Issue 19 - February 12 2009

Page 1

University of Toronto’s community newspaper Independent since 1978

February 12th – 19th, 2009 Vol. XXXI, No: 19

1 Spadina Crescent, Suite 245, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A1 Phone: 416 593 1552 thenewspaper@thenewspaper.ca www.thenewspaper.ca

the newspaper

the newspaper write between the lines

the news

the arts

2 Make-out corner! 4 Get caught in the Bikechain 5 Love for sale

6 Love hurts: the mixtape 7 Wavelength 450: the anniversary 6 Jason McLean talks to the newspaper

Good Weed

Saving Luna

ANDREW GYORKOS

ANDREW PROSSER

Community Interest Bureau

Film Review Bureau

If you’re looking for a novelty cannabis item to flaunt your mania for marijuana, but have grown sick of seeing the typical leaf labels everywhere, why not wear the plant’s genetic fingerprint instead? Yes, the good folks at www.MaryJaneGoods. com have identified marijuana’s DNA profile, extrapolated and enlivened it, and plastered the image on everything from coffee cups to clothing. So what exactly is a “genetic fingerprint” or “DNA profile”? Quite simply, it’s the seemingly random arrangement of bars the lab-rats on shows like CSI stare at all day long. Darrin Grandmason, the founder of MaryJane Goods and a student of advanced microbiology, discovered the marketing power of genetic fingerprints after a client requested DNA profiles of common household spices through his DNA artistry company. Inspired, Darrin retrieved the genetic mark of marijuana, applied the results to canvas, and founded MaryJane Goods to sell his new art. All the products MaryJane Goods sell feature an iteration of cannabis’ genetic fingerprint prominently displayed. While it certainly advertises the consumers’ love for the plant, it does so in a fairly innocuous way. The image of the marijuana leaf is iconic and universal, whereas an image of colorful bars is more abstract and perhaps even more artistic. It’s a fairly discrete way to show your love for everyone’s favorite psychoactive hallucinogen.

Maybe the catchwords “documentary” and “Canadian” and “orca whale” don’t turn you on. I don’t blame you. But this is good, I swear. Suzanne Chrisholm, a U of T alumnus, and her husband and co-director Michael Parfitt tripped to Vancouver Island to do a short story for Smithsonian Magazine. Their subject was a lone young killer whale named “Luna” that was causing a ruckus in the community just by being too friendly with the boaters. They had figured it would take about three weeks, but it ended up taking three years! The resulting movie rivalled James Bond at the Canadian box offices. Why? Because a whale this playful is not only cute - it’s a disturbance to the social order. Just by being insistent on goofing around with humans, Luna managed to rouse a quiet coastal community with high drama, unlocking the latent conflicts between scientists and politicians, Westerners and Natives, tourists and locals, reporters and activists, man and nature culminating in an aquatic chase scene and a possible murder. “But Mom, I don’t want to see a documentary,” whined an

...err...weed goods

DNA artistry isn’t limited to the marijuana consumer market though. Entrepreneurs have found success taking the

Blow hole will blow your socks off

The genetic fingerprint of Cannabis Sativa is generated by exposing the plant’s DNA to molecular probes, highlighting its unique genetic sequence.

genetic fingerprint of a client’s significant other and turning the mark into meaningful mementos dear to the person’s heart. In fact, anything organic or natural has a genetic fingerprint, a mark DNA artists would be all too happy to immortalize (if the price is right, of course). The appeal of DNA art certainly isn’t for everyone, and the cynic will doubtlessly be unimpressed. The difference between the genetic fingerprints of marijuana and, let’s say, a tulip, are presumably

minute. When you get right down to it, what you’re paying for is a collection of arbitrary lines assembled with no distinct meaning unless you’re a microbiologist yourself. The colourful lines sure are pretty, but they don’t immediately stand for much else. Darrin’s Cannabis art is available through www.MaryJaneGoods.com.

8-year old being dragged to a screening. After watching, he had decided it was the best movie he’d ever seen. If his word and my word, combined with the countless awards “Saving Luna” has garnered at film festivals globally, mean anything to you, then persuade yourself to attend an upcoming screening at AMC Yonge-Dundas, 10 Dundas St.E. The film screens daily at 1:30, 4:15, 7:00 and 9:50pm, and the Director will also be attending the screenings this Friday.


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Issue 19 - February 12 2009 by The Newspaper - Issuu