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Eat healthy this barbecue season THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2019
STUDIO 2880 HOSTS MORRISON SHOW FRANK PEEBLES 97/16 staff
Revolution, poverty, government oppression, military fear, fascism, abusive classism - Donna Morrison has seen all this and painted from it. Now she is seeing new forms of social upheaval - climate crisis, mis/information torrent, online over-attention, food and trade insecurity - and she is painting that as well. She takes no advocacy position other than posing questions and opening conversation, all through her artwork. Her latest show is called Choices: The New Temptation on now at the Studio 2880 Feature Gallery. It’s her exhibition flowing from being the Community Arts Council’s artist-in-residence at the Studio 2880 arts complex. “It has been an amazing six months. This exhibition marks the halfway point of my residency,” she said. “It’s been really busy. I teach - I have about 30 students - and with a busy painting schedule it gets to be long days.” It’s going to get even more intense. She is using the opportunity of a year’s free, unfettered studio space to build towards her next international exhibition. It opens this January in Mexico. “Mexico is my birthplace of colour,” she said. “It is a land of colour, their art is so vibrant, and the Mexican people’s character has colour as well. I had not achieved that state until I spent a year on sojourn there in 1988-89 (following art school). I just rented a condo and painted there for a year and travelled locally from the east coast to the west coast (based in Merida). And from there I moved to Guatemala for three and a half years and saw a place even more impactful with colour but I was more open to it already because of Mexico.” From there, it was off to other locales like a prolonged stay in South Korea, a couple of visits to Cuba, Berlin, and more. Always, she was in creative mode. She would seek out artists to work with, art projects to be involved with, and opportunities to exhibit her work.
97/16 photo by James Doyle
Donna Morrison, Studio 2880’s current artist-in-residence, works on a piece at the studio. Capturing the human condition led her to see current trade disputes like the America-China impasse, and the onslaught of screens as other forms of culture that people were becoming tribalized into. “There are all kinds of new thought processes, things to explore, and for me its trying to get to know, or get a new feel, for what it all actually means,” she said. Those are the points on which her current exhibition hinge. “I haven’t framed them, the works are hung just as they are, the oil paint on oilpaper, so they look like dreams or clouds hanging on the walls,” she explained.
“Once you frame them they can look complete, like facts, but these are not facts, they are just some impressions and ideas about what I’m hearing. We all have different needs in life so we need to have different opinions, too. These paintings are not expressing a set opinion, but I hope they open up new ideas for the viewers and new conversations that will explore these new conditions past generations never had to think about.” Can we, in our Prince George community and our Canadian culture, sustain ourselves if times get tough? Can we feed ourselves, employ
ourselves, manufacture what we ourselves need? It’s easy to live when times are abundant but Morrison has seen how fragile life can be when a society shifts or a major unexpected event happens. Are we ready for those possibilities? The answers to those questions are not presented in Choices: The New Temptation but the discussion is opened by the paintings on the Studio 2880 walls. They will hang there like thought bubbles until the show closes on June 6. It is free to drop in and view, whenever the Studio 2880 Gift Shoppe is open for business.
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NEWS
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THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2019 | 3
LOOKING BACK ON A CENTURY SENIORS’ SCENE KATHY NADALIN
C
entenarian Mary (Ray) Westlake was born in 1919. The year 1919 was when dial telephones were introduced by the American Telephone and Telegraph company (AT&T) and the same year that the price of a postage stamp went from two cents to three cents. Mary, one of six children, was born in Green Brier, Sask. Her father was born in Minnesota in 1892; at the age of 24 he moved to Saskatchewan and married her 18-year-old mother in 1916. When she was nine months old, Mary, her parents and her older brother moved to Fort Fraser, where four more children were born. When she was six years old, they moved south of Fort Fraser to Lily Lake where she grew up and went to school. She attended a small two room school where she completed Grade 10 and then went to Fort Fraser and completed her grade 12. She graduated from high school, moved to Vancouver with a desire for a nursing career and attended St. Paul’s school of nursing for 10 months until she met Ralph Westlake. Ralph was born in Vancouver in 1913. Mary said, “We fell for each other right off. The war broke out and Ralph joined the army. I had to decide if I wanted to continue with nursing school or get married. Students attending nursing school were not allowed to be married. It was an easy decision so I gave up nursing school and married Ralph. He was called to duty the day after we got married in May of 1941. He came home on a two-week leave in July and returned to Ottawa where he was stationed and I went back to Lily Lake because I was pregnant. “I got a job working at the post office until my baby Lenore was born in the spring of 1942. Ralph was in the signal corps, a military branch responsible for military communications. When he was dispatched to Victoria as a part of the Pacific Command we moved to Victoria. In 1945 he was sent to Australia and I moved back to Lily Lake a second time.” The Pacific Command was a formation of the Canadian Army created during the Second World War to strengthen and administer home defense facilities on Canada’s Pacific Coast against a possible Japanese attack. When Mary returned to her home at Lily Lake, she bought a 60-acre farm, complete with a new barn, for $1,000. When Ralph returned from the war, they built a house on the farm and their
97/16 photo by Brent Braaten
Mary Westlake has seen plenty of changes during her 100 years. family continued to grow. Together they had three children; Lenore (Vic) Bowman born in 1942 and deceased in 1997, Ray (Lois) and Doug (Jetta). They have eight grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and three great great grandchildren. The young couple farmed at Lily Lake for nine years. The children were taking school by correspondence and in 1956 it was decided that the children needed to attend a proper school so the family moved into town. Their children went on to high school in Vanderhoof. They ran the Co-op Store in Fort Fraser from 1956-1964 and later Mary cooked at Leo’s Grill. Ralph first worked at the sawmill and then for the forestry department. In their spare time they took up curling and curled together for the next 40 years. They lived and worked in Fort Fraser for 38 years. When Ralph had a heart attack, he was forced to retire at the age of 67. They moved to Prince George in 1995 to be closer to medical services and their family. They took up golfing and golfed at the Pine Valley Golf Centre five days a week. They were married for 63 years when sadly Ralph passed away in 2004 at the
age of 90. Mary said, “I took up curling at the age of 40 and started golfing at the age of 60. I gave up both curling and golfing at the age of 90. Now I just watch it (and the Canucks hockey games) on TV. I don’t need the volume on to watch it and I catch up on my sleep at the same time. “I volunteered at the Brunswick Street senior centre until I took up carpet bowling. There are some mighty fine people at that senior centre and at the age of 100 I am still on the carpet bowling team. “Over the past 100 years I have lived near Lily Lake, Fort Fraser, the coast and Prince George. I have learned a lot of things over the years and I have had some good times and some sad times but I lived through it all. “I was thrilled when I won a brandnew Vauxhall car in 1960 and a trip to Disneyland in the mid-80s. These might seem like small things but they were great events in my life. Now my joy is my family, my friends and traveling to see the new babies as they arrive. “My wonderful family recently threw me a huge party when I turned 100. I had so much fun and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the nearly 100
people who came to my party – half of them were relatives – to celebrate this event with me. It is still hard to believe that I am 100. “My brother Alf, who lives in Vanderhoof and is 86 came to my party. Alf and I are the only two left out of the six of us. My oldest brother Stewart Ray, was also from Vanderhoof. He passed away just two months short of turning 100 years old. “I saw many changes in this world over my life time and I would say that a memorable one would be the advances in communications. We were thrilled when we listened to the news for the first time over a radio broadcast and then many years later, we actually got a television set and saw and heard the news on TV. It was all so amazing. Now the technology includes stuff that I do not quite understand like cell phones, wireless service and stuff in the clouds. I have no clue about computers so I don’t have one and I don’t miss it. “I have basically good health, maintained a good sense of humor and I like to have fun. I can tell you for sure that I did not like losing family members or my hearing. I thank the good Lord for hearing aids. Life is good!”
NEWS
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Nechako Community Theatrics Society cast members rehearse Agatha Christie’s Appointment With Death in preparation for the upcoming shows at ArtSpace.
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH FRANK PEEBLES 97/16 staff
The community has a mortal booking but it’s the highly entertaining kind of brush with murder. The Nechako Community Theatrics Society (NCTS) presents an old favourite whodunit for their next play, Agatha Christie’s Appointment With Death. The amateur theatre company’s spokesperson for the play, Laura Bennett, said this was “a thrilling murder mystery set in Jerusalem, 1945. A reworking of her earlier novel, it contains enough plot twists and turns to keep even the best of amateur detectives on their toes.” This was one of Christie’s best-loved murder mystery stories. It was first published in 1938 and features her longtime protagonist detective Hercule Poirot.
It was made into a major motion picture starring Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher and an all-star supporting cast. It was made into a television movie as well starring Christina Cole, Tim Curry and Elizabeth McGovern. It was also a BBC radio play, but it has lived on most substantially in the form of a stage production that is done time after time around the world, thanks to the Samuel French Inc. script publishing house. It becomes one of the most recognizable scripts the NCTS has ever produced. “The society members discussed it and agreed they wanted to try something a bit more serious and give our acts a chance to develop a bit more,” said Bennett. “Up to this point we have done comedic things, fairy tales, local productions, things like that, so this was to give a new dimension to our society and our actors.” The NCTS is a company with a difference in its mandate. It exists to give theatrical opportunities with an emphasis on inclusiveness. All backgrounds of people are welcome and encouraged to join their creative
efforts, which gives a chance for many who normally do not get to perform or work on a stage crew under normal circumstances. Many who do get those chances are also brought in to help mentor these aspiring creators and creates bridge relationships between NCTS and the other performing arts groups of the city. “It really has stretched them,” said Bennett, watching the Appointment With Death rehearsal process. “We’re seeing some different work from our seasoned actors, and it brought out some others we had never worked with before who approached us to take part. I would say at least a third of the cast is new to us.” NCTS was fonded in 2012. They were a 2018 nominee in the Lifestyle Transformation category of the Healthier You Awards, recognizing their work in encouraging local actors. “I really feel that we are meeting our goal of making community theate accessible to a wide variety of people,” Bennett said. “In the past we have had actors as young as six, our oldest was in her 80s, we’ve had partici-
pants from AiMHi, from Project Friendship Society, several English-as-a- second-language actors in the past, so we try to finds space for people to be involved. If they can’t fit into one production, we try to plan ways of involving them in future productions. We are definitely open to whomever wants to come out from all walks of life. We have students, lawyers, teachers, just everyone.” This play is another step, as well, in advancing the crew’s skills. Bennett said each new show is a growth opportunity for their set builders, makeup artists, costume designers, music and choreography participants, and effects technicians. They, too, are gathered from the wide ranging community “and we are having fun with it, as we stretch ourselves. We know this is community theatre. We want it to be good, but we don’t stress about perfection.” Appointment With Death will be performed at Artspace on May 31, June 1, June 7, and June 8 (all shows starting at 7 p.m.). Tickets are $20 each, available in advance at Books & Co., and at the door the evenings of the events.
WORK IN INDIA TOPIC OF LOCAL AUTHOR’S BOOK 97/16 STAFF
Over the last 25 years, Prince George physiotherapist Hilary Crowley has volunteered her time in India where she has helped develop a community-based disability program. She has now published a book about those experiences.
Footsteps to Freedom: Tales of Therapy in Rural India takes the reader into rural India during the height of the polio epidemic. Crowley describes how children progress from crawling in their village to rehabilitation and education to adults leading productive lives. It’s an opportunity to see life through the eyes of
these children and follow their footsteps. A book launch will be held on Wed., May 29 at Art Space above Books and Company, 7 p.m. start. Crowley will show slides from her work in India and give some short readings. Proceeds from the book will go to the Samuha Overseas Development Association.
HEALTH
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THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2019 | 5
10 TIPS FOR A HEALTHY BARBEQUE SEASON enough to season eight chicken breasts or thighs.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
10. Get creative!
KELSEY LECKOVIC
A barbeque doesn’t always have to centre around hamburgers and hot dogs. Plant-based recipes, including the following for grilled lentil zucchini boats, can be an easy and more affordable alternative to red meat.
M
ay is the unofficial kickoff to barbeque season for many Canadians and that means hot dogs, hamburgers, kebobs and the start of spring/ summer get-togethers with family and friends. While staying healthy can be a challenge, the tips listed below will help you start the grilling season off on a healthy and nutritious note:
Grilled Lentil Zucchini Boats
Makes 8 servings Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive or canola oil - 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped - 4 medium zucchini - 1 small onion, finely chopped - ½ cup cooked or canned green lentils, drained and rinsed - ½ cup fresh or dry breadcrumbs - ½ cup grated aged Gouda, Parmesan, or crumbled feta - Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Don’t forget to wash your hands
Washing your hands is not only the most effective way to protect yourself from a number of infectious diseases such as influenza and the common cold, it’ll also help to prevent the spread of infectious disease to others. Be sure to wash your hands for at least 15 seconds before and after handling any food and before handling any serving ware. Tip: 15 seconds is the length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday. 2. Have two sets of barbeque tongs
Having two sets of tongs allows you to use one for handling raw meat, fish and poultry and one for taking cooked food off the grill. This prevents cross contamination between raw and cooked foods and helps prevent food poisoning. If you only have one set of tongs, you can also sanitize them between handling raw and cooked meat. 3. Sanitize as you go!
Sanitizing any surface that has touched raw meat will help to prevent the transfer of bacteria, which can cause food poisoning. Combine one teaspoon of bleach with three cups of water in a labeled spray bottle. Spray sanitizer on your countertops, cutting board, plates, utensils and any other surface that has touched raw meat. Allow the sanitizer to stand briefly before rinsing with lots of clean water and wiping with a clean, dry towel. 4. Cook to a safe temperature
Bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter are killed by heat and by cooking your meat to the recommended internal temperate, you’ll lessen your risk of foodborne illness. Keep in mind that the colour of a meat is not a reliable indicator that it is safe to eat; red meat can turn brown before all the bacteria is killed. For tips on how to use a food thermometer and guidance
Instructions
Washington Post photo
Meat on the barbecue is fine but throwing some colourful veggies on the grill completes the meal. on recommended cooking temperatures go to www.canada.ca and search “safe cooking temperatures.” 5. Avoid the danger zone –
Bacteria can grow quickly in food that has been left at room temperature between 4°C to 60°C (40°F to 140°F). Be sure to refrigerate any leftovers within two hours of preparing or removing from the fridge. On hot summer days, that deadline shortens to one hour. This rule also applies to fruit salad, melons, pasta and rice dishes. 6. Limit red and processed meat –
A diet high in red and processed meat has been shown to increase the risk for colon and rectal cancer by promoting the formation of cancer causing compounds. Many processed meats, including hot dogs, also contain nitrates or nitrites, which are additives that give processed meat its colour and flavour. Nitrates or nitrites may form cancercausing compounds in our bodies and should be avoided. 7. Eat the rainbow
Include a variety of colours in your barbeque choices to get a variety of nutrients in your meal. Thread cherry tomatoes, diced orange, green peppers, mushrooms, and red onions on wooden skewers that have been soaked for 30
minutes. Grill your kabobs for four to five minutes on medium heat and enjoy! 8. Avoid burnt meat and flare-ups
When meat is cooked at high temperatures and animal fat drips onto the flames of a grill causing flare-ups, compounds are formed that have been found to be mutagenic, meaning these compounds cause changes in DNA and may increase your risk for developing cancer. To reduce your risk, trim visible fat from meat before barbequing to avoid flare-ups, cook smaller meat portions like kebobs, which take less time on the grill or choose wild meat more often than red and processed meat which does not seem to carry the same cancer risk. 9. Choose homemade sauces and rubs
Barbeque sauces and seasonings can be packed with both sugar and sodium and it can be difficult to find commercially prepared options that are lower in both. Making your own sauce or rub is the best way to have a healthy option that suits your tastes. For a low sodium Cajun spice mix, combine 4 tsp. dried oregano, 4 tsp. dried thyme, 4 tsp. garlic powder, 2 tsp. onion powder, 4 tsp. ground black pepper, 2 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. salt and ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper. This seasoning mix will be
1. Pour ¼ cup oil into a small ramekin and add garlic; stir and set aside. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape out the insides, leaving about ¼ inch thick zucchini shells. Brush zucchini with garlic oil. 2. Roughly chop the scooped-out zucchini. Pour the rest of the garlic oil into a medium skillet over mediumhigh heat and sauté the onion and chopped zucchini for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Add the lentils and cook until any excess moisture has cooked off. Transfer to a bowl and toss with the breadcrumbs, half the grated cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. 3. Preheat your grill to medium-high. Season the zucchini with salt and pepper, then fill each zucchini shell with the mixture. Sprinkle each boat with the remaining cheese and grill for approximately 10 minutes, lowering the lid of your barbeque to allow the cheese to melt. Move the zucchini bowls around on the grill if there are any hot spots. Grill until tender and charred on bottom. Serve immediately. Nutrition Facts per serving: 110 Calories, 7g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 5mg Cholesterol, 9g Carbohydrates, 2g Fibre, 1g Sugar, 4g Protein, 240mg Sodium Recipe courtesy of www.cookspiration.com Kelsey Leckovic is a registered dietitian with Northern Health working in chronic disease management.
EVENTS LIST
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CrossRoads Festival CrossRoads Brewing takes it to the street on Saturday for the next in their Street Festival Series. Hosted by the PG Canoe & Kayak Club, this is a chance to come meet local enthusiasts of water, where you can sign up kids for day-long, week-long, and summer-long camps (plus biking and fishing opportunities as well - there’s be a bike jumping demo!) in a festival atmosphere in front of the downtown brewhouse from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The evening portion has three live bands - Barbed Wire, Studio 720 and The Dungarees - performing out of doors.
Colour Walk
Abby White, 11, works on a gathered stich for the apron she is making during Sewing Campl at Theatre Northwest during a summer of 2018 sewing camp. Registration is now open for this summer’s sewing camps.
Sewing Camps
Registration is now open for Sewing For Young Children and for Sewing Camps-Beginners, a pair of fiber art summer programs for youngsters being offered by the costume department at Theatre Northwest. The Sewing For Young Children classes run July 2-5 with options for morning (9 a.m. start) or afternoon (1:30 p.m. start). This class is designed for young children with an interest in learning to sew, ideal ages 8-10 years old. The class consists of 3 hours per day for 4 days. The Sewing Camps-Beginners program runs July 22-26 afternoons only starting each day at 1:30. The ideal ages are 1015 years (as young as 8 for experienced kids) with no experience necessary. It runs three hours per day, producing a project each day. Sign up at the Theatre Northwest website.
Well Fed Painters The Federation of Canadian Artists has a members’ show on display now at the Bob Harkins branch of the PG Public Library. This group exhibition by the
Central Interior Chapter runs through the month of May.
Rees’s Pieces Vanderhoof painter Michael Rees is the subject of the solo exhibition on now at the Rustad Galleria in the Two Rivers Gallery.
Morrison Temptations Choices: The New Temptation is the art show by Donna Morrison on now at the Studio 2880 Feature Gallery. The show hangs until June 6.
he’s hosting his Wish Me Luck Show on Saturday. The local comedian is heading off on national tour so he’s starting in hometown P.G. at the Prince George Playhouse starting at 7 p.m. He’ll make a contribution to the Hospice Society on his way out of town. Joining Mackenzie that night will be fellow local comics Mike McGuire, Jon White, and Cody Malbeuf. Tickets are $25 at Central Interior Tickets website (all ages welcome, some mature subject matter).
Song Doctor
Children Of The Wave, P.G.’s Black Sabbath surf-rock cover band, performs at The Legion on Friday at 9 p.m. featuring musician Britt AM and her full band. Cover is $10 at the door.
He’s a physician and a musician. Dr. Tom sings, fiddles, and heals. He is a founding member of popular local Celtic band Out Of Alba and that group will gather around him in his final solo concert as a Prince George resident. He is moving on for professional reasons, but wants to leave on some vibrant notes. Last Call - Dr Tom & Out of Alba happens Saturday at Artspace. Tickets are $20 at Books & Company while they last.
Comedian’s Luck
Phone Pics
Wave Children
Alex Mackenzie is gonna need it so
Acclaimed local photographer Philomena Hughes leads a one-day cellphone photography workshop on Saturday (also on June 22) at her studio at 423 Dominion Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $150 (lunch is included). Learn the snapshot potential we hold in our hands in our everyday smartphone devices.
High Trashion Two Rivers Gallery is where fashion fans and recycling fans can meet on the glamour runway. Saturday at 7:30 p.m. is the Trashion Show - Where Art & Ecology Collide, hosted by the creative team at Adventures In Self-Sufficiency. They said “The Trashion Show is a fashion showcase that invites creators, makers, artists, and design enthusiasts to bring to life unique, creative designs made out of recyclable materials, salvaged finds, or anything that is saved from the landfill.” Tickets are $25.
Get bedazzled with colour as you walk a 5 km course at UNBC, all to raise funds for Prince George Hospice Society. This family-friendly event on Sunday is to walk and celebrate those we have loved. Walkers (individuals, teams and families) circle the university loop and clouds of various colours will be wildly thrown to celebrate life, some of it aimed at the participants. Wear white to show your true colours. Sunglasses for the first 250 to register: $25 per person, $75 for a family of three or more. Register at the EventBrite website.
Kids Triathlon The 25th Annual Kids Fun Triathlon happens Sunday starting at 9 a.m. at the Aquatic Centre. For kids aged 3-15. Email kostriathlon@gmail.com for information or contact the Stride ‘n’ Glide store to register for the Integris Kids Of Steel & Sprint Triathlon or go to the www. pgkidstri.ca website.
O Solo Trio Star music ensemble O Sole Trio comes to the Prince George Playhouse on Sunday for a classical concert event in support of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and the PG Italian Club. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Admission is $50 at Central Interior Tickets. This is an encore performance by the U.S.-based vocal and instrumental power group, back by popular demand.
Doug Drones On Sunday, come to Omineca Arts Centre for “Prince George’s first (official) drone day celebration, featuring the weird, the experimental, and the innovative,” said event organizers. See (or rather, hear) Gamma Camera (Doug Koyama) supported by the Brain Porter and Sara Wray Enns. Following this sound performance, the night will close with a dance featuring electronic pulsations by deejay Mr. Vibacious.
Teen Tabletop Every Monday until May 27 from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Bob Harkins Branch, Prince George Public Library, 888 Canada Games Way, try your hand at a variety of tabletop games. All experience levels welcome. Bring your own decks for MtG, Pokemon or Yu-GiOh. For 13 to 18 yrs. For more information call 250-563-9251 or email ask@pgpl.ca.
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Comedian Alex Mackenzie performs while hosting the Wheely Funny Fundraiser 2 last week at Theatre Northwest. Before he heads off on a national tour, Mackenzie is holding a Wish Me Luck show on Saturday at the Playhouse. Maylie Thompson, 10, is all smiles while riding her bike as she competes in the 2017 kids triathlon. The 2019 edition goes this Sunday morning.
Cunningham at OAC The Omineca Arts Centre’s artist-inresidence for the month of May is Joseph Cunningham. He will have personal public interactions May 28-29 from 12-3 p.m.
Garvey and Army Kitchener’s folk singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Richard Garvey and special guest act Origami Army perform at Nancy O’s on May 29 at 8:30 p.m. Cover is $10 at the door.
Pedalling Pints Pints ‘n’ Pedals is a fundraiser on May 29 for the Canadian Mental Health Association’s local chapter. Proceeds go to rebuilding the clubhouse, which burned down last year. The event happens at Trench Brewery (399 2nd Ave) at 7 p.m. with door prizes (featuring a mini-fridge full of beer) and a live comedy performance. Tickets are $20 and there will also be information to sign up for the annual Ride Don’t Hide bike event for mental health awareness coming up June 23.
Crowley Book Beloved local philanthropist and community activist Hilary Crowley makes her debut as an author at Artspace on May 29 from 7-9 p.m. He first book, Footsteps To Freedom, chronicles how she “helped set up a disability program in
South India and taught physiotherapy to village workers during the height of the polio epidemic.” Her Crowley read, show photos, and tell background stories about her aid work.
ever popular Spring Arts Bazaar on June 1 at the Studio 2880 complex (2880 15th Ave) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the main feature is the high profile annual chili cookoff. Buy an original PG Potters’ Guild bowl and get a ticket to sample some of the best chili the city has to offer, then vote for your favourite. Artists, performers and a pottery sale abounds.
Wittstruck ‘n’ Wine
Tapestry Singers
Singer-songwriter Vanessa Wittstruck is in the spotlight at Northern Lights Estate Winery on May 30. The popular local musician will perform in the bistro from 6-8 p.m.
The District 57 Tapestry Singers complete their school year with a pair of concerts. Circle Of Friends is a show loaded with popular songs and dozens of talented youth voices. Showtimes at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. at St. Michael’s Anglican Church downtown. Tickets $15 (free for ages 5 and younger) available in advance from Studio 2880.
Agatha’s Appointment The Nechako Community Theatrics Society is returning to Artspace on Friday May 31st, Saturday June 1st, Friday June 7th, and Saturday June 8th (all shows starting at 7pm) for a performance of Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie. Tickets are $20 each and available in advance at Books & Co., and at the door.
Derek Edwards
Kids learn the fundamentals of baking and art in the Art Monkeys Create & Bake pro-D day camp at Studio 2880 on May 31 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s for kids aged 6-11 for $60. Call 250-563-2880 for information or register online at www. studio2880.com.
Standup star Derek Edwards comes to the Prince George Playhouse on June 9 on his Alls I’m Saying Tour. This veteran of Just For Laughs and The Debaters is considered to be among the comic elite, as evidenced by the fact that he’s a fourtime nominee, and winner of Best Standup Comic - Canadian Comedy Awards, as well as a multiple Gemini nominee for Best Performance in a Comedy. As Rick Mercer says, “Everyone knows Derek is the funniest man in Canada.” Get seats through the Central Interior Tickets website.
Chili Cookoff
O yes! Oboe!
Baking Kids
The Community Arts Council hosts its
Alban Classical Arts Society presents
an oboe and piano recital on June 9 at 3 p.m. at Trinity United Church (3555 5th Ave). Tickets are $20 at the door.
Tying In Weavers The Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds holds its annual fiber arts conference from June 12-16 in Prince George. The event features workshops, seminars, a fashion show, exhibits, vendors’ market, awards, and more than 20 highlevel instructors all on site at the Prince George Civic & Convention Centre. Go to the anwgconference2019.com website for more info.
Diamonds And Rust Judas Priest, one of the crunchiest metal bands of the glam era, roars into CN Centre on June 14 along with artful rockers Uriah Heap. Get tickets at the Tickets North website or the CN Centre box office.
Ribfest Pacific Western Brewery is hosting Ribfest 2019, a three-day barbecue party (June 21-23) with world-class rib cooks from across Canada to tempt the city’s taste buds. They will be joined by complementary local food vendors, talented music acts performing live on-site, and the full power of PWB beer. It’s all free to attend the all-ages daytime portion (pay for the vendor wares you desire), with $5 cover charge for the +19 nighttime portions. All money raised goes to the many charitable causes of the Nechako Rotary Club.
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OVERCOMING LIFE’S TURMOIL W LESSONS IN LEARNING
e all face challenges in life, times when we feel like the bottom has fallen out and nothing is making
sense. While it may be tempting to give in to vengeful thoughts and actions, teachings developed in every culture point to the same principles. As we live by these ideals, life finds a way of sorting itself out. British author James Allen knew a life of hardship. His father lost his factory job, so he left his wife and children behind to go to America and find work. He died shortly after his arrival in New York and James had to find work as a teen. Life gradually improved as he established himself as a writer and it was by expressing his core philosophies that he gained his greatest notoriety. Allen became known for his book As a Man Thinketh, which is now in the public domain and still widely read. His lesser known 1910 work, Above Life’s Turmoil, beautifully summarizes how we
GERRY CHIDIAC
need to live when our worlds are turned upside down. The ideals Allen tells us to embrace are purity, patience, humility, self-sacrifice, self-reliance, fearlessness, knowledge, wisdom, compassion and love. To be pure means to have utmost respect of ourselves and of others. In essence, it means to actually live by principles, to do what we know is right. Humility, self-sacrifice and self-reliance can perhaps be looked at together. Embracing self-reliance we recognize the fact that we do indeed have within us what is needed to overcome any challenge. Self-sacrifice recognizes that it will not be easy and we will have to work
ABOUT US • Colleen Sparrow, publisher and GM • Neil Godbout, editor-in-chief • Shawn Cornell, director of advertising • Call us at: 250-562-2441 or 250-562-3301
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hard. Humility balances out the other two principles. We do not know everything and it is good to ask for help. We learn from others as we progress and we gratefully accept their support. To live with fearlessness is simply to move forward in the confidence that all will be well. Fear is perhaps the most destructive emotion. It tells us that we have to get the other before they get us and that what we have can be taken away and never replaced. To live in fearlessness reminds us of the folly of this thinking. Regardless of what happens around us, we always maintain the freedom to choose how we will respond. That is indeed our greatest human power. Knowledge is valuable because there is always more to learn. We gain greater understanding of the world around us and can thus respond to life more effectively. Wisdom takes this concept even further. We comprehend how to use knowledge to bring about the greatest good, thus bringing joy and meaning into our lives. Love is greatly misunderstood, but it is perhaps best defined by St. Paul. It is patient and kind. It always rejoices in truth and always hopes. It does not judge and is not self-seeking. Love always perseveres. When we look on ourselves and others in this light, we cannot fail. Our impact will be enduring. Love also allows us to see with compassion. We make mistakes, and so do others. Embracing this concept leads to
Love also allows us to see with compassion. We make mistakes, and so do others. Embracing this concept leads to profound forgiveness, which is perhaps the highest ideal a human being can obtain.
profound forgiveness, which is perhaps the highest ideal a human being can obtain. These principles presented by Allen may seem unrealistic, but as I study people who triumphed over insurmountable difficulties, I see how central they were to their thoughts. It does not take much effort to find them in the writings of Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl or Rwandan Genocide survivor Immaculee Ilibagiza or Nelson Mandela or any other person who has tapped into the greatness which lies in all of us. Yes, we will face challenges in life, and there is little we can do about what happens around us. What we do control is the way we respond, and that more than anything will determine our success. The path is clear. We need only take it. Gerry Chidiac is a champion for social enlightenment, inspiring others to find their greatness in making the world a better place. For more of his writings, go to www.gerrychidiac.com
ENGAGING LOCAL KNOWLEDGE I n the April 24th edition of The Citizen, there was article about the Saskatchewan firefighters and locals building fireguards. It reminded me of last year when rural residents were roundly criticized for ignoring evacuation orders and we heard so many of them chose to ignore the orders because they knew their livelihoods were at risk and didn’t feel their buildings and livestock would be a priority for the trained firefighters. They saw the risk to themselves as manageable and made the decision because they felt they knew the local terrain and roads well enough to stay safe. Respect for local “lore,” experience, and knowledge, would go a long way to improving public trust when disasters strike. When the gap between the general public and the hired expert gets too large, we have poor cooperation and the costs of governance goes up. We new Canadians are very good at ignoring historical, local anecdotal, knowledge. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point, the practice became: “We know better than the people who were here first. We have science. They have only tales.” What folly. An example of local knowledge was explained in an article two years ago. A BC Interior Indigenous people’s tradition had been their “firemaker” went out each spring to set fires. I found that story very intriguing because a friend had just told me that the way to find the best wild
THINKING ALOUD TRUDY KLASSEN
berry patches was to go to areas a fire had gone through seven years earlier. It is possible that the forests were managed with fires? Will we ever know? Or will we insist because the stories are not written down, they cannot possibly be verified? I am hopeful for change. A quick search yielded this quote from an online article on PLOS BLOGs by Jeff Atkins on the Australian “legend” of birds spreading wildfires: “….the use of indigenous ecological knowledge, the idea that the people who are from a place, know that place, and have intrinsically valuable insight, is (thankfully) becoming a more robust practice... Pairing strong empirical methods with the valuation of indigenous knowledge is a powerful tool that will help us better understand our world and has proven invaluable to researchers and policy makers.” People know stuff. You don’t need a certificate to know stuff. Parents teach stuff to their kids. In a dream world, professionals would be taught how to glean the valuable knowledge of locals affected by whatever problem needs solving. This would go a long way to improving governance and compliance.
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EMBRACE THE UNPLANNED MOMENTS I n a normal situation, interruptions to your day can be irritating or frustrating. There is so much to do in a day that when a speed bump hits, it can throw you off. Our world is go, go, go: school, work, home, homework, dinner, swim lessons, dance, music lessons, playtime, outside time, reading practice, writing practice, family movies, game night. The pace of life is relentless and exhausting. Every once in a while, something will happen which will force you to stop and just be. In my case, this came as a text from my daughter’s teacher letting me know that after an entire morning of uncharacteristic weeping, my daughter had fallen asleep in class and could I perhaps pick her up to sleep at home. I had spent the morning in meetings at work and run-
HOME AGAIN MEGAN KUKLIS
ning around trying to stay on top of things and falling desperately behind because it is a busy time of year. I had a lot of work to do at work but I immediately agreed to go and get my daughter. When I got to her classroom, she was still asleep in a little timeout tent and I had to wake her and we went home together, just the two of us. She ate her lunch in the car and since I neglected making my own lunch, I ate her leftovers because I’m a par-
ent and that’s what we do. A testament to how she was feeling, she climbed into her bed without complaining and fell asleep for four hours. In the time between my daughter falling asleep and my son coming home, I was alone for two hours in the quiet of my own house. I did not check my email. I wrote a little and did not worry about work. Instead, I watched a little TV and snuggled into the couch with a warm magic bag and enjoyed a forced interruption to my regular routine. The internet is full of unhelpful memes aimed at “helping” moms remember to take time for themselves. The idea of “self-care” is a silly phrase that is functionally meaningless. Self-care to a working parent, or any parent really, is advertised
as taking a bubble bath or having a glass of wine at the end of a long day. Somehow, the magic of warm water and booze will make everything better and magically restore your energy for the rest of a busy week. It doesn’t. What does help though is a moment or two alone in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, with your youngest child in a deep restorative sleep in the room next to yours. Sometimes, an unplanned disruption is the best gift to help you slow down and recover the balance that is so sorely needed in our lives today. Enjoy your own disruptions and remember to take care of yourselves in whatever way works for you. Be kind.
CHOIRS SET FOR CIRCLE OF FRIENDS SHOW FRANK PEEBLES 97/16 staff
The end of the school year always ends on a musical note whenever the District 57 Tapestry Singers are around. The area’s premier school-based choir will perform their grand finale concert on June 1 with a pair of performances entitled Circle Of Friends. Song selections during the shows will range from traditional to contemporary. Familiar melodies on the slate include The Garton Mother’s Lullaby, Chim Chim Cher-ee, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, By the Rivers of Babylon, A Thousand Years,
and Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive. Lesserknown songs such as Windy Nights, Ban Ban, Caliban, Banjo Pickin’ Girl and Circle Of Friends will also be given the spotlight. The District 57 Tapestry Singers are comprised of a junior and a senior choir. The program is led by founder and artistic director Carolyn Duerksen and backed by accompanist Maureen Nielsen on piano. During Circle Of Friends, both choirs will take their turns entertaining the audience and demonstrating their musical growth. They will be aided by special guests Barb Parker, Curtis Abriel, Jose Delgado-Guevara, Flora Camuzet and Rob Hannigan.
Several selections feature choreography by senior choir singer Ellie Prendergast and are complemented by the talents of local dancer/educator Kristen Helfrich. The Junior Tapestry Singers range from Grades 4-7 and are formed by 24 students from School District 57. The Senior Tapestry Singers, 26 of them, are in Grades 8-12. As a program, the juniors are celebrating their sixth season, while the seniors are in their 12th. During the past dozen years, the Senior Tapestry Singers have collaborated four times with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. Both the junior and senior
choral groups were recognized for their excellence at the recent Prince George Music Festival, where they were recommended to the provincial level of competition. The Senior Tapestry Singers also received a provincial recommendation at the Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival. Circle Of Friends will be performed June 1 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at St. Michael’s Anglican Church located downtown at 1505 Fifth Avenue. Tickets for Circle of Friends are $15 and available at Studio 2880 (2880 15th Avenue). Kids aged five and under can watch and listen for free.
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY
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This is the front page from the May 23, 1979 edition of the Prince George Citizen. You can search all of The Citizen’s archives online at pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca
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LIFESAVING LESSON COMES IN HANDY THE WASHINGTON POST
The day after 9-year-old Shailyn Ryan learned how to do the Heimlich maneuver at a Home Alone kids safety class in her Massachusetts town, she looked up and saw her friend turning blue. It was during lunch in the cafeteria on May 1 at Marguerite Peaslee Elementary School in Northborough when Shailyn suddenly felt a hand grip her left shoulder. Her good friend and soccer teammate, Keira Silvia, 8, held a hand to her own throat and her face rapidly turned red, then blue. Keira was unable to speak, but Shailyn knew she was choking. Shailyn leaped from her seat, stood behind Keira, tipped her friend slightly forward, then wrapped her arms around her waist. Making a fist with one hand and grasping it with her other hand above Keira’s navel, she then pressed as hard as she could into her abdomen, pushing upward as though she was trying to lift her up. Just as she had learned to do 16 hours earlier. Almost immediately, a hot dog piece that Keira had been choking on popped up from her throat. It happened so quickly that cafeteria workers and most of the kids in the lunchroom didn’t even notice. “I didn’t really think about it - I just did it,” said Shailyn, who is now being hailed as a hero in Northborough, population 15,033, about an hour’s drive from Boston. “I wasn’t scared, but I knew that I had to do something fast, so I did.” And she did it just right. Keira was back playing soccer and football with her friends the very next day. “She’s awesome, a really good friend,” said Keira, who like Shailyn, is in the third grade. Then Keira explained how it happened. “I swallowed too much of my hot dog and I was choking and couldn’t breathe - it was scary,” she said. “After Shailyn helped me, I cried and I hugged her. And yeah, I told her ‘thank you.’” Parents of the girls, school administrators and
Washington Post photo courtesy of Jill Barnhardt
Third grader Shailyn Ryan, right, performed the Heimlich maneuver on her friend Keira Silvia, left, the day after learning how to do it. teachers in Northborough now have a message they’d like others to hear: children are capable of much more than they’re often given credit for. “It’s important to teach lifesaving skills to children and adults of all ages,” said Allie Lane, a director at the Northborough Recreation Center where Shailyn signed up for a two-hour evening safety class geared toward kids ages 9 to 11. “Shailyn was able to take what she’d learned the night before and apply it to real life,” Lane said. Keira’s mother, Noel Silvia, still marvels at the timing of it all.
“It really is incredible how it all happened - that Shailyn had just learned how to do the Heimlich maneuver and happened to be sitting near Keira the next day when she started choking,” Silvia said. She called Shailyn “an angel who likely saved my daughter’s life.” “Shailyn didn’t hesitate, she remembered what she’d been taught and she calmly did it,”
said Silvia, 47. Shailyn, an only child, said she signed up for the Home Alone safety class at her local recreation centre because she’d always wanted to learn first aid skills, phone etiquette and other tasks that might come in handy when she is old enough to babysit. At the class, she and several other children also watched a safety video and practiced doing the Heimlich maneuver on each other. “She came home that night and talked about everything she’d learned - the Heimlich, making snacks when she’s home alone and first aid, like how to get a bee’s stinger out of your arm,” said Shailyn’s mother, Laurie Ryan. Laurie Ryan was shocked to get a phone call from the school nurse at lunchtime the next day. “She told me, ‘Shailyn’s fine, so don’t worry. She’s a hero,’” Ryan recalled. “When she said that Shailyn had given Keira the Heimlich maneuver, I was in awe.” “One, I couldn’t believe what had happened,” she said. “And two, I was stunned that Shailyn was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. I felt incredibly proud. She kept her cool.” A few days after the incident, Shailyn was honored at a school assembly and given a certificate of recognition by principal Jill Barnhardt. “We’re very proud of both Shailyn and Keira for their actions during this situation,” Barnhardt said. “Shailyn’s calm response to her friend’s distress was immediate and effective.” Shailyn was also thrilled to get a personal tour of her neighborhood’s fire department since she now dreams of becoming an ambulance paramedic. “That would be cool, or working in a hospital,” she said. “I want to save more lives.” Keira also has plans for herself: “I never want to eat another hot dog again.”
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12-STEP PROGRAM USEFUL IN MANY WAYS I t makes me sad to think of those who have left 12-step programs because of misunderstanding, anger, rage or denial. I read/hear all these reasons and many are legitimate to me. It is not the steps which fail but rather, the fallible humans who interpret the program. We are after all, in 12 step rooms because we know we are unwell. The literature clearly says we are not saints but oftentimes I/we forget this vital fact. Some in the rooms think the program belongs only to them. There have been (and are) attempts, through language and judgment to keep others out. Some in the rooms state you cannot share your experience (or do not belong or are not in recovery) if you take any mind/ mood-altering drug, yet with psychotic disorders, mind-altering medications are prescribed, ones which target the mind for hallucinations and delusions. In depression and bipolar disorder, mood-altering meds are given to alter depressive or high moods. These medications do not cause euphoria and you most certainly
ASK AN ADDICT
won’t find anyone working the streets, selling their body to get more Prozac for their disease of addiction. There are those also who say you are not in recovery if you take methadone or suboxone, when some hold stable jobs, are not conducting crime, selling their body or hurting others (plus are not dying, the most important point in recovery today). This is particularly annoying, when after I hear such words, I see this person who made these misguided (often judgmental) statements, go outside and vape or light a cigarette and inhale their nicotine drugs. The program clearly states our problem is of a spiritual malady and that drug/ alcohol use is a symptom of that. Yet many leave the program because of the
G-O-D word; it is a common complaint and perhaps a reflection of their reaction to the fallible people who mistakenly tout religion in the rooms. I need to critically evaluate all of what I hear and not allow another’s misunderstanding of the program to drive me back out (as I know that is my addiction talking to me). This is why I write all of the above, to encourage you, if and when you enter the rooms, to not allow your addiction to drive you out, through our own, often fallible human mistakes. I believe 12 steps work for any life problem that ails us. Just the other day, I found a 12-step group named Clutters Anonymous. I chuckled at first then realized how life threatening and disrupting hoarding can be, and oftentimes it begins innocuously through clutter (just like addiction does, with that first drink I took as a teen). Thus I am wanting to present the program to you, for all of what ails us. It is a design for living. You can take what works and leave the rest. It won’t hurt
but rather, if you take a leap of faith, it will change your life in ways you could never imagine. You cannot even dream what the incredible outcomes will be. I have to stop typing due to word limits and will later present my interpretation of the first step for all those in the world with regular life issues (anger, pain, resentment, stress, grudges, jealousy, insecurity, anxiety, fear, loathing, judgment, etc). The 12 steps work for everyone, not just those with an addictive disorder. I believe that if everyone worked it, the world would most certainly change. It is even something that can be taught to our children because it will ease any angst they might feel about the world they live in today, particularly those with social media and bullying or any other life stressors they might experience today. – Questions for Ann? Send your submissions (anonymously, if you choose) to columns@pgcitizen.ca and we’ll pass them along.
THE WEIGHT OF PARENTAL EXPECTATIONS P arents should always be supportive and helpful no matter what their kids choose to do with their lives, or at least that’s my understanding of parenthood. People make different decisions. Those decisions sometimes make their parents proud, sometimes
worried, and sometimes disappointed. Looking at my life and my decisions, I usually ask myself how my parents are feeling about me and my life. My mom used to spend hours and hours of her day in the kitchen for cooking meals. My dad would be in the
TRAIL BLAZING NAHID TAHERI
middle of the living room and spent hours and hours of his evening reading books. I was little and I was so in love with the food my mom cooked. She was and still is an amazing cook. I was little and I couldn’t read and write yet, but I loved to just lay down beside my dad and watch him reading. Between staying in the kitchen or the living room, I always had a very difficult decision to make as a kid. My dad always wanted us to study hard, go to university and find a wellpaying job. He wanted us to be perfect in his own way. My mom always wanted us – my sister and I – to be a great cook like her, know sewing, know all the cleaning techniques, know how to take care of plants, to keep our closets neat and tidy. She wanted us to be perfect in her own way. Here comes the difficult decision again: between my mom’s preferred lifestyle and my dad’s, I was so confused that I did not think I could have a little bit of everything and make them both happy and proud of myself. My sister was painting, she was reading poems and memorizing them, sometimes she was writing poems herself. My sister had too many friends, unlike me. When she was hanging out with her friends, I used to imagine my bed as a boat. I was all alone with myself in an ocean and I had to find a way to survive. My friend was my white and green stuffed panda! My sister went to university, as my father liked, but she got married very soon and then became a mother herself. We were sharing a bedroom in my parents’ house. When she left, I just felt lonelier in my imaginary ocean. My brother is the only boy in our family. Traditional families in my home country like and value boys more than girls. My mom is kind of traditional. Not
that I am jealous of him, but sometimes when I was younger, I wished I was a boy. My brother started working when he finished high school. He decided not to go to university. He is successful at what he is doing, but that is not what my dad wanted. I never could relate to my brother very much. It seems we belong to two different worlds. He is more religious than me and the rest of us. From having endless and pointless discussions about everything, I slowly came to this understanding that he sees things differently. I started to learn that being siblings does not mean we have to think in the same way and live the same life. I’ve always been a very good student. That was making my dad happy. As soon as I learned our own alphabet and became capable of reading and writing, he registered me for an after-school class to learn English. He was bright and I should thank him to force me learning and practicing English from a very young age. But did he see me living somewhere so far from them? Absolutely not! That was not his wish and I was not dreaming about living somewhere else until my twenties. Yes, I wanted to go to university, not just because of my father but because I wanted to grow, gain experience, and learn new things, and going to a university was the only option at the time. Attending university changed a lot of things in my life. I met my husband; in fact, he was my classmate. I decided – or I should say we got married and decided – to leave our home country. I did not become the woman my mom wanted. I did not know how to cook until I got married. I don’t know how to use the beast called the sewing machine and I am not always in the mood for cleaning and doing laundry as she was doing it every single day. Maybe I am the woman my dad wanted – a hard-working, confident one. Nowadays, however, I am asking myself: am I the woman I wanted to be?
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IS THE WORLD READY FOR BOOKSMART? THE WASHINGTON POST
Beanie Feldstein reaches over a table to place her hand in Kaitlyn Dever’s. “A quick handhold,” Feldstein playfully announces while discussing how she and her co-star bonded in the nine-ish weeks they spent working on the new high school comedy Booksmart. They lived together for the entirety of that period, rehearsing trickier lines over morning pancakes and snuggling up to watch Gilmore Girls at night. On this late April day, Feldstein, 25, wears a vibrant floral print and block heels that make her feet hurt. Dever, 22, is a bit moodier in her mannerisms and attire, sporting a tiger-striped sweater dress and heeled Doc Martens. They both complement and compliment one another - not unlike their characters, BFFs Molly (Feldstein) and Amy (Dever). Booksmart carries the studious friends through their last day of high school, when they discover that, contrary to what they long believed to be true, hard partying didn’t prevent their classmates from also getting into Ivies (or from landing a job in Silicon Valley, in one kid’s case). Panicked by the thought of having missed out and determined to prove how fun they can be, Molly persuades Amy to set out for a wild night on the eve of their graduation: “I’m going to experience a seminal fun anecdote!” Molly declares. The film, directed by first-timer Olivia Wilde, is the latest quick-witted project to use friendship as a means to explore the complex emotions of teenage girls. Molly and Amy join the protagonists of several films released in the past few years, among them The Edge of Seventeen and Lady Bird (in which Feldstein also stars), in straying from established high school archetypes. These girls are bold yet vulnerable, awkward yet self-assured. Never the punchlines, they’re treated with genuine interest and a refreshing honesty more often reserved for their male counterparts. “I feel like in a lot of films, they wouldn’t allow space for two of these characters to exist,” Feldstein says, “let alone be the centre of the film.” “Or even just one,” Dever adds. “It’s crazy, but it’s really rare for me - or both of us, being young women - to be sent comedic scripts to lead. It just doesn’t happen.” Though it centres on nerdy high schoolers, Booksmart lacks the classic glassesoff, hair-down transformation - the only makeover here took place behind the scenes. Wilde recruited Katie Silberman to overhaul a script by Susanna Fogel, who had reworked another that writ-
Washington Post photo
Actresses Kaitlyn Dever, left, and Beanie Feldstein star in the new film Booksmart. ing partners Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins drafted a decade ago. (All four women are credited on the film.) It wasn’t until 2015 that Wilde got her hands on Fogel’s version, she says over the phone, adding that she loved the core idea of “two smart women who are unabashedly brilliant” but wanted to direct a version that spoke significantly to “this young generation.” Molly and Amy wound up as socially conscious Gen Zers who stage impromptu dance parties before driving to their Los Angeles high school in a car decorated with “Resist” and “Elizabeth Warren 2020” bumper stickers. They have bright futures ahead of them at Yale and Columbia, respectively - “where the culture is,” as Lady Bird would cry - and worked tirelessly to get there. Feldstein refers to them as “unapologetic feminists” who are “confident in their intelligence.” They know there’s always room for growth, but they don’t start out wanting to change. Both actresses join Wilde and Silberman in expressing the view that a film like theirs might not have been as viable back in 2009, when the original script
was written. Now, because of everything that has unfolded over the past three years, Silberman says over the phone, a wave of bravery and strength has pushed dynamic young women into the limelight more than ever. “In a lot of ways, it felt like the industry needed to catch up to a story about young, smart women who were multidimensional,” she says. “Now that it’s ‘OK’ for women to be smart, it’s something that everyone feels comfortable with, what else are they?” Molly and Amy are funny and supportive, exhibited by their frequent compliment battles (which are exactly what they sound like). They’re sex positive, as we learn from an exceedingly frank conversation about Amy’s masturbation habits. But they can also be naive. Among Silberman’s additions to the script was the plot’s catalyst, a scene in which Molly discovers that in writing off her classmates who drink and have sex, she misjudged those who she assumed had been judging her. She learns about their respective bright futures
while confronting three of them in the bathroom after overhearing them poke fun at her intense personality - lighthearted criticism Feldstein considers somewhat valid, given that Molly “ostracizes people” instead of letting them in, and subtly revolutionary because, in another film, they might have unfairly targeted her appearance. “All these assumptions we make are unraveled,” Wilde says. Silberman adds that she and Wilde wanted to make sure Booksmart didn’t have any villains, but instead characters whom Molly and Amy simply “misunderstood in the beginning.” The actresses’ mutual appreciation mirrors the dynamic that anchors Booksmart, which has earned numerous comparisons since its premiere at South by Southwest to 2007’s Superbad, starring Michael Cera and Jonah Hill, who happens to be Feldstein’s older brother. Wilde and Silberman cite Dazed and Confused, another story that takes place over one crazy night, as inspiration for their film, as well as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Clueless.
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LANGUAGES ALL THEIR OWN THE WASHINGTON POST
A running joke in Game of Thrones has Peter Dinklage’s character, Tyrion, repeatedly butchering the Valyrian language, despite his best efforts. It’s a simple gag on its face, but there’s a deeper layer. The language Tyrion is garbling actually exists. There is a Valyrian grammar, a dictionary containing thousands of words, and even separate dialects for the various Valyrian-descended cultures that exist in the show. After eight seasons, High Valyrian, Low Valyrian and the separate language of Dothraki are as well developed as the character of Tyrion himself. Any number of fan-created guides and online dictionaries can teach them to you, but their true developer is a linguist named David J. Peterson, whom HBO hired out of an online community of amateur language inventors - invigorating an art that only a few years ago was so obscure many of its practitioners assumed they were the only people in the world doing it. Some in this community - they call themselves “conlangers,” for language constructors - have spent nearly their entire lives developing a personal language, to the point they might think in it, pray in it, dream in it. Peterson’s original inspiration: he was irritated by a scene in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi when he was a teenager in the 1990s. Like most movies that are supposed to have fictional languages, Star Wars just uses random gibberish instead. Princess Leia uses the two made-up words, yaté and yotó, to refer to, variously: a Wookie; a bounty; a thermal detonator; and 50,000 space credits. Yaté yaté yotó yotó. “If you ask the people who work on Star Wars, they think it’s a big joke,” Peterson said. “They don’t care at all. And fans are spending hours and hours analyzing that garbage.” He felt he could do better - and so began devoting his free time to making up languages that had their own coherent grammars, phonologies (or sound systems) and even imaginary cultural influences. His hobby coincided with his formal study of linguistics, and in the late 1990s it led him to an Internet message board - a small but active community of people from around the world who were doing exactly the same thing as he was. This community’s body of work includes what must be some of the stranger creative endeavors of the modern age. A former California DMV worker, for instance, spent years developing a language called Ithkuil that he says can convey something as complex and abstract as a cubist painting in half a dozen words. The grammar is so complicated that it can take 15 minutes or more to figure out how to conjugate and pronounce a single sentence, so it’s not exactly marketable. But conlangers did occasionally penetrate the broader culture. They trace their history to the 12th century, when the Benedictine nun Hildegard of Bingen created a “lingua ignota” for divine communication. Nineteenth century idealists created international languages they hoped would unite the world, though only Esperanto is spoken
Washington Post photos
TOP: David J. Peterson, pictured at his home in Garden Grove, Calif., developed languages for HBO’s Game of Thrones and other TV shows.
by more than a handful of people today. The most famous proto-conlanger was the author J.R.R. Tolkien, who invented a deeply structured Elvish language for his Lord of the Rings trilogy in the 1950s, including Elvish songs and poetry. His passion features in the new biopic Tolkien. Since then, pop culture has occasionally dabbled in the art - notably Star Trek’s Klingon
BELOW: David J. Peterson’s collection includes books on Esperanto, one of several 19th-century languages whose creators wanted to use them to unite the world.
language, and Avatar’s Na’vi. The novelist George R.R. Martin scattered a few Valyrian and Dothraki sentences throughout his fantasy series, A Song of Fire and Ice. So when HBO adapted the books into a TV show, the network sought out Peterson to deconstruct those snippets and develop them into working languages, which now reside on a 600-page
document owned by HBO, and in the imaginations of thousands of fans some of whom learn High Valyrian on the app Duolingo. And Peterson has done what seemed unimaginable even 10 years ago: make a career out of inventing languages, consulting for Penny Dreadful, The 100, Into the Badlands and other shows.
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GIVE THIS ELEGANT SPRING DISH A TRY ELLIE KRIEGER The Washington Post
I was noodling vegetables using a knife and a peeler long before spiralizers came on the scene or pre-cut zoodles could be found in the grocery store, and I am thrilled that they are so popular now. But while vegetable noodles can give you a pasta-like effect in many dishes, for me they will never take the place of actual pasta with its comforting al dente heartiness. Luckily, they don’t need to, because pasta and vegetable noodles are not the either-or proposition some would lead you to believe they are. They happen to work wonders together, as this sumptuous spring pasta dish so elegantly proves. In it, asparagus stalks are shaved with a vegetable peeler into thin strips. The asparagus “noodles” and the trimmed spears are cooked until firm-tender in a lemon, garlic and white wine reduction. The saucy mixture is then tossed with crabmeat, tarragon, parsley and just-cooked whole-grain fettuccine or spaghetti. The final dish is fragrant with fresh herbs, has a light brightness from the citrus, is generously heaped with crab and studded with the green asparagus tips. The asparagus noodles mingle seamlessly with the ribbons of pasta, amplifying the overall portion and filling your bowl while a relatively modest amount of pasta is used. Together, they make for a tremendously satisfying and healthfully balanced spring meal.
FETTUCCINE WITH CRAB AND ASPARAGUS 4 to 6 servings INGREDIENTS 1 bunch (about 12 ounces) thick asparagus 12 ounces dried whole-wheat fettuccine (may substitute dried whole-grain spaghetti) 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1 cup dry white wine 1 cup seafood stock 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest and 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon) 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more as needed 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and picked over to remove any bits of cartilage 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish STEPS Cut off the asparagus tips (reserving them); then, using a sharp vegetable peeler, and holding each spear by its woody ends against a cutting board, peel the stalks into long, thin strips. Discard the woody ends. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, until al dente. Drain and return the pasta to the pot. Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons of the oil and the garlic to a large, deep skillet over medium heat; cook for about 5
Washington Post photo
Fettuccine with crab and asparagus. minutes, stirring, until the garlic is lightly golden, being careful not to let it burn. Add the wine (be careful, it will sputter at first) and the stock; bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for about 5 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by about half. Add the asparagus tips and strips, the lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Let the mixture start to bubble again, then cook for about 2 minutes, just until the asparagus is crisp-tender. Stir in the crabmeat and cook for about 1 minute, just long enough for it to warm through.
Add the asparagus-crab mixture to the cooked pasta in the pot, along with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, the tarragon and parsley. Toss gently to incorporate. Taste and season lightly with more salt, if needed. Garnish with more parsley and serve warm. Nutrition/Per serving: 470 calories, 21 g protein, 45 g carbohydrates, 22 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol, 590 mg sodium, 7 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar
AUTO
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HONDA PILOT BENEFITS FROM MIDLIFE REFRESH PEDRO ARRAIS Glacier Media
A mid-cycle refresh to the 2019 Honda Pilot provides the manufacturer an opportunity to give the mid-sized SUV a host of changes, inside and out. Mid-cycle for Honda usually means at the two-year mark (as their vehicles typically have a four-year cycle). Due to the cost, many manufacturers try to stretch it out longer, but not Honda. The obvious advantage to having more frequent updates is obvious — people like to know the vehicle they buy has all the technological improvements in regard to safety, economy and (increasingly) electronic integration. The three-row Honda Pilot comes in six trim levels with seven- or eight-passenger seating. It starts at $41,290 for an LX. I drove a Touring model, with a list price of $52,690. A new grille and rear are the most visible changes to the 2019 vehicle. While the older design looked attractive enough in my eyes, some criticized it as too similar to the Honda Odyssey, the company’s minivan. Nothing causes a manufacturer to cringe more than people saying their vehicle looks like a minivan these days — even if it isn’t true. The new visage is meant to be more toughlooking, all the way to painting pieces of plastic trim at the bottom of the front and rear bumper silver. Why? Because it looks as if the vehicle possesses a steel skid plate — a desirable piece of equipment for the off-road crowd. Don’t blame Honda too much — they’re not the first manufacturer to use visual sleight of hand to sell vehicles. Under the hood, the engine remains the same — a 3.5-litre V-6 producing 280
horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. Power runs through a nine-speed automatic transmission to an all-wheel-drive system (lesser models get a six-speed auto). Honda says it has addressed customer concerns about the performance of the transmission. It reworked the unit mechanically as well as electronically to make it smoother. It says it has also tweaked the engine stop/ start system, reducing the delay in restarting once a person lifts their foot off the brake. They left the V-6 engine unchanged — which is good, as it is a good match for the mid-sized SUV. It gives ample power even when fully loaded, and can tow 1,588 kilograms (up to 2,268 kg with an accessory towing package). If fuel economy is on top of your of mind, you will want to engage the green Econ button to the left of the steering wheel. When engaged, the Pilot will optimizes throttle response, transmission, cruise control and air conditioning settings for maximum economy. Not the best for merging on the highway or travelling up the Coquihalla, but otherwise a wise idea to leave the vehicle in. The engine also boasts a variable cylinder management system, which deactivates a bank of cylinders under certain driving conditions. Fuel economy is rated at 12.4 litres per 100 km in the city and 9.3 on the highway. The Pilot is equipped with Honda Sensing, a suite of safety equipment. My tester was equipped with forward collision warning, collision-mitigation braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, road-departure mitigation, adaptive cruise control, blindspot information and rear-cross-traffic alert. All but the last two features are standard on all Pilots. The last two are available only
Glacier Media photo
Honda has revised the front-end look of the Pilot to differentiate it from the company’s Odyssey minivan. on the Touring and Black Edition models. The cabin has also undergone some changes and additions. As much as it desires to distance itself from its minivan brethren, it has nevertheless adopted CabinTalk, a feature that allows the front-row occupants to address (scold, threaten, plead) second-row occupants as with an intercom. The feature mutes music and even pauses videos being played so that you can get heard. Most rear passengers will certainly appreciate the in-flight entertainment equipment as well — a 10.2-inch screen from the roof, wireless headphones, Blu-ray player, a remote and embedded streaming media apps. f they prefer their phones or iPads instead, there are power outlets, as well. Manual side screens reduce light pollution
and enhance the experience. The front of the cabin has undergone a few changes, the most notable being the change of the volume control from a slider to a regular knob — hallelujah. There is also wireless charging for your cell phone. The Touring model can be ordered with seven- or eight-passenger seating. My tester had the latter, which features sliding and reclining captain’s chairs. The third row can be accessed easily but, like most three-row SUVs, adults will sit with their knees around their ears. Small children, on the other hand, will find it spacious. The Touring trim now gives you hands-free rear tailgate operation. The 2019 Honda Pilot isn’t all-new, but improved in almost every department.
A CAPACITY ISSUE REQUIRING ACTION T he issue of baby-boomers leaving the workforce is a challenge for a number of industries in this country – and the automobile industry is no different. In the next ten years, it is anticipated the sector will need over 20,000 new hires in B.C. to fill anticipated job openings, whether those be in management, sales or automotive trades and technology. On a national level, the Canadian Auto Dealer Association is promoting industry opportunities through a website – carsandjobs.com – that provides information on job opportunities in communities across the country. The New Car Dealers Association of BC complements these efforts by creating awareness of career pathways that are available to young people along with highlighting education grants available for those wishing
New CAr DeAlers AssoCiAtioN of BC Blair Qualey
to pursue a career in the automotive industry. While the challenge is one that exists across the spectrum of jobs in the sector, it is particularly pressing with respect to mechanics and technicians. In the short term, that largely means having the required workforce levels to address the needs of vehicles with combustion engines. But an increasing requirement is the skilled technicians who can tend to the complex and highly sophisticated maintenance and repairs associated with new vehicles, especially battery electric, plug-in hybrid and
fuel cell electric (hydrogen) vehicles. As I prepare this column, our association is in the development stage of a strategy to establish how we can better attract young people to the profession, how we might improve education and training opportunities, and how we might ultimately lay the groundwork for industry, dealers, government and training institutions to forge a path forward in a collaborative manner. A dealership may be successful in selling cars and trucks but needless to say, they also need to be able to access staff who are trained in the technical requirements necessary to meet the increasingly complex technical nature of automobiles. Meaningful change is not going to occur overnight and there is no single solution. However, we know the discussion must begin
by exploring how to engage youth about the exciting and well-paying career opportunities that exist within our industry, explore if more introductory training opportunities in the K-12 system are part of the solution, and examine if there are synergies that can be created between dealerships and training institutions in the form of co-ops or internships. Beyond everything else, we hope that the development of a strategy will serve as a positive catalyst for change. The work continues – but if it leads to the creation of a talent pool, creates greater certainty and flexibility for dealerships and the industry, and creates meaningful career opportunities for young people – it is well worth the effort. — Blair Qualey is president and CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of BC. You can email him at bqualey@newcardealers.ca.
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