The Cascade Vol. 28 Iss. 03

JANUARY 22 TO JANUARY 28, 2020

VOLUME 28 ISSUE 03

Spending too much at HOFA since 1993

JIM MCKENZIE: 9 FACING THE WORLD OF ART

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KIN STUDENTS TEACH PHYSICAL LITERACY

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UFV STUDENT RELEASES "HUSH"

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DRAGGING "AJ AND THE QUEEN"

VOL. 28 // ISSUE 03

Copy Editor Kat Marusiak kat@ufvcascade.ca

News Editor Jessica Barclay jessica@ufvcascade.ca

Jr. News Editor Sam Young samuel@ufvcascade.ca

Culture & Events Editor Carissa Wiens carissa@ufvcascade.ca

Opinion Editor Andrea Sadowski andrea@ufvcascade.ca

Feature Editor Darien Johnsen darien@ufvcascade.ca

Arts in Review Editor Chandy Dancey chandy@ufvcascade.ca Sports Editor Alex Jesus alex@ufvcascade.ca

Photographer David Myles

Illustrator Kayt Hine

Staff Writer Aleister Gwynne

Illustrator Kelly Ning

Staff Writer Nicholas Ashenhurst- Toews Staff Writer Krystina Spracklin

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Sports Writer Nic Jackson The Shuffler Aaron Levy

CONTRIBUTORS Sydney Marchand

Cover Photo: Courtesy of Jim McKenzie Back Cover: Elyssa English

WWW.UFVCASCADE.CA

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12 20......Events Calendar

Snapshots.......8 @UFVCASCADE FACEBOOK.COM/UFVCASCADE INSTAGRAM.COM/UFVCASCADE Volume 28 · Issue 03 Room S2111 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529

The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It originated under its current name in 1993, and achieved autonomy from the university and the Student Union Society in 2002. This means that The Cascade is a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published in an entirely student-run setting. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds, and is overseen by the Cascade Journalism Society Board, a body run by a student majority. The Cascade is published every Wednesday with a print circulation of 800 and is distributed at Abbotsford, Chilliwack (CEP), Clearbrook, and Mission UFV campuses and throughout the surrounding communities.

The Cascade is open to written, photo, and design work from all students; these can come in the form of a pitch to an editor, or an assignment from an editor. Pitch meetings are held every Monday in The Cascade’s office on the Abbotsford campus at 2:30pm.

In order to be published in the newspaper, all work must first be approved by The Cascade’s editor-in-chief, copy editor, and corresponding section editor. The Cascade reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and length. The Cascade will not print any articles that contain racist, sexist, homophobic, or libellous content. Letters to the editor, while held to the same standard, are unedited, and should be under 200 words. As The Cascade is an autonomous student publication, opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of UFV, The Cascade’s staff and collective, or associated members.

The Cascade is published on the traditional, unceded territory of the Stó:lō peoples. We are grateful to be able to work and learn on this beautiful land.

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ARTS

Digital Media Manager Anoop Dhaliwal anoop@ufvcascade.ca

OPINION

Production Manager Elyssa English elyssa@ufvcascade.ca

NEWS

Creative Director Mikaela Collins mikaela@ufvcascade.ca

CONTENTS

FEATURE

Business Manager Aneesha Narang aneesha@ufvcascade.ca

Managing Editor Nadia Tudhope nadia@ufvcascade.ca

CULTURE

Executive Editor Jessica Barclay jessica@ufvcascade.ca

18.......CIVL Shuffle

Study Break.......16

NEWS PLAN outreach program......3

4......Senate overview

Changes to Kanopy......4 OPINION Editorial.......5

5.......Dear Robin

Sustainable living as a student.......6

6.......The science of dreaming

CULTURE Cascade Kitchen......12

12.......Consumable cannabis

Caring for houseplants......13

13.......UFV speaks

Student novelist......14 SPORTS Midseason commentary .......14

15......Men's basketball

ARTS AJ and the Queen......18 Cascade Rewind......19

19......Ask a Mortician

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020 news@ufvcascade.ca Jessica Barclay — News Editor

NEWS NEWS

UFV //

NEWS BRIEFS

Fourth annual Women’s March draws thousands On Saturday, protestors in more than 180 cities gathered for the fourth annual Women’s March to celebrate women and raise awareness of current issues. Thousands showed up to the rally in Washington D.C., while hundreds marched in cities including Los Angeles, New York City, and Denver, though crowd sizes were notably diminished compared to previous years’ events.

This year’s marches focused on issues including reproductive rights, immigration, pay equity, climate change, and gun control, among others. A strong anti-Trump sentiment galvanized many protesters, who cited his treatment of immigrants, comments about Greta Thunberg, and other Trump administration policies as reasons for their participation.

Physical Literacy Action Network making a difference in Chilliwack New outreach program brings UFV kinesiology students into the community

- The Canadian Press

Sporting equipment. April. 17, 2013 (UFV Flickr)

Horgan turns down pipeline talks with Indigenous leadership During his tour of northern B.C. this week, Premier John Horgan has opted not to meet with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs to discuss their ongoing opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

This news comes after RCMP officers blocked roads leading to Wet’suwet’en protest camps Monday, restricting media access and preventing supplies from reaching protestors.

“The Province of B.C. is not in a position to negotiate about the application of a court injunction or enforcement of that injunction. Those are the jurisdiction of the courts and the police,” the released statement regarding Horgan’s tour stated.

- The Tyee

SAM YOUNG This semester, UFV kinesiology students and professors are bringing physical literacy education to Chilliwack elementary schools and beyond. The Physical Literacy Action Network (PLAN) is an outreach program that began in fall 2019, designed to educate primary-age students about physical health.

Created by kinesiology professors Lauren Couture and Joanna Sheppard, the PLAN brings student volunteers into local elementary schools, providing UFV kinesiology students with valuable opportunities to gain experience applying what they’ve learned in the classroom to a real-life setting.

“We’re creating and teaching fundamental movement skills,” Couture said. “Physical literacy is a life-long journey, and it begins with our youngest children.”

The PLAN grew out of Couture and Sheppard’s KIN 121 class, which focuses on teaching physical literacy to UFV students. For Couture, the PLAN is a “natural extension” of the course, which already involves visits to local classrooms where UFV students lead

and facilitate physical activities and games.

“Our students were really keen to get more hands-on experiential learning opportunities,” Couture said. “It helps them develop their skills as future teachers, practitioners, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and more.”

Couture said the PLAN expands on the frequency of these visits, which are intended to give young students “motivation and confidence” around physical activity as a foundation for their future, whether that future involves playing sports, or simply engaging in recreational activities. Now, instead of visiting as an entire class, students attend in smaller groups of four, taking elementary students through physical activities in a more intimate setting.

Together, Couture and Sheppard still oversee the program, ensuring that the activities students are taught in the classroom are suitable and rigorous. They have also hired UFV students to help, both with coordinating the program and with researching its effects.

“We want to start to measure the impact that this has on our

students,'' Couture said. “We believe that it is beneficial to have opportunities to learn outside of the classroom, so we want to understand to what extent a program like this adds value to the kinesiology degree.”

Couture also stressed that demand for PLAN volunteers outweighs supply.

“We’re always looking for more kinesiology student volunteers,” she said. “So far we’ve been in four schools, but we have more demand than that … more schools want us, and [the ones we’re working with] want us to come more than we already are.”

Couture said the benefits of participating in the PLAN include valuable work experience and cocurricular record credits for students willing to put the hours in.

“The only prerequisites are that students have already taken the KIN 121 course, and they do a police record check,” she said, though she adds that some exceptions for the class requirement may be made for students who have “relevant experience.”

Students interested in getting involved should email program coordinators at PLAN@ufv.ca.

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VOL. 28 // ISSUE 03

NEWS UFV //

Senate overview: January

Esposito family funds research centre, new school of kinesiology approved

JESSICA BARCLAY Senate is the academic governing body of UFV, with the university president and vice chancellor Joanne MacLean as the chair.

They are responsible for making decisions on everything academic: approving new courses and programs, approving changes to programs, setting entrance requirements, and setting the academic calendar. The Board of Governors, which looks at the business side of the university, is advised by Senate on matters of mutual interest.

All at the university are welcome to attend Senate’s public meetings, held once a month at either the Abbotsford or the CEP campus, but most do not. Regardless, Senate makes decisions that impact the daily lives of both students and faculty

Esposito Research Centre approved Senate approved the creation of a new research centre which will focus on interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship.

The centre will be partially funded by an endowment from the Esposito family, who donated $1.125 million to UFV in October 2018. Startup costs will be covered by the fund, which will also contribute to some of the ongoing operation costs.

The new director position created with the formation of the centre will be unpaid until external fundings are secured.

A number of organizations within the Fraser Valley community have expressed interest in being involved with the centre, according to the proposal sent to Senate, including Abbotsford Airport, Abbotsford and Chilliwack Chambers of Com-

merce, Fraser Valley Indo-Canadian Business Association, Mitacs, and City Studio.

head will be replaced by the new director position.

New school of kinesiology created

New programs approved

Senate approved the formation of the new school of kinesiology, which will replace the current department of kinesiology.

Senate discussed the creation of the new school, and whether the size of the department justified the need for a transition to a school. The ongoing growth in the kinesiology department and the ability of a school structure to facilitate this growth were reasons given for the proposal. The proposal to transition to a school was based on recommendations from an external review of the program.

According to discussions in Senate, 11 new sections will be added to the school over the next year and the department

Four new programs were approved by Senate: the chemistry honours, adult education minor, and the international business major and minor programs.

The chemistry honours program will require no new resources, and involves the creation of a research and thesis course, CHEM 499, where students would conduct a research project under the supervision of a faculty member.

The international business minor and major will draw on resources and courses already present in the school of business, and no new courses will need to be created.

UFV //

UFV library reduces number of streaming films High costs force UFV library to remove film options from its Kanopy catalogue SAM YOUNG As of this month, UFV students looking to get their movie fix on the Kanopy streaming service will find their options limited due to unexpectedly high operational costs.

Kanopy, a Netflix-esque digital film catalogue designed for universities and public libraries, provides users with access to a wide catalogue of documentaries, indie films, and classic cinema. UFV students

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can access its considerable catalogue at any time through the library website, though some content — particularly independent films — is no longer available.

After making Kanopy available to UFV students early last year, budgetary constraints have forced the UFV library to limit student access to a smaller set of films on the service.

According to Patti Wilson, collections and electronic resources librarian at UFV, these cuts are largely driven by Kanopy’s costly business model. Each time a film is viewed four times or more, Kanopy

charges a per-title fee of $150 for a oneyear license, an operational cost that UFV and dozens of other universities, including UBC and UVic, have found unsustainable.

Several of Kanopy’s most prolific clients, including Stanford University and the New York Public Library, were also forced to drop the service completely last year, citing unsustainable costs.

The films that UFV students still have access to include content from the Media Education Foundation, the Criterion Collection, Psychotherapy.net, and a wide

variety of documentaries. These packages were selected by the library based on their analysis of student usage, and the films’ academic fit for UFV’s programs.

UFV students looking to view films that are no longer available on Kanopy may also access the National Film Board’s campus collection and the Films On Demand website through the UFV library’s database portal. Some content that was previously available on Kanopy is also available through these services.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020 opinion@ufvcascade.ca Andrea Sadowski — Opinion Editor

Editorial //

Budget more money for snow removal JESSICA BARCLAY The Fraser Valley has once again demonstrated its complete lack of winter weather preparation with the most recent snowfall.

Abbotsford received around 44 cm of snow last week, from Jan. 11 to 18, closing businesses across the valley. This included the university, which was closed on and off throughout the entire week, with three days of complete closure on the Abbotsford campus.

Abbotsford snow removal resources are woefully underfunded for the amount of roads that need to be cleared and the amount of snow we receive in a relatively short period of time.

Compared to the rest of Canada, B.C. is not known for its snowfall or its cold winters, as many will eagerly tell you. We do, however, receive comparable amounts of snow to other provinces.

In 2019 Abbotsford had a $1.026 million budget for snowfall removal for a population of 141,000 people. Red Deer has a similar population to Abbotsord at 104,000 people but had a budget of $5.4 million for snow removal in 2019. Red Deer receives on average only about twice as much snow as Abbotsford, 106 cm compared to 55 cm average from 1981 to 2010 according to statistics from Environment Canada.

Looking farther east, Toronto has a snow removal budget of $40.4 million. Although it does receive over twice the amount of snow per year that Abbotsford does, 121 cm compared to 55 cm, Abbotsford has considerably more roads to clear than Toronto. The budget for Abbotsford covers over 900 km of roads,

while Toronto’s covers 500 km.

It is difficult to make direct comparisons between other cities due to the many factors that affect how much needs to be spent to clear snow, but from the recent city closure it certainly feels as though Abbotsford does not have adequate resources to deal with considerable snowfall over a short period of time.

It has been argued that Abbotsford doesn’t receive consistent enough snowfall to warrant an increase in its snow removal budget.

Our snowfall can range from 40 cm to well over 100 cm, and it is almost impossible to predict what we will receive each year, despite meteorologists’ best efforts. The effects of climate change are likely to make this even more unpredictable, though some believe that increased rainfall (up to a 11 per cent increase by 2020) may result in increased snowfall at higher elevations.

Shutting down the city is wonderful for many who have the privilege of being able to enjoy this time, but many in Abbotsford are paid hourly and live paycheque to paycheque. They do not have the luxury of missing out on work. Many will still make the effort to go to work, either from necessity or concern for job security, which results in an increase in the number of crashes during winter weather.

The city shuts down every year for a number of days, while our snow-removal crews work tirelessly to clear the roads but never seem to be able to clear enough to keep the city open and the people safe. The city needs to start prioritizing timely snow removal as a necessity in its budget instead of as an afterthought.

Advice //

Dear Robin

ROBIN HALPER Life is tough and confusing and weird.

We all need help sometimes, and when you need an expert opinion, you turn to an expert opinion-giver like Robin Halper. Whatever problem you’re facing in life, Robin will have a solution.

The Cascade cannot guarantee the effectiveness of Robin’s unique approach to life, but if you’re in a jam, get some advice by writing to halp@ufvcascade. ca Snack problems Dear Robin, I’m pretty sure I got food poisoning from a granola bar I ate from a vending machine on campus because a couple of hours after I ate it, I pretty much exploded. What should I do?

Sincerely, Vomiting from the vendings Hey, There are so many things wrong with your letter to me. Firstly, I don’t think you can get food poisoning from a granola bar. Secondly, what do you mean, “What should I do?” You got sick. By the time you’re reading this in print, you’re probably all better now and learned how to deal with it like every other human. Take some Advil, drink some water, and go to sleep.

If you get food poisoning from the

Snow-covered field. Abbotsford, BC. Jan. 16, 2020. (Geoff Derksen)

OPINION

cafeteria, then shoot me a letter because then we’ve got some digging to do.

Robin Scheduling lounge wear Dear Robin, I’m always torn on when in the semester it’s appropriate to start wearing sweatpants. I don’t want to look super pathetic by wearing them in January, but I also don’t want to look like every other student when wearing them in April during exams. When do you think is a good time to break them out?

Sincerely, Sucker for sweats Hello, This is an easy one: never. Well, pretty much never. Because like you said, you can’t wear sweats in the first month of the semester because you don’t want to show your professors that you’ve already given up. During exam season, you still want to stand out with your fashion choices, so you can’t wear them then either. The only time sweatpants are acceptable is if you spend the night in the hospital with a loved one while trying to pump out a final paper while running on shitty coffee. That’s it.

Robin

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VOL. 28 // ISSUE 03

OPINION Life //

The history of dream science NICHOLAS ASHENHURSTTOEWS Even as we reach new understanding of the human condition, one thing remains elusive to us: dreams. Not our goals and hopes, but those fleeting nighttime figments that play out behind our eyes whilst we rest. The way we interact with dreams has changed drastically as our understanding of them has grown and developed.

Some people say you can glean important information about your greatest desires from your dreams, and others disregard them completely. Some have lucid dreams and superior recall, whereas some claim to have never experienced dreaming. Sweet dreams of days long gone, half-remembered experiences, and chilling nightmares all plague us, but how exactly has our understanding of dreams changed? What even are they, and why are we continually fascinated by them?

Historically, dreams have been closely connected with spirituality and mysticism.

In early cultures, Egyptian and Greek to name a couple, dreams were closely associated with the divine. Records of dreams

can be found dating back to the reign of Ramesses II, or 1220 BC. Many cultures saw a clear distinction between good dreams and bad dreams. Greeks, Egyptians, and Babylonians believed that good dreams came from gods and bad dreams originated from demons. Ancient Greek and Egyptian culture had special rituals thought to induce dreaming or channel dream messages from specific gods. Another common interpretation of the act of dreaming was that of prophecy, in that events that happened in a dream would later come true.

It’s not until the late 1800s that we start to see a more modern practice of dream interpretation. In 1899, Sigmund Freud published his influential book The Interpretation of Dreams, kicking off the modern ages’ renewed fascination with dream psychology.

Another prominent figure at the time was a follower and friend of Freud’s, Carl Jung.

Though the pair were contemporaries, their approaches to decoding dreams were very different from one another. Where Freud believed that dreams were secretive and a way for people to express their tabooed desires, Jung thought dreams were a way for the dreamer to learn critical information about themselves. Another prime

aspect where their theories differed was that Freud believed dreams had to be interpreted in a way that their full meaning was understood, whereas Jung thought that through the act of having them, dreams had fulfilled their primary purpose of having the dreamer learn through them. While Freud was popular during his time, most current experts have widely disowned him and his ideas.

The neuroscientific approach to dream analysis began in the 1950s with the discovery of rapid eye movement, or REM sleep. Building off the work of a French scientist, Nathaniel Kleitman and one of his students, Eugene Aserinsky, conducted a study which linked REM sleep with dreaming. Another one of Kleitman’s students, William C. Dement, built upon this research as well. In a paper published in 1958, he proposed the existence of cyclic organization of sleep in cats, or that while sleeping a subject goes through distinct patterns of brain activity. This pattern is shared by humans, which was later expanded by Michel Jouvet into the identification of REM sleep as “paradoxical sleep” or an independent state of alertness.

Since then, dream research has had in-

conclusive results. Many factors can lead to unintended bias in study participants.

Dream recall is not always accurate and people can be influenced into more consistent recall by placebos, or by habit. On top of that, recall varies due to which sleep state a participant is in. Even the way researchers phrase questions can have an influence on how people remember their dreams.

So, even if we can’t know exactly why we dream, there are still some sources leading us to believe what different dreams mean, right? While a few generalizations and observations can be made, most dream interpretations do not and cannot explain everything. Many common elements, symbols, and themes can be found in dreams, but may not mean the same thing to every person. Sometimes a bird does signify freedom, hope, and change, but sometimes a rose is just a rose.

After all this, can we really point to any aspect of dreams and say with certainty that we know what’s going on? No, not really. Dreams are one thing that current science has no concrete explanation for. Perhaps that, more than anything else, is why we continue to be fascinated by them.

World //

It will take more than a reusable straw to fix this SYDNEY MARCHAND With climate crisis activists like Greta Thunberg capturing the attention of the world, the pressure for sustainable change is rightfully in the spotlight.

The Earth’s average surface temperature has increased by 0.9°C, causing record-breaking heat waves, flash floods, and rampant forest fires worldwide. We have seen these destructive events breaking headlines and triggering environmental concern. The harsh reality is that these events are linked to the human-made emissions being released into the atmosphere at accelerated rates.

The zero-waste movement encourages a lifestyle that does not include excess waste. Garbage is a disposable, humanmade by-product. It is not something created naturally by our ecological environments, but rather, a waste source that is largely contributing to climate change.

Garbage is often overlooked because we live in a disposable society, and the repercussions of our waste creation are not widely spoken of. However, when organic waste begins to decompose in landfills, destructive pollutants, like carbon dioxide and methane gas, are released. When these gases release, they trap heat in our atmosphere, thus contributing to the overall change in Earth’s temperature. Inorganic and toxic waste products include plastics, glass, aluminium, batteries, motor oil, and chemicals. Plastics that end up in our oceans poison our marine life, and those that go to the landfill leach chemicals into the groundwater and contami-

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Illustration by Kayt Hine

nate our water supply.

With the high demand of disposable products consumed worldwide, Canada is ranked as the fourth among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for the level of per capita consumption, sending 510 kilograms of waste per capita to landfills every year.

Although natural emissions such as water vapour, methane, and carbon dioxide are inevitable, our increased demands for single-use products are causing these emissions to increase at excessive and harmful rates. We need to understand how our individual actions are contributing to these large environmental consequences because the climate crisis is thriving and sustainability needs to be a worldwide priority.

Here are some small, cost-effective changes students can take to become more sustainable, while decreasing waste.

Every small change creates large strides

towards decreasing our carbon emissions.

1) Use reusable containers and bottles: Single-use plastic bottles contribute significantly to the emissions, with a million plastic bottles brought around the world every minute. Make use of one of the 26 water refill stations on UFV campuses by filling up your personal water bottle. Traditional singleuse coffee cups aren’t typically recyclable or compostable due to their inner plastic lining. Using a reusable thermos can solve this issue. Tim Hortons and Fairgrounds provide a small discount to students who bring their own mugs.

When ordering food on the go, bring your own reusable container and ask for your meals to be put in them. This eliminates the demand for single-use food storage containers.

2) Purchase second-hand textbooks: Every semester, each student produces an average of nine pounds of CO2 equivalent emissions per new textbook

purchased. Try purchasing used books through the UFV Bookstore, Books2Go, or browsing the UFV Textbook Exchange Facebook page. Be sure to resell your textbooks at the end of each semester as well to keep up with the demand and earn back your cash.

3) Digital pay parking apps: Skip the lines before class, and skip the paper receipts. In the U.S.A. alone, receipts produce 686 million pounds of waste each year. Download the hangTag app, and pay for parking at UFV conveniently from your smartphone. Say no to receipts whenever possible, because contrary to popular belief, receipts are coated in BPA and are not recyclable.

4) Switch up your hygiene products: Stop using disposable products such as razors, cotton rounds, and menstrual products and switch to reusable options. Invest in reusable products like the Rockwell Razor, washable bamboo cotton rounds, bamboo toothbrushes, the Diva Cup, LunaPads, or Thinx panties. These products will last a lifetime, and eliminate the need for these daily, single-use products.

5) Try paperless notes: Deforestation of tropical forests alone results in the release of 4.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year into our atmosphere.

Switch to note-taking solely on your computer. If you must use a traditional notebook, try a reusable Rocketbook notebook. You can wipe the notebook clean and reuse it each semester and you can even scan your notes and upload them onto your phone.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

OPINION

do you have a nose for news?

We’re hiring

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SN S AP HO TS

BRIEF BITS OF BITE-SIZED BREVITY

CURTAILED COMMENTARY ON CURRENT CONDITIONS

Illustrations by Kelly Ning

Thank God for snow days My vicious hatred of winter is welldocumented. I hate the cold, I hate driving in the snow, I hate how the dark comes so early that daylight feels like a commodity. I’m miserable for most of winter, primarily with the vague despair and lack of energy common to seasonal depression. But with almost every day of this week being a snow day, I’m living my best (albeit dubiously productive) winter life.

Most of this week has been spent luxuriating around the fire, reading, doing minimal amounts of home-

work, and drinking copious amounts of tea. I’ve made solid progress on the towering piles of to-read books I was sure I would get through over Christmas break but barely made a dent in.

The stress of feeling like I’m already behind on homework has evaporated completely. I feel like I’m living how our ancestors intended for people to spend winters: huddled up and telling stories around the fire, even if I’m mostly spending all my time with my dog.

Nadia Tudhope

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Let’s talk for a minute about a shining beam of light in this dreary month filled with warnings of a world war, wildfires engulfing a continent, and black ice on the highway: Justin Trudeau’s beard. Trudeau emerged from his winter holidays in Costa Rica with a fabulous salt-and-pepper beard that I am fully here for. As our country’s world leader takes on a new term, he is also making brave, bold facial hair choices, as he is the first prime minister since 1896 to sport a full beard. Nothing makes my knees weak

like a full beard — the bigger the better.

I wholeheartedly support Trudeau’s gorgeous facial hair and encourage him to fully embrace his new look and grow a beard out at least as long as Sir MacKenzie Bowell’s was. You are doing your country proud, Mr. Trudeau, and I can’t wait until you rock that beard at the next G7 meeting, showing the other world leaders how it’s done.

Andrea Sadowski

Coming for the kneecaps of the cold-blooded

Very important people watching movies Seeing movies in the Abbotsford Cineplex VIP theatre is the only way I see movies now. Yes, the price for a ticket is $19.99, but I think it’s worth it.

I mean, I only go like twice a year to the movies now, but it’s worth it. Even though you can smuggle some cans of beer into a regular theatre, drinking a freshly poured beer on tap is much better, plus that single beer is not as expensive as the ticket itself, so it’s not a total loss. If you want to be posh then there’s no need to stand in line to get popcorn; just hunker down in your seat and flag a waiter over to get it for

Thirsty for a world leader

you by snapping your fingers.

My personal favourite part of it all is the lack of snot-nosed children lining the aisles on a school night. Seeing the latest Pixar flick is always better without children behind you constantly asking their parents, “What does that mean?” or “Can I have more popcorn now?” Plus, this magical theatre even eliminates bratty teens making out in the back row. It really is a win for everyone.

Carissa Wiens

I have a grievance I need to air, an injustice I need to bring up to you, the court of public opinion, and it is this: people who are always cold get sympathy, and people who are always hot get shafted.

If you’re cold, you can put on infinite layers. You can invest in a hot water bottle, an electric blanket, a hot cup of cocoa. Your own personal temperature is, largely, under your control. Meanwhile, if you’re too hot in a communal space, you will inevitably reach a point where there is nothing more you can do but get naked, and HR informs me that that is

not a viable option in my workplace (which you would think is full of anemic Victorian orphans judging by the wail that goes up when I try to open a window). Shivering and cold fingers definitely suck, but sweating, headaches, and nausea are also not the most pleasant mid-day visitors.

If you tend to be chilly, I urge you to carry an extra sweater, a scarf, a package of hand warmers, or even a tiny portable space heater, and — if possible — occasionally defer to the people in your life who run hot.

Mikaela Collins

Dream sequence pop-surrealism with

by Darien Johnsen

Jim McKenzie

is an animator and sculptor who currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his girlfriend and their son. I spoke to him via video chat to talk about his career as an artist, and what advice he had for budding creators.

McKenzie was in his living room / kid’s playroom when we connected — in the background was a shelf full of the original toys that he’s made.

He was sculpting clouds and stars for the self-portrait he’d been working on for the past two months.

It will be displayed in the upcoming L.A. Art Show, open from Feb. 5-9 at the L.A. Convention Center.

In the style of a true artist (and dad), McKenzie was running on a lack of sleep, and time.

So, you’ve been working on a self-portrait sculpture; could you tell me about that?

Yeah, that’s what I’m working on now. It keeps changing every day. I have this crazy deadline. Last minute, I changed it to this dream sequence, so

I’ve got these clouds and these stars, and then I gave him an eyeball.

[McKenzie holds up the sculpture to show me the third eye that his sculpture had acquired.]

What made you want to do that? Was that your own idea, or someone else?

expect a lot of people to come. And it turned out to be this big event. Everyone got dressed up — like circus people, people flew in from New Jersey dressed as scarecrow people. I didn’t expect that either. It was crazy. It felt like how you would imagine: a really nice funeral for yourself. Yeah, it’s not a wedding, but everyone’s there for you. There was a cake of my characters.

It was bizarre, but a really nice experience.

“The art will take you wherever it wants to take you.”

Yeah, it was my idea. It was kind of like a time-crunch piece; what can I get done. For this one, it’s one of those things where when you finish it tells you about yourself.

Like a lot of the time, I won’t know what the meaning is, and a year later I’ll look at it and realize what it was trying to tell me, or what I was trying to tell myself.

Is there a normal amount of time you spend on a sculpture, or does it vary?

It depends what it is — the technicalities of it.

“The Scarecrow” took me about two years. I was working full-time. It really depends what’s going on, what the piece is. How much time you want to put into it, also deadlines. I could take this to another level and work on it for like two years, but I’m glad deadlines are there because they force you to cap things off.

What’s been your favourite exhibit to do? If you have a favourite.

My solo show was pretty nice. I had one solo show — June 4, 2016. That was showcasing all of my stuff for the first time. It was very difficult, because they wanted me to fill an entire gallery, so we wound up just doing one room of the gallery, and I had two years to work on it, but I was also working in the animation industry. So I would come home at night — I didn’t have a kid at that time — but I was coming home, a four-hour commute, and working on this show, and I raced to the deadline. I think I had about 12 pieces. I put an invite out, and I didn’t

Do you often make things out of garbage?

Y e a h , everyone thinks I’m kidding. But it’s good to recycle. I think you can see an example of that in the making a mushroom video. It was a mushroom sculpting giveaway, and I used a soda can. Just basic stuff like that, things with a large mass that you don’t need to use clay for. So if I have to make a big head sculpture, I won’t actually do it all clay. I’ll use tin foil or some sort of big mass.

But it feels nice to make something out of something that’s just going to be thrown away. It makes you feel like you’re like helping the world, even though it’s like 0.000001 per cent of the garbage, and it saves clay.

What’s the most random material you’ve ever used for a sculpture?

The giant dog, that was made out of a lot of garbage: folgers cups and lots of cans. I’d like to explore more with different materials. The thing about clay is that you can cast it, you can make multiples of it. And that’s great from an art marketing standpoint — if you want to make something that’s easily manufactured, I can make more of them. But I want to do something that is not castable, like incorporate glass into something, more gemstones, so that way when the person owns it, they feel like, this is it. You don’t have another one.

What was the first sculpture that you ever remember making?

Well, I don’t think it was really a sculpture.

It’s just something I was always doing — not sculpting, but just creating. The first sculpture I had to do professionally was of my dog Gordo, and that was in December 2013. An artist friend, Chet Zar, asked me to be a part of his show, Conjoined. I had never really sculpted anything at that point, because my job was in animation. I had clay, and it was sitting under my bed for like a year and a half; I didn’t want to open it because I was too afraid. But he asked me to be part of the show, I couldn’t say no. So I had to open it and teach myself in that week to sculpt something.

I didn’t think it would be anything really that good, so I did my dog in kind of a satirical way, thinking this is going to be something fun to do, and it worked out okay. At the show everyone really seemed to like it. Out of a hundred artists they put my dog sculpture underneath the show title. Like right when you walk in, and it was also on the postcard. Everyone was looking at this dog sculpture and they wanted to see more, so this gallery invited me back to another show. I did that one, and then after that they said, “You should do a solo show here.” And that was at Copro Gallery. That place kind of became my spot, where I would show. This self-portrait, it’s going to be at their booth, for the L.A. Art Show. They’re really cool people.

You’ve done fundraising stuff, like your Sculpt and Drink events, and some artistic giveaways.

What made you want to do that?

It’s nice to give back. It’s always nice to have an excuse to get into the community and make things with people. Sometimes I’ll know a charity, or I’ll seek out a charity and do something together. It’s always free — we don’t charge people — and I’m always buying supplies with my own money. The last one we did was for “Kids In Need of Defense.” I think I spent over $1,000 on chairs and supplies, all that stuff, and we wound up raising a little over $2,000. So not too much, but it’s something. It’s helping people that really need it in this particular time.

America is so divided right now, these kids really get overlooked by a lot of Americans, and you know, they’re here, under our supervision and they’re dying. What had actually caught my attention most was when I went to see Dia De Los Muertos and there was this shrine of all the kid’s camps, [for the kids] that just died. And you know, I have a kid, and I can’t imagine him living in a cage and dying and not knowing about it. So I looked into this charity, and they assist those children that are put on the stand in front of judges. There’s no one there to help them, so this charity gets legal representation for them. It’s really beneficial.

They’re refugees, they’re coming here because of a situation that we don’t know about. They’re not coming here to steal jobs, they’re kids. And politics aside, I just wanted to help people out. I posted that video and I got so many messages, hate messages, saying things like, “People like you are ruining America!” You know, crazy. All I’m trying to do is help people out. It’s crazy the repercussions just from doing something as basic as trying to raise money for kids that are in custody for no reason.

Well they should definitely share their work; it’s doable. There’s a lot of options and career paths for sculptors: there’s 3D modelling, there’s architectural jobs, sculpting for stop-motion, doing miniatures, sculpting 3D for commercials, films — there’s a big range for sculpting. If you want to go into the fine art realm, it’s great to make connections with other artists. A lot of the opportunities that I had gotten were from friends and people that I met along the way. I was always going to art openings, talking to artists, and not for the purpose of making myself, you know, get opportunities, but just having genuine connections. I would say it’s doable, go for it, and put your work out there. Be yourself, don’t try to copy other artists. People will see that, and the art will take you wherever it wants to take you.

What is your take on art’s place in the world?

It’s very needed.

From an artist’s standpoint, I look at it as therapy. You can also look at it as therapy as a collector as well, or an art appreciator. I think art plays a big role in shaping the world. I just use it so I don’t freak out. I have a need to create.

“A lot of the time, I won’t know what the meaning is, and a year later I’ll look at it and realize what it was trying to tell me, or what I was trying to tell myself.”

What’s the hardest thing you’ve gone through, artistically?

I would say time. You never have enough time.

When I want to do a project, usually I will get it done, but there’s millions of ideas. You really have to pick and choose because you only have so many years here. So if I’m gonna dedicate months on a piece, it really has to be the right one. I have like a stack of Post-it notes with ideas. Especially as a dad, it’s so hard to really do anything. So this will actually be the last piece I do for — who the hell knows how long. I wish I had more time.

What would be your advice for students working on a budget?

This stuff really doesn’t cost that much.

Everybody is under the assumption that you need a big space to create, you need specific tools or materials. But to go back to the garbage situation, one of the reasons I use that is just to show that you really just need an idea to pull something off. You don’t need that much. Doing things under $100 is doable. You don’t need to buy the best clay, just buy whatever works for you. I use the cheapest paints at Michaels, and they seem to work fine.

What about advice for students who want to get into sculpting as a career? Sometimes it’s hard to share your work…

Does art influence life or does life influence art?

Both; they go hand-in-hand. I’ll influence a piece that I’m making and I’ll look at it, and it’ll influence me back and help me figure things out, with myself.

Who inspires you artistically, and who inspires you day-to-day?

There are a lot of artists out there who are doing really great stuff. A lot of my friends and their artistic drive to keep making, keep hustling, is very inspiring to me. But the content that I create really gets inspired from how I’m feeling dayto-day, what’s going on in my own life. It’s almost like a journal, or storytelling in a way. Even though it visually doesn’t look like that. For instance, the scarecrow piece was when I was feeling really tied down and kind of empty, working at Aardman. It just really wasn’t a good feeling. So I drew that piece on the commute home. There was a piece I did, a skeleton, called “Friends With Death” and that started off as just a skeleton’s head, and a week later my grandma passed away, and then three weeks later, my son was born. So I think subconsciously those two events happening while I was making this steered this piece in the direction it went. Also, aesthetically, the colour choices and the elements were all inspired by my day-to-day living. I would walk outside and I saw that the tree in my backyard was growing all of these violet flowers, which it never did before. I realized, that’s it, that’s it! This is going to be a purple piece, and I ran down to the flower shop and I got all these little purple flowers. The stones that circled the piece was inspired when I was taking a walk in the woods, and I saw these smalls stones — originally it was supposed to be grass — but I saw these small stones in this guy’s driveway and was like, this is it, it’s going to be stones, and I started scooping up all of these stones from this man’s driveway. I had a glove on me and I put them in this glove — this was in New Jersey — and I took a plane back and I was going through

security, and I still had this glove filled with all these rocks, and the TSA was like, what the hell is this?

Anyway, I got back, I threw them all on the table and I was like, alright, I’m gonna start putting all these rocks together and putting them on this piece.

But they were actually too small and not as controlled as I wanted them, so I decided to make my own rocks and use those rocks as texture stamps. So I took the rock and I pressed it into the clay. So I wound up using the rocks not directly, but in some way.

Has there been a particular artist that’s been a constant inspiration for you?

I would say Mark Ryden has always been a really big inspiration for me. He really opened up the door to the whole world of pop surrealism for me. The first time I met him was in 2013 and I had just made my first sculpture and I showed him; actually, I gave him a piece. He was complimenting it and said it was good. I don’t know if he was just being nice or not, but just hearing that from him, just hearing that you’re doing a good job from someone who you admire, is very inspiring and reassuring that what I was doing was on the right track, so I think that actually just motivated me to just really push even further. Now especially when I hear people tell me that they like my stuff and they want me to look at their work — you know, I always wanna see people’s work because you never know, just one word can really encourage people and push them.

episodes or not, so the last episode, I wrote that it was going to be a cancellation episode and I was gonna be like, real bitter about it.

So when we aired those — we aired them weekly — people actually thought that it was a network and it was like a live thing and it had actually been cancelled. Meanwhile, you know, we shot it all in six hours. The idea was to take that, and pitch it to Super Deluxe, Adult Swim.

Since Aardman funded it, they own it, so I wasn’t allowed to pitch it myself and I’m not allowed to sell prints or anything of the show, or do anything with it. I realized that they really didn’t have it in them to pitch for this show. They said they were talking to all these people, but it really went nowhere. I’m kind of glad it didn’t go through because I don’t wanna be known for some stupid comedy crap. I’m good doing what I’m doing.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A mermaid.

Is there some random non-art tool or piece of material that you use fairly often?

Well, sometimes if I want to get a good texture, I’ll go looking for something that has that texture but isn’t something that you would normally use. A lot of the times I’m walking and I’ll see bark on a tree or a stone. So I’ll use that as a texture map, or texture stamp. When I was doing “The Scarecrow,” I was making a hat, and I went and bought some burlap and stuck it on there. And I didn’t even test it out, you know, I just assumed it would work and it worked out. I think applying different textures to things with real-life textures is really cool.

Sculptures, in order of appearance: Mr.Fahrenheit, Friends With Death, Racoonicorn, Green Apple Gordo

All photos courtesy of Jim McKenzie

I’d like to know a little bit about your Makin’ Things show. Could you tell me the story behind that?

I was working at Aardman and I was watching Bob Ross on the other computer screen, and I had this really dumb idea, and I just ran into my boss’s room and I was like, “Joe, do you have a second to talk about a really dumb idea?” and he was like, “Of course.” I said “I have this idea called Making Things, and it’s just a really stupid show where I’ll be this kind of Bob Ross character, and have a bunch of corny jokes. It’ll be that combined with PeeWee Herman, combined with Pappyland.” He’s like, “I love it; let’s do it.” He kind of agreed to it on the spot, which was awesome. So we put a proposal together, and I actually went and story-boarded every episode. I designed the sets, the clothing, the shots, and the jokes. So we had these four episodes and we pitched it to Aardman, and they were like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” They gave us $60,000 for four minutes of content, which were four episodes.

We only had like six hours in this big studio, and they had like 20 people running around the set; it was just crazy. I wasn’t sure if it would go through with more

CULTURE

VOL. 28 // ISSUE 03 culture@ufvcascade.ca Carissa Wiens — Culture Editor

Column //

Canada //

Cascade Kitchen: Shakshuka for every meal

Shakshuka. Jan. 19, 2020. (Carissa Wiens)

CARISSA WIENS The Cascade Kitchen is a student-run food column that brings you budget-friendly recipes and cooking tips. Check back weekly for something new to try in the kitchen, or if you want to see your own recipe featured next, get started by reaching out to culture@ufvcascade.ca.

Shakshuka is a dish originating from the Middle East and Northern Africa, and is very popular in Israel. It’s a big pan of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and eggs — what’s not to like?

Shukshuka is very similar to the Italian dish, eggs in purgatory.

My recipe is based on Jamie Oliver’s version in Ultimate Veg. Feel free to switch out regular potatoes for sweet potatoes, or even yams. The measurements for the spices are approximate — I rarely measure spices; the more the merrier.

This dish can be for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and can be left in the fridge for about five days. Plus, it’s a one-pan dish, so really, what’s not to like?

Ingredients: Olive oil 1 yellow onion, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 2 large yellow potatoes, diced 3 bell peppers 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp paprika 2 tsp dried parsley (even better if you have fresh, then add extra!)

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes 4-5 eggs Salt and pepper to taste Method: 1.

Heat a large pan with a tbsp or 2 of olive oil (I never measure my olive oil) on medium heat. Add in the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion starts to become soft.

2. Toss in the potatoes and bell peppers. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Add in spices and tomatoes. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes, or until potatoes are easy to pierce with a fork.

3. Make a small well in the tomato mixture for each egg.

Crack the eggs gently into each well, trying not to break the yolk. Do not mix. Cook the eggs to your liking. (I enjoy them still semi-runny.)

4. Sprinkle with pepper and a hefty amount of salt. I also like to add more parsley on top to make it look pretty. Toast some bread for serving.

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Consumable cannabis Your guide to edibles, topicals, and vapes ANDREA SADOWSKI On Oct. 17, 2019, consumable pot products, like edibles, vapes, and topicals, entered the legal, recreational market in Canada, one year after the legalization of dried flower (or buds). However, it takes up to 60 days for products to go through the slow, methodical regulation process of Health Canada, so products were not officially available for purchase until Dec. 17, 2019.

Studies are estimating the entire market will be worth close to $2.7 billion by next year.

While these products are appealing to new, cannabiscurious customers, legal dispensaries are finding it hard to compete with the illicit market because of strict product regulations. The legal dose of THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) per edible serving is limited to 10 mg, which is not enough to have an effect on long-time users, due to their high tolerance to THC. The products in the illicit market are often much cheaper and more potent than products sold in legal dispensaries.

Chelsea Smith is the former managing director of Motacan Compassion Society, a medicinal cannabis dispensary in Abbotsford.

“When it comes to the edible, the biggest issue I’ve been hearing is that it’s really expensive and you really don’t get your money’s worth when you’re comparing it to how the industry was before legalization,” said Smith. “There were a lot of companies that were trying to battle for the best bang for your buck, making it super effective for people who needed relief.

It’s good for the people who are starting out … but I think when it comes to the general demographic there should be more availability when it comes to strengths and costs essentially.”

H e r e are a couple

Illustration by Kayt Hine

things you should know about these newly legal products to have an enjoyable and safe experience: Edibles: Smith advised: “Start low and go slow ... You can always take more of something but you can’t go back in time and take less.”

Edibles can take from 30 minutes up to four hours for you to feel their full effect. Therefore it is necessary to start with a very low dose, such as 5 mg. As well, never mix alcohol and cannabis products.

If you feel as if you consumed too much, try some CBD oil, which may counteract the psychoactive effects of the THC, stay hydrated, don’t panic, and try to sleep it off.

Topicals: Topicals are cannabis-infused skincare products such as lotions, balms, massage oil, and bath salts. Topicals are used for pain relief and typically don’t get you high.

“Topicals are fantastic and a really good thing to introduce to someone who has never used a cannabis product before,” said Smith. “It’s nice because it stays local to the area that you are applying to, which makes it a really nice product for seniors who are dealing with arthritis, or someone who is dealing with a work-related injury.”

If you are using topicals and want to avoid any psychoactive effects, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after applying the product to your skin, and be sure to not apply to any broken skin.

Vaporizers: Vaporizers can be filled with reloadable cartridges, concentrates, or dried f low-

er, and are an easy and discreet way to consume marijuana as the vapour is odourless and pens are portable and heat up in a few seconds.

“I think overall THC vaping is a great idea, especially when it comes to pens you can control the temperature with,” said Smith. “Sometimes vapes are just way too hot and can potentially cause more discomfort than relief. But they are a great option for people who want to medicate discreetly.”

There has been a lot of concern about vaping recently, as vaping-related illnesses have caused the deaths of 60 people in the U.S. as of Jan. 14, 2020.

However, the vape pens and cartridges that you buy at legal dispensaries are all vetted by Health Canada as safe to use.

However, Health Canada has only tested the effects of the vaping liquids, and not the vapour itself. Health Canada said in a statement to CBC News that “Providing legal access to strictly regulated cannabis products is one of the best ways to protect Canadians from the risks posed by products from the illegal market, which are not subject to any standards, testing, or oversight for safety or quality.”

So my friends, stay safe and enjoy your freedom to medicate recreationally as a resident of the True Nor t h strong and free.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

CULTURE Life //

Helping your houseplants thrive in winter Learn about the plant hazards in your home and ways to combat them until spring KRYSTINA SPRACKLIN While I’ve only been a plant-carer for a year, my father has successfully kept his in-home garden alive for years. His tried -and -true tips have helpedhelping his plants stay leafy and nourished, survivinge winters that lasted as long as eight months at a time.

Houseplants endure winter similarly to bears — many just turn off and rest until springtime is ready.

While bears and other mammals call this period hibernation, most houseplants enter an equivalent state called dormancy, where they require little to no water as a method of self-preservation. It’s not so much the cold weather that is detrimental to plant life, but reduced sunlight and over-watering during the winter months often lead to wilted or dead plants. Houseplants still require a full day’s worth of sunlight in order to survive their dormancy, but there are clever ways to make this happen.

Because of reduced sunlight during winter, artificial lighting may

be helpful if your plants need bright light. Depending on what sort of plant you have, there are certain lights that will work best to suit their needs. Incandescent lights are best suited for low-light plants, while fluorescent bulbs are recommended for plants that seek medium light or for indoor vegetable gardens. Of course, constant use of light will increase your electric bill as well, but you can find ways to reduce this cost by compromising with lower wattage.

Fluctuating household temperatures can also risk the life of your plants. As the cold sets in, windows can develop a cold draft if they’re not properly sealed; but there’s also the risk of over-exposure from fire places, heaters, radiators, and wood stoves that generate excessive heat and can damage your plant if it’s placed nearby. Too much of any temperature is detrimental to their health, so it’s important that their display resides a safe distance away from these areas. In my experience, if the window is properly sealed and there’s no risk of a cold draft, leaving the houseplant on the

windowsill during daylight hours should be fine, but come nightfall, they should be properly vacated to elsewhere in the home unless you have thick blinds.

Your watering routine during these darker months can have a serious impact on plant health. During winter, plants require less water thanks to their dormancy, and unless you have an air humidifier, it tends to become much dryer in the home. You should always test the soil by sticking your finger in to determine if the plant needs water; if it’s still damp, your plant is fine.

I keep a single succulent and most recently adopted an aloe plant as a Christmas gift, and I only water them once a week, as needed.

The snow won’t last for long, and the sun will be obnoxiously present again soon. Watch out for signs of dryness, like brown, dried leaves or wilting. Invest in artificial lights as needed. Plant needs are quite minimal, and so long as you’re making an effort to adapt to a winter-friendly routine, they should have no trouble surviving the chilly season.

Succulent. Nov. 22, 2019. (Krystina Spracklin)

Column //

UFV Speaks: How did you use your snow days this past week?

KRYSTINA SPRACKLIN Due to unexpected school closures and cancelled bus runs, UFV students were awarded an extended weekend last week. It may have been a surprising three days of freedom, but many students still found ways to be productive Amber De Winter, adult education program, first year “I spent my snow days studying and doing homework, about three-five hours a day. I worked the rest of my time off. My boyfriend buried me alive in the snow to cheer me up when I was frustrated. The school closing because of weather means

The incredible true story of Nurse Myra Bennet and her experiences as a medical practitioner in early 20th century Newfoundland.

I have less class time and I feel a bit more held back. I couldn’t take the tests I needed or get enough help to move onto the next chapter. It’s not anyone’s fault, just a downside of winter. I’m someone who’s determined to keep moving forward.”

Jasmine Filpula, Bachelor of Fine Arts, third year “This week I used my snow days to get ahead on some reading for class. I also finished some homework that was assigned by my professors to complete at home. And if I’m being totally honest, I also used a bit of my time to relax and play some computer games. Specifically, Sims 4. I just got the Realm of Magic and University expansion.... so I basically ex-

changed doing my own university work for virtual university work.”

Kathleen Clingwall, Bachelor of Fine Arts, second year

Carmen van de Wall, integrated studies program, fourth year

“I spent my snow days playing lots of Super Smash Bros and Zelda. I also made homemade vegetable soup with homemade dumplings; took probably twothree hours to make but it was so delicious and worth it! I finished watching lots of TV series, too. I watched the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion and finished all 24 episodes, plus the movie, in two days. I also watched both of the Goon movies because what better way to be patriotic during this snowy weather? I also did some art with new gouache paints I recently purchased.”

“I spent my snow days chasing my puppies and organizing with my workshop group online. The puppies love the snow immensely! They love being in it. Honestly, they ask us every 20 minutes to go outside.”

Michaela Kerntopf, Bachelor of Science, third year “I commenced painting the kitchen, worked a couple shifts, and spent an entire day on the couch in PJs.”

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VOL. 28 // ISSUE 03

CULTURE Community Spotlight //

UFV student’s novel hitting shelves soon

Jay Lang is the university’s next up-and-coming published author CARISSA WIENS Janice (Jay) Lang’s first novel, HUSH, is being released on Feb. 1, 2020. Lang is an English student at UFV. The book follows the story of a young woman, Jade, who’s cast out of her wealthy family because of her sexuality and then ends up on Galiano Island working at a fish hatchery. There she meets and falls in love with a woman who comes from a very different background than her own. Eventually, a murder takes place on the island that is connected to Jade. She then gets involved with the police investigation, trying to find evidence that will solve the case so that her life can go back to normal with her girlfriend.

“I think it [the book] focuses on mental health … and what can happen when people defame you, or depersonalize you, or degrade you for your choices,” said Lang.

The story shows Jade dealing with these issues through the police investigation. It shows the effects of trauma and how that can carry on throughout one’s life.

“There’s not enough literature of people

SPORTS

who identify as LGBTQ+… and not a lot of it is believable either.”

Lang said it can be difficult getting fiction published in Canada because every publishing house wants non-fiction now.

But after contacting countless publishers, Books We Love from Calgary accepted Lang’s manuscript and worked with her in the editing and production process.

“From start to finish, it takes me eight weeks to complete a novel.” Lang is able to produce such a large body of work in this short time frame because of her dedication to each project. She’s written seven novels in total, with another being published through Books We Love this July called SHATTER. Included in this eight-week time frame, Lang takes two to plot the entire story out, from the main storyline even to the smaller secondary plotlines. HUSH is a suspense/ thriller story; therefore, Lang felt it was very important to make sure everything ties together, from a subtle hint in one area, to a minor character in another part.

Before enrolling in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) program, Lang spent three months in

the upgrading and university preparation (UUP) program at UFV. While enrolled in an English course, Lang learned about plotting out long works of fiction, the importance of it, and how to do it.

Once enrolled into the BA program, Jocelyn Coates, a previous professor at UFV, provided Lang with the encouragement she needed to take her storytelling skills to the next level. From there, Lang spent time with Michelle Superle, another English professor at the university, working on more fiction. Eventually, Lang did an English directed study with John Carroll where she worked on manuscriptlength fiction. After all of her oneon-one work with

Jay Lang. Sept. 17, 2019. (AAA Photography)

sports@ufvcascade.ca Alex Jesus — Sports Editor

UFV Cascades //

UFV’s midseason form showcases their growth in 2020

UFV sports are looking good as they approach some key matches ALEX JESUS It’s that time of year, Cascades fans. Rarely does a month contain three sports that are all needing major wins for their seasons at UFV. January is significant for basketball and volleyball, as February will be their hopeful playoff debuts in 2020. Wrestling has started to peak, as the wrestlers are approaching the Cascades Classic, UFV’s home tournament which will be crucial for those wishing to attend and compete in the conference championships and nationals. Add a potential Olympian for Team Canada in Brad Hildenbrandt and the UFV Cascades are off to the races.

Basketball has had quite the season so far for the men and women at UFV. The women’s team is sporting a better team than it has in some time, with an incredibly talented rookie class that has powered UFV through some tough games. Add the veteran leadership of players like Taylor Claggett and you’ve got a playoff team.

Claggett’s season has garnered praise from many and it has been nothing short of deserved, as she continues to compete for and break records.

14

various professors at UFV, Lang’s passion for novels came alive and to date she has written over seven novels in her own time.

You can find HUSH at The Bookman in Chilliwack, at Coles in Abbotsford’s Seven Oaks Mall, Amazon, Ingram, and Barnes & Noble on Feb. 1.

The men’s basketball team has seen some changes from last year, but the changes seem to be helping the team grow. Though the team lost some players, the 2019-20 edition of the Cascades has been fun to watch.

Parm Bains and Matt Cooley have really stepped up, putting up big numbers and complementing other players like Sukhjot Bains, who has also shown improvement in his shooting. With a recent groundbreaking win over the UBC Thunderbirds, the UFV men’s basketball team is looking like they are peaking just in time for the playoffs.

Volleyball has struggled a bit this year, but don’t let that fool you. The Cascades are getting ready for their switch from the PacWest conference to the Canada West conference. A step up in competition might be the fuel that the teams need going forward. The women’s team has seen somewhat of a dropoff since last season, but that’s just what the record shows at this point. The men’s team has seen a pretty dramatic turnaround if you consider what their record was last season. At 2-22, they lifted themselves up and now sport a record of 5-12. Yes, it might not be a record the team wants, but improvement matters,

and veteran players such as the fourthyear libero Carter Bronson bring a lot of energy and leadership to the new group.

Despite UFV postponing the wrestling program for the 2019-20 season, the Cascades wrestling team has continued through tough times to have multiple medalists at the conference tournaments so far. Highlighting the squad is none other than Brad Hildenbrandt, who is having a year for the ages. Hildenbrandt is looking to become UFV’s first-ever varsity athlete to go to the Olympics. He won the Canadian Olympic trials at heavyweight for Greco-Roman wrestling, booking a ticket to the Pan-Am Olympic qualification tournament that will be held in March in Ottawa. Hildenbrandt will need to finish in the top two to move to the national team, but should he succeed, UFV will have its first Olympic athlete from the Cascades.

The verdict: UFV’s midseason performance should be seen as improved overall. There seem to be dips here and there among certain programs, but the highs are higher than the lows are low. New coaching staff, new teams, and new outlooks have 2020 looking like a big year for the Cascades.

UFV Cascades Sports Scores Jan. 16 – Jan. 18, 2020

Women’s Basketball Game/Date: UFV at Trinity Western / Thursday, Jan. 16 Score: UFV 72 TWU 61 Game/Date: UFV at Trinity Western / Saturday, Jan. 18 Score: UFV 77 TWU 60

Men’s Basketball Game/Date: UFV at Trinity Western / Thursday, Jan. 16 Score: UFV 96 TWU 87 Game/Date: UFV at Trinity Western / Saturday, Jan. 18 Score: UFV 107 TWU 95

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

SPORTS Opinion //

UFV should add lacrosse to its varsity sports Field lacrosse continues to grow in BC, but after highschool players have little options to continue NIC JACKSON The Lower Mainland is one of the top places in Canada where field lacrosse is played.

This may be a result of the weather in this area of the country being far more suitable to playing sports outside in the winter; however, it has allowed for a great sport to grow within the minor associations of B.C. Although other sports, such as soccer, are played outside during the school year, B.C. universities have ignored the demand for collegiate field lacrosse within the province. This has resulted in almost all of the best local players deciding before the age of 17 to either travel to America to pay an unreasonable amount of money to follow their passion, or simply quit the sport they love. With a rapid growth of field lacrosse within the minor associations (under the age of 18) and Canada being one

of the top-ranking countries at the sport, UFV and other B.C. schools should consider adding field lacrosse to their varsity programs.

At this current time, there are many great, young, talented players that will not be able to continue their career in the sport due to the complexities of becoming eligible to play for an American university. On top of that, the tuition cost for many American universities with lacrosse programs is unrealistic for many people.

This is where B.C. schools would help with the development of young talent.

Relatively speaking, the cost of school is far less in Canada than at American universities. Adding lacrosse to the varsity programs is a win-win situation for the players and the schools: local universities retain students and students can play the sport they love close to home.

There are currently only two universi-

ties that support lacrosse within B.C.: the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Despite having the second-largest player base for the sport of all Canadian provinces, B.C. is far behind Ontario when it comes to the development of players in universities. Although B.C. has some of the best winters for outside sports, Ontario and Quebec are the only provinces with a college league for lacrosse. Currently, the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) has 14 teams.

This is crucial to the development of young players, as it tells them there’s a place to go, close to home, to continue pursuing the sport.

Although B.C. is one of the most played areas for minor field lacrosse in Canada, most of the players tend to lean toward box lacrosse (the indoor variation of the sport) as they get older. This is due to the fact that box lacrosse is more accessible within the

province. With the raised importance of field lacrosse in Ontario, by having it incorporated into their colleges, players continue playing the sport past minor. When looking at Team Canada’s field lacrosse roster it is apparent that Ontario universities’ support for the sport has helped the province become a lacrosse power house.

Out of the 22-man roster, 15 players come from Ontario, opposed to B.C.’s six.

The universities within B.C. have already figured out a way for sports played in similar climates, like soccer, to work, and adding field lacrosse to the university programs only makes sense. Currently, Ontario is seen as the most desired place for lacrosse; however, with the increased attention to the sport, B.C. could become the top province for field lacrosse.

Men’s Basketball //

UFV’s men’s basketball team pushes win streak to 5 games After traveling last weekend to Prince George, the Cascades return to the Lower Mainland to take on Trinity Western NIC JACKSON After hosting the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds two weeks ago and traveling to Prince George last weekend to take on the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves, the UFV men’s basketball team went into their twogame showdown against the Trinity Western University (TWU) Spartans with a threegame winning streak.

The first of the two games saw the Spartans host the Cascades in Langley on Thursday, Jan. 16. Eager to continue their winning streak, they started the first quarter full of energy. Each team started off scoring, but soon the Cascades created a dominating lead. By the time the first quarter was half over, they had doubled the Spartans’ score, 16-8. This came when Cascades’ Sukhjot Bains drained a basket from outside the three-point line. From there, the Cascades continued to increase their lead until the buzzer signalling the end of the first quarter went off.

When the game resumed for the second quarter, the

score was 32-17, for the Cascades. This gap in the score did not last for very long, however. Throughout the second, the Spartans began chiseling away at the Cascades’ lead, until Spartans’ Isaiah Reimer brought their team to within two points with a layup from in the key. With two minutes still left on the clock after Reimer’s basket, the Cascades were able to bring their lead back up to five points, with a score of 50-45.

Once the first half was out of the way, the Cascades looked to regain the momentum they had in the first quarter. In the third quarter, UFV was able to outscore TWU by eight points. This brought the score of the game to 78-65 entering the last quarter. Despite being outscored by the Spartans in the fourth quarter, the lead created in the third by the Cascades was too much for Trinity Western to overcome.

When the final buzzer went off on Thursday’s game, the score was 96-87, in favour of the Cascades.

After winning the first match between the two teams as the visitors, the Cascades returned home for Saturday’s

game. Much like the game held two days prior, the first quarter saw the Cascades create a substantial lead. By the time the second quarter had started, they led with a score of 31-15. Unlike the previous game, however, the Cascades continued to add to their lead throughout the second quarter. By the time the first half had ended, the Cascades held a lead of 20 points, with a score of 52-32.

The second half was more hopeful for the Spartans, as it saw them score as many points as the Cascades in the third quarter, and even outscore them in the fourth.

Although the Spartans continued to fight for the game throughout the latter half, the Cascades’ dominance in the former was the reason UFV left with another win in the weekend. The final score of the game was 107-95.

The Cascades now head into next weekend with a five-game win streak. The UFV men’s basketball team’s next games will be on Friday, Jan. 24 and Saturday, Jan. 25 in Calgary, against the Mount Royal University Cougars.

Parm Bains. Jan. 18, 2020. (UFV Athletics)

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STUDY BREAK Crossword //

VOL. 28 // ISSUE 03

Made by Carissa Wiens

DOWN

ACROSS

1. Liquid dinosaurs

2. Dinosaur impression

3. Hangover medication

7. Take this to get away from Abbotsford

4. Another term for a Canadian

8. Not old

5. On the Origin of Species’ author

9. Jorts

6. The patriarchy 9. The fuzz

10. Eleventh letter of the phonetic alphabet

12. Water molecules, slowed down

11. Used to season your cast iron

13. Thirteen-year-old’s arm gesture

14. The Earth is an imperfect one

LAST ISSUE’S

ANSWERS: Down: 1: Smudge 2: Grandmother 3: Toner 4: Celebration 7: Tweet 11: Swamp 13: Mafia

Across: 2: Gymnastics 5: Null 6: Knight 8: War 9: Emu 10: Dry 11: Sue 12: Tomato 14: Hoax 15: Proportion

Snakes and Lizards

Horoscopes //

Illustration by Elyssa English Your weekly life predictions as told by Ang the Great

Aries — Mar 21 to Apr 19 Your positive energy will give your workplace a much needed fresh perspective this week.

You will charm your managers, thrill your colleagues, and impress everyone with your wonderful, innovative ideas.

Leo — Jul 23 to Aug 22 This week will be alright. Nothing particularly great will happen. Nothing bad is written in the stars for you. This will be an exceptionally average week. Just chill out and enjoy the smooth ride.

Taurus — Apr 20 to May 20 Take the high road in arguments this week and know that some things are just not worth fighting over. As you try to be less hot-headed and unreasonable when it comes to fights with your partner, let them win one for once, even though you know they’re wrong.

Virgo —Aug 23 to Sep 22 Someone will ask you for a loan this week.

Unless you never want to see that money again, I suggest not giving in to this request.

Even if this person promises they will pay you back, I can assure you that the stars say they won’t.

Gemini — May 21 to Jun 20 You will enjoy a wonderful date this week and be so happy that you took a chance on that questionable profile on Tinder, because they are actually quite charming in person. You will be whisked off your feet and enjoy every second of it.

Cancer —Jun 21 to Jul 22 Things are a little off at your job right now and you may even be considering a new place of employment, but hold off on that urge to pass around your resume for now, as improvements will soon come.

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Libra — Sep 23 to Oct 22 Your lucky number for this week is nine, the most lucky day of the week is Thursday, and your lucky colour is orange. Don’t ask me why you need to know all this information, as it will become unquestionably clear to you in a moment of need.

Scorpio — Oct 23 to Nov 21 You will face some difficulty with your partner this week, but do not throw your whole relationship away because of a few disagreements. Be patient and work out these issues with an open heart and you will resolve your differences.

Sagittarius — Nov 22 to Dec 21 This week will present a fork in the road of your life. Do not hesitate to seek guidance from wise mentors about which path you should take. It will be a fairly heavy decision you will have to make; do not bear the burden alone.

Capricorn — Dec 22 to Jan 19 You will have no social life this week. No one will invite you anywhere and all your plans will be cancelled. Don’t wallow in solitude, but use this precious time to finish assignments, as this is just the calm before the storm.

Aquarius — Jan 20 to Feb 18 You will excel in a group project this week as you and your fellow group members will get along extraordinarily well together and be in complete harmony with all decisions — an unheard of rarity in group projects. Appreciate this blessing.

Pisces — Feb 19 to Mar 20 This cold weather and all of these snow days has caused you to slack off on your school work, which may not look like a big deal right now, but will prove to be detrimental later on.

Stay focused on your tasks.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020

Created with TheTeach

Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.50)

Sudoku // 2 4

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Word Search //

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ARTS ARTS

VOL. 28 // ISSUE 03 arts@ufvcascade.ca Chandy Dancey — Arts Editor

Netflix //

CHARTS

Off with AJ and the Queen’s head

SHUFFLE

CHANDY DANCEY

1 Begonia

AARON LEVY

2 Becky Ninkovic

CIVL Station Manager Aaron Levy wants everyone to know that it's an important next couple weeks in American politics, especially now that we learn about the most important rules in the U.S. since the Jordan Rules — the McConnell Rules.

Fear

Woe

3 Mallsex

Live In Reverse

4 Woolworm Awe

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Lia Gronberg The Shady Pines EP

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Louise Burns Portraits

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Dead Soft Big Blue

8

RIIT Ataataga

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Daniel Lopatin Uncut Gems (OST)

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Warrior Down Kacy & Clayton Carrying On

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Kaytranada BUBBA

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Walrus Cool to Who

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Corridor Junior

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Cartel Madras Age Of The Goonda

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Animal Collective Ballet Slippers

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The Ataris - “San Dimas High School Football Rules” “Last night I had a dream where we went to Disneyland, / Went on all the rides, didn't have to wait in line / I drove you to your house where we stared up at the stars / I listened to your heartbeat as I held you in my arms.”

The Crystal Method “Name of the Game”

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While the previous song breaks all the rules — exZachary Lucky cept for all being fair in other The Ballad of Losing You words, when shockingly, at the end of the second verse, lead-Atari exclaims "Just dump Common Holly When I Say to You Black your boyfriend and go out with me" — all this song does Lightning is announce that the “name of the game” has been given.

WHOOP-Szo

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SKEPTICAL OF THE SENATE

Elton John - “I Just Can't Wait To Be King” Sometimes you wonder if there's a certain someone who spent a little too much time learning these lyrics, mimicking the persona of young Simba the lion, who was obsessed with eluding to a selfish pursuit of impunity from judgement by others, as well as reigning over the people of the land.

Matthew Good Band “The Rat Who Would Be King”

I never really enjoyed this song all that much, and I believe that it was written based Dizzy Box Nine on some sort of literary referPop Fantasy ence, though I can't remember which one; however, again, I Half Moon Run A Blemish In The Great just think it's literally relevant to where we are these days in Light terms of whose on top: Larry Walker.

AJ and the Queen is a Netflix original television series released on Jan. 10 that stars RuPaul Charles as Ruby Red, a drag queen who goes on an unlikely cross-country adventure with a young sidekick named AJ. It features cameos of drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race and is co-created by Michael Patrick King, known for directing Sex in the City.

The series boasts a cast that includes Broadway stars like Josh Segarra and Michael-Leon Wooley, but honestly their performances were upstaged by the work of the talented 11-year-old actor who plays AJ, Izzy G. When her acting is iffy, it’s because of bad writing. Case in point: the first few episodes portay her as a completely unlikeable character who’s demanding, constantly rude, and shows no remorse for her terrible treatment of others.

However, throughout the series it’s shocking how well someone so young is able to portray tantrums, grief, and childlike playfulness. It doesn’t reflect well on the rest of the cast, though.

Here’s the hard truth: the entire series could’ve been condensed into a movie and been done with. There is little justification in having 10 episodes at almost an hour each. Very quickly it becomes a sitcom rather than a high stakes drama due to how many filler episodes there are and the incompetence of the villains. Half the season centres around hijinks that highlight aspects of gay pop culture like the importance of figures like Judy Garland and Diana Ross to the LGBTQ+ community. However, instead of offering fans an unsatisfying ending and banal story arcs that add little to the viewer experience and an unsatisfying ending, everything could’ve been nicely concluded if the series was instead a standard-length movie.

The problem with AJ and the Queen is that its attempts to be educational about different lifestyles are ham-fisted at best, and offensive at worst. The comic relief character, Louis Bell, is a blind, gay, black man who is the butt of countless disabled and fat jokes. (“I’m blind, bitch!” being a common punchline.) Not only are the mannerisms of a blind character inaccurately portrayed by the abled actor who plays him, but his

personality seems to exclusively revolve around eating, being promiscuous, and making jokes about aspects that make him marginalized. This might’ve been more palatable if he were a real person on, say, RuPaul’s Drag Race, but this is a character (poorly) written by a team of writers. Their audience deserves better.

Other attempts to empathize characters who are different from the norm are equally as uncomfortable to watch. The cast meets a woman with a double mastectomy whose storyline serves no purpose and isn’t handled well. (The main characters gift her fake breasts so she can please her husband.) AJ’s mother who suffers from addiction is miraculously able to go cold turkey without any withdrawal symptoms when she realizes her daughter is missing. The intentions are admirable, but the writing is so painfully cheesy and lazy that its attempts at representation are laughable.

Redeeming qualities? Admittedly, the show has a few. The lighting is impeccable, for example. Scenes frequently have vivid and eye-catching undertones where, although characters might only be in a Chinese restaurant, they’ll have an alluring red-and-blue glow to them. This especially makes the nightclub scenes visually appealing. And even if the first few episodes are rough, the main characters turn out to be well developed and have good chemistry with one another. Robert, played by RuPaul, isn’t just a flamboyant drag queen; he’s also a germaphobe, extremely talkative, annoyingly meticulous, and gullible. Seeing as how the show had hours of screen time to develop these

characters, the fact that they at least managed to pull that aspect off is appreciated.

Now, if AJ and the Queen existed in a vacuum devoid of social context then its awful representation might be excusable. But it doesn’t.

RuPaul Charles has been an inspirational icon in the LGBTQ+ community for decades.

His reach and influence on pop culture, especially outside of traditional LGBTQ+ circles, has only grown with the rise of his reality TV series, RuPaul’s Drag Race. There is a sense of duty entrusted to marginalized individuals that have achieved success and recognition: make the way easier for others. This is needed especially now in a time when hate crimes in the U.S. based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability have increased from 2017 to 2018.

It’s difficult to believe RuPaul’s intentions are pure when he tries to educate his audience on aspects of the LGBTQ+ community while also incessantly promoting his own music and trying to cram as many RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants as possible into each episode. Not only does it come off as disingenuous, but it feels like he’s pandering to fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race and trying to benefit from the platforms that drag queens from the show have built for themselves.

After watching the entire first season, it can confidently be said that watching a dumpster fire would be a more thrilling experience than AJ and the Queen, and it would probably be less predictable and have higher stakes too. Save your time and look for better LGBTQ+ content elsewhere. You’ve been warned.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

ARTS YouTube //

Becoming deathpositive

The YouTuber that might make mourning easier MIKAELA COLLINS Ask a Mortician is the name of a YouTube channel run

by Caitlin Doughty, who is — you guessed it — a mortician. A funeral industry professional for 14 years and the proprietor of her own funeral home in Los Angeles, she answers common questions on her channel about death and the death industry.

Doughty is, as she puts it, death-positive. Without context, this sounds like something a serial killer might put in his “about me” section on Tumblr, but in practice it means that Doughty aims to weaken the taboo against talking about death in North America by dispelling the myths and misconceptions that many of us have internalized about death, dead bodies, and funerals.

Doughty also works to desensationalize tragedies and non-mainstream death practices, and her video series, “Iconic Corpse,” is devoted to humanizing people whose corpses are widely known, but whose lives — and wishes for their corpses — aren’t.

Ask a Mortician’s goofy thumbnails and attentiongrabbing video titles, many of which are at least partly in all caps, reflect Doughty’s enthusiasm for the subject matter, but she invariably approaches each topic with a staunch sense of empathy and respect — and a sense of humour.

I’ve watched Ask a Mortician for almost two years, and the more I’ve learned, the more opinions I’ve developed about death, like what I want to happen to my body and what I think about common death practices. Doughty champions the idea that everyone, not just death industry professionals, are able to make good decisions about death and should be able to be as involved as they want to be. I became comfortable thinking and talking about death, but I was only doing it hypothetically. When I became death-positive, I hadn’t experienced losing a person I actually knew. Secretly, I wondered if my comfort was just bravado that would fall away instantly when I was

faced with the death of a loved one.

And then my grandmother died. And I was fine.

My dad called from the hospital late at night, and I took the bus home to Chilliwack the next morning. I hugged him, asked if he knew what Granny had wanted to be done with her body, and offered to call the funeral home. Because of Ask a Mortician, I felt able to take this responsibility off of people who were grieving more than me — my dad for his mom, and my grandpa for his wife of over 60 years. I not only had basic knowledge of the funeral industry and our rights within it, but I had the emotional wherewithal to directly and calmly ask my grandfather what he wanted to do with my grandma’s body. Having reassurance from Doughty in the back of my mind that it wasn’t wrong to ask those questions meant that, while I was grieving for my grandmother, I could process the things that couldn’t wait for that grieving to be done.

A few days after she died, my grandpa asked me to move some photos from his flip phone to his laptop and save them to a certain folder.

When I pulled up a photo he had taken of my grandmother’s body, he said, quickly and quietly, “I don’t know why I did that. I shouldn’t have done it.”

My first instinct as someone from a society where death is kept behind closed doors was to be taken aback, even disgusted, but I didn’t say that. I said what I knew from learning that there are more — and sometimes better — ways to handle death than what you can buy at

your average funeral home: “It’s okay.”

As Ask a Mortician has gained more funding and followers, the channel has moved far beyond Doughty sitting in her oddity-filled apartment and talking to the camera; while combating death, denial underpins all of Doughty’s work. She has content for history buffs as well as the modern death enthusiast. Some videos, like “The Donner Party: What Really Happened?” and “Salem Witch Trials- NEW Revelations” are shot on location at sites of famous deaths, and she also does more interactive videos, like “Mortician Does My Makeup for the Casket,” and “We Recreated a Victorian Funeral,” with other death professionals and researchers. Doughty’s videos are thorough and well-researched, often offering fresh perspectives on topics that are widely known but poorly understood, like the Columbine High School shooting and the suicides in Aokigahara.

Watching Ask a Mortician didn’t make it easy to lose my grandmother, and it didn’t make me a perfect mourner or a perfect daughter or granddaughter. But, it helped. Doughty’s videos are accessible and engaging as well as informative, and her commitment to helping people is at the forefront of all of her work. If you’re expecting the death of someone close to you, if you want to be as prepared as you can be for an unexpected death, or if you just have a natural curiosity about death that our culture says you should keep quiet, you need to be watching Ask a Mortician.

Rewind //

Laughs and lessons in Groundhog Day When life is on repeat, change must come from within

ALEISTER GWYNNE Lately I have been thinking about the movie Groundhog Day, a 1993 film starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. I decided to give it a watch again recently, and I found that it holds some relevance to my own experiences.

The story follows the character of Phil Connors (Murray), a TV news reporter who is sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where the groundhog comes out on Feb. 2 to find out if it sees its shadow — and if it does that means six more weeks of winter.

This is Phil’s fourth year in a row covering the event, and his heart just isn’t in it anymore. He’s also rude and self-centered, constantly making snide remarks and having an inflated opinion of himself. It seems that Phil’s life is going nowhere.

The next morning, Phil wakes up to discover it is Groundhog Day again, with everything playing out the exact same way, apart from any changes Phil makes. Every day at 6 a.m., everything resets. No explanation is ever given for how or why this happens.

Over the course of the movie, Phil reacts in a variety of ways to his odd situation, ranging from confusion, to consequence-free debauchery, to suicidal despair, to seeking personal improvement and fulfilment. Along the way, Phil is driven by his twofold quest of escaping the time loop and winning the affection of his co-worker Rita

(MacDowell).

Despite having seen it before, the humour in the movie still made me laugh. However, what really appeals to me are the poignant and thought-provoking aspects of the premise.

At times, we can feel like our lives are going in circles; we are unhappy with ourselves, and it can feel like there is no way out. Being stuck in a Groundhog Day loop could be a blessing in some ways since you would have as many do-overs as you need to get things right. On the other hand, waking up at 6 a.m. to an alarm clock radio playing the same song every single day would be utter hell. Yet the question is irrelevant since none of us will have this blessing/curse. Time keeps travelling on, and we always have to live with the consequences of yesterday.

However you choose to explain the time loop, at its core, Groundhog Day is a metaphor about breaking habits and taking charge of your own fate. Despite appearances, we are not doomed to go around in circles forever, and though it may take lots of time and effort, it is possible to get out of the rut you may find yourself in, which is an encouraging thought.

So, with the real Groundhog Day approaching, I recommend giving Groundhog Day a watch again, or for the first time, as the case may be.

We could be in for six more weeks/ months/years/however long of winter, yet no matter what, spring comes for all of us eventually.

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Note:

Some of these events require tickets, most are on Facebook. If something catches your eye, take to the internet for more details.

• Design Thinking Innovation Workshop @ Abbotsford Campus A225, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

• UFV Theatre student pop-up performance: Dog Sees God by Bert V. Royal @ Abbotsford Campus D105, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

• UFV Opportunities Fair @ UFV (Chilliwack) CEP Building A atrium, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

• Lord of the Rings Trivia Night @ Dead Frog Brewery, 7:00 – 11:00 p.m.

• Open Mic Night @ Trading Post Brewery and Tasting Room, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

• Live Music @ S+L Abbotsford, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

• Let’s Dance for Mission Hospice Society @ The Stage, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

• UFV Theatre student pop-up performance: Dog Sees God @ Abbotsford Campus D105, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

• Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night @ Trading Post Brewery and Tasting Room, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

• Winter/Spring 2020 Exhibition Opening Reception @ The Reach, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

• Drag Queen Music Bingo @ The Stage, 7:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

• An Evening with Switchcraft @ Captains Cabin Pub, 8:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.

• Clay Scott @ Trading Post Brewery and Tasting Room, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

• Curator’s Tour @ The Reach, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

• UFV Lead program info session @ UFV (Abbotsford) K155, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

• Tucked & Loaded @ The Stage, 9:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

• Abbotsford Family Literacy Day Celebration @ The Reach & the Clearbrook Library, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

• Blues Hoodoo @ Tractorgrease Cafe, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

• UFV Music Festival @ UFV (Abbotsford) B101, 3:00 – 7:30 p.m.

• • • •

Adrian Bellue @ Tractorgrease Cafe, 1:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Lisa Rae Simons @ Dead Frog Brewery, 2:30 – 6:00 p.m.

Project: Life Shift Launch @ Tractorgrease Cafe, 4:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Boardwalk Puzzle Challenge @ Boardwalk Cafe and Games, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

• Youth Open Stage @ The Railyard, 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

• Gender Diversity Workshop @ Abbotsford Campus A225, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

• Caitlin Canning @ Trading Post Fort Langley Eatery, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

• Kyler Pierce @ Trading Post Abbotsford Eatery, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

• Open Mic Night @ Trading Post Brewery and Tasting Room, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

• Live Music @ S+L Abbotsford, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

• SUS ALP Module: The Revitalization of Indigenous Languages with Marny Point @ Evered Hall, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.

• Environment and Planning Network Event @ UFV (Abbotsford) University House, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

• • • •

Glow Yoga @ Abbotsford Campus E105, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Begonia @ Tractorgrease Cafe, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Art-making for newcomers to Canada @ The Reach, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night @ Trading Post Brewery and Tasting Room, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

• Physical Activity at Every Size Workshop @ Abbotsford Campus K173, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

• 2019 Mission Business Excellence Awards @ The Stage, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.

• Brad Pedwell @ Trading Post Brewery and Tasting Room, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

• Casinos, The Sylvia Platters, Primp, & Bellflowers @ Carport Manor, 7:00 – 11:30 p.m.

• Beatles Live Band Nerdlesque @ The Stage, 8:30 – 11:30 p.m.

• Art-making for newcomers to Canada @ The Reach, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

• Superhero Sundays: Marvel Champions Meetup @ Boardwalk Cafe and Games, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m.

• Wellness Workshop: Coping Skills @ UFV (Abbotsford) D105, 1:00 – 1:45 p.m.