Vol. 4 Issue 3

THE VOL. 04 ISSUE 03 10.11.2011

THE PROGRESSIVE ISSUE

NEWS AND CULTURE FOR THE STUDENTS OF KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

POWERFUL WOMEN

CHANGING GENDER EXPECTATIONS IN POLITICS

LOCALEYES

OCCUPY VANCOUVER PEACEFUL PROTESTS TO STAND FOR WORKING POOR

BILL REID AND THE HAIDA CANOE FIND US ONLINE

SUB ON HOLD

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STUDENT UNION BUILDING STALLED

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NEWS

vol. 4 issue 03 | October 11 2011 | page three

CAMPUS NEWS

The Runner Roundup A brief run around the latest news from the world of Kwantlen and beyond.

Xthum building wins architectural award Distinguished by its woven cedar walls and ceilings, Kwantlen’s Aboriginal Gathering Place won another architectural award last month. Officially known as the Xthum building, it was recognized with a Gold Award for Public/Institution Spaces and Best in Show by the Interior Designers Institute of B.C. Designed by architectural firm Public Design, Xthum was completed in 2010 and recognizes the important contribution of the Kwantlen, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen, and Katzie Nations. The space was financed by a $600,000 provincial contribution.

“In addition to receiving recognition for the Aboriginal Gathering Place, it was great to see so many Kwantlen Alumni recognized for their achievements at the event,” said Karen Hearn, Kwantlen’s executive director, facilities.

Thumbs way up Keeners everywhere, take note. An elementary school in the U.K. is taking a stand against students raising their hands.

According to the Daily Mail, administrators at a junior school in Bridlington, East Yorkshire are changing the way students ask questions by telling them to give thumbs up instead of raising their hands.

The thumbs up approach is intended help students better engage in the classroom and to foster “a calmer and inclusive atmosphere in the classroom,” “Hands up can be more of a distraction for young children,” head teacher Cheryle Adams told the Daily Mail. “It can put them off because they have to put their ideas forward in a forceful way.” Adams believes that students will be more willing to raise a thumbs than a hand.

KSA appoints new ops director Surrey campus representative Nipun “Nick” Pandey was appointed as interim-director-of-operations at the Sept. 28 meeting of council. Former director of operations Justine Franson resigned from the seat in early August.

Director of finance and chairperson of the executive board Nina Sandhu believes that Pandey will make a strong addition to the KSA executive.

“Nick does have an understanding of how the KSA works,” said Sandhu.

“While I think people jumped to some conclusions about him, especially when it came to understanding the regs and the bylaws. I think people just need a little bit of time.

According to an email sent out to council members by KSA president Harman “Sean Birdman” Bassi, Pandey’s term will last “until March 31, 2012, or until such time that the position can be filled by election.”

OUT IN

page four | October 11 2011 | vol. 4 issue 03

NEWS

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KSA

Student union building on shaky ground Board of governors halts funding to the proposed new $10-million project.

“

The university is not prepared to pursue the student union building initiative with the KSA, given the KSA’s current litigious proceedings.

JODY GORDON KPU associate vice president, students A potential location of the proposed student union building (outlined in white) on a map of the Kwantlen Surrey campus.

I

MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR

Plans for a new student union building (SUB) have been put on hold indefinitely after the Kwantlen board of governors cut off university funding for the project.

The board of governors passed a motion at their Sept. 21 meeting ordering that they “cease further expenditures for the Student Union Building until the board deems it appropriate.”

A letter was sent to Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) president Harman “Sean Birdman” Bassi Sept. 23 notifying the KSA of the motion.

Bassi, the KSA’s president and spokesperson refused a request for an interview, when contacted by email Oct. 6.

At the Sept. 30 executive board meeting, KSA director of finance Nina Sandhu attributed the board’s move to budgetary issues.

In a later interview, Sandhu said that no one had given the KSA any explanation about the motion and that she assumed it was related to the budget.

“The original plan that KPU gave for what they’d like in the student union building, the architect said it could not be done with the

budget that we had,” said Sandhu. “[The architect] said basically given the amount of square footage that you want, you’re not going to be able to do it in your budget. So you either have to sacrifice the amount of square footage or you have to up your budget. So that’s why we’re going to see what we really need.”

However, a written statement from KPU associate vice president Jody Gordon directly contradicted Sandhu’s original rationale.

“The university is not prepared at this time to pursue the student union building initiative with the KSA given the KSA’s current litigious proceedings,” wrote Gordon in an Oct. 4 email to The Runner.

“While considering the scope and magnitude of a student union building project, the university questions proceeding further until such time as the KSA’s current disputes are resolved. The university is committed to proactive student engagement through partnerships with the KSA.” According to an agreement signed by the KSA and the university, both parties had committed to conducting a SUB feasibility study which was expected to cost between $50,000 and $75,000. The agreement had also pegged the total project budget for the pro-

posed SUB at $10,000,000.

Most Kwantlen students currently pay $0.95 per credit for a SUB fee. In the 2009 “Year One” referendum, nearly 61 per cent of voting Kwantlen students approved a SUB fee of $2.90 per credit. The fee was to be increased in increments, with the full $2.90 per credit not to be charged in full until 2013. According to the referendum question the fund is to be used “to build and operate student-owned SUB buildings on the Surrey and Langley campuses, and to develop autonomous student centres on both Cloverdale and Richmond.”

According to a Runner article from March 2010, the KSA had “proposed that the new building be placed east of the small forest on Surrey campus, which is currently occupied by parking space.”

Then-KSA general manager Desmond Rodenbour expressed a desire that the SUB project would be fast-tracked.

“We would like to see first-year students paying in to the fund this year to see it built before they graduate,” Rodenbour told The Runner at the time. “It would be my hope that this is next building built on campus.”

Before the board of governor’s cut off funding, the SUB stakeholder’s committee

had only done preliminary work, according to Gordon. “Most of the meetings had been very focused on the exploratory,” said Gordon in an Oct. 6 phone interview. “Looking across North America to see how student union buildings were built. What did they look like? How big they were? Were they built from scratch? Were they built as a refurbishment?

At one of the last stakeholder’s meeting, the university asked the KSA to prioritize the list of services and kind of spaces they wanted to be part of the SUB. Gordon also expressed concern that the KSA’s most recent wish list made no provision for clubs space.

In her Oct. 6 written chairperson’s report, Sandhu said she would address the board of governor’s motion at the next executive and council meetings. In his Sept. 30 report to the executive, KSA director of external affairs Bobby Padda pointed out that Justine Franson’s resignation had left an empty seat on the SUB stakeholders committee and recommended that the vacancy be filled. According to both reports, the date of the next SUB meeting is still to be determined.

NEWS

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vol. 4 issue 03 | October 11 2011 | page five

ELECTIONS

KSA council fires chief returning officer No new dates scheduled for by-election and referendum.

I

MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR

The Kwantlen Student Association council has fired their new chief returning officer (CRO) after less than a month on the job.

Council voted by secret ballot to remove Jagjeet Kaur Gill at a Sept. 28 council meeting.

Gill’s contract with the KSA was signed in early September. The CRO is responsible for running all KSA elections and referenda.

Gill attended the Sept. 28 meeting to ask council to approve new dates for a fall byelection and referendum.

“Just for clarification, the by-election and referendum were delayed for procedural issues,” said Gill. “What I’ve come to speak to, and only speak to, is new proposed by-

election dates.”

Gill proposed 14 days notice for a byelection and referendum, seven days to allow for the end of nominations, five days for campaigning and two days for polling.

Instead of endorsing Gill’s recommended dates, Surrey campus representative Nipun Pandey moved a motion to remove Gill as CRO. Before the motion to remove Gill was moved, council members and students questioned her about the delayed by-election that had originally been scheduled to take place Sept. 21 and 22.

Former board of governors representative and current student-at-large Derek Robertson asked why KSA president Harman “Sean Birdman” Bassi had been speaking on behalf of the CRO, when the CRO is meant to be the only authority regarding

KSA chief returning officer Jagjeet Kaur Gill was fired at the Sept. 28 council meeting. MATT DIMERA/THE RUNNER

referenda and by-elections.

Gill said she could not speak to that.

Robertson also inquired about allegations of interference from elected officials in the election.

“As chief returning officer can you say in front of the board of directors that in no way during the lead up to this referendum/ by-election that the executive and office of the president interfered in any of your duties as stated in the bylaws and regulations of the society,” asked Robertson.

“I don’t feel I can comment on that,” replied Gill.

Robertson further questioned her about whether she was confident that she could carry out her duties independently without interference from the executive and Bassi.

“My intent is to hold up the integrity and equality and fairness of the by-election and referendum,” said Gill.

Pandey questioned if it was necessary to hold the by-election, citing finances and timing.

“Is there really any need for the by-election? Because the general election is coming up in two months,” said Pandey. “That doesn’t give anyone sufficient time to work on a specific position and it will incur a lot of costs as well.”

KSA director of external affairs Bobby Padda concurred.

“We do have a general election coming up. So again, is it necessary to do an election?” asked Padda.

Senate representative Christopher Girodat strongly disagreed with the suggestion.

“Whether or not we appoint an interim director of operations today, the seat must still be filled using a by-election if there’s more than 90 days left in the term and there was at the time that Ms. Franson resigned,” argued Girodat.

KSA bylaws state that if a vacancy occurs in an elected position of the society, a by-election shall be held to fill the position for the remainder of the term, unless there is less than 90 days left in the term. As of Friday, Oct. 7, there are still more than 175 days left in the current term.

After holding a secret in-camera session and vote, KSA executive board chairperson and director of finance Nina Sandhu emerged from the meeting room to inform

Gill that she had been fired by council.

Bassi, the KSA’s president and spokesperson refused a request for an interview, when contacted by email Oct. 6.

According to KSA accounting records, Gill had already received payment of half of her contract in the amount of $3,458.75.

Gill’s short tenure was marked by controversy.

In a Sept. 16 letter sent to the KSA’s thenchief-returning-officer, Kwantlen senior administrators alleged that KSA elected officials had compromised the independence of the chief returning officer and that the KSA’s election rules had already been broken.

In the letter, KPU registrar Robert Hensley and associate vice president students Jody Gordon refused to allow election polling stations on university property and refused to turn over the list of eligible voters.

They accused Gill of “capitulating to the direction of an elected official and carrying out the election despite the concerns raised to you by the University and now several students.”

According to Sandhu there was no interference from elected officials.

“If they had communicated that to the CRO, that’s between the CRO and the university,” said Sandhu. “As far as I’m concerned, the involvement that we had with the election was strictly hiring the CRO and putting her in touch with Jody Gordon.”

Gordon stands by the university’s original allegations.

It is certainly the university’s position . . . that the CRO has the final say in all decisions related to elections, and it appeared as though [Gill] did not have the final say in this particular proceedings,” Gordon told The Runner. “We felt that was interference by elected officials.

Before being appointed as chief returning officer this month, Gill previously served as president of the Graduate Students’ Association at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto from 2009 to 2010. She also was a deputy returning officer for Elections Canada in 2007 and 2011.

Gill did not return Runner phone calls before deadline.

page six | october 11 2011 | vol. 4 issue 03

NEWS

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KSA

Cram Jam concert costs students $125,000 KSA director of finance says larger-scale concert was “the will of the students.”

I

MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR

The KSA’s beleaguered 2011 Cram Jam concert will end up costing students more than two and a half times what was originally budgeted at the beginning of the year.

According to a KSA draft statement the Cram Jam tab is currently at $125,692.79, as of Oct. 7; 150 per cent more than the $50,000 planned for in the 2011 budget. The final bill has still not been made public.

The KSA council voted to raise the budget for their upcoming Cram Jam concert to nearly $82,000 at the Jun. 17 council meeting and then again at a later meeting to raise the budget to roughly $96,000.

In an Oct. 5 interview, KSA director of finance Nina Sandhu said the decision to spend more money on a larger-scale concert was “the will of the students.”

“Council, after the request of lots of students, decided to make Cram Jam a bigger budgeted event than what it was budgeted for. I know in the past, the budget was made a little smaller,” explained Sandhu. “Students were once again saying we want a bigger artist and so we decided this year let’s make the budget bigger and let’s go and bring them the artist they want to see and do it properly.”

Even when accounting for the adjusted budget, Cram Jam spending still went over by nearly $30,000. Revenues were also highly overestimated.

The budget approved by council, forecast nearly $50,000 in revenue. However the latest KSA draft estimates (as of Oct. 7) showed that Cram Jam 2011 revenues brought in only $7,100.

ACTUAL COSTS Creative Artists Agency (Jay Sean booking): $40,405 Catering: $976.70 Genesis Security: $9,104.54 Full Force Security: $1,217.48 Insurance: $1,643 ACTUAL Dhaliwal Productions/Banquet Hall: $45,930 EXPENSES: Airfares: $10,779.04 $132,792.79 Hotel: $1,400 Royal King Palace: $11,160 Super Save Rentals: $672 Charter Bus: $627.20 RCMP: $4,000 (est.)

Liquor/Alcohol:$2,906.72 (est.)

Ticket printing: $200 (est.)

Miscellaneous costs: $1,019.91 ACTUAL REVENUES: ACTUAL REVENUES $7,100 Ticket sales: $3,270

“

When you have that many last-minute obstacles . . . it left us no choice but to spend a little extra here and there.

NINA SANDHU KSA director of finance

BUDGETED EXPENSES: $96,100

CRAM JAM 2011

Liquor sales: $1,330 Mobility sponsorship: $2,500

BUDGETED REVENUES: $49,500

“When you have that many last-minute obstacles, changes, things that were totally out of our hands that we couldn’t control, it left us no choice but to spend a little extra here and there,” said Sandhu.

In his Sept. 28 report, KSA president and official spokesperson Harman “Sean Birdman” Bassi deemed Cram Jam a success.

“The best part of this event was the feedback; never have I seen KPU students so excited, thrilled, and appreciative,” wrote Bassi. “After completing such a large-scale event, there was a lot of respect earned from local student associations, which is going to open a lot of doors for the future.”

Bassi refused a request for an interview, when contacted by email Oct. 6.

BUDGETED COSTS Artist: $43,000 Production: $42,000 Insurance: $1,100 RCMP: $2,000 Marketing: $4,000 Contingency: 4,000 +$96,100 BUDGETED REVENUES Radio station sponsorship: $3,270 Newspaper sponsorship: $5,000 Corporate sponsorship: $7,000 Beer sponsor: $1,000 Local business sponsors: $3,000 non-Kwantlen ticket sales: $5,000 VIP ticket sales: $3,500 After party ticket sales: $3,000 Alcohol sales (concert + afterparty): $4,000 -$49,500

NEWS

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page seven | October 11 2011 | vol. 4 issue 3

Cram Jam: A brief financial history 2008

2009

+$91,050 expenses

Sloan Danny Fernandes Daniel Wesley, Ten Second Epic Destineak

2010

2011

Karl Wolf Lamar Ashe, Heatwave

Jay Sean Pretty Boy, Carol Cox

+$44,828 expenses

+$40,024 expenses

+$132,792.79 expenses

-$14,195 revenue =

-$5,135 revenue =

-$9,433 revenue =

-$7,100 revenue =

$76,855

$39,693

$30,591

$125,692.79

Mom! Coffeemaker crashed.

Need caffeine for cramming. $$$end help.

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page eight | October 11 2011 | vol. 4 issue 03

NEWS

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STUDENT POLITICS

KSA adopts letter condemning senate rep Girodat says letter is an attempt to “crush dissent through defamation.”

I

MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR

The Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) council has endorsed a letter condemning one of its own members for making an “unfounded attack on the presidency and the executive.”

KSA president and Surrey campus director Harman “Sean Birdman” Bassi read out a letter at the Sept. 28 council meeting, singling out senate representative Christopher Girodat for allegations he made against Bassi and the executive board in his written council report.

In his Sept. 28 report, Girodat raised questions about alleged interference from elected officials in the KSA by-election. The report included a proposed motion to issue official warnings to Bassi and the executive for interfering with the chief returning officer and for“failure to respect her complete discretion and authority.”

Girodat’s report also criticized the execu-

tive board for spending more than $250,000 on legal and professional fees and proposed another motion to suspend the executive board’s spending authority until further notice.

Bassi called the allegations “baseless.”

“We urge you [Girodat] to raise your concerns before embarrassing yourself and the association by launching wild accusations. Your credibility and that of the association is diminished,” said Bassi. “The lesson of the day must be naturally be that one should not speak about matters in a way that portrays one as educated, when in fact one is not educated, because one does not know the facts.”

Bassi dismissed the allegations of interference, claiming the election process was “operated fairly, impartially, and as a nonpartisan matter.”

“Part of the senator’s evidence for such conduct is a letter sent by Jody Gordon,” said Bassi. “What the senator fails to mention is that the allegations raised by Ms.

Gordon have also been refuted and remain wholly unproven. To launch such allegations without substantiated facts is unconsciousable [sic], unprofessional and dumbfounded [sic].”

In an Oct. 7 interview with The Runner, KPU associate vice president Jody Gordon disputed Bassi’s claims.

“The university has not been presented with any evidence that refutes our allegations,” said Gordon.

Girodat responded by calling Bassi’s letter defamatory and a fabrication. “It’s character assassination,” he said. “That’s all it is, you’re attacking me personally.”

“Sean Bassi is attempting to crush dissent through defamation, Girodat told The Runner in an Oct. 7 interview. “The KSA executive is using character assassination to intimidate those who dare speak out,” Former board of governor representative and current student-at-large Derek Robertson cautioned council members not to endorse the letter, saying that they could

be held personally liable for defamatory statements.

“If [council] were to adopt this letter, it would be opening every single member of the board of directors up to a lawsuit for defamation,” said Robertson. “Because you are not just condoning the letter of the Surrey campus director, you are endorsing it and saying that the board of directors agrees.”

The KSA council voted to endorse the letter with Girodat, Langley campus director Jennifer Campbell, Langley representative Ken McIntyre, director of external affairs Bobby Padda and Surrey representative Nipun Pandey abstaining.

The motion was moved by Bassi and seconded by director of academics Jaspinder Ghuman.

Bassi, the KSA’s president and spokesperson refused a request for an interview, when contacted by email, Oct. 6.

KSA President Harman “Sean Birdman” Bassi (right) reads a letter to council on Sept. 28 condemning senate representative Christopher Girodat for allegedly making an “unfounded attack on the presidency and the executive.”

MATT DIMERA/THE RUNNER

www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner

FEATURE

vol. 4 issue 03 | October 11 2011 | page nine

FEMINISM

Canada’s spotty record of electing women

Taking on the challenge of gender stereotypes in a nation tuned in to media and tuned out of critical thinking.

I

KARI MICHAELS CONTRIBUTOR

Alison Redford was elected by party members as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, becoming the first female premier of Alberta earlier this month. This victory comes 20 years after the B.C. Social Credit Party appointed the first female premier in Canadian history.

Still, only two out of the eight females who have beem premiers in Canada have actually been elected to the position, by the citizens of their province, in a general election.

Diane Naugler is a sociology instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University who holds a PhD in women’s studies. Naugler wonders why the Canadian public in the 21st century still seems to have a problem supporting a powerful female leader. “Is

there something about ‘powerful’, ‘female’, and ‘leader’ that doesn’t make sense to us on an intuitive level?” she asks.

She explains that, logically, the prospect of a female leader shouldn’t be difficult for people to accept, but this is still an issue facing Canadians and the ongoing problem stems from the way our society is organized.

“Gender still matters at these most powerful levels and, I would argue, at the everyday levels too,“ says Naugler.

Redford’s unexpected victory was a championship of change shaking the foundations of the conservative Albertan political arena. As The Province reported: “From the very beginning the 46-year-old wife and mother had cast herself as a new kind of Progressive Conservative, standing proudly outside of the ‘old boys club’ and open to transformational change in the Tory es-

tablishment.”

The National Post reported, “Ms. Redford had run the most aggressive, most rebellious campaign of the three finalists, positioning herself as an outsider.” This was a colossal political win as well as a huge leap forward in terms of women’s struggle to find acceptance and respect in leadership roles.

What stories will follow her success?

As more women are breaking into careers traditionally dominated by the “old boys club,” what are we being told about their place at the top?

According to Naugler, the media tells us that women at the top are not very nice people. When it comes to the story about their male counterparts the ruthless business man persona is part and parcel with the position. However for women, the story is not so forgiving. Think about movies like The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep’s

character is so unpleasant she is likened to evil incarnate. Naugler says movies like this are a cautionary tale for women. They tell us that in order to be successful, a woman must shed her femininity. Anna Wintour, on whom the movie (and book) is based, loses her husband because she’s so caught up in running her business and she can’t pause to process the loss because she is so obsessed with succeeding in business.

“This is a really terrible narrative to be telling people who are aspiring to the top of the top,” says Naugler. She adds that the younger generation is absorbing all this information as they are growing up and trying to find their own place in society. They are hearing this message about the dangerous, unfeminine, shrill and unattractive woman at the top. These are personality traits that put their social belonging at risk, so they’re Continued on page ten.

FEAT

www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner

FEMINISM

Mediated gender roles for Continued from page nine. naturally not going to want to be associated with them.

There is a difference between chronicling a person’s expedition in the political or entrepreneurial frontier, and encouraging us to take on these voyages ourselves and tracing the map of gender stereotypes for the rest of us to follow unknowingly. The difference lies in the consequences we face if we trail off the beaten path.

For Naugler, the story reinforces the persistent stereotypes that men and women have to constantly negotiate.

Men are the breadwinners and women are nurturers for whom family always comes first. For most Canadians, the reality – the economic reality – is that two incomes are better than one and are necessary to facilitate their lifestyle or the lifestyle they aspire to have. With both partners having to work to live, (since there aren’t that many people in Canada that bring home $250,000 a year by themselves) there has to be a discussion around the expectations of one another in daily life.

Negotiating daily life is something that has come to be known as finding the “work-family” balance.

Who is usually responsible for the work-family balance is what entices the economists, politicians, employers and scholars to examine these social roles.

Studies are finding a gap in these roles where men aren’t expected to negotiate this balance. According to Naugler, women are working but they are still expected to be responsible for the family, so they are the ones who have to negotiate the work-family balance.

Naugler says that “male workers tend to advance faster in their careers. They tend to be promoted more often. They’re able to accumulate experience in the workforce that female workers, on average, aren’t. “

More women are attending post sec- of something that affects everyone, evondary schools and graduating with eryone, and the fact that we gender the degrees. The Government of Canada responsibilities is one of those underlyreported that in 2010, a higher percent- ing considerations that we don’t think age of women (71 per cent) than men (65 about in our gendered atmosphere until per cent) aged 25 to 44 years had com- we’re doing it.”

She adds that a common question pleted a post-secondary education. With Alberta’s new female premier and, simi- women ask themselves is why they’re the larly, the recent Liberal Party election of ones staying at home from work when Christy Clark as B.C.’s premier, some their kid is sick. This isn’t unreasonable may think women have won the fight, when you consider that they’re half the smashed the glass ceiling, and now are biology that went into making the child and they are half on equal footing the love availwith men.

Naugler thinks “The principal idea is that the able to them yet it might be harder, expectations society holds for they’re expected to be wholly responbut not impossible, for women to ac- men and women are actually sible for caring for complish the same having an impact on their the child.

In April of this things and more that men who are opportunities in the world. The year, Christy Clark similarly quali- more their appearance and was featured on front page of fied and talented behaviour conforms to these the the Province newsdo. The limitations placed on men and expectations the better off they paper with the “Jersey women are a little will be. This applies more-so for headline: Girl; B.C. Premier bit more taken for Christy Clark puts granted than we women.” a Canucks jerexpect. She imag-Diane Naugler on sey while confiines the ceiling is dently predicting a more like a glass atmosphere and it’s not something we Stanley Cup for Vancouver.” Would Gorreally think about as we breathe it in ev- don Campbell be given a similar name ery day and make choices about who we if he were still premier, would we see a caption with “Jersey Boy” instead? can and cannot be.

To answer this we have to look at “We tell our kids ‘you can be anything you want to be’ without accounting for something Naugler refers to as “gender the atmosphere that puts these limita- expectations;” the idea that men will tions on the ‘anything’ for men and the like sports, be tough, display emotional restraint, and be breadwinners, while ‘anything’ for women” says Naugler.

According to her, we only question women will enjoy spending time makthe existence of the whole thing when an ing themselves beautiful, and care about aspect of ourselves or our goals clashes their looks and fashion, are gender expectations and they are very familiar with some element in the atmosphere.

It’s when enough of these realizations to us. However, they are normative beoccur in enough of us and we put them cause they have consequences. The contogether that we can really mount some sequence for the girl who doesn’t care to put effort into her appearance is that in change in the environment of gender.

“The work-life balance is an example junior high she isn’t part of the popular

crowd and in the work world she doesn’t get hired while maybe the pretty, more stylish woman does. This is called the “beauty bonus” and “plainness penalty” and it’s been proven in quantitative socio-economic scholarship. The principal idea is that the expectations society holds for men and women are actually having an impact on their opportunities in the world. The more their appearance and behaviour conforms to these expectations, the better off they will be. This applies more-so for women.

“That’s why these things are so hard to change because the rewards are right there,” says Naugler.

“Join the club of normative gender – reap the benefits of social success. Don’t join and experience the consequences, and the consequences are both economic and symbolic...and social.”

The problem with this gendering of responsibilities is it’s based on stereotypes and expectations of gender which is a socially constructed idea and it is reinforced by everything we surround ourselves with. Naugler says that gender is more than biology. As individuals, and members of various groups in society, we make gender mean what it is because although physical facts about our biology are a part of the construction of gender, it’s because the meanings we create in society about our biological sex determine who we become.

Ontario NDP Leader and single mother, Andrea Horwath, was on a morning radio talk show where the middle-aged, white, and male DJ’s asked her if she succeeded in becoming the premier would she only date other premiers. “Have you thought about being a single premier?” they ask and then they then go on to ask her what her “type” is and if they could play match maker. A similar question was posed to Christy Clark, also a single mother, earlier this year.

“So much of the expectations about who a woman is are centred around

TURE

vol. 4 issue 03 | October 11 2011 | page eleven

women and men her appearance and her relational status, that somehow there doesn’t seem to be as much room in the popular consciousness to consider her ideas and her experience and I think that’s one of the persistent imbalances of gender that still is operative in our social world and has real consequences for people’s opportunities and limitations. “ says Naugler.

Ms. Magazine recently published an

online article written by Ariel Dougherty outlining the cost of a non-diverse media. Dougherty points out that in the U.S. “Over 12 % of households are run by unmarried women. Among African American women, that figure leaps to 29.1 %.

But the stories of how these women are struggling to feed their families are missing from the airwaves.”

So when Christy Clark and Andrea

Horwath are being asked if they can handle public office and be a single mother, the media is focussing on the wrong issue.

Naugler describes the single mother as a kind of boogie woman in society.

The media doesn’t represent her because she’s the story of what happens when women are unsuccessful at being women and she gets blamed for it. Media doesn’t develop television shows about the true story of the single mother who has so much determination, love, intelligence and character because they wouldn’t be popular and profitable. That’s not because it wouldn’t be interesting but because the audience is so uninformed about the real story if they saw it they wouldn’t buy it.

“Popular media can only reflect popular attitude even if the attitude’s wrong; even if it’s factually and anecdotally wrong,” says Naugler.

Some of the stats featured in the Ms. article include: a dismal 13.5 per cent of guests on U.S. Sunday public affairs shows are women and only 28 per cent of space in U.S. and Canadian media is devoted to women’s issues. On these shows there are experts telling us “this is what is important right now” and very few of them are women.

Naugler explains that it’s disturbing that so few of them are women because it creates two impressions: 1) female experts in important fields of work and study don’t exist and 2) they never will.

Doubt is the cost of this lack of visibility in the media. Think of what this means in daily life when a woman who does have expert knowledge is talking about these “important issues.” It is going to be difficult for her to be persuasive. The fact that so many Canadians see media as an important source of information in our society and that it does not show women in equal and significant numbers means that this feeds into the gender gap apparent in Canadian

political and business leadership. The credibility of women who take on these roles is heavily criticised because media reinforces the gendered expectations we have about women and where they belong. She comments that it will be interesting to see if either Clark and Redford will win the popular vote as premiers. So far there hasn’t been much to indicate it is likely to occur.

Naugler has hope for change in prevailing Canadian attitudes. As conversations like this happen, as more articles about gender are written, as more stats come out like the one on education, change will come. But the change is slow and won’t come about because people figured out about it and waited quietly for the rest of us to catch up.

It takes people taking action, working together and forming groups. Movements like civil rights, gay rights and feminism are all proof that reality is created by society – by us – and when it doesn’t represent all of us, we need to change it. Until there is a social reality formed that more of us feel comfortable in, the fight for change needs to continue to happen.

“I think that’s an important goal,” says Naugler, “We as members of society need to stop seeing society as something that happens around us and see society as something that happens through us.

That our actions, our thoughts, our desires and goals are part of what make society. Society is not “out there” it’s in us and therefore we can make a difference if we really want to.”

The next time you’re watching TV or reading the newspaper ask yourself this: Who is the media telling you you are?

Who are we, as a society, telling us we can be?

Diane Naugler will be teaching Sociology 3245: Gender, Bodies, and Sexualities on Surrey campus in Spring 2012.

EDITORIAL

page twelve | October 11 2011 | vol. 4 issue 03

The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca

PROTEST

RIGHTS

We must ban the blood ban

I

The Runner is student owned and operated

by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society.

Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C. V3W 2M8 www.runnerrag.ca 778-565-3801

CAMILLE CHACRA THE LINK (CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY)

MONTREAL (CUP) — On Sept. 8, the United Kingdom’s Health Department announced that, as of November, gay men will be allowed to give blood — if they refrain from any form of sexual contact for an entire year. Although deemed progressive by some, this new concession is actually more ignorant than it is groundbreaking.

In light of the UK’s new stance, Canada may reconsider its own policy, as it is currently one of many countries that forbid gay men from donating blood at all. It’s great that Canada wants to be “progressive” but hopefully our country can realize that the UK’s recent announcement is neither of the above. On the contrary, this “lightened” ban is more of a colossal slap in the face than a step in the right direction.

Although it is crucial that blood donation agencies follow strict protocol that requires their donors to be tested for any medical, sexual or drug-related blips, they shouldn’t assume that HIV is exclusively a homosexual disease.

Best Health magazine recently reported that in a 2010 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr. Mark Wainberg, a prominent researcher in the field of HIV/ AIDS, argued that “the risk of a false negative on an HIV test has been nearly eliminated since Canada’s blood system began using a highly sensitive nucleic acid test to screen blood.”

If health systems are able to thoroughly screen blood, why must gay men kiss their libidos goodbye for an entire year in the UK? More importantly, with the technological advances the world has seen, why hasn’t this ban been abolished sooner?

The only real reason for these full or partial bans must be called what it is — flagrant discrimination. It is nonsensical to stereotype a group based on sexual orientation, depriving them of the fundamental right to donate clean blood.

Shame on the members of the UK Health Department. If they want to earn their kudos, they should abolish the ban, use the technology available to effectively screen blood and stop hiding behind dated stereotypes. As for Canada, we should learn from mistakes made across the pond, and make a change that actually moves us forward.

Vol. 4, Issue no. 03 October 11, 2011 ISSN# 1916-8241

EDITORIAL DIVISION: Co-ordinating Editor / Jeff Groat editor@runnerrag.ca / 778-565-3803 Culture Editor / Kristi Alexandra culture@runnerrag.ca / 778-565-3804

_PAULS_/FLICKR

Occupy Vancouver, here we come I

JEFF GROAT COORDINATING EDITOR

On Saturday, Oct. 15, protesters will descend on the Vancouver Art Gallery for the Occupy Vancouver protest. The Vancouver protest will stand in solidarity with the initial Occupy Wall Street protests that are springing up across North America.

On Wall Street, the protest is reminiscent of the Arab Spring movement which saw citizens famously “occupy” a square in central Cairo. It’s been well-organized by politically active, social media savvy and generally disenfranchised twenty-somethings.

Organization is critical for the Occupy Wall Street protesters to accomplish anything. Like Tahrir Square, these protests are largely leaderless. The power of these protests lies in the ability to engage a generation infamous for being apolitical or apathetic and to articulate a large sense of helplessness or impotence at the hands of the older and much more influential boomers.

Whether Vancouver has the stomach for more disruption in the downtown core after last summer’s riots may be worth consideration, but the comparison is flawed. The degree of organization and commitment to peaceful demonstration from the Occupy protests stands in stark contrast to the unruly mob which rode its own high of mob-

methedrine in June.

Perhaps we can interpret setting fire to police cruisers as a youthful attempt to deal with complex emotions – emotions of fear, anxiety and desperation which had been stewing since the economic meltdown in 2008, which were looking for a reason, any reason, to explode. Maybe it was just drunken brawling after a Canucks loss.

It’s easy to be cynical in the city of Vancouver. It’s entirely possible that an unorganized mob of angry Canucks fans, wherever the discontent stemmed from, could incite more public dialogue than any organized, articulate protest against the excesses of Western capitalism could.

Vancouver is a rich city for the most part. Our property values are sky-high and our livability continues to set the standard worldwide. Apart from the scar of the Downtown Eastside, which a majority of people seem content ignoring, Vancouverites are well enough off to not be bothered with politics.

Let’s hope Occupy Vancouver can change that. Maybe with a little organization and a heavy dose of democracy – what critics call aimlessness – this protest can engage our city and bring issues that are larger than ourselves into the light. With any luck, tents will be a permanent installation at the Art Gallery.

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 SENIOR WRITERS: Senior Culture Writer / Chris Yee Senior Entertainment Writer / Mike Shames Senior Features Writer / Lliam Easterbrook CONTRIBUTORS: Vivian Pencz, Bianca Pencz, Sana Sohel, Jacob Zinn, Brendan Tyndall, Marco Horna, Brittany Tiplady, Kari Michaels

Cover Art: Sylvia Dang 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

Funds are collected by the university and channelled to PIPS via the KSA.

CULTURE

www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner

vol. 4 issue 03 | October 11 2011 | page thirteen

POP CULTURE

The Culture Roundup

Your biweekly revue of pop-culture – from the amusing to the irreverent.

“

I’m a late night guy.”

Dane Cook is totally the Nickelback of comedy. He’s almost as douchey and when you hear that he’s getting his very own NBC show – you can’t help it – you just automatically groan. The same way that you might automatically groan when your “cool uncle” announces he bought you tickets to the upcoming Nickelback show.

It’s like “shit, do I have to sit through this?” And you will, because let’s face it – you really have nothing better to do. Cook’s comedy sitcom is slated for Fall 2012.

Hooray... –Staff

COURTNEY COOK/WIKIMEDIA

A very Harold & Kumar christmas According to a Warner Bros. press release, The new Harold & Kumar comedy picks up six years after the duo’s last adventure. After years of growing apart, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) have replaced each other with new best friends and are preparing for their respective Christmas celebrations. But when a mysterious package arrives at Kumar’s door, his attempt to deliver it to Harold’s house ends with him inadvertently burning down Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree. With his in-laws out of the house for less than a day, Harold decides to cover his tracks rather than come clean and reluctantly embarks on another ill-advised but hilarious journey with Kumar, taking them through New York City on Christmas Eve in search of the perfect Christmas tree. The film, which completes the Harold & Kumar trilogy, will be shown in 3-D. –Staff, WB press release COURTESY WB PICTURES

The Gangster Squad

REHES/FLIKR

controversial comparisons

The Gangs of Los Angeles have hit the streets, and this is a good thing? Well for the cast and crew of the upcoming Warner Bros. movie The Gang Squad, yes it is. The movie has recently started shooting in Burbank, California, and will continue to shoot in and around the Los Angeles area. No information on how long shooting will last or when the film is expected to be released in theatres.

The movie will take place in 1949 Los Angeles and star Sean Penn (Milk) as real life mob king Mickey Cohen. Starring alongside Penn will be Josh Brolin (True Grit), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), and Emma Stone (Easy A), with Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer directing. As it is, The Gangster Squad is shaping up to be a must see movie. – Marco Horna

Not that we need another excuse to think that the right-wing Hank Williams Jr. is a total douchebag, but he definitely gave us one on Oct. 3 when he compared American president Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler on Fox News.

ESPN later pulled him from opening Monday Night Football. We’re sure Mr. Williams Jr. knew he deserved it. – Staff

GONGUS/FLIKR

page fourteen | October 11 2011 | vol. 4 issue 03

CULTURE

The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca

LOCAL

local

Eyes

Bill Reid and the Haida Canoe

I SANA SOHEL

Snugly nestled behind Vancouver buildings and overlooking a beautiful garden is the exquisite and unique Bill Reid Gallery.

Currently, it is home to the lively and stimulating photographs depicting the making of the “elegant traditional Northern-style sea-going canoe” photographed by the renowned and talented photographers Robert Semeniuk and Phil Hersee.

The influence of Bill Reid’s art on Vancouver culture is omnipresent, starting from the Vancouver International Airport (YVR). In-fact, if you flip over your twenty-dollar bill, some of his famous pieces will intently stare back at you.

So one can imagine the excitement Semeniuk and Hersee felt at photographing Reid and fellow carvers’ work on the Haida Canoe project.

The exhibit displays the steps and stages taken to build Lootass (Wave Eater), a 51-foot-long Haida canoe that traveled 950 km along the B.C. coast to Haida Gwaii and Seine River in Paris.

The Lootaas was carved from an 800year-old cedar log – which is a marvel in itself.

“The highlight of the project was to be in the canoe, accepted by the Haida and to photograph Bill standing under the Pont Neuf Bridge in Paris,” says Hersee.

“He treasured that moment of bringing the Haida and the Lootaas to Paris for the exhibition at the Musée de l’Homme with his friend Claude Levi-Strauss.”

According to the website, “Bill Reid and the Haida Canoe conveys the pivotal role of the canoe in Northwest Coast art, cultures and communities.” For Reid, “the canoe was more than a means of transportation; it was art,” and that it “played a generic role in the evolution of Northwest Coast art.”

“The big thing for me, of course, was

Lootaas in Paris, 1989. Photo C Philip Hersee Photography. SUBMITTED BY BILL REID GALLERY

meeting Bill and hanging out with him.

He actually taught me to how to carve, so since then I’ve been making masks,” Semeniuk expresses enthusiastically.

“He gave me a piece of wood and said, ‘Here, carve this,’ and I made a spoon! Then I started making a mask that I worked on for two years. He actually drew the mask for me and I carved it. Since then, I’ve carved about fifteen masks.”

Hired under a contract by a publisher for a book that never materialized, Semeniuk exclaims, “oh, I jumped at the opportunity.”

Hersee, too, knew that he had to go “capture those valuable moments.”

“My feelings were one of being a part of a new family that had a real purpose and a story to tell the world,” says Hersee.

Though their photographs have distinct differences, each image has an intensity that draws the viewer in to experience the zeal of the moments, as if they were happening right then and there.

While Semeniuk captures the building

of the canoe from start to finish, Hersee photographs the canoes journey in Paris.

“Good photographs come from putting in time. There is no magic in them.

I try to move away from the stereotypical and instead I like to photograph extraordinary pictures of ordinary things,” Semeniuk explains “My photography style is just real and eclectic. Images that capture the mood of the subject you believe in and the value of being there is what creates good images,” Hersee says.

When asked about why he chose to work on the project, Hersee commented that “they were like a big family and it was just by hard work and wanting to cover the event that I was accepted. I took on the project to have these valuable images to show the world that the art of the Haida was accepted very well in Paris – something that had not happened for over` a 1000 years” The exhibition runs until Jan. 8 2012 at the Bill Reid Gallery

The Steaming of Lootaas, 1985. Photo C Robert Semeniuk. SUBMITTED BY BILL REID GALLERY

CULTURE

www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner

vol. 4 issue 03 | October 11 2011 | page fifteen

REVIEWS

Wilco’s The Whole Love draws on the old by mixing in the new

I

BRENDAN TYNDALL CONTRIBUTOR

4/5 records Wilco has rarely done the expected.

Over the course of seven studio albums, several collaborations and side-projects and multiple lineup changes, singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy and company have gone out of their way to abandon expectations and continue to explore new sounds and textures with each album.

The band has tried their hand at a number of genres and sounds, from the hook-laden country rock of their debut A.M. and its more experimental follow-up Being There, to the harmony and keyboard-driven power-pop of Summerteeth.

The band’s break-through album, 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot saw the band infusing their Americana-influenced sound with washes of feedback, samples and tape loops, much to the chagrin of their record label, who famously dropped the band after deeming the album unfit for production.

After a major personnel change – which saw longtime multi-instrumentalist and cowriter Jay Bennett quit the band – and a change from a major label to a minor label, the group followed up with the abrasive and often disjointed sounding A Ghost is Born, an album recorded in the midst of Tweedy’s addiction to painkillers.

Now, The Whole Love, released on Sept. 27 is on the band’s own record label, dBm. The Whole Love draws upon each and every era of Wilco’s sound, and at the same time exploring new territory. “Sunloathe” recalls Summerteeth-era Wilco, with its lilting organs,

flourishes of electric piano, layers of backing vocals and melancholy melody. “Capitol City” is a jaunty Beatlesque tune, recalls the elaborate orchestrations of Pieholden: Suite from the same album. The Whole Love also mines the earlier sounds of Wilco’s catalogue; the sparse twang of “Open Your Mind” recalls the band’s strummy, folk-rock past, while “Standing O” is an uptempo straight-ahead rocker full of big guitars and and driving 4/4 drums that would not sound out of place on one of Wilco’s earlier albums.

The highlights of the album are the more sonically diverse numbers. Lead single “I Might” barrels along with fuzzed out bass, a driving Farfisa organ line, glockenspiel and sunny backing vocals.

Opening track “Art of Almost” begins with a choppy drum bit, throbbing synths, a pulsing bass part and swelling loops and evolves into a frantic guitar solo that sounds like Television jamming on a Crazy Horse song. The seemingly simple pop song “Dawned on Me” melds a chugging acoustic guitar, melodic bass, layers of fuzzy guitar and synth accents, a wash of backing vocals, chiming 12-string guitar, and even some whistling for good measure.

“Born Alone” melds straight-ahead pop with some more avant guitar flourishes from Nels Cline, ending on a massive crescendo of dirty guitar and frantic drum rolls. “This is how I’ll tell it / Oh, but its long,” Tweedy croons at the beginning of “One Sunday Morning”, a hypnotic 12-minute folk song about the difficult relationship between a father and son.

The Whole Love is both ambitious and comforting. It finds Wilco falling back on familiar sounds but adding new subtleties and layers and continuing to explore new depths. The album, while running the gamut of styles and genres (sometimes within the same song), feels cohesive, and is the best album Wilco has released in years.

The Drums’ get the blues Kasabian’s Velociraptor! won’t on Portamento be going extinct soon I VIVIAN PENCZ

I BIANCA PENCZ

3/5 records

4/5 records

If The Drums’ self-titled debut was the surf-pop splash of last year’s summer, then post-punkinspired Portamento is the band’s answer to the autumnal blues.

It’s the perfect soundtrack for back-to-school days of gazing out rain-dappled windows and scrawling unrequited love notes, although the album is far from perfect. Still, moments of pop genius tantalize here and there, namely: “Days”, an exquisitely sad traipse down memory lane accompanied by a honeyed, Peter Hook-y bass line. “What You Were”, a ShangriLas throwback with jingling guitars and dreamy harmonies, and Portamento’s first single “Money” is an adorable imitation of The Smiths with an infectious falsetto chorus (“I want to buy you something / but I don’t have any money”).

But after all that melodic giddiness, the album goes a bit off the rails with whiny downers like “Searching for Heaven”, which any idiot with a MicroKORG could come up with in five minutes, and “In the Cold”, the vocal equivalent of a horrible, self-pitying sob best rendered as, “Hnnnnnnnnnnngh.”

Luckily, you’re uplifted by the spacey crooning of “If He Likes It Let Him Do It”, the krautrock quirkiness of “I Need A Doctor” and the lively nostalgia of “How It Ended”, aching sweetly like The Cure.

Portamento is a frustrating album of stunners and clunkers, ingenuity and rehash. And while The Drums’ first album was a sunburst of charm and humour, Portamento reads as a woe-is-me diary entry of a promising but muddled talent.

Maybe it’s time for the band to put down the Fenders for a while and reinvent. You can’t go on being an imitation of The Smiths forever.

At some point you have to dance to the beat of your own drum.

Following up one of the best albums of 2009, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Kasabian had their work cut out for them. And when Velociraptor! was first announced, a lot was promised within the exclamation point alone.

The album obviously tries to please everyone.

It throws a bone to the crowd still in love with the band’s soundtrack-esque electronica, and a bone to fans of their recent psychedelic madness.

In fact, sometimes it’s downright messy about what it throws where, but that’s to be expected from the primitive beast it is at its core.

The title track is a song written entirely by the id. You can almost hear the football hooligans bawling, “Tuuuune!” But no fan of good oldfashioned rock ‘n’ roll should be able to resist Tom Meighan’s vowel-heavy inflections: “Veh-law-siRAP-TUH!” Album highlight “Switchblade Smiles” is one prolonged electro-rock orgasm, its overlayer of screaming, pseudo-rap, and processed sex-noises only making its successful execution more remarkable.

Kasabian’s gift for melody is what makes it so easy to forgive their habit of dumbing themselves down, of relying on rock tropes to fill in the gaps, in service of a tuuuune.

Mishaps appear when homage borderlines impersonation. See the druggy “La Fée Verte” (or “luh fee vair” en Franglais), which can’t seem to transcend its Fab Four fetish. There are tracks that, as high as the band members might have been at the time of writing them, come out half-baked.

Ultimately, the band hasn’t crumbled under the pressure of living up to themselves. How they didn’t quite manage it won’t bother them — their heads are probably too far in the clouds by now to care.

page sixteen | October 11 2011 | vol. 4 issue 03

CULTURE

The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca

REVIEWS

REVIEWS

Vinyl Dust-off: Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the Deaf I

LLIAM EASTERBROOK SENIOR FEATURES WRITER

Blink-182 is back in the Neighborhoods

I

MIKE SHAMES SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

5/5 records

5/5 records

After being a fool and spending my rent money on vinyl at the Vancouver Record and CD Convention a few Sundays ago, I naturally had a plethora of vinyl in my possession, and no money for dinner — for myself… or my lady.

On the bright side, I have a shit-load of vinyl to listen to. And she has … well … ears. Anyhow, I thought about just going crazy and reviewing several albums, drawing intricate timelines about the where, what and who of the albums, and then discovering why these albums were significant to art, politics, society and the artists that created them — but then I smoked some potent sativa, listened to Songs For the Deaf and became entranced by the song “God is in the Radio” — and also instantly far too lazy and headspaced and psychologically disheveled to attempt the former — especially since I still have logic homework to do. Yes, logic homework.

This was 10 minutes ago. By now the smoky plumes have been absorbed by my lungs, entered my bloodstream like a group of unshowered fat kids plummeting down a tubular waterslide at the same time, and have decidedly passed the blood-brain barrier, causing my brain to fray all its busted nerve circuits and hazy synapses. What better way to salve such a self-inflicted cognitive lobotomy than 6 minutes and 5 seconds of guitar-driven rock n’ roll?

“God is in the Radio” features ex Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, one of the godfathers of Seattle’s grunge scene. Lanegan came into the band in late 1999, undertook lead vocal duties on the (groovy) track “In the Fade” — from the Queens’ second full length LP, Rated R, and then continued with his solo work and his drinking and his smoking and his … uh …brooding.

A full-fledged member of the band in

Blink-182’s self-titled fifth album was a marked departure from Blink’s easy going and lighthearted sound. It wasn’t the first shift in style – think back to Enema of the State – but the darker tone put a few fans off. It was still essentially Blink-182, but it sounded more mature. This is the case with Neighborhoods, a more mature sound and still a dark tone.

The opening tracks are fast, energetic and extremely catchy. They barely let you down, until the sixth song interlude. The energy and passion don’t dissipate with the later tracks. The slow songs are filled with romance, though only slightly more than the fast paced ones. The darkness is in the lyrics, dealing with everything from the death of a friend, to isolation and, of course, relationship problems. It still has upbeat music to soften the harsh reality of the lyrics, so it is possible to jam to it without getting bogged down in the depressing nature.

But it’s that tone which really makes the album. These are not some angsty teen or post-teen songs, they are dealing with events that happen in life, like death, loneliness and break down of friendships. In a way this is a reflection of the bands own growth and maturity.

The farther progression towards dark and maturity as well as the mixing of each band members side projects might make some older fans nostalgic for their early stuff, and others will hate this album. But it may draw a new generation of fans, much like Green Day’s American Idiot did for that band. A band has to change or they fall into obscurity. Blink-182 has always kept it’s essential “blink-ness” and can change things up to remain fresh. This album sounds like the natural growth of the band and still be Blink. Also, get the deluxe album – the additional songs are definitely worth a listen.

The miracle has happened, Blink-182 is back, and hopefully, to stay.

recording 2002’s unanimously applauded follow-up, Songs For The Deaf, Lanegan’s gravelly baritone is heard backing frontman Josh Homme on numerous tracks.

But it is on “Hangin’ Tree”, “A Song for the Dead” and the aforementioned “God is in the Radio” where he takes the vocal reigns, as it were, and really shows the listener what a voice that has been soaked in whiskey, scarred with cigarette smoke, wrapped in a bag of broken glass and tied to a trailer hitch by chain and dragged down the path to Hell, sounds like. Of course it helps that Homme, bassist Nick Oliveri and drummer Dave Grohl are going there with him — in the black chariot the chain is attached to, of course, pulled by two fiery chimera, naturally, and descending down into the pith of the underworld. But Lanegan, a moody recluse, would likely prefer to go it alone anyway.

In fact, he probably volunteered, just for the experience; and his voice, chalked full of smooth grit, reeks of myriad experience.

“God is in the Radio” starts off with a throbbing bass-line and a single note piano stroke before the rolling march-beat comes in, playfully, carnivalesque and Doorsian.

Then Homme’s revolving guitar riff takes over, looping around Grohl’s percussion. Next we’re introduced to Lanegan’s moanful croon, where, lyrically, the song really ties in with the concept of the album, which is driving from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree while flipping radio stations along the way. Interpret the lyrics however you wish — literally or metaphorically — as either religious fundamentalism seeping through various mediums, such as radio (especially in the United States), or, rather, as society’s clear idol worship of pop culture. After all, these songs are for the deaf, and who’s really listening anyway?

Homme’s solos are particularly gratifying, as is the bridge of the song, which slows down to nothing but a backwards whisper. Play it backwards to reveal what’s being said — if you have a turntable. From here the buildup begins, climaxing into another signature Homme solo, then fading out into a 1-2 drum beat, sounding as if you are leaving the room, walking down a long dark corridor, the beat becoming softer and more muffled with every step, and then you’re somewhere else entirely.

Play it loud. Play it proud.

www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner

CULTURE

vol. 4 issue 03 | October 11 2011 | page seventeen

LIVE

LIVE

Bright Eyes makes us swoon in Seattle

Frampton comes alive for Vancouver

I

Conor Oberst delivered a mellow and authentic set to Seattle. BRITTANY TIPLADY/THE RUNNER

I

BRITTANY TIPLADY CONTRIBUTOR

Conor Oberst, backed by the six musicians that make Bright Eyes, took the Paramount Stage in Seattle opening with the Cassadega favorite “Four Winds.”

30-something Oberst looked reminiscent of his younger years as he manically continued into “Old Soul Song” and “Bowl of Oranges”, with his infamous hair dangling into his daunting crowd-avoidant eyes.

Bright Eyes continued through memory lane, taking to the keyboard for a rocky start to “Lover I Don’t Have to Love”. Taking sips of water and sharing awkward glances with keyboardist Laura Burhenn, Oberst finally made it through the first line “I picked you out…” and the audience was swept into the infamously stirring “Lifted or the Story Is in the Soil”, classic and the cutting backup vocals by Burhenn.

Jumping into the The People’s Key singles “Jejune Stars”, the keyboard hit “Shell Games”, the audience chanted the line “slipping steadily into madness, now that’s the only place to be free,” and spitting the lyrics to “Approximate Sunlight,” it became clear that Oberst has matured out of the drunk, ridiculous, breaking-harps-on-

stage phase from his “Wide Awake” days, and into the title he was given nearly 20 years ago as “the new Dylan.”

Breaking out of the hazy rock of The People’s Key album, Oberst clutched his acoustic for “Landlocked Blues”. The I’m Wide Awake its Morning song had the audience falling to silence, singling out the die-hard Bright Eyes fans singing along.

A belligerent audience member bellowed from the balcony “This is bogus, you suck!” as Oberst was heading back to the keyboard for his next song. He responded with an apology before starting the Bright Eyes/Neva Dinova ballad “Spring Cleaning”. “Sorry guys, I’m going to sing something kind of boring. It’s a ballad.

I hope that’s okay with you. I hope that’s okay with you.”

Moving into “Poison Oak”, the night became increasingly less about Bright Eyes and more about Oberst as he played the “I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning”, tune with the nostalgic strength of his emo, substance-abusing poet days, and the maturity of an indie-rock musician with prodigal lyrics that has earned his cred as the “missing link between Einstein and Jimi Hendrix.”

The Fevers and Mirrors favourite “The Calendar Hung Itself” brought the crowd out of the

slow-song standstill, and screaming along with Oberst as frenzied as ever, ditching his guitar and jumping off the stage, hugging audience members and grabbing hands at the front of the crowd-shaggy hair still in his face.

The night capped off with an encore from Digital Ash tune “Gold Mine Gutted” and the Lifted song “Lets not Shit Ourselves (to love and be loved)”. Kurt Vile, front man for the Bright Eyes openers Kurt Vile and the Violators, joined Oberst on-stage for “Road to Joy”.

Fans went wild for Oberst as he crowd surfed – before security quickly brought him back to the stage, that is – while it seemed that the entire Paramount Theater was harmoniously screaming “I’m Wide awake its morning” the most prolific part of “Road to Joy” and it became some sort of collective artist and audience finale to the U.S. Bright Eyes tour.

Ending with “One for You, One for Me” from 2011 album The People’s Key, Oberst acknowledged each member of his band with a striking gratitude, and thanked the Seattle audience for a successful and long section of the U.S. tour. “We are all human beings, and I think we have forgotten that,” he said.

JACOB ZINN CONTRIBUTOR

Peter Frampton may have put out his best work 35 years ago, but he’s still able to sell out venues touring on the anniversary of that masterpiece.

The 61-year-old English rocker performed a near three-hour set featuring his 1976 doublelive record, Frampton Comes Alive!, in its entirety and a selection of hits and covers for an ecstatic middle-aged full house at Richmond’s River Rock Show Theatre on Saturday night.

For “Show Me the Way”, he brought out his famed talk box, an instrument that modifies his guitar’s notes by adjusting the shape of his mouth. His signature black ’54 custom Gibson Les Paul became a talking signature black ’54 custom Gibson Les Paul.

Then, inevitably, the love songs; couples held hands during “All I Want to Be (Is By Your Side)” and they knew all the words to “Baby, I Love Your Way”. Once those were out of the way, he set the stage on fire with blazing hot guitar solos throughout “I Wanna Go to the Sun” and “(I’ll Give You) Money”.

The talk box came back for a 16-minute version of “Do You Feel Like We Do?” that got 60 or so concert-goers on the floor, despite the security’s apprehensions. There was no inflatable pig from Pink Floyd’s yard sale, but there was a clip from The Simpsons’ “Homerpalooza” episode.

“At this point back then [...] we’d go back and do drugs,” said Frampton, inciting cheers and laughter. “It’s just prescription drugs now.”

Frampton prefaced the second half of the show with the Monty Python line, “And now for something completely different.” He began with “Asleep at the Wheel” and “Restraint” (an anti-greed song about Wall Street’s “pigs”) from 2010’s Thank You Mr. Churchill and added “Float”, “Boot It Up” and “Double Nickels” from his 2006 instrumental album, Fingerprints.

By no means was Frampton done with the covers: he pulled out Humble Pie’s rock classic, “Four Day Creep”, and a talk box-heavy rendition of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”.

Frampton closed the encore with a chillingly beautiful adaptation of the George Harrisonpenned Beatles song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”.

The show was like seeing two concerts backto-back with no intermission — not that the Frampton fans wanted him to take a break. If a 61-year-old can rock out for three hours, you know you’re getting your money’s worth, and then some.

page eighteen | October 11 2011 | vol. 3 issue 04

CULTURE

The Runner | www.runnerrag.ca

LIVE

Big & Rich play small and intimate Abbotsford concert I

JACOB ZINN CONTRIBUTOR

Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson know how to have one tailgatin’, J.D. drinkin’, hell of a good time.

The newly reunited crossover country duo and the redneck woman brought the Xtreme Muzik Tour to Abbotsford, our appropriately nicknamed City in the Country.

They hauled their tour buses up from Nashville to the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre for a crowd of about 2,000 people.

But despite the turnout, they turned up the volume and turned the hockey arena into an intimate venue. Anyone who no-showed or didn’t buy tickets missed out on a surreal atmospheric experience. The sound in the centre was top-notch, and the bass from the speakers produced enough wind to blow up the miniskirts of the women in the front row.

The co-headliners started the night with their brand new collaborative single, “Fake I.D.”, getting the floor-seated cowboys and cowgirls standing up in their boots. Wilson, with her torn jeans and southern sexiness,

sang “Here for the Party” and made sure everyone was here to party.

“Here’s to good times, good friends and good backyard country music!” said Wilson before taking a swig of Tennessee whiskey from the onstage bar.

Big Kenny’s rock ‘n’ roll stage presence and John Rich’s traditional twang lent their alternate musical styles to “Comin’ to Your City” and their first single, “Wild West Show”.

Wilson got the female fans rodeo rowdy with her 2010 album’s title track, “I Got Your Country Right Here” and “Homewrecker”.

She then toned it down with an acoustic cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “Angel from Montgomery”. Many slow danced and raised their plastic cups of beer in salute to the ‘70s ballad.

Big & Rich kept the lights low for their country wedding song, “Lost in This Moment” before bringing the six-foot-five Cowboy Troy onstage for the energetic “Love Train”.

Wilson came back with the blue-collar anthem, “Work Hard, Play Harder”, and turned up the Abbotsford heat with Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded”.

While the co-headliners took a break, the backing band performed a classic rock medley that included Rush’s “YYZ”, Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever”, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, and AC/DC’s Oi!-inciting “T.N.T.” Troy performed “I Play Chicken with the Train”, and Wilson excited the crowd with “All Jacked Up”. Big & Rich did a few brief covers, including Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and Don McLean’s “American Pie.” “I’ll admit this to all these Canadian ladies,” said Rich. “Here’s my confession: ‘Like a Virgin,’” as he started Madonna’s 1984 smash.

Then the song everyone was waiting for: “Save A Horse (Ride a Cowboy)”. If anybody had any beer left, they downed it before the first chorus for a drunken sing-along.

They closed the concert with an encore that included Wilson’s breakthrough hit, “Redneck Woman” and a collective performance of “The Ballad of Big & Rich.”

Nobody left the arena unimpressed; all four performers put on a stadium-quality show for the unexpectedly small crowd, and they can bet their next trip up north will be sold out.

JACOB ZINN/THE RUNNER

FILMS

Did they just remove the werewolf? Abduction fails to impress I

MIKE SHAMES SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

Grade: C+ The flick known as Abduction has abducted my money and demanded that I sit through an hour

LIONSGATE FILMS

and 40 minutes of mediocre crap. To get the obvious question out of the way, Taylor Lautner stars as Nathan Price, or rather, Jacob Black minus the turning into a slobbering mutt. There is nothing new about this character. Nathan’s story arc is in essence Jacob’s – they even kept the anger issues, though this character is much more believable as a teenager then previous roles. He doesn’t turn into “super spy” when bullets start flying, and he doesn’t get blue-balled as badly as puppy-boy. Also, there is a wider range of emotions to this character and Lautner does a decent job of selling the part. But again, nothing new and nothing spectacular.

The love interest is, for the most part, forgettable, thus no mention of her name is in this review. But she isn’t completely useless either. She doesn’t do as the man tells her to, she is resourceful enough to get out of a jam and assist our protagonist. But she isn’t any different from any other action flick heroine, she’s the semi-strong

and useful archetype.

The villains are just cookie cutter archetypes as well, and as equally memorable as the girl. The one fault is the Eastern European bad guy with barely any accent, half the time it sounds like a lisp and the other half he’s American. There are all sorts of spies and a massive build up to some shadowy figure that ends up as more of a cop out/cock tease. The only memorable character besides Lautner is Sigourney Weaver, who has a fairly minor role.

The plot revolves around a MacGuffin that was stolen by the shadowy cop-out, who is related to Nathan, which the various bad guys want back for whatever reason. As a result, Nathan’s supposed parents are executed and he runs off with the girl, not knowing who to trust. Again, it’s unoriginal and uninteresting.

One final problem is the rehashing of shots from the Twilight series. There are a few scenes that seem like they were stolen directly from one

of those movies and they just place Lautner and the girl into it. Granted they are more interesting and talented than the boring snobs who originally tried the scenes, but it’s kind of sad when you’re stealing from that saga.

The movie’s redeeming quality is consistency. The action is consistently good, the suspense isn’t great but is still there. The characters get hurt and the injuries remain over the course of the film, and they aren’t invulnerable to death either. Even the cock tease character, as annoying as it is, remains in the shadows, and this seems like something the person would do. There are some funny bits thrown in for good measure.

But again, all this seems to be pulled out of a box and set up in a very specific arrangement.

Overall, Abduction is “meh” at best. Guys will like the action, and girls will swoon over Jacob/ Nathan. But for the most part, it’s crap unless you see it on cheap night. Then it hurts a little less.

CULTURE

www.runnerrag.ca | The Runner

FILMS

vol. 4 issue 03 | October 11 2011 | page nineteen

ARTS

Drive takes us on a captivating ride I VIVIAN PENCZ

Grade: B Every once in a while, a movie comes along that does its very best to seduce you, but nevertheless ends up keeping you at an arm’s length. Nicolas Refn’s Drive is one of those almost, but not quite brilliant teases.

Inspired by art house and grindhouse classics alike, Drive stars Ryan Gosling as an unnamed stunt driver by day, getaway driver by night, who gets mixed up in both a heist gone wrong and a tricky relationship with a married mother, played sweetly by Carey Mulligan.

This genre-bender has several strengths: deliciously clever and gripping action sequences; an unexpected electro house soundtrack of glittery synths; artful cinematography with lots of film noir shadowplay; and a dreamy pensiveness welded with gritty realism.

But it’s Ryan Gosling’s nuanced performance that elevates Drive to nearly profound heights.

Barely speaking but oozing a morose, sexy coolness, Gosling channels the lonely spirits of Martin Sheen and Clint Eastwood, although the driver’s under-the-surface tension is pure Travis Bickle.

Since Gosling’s role is mostly silent, he expresses this tension with a remarkably haunting gaze resembling the thousand-yard stare, a possible clue about the driver’s enigmatic past and

violent present.

But Drive’s steadfast adherence to its classic influences like Taxi Driver and Le Samourai is where it takes a wrong turn.

Refn’s too faithful imitation of those films’ storylines and themes, and of infuriatingly outdated grindhouse conventions like the objectification of women, is what ultimately taints a movie that could have been great. Even that awesome scorpion jacket is an obvious nod to cult flick Scorpio Rising.

The fact of the matter is: it’s been done before.

But Drive is still worth the ride.

FREE

Environmental annoucement:

+

+

ForestEthics will raise awareness about our campaigns to save the Sacred Headwaters and stop the Enbridge pipeline in British Columbia at the Occupy Vancouver protest on Saturday, Oct. 15th. Come help us get the message out as hundreds (maybe thousands!) rally against corporate greed.

This event will include a visual display of the effects of oil on B.C.’s Salmon

What are

you waiting for?

Next meeting: Oct. 21 at 2:00 pm Runner Office: Third floor of Surrey Campus library Discuss the upcoming issue & other important decisions

Who: ForestEthics & you! What: Protest to save the Sacred Headwaters/stop the Enbridge pipeline When: Saturday, Oct. 15 Where: Vancouver Art Gallery

page twenty | October 11 2011 | vol. 4 issue 3

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