This newspaper was tested on animals. They didn’t read it. Story > page 5
the newspaper University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly
September 22, 2011
Vol. XXXIV N0. 3
HOW DO WE REVITALIZE OUR DEMOCRACY? Former Hungarian politician criticizes our current political order, gives us a few pointers With a title as in your face as The Failure of Liberal Democracy, last Tuesday night’s Munk Centre event promised more than a tepid, academic discussion. The speaker, Romanianborn, Hungarian philosopher, dissident and former politician Gaspar Miklos Tamás did not disappoint. His lecture on the fundamental problems of our western political system would inspire any apathetic voter or lazy liberal to re-think what they stand for, what they’re !""!#$% &'% ()*+!,*-% .'+% -/0)"% rights and what they refuse to let slide. Fellow Marxist scholar Leo Panitch of York University introduced Tamás to a healthy sized crowd of members of the university and public communities at the Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility.
GEOFF VENDEVILLE
ASHTON OSMAK
Gaspar Miklos Tamás, philosopher and former politician talks of democratic failures
Campus briefs
SEX IN CLASS > page 4
SAIM SOHAIB
Newsweek ranks U of T in top three universities outside the U.S. The University of Toronto joins the ranks of illustrious institutions, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, as one of the three top schools outside the United States, according to the Newsweek Rankings Report for 2011.
The Newsweek study used a methodology that utilized the ranking attributes used by the three most prestigious global college rankings, The Shanghai Ranking Consultancy (SRC), The Times Higher Education World Rankings and the Webometrics world rankings research institute. The University of Toronto comfortably made it to the top 10 of each of the three rankings, and was ranked 4th in the Webometrics ratings. This reflects on the breadth and depth of the University’s programs, as each ranking takes a different set of measures that are indexed when rankings are calculated. This year the criteria included: Nobel Prize awards and Fields Media awarded to staff and alumni; research impact (in terms of citations); Continued on page 3
BODI BOLD
The ranking of “the best halls of higher learning outside America’s borders” included four Canadian universities, with The University of British Columbia, McGill University and McMaster University coming in at 8th, 13th and 15th respectively.
The lecture opened with a /0-(&!'#1% 234)&% !(% &4-% 5+-*'#dition for any kind of liberal democracy?” The answer, according to Tamás, is the belief in the idea of the common good. While that might seem simple, the challenge, as Tamás point-6%'0&7%!(%-#(0+!#$%&4)&%&4!(%2!(% not understood deductively or axiomatically, but is instead recognized by the people living in the political system.” In other words, it’s not enough to read J.S. Mill or Rousseau for your POL100 class. Everyone needs to get why the common good matters and why their political system is working toward achieving that. Without this moral principle, -89-%$'&%)%:!$%5+':"-;<%2=.%&4-% principle is massively doubted or delegitimized”, Tamás con&!#0-67%2&4-#% -%*)#8&%4)9-%"!:eral democracy.” Tamás proved Continued on page 3
2
House reorganization
the opinion
September 22, 2011
Three provinces gain seats in House of Commons proposal DAN MILLER Under the proposed Conservative plan the House of Commons will increase in size from 309 to 338 seats with 18 going to Ontario, seven to British ,#-./0* ! "1! '23! (#! 4-03&( +! These are the three provinces that have seen their population growth outstrip their representation. Opponents argue that this would result in Quebec -#5*"6! *"7.3")3! *"! (83! 9#.53! and that it too should receive more seats. This should not be an issue; a simple matter of undeniable demographic change should not be a cause of debate -- yet it is. In this case it is the question of doing the right thing for Canadians. Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta are all under-represented in the House of Commons and their citizens deserve their votes to count just as much as Canadians living in other provinces. Before the Bloc Quebecois’ near total collapse in the last election they had wanted Quebec to be guaranteed 25 percent of the seats which is a larger share than their population warrants. Observers pointed out that they would be (83! % &(:! /#5(! 03"3'(*"6! ;&#/! more seats going to Quebec.
With the Bloc largely out of the national picture this argument is now being championed by the NDP who hold 59 of Quebec’s 75 seats. The NDP has proposed (8 (! <.303)=5! 58 &3! 03! '>31! (! 24.4 percent which matches their segment of the Canadian population from 2006. This is a higher number than what they currently hold. Because it *5! '>31! *(! ?#.-1! &3/ *"! "! *"7 (31!(#( -! 5!(83!<.303)!%#%.lation slowly declines relative to Ontario, Alberta and BC. The argument is that the NDP proposal is in the same spirit as Parliament’s symbolic recognition of the Quebecois representing their own distinct nation. This would make more sense if every person in Quebec was Quebecois but this is not the case. Because a sizable chunk of Quebec’s population is not Quebecois perhaps it would be most in spirit of the NDP’s counter-proposal if Quebecois voters were allowed to vote 1.2 times. Giving some people a disproportionate share of the vote does not make sense at the individual level, so why is this taken seriously at the national level? For every concession and 3>(& ! 53 (! ? &131! (#! <.303)!
the newspaper Editor-in-Chief Cara Sabatini
Arts Desk
News Desk
Vanessa Purdy
Geoff Vendeville Yukon Damov
Photo Editor Bodi Bold
Web Editor Andrew Walt
Contributors Suzie Balabuch, Dave Bell, Bodi Bold, Dan Christensen, Yukon Damov, Aschille Clarke-Mendes, Dan Miller, Karol Orzechowski, Ashton Osmak, Vanessa Purdy, David Stokes, Andrew Walt
the newspaper 1 Spadina Crescent, Suite 245 Toronto, ON M5S 1A1 Editorial: 416-593-1552 thenewspaper@gmail.com www.thenewspaper.ca the newspaper is U of T’s independent weekly paper, published by Planet Publications Inc., !"#"$%&#'(!)#&%#& (*#"+!! All U of T community members, including students, staff and faculty, are encouraged to contribute to the newspaper.
something is taken away from all the other provinces -- BC, Alberta and Ontario being hit hardest. If Parliament is supposed to be democratic then a Canadian voter should be able to have his vote treated equally no matter what province he lives in or language he speaks. It is also true that Atlantic Canada (particularly PEI) as well as Manitoba and Saskatchewan are overrepresented in the House. No one is seriously proposing they should have seats deducted and neither should Quebec. Rather by adding seats to the three provinces that have seen their population growth outstrip their representation it begins a slow process of equality between the provinces. If one province is permanently allowed to punch far above their weight in the House than all others lose out, and that is simply not fair.
the editorial cartoon DAVE BELL
the news
September 22, 2011 !"#$%& #'()*#+,-./#0"1 -%"# ,# create a new society (dare I say, revolution?). The second camp would refuse to be bullied and force the powers that be to respect liberal democracy. That means no more restrictions to freedom of religion, the press, or any other basic human right. On liberal democracy in Central and Eastern Europe: “When the governance presented itself as a problem and we really had to take over and try to govern the countries of Eastern Europe, then of course it turned out that the expectations and the aspirations of the Eastern European peoples were not wholly compatible with the liberal democracy based on a commercial society... Very many people felt not that they had become free but that they had been abandoned. We had exchanged one kind of tyranny for another... These are the feelings that East Europeans have and which are perfectly understandable.”
consensus… that the egalitarian policies of the past are based on a wrong view of human kind, namely that if one of these potentially deserving of care and protection... the civic community is considered by all of these people to be an illusion the results of which are just high taxation and indebtedness… These are in the end not conservatisms built on a faith but a lack of faith. These people are rabid unbelievers. They may believe in God but they most
certainly do not believe in man. And the two used to go together. On equality: You know, if we examine our souls – probe – we may discover that we are still sincere egalitarians and lovers of freedom but in that case we have to wake up and say, “well, that must have consequences and that should change our priorities.” … It is not balanced budgets and low taxes and second homes and keeping the cars on
the roads that should be our *%2,%2 2"&3# 5- # $%& # +"# &!,-./# see... that mental patients are being well treated in psychiatric hospitals, that prison inmates are treated humanely in penitentiaries, that little children are not browbeaten and bullied by huge grown-ups and so on. This is exactly what in the contemporary world makes people furious when you tell them this. Read the complete interview online at thenewspaper.ca
CANDIDATES BUTT HEADS
On Stephen Harper and conservatism: From the Tea Party and Berlusconi and Sarkozy and all these people there is a continuity. That is to say that they are not of course all identical. I would say he’s [Stephen Harper] is a more old-fashioned conservative... But they’re coming along nicely…Look at their legislative program, I mean more prisoners, less libraries… these trends are also part of this
GEOFF VENDEVILLE
Continued from page 1 this point by drawing on the example of liberal democracies in Eastern Europe. He witnessed the trials of constructing and implementing this new political system in Hungary during his time as an elected politician, in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Structural failings, both economically and socially also played their part. Tamás detailed the ways in which Eastern Europe wasn’t prepared for the realities of liberal democracy. It possessed neither the economic and social preconditions of the classical models (think Europe, turn of the 19th century) nor the individualistic, chaotic and competitive nature of late capitalism as seen in the west today. Tamás then brought the crisis of East Europe at the collapse of the USSR back into the larger discussion of the state of liberal democracy of our times. He argued that today, those key features of early western liberal democracies are also conspicuously absent. With the rights and privileges of citizens, particularly the marginalized – the old, the poor, the sick and immigrants – shrinking, we are witnessing the decline of late capitalism and its corresponding cultural crisis. Based on our political action, or more accurately, inaction, we no longer believe in egalitarianism or more broadly speaking, a common good. The question follows: what can we do? Tamás sees two possible paths: attack offensively or rally to the defense. Those in
3
Tim Grant and Rosario Marchese speak to students at Hart House. Continued from page 1 GEOFF VENDEVILLE
scientific publications in prestigious journals like Nature and Science, as well as per-capita academic performance of an institution. Chemistry professor awarded Albert Einstein Award for Science Professor Geofrey Ozin of the chemistry department has been awarded the Albert Einstein World Award of Science by the World Cultural Council. Professor Ozin, globally renown as one of the pioneers of nanochemistry, was presented with the award based on the benefit to humanity as a direct result of his scientific and technological research. The Einstein award, presented by a committee including 25 Nobel laureates, caps off a prolific year for Professor Ozin, in which he has been awarded with the Royal Society of Chemistry Richard Barrer Award. In addition to becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Professor Ozin has become a globally visible expert because of his seminal studies on new classes of nano materials and photonic materials. His work on photonic materials led to the creation of Opalux, a Canadian start-up that creates nano-scale structures. These structures can be used for the creation of energy-efficient, low-cost coloured electronic displays which may eventually be used in advertising and electronic readers like the Kindle. Professor Paul Youn, Vice President of research at UofT said, “Nanotech initiatives around the world...have been inspired and enabled by Professor Ozin’s contributions to chemistry. [U of T is] proud and fortunate” to have a professor of his calibre. Professor Ozin remarked that it was gratifying to see his research “receive the recognition that it justly deserves. It is the beginning of the nano materials food chain for many Fortune 500 companies and thousands of spin-off companies that have already produced more than 600 nano products on the market.”
read & write the newspaper
Candidates running for the Trinity-Spadina seat in the upcoming provincial election convened at Hart House last Thursday for a debate focusing on student concerns, including mounting tuition costs. Representatives of all four major parties were present, including (in order of seating) Green Party candidate Tim Grant, the NDP’s Rosario Marchese, Liberal Sarah Thomson, and Conservative Michael Yen. Few seats in Hart House’s Great Hall were left empty, betraying the notion that young voters are uninterested in politics. The issue that mattered most to the audience seemed to be rising tuition fees. NDP candidate and incumbent MPP for Trinity-Spadina since 1990 Rossario Marchese proposed “freezing tuition for four years, so you know your rates won’t climb.” Liberal Sarah Thomson, who had run against Rob Ford in the last municipal election (“Sorry about the outcome”), claimed the McGuinty government had already frozen tuition rates, and was now trying to create well-paying jobs for university grads.
However, Green candidate Tim Grant, a former high school teacher, took an informal survey of students, asking them whether they had seen their tuition fees rise. Almost every student raised their hand. PC candidate Michael Yen took the opportunity to question McGuinty’s and the Liberals’ promises: “Now is anyone going to believe what McGuinty says? Has anyone seen tuition fees go down? As well all know tuitions fees in Ontario have gone up.” From tuition fees, the candidates turned to the issue of whether or not the government should do more to attract foreign students to Ontario. Yen argued that, on the contrary, more tax money ought to be spent to support Canadian students. Students from abroad, !"# &(2/3# )(4# 1, # (' -(..4# 1""/# $nancial assistance: “We don’t even know how much they make over there.” Tim Grant said he found Yen’s remarks “extremely divisive,” and suggested increasing per capita spending for universities to counter the trend toward the commercialization of research. The general election will take place on October 6.
the inside
4
Students learn about sex in class
DEAR SUZIE SUZIE NEWSIE answers your questions
Every week, the newspaper’s resident advice columnist helps you out with your issues, no matter how big or small. Email Suzie at suzienewsie@ gmail.com, or submit (anonymously, of course!) at thenewspaper.ca, in the purple box on the left. Dear Suzie, My ex and I broke up more than a year ago, but I still really like her. Should I try to win her back or move on? Signed, Hopeless Romantic
Dear Hopeless, Your use of the phrase “win her back” gives me a few little clues as to what exactly went down between you and your !"#$"%&'#$(%)*%+#,-+$.%*/'*%'0% you’re trying to win her over to prove that you really can make +*% 1!"23% !"% 40% 5!67"$% *"5+89% *!% win back her affections after having done something to lose */$#(% ) % +*% +.% !,*+!8% '03% */$8% chances are you will break up again. Remember, there was a reason for your break-up. :/$%.'#$%',,-+$.%*!%!,*+!8%403% with the added possibility that your ex will reject your efforts, which could lead to the opening of old wounds for both you and her. That being said, it is okay to still have feelings for someone, even after a year has passed. If the ex is someone in your circle of friends, it would be best for you to take some time off from being in her general vicinity. Go out, do some fun stuff, get drunk and make out with new girls. It is in your best interest to move on. Sincerely, Suzie
September 22, 2011
New UC One seminar series brings sexy back with a much-talked about course newspaper, the course’s instructor, Professor Scott Rayter, expanded on the main idea The historic, ivy-covered build- of the course, and tried to dispel ing of University College has some myths. With all the recent always been reminiscent of a media attention surrounding hallowed history of scholarship. the course, Rayter wishes to :/'82.%*!%*/$%8$1%;<%=8$%>".*? emphasize that the project is year seminar series, “Engaging "$'--5%'4!6*%9+@+89%>".*?5$'".%'% Toronto,” the traditional vision leg-up in an environment that of UC might undergo a bit of a B'8%4$%@$"5%.*"$.. 6-3%'8A%A+ >cult to adapt to. modern make-over. “[We’re] using this material, Starting this year, UC will offer seminar courses much like and using Toronto to ask larger the Trin One and Vic One se- questions about the communi"+$.3% 9+@+89% >".*?5$'"% .*6A$8*.% ty, engagement, citizenship, but the opportunity to not only while fostering all those sort of learn in a much less crowded critical thinking, writing skills, environment, but to develop and their research skills.” Although some people might their academic skills through guest lectures, outings and one- assume that the course’s subon-one contact with professors. ject matter is “perverse” or One UC One course in par- “sexy,” Rayter stresses that is ticular has garnered much me- really about they way the course dia attention since the start of is taught, and what it offers to the new school year. Titillat- students. The study of “sexualingly entitled “Sex in the City,” ized spaces” is “up for interpreUNI104 will include the “sexual tation,” says Rayter. “Some people probably see politics of the city and how cities and their neighbourhoods sexualized spaces where other people don’t. Yonge Street has become sexualized spaces.” In an interview with the always sort of been seen as… SUZIE BALABUCH
having a sort of risk-taking involved.” Far from being a chapter out of Talk Sex by Sue Johanson, the course will delve into the study of how certain spaces are designated “dangerous” or “sexual.” With excursions to places like the Pink Triangle Press and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, students will learn about the intersection of sex and the arts. In reality, the only truly scandalous thing about “Sex in the City” is its title. The course is about pushing the academic envelope, not the sexual envelope. Rayter summarizes, “People have this idea that, you go to university, you’re in some walled-off thing. We’re all members of the community, moreover people in the university, faculty and students, do research on the very communities that they come from, that they live around, so we really wanted to push the research side of things.” For more information on UC One and UNI104Y “Sex in the City,” visit uc.utoronto.ca.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Under the stars and over the top audience. The chilly nighttime also lent weight to the play’s theme of climaxing fertility and Desire 101: A Review of the UC the following loss thereof. Follies’ production of A MidMeredith Free’s Hermia was a summer Night’s Dream, under standout. Her monologues were the direction of Shakir Haq like confused-yet-tender letPerhaps it was their sexy cos- ters sent home amid a frothing tumes. But whatever it was that 4'**-$>$-A% ! % $"!*+B% B!8 6.+!83% made Shakespeare’s famous and lent an emotionally believfour befuddled lovers come to- able anchor point to the play. gether was a powerful intoxi- The performance of Shakir Haq cant, and aptly played up in this as Titania salaciously embodied production. every aspect of a fairy queen, Staged along a berm in front and Victoria McEwan was suitof Hart House and directly un- ably waggish as Oberon’s main der a beautiful but doomed ash mischief maker, Puck. As well, tree (this city’s ash trees being Lauren Goodman’s Bottom succhewed to death by beetles; a ceeded in capturing the innogreat metaphor for the bad re- cent longing to be noticed that lationships displayed in this lies behind all show business, ,-'503%*/$%!6*A!!"%.$**+89%! %;<% and if not everything else, beFollies’ production of Shake- hind love itself. speare’s A Midsummer Night’s Speaking of arses, plenty were Dream allowed this play about on display, along with other re*/$%!@$"&!1+89%B/'!.%! %A$.+"$% gions of bodily geography. With to literally spill out into the a cast uniformly beckoning and DAVID STOKES
beautiful, the play was suffused with a copious amount of raunB/5%.*'9$%A+"$B*+!8(%)*%+.%>**+893% for desire has no rules, and propriety is paper thin, though the law has another name for Demetrius and Lysander’s intoxicated groping of Hermia. The same physical over-excitement that made the play humorous and fresh to watch may have left it emotionally underdeveloped. Although, to be fair, when dealing with characters written *!% 4$% .$- ?+8@!-@$A% '8A% >$8Aishly hedonic, it’s not surprising that a few performances were not entirely charming, nor fully convincing, all of the time. UC Follies is currently developing a sketch comedy production with U of T Improv for November; as well as The Who’s Tommy, set to be performed February 2-11 at Hart House.
September 22, 2011
the inside
5
ANIMAL TESTING For pharmaceutical companies: a hard pill to swallow fully worked on monkeys (our evolutionary brethren) while Originally billed as a debate, none have worked on our spe“Is animal testing predictive for cies. A compilation of 25,000 humans?” became a lecture by articles published on animal Dr Ray Greek, anaesthesiolo- testing’s predictive value for gist and lecturer at the medical humans were examined. One schools of University of Wis- (0.004 per cent) came out posiconsin and Thomas Jefferson tive. “There is no translation University. Before the event, on cures for Alzheimer’s, brain which took place on September cancer, spinal-cord injuries and 19, the organisers, Stop U of T so on,” said Dr Greek, “concluAnimal Research, extended an sions can be drawn from animal invitation to U of T’s medical research, but not predictive for department to take part in the drug and disease response.” Then why do these tests perevent, only to receive a short, dismissive reply. Perhaps to ac- sist? The committee members cept the offer would have been that supply medical students to admit that there could be a grants for research, as Dr Greek substantial inhumane aspect explained, have also done animal testing themselves. Greek about the practice. Indeed, you may think so, ran through a series of proposwhen images are brought to als brought forward to the commind of animals trapped in mittees: drugs for face-pain cages, impaled by test-tubes, tested on rats, or alcoholism on or non-consensually under the 1% )(2+/$3# 45.)# (&*6(-2)*7$"/# surgical knife. Questions of eth- activists, it may be a hard pill ics aside, animals can be used to swallow,” said Dr Greek, “but Animal testing is scary stuff. for a variety of reasons such as the best people with whom to to better our understanding of speak to stop testing, are the medicine or for organ trans- pharmaceutical companies.” Even if it were decided that plants: pigs’ aorta valves have been proven to work in humans, the practice should be stopped, !"# "$%&'# ()"*+,*(-# .&%/# $(0%# it would take the companies also done the job. However, the decades to completely phase it issue of using animals, as Dr out. And what of the alternaGreek attests, begs the question tives we have available to test with respect to testing for drug new drugs? Human cells can be used at the micro-level, otherpredictive purposes. This would be just as ethi- wise, medical research has been cally debatable as abortion, for done on autopsies since time instance, if the results garnered immemorial. “Stop U of T Animal Rehad any translatable value towards humans’ drug advance- search,” advocates these alterment. Sadly, however, there is natives instead of the current none, as Dr Greek explained. practices. Paul York spearheads Reasons for this can be sum- the project which began three marised as differing genes from years ago. “We’re very nonviodifferent evolutionary proce- lent, and all for arguing our case dures. “There is very little cor- rationally for the public,” said relation between animals’ test York. The Canadian Council results and those of humans’,” .&# 8&*6(-# 9()%# (&:# "$%# ;<+,%# Greek explained, with a wealth of Animal Research Ethics at U of supporting evidence. The of T have the same perspective: chemical make-up and internal that the treatment of animals in processes differ too much to de- research is “humane.” “We beg termine if one drug will work on to differ,” said York, “incarcerating them, injecting them with two separate species. In a study conducted between deadly toxins, burning them humans and animals using six chemically, doing invasive surdifferent drugs, we shared 22 gery and the killing and dissectside effects; animals experi- ing them is not “humane.” And enced 48 not found in humans; this represents the majority of and humans, 20 not found in experiments done, on many animals. This produced a Posi- types of species.” And as Dr. tive Predictive Value (PPV) of Greek would argue, none are roughly 31 per cent, well shy predictive for humans in terms of the recommended 90 per of toxicity and drug testing. cent necessary for a drug to go !"#$%&#'&(#)*+#,+-./)+#0!1#)*+# through as clinically acceptable. Further, of the HIV vaccines 2#!0#3#41!"5#!&#6%$+-!!78# tested, hundreds have success-
KAROL ORZECHOWSKi
ASCHILLE CLARKE-MENDES
Toronto beer week
The first time Innis & Gunn is on tap outside of the United Kingdom. Visit the newspaper.ca for the full review
BODI BOLD
At the Monk’s Table
the arts
6
September 22, 2011
The film
Refnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Drive, a winding road DAN CHRISTENSEN Whether it be physical or intellectual, if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re into head trauma, boy do we have a movie for you! However, in the latter case, it works more on the audience than on the characters !"#$%"&'()"*!+"%,%!"#$%!)"-%.haps not right away. Ryan Gosling gets behind the wheel as our unlikely hero â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a reserved stunt driver-cumgetaway artist (letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s call him the strong, silent type), who gets mixed up protecting his lady friend neighbour (Carey Mulligan) and her son from the dirty doings of her jailbird husband. /%" 0-%!+" (10#" 12" #$%" &.0#" $*'2" 12" #$%" &'(" %0#*3' 0$ !4" the romantic (?) bond between Mulligan and Gosling (Side note: Is it just me? Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t we see this combo in Goslingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last movie?), and the latter shows off his wry smiling capabilities. For all the time spent upon it, the ring of truth doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sound loudly on the demure chemistry displayed by the couple. And
this partially due to, rather than in spite of, the lush 80s electronica-inspired soundtrack which, while beautiful and sure to send hipsters to the record store in droves, at times starts to suffocate the scenes it is meant to compliment. However itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s here, at the halfway point and the conclusion of the pairâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comparatively frivolous courtship, that the 18A rating rears its headless shoulders. Gosling transforms from mildmannered (though cooly criminal) family-type to a terrifyingly mechanical one-man-army. After a stream of brutality that walks the line between Tarantinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outlandish and detached violence in Kill Bill and the immediate wanton horror of a war epic like Platoon, both evaded and delivered by Goslin, $%" 0" &!*''5" (*#6$%+" *4* !0#" Ron Pearlman, playing a blowhard crime boss pizzeria owner, and Albert Brooks, Pearlmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more formidable and shrewd partner â&#x20AC;&#x201C; roles that they each
happen to slide into like hands in gloves. Most notable, however, is the 61!&+%!#" + .%6# 1!" 2.1(" 7 61las Winding Refn. Calling his work stylish, or even stylized, can only hint at the delicate en%.45" #$*#" !280%0" #$%" &'()" *!+" which has picked him up a best director accolade at Cannes. This juxtaposition speaks to (1.%" #$*!" *#" &.0#" 4'*!6%)" *0" Refn displays the vitality and spontaneity of a debut feature, '%## !4"$ 0"&'("' ,%" !"*"0%. %0"12" different moods and fashions over the course of its running time, while still allowing each to add to, rather than to muddle, the central story, and letting strong performances anchor the audience to the proceedings. Though not for the faint of $%*.#)" #$ 0" 0" *" &'(" #$*#" -*50" dividends to the dedicated and observant moviegoer. One caveat â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I recommend driving yourself to the theatre.
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the arts
September 22, 2011
7
the poetry: The Shining Material by Aisha Sasha John. DAVID STOKES “On your own calf / take a small fruit and bleed the juice of it to know / something empirically” writes Aisha Sasha =./3+&!$/.-3:&%/!&@.3:&.2&@.).mon’s call for sensual discovery (‘sensual’ construed in the wid!"%&9'5+&!H,'))5& !)'%!0&%.&I ."& as related to ‘sense’ and ‘sensi1-)-%5FJ+&1,%&",1",*-3:&%/'%&'3cient poem’s role of lover and 1!).;!0&1.%/&,3%.&/! "!)2+&)-A!&'& house divided. The fact that this separation holds together and creates a more perfect union !*'-3"& '& *5"%! 5+& '30& K%/!& Shining Material” is Ms. John’s 3'*!&2. &., &"/-**! -3:+&/-0den pillar of both possibility and sublime clarity that corresponds – like the lover/beloved dichotomy – to our often con4-$%!0& '30& $.32,"!0& !;! 50'5& selves. Her poems are all attempts to open-up wider rings of conscious self-understanding relating to all ranges of experi!3$!+& 2 .*& $/.."-3:& %.& :.& :!%& groceries or what to feel about "!L+&'30&"/!&"#!'A"&%.&'30&'"A"& the depths of herself “where
can we go / to have some kind of communion”. Many poems in the collection are titled as "!)2M#. % '-%"& '30+& )-A!& '3& ' %ist drawing himself to gain 1.%/&'3&.1N!$%+&1!%%! &$ '2%+&'30& "!)2MA3.9)!0:!+&%/!5&(:, !&7"<& John watching herself at a distance while she interacts in relation to – or under the power .2&O&$! %'-3&$.3"% '-3-3:&%! *"+& such as linguistic constraints. P3& .%/! & #.!*"+& 9/-$/& ')".& exist as a separate mode of self#. % '-%, !+& "/!& !#!'%"& Q',)& Valéry’s practice of early morn-3:&2 !!M9 -%-3:+&9/-$/&1.%/&/!& '30& 7"<& =./3& $'))& RS'/-! "F+& -3& order to let the “I” speak direct)5+& 9-%/.,%& %/!& 0-"%'3$!& .2& %/!& triangulation of viewer/object/ 1!-3:<& & P3& 1.%/& *.0!"& %/.,:/+& she draws the blinds far enough to let the reader into her often plaintive self-exhibitionismcum-voyeurism. The only con"%'3%& -"& /! & "/-2%-3:+& $/'3:-3:& "!)2+&. &'"&"/!&"'5"&-3&K@!)2MQ. % '-%& T& U!'0! +V& '30& "#!'A-3:& 2. &,"&'"&9!))+&%/'%&K'))&%/!&0'5& 0.!"& -"& $/'3:!& *!+V& '& #' %-3:& %!"%-*.35&%.&%/!&:-2%+&')".&2.,30& -3&%/!"!&#.!*"+&.2&)-2!&'"&0-WW5-3:+&:). -.,"&"!3"!<
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BookThug, Toronto, $18.00
The game
ANDREW GYORKOS Video games are currently facing the issue of acceptance as an art form just as worthy of !"#!$%&'"&()*+&*,"-$+&. &)-%! 'ture. While there are certainly champions for either side of %/-"& 0!1'%!+& %..& .2%!3& %/!& *!dium isn’t allowed to speak for itself. We’ll listen to Roger Ebert voice his doubts (to name but one detractor) and we’ll %.)! '%!& 4..0"& .2& '"-3-3!& '30& overzealous counter-arguments from a passionate but largely misguided community. But will we listen to what the medium -%"!)2& /'"& %.& "'56& 7."%& %-*!"+& we’re so busy shouting at each other that we don’t hear it. 8.9& '## .# -'%!& -"& -%+& %/!3+& that the most compelling argument to arrive in recent memo5& /'"& 3.& )-3!"& .2& 0-').:,!+& 3.& lines of text beyond menus and $ !0-%"+& '30& '& ".,30& 0!"-:3& ".& sparse and consciously hollow that the game itself barely makes a sound? Limbo is this argument; a 2D puzzle and platform game created by Danish developer Playdead. You control the sil-
Limbo houette of a boy traversing a bleak and hopeless monochrome world as you navigate a series of devious traps and puzzles. There’s no explicit plot . & 3' '%-;!+& '30& 3.& *,"-$& . & $.)., <& =,"%& 5.,+& %/!& ".,30& .2& 5., &2..%"%!#"&'30&1 !'%/+&'30& a tenebrous world constantly oppressing and unnerving you. >,-%!&$, -.,")5+&?-*1.&$.*petently reaches its aspiration of artistic accomplishment without the appearance of too much effort. Its minimalist visual and sound design gently coaxes players into immersion without dragging them in. The gameplay is so unobtrusive that you quickly forget you’re playing a game in the same way that effective theatre displays characters and not actors. The only real misstep is how the ending sequences betray illusion and atmosphere in favour of obtuse physics puzzles. But the entire :'*!&1!2. !&%/-"&#.-3%+&9-%/&-%"& commitment to an air of para3.-'& '30& -3%!3"-%5+& -"& ",#! 1<& This is owing in no small part to its “trial and death” philoso#/5+&: -*&-*':! 5+&'30&'&% ,)5& menacing arachnid antagonist.
@.*!& *'5& (30& ?-*1.& '& 1-%& %..& "/. %+& .%/! "& '& 1-%& %..& 0-"$., ':-3:+&'30&*'35&*. !&9-))& # .1'1)5& (30& -%& %..& 1)!'A& '30& 0!# !""-3:<&B,%&2. &CDE+&-%F"&0!2initely worth a look. Remember: you’re not just getting a cost-
!2($-!3%& '30& 0!;-.,"& #)'%2. *& puzzler; you’re getting one of the best examples for video games as a work of interactive art. Due to an exclusivity agreement between developer Playdead and publisher Micro-
".2%& G'*!& @%,0-."+& ?-*1.& 9'"& exclusive to the Xbox 360 for a year after its summer 2010 !)!'"!+& .3)5& 1!-3:& *'0!& ';'-)able on PS3 and Steam (a PC digital distribution service) this August.
the backpage THE CROSSWORD BY ANDREW WALT
8
September 22, 2011
Across 1. Belonging to him 4. Precious metal 7. Bank machine
15. Enemy 16. “We ___ not amused 17. Pair
10. Male child 13. Charged atom 14. Pub beverage
“
18. Massive storage vessel 19. Legendary Bruins’ defenseman 20. Not many 21. Tiny passerine bird 23. Application 24. Era 25. Biblical tower 27. Norway’s capital 29. Experts 30. Egg shape 31. Anatomical pouch 32. Contaminate 33. Renaissance man 35. Troubled internet company 36. NBC variety show 37. A message to those who found !"#$%&&'("$)*+""%+*,$-!%&, 39. OISE association 42. Single 43. Disappoints 45. Indigenous Kiwis 48. Mule 49. Modern Persia 50. Shrek, for example 51. Saucy 53. Religious tenet 54. Capsule 55. Nada 56. Pristine 57. Rage 58. Roman greeting 59. Resinous insect secretion 60. Frequently 63. Aural organ 64. Marsh 65. Health resort 66. Container for ashes 67. Simple internet feed 68. Pig’s pen 69. Old recording and playback system 70. Alcoholic
the campus comment
Down 1. Concealed 2. Note of debt 3. Playful winter weapon 4. Judge’s mallet 5. Panache 6. Renowned opera company ./$0!1"&$,234)1 #56$*17$888$+3 8. Abdomen 9. Scant 10. African adventure 11. State north of California 12. Most recent 22. Depend on 25. Strikes 26. Stratford-upon-___ 27. Quaker product 28. A learned person 29. Mate 31. Identical 32. Playthings 34. Iconic British car 9:/$;1"2)<$4 =<$!7,$ 2#&*!#1*& 38. Relaxation 39. Beautiful 40. Had a dip 41. Female name meaning “charm” or “grace” 42. Raw mineral 44. French fashion company 45. More sullen 46. Marketplaces 47. Imperatives 51. Point of rotation 52. Melancholic poem 53. Old gold coin 55. Captures 56. Father 59. Psychedelic drug 61. To and ___ 62. Dynamite
”
the newspaper asked: What are you listening to?
PEM
IAN
Eagles of Death Metal, “English Girl” “I’m a big fan of classic rock”
2 Door Cinema Club, “I Can’t Talk”
Fire & Ice, “All I Want Is Everything” “I really like the guitar solo. He [the guitarist] combines classical and metal.”
KURT
PRISCILLA
SOHRAB
Lady Gaga, “Bad Kids (Remix)” “I sped it up so it’s much faster.”
Super Junio “Ah-Cha”
Metallica, “Jump in the Fire”
GEOFF VENDEVILLE
ODILE