THE VOL. 03 ISSUE 22 07.12.2011 WHERE DID WE GO WRONG ISSUE
Animal cruelty Child abuse Greece LGBTQ rights Economy
Funding cuts
AIDS
Funding cuts
Libya HST
Women’s rights Health care Vancouver Canucks riot
Gangs
Homelessness Racism
Freedom of speech Government corruption
Egypt Climate change
Ratko Mladic
Usage-based billing
Banks
Affordable housing
FEATURE
SEE YA
REVIEWS
SPORTS
RIOT ON THE STREETS OF VANCOUVER
DAVID ATKINSON SAYS GOODBYE TO KPU
BOOKS, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
KWANTLEN EAGLES GET FIVE NEW FACES
NEWS AND CULTURE FOR THE STUDENTS OF KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
IN THIS ISSUE
page two | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS
The Runner is student owned and operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. Vol. 3, Issue no. 22 July 22, 2011 ISSN# 1916-8241 Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C. V3W 2M8 www.runnerrag.ca 778-565-3801
At the age of eight, Lliam Easterbrook was found stranded off the uninhabited northern shores of Morocco by a band of Scottish bohemian surfers. They taught him how to surf, and introduced him to rock and roll. Two years later, in 1995, they smuggled him into Canada on a ship bound for Baffin Island. Upon their arrival, he was given to a small Inuit community; there he was raised by an experienced Inuk shaman who taught him the miens of primordial Mother Earth through the attainment of poetic knowledge. Lliam moved to White Rock, B.C. in 2004 with his arctic wolf-dog, Morrison, because he felt sereneness of the bay was adequate for the optimization of his chi. Lliam is currently creative arts bureau chief for The Runner. He writes a weekly music column Vinyl Dust-off. In this issue, Llliam explores the June 15 riots in Vancouver (page ten).
EDITORIAL DIVISION: Co-ordinating Editor Jeff Groat editor@runnerrag.ca 778-565-3803
Amanda Punshon is about to be a third-year journalism student at Kwantlen. She’s a pop culture addict who’s especially fond of all things funny or geeky. When she’s not busy editing Vancouver is Awesome’s True Vancouver Stories column or working at her summer job, you’ll probably find her sitting around the house doing research for a blogging project she’s launching. Failing that, she’ll be at Steamworks drowning her research-induced headache in a pitcher of beer. If you were to choose 100 words to describe her, you’d probably include: obsessive, opinionated, driven, passionate, focused, hardworking, spastic, angry, helpful, high intensity, energetic, absorbed and efficient. In this issue, Amanda looks at “hacktivists” and why we need them (page 10).
Culture Editor Kristi Alexandra culture@runnerrag.ca 778-565-3804 News Editor Matt DiMera news@runnerrag.ca 778-565-3805 Production Editor Antonio Su production@runnerrag.ca 778-565-3806 Media Editor Matt Law media@runnerrag.ca 778-565-3806
BUREAU CHIEFS: Campus News / (Vacant) Creative Arts / Lliam Easterbrook Environmental / (Vacant)
One summer, The Runner contributor Chris Yee was looking for on-campus employment when he came across the fledgling publication’s early call for contributors and (as he thought) staff. Chris figured he’d either do that, or work at the Grassroots Cafe. He got into it just to see where it would lead him - admittedly he joined The Runner on a whim. Chris’s stint at The Runner grew into something more. In his two years here, Chris has held the student affairs and creative arts bureau chief positions. When not interviewing himself, Chris, a man who likes to think of himself as having many interests, like sleeping in, the GrassRoots Cafe, local history and Tumblr, among other things. In this issue, Chris takes a look at the Kwantlen Surreyalists student art collective (page 13).
Graphics / (Vacant) Health & Lifestyle / (Vacant) Political Affairs / (Vacant) Sports / (Vacant)
CONTRIBUTORS:
Mike Shames has taken his love for cinema, and critical eye to become the movie critic for The Runner. A history student and a cynic, he believes movies are a reflection of historical and current events, fears and interests in the world. He predicted The Kings Speech would win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Check out his review of Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (page 15).
Chris Yee, Kimiya Shokoohi, Mitch Thompson, Katrina Pederson, Jared Vaillancourt, Melissa Fraser, Vanessa Knight, Ashley Fehr, Conner Doyle, Michelle Deverough, Brent Eaton, Amanda Punshon Cover Art: Antonio Su
BUSINESS DIVISION: Operations Manager, Ads, Classifieds DJ Lam ops@runnerrag.ca 778-688-3797 Office Co-ordinator Victoria Almond office@runnerrag.ca 778-565-3801 Operations Assistant Brittany Tiplady
Funds are collected by the university and channelled to PIPS via the KSA.
Katrina Pedersen likes to party. She also likes long walks on the beach, black is her favourite colour (yeah, we know, it’s technically a shade) and her favourite sex position is reverse cowgirl. All joking aside, her favourite position is the pinwheel. Katrina is a first-year student in the journalism degree program. When not at school, she works on her writing, goes for runs, practices photography, watches movies, listens to music and hangs out with friends. Her “unique factor” is her involvement in a competitive synchronized skating team. She has been skating since the ripe age of three, and her team is currently ranked the best team in western Canada. Look for Katrina’s interview (page 14) with Shel Piercy, the director of Bye Bye Birdie at this year’s Theatre Under the Stars.
NEWS
www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner
vol. 3 issue 22 | July 12 2011 | page three
The Runner Roundup STUDENT POLITICS
TUITION
“
Aww . . . fuck, I don’t know.” — Jaspinder Ghuman, KSA director of academic affairs, in response to being asked at the June 17 council meeting what he had been working on in the two-and-a-half months since he took office.
Tuition on the rise (again)
+$2.57per credit increase (tuition + libraries/tech/student life fee) The board of governors has authorized an increase in tuition fees, taking effect as of fall 2011. For a full-time student taking five classes the increase will come to $38.55 each semester. Added to last January’s KSA fee jump and the cost of the coming U-Pass, returning students can expect to shell out considerably more than they did last fall.
COMPETITION PHILANTHROPY
A $2.5 million degree?
A good education doesn’t come cheap.
Miss KSA vies for title
Irving K. Barber (pictured left) was awarded an Honourary Doctor of Laws by Kwantlen Polytechnic University at this year’s convocation ceremony in June. Last year Barber donated $2.5 million to Kwantlen, the largest private donation ever made to the university. “I want this money to open the doors of post-secondary education to a segment of our society that would never otherwise attend university,” said Barber. A former high school dropout, Barber is also a recipient of the Order of BC, an officer of the Order of Canada and a companion in the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
The results are in and Miss KSA did not take home the Miss BC beauty pageant crown over the July long weekend. Zeenat Dhami, a 21-year-old Kwantlen student, received a $750 sponsorship from the Kwantlen Student Association executive board to wear a sash bearing the Miss KSA name.
FOOT-IN-MOUTH
STUDENT DEBT NOT SO BAD FREUDIAN BRANDING Student debt isn’t a bad thing, according to Naomi Yamamoto, B.C.’s minister of advanced education. “I think I can absolutely support that student debt is a really good debt to assume,” Yamamoto told Kelowna Capital News. Her comments raised the ire of the Zach Crispin, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of StudentsBC. “As a result of her government’s policies, student debt in BC has never been higher,” he said in a press release. Yamamoto found herself in hot water earlier this year after a statement posted to a ministry website suggested that students could afford tuition increases by buying less coffee.
Special K Though KPU’s new logo hasn’t been officially unveiled, it has managed to attract a fair bit of attention from Kwantlen’s online community. It has already drawn comparisons to a vagina or “a dead K with legs splayed in the air.” Beyond the obvious K, the new chevron-esque logo is actually meant to represent an open book, an eagle and a student embracing the world.
NEWS
page four | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
LEADERSHIP
So long, Atkinson Kwantlen's president says adieu.
I
JEFF GROAT COORDINATING EDITOR
President and Vice-Chancellor David Atkinson finished the end of his term at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, after joining Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton. Atkinson oversaw the university's transition from university college to university as well as years of record student enrolment since he took over in 2008. “I am very aware of the privilege extended to me in being the founding President of Kwantlen as a university,” he wrote in his final President's Newsletter. On top of Atkinson's gratitude and optimism for Kwantlen, he warns of the need for careful planning in the years ahead. In the newsletter, Atkinson wrote about Kwantlen's under-
funding and said that the university cannot afford to grow at the same rate it has during the past few years. He wrote about his meeting with Minister of Advanced Education Naomi Yamamoto. He wrote, “she reacted positively to the suggestion that the Ministry and Kwantlen need to work together to find a solution to the current state of affairs, especially as the south Surrey region provides fewer post-secondary seats than any other jurisdiction in the province.” In his closing remarks in the newsletter, Atkinson talked of Kwantlen's brand as a university out-of-the-ordinary. He wrote, "the changes we have seen, the renewed vigour and commitment that is shaping the university, the ambition that Kwantlen be a special university
and not merely duplicate what is elsewhere, our commitment to our students and the learning that goes on here, our desire to create a new definition of what it means to be a university—all these things are part of the transformation that has in its own way contributed to what we have achieved. This change must continue unabated even as we do not forget our history and traditions. We must resist at all costs complacency and entrenchment and the mediocrity to which it gives rise. We have worked hard to establish a vision and series of commitments that define Kwantlen. We have an obligation to ensure that they are realized." Atkinson cited his desire to return to his home province of Alberta, where much of his family resides.
ATKINHEADS COURTESY OF MELISSA FRASER/ THE RUNNER
KWANTLEN
John McKendry steps in as Kwantlen's acting president I
MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR
Goodbye Atkinson and hello McKendry. John McKendry has taken over as Kwantlen’s acting president until the search for a replacement president is completed. McKendry assumed the role in early July, after the previous president, David Atkinson, resigned to take the top post at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton. McKendry first joined Kwantlen in 2008 as a special advisor to the president to help revitalize the Langley campus. In 2010, he was appointed as provost and vice president academic. Prior to that, McKendry worked as assistant deputy minister of universities in Saskatchewan. McKendry has degrees from Florida State University and the University of Guelph. John McKendry has taken over the reins of Kwantlen Polytechnic University. PHOTO COURTESY OF KWANTLEN PRESS RELEASE
NEWS
www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner
vol. 3 issue 22 | July 12 2011 | page five
KSA
STUDENT POLITICS
Cram Jam budget upped by $31,000 KSA cuts funding to clubs and other events; raises Surrey director’s hours.
I
MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR
The KSA council voted to raise the budget for their upcoming Cram Jam concert to nearly $82,000 from the $50,000 approved earlier, over objections that no concrete plans had been presented. Student senate and board of governors representative Derek Robertson accused the Cram Jam planners of pillaging funds from other events and groups. “We have no clue what the Cram Jam committee is planning,” said Robertson. “This body would be negligent to approve spending $32,000 without seeing any details of where it would go period.” After prodding, members of the Cram Jam committee released a draft planning tool, but stressed that the plan would be “reworked to the bone” multiple times and that much, if not all, of the information would be completely changed. The draft estimates the free concert will attract between 2000 and 2500 people and will feature a “high-lining Hip hop artist” and two opening acts. The motion was moved and seconded by the director of events, Tarun Takhar, and the director of finance, Nina Sandhu at the June 17 council meeting. The final amended motion took the money from eight oth-
er budget line items including $6,500 from clubs support and diversity, $7,500 from new student orientation, $3,800 from Canada Day events, and $6,000 from September Welcome Week. The Surrey director, Sean Bassi, explained that unlike in previous years, Canada Day celebrations would no longer be planned for all campuses as the money was needed for Cram Jam. Robertson expressed concern about the lack of notice to individual campuses. “To give campus councils about two weeks notice to say: ‘Hey guess what? You’re on your own for Canada Day’ is ludicrous,” said Robertson. KSA rules require planning and room bookings for events to be submitted at least four weeks in advance. Bassi argued that there were no rules about which events the director of events is required to work on. “I know that some people expect the director of events to do something on every campus, but that’s just a tradition,” said Bassi. “It’s not a policy or anything.” Surrey director Sean Bassi also asked to be paid for working extra hours for Cram Jam above his regular 25 hours per week. Council voted to allow him to work up to 40 hours per week for the following six weeks. If he claims
the maximum, Bassi will receive almost $1,000 in extra pay.
KSA academic director’s hours cut in half Ghuman criticized for not filing reports.
I
MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR
The KSA’s director of academic affairs had his hours cut almost in half after he failed to submit written reports to four successive meetings of council and the executive board. When asked by a council member what he had been working on since taking office April 1, Ghuman was unable to provide any substantial response. “Aww . . . fuck. I don’t know,” he said before refusing to answer. Council voted by a two-thirds majority to cut his hours down from 35 to 18.5 per week. The motion specified that the cut would stay in effect until he submitted a report. The motion was moved and seconded by student senate representatives Christopher Girodat and Derek Robertson, and was passed at the June 17 meeting of council. “I don’t think we should be
paying somebody’s full hours if we have no idea what’s happening in the portfolio,” argued Girodat. “He is accountable to council for his work and therefore must report to council on what he’s doing,” said Robertson. He further criticized Ghuman for not attending any Kwantlen senate or board of governors meetings as required by the KSA’s newlyamended regulations. Robertson attempted to amend the motion by reducing Ghuman’s hours to zero, but failed due to lack of a seconder. Nina Sandhu, the director of finance, spoke on Ghuman’s behalf, admitting that not many academic appeals had come in. “He did deal with two appeals, one of them I helped him with,” said Sandhu. “There was work done.” According to members of the executive board, Ghuman submitted a report within hours after the motion was passed, so his pay was never actually cut.
Last year’s Cram Jam concert, headlined by Karl Wolf, attracted up to 1,000 students, according to KSA estimates. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KSA
STUDENT POLITICS
Council withholds KSA director’s pay Richmond director urges council to repeal motion and approve his timesheets.
I
MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR
A Kwantlen Student Association director has accused council of violating employment law by withholding his hours. The motion to stop paying KSA Richmond director Harj Dhesi until further notice was passed by council on June 8, 2011. It further specified that Dhesi must come to council and prove that he is working. The motion was moved and seconded by the director of finance, Nina Sandhu, and the director of events, Tarun Takhar.
KSA Richmond campus director Harj Dhesi has asked council to reinstate his pay. PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
In his latest council report, Dhesi warned that the move was tantamount to an indefinite suspension and could be considered as a constructive dismissal. He explained that although he had been injured, he continued to work on his campus. Dhesi also argued that he was unable to attend council meetings because of a conflicting schedule, but had always sent someone to hold his vote in proxy as allowed by the KSA’s bylaws. At the June 8 council meeting, the director of operations and then-chairperson, Justine Franson, explained that withhold-
ing wasn’t the same as not paying him and that they were only “putting a pause” on it. Franson also argued in favour of the motion, questioning how Dhesi was working when he had failed to reply to her emails. The KSA council was unable to respond to Dhesi’s request to reverse the motion as the July 6 meeting was canceled after the basic minimum number of voting members failed to show up. The KSA is also currently facing legal action from their former general manager Desmond Rodenbour over allegations of wrongful termination.
Student senate representative Derek Robertson argued to cut the KSA’s director of academic affairs’ hours after he failed to report on his portfolio. MATT DIMERA / THE RUNNER
SPORTS
page six | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Kwantlen Eagles secure five new players Men's coach Stefon Wilson promises a regimen of sacrifice and strict discipline will show results.
I
KIMIYA SHOKOOHI CONTRIBUTOR
Five players have been added to coach Stefon Wilson's roster for the upcoming season. The five new players, hailing from Surrey, Delta, Burnaby and Toronto, have been added for their ability to strengthen the team defensively. "Signing these five players makes us a better defensive team and an overall more athletic team," Wilson said. New players Aj Adusei, Chris Arcangel, Tristan Gruenthaler, Jagbir Takhar and William TakyiPrah will be joining returning players Varinder Singh, Ali Bosir, and the previously signed David Poole, Aaron Ram and Gurpal Mann. For these young men, the months to come will be anything but light-hearted. With their first scrimmage in early September, and a tournament at Langley Centre in August, Wilson plans for the team to shine when the time comes to showcase. "Lots of work is still left to be done," Wilson said. "I'm still putting the foundation of my system in place right now." Trying to find a balance in the player's summer schedule, Wil-
son currently works the team on the court for about six hours a week. And then there is Wilson's expectations for players' individual will in weight training. "These guys are still learning what my expectations are," he said. No parties. No drinking. Straight discipline. Wilson, having once been a college-kid himself, understands the lifestyle that can come with the age. That, however, is different when that college-kid is a college-student-athlete. “Being in college, most schools party a lot and giving it up is a sacrifice,” he said. But, “you have to take well of your bodies and perform the next day.” Yet Wilson says it's all worth it. “It's worth sacrificing not going out so you can perform at the best level possible.” The Detroit-hailed coach acknowledges his high summer standards for the team, but he notes that it's the only way. “If you decide to just show up when the season starts, it's going to be a lot tougher.” "In the off season," Wilson said, "is when the game is really won."
Men's basketball coach Stefon Wilson puts his team through the paces. KIMIYA SHOKOOHI/ THE RUNNER
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Women's team announces roster I
KIMIYA SHOKOOHI CONTRIBUTOR
The Eagles women's basketball team has its 2011-2012 signings finalised. Coach Dan Nayebzadeh announced the full roster following the signing of the teams final seven players. “After assessing last season’s performance, we knew we needed to fill some gaps and to address the weaknesses and adapt a new overall attitude," Nayebzadeh said. Final recruits added are Jes-
sica Villadiego, Jeanneine Yngerso, Carrie Snaychuck, Christina Brown, Erin Vekic, Cassie Micona and Sam Van den Boogaard. The seven will be joining the previously signed Anna Work, Oxana Senyuk, Samantha McPhail and sisters Chelsea Church and Brittney Church. "It’s a large recruiting class because we felt we had to make some changes," Nayebzadeh said, "to create a new culture and a winning environment." For more information on KPU's new faces, visit www.kwantlen. bc.ca/athletics.
Kwantlen hosting 'ball camp' Coach Stefon Wilson and Kwantlen Eagles will share the tricks of their trade.
I
KIMIYA SHOKOOHI CONTRIBUTOR
Skills, drills and thrills – at least that's what they're calling it. Kwantlen Polytechnic University is hosting a basketball summer camp in August, where the men's basketball team and coach Stefon Wilson will be sharing the tricks of their trade Camp players will be taught the fundamentals of basketball, as well as methods to strengthen what may already be some nourished basketball skills. This will be the first time KPU
hosts a camp since 2004. "Not only does a camp like this give the youth in our community an opportunity to improve their basketball skills, it also develops leadership skills in our studentathletes by being coaches, role models and mentors," said Elise Le Brun, director of KPU athletics and recreation. The camp is composed of two segments: one for elementary school age players, and one for high school age players. Wilson said the camp would also be ideal for high school players looking to take their sport to
the varsity level. "I will be giving the high school players tips of what university coaches look for in student athletes during the recruiting process," Wilson said. This particular camp is open to boys and young men, but KPU's women's basketball team is set to travel through elementary schools in the region, sharing their own skills, drills and thrills. For more information contact the Athletics Department by e-mail at athletics@kwantlen.ca or by calling 604-599-2427.
OPINION
www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner
vol. 3 issue 22 | July 12 2011 | page seven
OPINION
STREEETERS
Online public shaming
YAY I
MATT LAW MEDIA EDITOR
The people who were involved in violence and acts of vandalism during the June 15 riot deserved to be shamed publicly for what they did. These were not people who were fighting for freedom, fighting an oppressive government or taking a stance against something wrong in the world. They were rioting for the sake of rioting. These were privileged people who can afford expensive hockey jerseys, and came prepared with tools for destruction. Would any of these rioters have turned themselves in if it had not been for the public shaming? Would they have faced any repercussions for their actions? Likely not. They would have received a small slap on the wrist because they “got caught up in the moment” or “are too young to understand what they were doing.” They wouldn’t have learned anything or realized that there are consequences for beating an innocent person or endangering the lives of hundreds by lighting a car on fire. The public shaming sent two messages. To the rioters: We col-
lectively will not stand for this and you are not welcome in our city if you act this way. To the judicial system: We have lost any faith we ever had in our courts. Clearly parents, and our society, have done a very poor job of explaining the difference between right and wrong to these people. If they don’t inherently understand why what they did is wrong, or care, then the only thing we can do is make them afraid of the consequences. If a few of them have to lose a job, a scholarship or some friends to realize what they did is not acceptable, so be it. Some of the public shaming has gone too far. Threatening people and their families is unacceptable. This sort of action is no better than what the rioters did. But when do we as a collective society say enough is enough and stop letting rioters, criminals and gang members get away with these things? The public shaming has forced people to be accountable for their actions, and accountability has been sorely lacking in our society for a long time.
NAY I
JEFF GROAT COORDINATING EDITOR
The riot was bad enough – but we should be much more ashamed for what took place in the days and weeks following it. The kind of public shaming we saw was reactionary and heavy-handed. As much as we need to identify the individuals involved, it only served to offer a false sense of retribution, just as impassioned as the smashed people smashing windows. However much of it may have reflected a popularly held concept of a “failed” justice system, what we saw does nothing short of causing permanent harm to a person’s reputation or life. It does nothing to examine any of the root causes or circumstances – it does not offer an explanation to consider at any point in the future. How many police officers were deployed on the streets? Whose decision was this? Should we really invite 100,000 people to our streets with, really nowhere to go, when many of them are obviously drunk? These questions are out the window. Our justice system, however flawed it may be, offers a chance
for society to heal, as well as criminals a chance to atone for their actions. It’s an essential function in our society, a function which entrusts the act of judgement to a sober, official body which has the confidence of the people it serves, and is highly insulated from the passions, the biases and the opinions of the mob. Perhaps most importantly, it offers an examination into the zeitgeist, the reasons standing behind a particular event. What we saw was a process that was meant to get the perpetrators fired from their jobs, ruin their reputations in the eyes of their family and friends, and then, just maybe, provide an opportunity for the police to do their jobs. What’s worse, the extent to which Facebook was used to identify and publicly call out these individuals was matched by the wall of online anonymity that the callers-out hid behind while identifying their friends and family. The mob mentality we saw on the streets that night has been matched by a much more complex, disconnected online lynch mob which hides its collective face behind a computer monitor.
What do you think of online shaming?
HARRY MUTTY ACCOUNTING It’s shameful, like, people don’t have any privacy by posting on Facebook. We should take some steps to avoid this kind of thing.
INTERNET
Why you should care about usage-based billing CRTC to hold hearing July 11, with a decision expected in November.
I
MITCH THOMPSON CONTRIBUTOR
In the past few months, one of your friends on Facebook may have asked you to sign a petition called Stop the Meter, a campaign against usage-based billing. Hell yes, I’ll sign! was probably your first thought, because we’re all in university now, and university means protesting for causes. But what exactly is usagebased billing, and why has it raised the ire of so many people? Let’s start with an exercise: Pull out your phone. Chances are, it’s some sort of iPhone or Blackberry (or Android, if your parents never loved you). More than likely that phone has a maximum amount of data that can be sent or received before the cell company starts mailing out bills so thick you could bludgeon someone to death with them. That data plan is a form of usage-based billing – you pay for a certain amount, and then get charged for every tiny, individual piece of data that exceeds that
amount, or “cap.” However, this isn’t the galvanizing force behind the online petitions. Back in May 2010, Bell Canada went before the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to request that they be allowed to introduce this type of billing for their internet services. In their application, Bell stated that “four to six times annual growth” in internet usage was possible, and that the strain on their network was being caused disproportionately by a “small number of users.” The CRTC agreed and approved the request. As it stands, Bell’s billing is broken into three tiers of internet speed and allowance The top tier gives the customer a 60 gigabyte allowance and then charges $1.50 (to a maximum of $22.50 per month) for every gigabyte, or partial gigabyte, used above that allowance. And then, to really stick it to those “small number of users” hogging all the interwebs, there is an additional charge of $1.00
per gigabyte once the customer has cleared 300 gigabytes. Now, if your online routine consists solely of Facebookcreeping and cat pictures with hilariously misspelled captions, the monthly allowance is perfectly reasonable. Who the extra fees affect are the serial downloaders and ethieves. The scoundrels. But, as the CBC reported this past February, it’s not just the seedy internet underworld getting dinged, it’s legitimate businesses too. Part of the story focuses on Spencer Hart, an Albertan filmmaker, who runs his business online. After the change to usage-based, his bill shot up from $56 per month to $600 – the same amount as his mortgage. The new system has cost him his livelihood. Online entrepreneurs who live and die by the web have been lumped in with power gamers and entertainment junkies, and are now paying a very literal price. For OpenMedia.ca, the people
behind the online petition, the worry is that the restrictions will become much tighter and that “Canadians will have no choice but to pay MUCH more for less internet.” Their online manifesto accuses telecom companies as crushing “Canada’s digital competitiveness” and “social progress.” Those against the system also say that Bell isn’t being factual when they accuse certain users of taking up all the bandwidth. The data is there, Bell just wants to get paid for every byte of it. As it stands, usage-based billing exists, but is still hotly contested. OpenMedia.ca reports as having over 490,000 signatures on their online petition. The CRTC is still hearing debate, and even Prime Minister Stephen Harper has voiced concern (over Twitter, no less) about the impact this system will have. And while the argument rages on, better get downloading before your provider starts charging you extra for every one of those adorable, grammaticallyincorrect cats.
MANDEEP GILL NURSING The legal system isn’t going to catch these people. They did a horrible thing and it impacted the entire city, it impacted all of Canada. I think the public shamings were a good thing because everyone knows who you are and what you did, but I think some people took it a little too far.
SCOTT MCLEOD HUMAN RESOURCES I didn’t mind it; people needed to be identified. From what I’ve heard, it’s done a little good, but not as good, probably, as everybody hopes for.
page eight | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
HACKTIVISM
EDITORIAL
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
CARTOON
Lulzsec: all joking aside IAMANDA PUNSHON
What do the Conservative Party of Canada, Electronic Arts, T&T Supermarket and the United States Senate have in common? Hacker-activists (“hacktivists,”) have targeted all of them in the past couple months, publishing confidential customer information and stealing government data. Hacktivist collective Lulzsec, which was behind attacks on Sony, Nintendo, the US Senate and the CIA said in a statement (http://pastebin. com/1znEGmHa) that they had “disrupted and exposed” their victims “just because.” The statement is grandly worded, as if causing mayhem were some sort of higher purpose, as though exposing the confidential personal information of hundreds of thousands of innocent consumers were a heroic act. It isn’t. In fact, it’s downright criminal, and Lulzsec’s actions have caused no end of trouble for the companies they’ve targeted, to say nothing of the consumers who have had to take emergency precautions to protect their identities. But that doesn’t mean hacking isn’t an important public service. We live in a corrupt, greedy society run by corrupt, greedy people. Our elected officials misbehave on a daily basis and because the bulk of it happens behind closed doors, we’re often in the dark about it. Some hackers, like the folks who work with Wikileaks, dedicate their lives to exposing government naughtiness. Others hack to satisfy their own curiosity, or to test their skills. And some hackers, like the guys at Lulzsec, hack for “the raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy.” Anarchy is passé. Branding yourself an anarchist is like publicly admitting you’re a furry: once you do, people just can’t take you seriously. If hackers really want to change the world, they need to hang their anarchist costumes in the closet and start hacking responsibly. There’s no need to expose innocent consumers to identity theft, or to pay a frivolous visit to Nintendo’s secure servers or to post fake news stories on Stephen Harper’s website (no matter how funny they are). There is a need – an enormous, pressing, worldwide need – for corporate and government transparency. And no one is better equipped to make that a reality than hacktivists.
Facebook is the new stoning. Also, all rioters need to be this obvious from now on. BRENT EATON/ THE RUNNER
CANADA POST
Conservatives’ back-to-work legislation: suck it, CUPW I
JEFF GROAT COORDINATING EDITOR
Harper’s micro-managing governing style strikes again. Last month, the Harper Government (as we’re now supposed to call it) tabled back-to-work legislation in Parliament to force locked-out Canada Post workers, well, back to work. One of the tenets of conservative North American governments is the idea that government should not interfere in the economy because bureaucrats don’t know how an industry operates the way business leaders do and tend to fuck things up. So now, don’t-interfere-unlessit’s-a-prime-opportunity-to-takesome-potshots-at-a-major-Canadian-union seems to be the M.O. The employer, Canada Post, put forth a contract proposal which was rejected by the union. Fair enough. But the Conservatives’ legislation actually put base salaries lower than that which was offered by Canada Post in this proposal. Wait, what? The Conservatives basically said, “hold on a minute, Canada Post, that’s too much money to offer the union. Go sit in the corner, we know how you should
be operating your business better than you do.” Of course, this was worked up into some Newspeak about economic recovery, all of which sounded like Bush’s “terrorism” refrain updated for a post-2008, Great Recession-era audience. Let’s not forget that it was the employer, Canada Post, who locked the union out after rolling strikes, over which, according to Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, “we really haven’t had a lot of public outcry.” It was the lockout that shut down mail service. You know what is bad for the economy? Spending billions of dollars on new prisons and filling them in the face of falling crime rates, and having an open-ended price tag on stealth, supersonic, search and rescue fighter jets. So the Conservatives should actually follow their own logic on this one and fuck right off with their “economic recovery” bullspit. A strong middle class should be an objective of our government – more, well-off people mean a stronger tax-base to pay for all of these services we all know and love. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come in our new Conservative majority government: making things more difficult for most of us to get by.
COURTESY CAELIE_ VIA FLICKR
Honoured tradition or dusty relic? letters@runnerag.ca COURTESY BRIAN.GRATWICKE VIA FLICKR
FEATURE
www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner
vol. 3 issue 22 | July 12 2011 | page nine
VANCOUVER CHAOS
The “R” word We’re all sick of hearing about the idiots, the mob mentality, the Facebook vigilantes — but no one wants to reflect on why this happened. How much will it cost? Who is responsible? What does it all mean? What do we do now?
Inside: A view from the streets and a look at the bigger picture. PHOTOS BY MATT VAN DEVENTER
VANCOUVER CHAOS
Wall of “Vancouver love” to be saved Broken windows covered up with Vancouverites’ collective grief will become a permanent part of our city’s history.
I
KIMIYA SHOKOOHI CONTRIBUTOR
The plywood walls of downtown’s Hudson Bay Company are heading for a museum. But which one? Approximately 100 boards are currently being stored at the Museum of Vancouver. Museum directors and the City of Vancouver are currently discussing the details and exact whereabouts of the exhibition “The city has not decided what to do with the boards yet. They are being stored at the Museum [of Vancouver] but not necessarily displayed there,” said Mayor
Gregor Robertson’s assistant Kevin Quinlan. The store put up sheets of plywood following the riot that broke out and tore down Vancouver, after the June 15 Canucks Stanley Cup final loss to the Boston Bruins. The morning following the loss saw hundreds of Vancouverites show up to help clean the carnage and write messages of “thank you” and “sorry” on the plywood walls. The messages, with one of the most prominent signs reading: “on behalf of my team and city, I’m sorry!” is now being preserved as a piece of city history. KIMIYA SHOKOOHI/THE RUNNER
FEAT
page ten | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
CHAOS IN VANCOUVER
The ‘me’ generation’s pointless
Kwantlen student Daniel McCully takes us onto the streets in the middle of the madness, and sociology professor Mike Larsen offers his insight into the reasons behind the riot.
I
LLIAM EASTERBROOK STUDENT AFFAIRS BUREAU CHIEF
A
midst an uproar in the streets, as people are looting all around, a man in his mid twenties runs into a nearby 7/11 and purchases a handful of refillable butane containers He rushes out, runs headlong toward an automobile engulfed in flames — all around him people are looting, screaming, and destroying property; he tosses the butane containers into the burning car — the dancing flames burst and ignite in a rush of heat and light. Nearby, the unhinged ambience of a full-scale riot; the violent sound of shattering glass, the clamour of thousands of voices, the reverberating pop of a smoke bomb echoing off the tall buildings above the densely packed crowd, the muffled drone of sirens in the distance. This scene looks like an excerpt from the political crisis in Libya or Syria. But it’s not. This particular foray into lawlessness engulfed Vancouver’s downtown core on June 15, the night the Vancouver Canucks lost game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals to the Boston Bruins.
A
side from aggressive military presence, the only differences between Vancouver’s riot and the turmoil in the Middle East at present is the absence of even a sliver of political motivation by the Vancouver mob-body — oh, and the fact that many of the Vancouver rioters spent half their time posing for “look at me” photographs like a pack of dim-witted country bumpkins posturing in front of a joy-ridden tractor embedded in the mud. The ones who laugh at this obviously weren’t there; they didn’t feel the heat of the fires, the hiss and pop from the smoke grenades, the gleaming boom of flash bangs; the sweat, the adrenaline, the fear, the panic; or the tumultuously human look on the mash of faces in every direction, culminating in the form of a grotesque mob — the apparition of these faces in the crowd, to quote the poet Ezra Pound. Or maybe the alcohol didn’t allow them to feel the gravity of the situation at the time. Immediately after the Canucks’ defeat, sheet-metal -worker-turned-Kwantlen-student Dan McCully made a quick stop at the same downtown 7/11 as the man previously mentioned
would visit minutes later. Dan overheard a group of men joking that they should start a riot. Dan says that various people in the store smiled upon hearing this, and made the conclusion that many seemed to agree that starting a riot was a good idea. He says that he didn’t know how serious they were, at the time, but they seemed, at least, open to the idea. With murmurs of rioting abuzz, and the water beginning to boil, “the general feeling with people was that it was something we should do,” Dan says, “people were joking and saying, ‘yeah, we’re going to the riot’.” McCully says he saw a car attempting to leave the area; one of the occupants opened his window and yelled “Go Boston!” The car was crowded by the fastgrowing mob, kicked and bashed to the point of visible damage — someone even smashed a homemade Stanley Cup over the hood of the car. McCully said he left the scene for home.
F
or Vancouver, a city usually known for its highness, its mountains, its Olympic grace, its affluent standard of living and its reefer, the recent Stanley Cup Riot was a steep and
abrupt comedown — like the illsobering aftereffects of an ecstasy binge, or a bird soaring smack into a glass window. And for a city known for its laid-back, west-coast lifestyle, the whip-crack change of Vancouver’s seemingly cordial demeanor must make one wonder if this is just another case of misdirected middle class angst, or is something else at play here? McCully says that the bulk of the rioters were males in their mid-twenties. Mike Larsen, an instructor of criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and also the co-managing editor of the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, says that the presence of that particular demographic in the Vancouver riot is a disturbing piece of sociological evidence that says something about our current society and the way our culture is heading: that there is a large division of young males with an abundance of pent-up energy with nowhere constructive to release it. So this growing male demographic in Vancouver, as evidenced by Wednesday’s riot, was seemingly lusting at a chance to dissent, to carry on what 1994’s Stanley Cup Riot started. They are a new breed, the maladjusted men of the
post-2000s, not necessarily poor financially, but poor in the sense of hope, poor in fulfillment, poor in prospect, poor in a sense of belonging to what appears to be an increasingly hierarchical social order in Vancouver.
L
ets start with hockey, at the riot’s foundation. From a marketing perspective, the Canucks gear themselves toward bringing the city together around the Canucks. Their slogan, We Are All Canucks, may have provided a cohesive element in bringing the rioters together; the uniforms perhaps providing a sense of unification with the macho-masculine aspect of the hockey aesthetic: “There’s a lot of identity invested in hockey because ‘everybody is a Canuck’ . . . They are not only investing their money into [hockey], they’re investing their identity . . . If you want to get sociological about it, it’s about masculinity,” says Larsen. He adds that many fans have spent most of the day drinking and building their anticipation, and that once the game ends, these people have nothing do. He told me that at a recent conference the issue of the influence of cameras and social media, called “the new visibil-
TURE
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca | page eleven
s riot says a lot of ugly things
PHOTOS BY MATT VANDEVENTER
ity,” is a new feature of this most recent riot. He said that in 1994, Vancouver ’s last hockey riot, the same types of things were going on—vandalism, looting etc, except this time people were posing in front of wreckage to have their pictures taken. The concern here, says Larsen, is that this type of media exposure has a “catalyzing effect that in the moment spurs people into action”—that people feel the need to perform for the cameras. Let’s face it, the riot had little to do with hockey. It had everything to do with drunken male hubris, and more importantly an anarchic spark — caused by the professionals the media has pigeonholed — serving to light the fuse of a city that was smoldering combustible already. The city just needed the flash of the Stanley Cup loss and then a breath from the anarchic instigators before there was a full-blown maelstrom of destruction. At the apex of the riot, people weren’t hurt insomuch as materials were destroyed. The bulk of aggression wasn’t aimed in an anti-authoritarian direction towards police, but rather on infrastructure and things. The culprits: the city’s unlikely underbelly. They were
men between 18 and 35, largely middle class, many coming from “respectable” homes, who looked to have been causing the brunt of the damage, having found the right vehicle at the right time to release what seems to be an indwelling modicum of testosterone and anger. Larsen says that hockey is just one aspect of the riot, but it served as a medium to facilitate the boiling point of darker feelings. Sociologically speaking, since a leg of this riot stood directly on a strong masculine foundation, the implications are that this riot stems from the disillusionment of an unhappy group of middleclass males, who view Vancouver as their home, but feel that home slipping away like sand through the vertical tunnel of an hourglass. The implications surrounding these events, according to Larsen, are in part due to a series of gaps in terms of wealth, and in terms of expectations seen by this male demographic; and that it is seen mostly in the affluent side of Vancouverites; young men going through university who are looking at the future with a great degree of uncertainty; that there’s what he calls a disconnection, that the expectations previous generations had about going
to school and finding a career are not present in today’s youth. The sand from the hourglass, then, didn’t count down on this riot, it exploded from the bulbs because it could no longer be supported or suppressed. The hockey loss was simply a bridge into chaos that was easily crossed. Larsen says that there is a “dislocation from culture” present which serves to underlie this particular generation’s experiences of uncertainty.
L
arson also sees a catalyzing effect in the wash of “finger pointing” via social media after the riot was contained. He calls the phenomena of public shaming problematic due to “its systematic exclusionary practices . . . that in some cases are as concerning as the riot itself.” These practices serve as a type of online vigilantism. And now, many of the people who were perhaps feeling fringed before, are now finding themselves further alienated, their online identities — what Larson referred to as a “data double” — is forever tarnished because of one night of alcohol-fuelled debauchery. Larson mentioned that one website went so far as to proclaim that the “identities of the individuals shall be chiseled
into the hard stone of the internet and last eternity.” Kind of sounds like the bombastic proclamations at a seventeenth century Puritan witch trial, no? Realistically, it only serves, as a vicious cycle, to demonize those who already feel maladjusted and unhopeful. He says that the goal of the online public shaming has been solely to out people, and that this “outing” doesn’t stop at identification, but has been taken a step further: “contacting employers, contacting family, friends, school, and so on; and the purpose of that is to actually spoil their identity.” He mentions that public shaming is not related to the practice of criminal justice, but rather by society to exclude undesirables — like branding the guilty with the proverbial scarlet letter ‘A’. If this type of vigilante justice is due to dissatisfaction with the criminal justice system, we must ask ourselves if this is really the right process to take as an alternative; or are we as a society being swept up in a virtual riot or sorts, rabidly seeking justice to appease our own fractured identities as benevolent Vancouverites?
A
riot is defined, as “a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd” ac-
cording to Webster’s Dictionary. Larsen says that the people who took action in trying to prevent damage and looting deserve applause, but he cautions the acclamations of the term “hero”, as many have been labeled by the media, and consequently the public. And these people, in many cases, were simply protecting store merchandise. Is protecting an easily replaceable Louis Vuitton purse worth potential bodily harm? Where the rioters stopped thinking about their actions — allowing themselves to be caught up in the “mob mentality”, it seems the “heroes” allowed themselves a similar temporary respite from rationality; we applaud the latter — the “heroes”, yet despise the former.
CULTURE
page twelve | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
ARTS 2011
LocalEyes:
I
Arts 2011 at Surrey Arts Centre
KRISTI ALEXANDRA CULTURE EDITOR
As
part of its effort to expose local arts and culture, the Surrey Arts Centre regularly exhibits a handful of local artists’ works. From industrial installations to 3D pieces to watercolour on paper, these artists from the exhibition Arts 2011 show they can conquer any medium. Here are just two of the featured artists.
<<
DEBORAH MORRIS Work: Twins
Medium: ink and oil stick/list print Artist’s Statement: “I would say this is more of a singular piece––part of a small series. It’s experimental; I had never done any print making. It was more of an exploration. It’s not entirely serious. I like playing with idea of animal and people combinations, which you get a lot of in Greek mythology and things like that. We’re all of two minds and fighting temptation, our conscience is always telling us what to do––there’s always a battle in there.The idea is two siamese twins; what if you had a siamese twin that you couldn’t stand, and what if you born in a situation where you were attached to somebody and you didn’t like each other? It’s purgatory! This is kind of a push and pull/yin and yang kind of thing. Personal philosopy on art: “Don’t necessarily expect to make a living out of this kind of thing, but then again, you never know what you’ll end up doing. For example, I paint movie sets. It’s still in the field but it’s not sitting at home at your table and drawing. More and more I find, when I’m working on something you look at it and look at it and finally you know when you think it’s the best you can do, for you. And then it’s time to stop. If you doubt, keep at it and keep trying to get it right. That’s when you do your very best work.”
<<
AMY CHUANG Work: Industrial Organ
Medium: 3-D and fibre arts Artist’s Statement: “I have several [industrial organs], this is just one organic-industrial organ. This is very new, the first I have submitted. I tried to show that industrial and high-technology goes into everything in our daily life; no matter where we go, we see high-tech [things] and industrialization. That’s why I think, one day, it will go inside our bodies. Our organs might become very high-tech — it might come true. It’s kind of ironic; it’s kind of like a joke. All of my work has an element of humour, but under my humour it’s always concerned with some serious issues. For example, my organ is serious. I started my Industrial Organ projects is 2007 for my Emily Carr grad show. That organ, though, is totally different. They are made from the same mold, I have several molds. This one is cast from a mold. The first few organs I made were transparent with lights inside. In 2008, I had an organ installation at the Richmond Art Gallery. I made 500 pieces of different organs, so that was a huge installation. So I make many, many small molds and I fabricate them and compose them and try to convey the industrial theme.” Personal philosophy on art: “Whether or not you feel like creating, I think that’s art. You don’t have to have good skill or have high academic theory. I think as long as you like to do something, if you have that instinctive feeling inside of you, then just do it. I believe you can make very good things, and very unique art if it’s your art and you don’t copy other artists.”
CITY CULTURE
Latincouver branches into the city’s mainstream I
KIMIYA SHOKOOHI CONTRIBUTOR
For a long time the closest you could come to celebrating Latin culture in Vancouver was going to the local 7-11 and buying a taquito. But a deep-fried, frozen and reheated treat can only take you so far. Today, Vancouver has expanded beyond its minimal options, widening its palette of multi-culti. Read: Latincouver – less deepfried, equally zesty. Latincouver, an organizer and online directory for all events Hispanic, has become one of the city’s rapidly growing focal points for Latin-Canadian communities and their culture. Its Carnaval del Sol festival on June 26 proved Vancouver’s moderately meek Hispanic community
is anything but. “We try to blend in, and I love that, but we also like to have a voice,” said Latincouver founder Paola Murillo. After spending 15 years traveling the world, Murrilo settled in Vancouver and quickly realized the need for a city-wide Latin platform. “We are here to be a part of Vancouver and make a stand, make positive changes and show our passion -- and I think it’s happening.” Four blocks of the downtown core fill-up. Thousands of Vancouverites fill-in. The third annual festival, held in prior years in parks, branchedout to Granville between Smithe and Dunsmuir, and into the Vancouver mainstream for the first time this year. And Vancouver ate it up.
Street soccer tournaments. Art appreciation initiatives. Open-air hispanic food court marketplace. Salsa street dancing. Special performances. Talks about sustainability. Even some sun. Talk about touching base at all fours. “We started out in a park, in small places, and now we’re here and the city believes in us,” Murillo said. “We got lucky – even with the sun.” The sun’s decision to come out for its own Carnival de ‘Sol’ festival brought with it more Vancouverites than a successful hockey team brings downtown frat-boys. Event organizer estimated about 30 thousand for the day. They saw double. The funding for the event, Murillo said, has been a collective and collected effort on the part of
The streets of downtown Vancouver were packed with celebrators of Latin culture on June 26. KIMIYA SHOKOOHI/ THE RUNNER
community and small business. “We didn’t have that much money to be honest, it has been limited, but you know,” Murillo said, “it’s just made of love.”
For more photos of Latincouver, visit www.runnerrag.ca
CULTURE
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
vol. 3 issue 22 | July 12 2011 | page thirteen
KWANTLEN ARTS
Surreyalists arrive, ‘Psychologically’ speaking I
CHRIS YEE CONTRIBUTOR
After months of planning, the Surreyalists presented their first exhibition last month at the 206 Carrall gallery in Gastown. The exhibition, Psychologically There, ran from June 4 to June 9. The Surreyalists (not to be confused with members of the boundary-challenging, urinal-presenting twentieth-century art movement Surrealism) are Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s student art collective. Surreyalists co-chair Andres Salaz said the collective formed in September of last year. Planning for last month’s show started in October, and by March the collective had finally found the venue where they would hold their first exhibition, Gastown’s 206 Carrall gallery. Meanwhile, the group built up its membership (currently at 13), which solidified around Christmas of 2010, according to Salaz. The group also secured funds, mostly through fundraisers – but also through a grant from the CocaCola Foundation. The Gastown exhibition was their first outside of Kwantlen. Not only was the exhibition about “personal spaces” broadly defined, it was also about the collective’s members learning to establish themselves as professional artists. As far as the Surreyalists’ goals go, the opening reception on June 3 was something of a success. If anything, the show was organized well enough to ensure a well-stocked table of appetizers. Throughout the evening, passers-by of all sorts filtered in, in addition to the usual assortment of friends, family and associates, perhaps a testament to the hard work the Surreyalists did in promoting the show both
on and off campus. Fittingly – considering its theme – the Psychologically There exhibition lent itself to a variety of interpretations of the same theme, some more conceptual than others, some of whom took a more personalized approach. Alan Canning, whose painting Technological Spaces was featured in the exhibition, explores themes of alienation and the uncanny through its depiction of an empty nightclub. While the painting seems to be more claustrophobic than Canning’s agoraphobic intentions, it still evokes some sort of unease. In a more elegiac vein, Robert Kovacic’s Empress Hotel 1912 also addresses themes of space, or rather location and the subject of Kovacic’s painting is mere blocks from the exhibition’s venue. Here, though, he relates it also to the history of his subject, both civic and personal, addressing its transition from a home to tourists and business travellers, to beer parlor, to affordable housing stock. He describes in his artist’s statement how gazing upon the Empress Hotel’s facade evokes in him memories of childhood visits downtown, “accompanied by my parents and the hustle and bustle of traffic,” where “people would greet each other with smiles, conversing on the sidewalks or in buffets where there was all you can eat for $1.99,” one thinks of the state of the neighbourhood as it was then and how it is now. The promise of new revitalization, and the threat of gentrification, exclusion and displacement that looms behind such hopes. The oil and wax mixed media work Slippage by Elizabeth Anderson is an even more personal take on the passage of time. “My body has spanned across from a time when technology
Top left: “My Mobile Landscape” by Shelly Leroux. Middle row from left to right: “30 seconds, Untitled” by Rhea Paez, “Entwined” by Debbie Langtry, “Intrusion” by Brie Harrison, “Slippage” by Elizabeth Anderson, “Empress Hotel - 1912” by Robert Kovacic, “Unfamiliar recollection of the unforseen past” by Andres Salaz. CHRIS YEE/ THE RUNNER
Bottom row from left to right: “Psycho Logic” by Cody Lecoy, “Freedom” by Gunilla Kay, “Biological Biomorphics” by Daryl Markiewicz, “Dis-con-nect” by Roxanne Charles. CHRIS YEE/ THE RUNNER
was mechanical, and digital was mostly imaginary,” the 61-year-old Anderson says in her artist’s statement. Perhaps this is reflected in Slippage, which blends digital images with highly textural oil and wax strokes. Cody Lecoy’s painting Psycho Logic reflects his ancestral background in Pacific Northwest motifs. Described by Lecoy in his artist’s statement for the painting as a comment on “the nature of... consumer culture,” the meaning of the figures depicted are seemingly opaque as such, until one reflects on the ubiquity of the forms it depicts (witness such motifs being used in Olympic mascots, for instance). Roxanne Charles tackles similar issues of identity in her mixed media work Dis-con-nect. According to Charles’ artist statement, the work is about cultural hybridity (among other things), as evidenced by its four triangular frames, symbolic references to “the Holy Trinity and the sacred number four” of Christianity and traditional First Nations beliefs, respectively. Yet other artists in last month’s Surreyalists exhibition focused on the creative process behind their work. Darryl Markiewicz’s Biological Biomorphics sculptures were the final product of a process of experimentation which began with the failure of some body cast moulds he was making. “By noticing the ability of the casting material, alginate, to move and flex, it led me to experiment,” Markiewicz noted in his artist’s statement for the work. Pleased with the results, Markiewicz subsequently deemed his Biological Biomorphics sculptures as being his “strongest pieces to date.” Chelsea Lawrick (who is also a co-chair of the Surreyalists collec-
tive) took inspiration for her largeformat drawing Choke from British artist Alison Lambert, namely her technique of layering torn and reapplied parts of drawing to impart extra texture to it; a technique Lawrick admitted took some time getting used to. So, what’s next for the Surreyalists? Co-chair Andres Salaz hopes to see the young group coalesce further into one with more unity. Asked about this matter, Surreyalist Debbie Langtry concurred. “[A] sense of community [is needed] if [the Surreyalists] want to be successful,” Langtry said, adding that it still should be open to new members: “[It’s] not a closed group.”
CULTURE
page fourteen | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
CONCERTS
The Dropkick Murphys serve Vancouverites some well-deserved verbal abuse I
Dropkick Murphys’ vocalist Al Barr may have got spat on at the Commodore Ballroom on Saturday night, but that was about all the insulted Vancouverites could muster up the energy for. MITCH THOMPSON / THE RUNNER
LLIAM EASTERBROOK CREATIVE ARTS BUREAU CHIEF
“That’s me on the ice motherfuckers!” yelled Ken Casey, the Dropkick Murphys lead vocalist and bassist, while holding up a blown-up cardboard picture of himself on the ice at Vancouver’s very own Rogers Arena, raising Stanley’s Cup above his head while celebrating next to a bunch of Boston Bruins. Oh — and I forgot to mention, that was after the Murphys made a poignant entrance to Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” which power-balladed its way through the Commodore Ballroom’s house speakers. So what do you think a packed house, chalk-full of tattooed, jeanvested, Celt-inspired punk rockers — reeking of booze and sweat and still grieving a game seven heartbreaking loss at home to the Boston Bruins did? Well, aside from a few plastic cups thrown onstage — and one rowdy patron who spat water at Al Barr, the band’s other lead vocalist — abso-fucking-lutely nothing. Now you’d think a town that had just wrecked and scorched the better part of the downtown core only a few weeks ago would storm the stage, apprehend the entire band, draw and quarter each member in some twisted sense of vigilante justice, and then vanish into the night, spiked Mohawks et al. But as the Murphys raced into “Hang ‘em High,” (a song exactly
fitting my thoughts at the time), the first of their newest LP, Going Out in Style, nothing happened. Well, except more drinking and sweating. The only thing I could think of as I went to the bar and grabbed a beer and a shot of Jameson whiskey was, Man, these guys have a strong following. And that part is true. With a cult following as loyal as the Murphys, since their inception in the late ‘90s, they can do no wrong. Even when Casey tried his rabble-rousing best to angst the crowd into some kind of action. But just as Vancouver is known to be flakey, it appears we are just as absent and pastry-thin with our anarchic convictions as well. Where Casey and his band mates are punk in their “Fuck You” attitude, Vancouver civilians, it seems, are just a bunch of punks. As the night progressed the Murphys ventured into all their staples, blazing renditions of “Citizen CIA”, “The State of Massachusetts”, and the always anthemic “Shipping Up To Boston” — from Scorsese’s The Departed. But they also slowed it down, at times engaging the audience with their blend of traditional Irish folk and post-punk balladry. Songs like banjo-tinged “Cruel” wafted over the audience like the haze of a whisky binge, causing everyone in the house to sway and slug down another beer. But when every other song is a drinking one or an anthem notgood-enough-for-a-stadium, and
when your fellow Vancouverites don’t seem to give two shits that the guy onstage is wearing a Boston Bruins jersey, egging on the city with a life-sized picture of himself holding the Stanley Cup on your home ice while uttering the words “From the bottom of my heart, Fuck You,” after tossing the sign into the crowd, you just want something to happen, man! And it didn’t –– so I just grabbed another beer, another shot of Jameson and went back to laughing at Vancouver for its ridiculous flakiness. But I digress; to quote the Irish poet Yeats: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity,” and I guess in a way that sums up the crowd on Saturday night. Even more so, the rest of Vancouver.
ARTS PREVIEWS
Theatre Under The Stars brings depth to young actors An exclusive interview with Bye Bye Birdie director Shel Piercy reveals what’s important for the company and where it’s going.
I
KATRINA PEDERSON CONTRIBUTOR
Katrina Pederson: You have worked on many diverse projects in the past such as Chasing the Tango High and Leo’s Journey what inspired you to choose Bye Bye Birdie? Shel Piercy: I’ve been in theatre since I was a kid. I was working exclusively in theatres. Years and years ago, literally, I got my start in the whole world of theatre and when I was 15 years old I was part of the stage group for Theatre Under the Stars. So it’s been one of those things I’ve always loved and 16 years later when I became a member of the screen director equity I did my first professional play and I was working as a director and was hired in 1982. So this year when they were trying to figure out what shows to do, and they’ve done a lot of shows, actually I think I’ve directed more shows with TUTS than any other director, but you know it’s always been about choosing shows. It’s an outdoor theatre and its big that there’s a lot of things that are challenges down there and I found last year when I did Joseph and the Amazing Technicoloured Dream Coat that the big rock music
really worked well. We decided to do Birdie because it has a kinda rock feel and is big enough. It’s a really funny show, it’s a great script. So with a combination of all that made TUTS decided to do it and made me want to direct it. That’s a long answer to a short question.
the time and they bring a lot of depth and knowledge to how to help these actors find the voice. It’s pretty great.
KP: How has it been working with choreographer Shelley Stewart Hunt and music director Kevin Michael Cripps?
KP: I went to Singing in the Rain last year and that was my first time at Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) and I have been to many Broadway plays before, but there was something about that show that blew all of the previous shows I’ve seen out of the water. What do you think makes Theatre Under the Stars so special?
SP: It’s like we all have the same brain. They’re awesome. I don’t know where me directing ends and Shelley’s choreography begins. You know we do it all together. We work as a team. As a fabulous team, I think, and we think the same way. We are very comfortable with each other. That makes a really great working experience relationship. You know you’re combining dance and music and singing and all the rest of it. So we’re really just one “super director” in all of this. In a perfect world, they work well with the others and combine to make something special and spectacular. They are extremely talented. They teach at Capilano University and they’re in this environment working with younger actors all
SP: You know, I wish I knew the answer to that but I think it’s probably the fact that it’s outdoors in Stanley Park. If you go anywhere in the world and ask people if they have ever been to Vancouver, if they say yes they will evidently say the word Stanley Park afterwards. It’s the most iconic thing about Vancouver and I think that the fact that you are sitting in this world-class park, one of the most beautiful places, on a beautiful summer’s night, hopefully, it will be all summer and you get that wonderful oxygen rich smell, cedar trees and you’ve got a few eagles up in the trees peeking down on you. You know something fun to watch and I just think it makes a really magical night. It’s something
really special, really special. A lot of people love TUTS, not only Vancouver but around the world and make a point of coming back year after year. KP: It’s like when you go it creates some sort of tradition, my mom and I saw it last year and we’re going to see it again. So it just creates a tradition. SP: Yeah yeah, it’s a pretty great way to spend a summer night, in my opinion. Also I mean it’s great on another level. It’s great because it’s great for families. It’s not as difficult to take your kids to this show as it is to many theatres. They can run around a bit. We get a lot of people who are obviously in love and there for a date and tons of older people who are reliving memories of the past. There’s a kind of warmth at the place that’s really special. And honestly believe more than anything is because it’s in this magical spot. We started rehearsals today at three o’clock. And we do our first dress rehearsal tonight with an audience and I relish that time down there. KP: What can the audience expect this year with Bye Bye Birdie?
SP: Humour. It’s going to be really funny. It’s quite spectacular. It’s a big show, in fact, it’s quite a bit bigger than we realized. It was a lot of work, a lot of rock and roll in it, really great music. KP: I watched the movie and I’m really excited about what you have to offer. SP: I’m looking forward to it, I’m pretty excited KP: Will you be returning next year? If so, do you have any ideas of musicals you would like to do? SP: I think Theatre Under the Stars would be a perfect place to do Mama Mia or Les Misérables because with TUTS you can do anything that’s big and loud. I also think Beauty and the Beast. Those are shows I would love to see down there.
CULTURE
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
vol. 3 issue 22 | July 12 2011 | page fifteen |
REVIEWS
Your review guide to the summer’s hottest ways to stay cool from books to movies, albums to games Travel books for your staycation
I
MATT LAW MEDIA EDITOR
As costs for students rise, it is becoming more difficult for university students to take a real vacation and experience other parts of the world, or even their own country.
Transformers 3 missing nuts & bolts
I
MIKE SHAMES CONTRIBUTOR
Grade: C Here are three books that are sure to give readers a slice of travel life ... and a laugh or two. are both poignant and funny. Bryson’s talent for writing helps portray his bumbling-outdoorsman persona perfectly. The relationship between Bryson and Katz keeps the book ticking along and fills in any moments that the reader might tire of historical facts. A Walk in the Woods is a fantastic read for anyone who has ever donned a backpack for a hike, or has ever dreamed of it.
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson gives readers a chance to experience Europe, from Oslo to Istanbul. Bryson retraces his 1970s journey through Europe with a first-person account of the joys and perils of traveling by yourself. The book offers a wealth of historical facts and personal insights that will leave readers wanting to experience Europe for themselves. From a search for the Northern Lights, to Bryson’s mixed feelings about the French and redneck Austrians, Neither Here Nor There shows a side of Europe that many will never see. Unlike some of Bryson’s other books, Neither Here Nor There can become a little dry without the humours interactions between Bryson and his traveling companions, but the book is still well-worth a read.
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail chronicles author Bill Bryson’s journey as he walks the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail across 14 states in the U.S. Bryson’s mix of historical facts and comedic observations keep readers engaged and laughing while he attempts the hike from Georgia to Maine with his childhood friend Katz. His insights about a changing, and sometimes unchanging, America
Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada by Will Ferguson is a wonderfully written travelogue about Canada. The book begins in Victoria, B.C., exploring the world of poetry slams, opium dens and a secret room in the Fairmont Empress Hotel that has no doors. As Ferguson travels east, he explores his own past alongside the obscure, and often overlooked, past of Canada’s diverse provinces. He visits Manitoba and watches dancing polar bears while offering readers intriguing snippets about Canada’s arctic history. He explores the Republic of Madawaska – if you don’t know what that is, read this book and then hunt down your high school history teacher and smack them. The journey ends on the east coast with a wonderful examination of accents and Vikings. Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw is a great book that will be sure to inspire a cross-country road trip. Be sure to check out Fergusons’ Hitching Rides with Buddha to experience Japan as a hitchhiker (it’s even better than Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw).
The first thing about Transformers: Dark of the Moon is there are no surprises. It’s everything you would expect from Micheal Bay and the Transformers franchise; big explosions, fast(-ish) action, big robots fighting, Shia LaBeouf is next to useless, and the new girlfriends is useless for anything other than screaming and looking good. Granted, it’s an effectively entertaining formula and that’s the underlying problem, you can tell it’s following a formula. There is never the sense of real peril in this flick. And other than one or two plot twists, there are no surprises. Shia LeBeouf returns to the Sam Witwicky role and doesn’t really change anything. After all the huge earth-saving adventures, the character hasn’t changed much. Being older and looking for a civilian job doesn’t count — we all do that. He still is clumsy, lacking good humour, sticks his foot in his mouth and is awkward around people. And yet he still manages to get a posh British girl working for the embassy to fall for him. Well some girls like that in a guy, I guess, however their relationship is never fully believable. There is never a sense of mutual attraction, it’s more like LeBeouf was her toy or pet chihuahua. You could almost put Elle Woods and Bruiser (Legally Blonde) into this movie and there would be more chemistry. And it doesn’t get much better. Sam seems to think the world owes him a meaningful job and the real world doesn’t care, so he gets all whiney. After the Decepticons finally start moving, Sam tries to get into NEST HQ, and throws more tantrums when he’s told to leave. And once the attack begins, well, he’s off to save his owner in the usual wimpy boy manner. Essentially there is not much to like about this character. In the first movie was okay because Sam was a high school outcast, but it was the rehashed role from Disturbia (a crappy rip-off of Rear Window). The new, posh British girlfriend is the biggest disappointment. Megan Fox is preferable to Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. This women is a Victoria Secret model with no acting experience other than some commercials that Michael Bay directed. So she got selected because she transformed something in Bay’s pants, and it shows. Miss Huntington-Whiteley cannot act at all. It’s not believable in any way, she looks like a model, acts like a model, and her purpose is eye candy. Bay uses much of her screen time to show her off, in some way (the 3D helps). The character starts off as a strong career-driven woman, but it seems being with Sam sucks much of her
strength and ambition out. Other than that she’s more of a spoiled trophy-wife/girlfriend, and everyone hates Sam for having her. And once the plot gets moving, she becomes the helpless hostage, and runs around a warzone in high heels while not getting very dirty. This is why Megan Fox’s character (Mikaela Banes)is better than Rosie’s Carly. Fox got filthy dirty, and could actually contribute to a fight. She was a strong, knowledgeable character, with depth. The most development we get from Carly is she doesn’t want Sam to run off with NEST and she was a diplomatic aid. She holds back Sam where Mikaela would stand up next to him until the mission was done. More than anything, Carly just gives Sam a goal to fight for, as if winning a global, end-of-the-world-war isn’t a good enough. There are a few new Transformers in this movie, and not much time is spent on development of character. But that’s a good thing. This franchise is built around robots beating the crap out of each other, not a robo-soap opera. Leonard Nimoy voices Sentinel Prime, an old AutoBot entombed on the Moon, and it’s a real treat. His voice somehow adds an ancient weight to the character, but Prime still sounds like the leader of warriors. Fortunately he is the only major new addition and his back story is solid and quick. Megatron returns, but he’s more of a side character. Bubblebee and Optimus are back and kicking ass, of course. That aside, none are really worth mentioning. Sam is somehow stuck looking after two small Autobots, which is never explained as the duo are more like frat boys. The story is weak, full of holes, and unimaginative. Yes, this trilogy is all about fighting robots, but if they went to the trouble of putting humans into the film, they can at least try to make the humans a little more accessible. There were some laughs, and awkward moments, though never once was there much if any connection or identifying with these people. Each one was a cookie-cutter stereotype, you know everything as soon as they say a word or come on screen. There are only two real twists in the story, but the end is insured from the start. At the beginning Bay uses some old footage of JFK and Nixon, revolving around the space race. Unfortunately they have to use actors for some scenes in between, and the casting is terrible. JKF looks nothing like himself in the footage, and even though Nixon is blurred, that can’t hide the poor casting. If your going to use old news reels of famous speeches, do not show the poorly selected actor’s face. It’s like being poked in the eye with a pen. So what saves this movie from being a total disaster? Well the formula it follows is a strong, if predictable one. It’s fun to see with some great action scenes and fights. One of the highlights is the squirrel suit sequence. This and others were enhanced by the 3D. Unlike some previous 3D movies this one is all 3D. There are some
2D points but unless you’re really looking for it, it’s not noticeable. The CGI is solid and the Transformers are visually wonderful, as always. The whole movie is the same story, as always. Bay has used the same methods as before, not adding anything new. And by now it feels almost lazy. The 3D isn’t the only reason this movie works. The story, although not new, is not completely terrible, as always. The action sequences are visually great and can get the heart going, as always. Fights are well done, as always. But the characters are the same as before, or stereotype cutouts, which makes it hard to care for any of them. The movie doesn’t take too many risks or show us anything new. There is no sense of doom or danger. So, final verdict: it’s a fun, safe summer movie, but if you want a great Sci-fi movie, Battle: Los Angeles is on DVD.
Charles Bradley has No Time For Dreaming
I
JEFF GROAT COORDINATING EDITOR
4/5 records Although signed to Daptone Records, whose reputation is for signing acts who stick to a revivalist style of 60s motown and R&B, it’s not clear if Charles Bradley’s No Time for Dreaming is just plain soul, or if it should have a “neo-“ attached to it. Dreaming is the debut album from an artist 63-years-old, so it’s not clear if he’s reviving something so much as keeping it alive. The album nicely straddles this ambiguity, sounding like something rooted in the best soul traditions all while staying fresh. His raw, throaty vocals lend a passion to the music that seems to be missing from other, newer, soul music. The single “The World (Is Going Up in Flames)” is a general cry about troubled times. It has a funky bassline, blaring horns and wailing vocals reminiscent of Bradley’s childhood idol, James Brown. But this isn’t just a record stuck in a completely “neo” mindset, which in many ways can be limiting. On Dreaming are a couple of instrumentals, one of which, “Since Our Last Goodbye”, is playful, summery, and drenched in percussive acoustic guitar rhythms and is punctuated with horns. A highlight is “The Telephone Song,” in which Bradley’s trying to make up with a lover. The riffing horns and funky guitars balance out the singer’s wailing, “give me your love,” and “come on baby, gotta make it right.” Simple lyrics, but Bradley seems to know how to let the band playing behind him let the music evoke the emotion. Oh yeah, he can sing too.
CULTURE
page sixteen | Month 07 2012 | vol. 3 issue 22
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
SEXUALITY
Let’s
Four Kwantlen students give their take on sex and sexuality issues in their columns below, inform yourself and enjoy! Baby steps in transgender equality I MICHELLE DEVEROUGH
talk about sex, baby
First Seattle, now Portland, will B.C. be next? As of June 9, Portland, Oregon has become the latest city in the United States to pass “non-discriminatory health care benefits” for all city workers. By doing this, it will ensure that those working for the city will have the health care needed to be able to afford transition. Following cities such as San Francisco, whose health care plan was first passed in 2001, and covers comprehensive care for transgendered patients (including hormone therapy, transition procedures such as breast augmentation and chest surgery, as well as psychotherapy.) The mayor of Portland, Samuel Adams, has followed some of the biggest companies in the United States (IBM and Google, to name two) in acknowledging the trans community. In his own words he states “as mayor, it is important to me that we attract and retain the best and brightest employees to the city of Portland. Offering non-discriminatory health care benefits is one way to accomplish this goal.” He continues on to say that “covering basic, medically necessary care is a matter of fairness, and it’s the right thing to do.” Shift your focus now to Canada, a country that prides itself on being two steps ahead in matters of equality. And yet, if this is so, then why was Bill C-389 allowed to die on the senate floor when the election was called? Bill C-389, as you may or may not recall, was a private members bill championed by Bill Siksay, MP for Burnaby-Douglas. This bill would have added a clause in the Canadian Human Rights Act stating that “discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression the workplace or elsewhere” would be strictly prohibited and would allow an amendment to the criminal code that would designate crimes committed against citizens because of their sexual identity or expression automatically as a hate crime. It is unfortunate that this bill did not pass, as it would have been extremely useful in the prosecution of two men in Halifax that committed a heinous act of hatred against a Halifax-area transwoman. As the bill has not passed, the police have concluded that the crime does not fit the hate crime law. In B.C., however, there is a tiny ray of hope. Spencer Chandra-Herbert, MLA for Vancouver-West End has spearheaded “A members bill called the Gender Identity and Expression Human Rights Recognition Act. By introducing this bill into the legislature, if passed it would add gender identity and gender expression to the prohibited
grounds for discrimination under the BC Human Rights Code. This would allow more freedom to the transgendered community, and might finally give a level playing field. It would protect transgender people from discriminatory actions by landlords, employers and restauranteurs and it will finally be a step in the right direction. Although it is sad that on the federal level bill C-389 was not passed. If this is passed in British Columbia it may spark other provinces to enact similar legislation on behalf of the transgender community. Just because Ottawa was unwilling to pass legislation protecting all citizens does not mean that provinces cannot do the right thing. If this is passed, it should give hope to those in other provinces to stand up and demand that their voices be heard. Only when legislation is passed throughout Canada will transpeople truly be safe.
A stiff upper lip won’t help you
I
ASHLEY FEHR VANESSA KNIGHT
We’ve all been there. We’re excited by someone special in our life, but we’re not ready to go all the way yet, so we go for broke; also known as oral sex. Oral sex is great and everyone should do it at least once (per day). And despite one of our favorite quotes from, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, “...if God was a city planner he wouldn’t put a playground next to a sewage system” it’s the most fun you can have without putting the P in V (or A, or whatever your preference), but you’ve got to do it right. Ask almost any girl who’s given or received more than one heavenly tongue bath, and they’ve got a facefucking horror story. They range from “he went down on me, but all I could think of was my grocery list.” to “I was going down on him, and he started thrusting so violently I nearly threw up.” Trust us, that last scenario: not sexy. Of course, it all starts with hygiene. The worst tales include fish smells and ballsweat. We’re not saying hop in the shower every time you invite your cunning linguist over, but wash yourself as often as you need to (if you don’t know that part by now, you probably have bigger problems than a naughty oral exam) and keep yourself neat. This goes for guys and gals. Nobody wants to be sitting on their bus ride of victory and realize that odd tickle in their throat is actually a pubic hair. Now, neither of us is claiming that taking care of his lollipop is easy, but I think everyone can agree that rug munching is the more difficult task. Never undervalue the pure pleasure that
comes from the slow tease. While you’re downtown, take a minute or twenty to explore. Every fabulous lady flower is different, so whether you’re a one-time shopper or a shopaholic, get to know the neighborhood. After that it’s all about opening your ears for a little more guidance. “Mmm” or similar moaning-type noises are a good sign. “Zzz” is a bad one, just like “are you done yet” and “ow!” — and unless your partner is a little masochistic, you should stop and apologize immediately any time you hear “ow” (just in case). As for the disco stick scenario, pretty much the same goes. Start off slow, explore with your tongue, listen for cues. If you happen to be the owner of that particularly lucky lap lizard, do not, under any circumstances, force your fellating friend to take more than they can handle. Try giving them verbal cues instead. You don’t know how sexy it is to hear “oh! do that any faster and I’m going to explode.” Don’t put your hand on their head unless they have told you it’s okay (it is alright for you to ask) and don’t suffocate the poor person with your member. Think we’re wrong? Next time the ice cream truck rolls around get yourself a Twister. Stick it as far into the back of your throat as it will go — repeat furiously with disregard to your own gag reflex — if you can still breathe easily, call us. We know some guys that would just love you. More often than not, someone can tell if the person traveling their nether regions is feeling a little alien, and unless you’re blowing the National Alliance, they aren’t going to have you deported. Remember, however vulnerable you feel, your partner is likely feeling just as exposed. Go ahead and say “do you like it like this?” or “tell me how you want me to [dirty action] your [dirty place]” and you will get an enthusiastic response.
An open letter to the men of Kwantlen with idle tongues
I
CONNOR DOYLE CONTRIBUTOR
Suck it up... and lick her clit. Now, allow me to elaborate. The sheer magic of oral pleasure is a delight that no one on earth should be denied, anyone who has been on the receiving end of such majesty should be able to attest to that fact. It is one of those pure gestures in life that justifies existence, that validates not just one’s life, but all life; if the universe can produce something this great, this magnificent in its raw, selfless pleasure, then the universe must have been conceived by a righteous and loving god.
I like blow jobs, is what I’m trying to get at here. Having said that, the thought of decent people going about their lives having never experienced another person’s mouth delicately fondling their nether regions –– well, it’s a tragedy, goddamn it, and one that I believe should be rectified in the interest of some greater, utilitarian concept of a better world. To that end, I implore any man who yet retains reservations regarding the delicate and beautiful art of cunnilingus to man up and promptly go spelunking, face first, into his loved one’s cavern of delights. There remains a level of apprehension towards cunnilingus these days; it seems women are often led to believe that shame should feature heavily in how they feel about their own genitalia, far more-so than men, which contributes to an unfair balance between the genders when it comes to receiving oral sex. Now, this isn’t to say men are in some kind of getting-head golden age, this letter could justifiably be addressed to the women of Kwantlen with prudish mouths, but one must admit the concept of the BJ is far more prevalent in society than the concept of...what... the LJ? George Carlin once said that at some point we all attributed the wrong connotations to the term “cocksucker”; it means “a bad man” when it should mean “a good woman.” Well, at some point we failed to even apply meaning to “clitlicker”, such is the systematic ignoring of cunnilingus. Which is a shame, for, as anyone who has given or received should know, it’s actually a helluva lotta fun. Shouldn’t it be considered a boost to the ego to know that, even if your hands were tied behind your back and your manhood taped to your stomach, you could still bring your woman to orgasm with but a few carefully placed flicks of a benevolent tongue? It’s a wonderfully effective tool for foreplay, it’s a convincing method for initiating sex and it’s the only truly fitting way to return the favour. Eating out his girlfriend is the greatest thing a man can do with his tongue. It separates the boys from the men. It makes the world a better place. So, in the interest of a more just, more harmonious world, and for the sake of female orgasms everywhere, do what’s right. As Samuel L. Jackson endorses in two separate Tarantino movies, men, stick your tongue in “the holiest of holies” and feel proud doing so. Gentlemen, start their engines.
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
CULTURE
vol. 3 issue 22 | July 12 2011 | page seventeen
FASHION
Wedding bells and what sells Meet Rachelle Nienkaemper, The Runner’s new fashion columnist. This month, she writes about wedding accessories just in time for wedding season.
I
RACHELLE NIENKAEMPER CONTRIBUTOR
As we all know, summer is the peak season for weddings and we’re going to look at where to buy wedding accessories. I, myself, a bride looking through countless wedding albums and found that people seem to be going a lot simpler and more elegant for wedding accessories this summer. Lots of circles and sparkles are in trend as well as less is more. I’ve noticed brides wearing only bracelets and earrings or just earrings and a necklace. Simple and elegant is the way to go this summer in terms of accessorizing. It is not always easy to know where to start. I searched countless accessory stores and eventually ended up at Le Chateau, where I bought my bridal pieces. I searched at Blue Ruby, but their pieces were a bit pricey for me — but beautiful and a wide selection. I would recommend going there. They were more in the $60-150 range for earrings, necklaces and bracelets. I also looked at places like The Bay, Sears and even in the States at Macy’s whose prices range from $15-200 and higher because some of the department stores carry diamonds. They had more selection at a more reasonable price and I would definitely recommend heading to one of those places for costume jewellery.
Of course if you have a bigger budget you can head to Peoples, Ben Moss and other big diamond and high-quality jewellery places for pieces that range from $100endless amounts depending on the quality and cut of the diamond. Of course, your big day is an excuse to splurge and you are a princess for the day! I picked out a simple earring and happened to find a matching bracelet which goes perfectly with my dress and my theme. If you are on a smaller budget I would suggest trying Le Chateau. They have a fairly good selection of costume jewellery and have it all organized by colour and style, for example by silvers, blacks, golds, fake diamonds, etc. My jewellery is a good find and I could totally wear it again, which is great! You definitely need to take some time to search for your perfect jewellery. I recommend starting at the bigger department stores and working your way down. If you have a bigger budget and are buying the real deal, Spence Diamonds is a great place to go for a good price point and customized jewellery for your big day. There are lots of options so don’t stress –– remember to pick something that reflects you and your personality. It is, after all, your big day. Le Chateau is a quick, cheap place to go to get wedding ready jewellry on a budget. RACHELLE NIENKAEMPER/ THE RUNNER
GAMES
Portal is still alive and ready to kick again Portal 2 succeeds in the moderately challenging achievement of being a kick-ass game sequel.
I
JARED VAILLANCOURT CONTRIBUTOR
In 2007, Valve released a game package known only as the Orange Box. On this surprisingly magical gaming melange, the company released both sequel chapters to their popular Half-Life 2 game as well as the lesser known titles of Team Fortress 2 and the extremely popular side project known as Portal. What was little more than a little idea by an enclave within Valve exploded quickly and became a
gem for gamers, critics and game-makers the world over. Ever prompt with their release schedule, earlier this year, Valve released Portal 2. Portal 2 is amazing for a sequel, a feat difficult for movies but only moderately challenging for most games. The player once again takes the role of Chell in the single-player campaign, a mute female character unique in that she can barely
SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF VALVE GAMES
be seen in-game and is not overtly sexual whenever she can be seen. In fact, her casual tank top, specialized testing boots and half-worn jumpsuit does an impressive job of portraying her as an average citizen of no certain race. Instead, the game’s advertisement is the insanity of the AI called GLaDOS, everyone’s favourite psychopathic and scientifically obsessed supercomputer. Her cryptic and mocking dialogue in the first game forged much of the communication in this hilarious and challenging sequel, made even better by her previous relationship with the vocallychallenged Chell. More characters are introduced to deepen the plot of Portal 2. Chell is awoken from her cryogenic hotel room by the personality core Wheatley, a fast-talking and intellectually inept yet supremely emotive sphere who loves to dance transparently around the issues he raises, such as asking Chell if she’d rather stay put for all eternity rather than enter GLaDOS’ chamber to look for an escape route. In addition to shouting “Don’t panic!” in a tone more panic-stricken than an astronomer looking squarely at a meteor hurtling towards Earth, he is responsible for the accidental rebooting of GLaDOS that kicks off the central plot. Game-play in Portal 2 is almost identical to the original in that Chell’s boots allow her to fall from any height without dying and the portal gun (also known as the Aperture Science Quantum Tunnelling Device) is her only other tool. Portal 2 also
allows the player to zoom in on distant objects in order to place distant portals more accurately and enable Chell to cross vaster distances. And this is vital: Aperture Laboratories is unimaginably huge, going down for kilometres and outwards in several fog-sheathed directions for what seems like forever. At one point, Chell has to explore the underbelly of the facility, guided only by the recorded voice of Aperture’s CEO Cave Johnson, a man who must have had more money than all the world’s nations combined in order to build such a place, let alone run the experiments GLaDOS sadistically paces Chell through. Portal 2 is a well-done puzzle game with a fascinating story dominated not by human characters, but by crazy AI programs, personality cores and even the suffering of the gun turrets. The game has another dimension in the cooperative campaign, where two players take on the roles of either Atlas or P-body, a pair of robots whose emotive noises hint to a deeper character development than one would normally assume robots could display. Their campaign follows a story that actually takes place after Chell’s adventure through the facility, and ends with a surprise that sets the stage for an epic sequel to this ... epic sequel.
page eighteen | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
CREATIVE
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca
PHOTOGRAPHY
An old car sits among the trees near the disappearing ghost town at the historic Bralorne-Pioneer Mines. MATT LAW/ THE RUNNER
R e m n a n t I
JARED VAILLANCOURT CONTRIBUTOR
The itching was unbearable. Every day Jacob begged the nurses and orderlies – even the other patients would do – for more morphine, more tranquilizers... anything to get back to sleep and away from the itching. His waking hours were sheer agony, every square inch of his skin ablaze with the crawling of millions of tiny insects, their invisible legs poking and prodding and itching. It was too much, more than anyone should ever have to bare; at least his nights were dreamless and free of this insatiable, incomprehensible itch. Yet every morning he played the barnyard rooster, screaming out in pain as the itch demanded he attend to it. The hospital had an orderly waiting in his room after the first month, a needle pensive in his or her hand for the seven o’clock reveille of one Mr. Jacob Yates. He was thankful for their vigilance, although they never seemed to be able to prevent his first audible realization that his skin was on fire. Days wore into years, and still he could not touch anything without wincing in shock. The hospital had kept him locked within, afraid – he was certain – of what the itch would do to him if he went without their medication. Other patients screamed for release in their sapient hours; Jacob praised his overseers, and then asked for more morphine. Years wore into decades, which in turn wore into centuries. Every second of every minute he felt the itch, sometimes waiting like a numb tingling at the peripheral of his senses, like a beast stalking in the night. When it struck, it tore at him and through him until the nurse managed to find a vein that had not collapsed from repeated injections and once again sent him deep into the blackened void of sleep. Centuries became millenia, and his eyes no longer recognized the world outside the windows. Changes happened faster than the speed of his blink, morphing the land into something strange and alien and wonderful. “How long has he been with us?” the doctor’s voice
asked. Jacob couldn’t hear the answer. “Three weeks.” Whenever the itch was subsided by drugs, Jacob would do anything to keep his mind clear. He had to understand the evolution he saw beyond the windows and walls, yet art was a talent beyond his reach. Mathematics was his answer to that, a parallel that seemed to follow as naturally as marriage followed dating in his mind. Solve for factor X, and the entire equation unravels. Solve the itch, and the world becomes revealed. They gave him a pen and paper for the first epoch, but once the drugs wore off they removed it from the gouges he forced into his left arm and put him back to sleep. He awoke bandaged, and tore those off to cover the walls with sinusoidal functions and parabolic curves scrawled in erythrocytes. He mapped the functions, mirroring the shapes and lights he saw beyond the window. The world was beautiful, and yet so alien in its mystique that the urge to capture it, to map it, to quantify and express the X of it consumed his every inebriated thought. He wanted to hate the dreamless nights, yet every evening the itch would put him in line and make him remember why he was grateful to the nurses and orderlies and their magical morphine mixture. Eons went by as he watched the sun snuff out and become replaced by the very face of the Almighty itself. Every century Jacob scrawled, replacing the cleaned walls with fresh equations until finally he was restrained. He was given the great gift of a needle, burrowed deep within his woulds like an old friend, and a device that would catch the words he whispered as they fluttered through the air, entombing them within the cold confines of a device he could not understand. “Replace the tape, would you kindly – Mr. Yates has filled the recorder again.” He would wrestle with his restraints whenever the itch threatened to return, forcing another dosage of night as the
world began to consume the walls and bedsheets around him. Wondrous creatures the likes of which no human mind could ever conceive began to dance within his room, singing with words no ear could understand and caressing his veins as the drugs oozed through them. The itch was becoming Stockholm in its presence, gently brushing back the onslaught of morphine to remind him that he knew of its pain before he knew of this world. He still found it unbearable, but the nights without it seemed empty, as though he were stilling at the bottom of a well, having been told by his best friend to wait while he ran for an adult. His morning cries of agony were becoming twisted as he tried to match the creatures’ song, welcoming the return of the itch and bracing for the suffering it lovingly imposed upon him. One day the restraints were loosed. He sat there dumbly, staring around at the serenity surrounding him. “Mr. Yates? Can you heavr me?” The itch was standing at his bedside, her long talons out of place against her divine face. She smiled and offered her disgusting hand, yet he took it – glad it was her. It had to be her. “Mr Yates, please answer me. Are you all right?” The creatures sang as he stood up, melting away the walls as the Almighty bathed him in its radiance, welcoming him to the beautiful world made just for him. The itch kissed his cheek, setting it aflame with a pain so pure and perfect he almost cried out in joy. She caressed his arm and tugged him forwards, whispering “this way. This way. This way home.” Jacob smiled and closed his eyes. “Mr. Yates? Jacob! Does he even know we’re here – Jacob!” “Doctor,” the old world muttered meekly, “he’s gone.”
PROCRASTINATION
www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner
vol. 3 issue 22 | July 12 2011 | page nineteen
HOROSCOPES
GEMINI May 21 - June 20
Space-age technology? The Space-Age was in the 1960s, so it’s like, 50 years old?
VIRGO Sept. 5 - Sept. 30
SCORPIO Oct. 20 - Nov. 20
CANCER June 20 - july 20 LEO July 20 - Sept. 5 Crab legs dipped in butter. That would sound good to me – if I wasn’t a crab! Learn how to do party magic tricks. Practice them for one month and write a book about it.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 20 - Dec. 20
Dance in place, kick a bin, get embarrassed. Pass out from laughing at Bono.
CAPRICORN Dec. 20 - Feb. 16
I make my own cheese. Think of these nipples next time you eat feta. Sexy.
You’ll be reelin’ in the years at a Steely Dan cover show when you realize you forgot your keys.
AQUARIUS Feb. 16 - March 11
You may or may not accidentally see someone’s penis at Cafe Crepe this month.
TAURUS April 20 - May 20
LIBRA Sept. 30 - Oct. 20 Apart from being your horoscope avatar, I’m also a James Bond villain. God gave Moses two tablet PCs with the “God’s word” app preloaded on them. Steve Jobs is Moses, right?
ARIES April 18 - May 19
PISCES March 11- April 18
How do you spell popsicle two octaves higher?
I’m sad that you know that I know that she heard that you said that they told you to get to the fucking point already?
Sometimes people grind me up to make burgers, but I make a great steak!
THE FUTURE OF FACEBOOK - JENNA COTTON/NEXUS (CUP)
CROSSWORD
(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.
Across 1- Actress Ruby; 4- Hoist; 9- One of the Simpsons; 13- Sick; 14- Approvals; 15- Fable; 16- Dress with too much formality; 18- Unit of volume; 19- Furnishings; 20- Surgical cutting of a tendon; 22- Tidal river; 25- Centrepiece of the human face; 26- Early computer; 28- Story in installments; 32- Fleur-de-___; 35- Fortune-telling cards; 37- Grass-like plant; 38- Archipelago part; 40- Growl angrily; 42- Interpret; 43- Sweatbox; 45- Purge; 47- Madrid Mrs.; 48- Corpulent; 50- Law of Moses; 52- Footnote abbr.; 54- Teacher; 58- Dauntless; 62- Satirical dialogue; 63- Like some stadiums; 64- Receptacle; 67- Muse of lyric poetry; 68- Distinguishing characteristic; 69- Seine contents; 70- Numerous; 71- “Forbidden” fruit; 72- ACLU concerns; Down 1- Part of LED; 2- Santa’s aides; 3- Choose; 4- Water faucet; 5- Alway; 6- Enzyme ending; 7- Sleeveless garment; 8- Ruhr city; 9- Vagrant; 10- A big fan of; 11- Flower part; 12- Ethereal; 15- Shuts; 17- Libertine; 21- Figs.; 23- Narrow inlets; 24- Tall tales; 27- Do something together; 29- March time; 30- Culture medium; 31- Moon of Jupiter; 32- Speech issue; 33Golfer Aoki; 34- Insult; 36- Band; 39- Completeness; 41- Decoy; 44- Percentage of light reflected by a planet; 46- Proceed in rays; 49- Bark sharply; 51- Mata ; 53- Judicial rulings; 55- Dead duck; 56- a time; 57- Convoluted fold of the brain; 58- As previously given, in footnotes; 59- Asta’s mistress; 60- Counterfeiter catcher; 61- A small town; 65- Doze; 66- “... ___ the cows come home”;
page twenty | July 12 2011 | vol. 3 issue 22
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca