while she was volunteering at the Station House Gallery. We brought the bough; she is normally surrounded by seedlings.

“There is such a difference between stuff you buy in the grocery store and the stuff you grow on the farms. It’s not just a vehicle for salad dressing, it has taste and it’s vibrant,” says Smith. With the amount of people that swarm the local food venues, that isn’t hard to believe.

And with a strong movement to back to basics living, growing and producing, the supply is better than ever.

To get your hands on good wholesome locally grown goods it is as easy as a visit to one of the local Co-op groups, such as the Cariboo Growers, or hitting up the Farmer’s Markets when they open up for the season, or, for the do-it-yourselfers, even busting out your gloves and shovel and prepping a piece of your own back yard.

In Williams Lake, May 6 marks the first Friday Farmer’s Market in Boitanio Park, sponsored, in part, by the City of Wil-

liams Lake and the CRD. June 11 is the official start of the Saturday Farmer’s Market at Hugh Gardener Park at City Hall where the focus will be on not only foods and artisans, but family entertainment as well. And of course the Cariboo Growers Co-op is open year round on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays on the corner of Third and Oliver Street in Williams Lake.

In 100 Mile House there is the South Cariboo Farmer’s Market open from the first Friday in May until the last Friday in September at the Red Coach Inn parking lot on Highway 97.

And in Quesnel you can stop by the North Cariboo Grower’s Co-Op at 1218 Cariboo Highway, or check out the Quesnel Farmer’s Market every Saturday starting May 7 and running through to October at the Helen Dixon Center grounds on the corner of Kinchant and Carson, downtown.

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May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 7

The Interior Paranormal Association is substantially better geared than we Stew-folk were when we headed to Barkerville for our ghost-hunting trip

Local paranormal group investigates in Kamloops school

BY TODD SULLIVAN THE STEW MAGAZINE

The Interior Paranormal Association might be a relatively new organization, but they’ve certainly wasted no time getting things rolling.

After tackling a few low-key, local investigations, group founder Shelby Green and investigator Merv Cahoose took to Kamloops to investigate reports of paranormal activity at a school there.

The two of them worked alongside members of Northern Paranormal Investigations, which provided this new group with a fantastic learning experience.

“I’ve watched numerous ghost hunting shows, you name it,” says Cahoose, “and this would be the closest I’ve ever come to actually being on an actual investigation. And just to see how everything is put together, Darryl was very, very, very knowledgeable on that, and was willing to share, and I really enjoyed being in his company. Whatever questions we had he always answered them.”

Darryl Pearson is the founder of NPI and was an inspiration to Green. “He is why I got into the paranormal field,” she explains.

“Darryl is fantastic.”

Along with Pearson came Nikki Peterson, Connie Seeliger, Holly Fynn, and Lisa C.

ANYBODY THERE?  Merv Cahoose investigates with an EMF Meter.

The local group still has more than a hundred hours of audio and video recordings from the investigation in Kamloops to sift through before they’ll be done -obviously a time-consuming process for a volunteer group that’s only able to dedicate a portion of their time to these investigations.

“Our evidence that we got won’t be posted on the site for another few weeks,” Green says with a laugh.

But already they’ve made some interesting discoveries.

While using their very basic EVP meter, Green noticed the device going off even when there shouldn’t have been anything around.

“It was going off in the middle of nowhere,” she says, “so I sat down at the top of the stairs in front of the third floor doors and I heard a whistle. And I asked Merv or Nikki if they whistled, if anybody

whistled, or if they heard a whistle. And they said no, but it sounded like it came from on the third floor, from behind the doors. And no one was allowed on there, so no one was on the third floor. And that actually got recorded, I found it on the recorder.”

Cahoose encountered a few mysterious happenings of his own.

“Myself and Holly, another member of the team, we were down on the bottom floor, the main floor, we were coming down the stairs, we were checking every floor. We got down to the main floor and then Holly was adjusting her camera.

At this point it was still running, I think her IR light sort of blinked off and on and she was fiddling with it, and I looked over down the hall, and there was a blue light flickering. There was a blue light right at the very end of the hall. I thought somebody was using a camera or something, but there was nobody. There was no windows down in that area at all.”

And that wasn’t the first time a light like that had been spotted in the area.

“One of the staff members did mention to me,” Cahoose explains, “later on when we were just wrapping up, that he was walking down the hall and heard

footsteps right behind him, following him down the hall, and he kind of got scared at this point and said, I’m just going to confront this thing, and turned around to see what it was. And there was a blue light.”

The Interior Paranormal Association is made up entirely of volunteers who are dedicated to investigating the paranornal. They do not charge for their time, their interest is simply in finding

the truth.

“We’re about finding answers,” says Green, who says that they’re also always looking for new members, whether skeptics or believers.

If you’ve got something ghostly you’d like the Interior Paranormal Association to check out, or if you’d just like more information about the group, you can visit their web site at interiorparanormal.com.

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PAGE 8 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

With spring comes rebirth (and just plain birth) We’re waiting on our new arrival here at The Stew HQ

BY TODD SULLIVAN THE STEW MAGAZINE

By the time you read this, we’ll be well into spring. At least that’s the hope.

It’s hard to say for sure if it’ll happen that way. As I write this it’s only been two days since the last snowfall, so it’s entirely possible that spring might wait until June or July or, heck,

even 2012 before it arrives.

They say that April showers bring May flowers, but I’m not sure what April snowfall brings. Probably just discontent.

Still, our fingers are crossed that May will bring spring, and with it the rebirth that is the theme of this issue. It’s proven to be an easy topic for us to get our heads

around. With a baby on the way for me and Juli, new life is a subject that’s very much on our minds right now (and a subject that might very well be in our hands by the time you read this – be sure to follow The Stew Magazine on Facebook if you want to keep up to date on baby-arrival news).

It is, admittedly, not entirely a rebirth for me, as this will be my first attempt at child-making, but this will be Juli’s third time at bat, after taking a lengthy retirement period following children numbers one

and two. I’m sure she’s got enough ‘rebirth’ going through her for the both of us.

Of course this magazine itself has been a sort of rebirth for us. Creating The Stew has given us the chance to do the sort of work we’ve always enjoyed doing in a completely new way. And, if our first eight months are any indicator, a way that our readers and supporters will enjoy as much as we do.

Not that there’s a whole lot of difference between who we are as individuals and who we

are as magazine people.

There doesn’t seem to be any dividing line between those two things – this is just who we are; this is just what we do And instead of feeling overwhelmed by it all, instead it feels perfectly normal and natural. Like it shouldn’t be any other way.

And once the baby comes along, I’m sure the lines will blur even more. After all, I’m sure we’ll be putting the new arrival to work just as soon as she’s old enough to hold onto a pen. todd@thestew.ca

SPEAK

Call or Fax us: (778) 412-2600 Email us: letters@thestew.ca Find us on the web at http://www.thestew.ca or Friend us on Facebook!

Spring brings newness and wonder. Even to voles Can’t wait for barbecues, summer festivals, and, of course, babies

BY JULI HARLAND THE STEW MAGAZINE

As I sit here trying to think about our “Rebirth” issue, I am distracted by our own impending birth. Compounded, of course, by the intermittent ‘prelabour’ contractions that I have been getting for what seems like forever now (In earnest, it has really only been picking up for a number of days

after a good few weeks of ‘practice’ contractions — but I digress).

Spring is full of things coming alive. I can finally see the grass on my lawn again. The lake is nicely thawed out and is busy soaking up the sun for later-in-the-season swimming and fishing.

The cats are starting to hunt voles, bringing them up to the patio as offerings (okay, not so beautiful, but at least we

don’t have a vole problem). We’ve officially brought out the fire pit and cooked our first dinner over the flames for this year. Oh yeah, and we’re waiting for our little person to make her way into the world any day now.

This year I am certainly feeling the newness of the season more than I have in a number of years. And it is good.

And of course, for me, Spring is also the time to make new plans. To plot out the year ahead. To think about how I want to spend my summer.

And I have many plans.

Hopefully I’ll even get around to most of them.

Festival season is almost upon us and there is so

much I want to see and do in the Cariboo and beyond this year. Babies are portable, right?

And last, but most certainly not least, Spring marks the time when all the green gardeny goodness starts to make its appearance (by local farmers’ hands, not my own — I still kill things). I can’t wait to meander around the Farmers’ Market and check out the new offerings. There is something magical about local kale.

With butter. And garlic.

Oh, and some chives, maybe in a stir-fry with some local chicken and peppers...

Again, I digress.

Whatever the newness of the Spring means

to you, be sure to take the time to embrace it.

This is the Cariboo after all, and our Spring only lasts for so long before the heat of the summer is upon us and it is all about the lake and barbecues.

Stop and notice the blooming buds on the trees. Check out the Farmers’ Market’s goodies when they open their gates this month. Watch the robins as they find new corners to nest and lay their eggs in. And check out all these damn babies being born right now.

By the time you get your hands on this, hopefully ours will be one of them. juli@thestew.ca

May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 9

Question of the Month

Proper filing may be one of the least entertaining, while also being one of the most important, things you can spend your time on

Organize your paperwork with a basic filing system I know, most people are talking about spring cleaning and planting gardens at this time of year, but I march to a different drum. I am here to tell you this month how to wrangle your filing, and get it organized. I know, it’s not a fun topic, but without getting these things together your future may be more bleak than you could know.

I think the hardest part about getting finances in order for anyone is the bills, and how to create a filing system that works for you.

For awhile I gave up on filing things, the mound of bills and receipts just piled up, even got lost at times. I had them everywhere, but they had no organization, and when I needed to find something it took hours to locate it!

Personally it took me three days to organize our files, and I had to go through a lot of still-packed boxes to do it. I had to create new folders, but I was working off of the previous filing system I had originally started years ago. When I started, we had a joint chequing account, a mortgage, a student loan, natural gas, hydro, one medical file, and one entitled ‘work’ (which hubby’s and

Fine Frugality

By Angela Shephard my pay stubs, employment history, and the like went into), as well as one education folder. I bought a drop filing system and set it up in our computer desk drawer.

Now, we have filing for a lot more things, like our line of credit, our kids’ bank accounts, I had to make four files for medical to keep track of any and all prescriptions, there had to be two separate pay stub files for hubby and me, four different education files for all of us, a file for our cat’s adoption and vet visits, a file for taxes (each year), and files for tax receipts for the current year, and the following year (so I no longer need to go searching for all the medical, dental, and other tax receipts at tax time), a leisure file for the things we pay to be involved in, a file for rent (which includes our

MEME OF THE MONTH MEME [meem] noun An element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means an image, video, etc. that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another

rental agreement along with rent receipts), among other things.

The best place to start your files would be with a rent / mortgage folder, as that should be your highest monthly cost, and having the agreement and your receipts of payment within easy reach is always a good plan. Next I would go with your natural gas and hydro, as these make your home more comfortable. Follow those with your phone bill folder, and you’ll have a great start!

Another good idea for your filing system might be to have a folder for your bills to be paid. Instead of putting the bills into their own folder, you leave them in the bill paying folder until they are paid. Once the bill is paid, write on it the date, the cheque number and amount

paid onto the bill (if you do online banking, don’t forget your reference number!). After that is done, then you put it into it’s appointed folder. I find this system to work well, because then you know that the bills are paid, and that in your files you have the proof if something goes awry and you are told you never paid it.

I know it seems complicated, but you can always tailor it to you and your family’s needs. It does not cost a lot to start a filing system, you can go to the local dollar store to buy file folders.

You will need a container to organize the folders in, a box, drawer, all that matters is that the folders fit in it with your documents. You can spend as little or as much as you like on your filing system, the most important thing is to actually put it to good use!

There are some shows on TV that can show you how set up a filing system, as well as many web sites that cover this topic. If my article leaves you with more questions than answers, feel free to email me or check out the web links on my blog at www.fine-frugality.blogspot. com. angela@thestew.ca

E

AZIN G A M

In your mind, what image best represents spring?

Send your answers to letters@thestew.ca

Todd Sullivan todd@thestew.ca publisher / editor-in-chief “I’m not sure if there’s any one thing that really does it, but the first visit to the fire-pit, the first night spent staring into the flickering embers, that always feels like the start of spring.”

Juli Harland juli@thestew.ca sales manager / executive editor “I am always excited when the lake is fully thawed out. To me that marks the start of spring. That and the swans, which never cease to amaze me when they show up in Williams Lake.”

Angela Shephard angela@thestew.ca fine frugality (crafters beat)

Jamie Horsely tonesoup@thestew.ca tone soup (music beat) “Why, egg-laying rabbits and zombies with thorny crowns, of course!”

Will Meeks whereswally@thestew.ca where’s wally (travel beat)

Carol Davidson stir@thestew.ca stir (health beat) “My first sign of spring is the appearance of robins.

Growing up in Prince George they were the first birds to arrive after the long winters. Spring will not start unless they show up, I am convinced of it.”

Torrey Owen torrey@thestew.ca vancouver seen (city beat)

TL;DR. Originated at: No one really knows for sure If you’ve spent any time on the Internet in the last few years, you’ve probably seen TL;DR. But maybe you didn’t know what it meant.

The translations is surprisingly simple. TL;DR (also known as Teel Deer) translates to ‘Too Long, Did Not Read’.

This was originally used as a response in online forums, following someone’s post of a wall-of-text. When someone couldn’t be bothered to dig through all those words, they’d simply reply with a ‘TL;DR’. Its use has expanded a bit recently, being used by those same posters with the walls-of-text offering a shorter, more concise, almost-Cliffs-Notes version of their original post following the ‘TL;DR’ tag.

Natasha Stukl hairdooz@telus.net beautydooz (health & beauty beat) “A renewal, birth, lots of babies being born. Flowers blooming! Everything coming alive again. When I was young, every spring we would have a new miniature horse or two born.”

Craig Smith aboutface@wlake.com photography 101 (photo beat)

THE STEW Magazine is an independently owned and operated monthly arts and lifestyle magazine published in the Cariboo Chilcotin. All information contained in this magazine is correct, to our best knowledge, as of press time. Opinions expressed by correspondents and contributors are not necessarily those of THE STEW or its employees. We reserve the right to edit letters to the editor for grammar, punctuation, content, or length. All letters must be signed by the author. THE STEW Magazine accepts no responsibility for correctness beyond the amount paid for that portion of advertising space occupied by the incorrect item. We reserve the right to refuse any advertising or editorials submission which we believe to be inconsistent with the philosophy of this publication.

The contents of this publication are copyright The Stew Magazine 2011.

PAGE 10 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

Speaking of the Royal Wedding, how many or our readers hit the tube at 1:00 a.m. to check out those nuptials? Shoot us an email at letters@thestew.ca if you did, and tell us why.

The stresses (and occasional joys) of planning a wedding Columnists prepares a wedding to rival the royals’ This May will be my last month as a single woman. I’m finally gettin’ hitched!

The caterer, florist, photographer, venue, and DJ, are all booked. I’ve bought the dress of my dreams.

And I have just Googled ‘I have wedding stress.’

Everyone keeps reminding me that wedding planning should be fun and exciting, and that

my wedding day will be a wonderful, joyous occasion. I keep hearing that it will be the start of our new life together.

And I am excited, don’t get me wrong, because when it’s over, I will be able to get back to my typical laid-back self. My wedding To-Do List is somewhere among my thirty-or-so bridal magazines, piles of papers, and

Find us at our downtown Williams Lake location and receive

15% OFF regular priced items for the month of May

Just say THE STEW sent you!

Beautydooz

By Natasha Stukl other junk.

I have found I like to do the fun, frivolous, timewasting stuff, like searching online for “wedding dresses for large dogs.” Organization and motivation have gone out the window -- goodbye! I agree there’s been a few crazy and just plain off-the-wall issues that have come up lately.

I’ve been contemplating bringing up the subject of abstinence (or for those of you not familiar with that word….NO SEX) before the wedding. Just for a

little while. I do applaud those of you that have waited, what a great thing!

My plan was to take a couple months off prewedding, but now it’s more like a couple of weeks! It would be like the first time all over again!

However, at such a stressful time, such as while wedding planning, it would be great to have a natural way to treat insomnia, anxiety and stress.

I think I’ll just nix the NO SEX idea.

Another question I

would like to ask: Do other brides have accessory obsessions? Like jewelry, head-pieces, shoes, or anything like that? I should be ashamed, but can’t help it. I am having the hardest time sticking with one hair accessory. I am looking for the ‘perfect’ piece. Not too flashy, not too plain, not too pearly, not too colorful, not too big, not too small, not too cheap and not too expensive. Does that even make sense?

I even considered making my own; ordering all the supplies off Etsy.com, and getting crafty! Do I really have time for that?

I have already ordered a specialty vintage tiara, Edward Berger veil and picked up a fancy little white embroidered headband! I know I can’t wear them all.

Someone told me that every few weeks a new wedding obsession will

come along, and it’s true.

I probably spent a total of 20 hours a week, for about three or maybe even four weeks looking for bridal shoes online. I think I would call that a little manic.

Wedding envy is another term I’ve become very close with.This greeneyed-monster has made a grand entrance! When I first learned of the engagement of Kate Middleton and Prince William, and that The Royal Wedding was planned for the spring… yes of course I was happy for them!

What a fairytale wedding that will be!

Then something in my head clicked. ”It better not be on May 28! I don’t want people at MY wedding thinking about The Royal Wedding! That is MY day and MY day only!”

Hello Bridezilla! hairdooz@telus.net

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May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 11 TODD SULLIVAN PHOTO

A LITTLE COLOUR FOR SPRING  The old Delainey’s building in Williams Lake got a splash of colour last month, with the addition of a mural that stretched down the side and around the back. The project was spearheaded by Mary Forbes, whose Dandilion Living opens in the building this month.

Play Your guide to where to go and what to do for the month of May

PAGE 12 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

Juli used to sing as the opening act for a troop of Elvis impersonators in Vancouver.

May 1 to May 31 at the Quesnel Art Gallery: “Come What May”, another visual feast of patterns and colours from the members of the Quesnel Quilters Guild.

Sponsored by: Expressions by Ewe. May 1 to May 14 at the Parkside Art Gallery in 100 Mile House: ArtsFest 2011 - a regional art show hosted by “CIRAC” (Central Interior Region Arts Council); serves artists from the Central Interior Region. The Parkside Art Gallery is staffed by volunteers, hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4pm, and Saturday from 12 noon to 4pm.

May 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 at the Wee Chippie Restaurant in Quesnel: The Quesnel Singles Social Group invites you to join them for FUN social outings; including..... Dancing, Dinners, Hiking. Theatre, Barbecues, Community Events etc. We meet every Tuesday, 7 PM at the Wee Chippie Restaurant, 490 Carson Ave., to plan out future events; have coffee and chat. New to town?

Would you like to meet some new folks? You do not have to be Single to join us. (All Welcome) For more info...visit our website at www.qssg.org and check out our New

Video Gallery. QSSG - “Where new friends become good friends!”

May 6, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Gecko Tree Cafe in Williams Lake: Jesse Lebourdais in Concert. Carving out a name for himself in the Vancouver Punk Rock scene as lead singer/guitar player for the melodic/hardcore band Cambridge, Jesse is no stranger to letting his opinions and his voice be heard. Mixing melody, social politics, gravitas and honesty into a raw expression, his solo acoustic performance is no different. Combining traditional Folk and Bluegrass styles with Punk Rock ethics and passion, the result is a sound all to his own, but you can sing along. Contact the Gecko Tree at 250-398-8983 or stop on by for tickets/ more information.

May 6 to May 28 at the Station House Gallery in Williams Lake: Martha Cloudesly from Lac La Hache will be bringing her “From Basketmaker to Artist” to the Gallery - sponsored by Westline Harvesting, on the main floor. Upstairs brings an opportunity to buy and sell original artwork.

“Middleman” allows the Gallery to act as middleman to sell your pieces.

Contact the Station House Gallery for more

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ROYAL ARRIVALS  Miss Rodeo Canada 2011 Kezia Morrison and Miss Rodeo Canada Princess 2011 Kirsten Braumandl were on hand for this year’s Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo.

May 6 to May 8 at the Quesnel Arena: The Legion Home and Auto “Show Off ” Show. Come and see what is going on in the world of home building and decor as well as the wild world of automobiles! Sponsored by the Quesnel Legion.

For more information please call 250-992-6819 or 250-992-5875.

May 6 and 7 from 7:30pm to 10pm in Horsefly: The Horsefly Follies are hosting a musical production “Follywood in the 70s”. Tickets are available at Clarkes Store May 6,7,13 and 14 at the Kersley Hall: The Kersley Players Present a dinner theatre production of “Sweet Song Farewell”, a tale of Lust, Love, and Bad Actors in the Cariboo Gold Rush. May 12 is a performance only production. Dinner theatre tickets are $25, performance only tickets are $10. Tickets available at The Kersley General Store and Cariboo Propane.

May 7 at 6:00pm at the Billy Barker Showroom in Quesnel: Elvis Elite!

Doors at 6:00pm, show starts at 7:30pm. Come and spend the evening with the King. Tickets are $25 and are available at

the Billy Barker Hotel.

May 7 at the Quesnel

and District Museum: Friends of the Museum Booksale. Come and

browse the books while helping to support the museum.

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392-7599

May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 13

Though a big part of Todd’s workout plan was time on the bike, it is the party at Peel Out that is more appealing

May 8, 8:30 to 11:30am at the Save On Foods parking lot in Williams Lake: Lions/ Lioness will be hosting a FREE Pancake Breakfast for all mothers. Come on out and be treated.

May 8 to May 11 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at the South Cariboo Recreation Center in 100 Mile House.

Cariboo Idol Auditions.

Auditions begin on May 8th and run until the 10th from 6: pm until 9: pm (Please do not wait until the last minute to audition.) Each person who auditions will have two minutes to present their vocal abilities to a panel of five local judges. Each performer will be allowed the accompaniment of a piano or an acoustic guitar. (Guitars and piano will be available.)

Entrants who receive a call back will have three minutes to sing accompanied by either a piano, acoustic guitar, or back tracks. (All call backs will be on Wednesday May 11 2011, unless the judges want to call back an

entrant sooner.) Entrants will be contacted at the phone number on their entry form if they are to return for the call backs. (Back tracks must be in MP3 or Wave format.)

The auditioning and call backs will continue until the 5 local judges have narrowed the competition down to ten finalists. (The Official 2011 SCI Idol Finalists will be announced on May 12th 2011.

The South Cariboo Idol 2011 contest will be judged from start to finish by these same five local judges. (There will be no public voting.)

May 9 at the Barkerville Playhouse: The Theatre Royal opens their doors for the season with their Spring Show!. For more information on Barkerville or the show please call 1-888-994-3332 or check out the website at www.barkerville.ca May 10 at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Center in Williams Lake: Move for Health Day! Make some time to come down and learn

about staying active and healthy in a busy world while having fun with friends!

May 13 to 15 at the Cariboo Memorial Complex in Williams Lake: The Rotary Club of Williams Lake presents their annual Home & Trade Show! Show runs 5:00pm - 9:00pm on Friday, 10:00am - 6:00pm on Saturday and 10:00am - 4:00pm on Sunday. Admission to the show is only $2.00 and proceeds will go to Charity. Displays include Home Building and Decor, Revovations, Gardening, Recreation and Entertainment.

May 21 and 22 in Williams Lake: PEEL OUT! The Peel Out is a two day bike event that includes four separate bike contests. Saturday includes the second annual Peel Out Downhill event, followed by a dirt-cross race at the Boitanio Bike Park with live music and BBQ. Saturday night there will be live music and one heck of a party.

Then on to Sunday which will bring a super-D event on Westside Trail Network, followed by the first ever jump jam back at Boitanio Park.

For more information on the event see www.mountainbikingbc.ca or visit Red Shreds to register.

May 18 at 6:30pm at the Billy Barker Showroom: Yuk Yuks International Stand Up Comedy. Doors at 6:30, show

TH

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May 21 to the 23 in Likely: The Annual Quesnel Lake Fishing Derby is back!

Events will be held over the Victoria Long weekend at the Cedar Creek Campground.

For more information please call 250-790-2207.

May 22 at 9:00am at the Cottonwood House: Goldrush Relay. Runners for the Goldrush relay will be running on the original Cariboo Wagon Road as they check in at Cottonwood house from approximately 9-10 am.

May 23 starting at 11:00am at the Cottonwood House: Victoria Day Brunch, Gather your friends and family and join us for the Victoria Day Brunch. This is the first major event of the season at Cottonwood house.

May 23 at Wake Up Jake Restaurant in Barkerville: Victoria Day Afternoon Tea. Join “Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort”, in honour of the Queen’s birthday.

GREY F

X O

WESTERN

May 20 to May 22 at the Alex Fraser Park in Quesnel: High School Rodeo. Come cheer on tomorrow’s rodeo stars! For more information please call 250-249-5170

May 14 at the South Cariboo Recreation Center in 100 Mile House: A kick-off to Western Week with the “Fab Fourever” Beatles Tribute with the South Cariboo Idol 2011 performing during intermission.

FANNY’S RESTAURANT CHINESE

starts at 7:30 pm. This is the last show until the Fall. Tickets are $10 and are available at the Billy Barker Hotel.

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Monday 4pm - 11pm

Tuesday 4pm - 11pm

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Thursday 4pm - 11pm

Steak & Wing Night 12 oz New York Steak $12.95 Deep Fried Chicken Wings 15¢ ea

Budweiser & Sparerib Night Salt & Pepper Spareribs $3.95 Budweiser Specials

Sunday 4pm - 9pm

At William’s Inn, 55 6th Ave. South, Williams Lake, B.C.

Cider & Shrimp Night Steamed Shrimp 10¢ ea Cider Specials

392-2110

PAGE 14 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

May 25 is Stew Night at the Red Dog -- join us there!

Don’t miss Stew Night May 27 from 9:00pm to 3:00am at the Longhouse in Williams Lake: Rave the Roof! DJs Charles Heinstein ( Jordan Charleyboy) (Dubstep/Electro/ Breakbeat) from 9:00pm-11:00pm, Xander (Alex Duquette) (Dubstep/Grime/ Bassline/Drum n Bass) 11:00pm1:00am, and Dj 6ix ( Lynden Grosso) (Moombahton/Electro/Glitch/Dubstep) 1:00 am-3:00am will throw down the beats while MC’s Young Catalyst, and Cold Hands (Louis Butterfiled) keep the party hopping. Open to ages 15+. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door and can be purchased from any of the DJs or MCs. Check the Facebook event page for more info.

Here at The Stew, we like to have fun, and we like it even more when you can have fun with us.

That’s why we’ve gotten together with our friends at the Red Dog Pub and Sight & Sound Audiotronic to bring you STEW NIGHT. What is STEW NIGHT? It’s an Open Mike night, where you can come and show off your skills, jam with your friends, or just hang out with us and enjoy the music of Brandon Fauteux and The Stew Crew.

All genres welcome!

May 28 from 11:00am to 11:00pm at LeBourdais Park in Quesnel: Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. Join the walk with friends and family to support those battling cancer, survivors and caretakers at this amazing annual event. For more information please contact Cathy Briggs at 250-747-2510.

We’re doing it every month starting April 20, 2011, and we’re sure it’s going to be a good time.

Come on, it’s The Stew.

How could it be anything else?

MAGAZINE

Just Because “I want it...

I need it... I like it...

...

I deserve it...”

Great ideas for gifts for mom!

May 28 and 29 in Williams Lake: The Laker’s Car Club and Poker Run. Come out and see the wild rides or take part in the quest for the perfect poker hand in the downtown businesses.

For more information on either event

contact Judy at the Williams Lake BIA at 250-398-5517.

May 28, 6:00pm to May 29, 6:00pm at the Williams Lake Secondary School: Relay for Life. Come out and bring your team to support and help cancer survivors, caretakers, friends and family.

May 29 at the Gecko Tree Cafe in Williams Lake: Cod Gone Wild. A Celtic Sunday Brunch Concert. Come for the food, stay for the show! Please call ahead to reserve your seat 250-3988983.

May 30 to June 4: The Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex in Williams Lake is hosting: Bike/Walk/Bus to School/Work Week. The folks at the Rec Center challenge everyone to take this time to put away the car keys and be proactive for not only the planet, but for your own health, and get out and explore other ways to get around. Bust out the bikes! Dust off the roller blades!

Dig out those cross-trainers and use people power to get where you want to go. Live a ways out? Jump on public transit or form or join a carpool. We can impact our planet with the choices we make.

Williams Lake Studio Theatre Society presents

Williams Lake

STUDIO THEATRE Society

T he Memory of Water

By Shelagh Stephenson Directed by Michael Rawluk May 11-14, 2011 & May 18-21, 2011 at the Studio Theatre at Glendale School

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MAGAZINE

570 AM (Cable 100.1 FM)

May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 15

When looking to clean your camera, just dunking it in the tub probably isn’t going to work that well.

StewSpots It’s spring cleaning time, so dust off your camera Looking to get your copy on the latest edition of THE STEW Magazine? We’re available for pickup in a variety of places around the Cariboo Chilcotin.

Please remember that this list is always evolving, and we’re always looking for new places that our magazine can call home, so if you know of someplace that you think should be a drop-off point for THE STEW, or if you own a business and you’d like to have a few copies of our magazine on your shelves, plus let us know.You can reach us by email at either todd@thestew. ca or juli@thestew.ca.

Locations listed in alphabetical order 100 MILE HOUSE 99 Mile Supermarket A&W Chartreuse Moose Chevron Dairy Queen Donex Higher Ground Natural Foods Lone Butte General Store Marcel’s Boulevard Cafe Nuthatch Book Store Pharmasave Safeway Save-On Foods Subway Tim Hortons Visitor Centre IN LAC LA HACHE Clancy’s Fast Trac Gas and Convenience Store IN WILLIAMS LAKE 7-Eleven A&W Alley Katz Bean Counter Canwest Propane CRD Library (Magazine & News Section) Dairy Queen Denny’s Restaurant Elaine’s Natural Foods The Gecko Tree Handi-Mart Hobbit House McDonald’s Mohawk Monster’s Pizza New World Cafe The Open Book The Overlander Hotel Red Shred’s Safeway Sandman Inn Save On Foods Shell Shopper’s Drug Mart Starbucks Station House Gallery Subway (Downtown) Subway (on the Highway) Tim Horton’s (Downtown) Tim Horton’s (on the Highway) Tourism Info Centre WLCBIA Zellers Restaurant IN HORSEFLY Clarke’s General Store Cornerhouse Cafe The Post Office RaceTrac Gas

Keeping your camera clean will improve your photos. Here’s a few basic maintenance tips Spring has sprung, the grass has riz. It looks like winter is finally over. Although it’s hard to tell as I still have snow on my yard and it’s almost May as I write this.

Not that I dislike winter; on the contrary, I’m a skier, so I’ve enjoyed it.

In keeping with my attempts to write according to the Stew’s theme, this month’s column is about new beginnings.

For a lot of people photography is primarily a summer activity. Other than Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s, their camera doesn’t get taken out a lot.

Once spring hits, the camera seems to be an extension of their hands.

So while we are spring cleaning our house and yard it’s also time to spring clean your camera.

There are two common types of cameras out there on the market at this time. The first one is a point-andshoot and the second is

called an SLR. An SLR is a camera that you can change the lenses on.

Both of these cameras are to be cleaned the same way.

When it comes to cleaning either camera you should have a cleaning kit. Your kit should contain Q-tips, a soft toothbrush, isopropyl alcohol or lens cleaner, a microfiber cloth, and a pencil eraser.

What I’m going to explain to you next is how I personally clean my cameras. After 22 years of doing this for a living I’ve come up with a system that works for me. First, find yourself a clean workspace, either a desk or kitchen table.

Next, I would suggest that you wash your hands, some people even go as far as wearing gloves, but it’s your choice.

Take off the camera strap. What I would do is take a slightly damp cloth and run it over the strap to take off all the dust and dirt that has collected over the year,

Photography 101

By Craig Smith then put it aside. Next take your camera and the soft toothbrush and brush out any dust and dirt that has collected in the crevices, paying particular attention to the area around all the knobs and buttons. If you find some of the dirt does not want to come out you can moisten the tooth brush with some isopropyl alcohol. Make sure that you’re only using the toothbrush on the body parts of the camera.

The next part that we clean will be the electrical connections. As a lot of problems with digital photography occur because of power problems it’s essential that your battery terminals are kept clean. If you ever do not use your camera for longer than a couple of weeks it’s a good idea to remove the batteries.

Use a pencil eraser to clean your battery contacts and the hot shoe, if your camera has one.

The last thing that we

will clean is the optics, meaning your lens, your viewfinder and your display screen. I use a microfiber cloth daily to keep my lenses clean.

Make sure that you clean in a circular motion moving from the middle to the edges. If there is dust that is stubborn you can use a lens cleaning solution and lens tissue.

Make absolute sure that you never apply the solution directly to the lens as it’s easy to use too much.

So there you have it, spring cleaning for your camera. If after you have taken all the steps and find your camera still has dust showing up in the pictures, take it to a professional photographer or camera shop to have it cleaned properly.

Until next month, happy shooting. aboutface@wlake.com

IN MCLEESE LAKE Cariboo Wood Shop McLeese Lake General Store IN QUESNEL 7-Eleven (on the Highway) 7-Eleven (in West Quesnel) A&W Aroma Foods Billy Barker Hotel & Casino Booster Juice Burger Palace Carry All Books Granville’s Coffee Green Tree Health & Wellness Karin’s Deli Museum & Tourist Centre Quiznos Riverside Bistro (West Park Mall) Safeway Save On Foods Shopper’s Drug Mart Steeped Subway Tim Horton’s (on the Highway) Tim Horton’s (Downtown)

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MAGAZINE

PAGE 16 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

Remember, pain is your body’s way of saying, “Please don’t ever do that again.”

Listen to what your body is telling you — it’s probably important One of my favourite things about being a former couch-potato is enjoying the positive feedback I constantly get from my body. A trimmer waistline, noticeable biceps, and defined quad muscles are motivation enough for me to keep on with my workouts, no matter how tired I am or how nasty the weather may be.

These changes didn’t happen overnight, but there is a certain degree of pleasure in suddenly realising how easy it is to lift heavy objects, or how one’s knees don’t ache like they used to when going up or down long flights of stairs. Our body lets us know when we are doing the right thing by taking care of it, and by keeping as fit and as strong as we can. Having a good

relationship with our body and getting to know how it responds to change, and realising when things are going wrong are key elements in that relationship.

I always thought that, since I started running in 2001, I was pretty good at listening to and appreciating the feedback I got from my body. Every run, swim, or bike workout starts out with a little inventory of general aches and pains, like my left knee, or my hip, or how is my back feeling today? After a few minutes of warmup then the chatter will die down and the workout will proceed without further discussion.

Only once have I suffered an injury while on a run, and that was a rookie mistake I made in my very

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early stages of learning how to run properly. Since then I’ve been much more careful to listen to what’s going on, and to determine which aches and pains need to be addressed in order to avoid further injury. Or so I thought.

Everyone is generally aware of what’s going on with their body on a daily basis, such as a headache or a kink in the neck from sleeping crooked. There is always some ‘body-chatter’ happening as we carry on with our daily activities. The joints or muscles let us know how they are doing, and how willing they are to do any extra effort when asked.

In some cases we already know our limitations, and sometimes we have to push our bodies a bit more to see what those limitations are.

Anyone who has embarked upon a more active lifestyle will tell you that almost from the first day, their body wasn’t so much chatting with them anymore but perhaps yelling. Those newly-found achy muscles and that latent knee problem from years ago will remind you of your limitations of the moment. Sometimes our body needs to yell in order to get our attention and force us to address the source of discomfort. If we don’t, then we can be stopped cold while the body demands to take time off to heal. It’s very inconvenient and hard to stay motivated when that happens, and the trick is to avoid getting to that extreme.

Stir

By Carol Davidson For the past few months I’d been noticing a bit of a ‘click’ in my back when I was stretching or moving about.

I’ve always had a dodgy lower back but I assumed that all of the core work I’d been doing in the past couple of years was keeping it nice and strong. And besides, I’m training for Ironman so I’m building my fitness up in a thoughtful and carefully planned way with the help of a coach. I’m all set! Or so I thought.

It turns out that the little click I was ignoring was my lower back’s way of telling me that no, it’s not that strong, and would I please do the right thing and change my exercises to build up the weaker muscles that are taking on more stress than they should. After I disregarded the click for too long my back decided to take action.

Initially it just got very sore and I figured that a few visits to my friendly neighbourhood physiotherapist would do the trick. I was just getting back into my regular workouts, but the weak muscles were still not being addressed properly.

Some like it HOT.

Then my back got really mad and went into spasm for 10 days, forcing my spine into a very interesting S-curve which, if nothing else, has been a source of great entertainment for my friends.

“Wow Carol you should see how crooked you are!”

Believe me, for several weeks I have been aware of little else. The good part is that I am pain-free now, even if I am still a bit twisted around.

Ignoring that little body signal has now meant that I’ve been forced out of training for four weeks. I mean completely out of training – it was an effort to just get out of a chair, never mind think about a hard workout.

I am grateful to the phyisos who have been helping me determine the real root cause of my back problem, and are helping me to ease back into training without risk of another setback.

My lesson here is that my back was telling me weeks ahead of time that something was wrong but I disregarded it as a minor thing. My advice to everyone is that it does not hurt to

at least ask a sports medicine professional about any persistent aches and pains, and to get educated about what may be the cause.

I have not only been listening very carefully to my body in the past few weeks, but I have also taken the time to educate myself on the various muscles, tendons and bone structure of my lower back and pelvis. It has been very interesting learning about how everything is connected and how one weak muscle will affect the neighbouring muscles. This setback will definitely make me a more informed and careful athlete in the future.

We can’t just embark on a more active lifestyle and assume that there will not be any aches and pains along the way. Everyone has their limitations, and we will all benefit from listening carefully to the clues we are being given, and then making the effort to address the small problems while they are still small. That way we can carry on with an active, healthy lifestyle without any interruption.

I’m finally back on my bike and have resumed my swim workouts, and within a few weeks I’ll be doing my first sprint triathlon of the season. I won’t set a personal best time since I’ll probably be walking the 5km run portion, but I will be very happy to be back on my training program and making positive steps towards completing Ironman in August. stir@thestew.ca

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Enjoy The Chicken Diablo.

May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 17

For the next few weeks, Todd is without a gym pass, and is terrified he’s about to gain back all the weight he lost

Body Transformation led to a mental transformation too

BY TODD SULLIVAN THE STEW MAGAZINE

And so, it’s done. After 90 days, I am officially finished my participation in Fit City’s Body Transformation Challenge. And while I feel transformed, I’m not sure how much of that actually occurred in my body.

When I signed up for this, the plan was to lose weight (well, actually, the plan was just to have someone chronicle the experience in order to generate some copy for this magazine, but then after that, the plan was to lose weight). And I have lost weight, so in that sense, this has been successful. Maybe I haven’t lost as much as I would have liked to have lost in those 90 days, and there’s definitely more weight to lose in the weeks and months to come, but some is better than none.

But it’s not my body that feels ‘transformed’. I’ve only dropped 10 or 12 pounds, and yes, I can feel the difference, and yes, I feel healthier just

from that, but when I look in the mirror I still see a lot of work that needs to be done.

But here’s the thing: At this point, I feel confident that the work will be done.

That’s where the transformation has taken place. It’s taken place in my brain. I don’t drag myself to the gym kicking and screaming like I did three months ago, when I first started this challenge. Now I look forward to it. Now that the challenge is over, I don’t need to go to the gym every day, but on the days that I don’t, I don’t feel as good. I don’t have as much energy. My mood isn’t as pleasant. I can tell the difference, and I suspect most of the people around me can too.

That’s the transformation that’s most valuable -- the lifestyle change. Building a better you doesn’t just mean losing weight and looking better in a speedo. It means making the sorts of changes that will make you healthier all around, longterm.

I’m better off losing only 10 pounds in three months, but gaining an appreciation for exercise that I can carry with me for years afterwards, than I would be losing 50 pounds in three months, then never going to the gym again.

Mind you, it doesn’t really work to just tell people this. I had been told. I had known all of this before, but I refused to believe it until I actually experienced it first hand.

And now that I have, I can’t believe I let so many years slip by without having this in my life. And I’m grateful that there are still so many years ahead of me, years that I can spend happier and healthier than I’ve ever been before.

And all of that thanks to Fit City and their body transformation challenge.

They won’t be announcing the winners for a few months, but when they do, you can be sure we’ll have those names.

Cross your fingers that mine will be one of them.

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PAGE 18 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

At this point, both the federal and provincial marijuana parties are basically defunct — the provincial party chose to back the Green Party in most ridings just before the 2009 election, and the federal party has been crippled by changes to Canada’s electoral laws.

Marijuana celebration brings peace and tranquilty on 4-20 420. A signifier of a number, the international time of the stoner, and common slang for Marijuana.

Yes, it was April 20 — 4/20/2011 — and that meant a time of celebration and cannibistivites, as marijuana culture hit the streets out front of the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) and 15,000 tokers from far and wide came together holding hands to share a special day.

Okay, so maybe there wasn’t any hand-holding, but the street and area were saturated with stoners from all walks of life, and for blocks around the lofty flavour of ganja hung in the air. Vendors and dealers greeted you at every step: cookies, brownies, three joints for $10, halves for $25, seeds to grow all variants. For a brief moment, marijuana

Vancouver Seen

By Torrey Owen was virtually legal in the city. There were police on duty, and overseeing the event, but they assured citizens no marijuana related charges would be issued that day.

Okay, so here’s the real low down. The place was run amok with teenagers — not 13-year-olds but a lot of kids 17-19 years. There were different groups of people spread out all around the area, lots smiling and looking distant. A great deal of

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the event was devoted to bringing about political awareness and voting strategically against the conservative party. It seems Stephen Harper is not the most marijuana-friendly politician. Although there was an effort to educate attendees about political matters, the majority of those in attendance were focused on smoking herb and having a good time.

At the front of the VAG was the main stage and various speakers and mu-

Choices such as: 1. Meat Monster 2. Mondo Mix 3. Double Bacon 6. Mexican Riviera 8. Hot Lucifer 13. Veggie Classico 15. Italian Garden 20. Popeye Supreme 21. Flying Chicken 22. Chicken Pesto 28. West Coast Pizza 29. Putanesca 30. Frutti Di Mare ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES! Small $12.75 | $19.55 Medium $16.15 | $25.75 Large $17.75 | $29.75 Monster $23.95 | $40.95

sicians took turns either informing the audience about marijuana issues or playing music. There was quite a bit of reggae played that day, as well as rap and a few other genres. Hanging behind the stage were huge banners reading “Stop Harper” and “Free Marc

Emery.”

For anyone unaware, Marc Emery is a Canadian citizen who is highly affiliated with the Marijuana Party. He is an advocate of marijuana and publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine.

On May 20, 2010 he pled guilty in a US courtroom

to charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. His guilty plea saved some of his friends from also being charged and facing jail time. Emery had been selling marijuana seeds over the Internet and distributing them to American customers.

As the day drew on at the VAG people began to go home, but a few thousand people still hung around. There was even a sighting of one guy with a V for Vendetta mask and a lightsaber rocking up the dance floor. Eventually the rain came and chased away the last of the ralleyers and partiers.

It was a good day and a mostly peaceful event.

I think it’s safe to say I’m likely be attending again next year. Hopefully Marc Emery will be able to join as well. torrey@thestew.ca

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May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 19

Todd is kind of sad that he missed out on the rare Pink Floyd vinyl, even if he hasn’t had a turntable in more than a decade

Record Store Day a big success in UK The big news last month? Singles. Lots of them. Several artists released singles in preparation for upcoming albums and the fact that Record Store Day took place on April 16 meant dozens of bands released singles on, or even specifically for, the event.

Record Store Day 2011 was a major success... in the UK. Radiohead’s single featuring The Butcher and Supercollider was released on the day but only made available in the UK and, as expected, it was the hottest item of the day. On this side of the pond, the Foo Fighters release was the big ticket item. It was second biggest over there (which really means Foo Fighters had the best sales). With well over 200 other releases created specifically for Record Store Day, 2011 was still the best selling year RSD has seen since its inception.

Rebecca Black has proven that even if your single absolutely sucks, you can still make money. You just have to suck a whole lot! As of mid-April sources estimate the 13-year-old has made at least $198,000 with her song Friday, between YouTube and iTunes alone.

And apparently they’re going to do a cover of the song on Glee, which should bring her another small chunk of change.

Her producer denies there is any follow up single in the works but the rumours are flying around the Internet. If you haven’t

Tone Soup

By Jamie Horsley heard this atrocity yet, count yourself lucky. As of writing this article, the video for Friday has had 110.7 million views on YouTube. Of those millions, 2.2 million have disliked it and a mere 296 thousand people will admit to liking it.

In the world of much more popular music, the Internet has been wafting the mouthwatering aroma of fresh baked tunes, and the samples are sure to please.

With hardly a taste, Beastie Boys tease us about their upcoming album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. The album will be released May 3 and will include a 30 minute video. What they gave us, to tide us over, is a trailer for that video. As lame as that sounds, it’s got my mouth watering for the album (and kinda even more for this video).

The video tells the story of the Beastie Boys meeting their future selves, played by no less than Will Farrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly and it’s damn funny!

Check it out.

Korn have given us a fuller taste of what’s to come

but without any information as to where, when, or how it will come. Korn has recently re-entered the studio and begun recording a follow up to their last album, Korn III: Remember Who You Are. The proof they offer is a free download of their latest tidbit, Get Up featuring Skrillex. Truthfully, the Korn is still Korn, but Skrillex adds a delicious heavy dubstep flavour to them. Dubstep flavoured Korn nuts anyone?

If you like that flavour, try it on your popcorn.

Lady Gaga’s latest single, Judas, was leaked to the internet and then suddenly became available on iTunes.

Judas cooks up a heavy dancefloor beat with a dash of Gaga’s ever present pop riffs; much like Born This Way. So far I like the direction I’m hearing her music take. It has me looking forward to the new album (available May 23) with eager curiosity.

For those who can appreciate a milder flavour, try Moby’s latest single on iTunes, entitled The Day. There is also, and has been

since mid-February, a free three-track EP available from his website. This all in preparation for his upcoming full length studio album, Destroyed. Moby himself describes the new album as “broken down melodic electronic music for empty cities at 2 a.m.”

In all these new-fangled flavours of music, good ol’ comfort food is hard to come by. Have no fear.

Journey is in the kitchen!

They have released their new single, City Of Hope, but only in European digital download stores. If you want to have a listen you can find streamable copies on the Internet but if you want it on your iPod or CD shelf, you’ll have to wait until May 24 when the full album will be made available.

Enough appetizers, lets get down to the main course of last month: Foo Fighters, Wasting Light.

Ah, now this is comfort food! There’s no synthetic ingredients in this dish. The entire thing was recorded on old analogue equipment and produced by master chef Butch Vig (producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind).

Foo Fighter’s Wasting Light sounds well aged and is tough and delicious like beef jerky! Mmmm meaty!

Need a palette cleanser after all that? William Shatner is releasing a sci-fi themed album of covers called Searching For Major Tom. ‘Nuff said. tonesoup@thestew.ca

Connect with us.

The Stew Magazine is online. Do you know where to find us?

www.thestew.ca www.facebook.com/stewmag MAGAZINE

www.twitter.com/lewzr (todd sullivan) www.twitter.com/tonesoup (jamie horsely)

THE STEW MAGAZINE’S

Monthly

MIX

These are the songs that rocked our world in May 2011

Todd Sullivan: ‘Lick U Clean’ - Kidney Thieves ‘Silver Lining’ - Rilo Kiley ‘Variations’ - Nicolas Jaar Juli Harland: ‘Mother’ - Pink Floyd ‘Changes’ - David Bowie ‘How Great Thou Art’ - Carrie Underwood Jamie Horsely: ‘Darlington County’ - Bruce Springsteen ‘No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature’ The Guess Who ‘Spaceship Superstar’ - Prism Carol Davidson: ‘Part of You, Part of Me’ - Glen Frey ‘Little Honey’ - Kelly Willis ‘Ballad of Lucy Jordan’ - Marianne Faithfull Natasha Stukl: ‘Islands in the Stream’ Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton ‘Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not’ Thompson Square ‘Barbie Girl’ - Aqua

PAGE 20 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

In spite of its place in the title, ‘Impossible Longing’ probably isn’t actually impossible.

Otherwise it wouldn’t have happened.

New picks at the CRD Library

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Nonfiction Fey, Tina. Bossypants. 2011.

Call number: 792.7028092 FEY At last, Tina Fey’s story has been told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

Nicolelis, Miguel. Beyond Boundaries. 2011.

Call number: 003.5 MIC In this stunning and inspiring work, the award-winning neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis shares his revolutionary insight into how the brain creates thought and the human sense of self – and how this might be augmented by machines.

Swanson, Heidi. Super Natural Every Day. 2011.

Call number: 641.5636 SWA In Super Natural Every Day, renowned chef Heidi Swanson helps us make nutritionally packed meals part of our daily repertoire by sharing a sumptuous collection of nearly 100 of her go-to recipes.

tweet the

movies

We watched some movies and this is what we thought of them, in 140 characters or less

Scream: Most of the horror “cliches” probably wouldn’t be recognized by modern kids, but it’s still an effective slasher by an expert in the genre..

Fiction Doyle, Roddy. Bullfighting. 2011.

Call number: Doy Brilliantly observed, funny and moving, the stories in Bullfighting present a new vision of contemporary Ireland, of its woes and triumphs, and of the Irish middleaged male confronting its new realities. A masterful new collection from one of Ireland’s greatest writers.

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Roy, Anuradha. An Atlas of Impossible Longing. 2008.

Call number: Roy Already a sensation around the world: family life meets historical romance in an astonishing novel about two people who find each other abandoned by everyone else, marking the debut of a writer who richly deserves her international acclaim.

Scream 2: The gimmick of the first film is mostly forgotten in favour of an ordinary slasher flick. Not great, but better than the awful part 3..

Toews, Miriam. Irma Voth. 2011 Call number: Toe With a fierce tenderness that manages to be at once heartbreaking and laughout-loud funny, Canadian author Miriam Toews brings us into the world of Irma Voth, an eighteen year old living in a small, reclusive Mennonite community in the shadow of the Sierra Madre mountains.

Date Night: A fun look at getting past marriage boredom.

Plus explosions.And car chases.

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Want us to TwitteReview something?

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May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 21

tweet

According to Wikipedia, Water memory is “a conjecture that water is capable of retaining a ‘memory’ of substances once dissolved in it to arbitrary dilution.”

the

movies

Theatre fest hits lakecity

We watched some movies and this is what we thought of them, in 140 characters or less

Tron: It’s silly and dated, but still fun.

And I like to pretend this is actually what’s going on inside my computer while I work.

Tron: Legacy: There’s not really much of a coherent story going on here.

It’s mostly just a showcase for lots of pretty special effects.

Which are pretty.

Want us to TwitteReview something?

Send us the movies you think we should check out to letters@thestew.ca

It’s play-time! The Williams Lake Studio Theatre is hosting this year’s Central Interior Zone theatre festival. The fest will run from May 24 to 28 and feature adjudicator Gary Davey, who will be performing an acting workshop as part of the festival.

Plays will take the stage from Williams Lake, Prince George, and Kersley to be judged, with the winner headed to Mainstage, the provincial theatre festival, which will be held in Kamloops this year.

Tickets will be available at About Face Photography.

Just 4 U Soaps

Rawluk directs a ‘Memory’

BY TODD SULLIVAN THE STEW MAGAZINE

The Williams Lake Studio Theatre is preparing to close out its season with one final producton – the Michael Rawluk directed The Memory of Water by Shelagh Stephenson.

The play, which runs from May 11 to 14 and May 18 to 21, tells the story of three sisters, Teresa, Mary, and Catherine, who come together after a lengthy separation for their mother’s funeral.

“So they go through all the memories of their childhood and how their memories don’t all jive together,” explains Rawluk.

“One person thinks what happened happened to her, but it actually happened to someone else.”

To complicate the story, the three sisters each have totally different relationships with the men in their lives.

“I just love it because of the roles of the women, there

are four very good parts for women. And there are two men in it, and they’re good parts too, but it’s the really strong women’s roles in this play that I just love.”

Even the mother, who in death is responsible for bringing everyone together, makes an appearance on stage. “The middle sister, Mary, she has an interaction with her dead mother. Her mother comes and visits her a few times. So she kind of works through some issues that she had with her mother, and with the whole family actually.”

Rawluk is clear that while the play is about the struggles of a family, it’s not a family-oriented production.

“It’s adult in content. There’s lots of swearing and sexual content in this play, so it’s not exactly a family play.

“The play deals with water, and how water has very special properties. It’s one of the strongest substances there is, most powerful, but it’s very fluid at room temperature.

Dandelion Living Open May 2nd!

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And it does some very... almost mystical things.”

The deadline of opening night looms for the director and his cast – Tanya Isnardy, Heather Goodall, etc. There is a lot of time left to them, and there’s still much to be done.

“We just got in here, and we’ve been rehearsing in a small place so everything we’ve blocked basically has to go out the window. We were just working basically on characters. Not really getting to much into how to stage the play.”

And waiting just on the other side of their run is the Central Interior Zone theatre festival of which The Memory of Water will be a part “We couldn’t push our play back any more because the festival was bumping up against the other end.”

But then he says that timing might just about be ideal.

“The timing’s not that bad. It puts a little pressure on the cast, but they’re up for it, they’re doing very well.”

Free Film Friday: May 6 Come on in for your totally free movie rental!

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE On our previously viewed movies Friday, May 13, 2011 370A Proctor St., Williams Lake (formerly Movie Gallery) Phone 250-392-4668 • Open 10am-11pm daily

Wholesome, Delicious, Homemade, Nutritious, and made with love. food, coffees, and teas Bean Counter Bistro & Coffee Bar 3rd Ave. N., Williams Lake Next to the Library (250) 305-2326

Nurturing Roots Yoga & Doula Services NURTURE YOUR BODY AND MIND WITH GENTLE HATHA YOGA In Williams Lake Monday at 6:45 pm at Life Pilates Studio Tuesdays from 3:30-5pm at Kix 4 Chix and at the Satya Studio from 6:15-7:30pm Wednesday at 12:05 pm at Kix 4 Chix In Horsefly Thursdays at 10 am

DOULA SERVICES IN WILLIAMS LAKE AND AREA • Empower yourself during your pregnancy and birth • Increase your knowledge of the birth process • Ensure total support for yourself and partner throughout your birth plan.

Prenatal Yoga Classes Wednesdays 10:45am - 11:45am at Kix 4 Chix All classes are ongoing!

For more information please contact Kim Van Diest www.nurturingroots.ca or 250-267-7596

PAGE 22 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011

Please note: The Stew Magazine does not in any way endorse hitch-hiking.

As much as it’s a great way to see the country and meet new people at the best of times, it’s also a good way to hook up with sickos and weirdos at the worst of times.

Riding your thumb into the distant horizon

Where’s Wally?

By Will Meeks Maybe you ran out of gas or maybe you don’t have a car. Perhaps you are too drunk to get behind the wheel and have to get to your cousin’s wedding. Maybe you saw that gas is sitting at around a buck thirty per litre. Whatever the reason, at some point in life you may have to ask a stranger for a ride.

The premise of hitchhiking seems simple: wait on the side of the road and when a car goes by, you stick your thumb out and they stop. Simple right?

If you have hitched before you know it’s not so cut and dry. Sometimes you just don’t get picked up.

Here I will cover a few key areas of the art of hitching successfully, as well as tips on basic roadside survival.

Placement is crucial to a successful hitch.

Don’t hitch through town, you’ll look like a hooker. Walk or bus out of town (many bus drivers know the good

hitching spots) just far enough to raise sympathy from a prospective ride. If it’s raining, even better; however, the wet hitcher angle only works in high traffic areas because only one in a few hundred people will pick up a wet hippie.

Find a decent merge lane or on-ramp and guard it with your life.

If you don’t already have a dog, steal one from a yard as you walk out of town. It will prove a vital prop when used to play on the heart strings of your mark. You can eat the dog later.

If you have to crash on the side of the road for the night, be creative. Be warned, your sleep will not be restful, you will not be comfortable. The most important aspect of roadside camping is being invisible. If the authorities spot you, you may end up in the city lockup, which puts you behind schedule and on their radar. In Thunder Bay, I slept in a school bus.

Nobody uses a school bus in the middle of the night and the modestly padded seats are much more comfortable than dirt. Overpasses and tunnels are another dry alternative, often they have wide cement girders to keep you out of sight. I shared an overpass with Wandering Pierre in Saskatch-

Next Month: Gues who’s coming to edit!

Anything could happen as we hand over the reigns of our June 2011 issue to a guest editor!

Who will they be? What will they have us do?

You’re’ going to have to check in to find out!

ewan, who lived under these overpasses even during the harsh prairie winters.

Hitching has to be one of the best ways to meet people. A strange turn of events, jumping from one car to the next, a butterfly effect as the passerby affects the future in unknown ways.

The fact that I was one

of the good ones, didn’t chop them into little pieces makes them happy. They feel good about themselves for helping out a fellow human in need. In my journeys, I have seen real generosity from complete strangers, something you really need to experience for yourself by taking a leap of faith and asking

a stranger for a ride.

Except for that ride in the middle of the night from Saskatoon to Regina with that male nurse in see-through gym shorts who talked about and played with his ‘Prince Albert’ the whole time. Screw you male nurse from Regina, I hate you. whereswally@thestew.ca

May 2011 | THE STEW Magazine | PAGE 23

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$6.95

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Trailer Hubs & Brake Drums 8-440 4 on 4 Hub Assembly $21.99 8-545 5 on 4.5 Hub Assembly $24.99 8-655 6 on 5.5 Hub Assembly $44.95 9-545 10"x2-1/4 5 on 4.5 Brake Drum $49.95 9-136 12"x2 6 on 5.5 Brake Drum $69.95 9-138 12"x2 8 on 6.5 Brake Drum $89.95

965N Mackenzie Avenue, Williams Lake 250-398-2202 • www.cariboospring.com Open Monday to Friday from 7 am to 6 pm

PAGE 24 | THE STEW Magazine | May 2011 1114 Denny Road, Williams Lake, BC

(250) 398-8033

Bring the Romance on ‘Date Night!’

May 18: Date Night Treat your sweetheart to a nice dinner out without breaking the bank. Get 4 bacon-wrapped filet mignon, 16 prawns, rice pilaf, salad, veggies & dessert for 2 for only $26.95/couple May 25: STEW NIGHT! Sight & Sound, The Stew Magazine, and The Red Dog Pub are hosting an Open Mike Night each month at the Red Dog. All players, all genres, all singers and performers welcome.

Red Dog Express!

Now every Friday and Saturday!

From 8pm to 12 midnight we’ll pick you up and drop you off anywhere from Ottoman Drive to Westridge, minimum 4 people.

We’ve got DJs every Saturday Night Come dance the night away with us!

Plus, stop by for our nightly food and drink specials!

WHERE THE PARTY IS Join us during the playoffs while we cheer on the Canucks!

1118 Lakeview Crescent, Williams Lake, BC, Canada V2G 1A3 Fax (250) 392-3983 • Toll Free 1-800-663-6898 • www.overlanderhotel.com

(250) 392-3321