Nav Vol 46 issue 04

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OCT. 22

NOV. 04

Vol 46

NAV I GATOR VANCOUVER ISLAND UNIVERSITY STUDENT PRESS

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MODEL UNITED NATIONS CLUB

DARKENING OF THE LIGHT: ALL HALLOW’S EVE

CAFÉ REVIEW: MON PETIT CHOUX

Vancouver Island University’s Model United Nations (MUN) club has a new leader, Shantel Beute, who is hoping to improve the club’s structure.

A holiday celebrating the dead by any other name… Halloween has been celebrated in some form, and under many different names, for centuries.

Let’s talk French. Not really, because I can’t speak French, so let’s just talk about Mon Petite Choux. This French café and bakery is in the heart of downtown Nanaimo.

Contents

NEWS

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Editorials

Local business owner takes on Dragons’ Den in hopes of growing business

University of Ottawa students crash building opening ceremony with “Drop Fees” protest

UNBSU website running again after hack by ISIS supporter

Bomb threat at VIU

Model United Nations Club VIU students launch free literary magazine

FEATURES

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Café review: Mon Petit Choux

How your sleeping brain makes decisions without you

Where the city crumbles: Derelict

Point of VIU

Darkening of the light: All Hallow’s Eve

Book review: Artificial Cherry

Book review: Psychos

ARTS

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Album reviews: Mac Demarco and Flying Lotus

Movie review: Winter Sleep

Digital visions of Kris Vieaux

The Body Politic and Quartered join forces on double tour

Why poetry matters

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Mariner women looking ahead to playoffs

Mariners split Island rivalry

Mariner men wrap up season in first place

Odds and ends Comics, sudoku and more

SPORTS

Buccaneers steady as season continues

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Clippers continue ascent to top spot

Mariner women drop Island rivalry

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VISFF annual fundraising gala

Letters

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TheNav .ca THE NAVIGATOR WELCOMES READER CONTRIBUTIONS

Notice of Election

Notice of AGM

Nominations: September 25 at 4 pm – October 23 at 4 pm

Annual General Meeting Monday, October 27 at 5 pm Bldg. 193, rm. 217

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Agenda: • Managing Editor’s Report • Counting of the ballots for board election • New business

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For more information, or to organize the drop-off of a nomination form, email <editor@thenav.ca>.

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CONTRIBUTORS Brennan Hinchsliff Sean Enns Philip Gordon Kaleigh Studer Drew McLachlan Valerie Franklin (CUP) Jon Asher Spencer Wilson Johnny Blakeborough Jennifer Cox Jenny Garceau Sam Laidman (CUP) Sean McCullum (CUP) Adam Feibel (CUP)

Letters to the editor should be no more than 400 words in length. The Navigator does not pay for letters. Opinions expressed in The Navigator are expressly those of the author and/or artist and do not reflect the views of The Navigator staff.

900 Fifth Street Bld. 193, Rm. 217 Nanaimo, BC V9R 5S5 T/ 250-753-2225 F/ 250-753-2257

STAFF Leah Myers Editor-in-Chief

Blake Deal News Editor

Kotarah Rivere Copy Editor

Brendan Barlow Social Media Sp.

Christine Franic Business Manager

Rio Trenaman Art Director

Ben Chessor Sports Editor

Jessica Reid Graphic Designer

Antony Stevens Web Editor

Gareth Boyce Board President

Alexandria Stuart Associate Editor

Kelly Whiteside Production Editor

Dahlia Yuen Graphic Designer

Felix Naud Multimedia Prod.

Denisa Kraus Arts Editor

Molly Barrieau Senior Copy Editor

Euodia Mutua Ad/Sales Rep

Lynne Williams Bookkeeper

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LETTERS 03

Editorials

Gluten, ghouls, and all other evils Leah Myers Editor-in-Chief The Navigator This Halloween, hundreds of girls and boys will knock on doors dressed as goblins, ghouls, and all things scary, politely asking their neighbours for candy. After an hour or two of soliciting for the sweet sake of sugar, the sleepy monsters are complacent, follow their parent’s home, excited for their hard-earned treats. Today’s parents have a more thorough job than they once did, though. They laugh about a time when the only thing to look for in Halloween candy was an already open wrapper. Mothers and fathers take out a pen and paper to make a check-list: gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, dairyfree, lactose-free... And after plucking out milk chocolate bars and anything with soy or a crusty nugget, the exhausted parents give their children the bag of candy back, resting assured that the only evil left is a massive amount of sugar.

During the summer, I was out for a stroll along the waterfront and I walked past a couple of girls having “the gluten talk.”

“What’s with the hate on gluten? I love the gluten! I’ll take all the gluten!”

“Well unless you have celiac disease you don’t really need to eat gluten-free, anyway.”

Since then, I’ve heard the gluten evil being questioned several times in conversation, mostly by people who think

the gluten-free trend is the pretentious new “cool food” to be allergic to (are food allergies really becoming a trending form of hipness?).

And like any bandwagon, people like to criticize it. I’ve especially heard complaints about those who openly discuss their diet in a way that’s not entirely honest. Sure, a sensitivity isn’t the same as an allergy, but is the seriousness of a legitimate allergic reaction being threatened by those who claim allergy when they actually just have a sensitivity to the food?

At the risk of being pegged as a food-allergy phony, I’d like to unabashedly admit that if I go into a coffee shop and ask for a soy or almond milk mocha, I also ask for the whipped cream on top. And at another chance of being judged as a woe-is-me, my-life-is-tough, privileged young Millennial (yeah, yeah) I’d also like to say that it’s kind of annoying when I’m at a coffee shop with someone and I’m teased for ordering it, like I’m some sort of faux lactose-intolerant person that makes the legitimate ones look bad. With dairy, I can have small quantities. If I drink too much, my stomach starts sloshing around like a carton of milk in a grocery bag.

Although I partly think that people have started to claim allergy as a way to avoid feeling the need to explain their diet or food restrictions, saying that you’re allergic to gluten probably gets a lot less flack than saying you’re trying to cut carbs (“But why are you trying to avoid carbs? Are you trying to lose weight? Don’t you know that every size is beautiful?” etc.). It’s kind of like how I get out of petting people’s cats and their house by claiming allergy (“I’m sort of allergic to cats. No I don’t need an allergy pill. I mean, my nose just gets a little stuffy is all...”).

Abiding to these dietary restrictions doesn’t necessarily make your food choices healthier; alternative cooking and

health can go hand-in-hand. Although at this point in my life, I don’t strictly adhere to a vegetarian diet, I do a lot of meatless cooking and I’ve been fortunate to have had people in my life who are vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc., and I’ve realized there are many misconceptions about the meat-less, vegan,gluten-free world. Just like there’s bad and good cooking in general, there’s also bad and good cooking in the veggie platform. One of my favourite compliments after I cook a meatless meal for a non-vegetarian is, “You mean there’s no meat in this?” Although, I think there’s a big misconception amongst the non-veggie crowd that vegetarians spend their time trying to mimic the taste and consistency of meat. The “fake meat” veggie products in the grocer probably make a killing off the packs of soy hotdogs and luncheon meat that new vegetarians eat before they learn how to cook for their diet. For me, the best part about axing a bunch of stuff from your diet, for whatever reason, is that it gives you the opportunity to work with a whole new set of ingredients that you probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

Have you ever used coconut or almond flour instead of wheat flour? Sure, it’s gluten-free, but it’s also awesome. Have you ever baked with apple-sauce as a substitute for butter? Sure, it’s dairy-free, but it’s also delicious.

This Halloween, I hope you all indulge yourselves in the goodies you love, whether it be gluten-free candy bars with beer or soy hot chocolate with whipped cream, let it be your body and your choice of holiday food sensitivities!

All Hallow’s Sleaze Alexandria Stuart Associate Editor The Navigator Massive generalization alert: Guys can’t help themselves.

They love a slutty nurse, a slutty school teacher, a slutty elf, a slutty secretary, a slutty bride, and, given the opportunity, probably a slutty meter reader. Name a costume and someone has probably come up with a slutty version of it. Is this particularly disturbing turn in Halloween celebrations getting old? It doesn’t show any signs of going away—maybe it’s just me.

Please don’t get me wrong—this has nothing to do with the politics of slut-shaming. It’s a woman’s prerogative to do whatever she wants with her body, and I couldn’t feel any more strongly about this. What I find sad is that a lot of great ideas get passed by because they’re about as sexy as a mailbox, so The Sexy Nurse thing gets a disproportionate amount of play.

Granted, some popular costumes play slutty quite naturally, like Catholic schoolgirl (why would they make those uniform skirts so short, really?) and French maid (again with the skirts). Then there’s the slutty supernatural sub genre with the vampires, devils, and even werewolves (see spread story) that get the hotness treatment in popular culture. For the ladies anyway. Sadly, the male versions of the supernatu-

04 EDITORIALS

rals usually lean towards the grotesque: think King Vampire in Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain or Tim Curry in Legend (hot bod but a face only a mother could love).

So there’s a giant gender inequity in The Sexification of Halloween. Where do we bring The Sexy for guys? There’s The Village People, the seminal disco-era quintet who brought us the sexy cop, construction worker, cowboy, soldier, and leatherman (and yes, the headdress-toting first nations band member who was sexy but politically incorrect). Then there’s the subtly sexy, understated options like Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (best executed as a group costume): six sultry young men in good suits sporting overcoats of smooth attitude. From there it’s a short leap to the less coiffed, but equally violent characters from The Walking Dead. Their appeal is less obviously sexual, more blood and dirt and angst-covered sexy in an “I just need to be cradled to your bosoms” sort of way. (I’m thinking of Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon here—don’t you just want to brush the hair out of his eyes then give him a bath?)

If not zombie hunters, the zombies themselves have emerged as an alternative to The Slutty Anything. Zombies are trendy and have been interpreted in a variety of ways. In 28 Days Later, the zombies are super-speedy in contrast to The Walking Dead’s slow shufflers. And we can’t forget the toe-tapping undead in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video.

All pretty hard to bring the sexy to (though Jackson tried).

Male or female, exercising the urge to leave yourself behind for an evening is Halloween’s main draw today. It’s a night for make believe, for the suspension of disbelief we used to practice so easily as children. But unlike the kids, it seems like when women want to throw off the shackles of the everyday—of being a student or a mom or working the window at the drive-thru—

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they want to do it in the sluttiest way possible. Slutty anything.

Slutty gas station attendant, slutty nuclear physicist, or slutty groundskeeper—as long as you can flash your décolletage and underbutt cleavage for all the world to see.

What troubles me is that this has become our default position, that we’re so repressed and removed from our natural, sexual selves that we need to blow our collective loads on one single holiday. The more public the better. Halloween has become a night when the bars are guaranteed to be packed­—one of the biggest party nights of the year.

The unintended consequence (and source of smug self-satisfaction for the teetotallers) comes the day after.

This is when we’re treated to spectacular executions of The Walk of Shame. Yes, New Year’s Day people-watching features revellers resplendent in formal wear stumbling by, but it’s hard to beat the day after Halloween when The Slutty Nurse crawls home in the cruel light of dawn, mascara down to her chin. That’s worth settling into a window seat at your local café for. (In fairness, there’s no shortage of guys marching by in tattered green shorts carrying Incredible Hulk masks, or other superhero paraphernalia, hairlines still smeared with leftover coloured face paint.)

So here we go. In the interest of avoiding these kinds of humiliations, I’m looking for the least slutty costume I can find. Cover me in fleece head to toe. A mask too, but not a sexy one like Catwoman. A Teletubby—that’s the ticket. At least I won’t freeze my sexy bits off tromping door-to-door around the neighbourhood. I’ve had a lot of fun flashing those sexy bits around bars in the past, but this year I’ll be saving them, warm at home for my favourite grownup trick or treater.

News

Local business owner takes on Dragons’ Den in hopes of growing business BLAKE DEAL

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VIU alumni and Real Estate Webmasters (REW) CEO Morgan Carey brought his business to CBC’s Dragons’ Den looking to increase its size and productivity.

REW is a company that helps real estate agents increase their online presence and in turn increase their business. They help by providing professional services in search engine optimization, ad buys, social media, and content development.

Carey launched the company 11 years ago after a successful start as a search engine consultant. As a search engine consultant, Carey said he built a brand around himself that made him what people wanted. He said working 16 hour days and being busy non-stop helped him realize he needed to specialise in a market.

Choosing real estate, he developed REW. Carey said he first started with marketing. He said “most vendors sucked” at the time and finding reliable graphic designers was hard. He also said the idea of the company is to take the marketing out of the realtor’s hands. “The only thing we can’t do is drive the clients to the houses.”

The company serves mostly US clients. Sutton Realty is the biggest brokerage they work with in Canada. REW charges in US dollars,

making it easier to sell to the US. The way the country is spread out also makes it an easier market, but Carey said they “are looking at how to bridge the gap.”

Carey said the future of REW involves getting more space. He wants to fill the building he is in and train more people, but the problem with getting more office space in Nanaimo is that the town is “terrible to deal with when it comes to real estate development.”

The success of the company landed REW as a profit 500 company.

Carey was encouraged to try out for Dragons’ Den, so he emailed them and got a response. He did an interview with them when they were in town and made it to the main show.

Carey said his pitch was different than what the show was built for.

Most people go on the show with an idea, hoping to get help, but Carey was bringing in an already successful company.

Carey said, when on the show, he was told he was there because he “wanted to get on TV,” but he insists that was not the reason.

“I said ‘do you know how to take a company from 100 employees to 1000? Well neither do I.’” Carey said the point of going on the show for him was to find someone who can help take the company from a million dollar company to

a billion dollar company.

“I want this to be a billion dollar company in five years,” said Carey.

“I need help there.”

Without the help of an investor to help expand the company, Carey said it will be difficult to get to where he wants to be.

Having someone who knows how to build companies and has the contacts already can save some very costly mistakes.

About going on the show, Carey said he had a lot of the same questions that most people have.

“The big question was how real is this,” said Carey. “It’s quite real.”

He said when you go out to do your pitch there is no do-overs and no directions. They offer consulting and ask how you would pitch. They will give you advice and some steps to go through, but they don’t change your pitch and nothing is scripted.

“In five seconds, the pitch is out the window,” Carey said. “The Dragons can take it in any direction; you have to improvise.”

He said that filming is a lot longer than the episod­e—you can be filming for hours.

The episode airs on CBC November 19 at 8 pm. For more information about REW, visit <realestatewebmasters.com> or find them on Facebook.

Bomb threat at VIU

VIU alumni and Real Estate Webmasters (REW) CEO Morgan Carey brought his business to CBC’s Dragons’ Den looking to increase its size and productivity Courtesy of Real Estate Webmasters

KELLY WHITESIDE On October 9 at approximately 4 pm, a bomb threat was called in to Vancouver Island University’s International High School. 75 people were evacuated from buildings 345 and 350. The campus remained closed to all, including buses and students living in residence, until 5:30 pm.

Students in class described being startled when a man in a hardhat demanded they evacuate immediately and assemble down the hill in Lot G, according to Philip Gordon, a Creative Writing student who was in a poetry class at the time.

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THE NAVIGATOR Vehicle access to the Nanaimo Parkway via Fifth St. was blocked at Wakesiah St., and Fourth St. was closed as well. Nanaimo RCMP conducted a search of the area with a Services Dog and found nothing suspicious.

Students were angry about the interruption to class time and exams, said Antony Stevens, another student whose class was interupted, noting that they pay a lot of money to attend VIU. He also expressed concern for the safety of children attending Malaspina Day Care Centre.

NEWS 05

University of Ottawa students crash building opening ceremony with “Drop Fees” protest ADAM FEIBEL

THE FULCRUM

OTTAWA (CUP) — The University of Ottawa held a party for the official launch of its new research building and student officials were there to crash it.

Several executive members of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) and a few students showed up at the unveiling of the Advanced Research Complex (ARC) to demand the Ontario government drop student tuition fees and further invest in post-secondary education.

The morning of September 30, the university celebrated the opening of the $70 million ARC, located on King Edward Ave. near the Minto Sports Complex. The school revealed plans for the five-storey, 14 thousand-square-metre complex two years ago, designed to give a bigger home to the university’s advanced photonics and geoscience research.

In attendance was Reza Moridi, minister of training, colleges and universities, which granted the group of students “a brilliant opportunity to raise awareness and put pressure on him about students’ discontent,” according to Nicole Desnoyers, the SFUO’s vice-president of services and communications.

At the launch, SFUO executive Chris Hynes stood a few metres from the podium, where he interrupted the university’s Vice President of Research Mona Nemer with a pre-written speech while fellow members stood nearby behind a large banner.

“We are here on behalf of students of this university to send Minister Moridi and the Government of Ontario a message: defy the conventional and invest in post-secondary education,” Hynes began, playing off the slogan from the U of O’s new marketing campaign launched last month.

“This is a research centre, and research for the public good requires public funding,” he continued. “Under the current Liberal government, however, we have seen nothing but cuts to our PSE institutions.”

Hynes, the SFUO’s Vice President of University Affairs, cited rising tuition fees over the last decade that he said are “largely due to underfunding of our education.”

According to the Canadian Association of University Teach-

ers, Ontario has the lowest per-student funding in Canada.

The U of O saw provincial funding drop by one percent in 2013–’14 and by two percent in 2014–’15, representing a total loss of $6.2 million from its budget over the last two academic years.

Tuition at the U of O has increased annually for the last nine years. The latest hike came this May, when the university’s Board of Governors voted in favour of a three percent increase for undergrads and a five percent increase for graduate students.

“When push comes to shove, students will fight back,” said Desnoyers.

However, the university has said it’s just trying to offset costs, since expenses mount at a greater rate than revenues.

For the first time, government funding accounts for less than half the university’s current $1 billion budget.

Hynes’ short speech was followed by a call-and-response chant between an audience member and the SFUO executive: “Drop what? Drop fees!”

After Nemer finished speaking, University President Allan Rock took the podium. Rock emphasized his appreciation for the “major contributions” from the provincial government and then asked the group of students to step out.

“Now, we’re very proud of our students—all of them,” Rock said, drawing a laugh from the crowd and the protestors themselves. “We’ve had some students here this morning expressing their point of view. I think they’ve done that very clearly. And I would now ask that they show respect for the occasion by withdrawing.”

The SFUO uploaded a Facebook video of the demonstration that drew a polarized response from students, some of whom deemed the action “justified” while others said they were “embarrassed” by the “disrespect” shown by the group.

Kyle Larkin, an elected student official who represents the Faculty of Social Sciences on the SFUO’s Board of Administration, said he agrees that tuition fees are too high, but the federation’s plan of action that day was wrong.

“It’s not an effective tactic if you’re pissing off the people

Courtesy of the Fulcrum that you’re trying to lobby,” said Larkin, who also works at a firm that deals with government lobbying.

“First of all, when you disrespect someone, they don’t want to talk to you,” he said. “Second of all, when you are going out and disrespecting not only elected officials, but also the administration of the school on behalf of students—I don’t think people are voting you in to disrespect people who hold important positions within the government or within the University of Ottawa.”

Desnoyers said the SFUO engages in a number of lobbying tactics, and protests like this one are a necessary part of that.

“Through years of having these conversations with university administrations and with the government and not seeing a lot of action coming from them, students feel the need to escalate,” she said.

The protest wasn’t necessarily about the ARC itself, Desnoyers said, but she did point to criticisms that despite a space shortage on campus, “millions of dollars went into this…only a handful of students will actually have access to it because it’s prioritizing external researchers.”

The university did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

VIU students launch free literary magazine ANTONY STEVENS

Courtesy of text magazine

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Nanaimo’s first free literary magazine, text, launched earlier this month at the Vault Café. Focusing on the “concise and eclectic,” the 32-page debut issue features “brief poetry” from local writers, including David Fraser, Kim Clark, and Mary Anne Moore, as well as “found poetry” and art from 17 other contributors. The October 7 launch was free to attend and featured contributor readings, an open mic portion, and a live performance by local band Deep Roots.

Founded and funded by VIU Creative Writing student Shaleeta Harper with the hope of making “poetry and art available anywhere,” text can be found for free around Nanaimo, including at the Vault Café and Literacy Central, and is also available fully online at <textlitmag.com/issues>. text has also started #poetryeverywhere to promote its ethos on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

The magazine’s other half, Philip Gordon, co-editor and social media manager (you can follow @textlitmag on Twitter), said the inclusion of found poetry was to diversify text

THE NAVIGATOR from similar, existing Canadian literary magazines such as Prism or The Malahat Review.

“I had all these whacky ideas about ways to democratize poetry and make people look for poetry in things that weren’t normally poetry,” Gordon said. “Found poetry for me is like the pivotal example of what makes you consider language in a unique way; you look at a random sentence and think, ‘Oh, is that found poetry? Do I find something poetic in there?’”

For the first issue, Harper paid for production of the first thousand copy print run almost entirely out of pocket. With their second issue, the duo hopes to have text entirely funded by ads, as well as expand by at least another 12 pages. Gordon also said there are big plans for the future of the magazine, including the possibility of publishing in eastern Canada.

“We’ve had a couple of queries from some people in Toronto who want to distribute the magazine,” Gordon said. “The people that contacted us are part of an art museum interested in distributing because

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they think our message is cool.”

But text is still in its first run, fresh to the public, and Gordon said there’s a lot still up in the air— especially due to mailing costs.

“When you’re printing a thousand, two thousand copies of a magazine, you need to get those somewhere. That’s tricky to do.

And even with people wanting to ‘subscribe’ (even though we don’t charge a subscription fee), well the postage for that adds up really fast.”

With text, the duo have created one of the few (if not the only) free literary magazines currently in print in Canada. Wax Poetry and Art literary magazine gets a nod as another free Canadian publication, but it’s available online only. While text is still only in its first print, reception has been strong so far; Gordon said both the launch turn out and the magazine interest has been positive.

Gordon accredits the pre-launch moral support of VIU Professor Joy Gugeler for helping him get past the worry that text would “completely fail,” and that he and Harper weren’t “completely crazy” for even trying.

“I’m not just saying that because

she bought me drinks after [the launch],” Gordon chuckles. “In terms of tangible, physical support: David Fraser and Ann Graham Walker from Wordstorm […] they’ve promoted the magazine at every event.”

With the launch out of the way and successful, Gordon and Harper hope their magazine will make poetry accessible and something their readers will care about. “[text] is a vessel for people to experience poetry in ways they wouldn’t normally think of doing so,” Gordon said. “It’s the first foot in the door for making poetry something people give a shit about.”

Submissions are currently open for December’s issue, which has already received “a ton of submissions,” including some international. Guidelines and contact details are available online at <textlitmag. com/guidelines>, and you can also show your support by tweeting or sharing your found poetry on Facebook alongside #poetryeverywhere.

UNBSU website is running again after hacked by ISIS supporter SAM LAIDMAN AND SEAN MCCULLUM FREDERICTON (CUP) — The University of New Brunswick Students’ Union website is back online after it was overtaken by an organization supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Monday night. It was restored to an earlier form by 10:30 pm that night.

The website was one of hundreds around the world that appeared to have been targeted by Team System DZ since at least October 4.

For several hours, the UNBSU website featured the organization’s name and anti-American rhetoric.

Below the organization’s name on the site read, “i love you isis.”

UNBSU Vice President External Nicole Saulnier said the union was in contact with the Fredericton Police Force after they discovered the website was hacked.

“We are very concerned and upset about what has happened to our website, and we will be doing our best to rectify this situation as soon as possible,” she said while the website was down.

An open Facebook page titled Team System DZ features links to at least 100 other hacked websites

THE AQUINIAN

Courtesy of The Aquinian since October 4, shared by a user also named Team System DZ. One post on the page references “server Israelian SQL injection.” An SQL injection seeks to add a command into a website’s code to gather hidden information like passwords, and in some cases can write over top of the existing website.

Below there’s a separate post that has a link to a file hosting and sharing website with a link for KompoZer, a website design tool.

Below the title on the UNBSU website was an Arabic phrase that roughly translates to, “God’s law is in progress. The Islamic nation is coming and God’s law will be

applied. You have been warned.”

The website then featured a scrolling textbox, that in part read: “The state of Islam and the list expands, God Willing. Now fighting began. This time is a time of Islam and victory and lift the injustice for Muslims and the elimination of America and the

allies of the infidels will not keep silent about one inch of the land of the Muslims. Will not keep silent about one drop of blood of Muslims. Will not keep silent about the symptoms of women and children… The alliance of all the world against the state of Islam will not succeed and will offer to martyrdom and Jihad…”

At the bottom of the page was another Arabic passage, which roughly translates to, “The heroes of the Islamic nation will not be forgotten. We will not forget he who sacrifices himself for God. Their motto is victory and martyrdom for God.” Bess Teague, Vice President of Student Services with the Union, gave a statement to the Fredericton Police Force on behalf of the UNBSU on Monday night after discovering the union’s website had been hacked.

Model United Nations Club at VIU NATALIE GATES Vancouver Island University’s Model United Nations (MUN) club has a new leader, Shantel Beute, who is hoping to improve the club’s structure and make it to the MUN conference at the University of British Columbia in January. In the past, MUN didn’t have a set student leader, which left it unorganized at times, Beute said at the first MUN meeting of the year. “It’s almost like the formation of a new club,” Beute said.

While the club will have the help of staff in the political studies department, such as Mark Williams and Catherine Schittecatte, Beute will cover most of the organizing.

Beute was part of MUN and attended the UBC conference last year, making her one of few students with experience in the club. She stepped into the leadership role when there was talk of the club not running at the beginning of September.

Beute’s biggest goal is to make it to the conference at UBC in January. Prior to the conference, the members will need to pick countries to represent and learn their foreign policy.

The club members will participate as delegates and stay in Van-

CONTRIBUTOR couver for a weekend, joining MUN clubs from schools all over BC, as well as Alberta, and Washington.

Students will take on roles such as security council, general assembly, women’s council, and media.

Each committee will then act as a chosen state, take on their policy, present topics, and role-play as if they are at an actual United Nations conference to discuss solutions to world issues.

“It’s not like class where you’re forced to write a paper by a date, but you will have to become familiar with your policy and write a short summary of it to reference,” Beute said. “You will learn lots of good skills, such as public speaking, debating, and foreign policy.”

But the club will benefit those who don’t go to the conference as well, because members will practice these same skills at meetings and learn a lot about world issues, Beute said.

Beute wants to improve fundraising for the conference and improve the organization of the club to make meetings more productive.

“Last year, we had everything covered except for food. If we can

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do enough fundraising to get our food covered too, that would be awesome,” Beute said. “So I want to work on that. The fundraising is probably where most of the work will come from.”

The MUN club will have elections to assign other students leadership roles. They will need to elect a president, vice president, and treasurer.

“I don’t want to be a dictator,” Beute said.

The students who take on leadership roles will have to prepare to take on extra responsibilities, such as managing emails with members, organizing fundraisers, and helping members learn their state’s foreign policy.

Beute also wants to improve the club’s relationship with the students’ union in order to receive more support, such as assistance with fundraising.

Beute hopes that this year will be successful enough to continue next year.

“We have a lot of new people this year,” Beute said. “Hopefully there will enough interest so we will have to be drive to make it to UBC, and get some return people for next year.”

NEWS 07

Features

CAFÉ REVIEW:

Mon Petit Choux SHALEETA HARPER

Smoked salmon on scrambled eggs with capers and creme fraiche, and a mocha

Shaleeta Harper

CONTRIBUTOR

Let’s talk French. Not really, because I can’t speak French, so let’s just talk about Mon Petit Choux. This French café and bakery is in the heart of downtown Nanaimo on the corner of Commercial St. and Wharf St.—a wedge of Paris in our cultural hub. There are a lot of cafés downtown, but this one sets itself apart for students because it’s large enough to loiter a bit. That’s not to say they encourage people sitting around, but with free Wi-Fi and plenty of outlets for my laptop, homework came naturally after lunch.

The space is flooded with light from walls of windows, complementing the bold baroque décor. The floor is speckled red, while the upholstery is cornflower blue with gold and brass accents, and there are marble tabletops. The café appears rich and elaborate, but the friendly servers give it a down-to-earth vibe. It’s hard not to get lost people-watching through the windows. The owner often works

front of house, making sure her customers are happy. She also seems to allow anyone with a poster or pamphlet to tape it on the wall or leave it on the window ledge, so it’s an excellent spot to discover what events are happening in the community.

Mon Petit Choux uses locally grown and organic products.

Their breads and pastries are fresh-baked every morning and often sell out by noon. Their soups are also made fresh daily. Their small menu features fancy-sounding brunch and lunch items that are seasonal, where possible, to make the most of fresh, local products.

I always order the smoked salmon on scrambled eggs because it comes topped with fresh cream and capers. It’s served with generous side dishes: a baguette with fresh preserves, fruit, and rosti (a hashbrown patty). It’s a filling and healthy dish with a delicate balance of flavours. And for less

than $10, it’s friendly to the student budget. The menu is priced competitively with the larger chain cafés even though Mon Petit Choux features fresh local products, something that restaurants often use as an excuse to charge more.

Vancouver Island’s Drumroaster Coffee company supplies their coffee. A regular cup is priced slightly higher than average shops (medium $2.25), but prices for other drinks are typical (medium mocha $4.25). It was properly bitter, and I was pleasantly surprised by the latte art and decorative sprinkling of cocoa. The size was impressive, and the texture was thick. Although the flavour wasn’t as strong as I’d like, the caffeine buzz more than compensated. It was a nice complement to my meal.

Mon Petit Choux is a good destination for an elegant, healthy lunch, with a side of inspiration when you need to finish a writing assignment.

Book review: Artificial Cherry by Billeh Nickerson PHILIP GORDON What is the purpose of a poem?

Poetry, something so often tied to emotion, can be a vessel to make us feel and think—to pause, laugh, or simply consider a part of the world in a new or unorthodox way. In Billeh Nickerson’s Artificial Cherry, the poem is a tool to capture moments and put them in plain English onto the page.

Nickerson, an humourous, outspoken, queer poet from Vancouver doesn’t shy away from poking fun at the absurd happenings in everyday life. In Artificial Cherry, his fourth full-length collection of poetry, Nickerson details off-putting instances of irony and uncomfortable social interaction through events like his tour of Canadian poetry readings, a radio interview turned disparaging diatribe, and the surreal jubilation of the Pacific Northwest Elvis Festival. The poem that opens the book, “Highway Game: Anal RVs,” lets the reader know immediately that Nickerson isn’t the type of poet to futz around with stuffy sounding language or obscure allusions. The intro poem is a litany of car brands and models, all prefixed with “Anal:” “The Anal Explorer, The Anal Safari, The Anal

FEATURES 08

CONTRIBUTOR Siesta / The Anal Ambassador, The Anal Diplomat, The Anal Dynasty,” etc. on through 14 lines of fitting rectally-supplanted nouns.

The poems that follow aren’t any more serious. “Pacific Northwest Elvis Festival,” a long account of the sights and sounds of the rockabilly impersonation celebration, details the bizarre with an almost clinical gaze. “Colour of Cadillac parked outside festival reception: pink // Number of participating Elvis tribute artists: 21 // Most imposing refreshment stand on the shores of Okanagan Lake: giant peach-shaped building.” In a set of remembered poetry readings, “Pride Coffee House, Victoria” describes a performer he followed: “a lesbian bongo player who / [wore] a white muscle shirt and seem[ed] to be in a trance…”

An excerpt from “Haiku Night in Canada” spits syllables in a tonguein-cheek adherence to the origin of the Japanese form: “The hockey chicken: / puck, puck, puck, puck, puck, puck, puck / puck, puck, puck, puck, puck.”

No matter the situation, Nickerson doesn’t hesitate to reach for levity. When he goes the other direc-

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tion, however, it seems like a stilted contrast to Artificial Cherry’s more natural, humourous tone. Some poems like “How Will We Line Our Bird Cages?” hint at poignancy, but it feels defeated juxtaposed against the escapades of its neighbouring poems. What’s more, its unshakingly plain and unremarkable language attempts at a deeper meaning but routinely flat.

Artificial Cherry isn’t without its somewhat moving moments, but the flashes of “Aha!” that come in the book are more from Nickerson’s ability to notice the subtle and often unnoticed than in anything he says about those moments. Even more troublesome, many of the poems in the book feel like they’re intent on overstaying their welcome. “Petrified,” a long poem about a conversation with a friend, builds up to a memory of a museum visit where “the curator invited guests / to decipher between / petrified wood and bone // by placing fragments on their tongues.”

But the poem isn’t content to end there—we’re told the mechanics of the distinction, and even more, the explicit sadness “when an old bone’s more romantic / than most

of the guys I’ve dated.” It feels like Nickerson isn’t confident in his reader; he doesn’t let the moment or revelation sink in, but feels the need to explain it before we can leave, which has the same effect as explaining a joke.

There are bits in Artificial Cherry to enjoy. As aware as he is of the humourous and the uncommon, Nickerson is able to get a few pauses and laughs before the collection runs out of pages. But after a few reads, it feels like there’s something missing. Is it the blood of poetry being more than simplicity and observation? We don’t need multi-syllabic, academic-sounding language to give the world meaning, but it seems like we might need something more than just saying the world exists—a special touch, a unique spin between the mundane and the mystical. For all the things Artificial Cherry is about, it seems to have missed that crucial separator, and deprives itself of a place in the pantheon of contemporary poetry worth more than a second glance.

How your sleeping brain makes decisions without you VALERIE FRANKLIN ABBOTSFORD (CUP)—Ever feel like you can’t shut your mind off? That’s because you can’t. The brain is constantly working, and now scientists have begun to map the amazing things it can do even while the conscious mind has gone to sleep.

According to previous studies, a portion of the brain continues to stay alert, in case of danger, while the body sleeps. However, a recent study from France’s École Normale Supérieure de Paris took that idea further: What if our sleeping brains not only remain alert, but are capable of processing ideas and making decisions without the conscious mind’s awareness?

In the experiment led by cognitive neuroscientist Sid Kouider and PhD student Thomas Andrillon (published online in Current Biology), researchers hooked 18 participants up to an electroencephalogram (EEG), then instructed them to categorize words by pressing a button as they fell asleep.

The subjects listened to a list of words and pressed either a left or right button to sort them into categories: first selecting words for animals or objects from the list, and then sorting real words like “hammer” from pseudo-words like “fabu.”

Once the subjects were asleep,

THE CASCADE (UNIVERSITY OF FRASER VALLEY) researchers repeated the experiment with a new set of words, resulting in fascinating results.

As the subjects were completely asleep, the EEG showed that their brains were still able to understand and categorize the new words, and do so just as accurately as they had when they were awake. It took two to three times longer for the subjects to process the information than it had when they were awake though. The electrical activity that would have caused their fingers to press the left or right button was still present, but because they were asleep, their hands remained physically motionless. “[The study shows] that the sleeping brain can be far more active in sleep than one would think,” Kouider told the British Broadcasting Corporation. “This explains some everyday life experiences such as our sensitivity to our name in our sleep, or to the specific sound of our alarm clock, compared to equally loud but less relevant sounds.”

Even more fascinating is that when they woke up, the subjects had no memory of the tests that had occurred while they were asleep. That means that not only did they process and sort the information while

Illustration courtesy Anthony Biondi/Cascade asleep, but their brains did it entirely automatically, without any guidance from their conscious minds.

What does this mean for the average sleeper? Nothing yet, but it

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could pave the way to a future where you can wake up smarter than you were when you went to bed.

There’s a lot of interest in harnessing the unconscious brain’s

power to learn while we sleep, Kouider told the Christian Science Monitor. “I don’t think it’s science fiction,” he said. “I think that’s where we’re going.”

09 FEATURES

Where the city crumbles:

Derelict RIGHT This store on Victoria Rd. at Milton St. has been closed to business for many years. Squatters called it home before fire set in. Demolition canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be far behind.

This large concrete building on Haliburton St. overlooks the Western Forest Products mill. Boarded up against intruders and the elements, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s currently for sale.

Paldi, a mill town outside of Cowichan Lake, languished with the weakening resource-based economy, and has taken on the air of a ghost town.

The many abandoned homes welcome partying teenagers, vandals, and squatters.

Brennan Hinchsliff

LEFT After years of unsavoury tenants, destructive squatters, fire, and an excruciatingly slow strip-down into cold dereliction, this house at the corner of Milton St. and Albert St. was finally demolished on October 10.

Alexandria Stuart Peeling away the last tufts of insulation, a skeleton of wooden bones is all that remained before the demolition equipment arrived.

Sean Enns

FEATURES 10

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Point of VIU DREW MCLACHLAN / CONTRIBUTOR

What’s the most embarrassing Halloween costume you’ve ever worn, or seen somebody else wear?

Emily Tranfield, 23, Biology

Kelsey Linde, 18, Social Sciences

Jessica Key, 22, Creative Writing

Heather Gregory, 28, Creative Writing

Tyler Stephens, 21, Philosophy

“One year I wasn’t sure what to dress as, and I only had ten minutes to decide, so I grabbed a red jacket, filled it with pillows, and told everyone that I was a tomato.”

“A group of guys in my high school decided they would all dress as the Avengers. For whatever reason, they all bought childsize costumes, so there was a lot of leg hair and bare stomachs around school that day.”

“I dressed as a loofa once, but I wasn’t really embarrassed. I ended up shotgunning beers in the bathtub all night.”

“A mammogram machine. It was a guy in a cardboard box with ‘free mammogram’ written on it.

It was pretty bad, but I still stuck my boobs in it.”

“When I was 13, I dressed as a woman for Halloween and everybody legitimately thought I was a girl.”

Book review: Psychos by Babe Walker KALEIGH STUDER Babe Walker is on a mission to find zen, or at least a version of zen that fits her definition. The only problem is that she is a narcissistic socialite with too much free time on her hands. And she complains about everything. Not very zen.

Psychos is New York Times bestselling author Babe Walker’s hysterical follow up to her debut White Girl Problems. Babe Walker also happens to be the name of the main character of the novel who we’re introduced to as a ridiculous, pretentious, and incredibly hilarious young socialite.

Babe Walker is also the pseudonym chosen by Tanner Cohen, David Cohen, and Lara Schoenhals whose Twitter account, “White Girl Problems,” quickly gained success and generated the material for

CONTRIBUTOR these two books. “It’s a culmination of this moment in pop culture that celebrates women who have a lot of money, a lot of shit to bitch about, but no real reason to be unhappy,” Schoenhals told The Daily Beast in July 2012.

Written primarily for young women, this faux memoir is the perfect length to keep you interested and laughing without becoming bored. It’s written informally in the first person point of view.

However, it isn’t for the faint of heart; if you’re offended by crude language and sexual topics then this isn’t for you.

This is the kind of novel that you hate to love, centred around a self-absorbed, rich girl from LA. Some of the situations become almost too ridiculous and may turn

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off some readers, but if you can grasp the humour in the storyline it truly is a hilarious read.

At the end of White Girl Problems, Babe has hit an ultimate low after spending nearly a quarter of a million dollars at Barney’s department store. She admits herself to Cirque Lodge, a rehab facility, hoping to change her way of life.

Psychos picks up the story as Babe is released from rehab. Her best friends throw her a “Welcome out of rehab” party, and everything spirals downhill from there. Babe’s alter ego, Babette, pops up throughout the book, fogging her ability to think rationally. This creates many ridiculous plot twists that are disturbingly hilarious and leave you eager to read more.

Shortly after returning home

from rehab, Babe starts receiving stalker messages written in black lipstick on various items in her room. Upset and troubled by this, she decides to take a trip to Europe to escape.

On her travels, Babe attempts to hide from her stalker and finds romance with strange men.

One lover steals all of her money and belongings—not a problem because her father quickly wires her a large sum of money. Unfortunately, the lipstick stalker seems to follow her each place she stays.

And so it goes on.

This novel was fun, comical, and easy to read. It would be the perfect book to read on a beach with a margarita in hand. You can also follow Babe’s adventures online at <www.babewalker.com>.

11 FEATURES

Darkening of the light: All Hallow’s Eve

ALEXANDRIA STUART

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A holiday celebrating the dead by any other name…

Halloween has been celebrated in some form, and under many different names, for centuries. There isn’t a single theory about the genesis of Halloween that stands as absolute, but some carry more urban myth clout than others.

The theory that seems to get the most play in popular culture pins Halloween firmly on the Celts. Their Samhain (“end of summer”) festival celebrated the harvest with food and drink. Harvest celebrations do tend to focus on food and drink though, so without a strong connection to spiritual elements, it’s hard to lay Halloween at the feet of Celtic tradition.

Looking for a spiritual basis in an end of season celebration points us towards the Catholic Church. All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November 1 and 2, are the most likely starting place. These days were dedicated to the dead—the somewhat slightly sinful ones— who were believed to be wallowing in Purgatory, and required an extra leg up to heaven.

Their passage into the next world required many familiar-sounding rituals: vigils, special garments, torchlight processions, bell ringing, and mass celebrated in the name of the dead. After moving All Saints Day to the last day of October, it was renamed All Hallows (an archaic English word for “saint” is “hallow”). This incarnation of the festival stretched over days, through to November 2, All Souls Day. Around the Protestant Reformation, things shifted. The rituals of All Hallow’s Eve and All Souls Day were forced underground and became family or community celebrations that included bonfires and midnight prayers for the dead. It may be that Protestants witnessing these midnight meetings mistook them for witchcraft, creating a link between the celebration and witches.

Without a strict connection to the church, people were free to establish their own customs and develop their own meanings for the activities of Halloween. In the absence of the guiding spiritual principles of the Catholic Church, those spirits out on the loose were feared and seen as more malevolent.

Revelers also borrowed liberally from the traditions of different celebrations throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, and Europe. Those included guising (dressing up) to outwit evil spirits, fortune telling, and mumming (begging for food doorto-door). This was the breeding ground for our modern day Halloween antics.

As the taste for the macabre deepened, ghoulish characters entered popular literature with the birth of Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster. And so Halloween continues to grow and change today. Its provenance remains a bone of contention for Christians and Neo-Pagans, both of whom would like to claim the seeds of the rites as their own. Halloween (and the Halloween origin-story myth) has been shaped to serve a variety of religious and cultural needs.

That’s where it came from. Where we are today looks very different.

Until the early 1930s, Halloween was an adult celebration featuring fortune telling, pranks, and harvest celebrations. Then the focus shifted to children who, over the next 40 years, ruled the night out in their costumes, demanding candy.

In 1970, the focus shifted back to adult celebrations. While children still dressed up and bobbed for apples, businesses saw dollar signs in catering to adults who were intent on recapturing their own childhoods, albeit with a ghoulish spin.

Decorations dot the lawns in October now, so elaborate that Christmas is beginning to pale in comparison.

Costumes have become a major investment in time and energy for adults who use the night to celebrate with friends. Parents accompanying their children door-to-door—as well as some of the people behind those doors—use the opportunity to dress up as well.

On the party circuit, a costume can become a status symbol. For the wealthy, theatrical supply stores rent intricate pieces, sometimes used as group costumes for wealthy cliques attending high-end private parties. Ornate, delicate pieces may serve the grand entrance and early evening mingling, while second and third costumes are pulled into duty as things become more raucous.

More affordable costumes fly off the racks almost immediately when they hit the stores in early October. There are many excellent costumes that come from the home seamstress, or anyone with instructions from the internet and a glue gun. We’ve come a long way from the bed sheet with eyeholes cut in the middle. Costuming has also reflected our changing mores and taken a turn into The Sexy Anything territory. (See editorial.)

Halloween and haunted attractions have become billion-dollar-a-year economic drivers.

Whether you buy or make your own fun, there are endless options when it comes to creating a cool Halloween. Let’s take a lurching step to our right, off the beaten path, and look at some of the things you didn’t know you needed for All Hallow’s Eve. (Disclaimer: the following are some of my personal favourites, listed without regard to popular or industry accolades, box office receipts, or what’s likely to fill the dance floor. Heck, some of these choices might actually hurt your popularity, but what better time to embrace your inner weird?)

Eyeballs For your viewing pleasure.

Like the frights but can’t stand horror movies featuring demons and devils?

Consider the crossover genre, Agri Horror, with titles like Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006), Black Sheep (2006), and ThanksKilling (2009).

Prefer your villains inanimate? Redefine the way that rubber meets the road with Rubber (2011).

Want to scratch your horror movie itch with true patriot love? Canadian filmmakers have produced some of the finest horror of our time: Dead Ringers (1988), Videodrome (1983), Scanners (1981).

Canada also produced one of the gnarliest werewolf tales of our generation: Ginger Snaps (2000), Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004), and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004). You haven’t seen a sexy werewolf transformation until you’ve seen Katharine Isabelle grow fur.

The Soska sisters (Jen and Sylvia) of Vancouver brought us American Mary (2012), a role written for Isabelle that pulls its horror from the world of extreme body modification. The Soskas also helmed this year’s See No Evil 2, which went straight to DVD on October 21.

And, of course, the FX Network has just returned with the latest installment of American Horror Story, Freakshow. Carrie Bradshaw (Sex in the City, another brand of horror altogether) said it best: “There’s nothing scarier than a clown.” These people are not messing around.

Tongues Halloween snacks, half-baked (or is that for the half-baked?).

Not up for Martha Stewart’s pristine Bedevilled Eggs, Goblin Flatbreads, Cauldron Curry, or Spinach Ricotta Skulls (who EATS like that)? For a more authentic, street approach, roaches headline the Halloween buffet table:

Stuffed Roaches (an appetizer involving dates and cream cheese) Roach Puree (dip featuring walnuts and garlic) Chocolate Cockroaches (with pecans and dates) Munch-A-Roaches (not your everyday Rice Krispy treat) Halloween Charred Roaches (cocoa spiced nuts) Cockroach Clusters (chocolate covered nest cookies)

Earholes A pop culture examination of all things Halloweenie wouldn’t be complete without music.

If the “Monster Mash” makes you murderous, and not in a good way, Canadian indie artists take a stab at some new seasonal offerings:

“Monster Hospital” - Metric “Things That Scare Me” - Neko Case “Graveyard” - Feist “Romance To The Grave” - Broken Social Scene

Rags And for many, the best part of Halloween: the guise. I’m not giving The Sexy Nurse another drop of ink (see editorial), so what are some of the coolest ideas we’ll see hit the streets this year? (Arguably, these are for adults, but they’d work for the kiddies, too.)

A bottle of Sriracha The Ice Bucket Challenge Frozen’s Queen Elsa Maleficent’s Maleficent Orange is the New Black inmate Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon (right? See editorial) The Avengers’ Captain America And finally, in the category of Too Soon, the Ebola costume

Arts

Album reviews Mac Demarco Salad Days

Flying Lotus You’re Dead!

ARTS 14

DREW MCLACHLAN

CONTRIBUTOR

A focus on earnestness and honesty in an artist’s work can illuminate their life in the same way a journal, biography, or folder of leaked nudes would. Such an album reflects the artist in completion—at that time at least. But to compare an album to a journal, biography, or folder of nudes wouldn’t be entirely accurate, as ten-or-so songs, likely written and recorded in the span of two years, can’t cover the same scope as the aforementioned journal, biography, or folder of nudes are designed to represent. Salad Days, the third full-length solo release of Mac Demarco, is best experienced when treated like the end of an early act of the Island-born musician’s discography.

The aptly-named Salad Days is a reflection of the emotional, hopeful, and somewhat juvenile era that dominated Demarco’s last release, 2. Where 2 focussed on themes like love (of both women and cigarettes), slackerism, and makeshift meth labs, Salad Days is a fading recollection of those things, coupled with the regret and triumphs gained thereafter. Demarco’s first release, the cheekily ironic and sometimes uncomfortable Rock and Roll Night Club, is the first sip of beer, 2 is the peak of the party, and Salad Days is the morning after when suddenly your friends have disappeared and you’re left with only memories and a blinding hangover. With the context laid out in Rock and Roll Night Club and 2, Salad Days says a lot about the struggle of growing up and moving on. It shows Demarco’s own journey as a musician, and projects the same sense of reflection on to the listener. It’s an 11-track anthem for regretful post-adolescence.

The melancholic mood of Salad Days is evident from the beginning, opening with the title track: “As I’m getting older / Chip upon my shoulder / Rolling through life / To roll over and die.” The theme of growing older and resentful is present throughout the album, coming to a tee in the regretful “Brother:” “You’re better off dead / When your mind’s been

JENNY GARCEAU

set / From nine until five / How could it be true? / Well it’s happening to you / So take my advice / And take it slowly, brother.” However, there are still happier moments to be found, like “Passing Out Pieces.” The organ-heavy, upbeat tune takes a more carefree approach to the reflective theme of the album. The song was also released as a surrealist video, following Demarco on a spree of pointless revenge through Montreal, until he inevitably ends up in a bathtub of lettuce where he gives birth to a plastic baby.

While Salad Days takes a thematic 180 degree turn from Demarco’s previous work, the album falls in line musically with 2, although with a much more mournful tone. Demarco makes use of unexpected effects, most notably “chorus,” to provide a dissonant, sometimes dreamy quality to his guitar. The eccentric and unconventional guitar melodies are balanced by the deadpan delivery of his vocals, creating a sound similar to “slacker-rock” artists like early Beck Hansen or Sonic Youth. Wrapped up in lo-fi production, it’s easy to overlook how precise and thought out Salad Days is, especially compared to the “garage studio” sound of Demarco’s previous project Makeout Video.

The album sticks to a specific style throughout, which is broken up only once, for the track “Chamber of Reflection.”

The song is driven by a synthesizer hook, accompanied by echo-y drums, a toe-thumping bass line, and Demarco’s wailing vocals. The sudden change in pace makes the repetitive hook more infectious, and Demarco’s vocals more emotional than they would be if “Chamber of Reflection” existed in its own world.

Salad Days marks a pivotal point for Mac Demarco. The theme of reflection suggests a degree of finality, not just in an era of Demarco’s personal life, but in his music. The album is an open page in Demarco’s biography, his journal, or his nudes folder, marked with a bold period. When Demarco turns the page, it will be a new story.

CONTRIBUTOR

A muted symphonic swell gives way to the familiar diced up jazz fusion sound that is undeniably Flying Lotus (aka FlyLo). You’re Dead! is FlyLo’s fifth album, and while the title would be indicative of the overarching theme of this album, special attention should be given to the exclamation mark at the end. Seemingly embracing the inevitable condition that unites all people—death—the album reads more like a celebration of life than a lamenting for what eventually must come.

A celebration of life wouldn’t be complete without guest appearances by your fellow counterparts on the scene, and Flying Lotus doesn’t hold back. The sure bet collaboration with Thundercat makes its appearance, and added to this album’s roster is Kendrick Lamar, Angel Deradoorian of Dirty Projector notability, the legendary Herbie Hancock, and Snoop Dogg (side note: I am totally lost as to when to refer to Snoop as a Dogg or a Lion).

The frenetic jazz, drum, and bass fusion of “Never Catch Me” with Lamar is so catchy it beats you over the head that resistance is futile. Try as you might not to give in to the star power of Lamar’s name, the song stands out as the thematic heart of the album (“Ain’t no blood pumpin’ no fear, I got hope inside of my bones / This that life beyond your own life, this say this go for mankind / This that outer-body experience, no coincidence you been died / You are dead”).

Also standing out as a moment to remember is “Siren Song” featuring Dirty Projector vocalist Deradoorian. With a warm crackle reminiscent of magnetic tape drawing the listener in, a shimmer of chimes gives way to a slow, heavy beat and Deradoorian’s choral voice stereo panning from ear to ear. Her

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ethereal vocals seamlessly move the listener into “Turtles,” a synthetic meditation of cultural influences. A bird-like trill, dampened wooden percussive elements, and FlyLo’s hallmark groove bass sound leave you feeling as if you are on a mythic quest in some dense, clandestine woods.

The album has a momentum as swift as a river current, with tracks so short and fluid with one another you may not realize you’ve traveled over a quarter of the album in seemingly no time at all. The longest track is just shy of three minutes (2:56). All the tracks on You’re Dead! feed into the next, giving true reward to the album aficionado.

To listen to any of these songs on their own, out of context of the album, would be like reading a single chapter from a novel, an unfair representation of the entire work.

Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead! makes for the most incredible, epic Zelda session music.

Movie review:

Winter Sleep

Courtesy of <macleans.ca>

SPENCER WILSON In literature, it is common practice to play on the imagination of the reader. The same could be said about watching a Nuri Bilge Ceylan film. Ceylan is a master of using silence in his films, such that the viewer must imagine what a character is feeling. He is a combination of Andrei Tarkovsky, with his long takes and well-framed shots; and Yasujirô Ozu, with his portrayal of characters and stories that feel authentic. These qualities are merged together to create Ceylan’s best film yet.

Fresh off his Palme d’Or win at the Cannes Film Festival, Ceylan stands out as one of Turkey’s greatest directors. He has had a successful career on the European film circuit, directing films with long takes and poetic landscapes like Distant (2002) and Climates (2006), but he is basically unknown to the average Canadian. His only popular mention up to this point has been in the Coen brothers’ short film World Cinema (2007), where Josh Brolin asks the usher if Climates has any livestock in it.

The film centres around Aydin (Haluk Bilginer), a former actor who owns a hotel built on a mountainous region in Anatolia, Turkey, as well some rental properties.

The hotel is popular with tourists and is fairly antiquated—lacking in some modern features because “the tourists like things to look natural.” He lives with his wife, Nihal (Melisa Sözen), who is much younger, and his recently divorced sister, Necla (Demet Akbag). In his spare time, he writes a column called “Voice of the Steppe” for a rather unknown, local newspaper, which he passes on to his sister to reluctantly read. He lives a more privileged life than most people in the area and thinks of himself as a person everyone admires.

Truthfully, he is an indifferent and disingenuous man that everyone,

CONTRIBUTOR including his wife, has a reason for hating.

While driving into town with the hotel’s assistant manager, Hidayet (Ayberk Pekcan), Aydin’s truck window is struck by a rock thrown by a boy named Ilyas (Emirhan Doruktutan). Ilyas’s drunken father, Ismail (Nejat Isler), is furious, hits the boy, and then lashes out at Hidayet. Ismail’s brother, Hamdi (Serhat Mustafa Kiliç), helps break up the fight and explains that Ilyas threw the rock because he was mad about the eviction notice the family had received. Ismail had been recently released from jail and was having trouble finding work, so he couldn’t pay the rent on time.

Meanwhile, Aydin sits in his truck watching the situation.

Back at the hotel, Nihal is miserable and is finding solace in helping to organize a charity to build schools for disadvantaged children.

Aydin feels left out as the organizing progresses and continuously sticks his nose in Nihal’s business by offering his own insights, which quickly begins to infuriate her. These moments reveal the fragility of their marriage as Aydin’s behaviour and the isolation of the hotel clearly take a toll on Nihal.

They are seen quarrelling in almost every scene they are in together, making it hard to imagine when they were ever happy with each other.

Interspersed between these scenes are some well-written and humorous conversations, such as the reoccurring scenes between Aydin and Necla when he is trying to write his articles. She is always sitting on the couch behind him offering her various insights, which are usually used to break up the film with some moments of natural humour. For the most part, they work well to relieve the tension between the scenes of Hamdi trying to please Aydin with insincere grins and promises, followed

by the uncomfortable interactions with Nihal.

The central theme throughout the film is the idea of not resisting evil. Aydin’s sister, Necla, often remarks that by defending yourself against a killer, the killer does not learn anything. This theory is further championed by Nihal while Aydin just laughs at them. Later on, Necla wonders if she shouldn’t have resisted her husband’s behaviour by divorcing him, and instead apologized for nothing in hopes that he’d feel ashamed. Nihal listens to Necla’s confession and tries to adopt the non-resistance technique as Aydin forcefully takes over the messy book-keeping for the charity. Following this theme, the main question at the end of the film became whether Aydin feels ashamed of his behaviour or not.

Although Ceylan’s previous films have been dominated by meditative pacing and a lack of dialogue, Winter Sleep places a greater emphasis on conversations between people. Ceylan and his wife, Ebru, spent six months writing the massive 285 page-long script, which is loosely based on The Wife and Excellent People by Anton Chekhov (Ceylan’s favourite author). The writing is rich in context with no piece of dialogue feeling unnecessary. But, after a while, the film begins to feel like an intellectual workout. With a runtime of three hours and 15 minutes (making it the longest film to win the Palme d’Or), the long conversational scenes that populate the film can feel tiresome. It becomes a struggle later on to keep up with all the philosophies that are shared amongst the characters, especially since most of them are so well-developed.

This isn’t a bad thing, depending on the viewer, but it will warrant multiple viewings.

The film is pristinely shot, with

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careful attention given to the framing. Ceylan does a marvelous job of capturing the beautiful landscape of Anatolia, which is a place often referenced in his other films. To execute his signature style of longtake conversations, but still have them take place in cramped hotel rooms, Ceylan includes mirrors in the frame so that each person’s facial expressions can be seen for the several minute-long shots. It also allows the viewer to see where eye contact is being made throughout the conversation; this is important since Nihal is often seen not looking at Aydin when he’s talking to her. In general, the use of glass is done very carefully—a stand-out example occurs in the beginning when the broken part of the truck window is obscuring Hamdi’s face, while Aydin’s face is shown on the unbroken portion, demonstrating that the incident has hardly damaged Aydin at all.

Every single performance in Winter Sleep is outstanding. Ceylan never has a problem getting

good performances out of his cast, which is essential when you write difficult material. Bilginer is fantastically pompous and arrogant as Aydin and Sözen portrays Nihal’s emotional breakdown with heart-breaking detail. The acting and the writing combine to make a cast of characters that feel well-developed with precise personalities.

Hanging on Aydin’s bedroom wall is a drawing by Ilya Glazunov, which was the cover for Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s first (although unfinished) novel, Netochka Nezvanova; it is nearly the exact same image used for the movie poster. Ceylan has always been a fan of classic Russian literature, but never has it been clearer than in the eloquent writing of his best film. Winter Sleep can feel like a long, gruelling torrent of emotions and philosophies, but it is a film that rewards the viewer for their patience. It would be no surprise if Winter Sleep won the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars next year. It is a triumph in Turkish cinema.

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15 ARTS

ated some crazy loops and colour combinations. Now that's done as digital manipulation.

Organic imagery and digital manipulation seems a little contradictory.

The vibrant colours and palette mixing are a hard thing to do with digital software. It can't process the organic world, the little accidents in life and nature. Computers don't know.

They can only simulate it.

Do you think you could one day bypass the software and create something entirely organic?

Yes. There's this guy in Germany who has a machine in which he puts...dishes. He doesn't need to use his hand to mix anything, so his hand never comes into contact with the lens. He just mixes in the grids and things that push each other away. It's totally organic.

There is a lot of abstraction, patterns, and psychedelia in your style. What draws you to that as opposed to, for example, something more figurative?

I enjoy abstract. But when people give me a theme, I'll make it more direct and related. Like the Good vs. Evil party at Romper Room. I researched the theme and found some footage of different good and evil imagery and made a collage out of it. But that's out of necessity. Or people ask me why I don't do something more political, using news footage like U2 did. But I don't enjoy making political things as much as watching it.

But you'd agree that even your abstract art has a message.

I guess. But it's more of a feeling than a message.

Kris Vieaux

Digital visions of

Denisa Kraus

DENISA KRAUS

CONTRIBUTOR

At first, he might seem like a man who’d rather let his art speak for him. But during our chat, he was eager to discuss anything from hitchhiking to the quality of my hardwood floor. Although he studied anthropology and sociology at VIU for seven years, he chose to make a living with his hands. He will make you believe he has a soft French accent, even though he was born and raised in Nanaimo. He dresses in earth tones, but his art will blow you away with striking colours and psychedelic patterns.

Nothing is black and white in the world of projection artist and DJ Kris Vieaux.

NAVIGATOR: Judging by your accent and name, I thought you were French.

KRIS VIEAX: I don’t have an accent. Maybe I sound like I have one because I’m shy and hold back. And it's a fake French name. It was the last name of my great-grandmother's boyfriend. It was Vieux, like “old” in French, but when he was blacklisted in the US during the Depression, he came to Canada and added the “a” so that he could find work.

What do you do for a living?

I am a jack-of-all trades. I've become a professional at restoration and building things.

How did you become a projection artist?

I've always been artistic and visual, and took tons of art classes in high school: painting, drawing, glass staining, and mural making. But after high school, I didn't have any avenue to do visual stuff, and taking art at university was too much of a luxury. It didn't even seem anybody else here was doing art.

So where did the push come from​?

I remember being 12 or 13 and watching U2's Zoo TV footage with tons of TVs and multimedia on stage. Then I went to see their Pop Mart tour with the world's biggest screen (they were just finishing their original efforts; I haven't been into them since). But I liked the pop art stuff and the

ARTS 16

psychedelic feeling you can experience with mixed media; the graphics and the vibrancy of colours. Then I got into electronic music and raves. I went to Europe when I was 19. I hadn't seen much projection art around here before going, but when I came back and went to live in Montreal, which is a big city for projection work, I was exposed to it a lot. But it wasn't until 2008 that I started playing around with it more seriously. I had some knowledge of the software and knew what kind of style I wanted to do, so when projectors got a little cheaper, my girlfriend and I bought one. She can watch movies at home and I can use it out in the bush at parties.

Do you use any older types of projectors?

I've used old slide projectors from the late ‘50s. We went on a road trip around the US last summer and I bought a couple of them for $10 each. I used them at the Psych Fest last year.

It was interesting to see how the projection can reach the whole interior of the venue. How did you achieve that?

I projected onto a convex security mirror so it spread out more.

What is your current weapon of choice?

I've spent five years working with Modul8 (visual mapping software). I'd like to bring more organic influences into it.

I've thought about filming or including some interactive media so that I could do it live on the spot. So I've been doing a lot of feedback video where you can point the camera at the source monitor and it creates a lot of crazy fractally colourful images.

How do you come up with something like that?

There are some local artists who specialize in feedback video, like the Trypton Media from Vancouver who did visuals for the Atmosphere and Diversity festivals. I go to see shows like that and then experiment. But even in high school, when we were doing projects with the camera from the library, I remember pointing it accidentally at the screen and it cre-

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What do you want people to feel?

Beauty, in some kind of way. And stimulation. It should be a background to what else is going on at the same moment.

And once it's gone you realize it was there.

It worked that way at the Damo Suzuki concert back in May, when you flooded the interior of St. Andrew’s United Church with colours and patterns. How would you describe the production of something like that?

I thought there was going to be some church representative and I wanted to make it beautiful. Not just for myself but also to show people that it doesn't necessarily have to be some drug-influenced stuff. I was aiming for a stained glass effect.

Do you have any strong visual experiences that influenced your style?

Yes (pauses, then laughs). Not necessarily legal. Let's just say I was at the Glastonbury festival in England and I really liked the paisley and kaleidoscopic imagery. I also like what I see when I rub my eyelids softly. Or when you're driving and the street lights shine into your eyes and create psychedelic patterns. And dreams are a big experience, too.

You have travelled a lot. You recently came back from another trip to Europe. How did that inspire you visually?

Architecture. I've always loved seeing amazingly built things.

There's so much effort intricacy going into it. When you do something by yourself—like putting down a floor or refinishing it—you see how much hard work it requires. And then you see how incredibly well those European buildings are built; it's really humbling. At the same time, I felt conflicted looking at church architecture, knowing how much wealth went into that exuberant design. But even regular residential houses and their funkiness was inspiring. They're not as generic as the homes here. The colour scheme, siding, they're all different.

What do you think of the contemporary digital art scene?

I'm definitely not with my foot in the past and only wanting to do analog. I think the internet is incredible and makes art so competitive because everybody can do art and music now. But it can get a bit over saturated; too many new videos to watch, too much new music. It takes all the more to try and stand out or do something original.

Is there anyone outstanding you'd like to collaborate with?

I don't idolize artists much. I get more influenced by people I meet. They can be doing small scale project and not grab much attention, but they're doing something unique, something I have the same feeling about. But in my early 20s, when I was dreaming of becoming a music producer, I would have wanted to collaborate with the producer of Radiohead and Beck, Nigel Godrich.

What is your vision of this year's Psych Fest?

There will be some mapping, and the stage will be split into different fields. Screens and shapes that may reflect the mood of the night...but I don't want to give it away.

The Psych Fest, featuring Vieaux’s digital art, takes place on Friday, October 31, at the Globe Hotel. Check out the photo gallery of Vieaux’s projections at <www.thenav.ca>.

The Body Politic and Quartered join forces on tour DENISA KRAUS & JON ASHER

CONTRIBUTORS

October 24 brings a treat to progressive metal enthusiasts.

The Harbour City Theatre in Nanaimo will host a concert featuring Vancouver-based formation Quartered and Nanaimo's own The Body Politic. Both bands are going on tour together to support their new releases. The Body Politic released their EP Egressor on September 16 and Quartered release their new album Eyes and Ears on October 7.

The Body Politic have maintained a high rank on Nanaimo's music scene. Taking their name from a Clive Barker short story and shifting gears from jazz (which most of the members studied at VIU) to progressive metal, the band combines poly-metric grooves, aggressive screams, and soaring vocal melodies to push the boundaries of modern metal music with technically impressive musicianship to follow up their 2011 debut album All Too Human (also available for free download at <thebodypolitic.bandcamp.com>).

Their emotionally charged songs incorporate an element of playfulness that has lead The Body Politic to stand out in a vast metal crowd and perform opening slots for Tesseract, Protest The Hero, Scale the Summit, plus multiple Western Canadian tours with their evolution.

Vancouver progressive metal band Quartered’s moniker has certainly given itself meaning over the years, thanks to a group of high school friends fusing their influences into one cohesive sound and the flip of a coin to help choose between band names.

Inspired by bands like Deftones, Tool, and Thrice from early on, Quartered’s focus has always been on conveying moody emotion and mixing heavy grooves, experimental riffs, and hook-laden bridges to paint a picture with lyrics that tell a story while keeping one major goal in mind: longevity.

Following multiple Canadian and international tours, one of which saw them playing with Lamb of God and Testament at the 2010 Pulp Summer Slam festival (held in Manila, Philippines) and two full-length albums, The Falls of Autumn and Walks Like a Ghost, produced by Ben Kaplan (worked on projects with Mudvayne, Chevelle, Alexisonfire, and Rise Against), Quartered is ready to unleash their third record, Eyes and Ears, on October 7.

Heavily influenced by “memories and how senses play a big part in connecting and helping us remember parts of our lives,” the title Eyes and Ears was chosen because “you can’t un-see the things you’ve witnessed, and hearing is such a powerful way to trigger memories,” explains vocalist Greggor Williams.

Are you ready to open your eyes and ears to Quartered?

The tour comes to The Harbour City Theatre on Friday, October 24. Doors open at 6 pm, with Trace the Sky and Ugly Men opening the all ages show at 6:30. Tickets are $12 at the door, and $10 in advance, available at Harbour City Music, Arbutus Music, or by phone: 250-327-9366.

Courtesy of Asher Media

Quartered

The Body Politic

Courtesy of Asher Media

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17 ARTS

Why poetry

matters JENNIFER COX Poetry matters. It gives voice to certain intimacy and connections that would otherwise be lost. When I read a poem that resonates I feel like I have found a long lost friend.

It is akin to that feeling you get when you run into someone you’ve shared a deep connection with, and after only a few minutes you feel like no time has passed.

This is how I felt reading Phillip Levine’s poem, “The Simple Truth.”

He uses poetry to bring deeper meaning to everyday items: “some things / you know all your life. They are so simple and true / they must be said without elegance, meter and rhyme, / they must be laid on the table beside the salt shaker, / the glass of water, the absence of light gathering / in the shadows of picture frames…”

My favourite poems lay plain the truths in everyday encounters that, on the surface, appear inconsequential, and yet poetry reveals their deeper meanings and enhance our understanding of humanity. In Levine’s “The Poem of Chalk,” a chance meeting with a street artist provides insight into how a simple object like a stick of chalk traces the history of love and loss: “not only / of this particular piece but also / the chalk with which I wrote / my name the day they welcomed / me back to school after the death / of my father.”

It is so interesting how art and life collides, how something as simple as a piece of chalk can force a person back in time, bringing buried memories to the surface. In Ken Babstock’s poem, “Stencil Artist,” he uses the simplicity of a stencil to describe a much more complicated loss of love: “Steady brown hand on a Stanley knife, / she cut me -expertly- out of her life; the life

VISFF annual fundraising gala

ARTS 18

CONTRIBUTOR / I see now I’d been / filling in.”

By using the concrete example of a stencil to create a metaphorical image, Babstock is able to make his point much more poignantly. Poetry affords him a means to express the depths of his loss.

In Levine’s poem, “Getting There,” the story of a car breakdown becomes a portrait of a father’s relationship with his son as they journey through life together.

“To be lost / in the center of America, to be taken in / by a stranger

downs in the life of my own adult son. Through poetry I find a point of connection.

In Michael Ondaatje’s poem, “Bear Hug,” I am returned to all the years of my son’s childhood when it felt like our years as a family would go on forever. “How long was he standing there like that before I came?” Ondaatje asked, regretting the time he spent stalling his son’s goodnight hug. Analyzing this poem next to Levine’s “Getting There” speaks to the journey through parenting and the slow understanding of how precious our children are when they are young enough to call out for a hug, “standing arms outstretched / waiting for a bear hug. Grinning.” It is refreshing to read fathers’ writing about their sons with this kind of sentimental affection: “the thin tough body under the pyjamas / locks to me like a magnet of blood.”

I love Ondaatje’s advice in the poem “To a Sad Daughter.” “Want everything. If you break, / break going out not in. / How you live your life I don’t care / but I’ll sell my arms for you, / hold your secrets forever…”

station keeps ringing and ringing.”

She does not attempt to explain the ringing, leaving the question of who and why for the reader to visualize alongside the image of a barren landscape. For me, it is imagery like this that demonstrates the importance of poetry to describe a scene as more than a scene.

I loved the first two pages of Borson’s “Summer Grass.” The imagery is so beautiful. “The magpie recites Scriabin in early morning as a mating song /… Venus rising in the early / evening beside the Travel Lodge…little girls lean continuously across a rusted / sign that says Don’t Feed The Swans / and feed the swans,”—the ordinary and the sublime juxtaposed against each other. This poem is a collage of separate but connected images that demonstrate poetry in everyday life.

What really touched me in Borson’s book is “A Bit of History,” description of an encounter with a young girl attempting suicide on an old railway bridge, despondent over the cruelty of so-called friends that had taunted her. “Why did their friendship take precedence over that of the loyal little girl who stood

“Poetry is the thing that happens inside a person…what happens to a person in the presence of poetry.” whose needs go unannounced, / to sleep beside your father, what can / it mean at six? He would grow to manhood, / leave home, risk the continent again / in far worse cars…”

As I read this scene, it is not Levine and his son on the side of the road, it is the time I took my son hiking up a steep, hilly trail, stopping along the way to take his picture, and leaving my keys on a rock we had to climb back up to retrieve.

It is the people and experiences we met along the way. When Levine writes about his son growing to manhood, leaving home and risking the continent, I am picturing the metaphorical roadside break-

JOHNNY BLAKEBOROUGH Vancouver Island Short Film Festival (NISFF) announces the annual fundraising gala, held once again at the Firehouse Grill (7 Victoria Rd., Nanaimo), at 7 pm on November 6. Tickets are $20, which includes appetizers, a drink, and the chance to meet some brilliant and talented filmmakers. Sold out in previous years, the evening will feature music by The Massless, live art with Carly Neigum and Eddy Graham, and a movie trivia contest.

“Funds raised at the fundraiser will go towards artist fees for filmmakers,” said Festival Director Johnny Blakeborough. “We strongly believe in supporting filmmakers with financial support for their creative ideas. This fundraising party

Roo Borson says, “Poetry is what occurs between the words and above the words. Poetry is the thing that happens inside a person…what happens to a person in the presence of poetry.”

Perhaps it is presumptuous of me to say so, but I believe that people who say they do not like poetry are simply unwilling to read that space between and above the words. Borson’s writing forces you to read the words unspoken. In a scene from “Autumn Record,” she writes of barren trees on a Sunday morning, the leaves swept away. The scene would be eerily quiet, “but an empty phone- / box outside the Mobil

by her?” Borson asks.

There is so much more in this question. Why does one person choose life while another chooses death? How do we honour those we have loved and lost? Borson writes about a plaque along the trail that commemorates the life of another young person who fell from the same bridge. Poems and plastic flowers marked the loss so he would not be forgotten. Though Borson acknowledges poetry as a means of communication that people turn to “when they feel they have something truly important to communicate,” she states that the family should take the poems and flowers down,

“try speaking to him in their hearts instead of poems meant to be seen in public. Maybe in that way they might honour the living and save death for the dead.”

I disagree with Borson. The plastic flowers and words don’t just provide a means to communicate with the lost son. Poetry is a venue to communicate some of the deepest truths in a way that might connect with another individual. The poems and flowers are at the site to say to anyone who walks past, “This ground is sacred,” to say, “Hear my heart cry in the desperation and longing of grief.” It is a way to share that place where, as Borson says, “longing is the wind that blows through you, / and like the pine that is nowhere / you do not move.”

This longing is evident in VIU instructor Robert Hilles’ poetry. In his poem, “With the Heater On,” a young boy struggles with the loss of his pets, scooping out a small grave, the skull so brittle he feared it would shatter in his hands. There is such a poignant sense of loss in these lines, and the fact that his father waits comfortably in the car demonstrates the deeper loss alluded to in the opening line, “Certain sounds go unheard forever.”

The poetry of Katherena Vermette, VIU’s 2014 Distinguished Gustafson Poetry Chair, is filled with loss and longing. She received the 2013 Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry for North End Love Songs, a tribute to her experience growing up in Winnipeg’s north end, a landscape wrought with memories including her brother’s tragic death. In her poem, “Mixed Tape,” she paints a poignant picture of grief as, “her mother moves / wide and slow / almost imperceptible / limbs floating / as if in water.”

None of these powerful recollections could be visualized with such impact without poetry as a means to express the simple truths, the understanding that on this earth relationships are both complicated and beautiful. When Borson writes, “Wherever there is summer, wherever the crickets sing to it, that place is,” that place is poetry.

CONTRIBUTOR will help us maintain a healthy and active film community on Vancouver Island.” Fundraiser tickets can be purchased in advance at Firehouse Grill and the Nanaimo Arts Council. Tickets will also be available at the door.

The Vancouver Island Short Film Festival is unique in bringing together filmmakers and audiences for the longest-running short film festival on Vancouver Island. The festival also places a unique focus on diverse film subjects and genres, as well as high quality stories. Filmmakers from the central island and around the world showcase their work at the VISFF. The 10th annual Festival will take place on February 6 and 7, 2015 at Vancouver Island

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University’s Malaspina Theatre.

Tickets for the 2015 VISFF will go on sale through the Port Theatre in November, and will also be available at the show.

The deadline for entry into the VISFF is November 1. For more information, visit <www.visff.com>, email <admin@visff.com>, or call 250-729-3947.

Sports

Mariner women looking ahead to playoffs BEN CHESSOR

THE NAVIGATOR

With the 2014 PacWest soccer regular season coming to a close, the VIU Mariners’ women’s soccer team has first place in the PacWest standings locked up. With one game remaining in the regular season, the Mariners currently sit three points ahead of second place Douglas College Royals. But even if the Royals do manage to make up the three-point gap on the final day of the season, the Mariners’ superior goal differential ensures them first place. VIU’s goal differential with one game remaining is +23. The Royals’ goal differential is only +4.

The Mariners’ last game was on October 18 against the Royals

in what could very well be a preview of the PacWest championship game. The Mariners opened the game’s scoring in the first half.

But Douglas got that goal back before halftime to tie the game at 1-1. Then, late in the second half, the Royals found the back of the net to take a 2-1 lead. Douglas managed to keep the Mariners off the board in the game’s final minutes and came away with a 2-1 road victory. The loss marks the second time that Douglas has defeated VIU this season. Two of the Mariners’ three losses on the season have come at the hand of the Royals.

The loss to Douglas snaps a nine-game undefeated streak for the Mariners. VIU had outscored their opponents 23-2 over that nine-game stretch. Included in the nine-game streak was a dominating 5-0 win over Douglas on September 27.

With the regular season coming to an end, The PacWest Provincial Soccer Championships are scheduled to be October 25-26 at Quest University in Squamish.

The Mariners will face either Langara or Quest in the first round of the Provincials. For more information on the Mariners’ schedule, please visit <mariners.viu.ca>.

Women’s soccer Vancouver Island University Mariners

GP

W

D

L

+/-

Pts

14

10

1

3

23

31

Douglas College Royals

14

9

1

4

4

28

Langara College Falcons

14

6

3

5

1

21

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Eagles

14

4

6

4

-5

18

Quest University Kermodes

14

3

4

7

-6

13

Capilano University Blues

14

0

5

9

-17

5

Buccaneers steady as season continues BEN CHESSOR

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The Nanaimo Buccaneers picked up a big win over a division rival on October 16 at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. It took overtime, but the Buccaneers picked up the 5-4 win over the visiting Comox Valley Glacier Kings.

The game was tightly contested, with neither team able to take the lead for long. Nanaimo opened the scoring on a goal by rookie defenseman Rowan Siider to take a 1-0 lead.

The Glacier Kings got a goal from Sheldon Brett less than two minutes later, tying the score at 1-1. Each team scored again before the end of the period and the game was tied 2-2 heading into the second period.

After Curtis Card gave Comox the lead, the Buccaneers struck back. Nanaimo got a short-handed goal from Chad Bell to tie the game 3-3. Then, before the end of the second period, Siider added his second of the game to give Nanaimo a 4-3 lead. Comox forward Jordan Crisp scored the lone third period goal to make the score 4-4 and send the game into overtime. At 3:08 of the first overtime period, Siider completed his first career hat trick, scoring his third goal of the game and giving the Buccaneers the 5-4 victory.

Siider’s three goals were his second, third, and fourth of the season. He is also the only Buccaneer defenseman to score a goal this season. Final shots in the game favoured Comox Valley 37-31. Greg Maggio got the win in goal for Nanaimo, making 33 saves in the victory.

The next night, the Buccaneers suffered their most shocking defeat of the season, losing on the road to the Saanich Braves by a final score of 7-4. The victory was only Saanich’s third in 13 games to start the season.

The Buccaneers found themselves down 2-0 early to the Braves on goals by Cameron Kovesdi and Hunter Atchison. But Nanaimo found their legs before the end of the first period, and started to take over the game. Owen Dalman’s first goal of the season got the Buccaneers on the board at 11:18 of the first period. After Dalman’s goal, the Buccaneers continued to pour it on. Goals from David Osbourne and Jordan Levesque gave Nanaimo a 3-2 lead after the first period.

In the second period, the Braves got two goals from Nyshan Basra four minutes apart to take a 4-3 lead. With just three seconds left in the second period, Buccaneers forward Clayton Peace was able to beat Braves goalie Brandon Ward to tie the game at 4-4.

After Ben Meek scored for Saanich early in the third to make

Drew McLachlan North Division standings Campbell River Storm

GP

W

L

T

OTL

Pts

12

10

1

1

0

21

Nanaimo Buccaneers

15

10

4

0

1

21

Comox Valley Glacier Kings

13

7

2

1

3

18

Oceanside Generals

15

2

12

1

0

5

the score 5-4, Basra scored his third of the night to give the Braves a 6-4 lead. The Buccaneers got some great chances to draw closer in the third period, but they couldn’t beat Ward.

Saanich added an empty net goal to complete the 7-4 win.

This is the third consecutive week that the Buccaneers have split their week’s games. On October 9, the team dropped a heartbreaking 4-2 decision to the visiting Victoria Cougars, in a game Nanaimo led 2-0 late in the second period. But the Buccaneers rebounded to pick up a 6-3 victory over the struggling Peninsula Panthers the following night. Nanaimo also split their games against Westshore and Campbell

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River, October 2 and 3.

The Buccaneers currently sit in a tie for first place in the VIJHL’s North Division. The team’s record of 10-4-0-1 gives them 21 points on the season. The Campbell River Storm also has 21 points on the season, but the Storm have played three less games than the Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers’ next home games are Thursday, October 23 against Oceanside, and Thursday, October 30, against the Campbell River Storm. Puck drop for both games is 7:15 pm at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. Student tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the door.

SPORTS 19

Mariners split Island rivalry BEN CHESSOR The VIU Mariners’ men’s volleyball team kicked off their season October 18 and 19 with games against their island rivals, the Camosun College Chargers. This year, the Mariners split their first two games with the Chargers, picking up the win in Victoria, before losing on home court the next night.

The Mariners picked up a convincing victory in the team’s season opener, Friday, October 18. The Mariners picked up a 3-0 victory over the Chargers in Victoria. The Mariners won the first set of their season 25-22 to take a 1-0 lead. The second set was even more tightly contested than the first, and with it a couple of extra points were needed. But, once again, it was the Mariners who took the set, this time by a score of 26-24. VIU completed the sweep in the third set, finishing off

THE NAVIGATOR the Chargers 3-0 with a 25-19 thirdset victory.

The teams were back in action in Nanaimo the next night. The Mariners got off to a strong start to the match and managed to carry over their momentum from the previous evening, taking the first set 25-23. In the second set, it was the Chargers who came out with all the momentum, quieting the Mariners’ faithful and taking the second set convincingly 25-16. The extremely important third set was tightly contested between the two clubs, but the Chargers took the lead late in the set and won it by a score of 25-22. The Mariners tried to extend the match in the fourth set, but the Chargers were strong on this night, picking up their third straight set by a score of 25-22, giving Camosun the win

in the second game between the two teams.

The Mariners finished last season in the sixth and final playoff spot in the PacWest with a 10-14 record. This year’s team seems poised to improve on that mark.

Mariners returning to the team from last season include PacWest second team all-star Zach Grigg, and fifth year veterans Rylan Brouwer and Diego Bustos. The returning veterans, plus the additions of some PacWest veterans will give the Mariners a strong chance to improve on last year’s record.

The Mariners’ next home games are Friday, October 31 at 8 pm and Saturday, November 1 at 3 pm. Both games are against the Fraser Valley University Cascades. For more information on the Mariners and their schedule, visit <mariners.viu.ca>.

Drew McLachlan

Clippers continue ascent to top spot BEN CHESSOR

THE NAVIGATOR The Nanaimo Clippers have been on a roll since the second week of the season. The Clippers lost their first two games of the season on September 20 and 21 at the BCHL’s season-opening showcase in Chilliwack. But since the setback at the showcase, the Clippers have been almost perfect, winning eight of the nine games they’ve played.

The Clipper’s last game was at home on Saturday, October 18 against the team who beat Nanaimo to open the season, the Prince George Spruce Kings. Prince George came into town at the end of a long road trip. The Spruce Kings were playing their fourth game in five nights and it showed. The Clippers dominated the game from the opening whistle. Anthony Rinaldi got Nanaimo on the board less than three minutes into the game as he fired a wrist shot over the glove of Prince George goaltender Jesse Jenks. The game remained 1-0 until late in the first period when Devon Brosseau beat Jenks on a power play to give the Clippers a 2-0 lead. Shots in the first period favoured the Clippers 24-5.

Nanaimo continued their dominance on the shot clock in the second period, outshooting the Spruce Kings 20-9. The Clippers also expanded their lead on the scoreboard in the period. Nanaimo got goals from Brendan Taylor and Edwin Hookinson to take a 4-0 lead heading into the third. The two teams traded goals in the games third period and the Clippers picked up the victory by a final score of 5-1. Final shots in the game were 59-20 in favour of Nanaimo. The 59 shots were the most the Clippers have recorded in a game this season. The 20 shots against is also the fewest the team has allowed.

The Clippers also picked up the win on home ice against a Division rival on Wednesday, October 15 against the visiting

Ben Chessor

20 SPORTS

Powell River Kings. Powell River came into the game just three points back of Nanaimo for first place in the BCHL’s Island division.

The Clippers got off to a fast start and took a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. First, Corey Renwick deflected a shot past Kings goaltender Brett Magnus to make it 1-0. Then, less than two minutes later, Sheldon Rhemple scored his eighth goal in eight games to give the Clippers a 2-0 lead.

After Powell River got a goal from Jacob Pritchard late in the first period to cut the lead to 2-1, the Kings completed the comeback early in the second on a goal by Jarid Lukosevicius, tying the game 2-2. A power play goal by Brett Roulston at 17:50 of the second period gave Nanaimo back the lead 3-2. But Powell River got a power play goal of their own by Kurt Keats just over a minute into the third. When the two teams were unable to find the net for the last 19 minutes of regulation, the game went to overtime. In double overtime, Rhemple added his second of the night to give Nanaimo the 4-3 win.

The win improved the Clippers to a perfect 5-0 against Island Division teams this season. The Clippers are currently in first place in the Island Division with a record of 8-3. The team’s 16 points on the season gives them a four point lead of the second place Alberni Valley Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are also the only Island team the Clippers have yet to play this season.

The Clipper’s next home games are on Friday, October 24 against the West Kelowna Warriors, and Sunday, October 26 against the Surrey Eagles. Puck drops at 7 pm on Friday and 2 pm on Sunday. Tickets are $10 for VIU students and are available at the door.

Island Division standings Nanaimo Clippers

GP

W

L

T

OTL

Pts

11

8

3

0

0

16

Alberni Valley Bulldogs

10

6

4

0

0

12

Victoria Grizzlies

10

5

4

0

1

11

Powell River Kings

11

4

4

0

3

11

Cowichan Valley Capitals

13

2

11

0

0

4

THE NAVIGATOR

Mariner men wrap up season in first place BEN CHESSOR With the PacWest soccer regular season reaching a close, the Mariner men’s soccer team has a lot to be happy about. The Mariners entered the final weekend of the regular season having already clinched first place in the standings.

The top seeded Mariners will open the Provincial Championships, October 25-26 at Quest University, against the fourth ranked team in the PacWest, which will either be Langara College or Kwantlen University. The two teams are separated by just one point heading into the final weekend in the race for third place in the standings.

The Mariners’ last game was against the Douglas College Royals

THE NAVIGATOR at home on October 18. The Mariners came out of the gate strong and took an early 1-0 lead. After the opening goal, neither team could find the back of the net for the rest of the first half. The game entered half-time with the Mariners still leading by a score of 1-0.

The game stayed 1-0 until midway through the second half. That’s when the Royals finally solved the Mariners’ defense, tying the game at 1-1. Then, with the game entering the final minutes, the Royals managed to find the back of the net again, taking the lead 2-1. The Mariners were unable to tie the game in the final minutes, and Douglas came away with the 2-1 victory.

The loss was the second for the Mariners in the last three games.

The team is currently on a threegame winless streak after going undefeated in the season’s first 11 games. The Mariners also finished the season with the best goal differential in the PacWest at +14.

With the regular season coming to a close, the Mariners will prepare for the PacWest Provincial Championship October 25-26. For more information on the Mariners and their Provincial game times, visit <mariners.viu.ca>.

Men’s soccer Vancouver Island University Mariners

GP

W

D

L

+/-

Pts

14

9

3

2

14

30

Douglas College Royals

14

8

2

4

8

26

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Eagles

14

5

3

6

-4

18

Langara College Falcons

14

5

2

7

0

17

Capilano University Blues

14

4

2

8

-9

14

Quest University Kermodes

14

4

2

8

-9

14

Mariner women drop Island rivalry

BEN CHESSOR The VIU Mariners’ women’s volleyball team kicked off their season on October 1 and 18 against their Island rival, the Camosun Chargers.

This year it was the Chargers who dominated the opening weekend.

Camosun picked up victories in both games, winning in three sets Friday night in Victoria before picking up the four-set victory the next night in Nanaimo.

THE NAVIGATOR Saturday, October 18 was the Mariners’ first home game of the season. The first set was close early, but with the game tied 7-7 in the first set, the Chargers went on a roll, recording seven straight points to take a 14-7 lead, eventually winning the set 25-17. The Mariners got back in the game in the second set with a seven point roll of their own, turning a 7-2 deficit into 9-7

Drew McLachlan

THE NAVIGATOR

on their way to a 25-22 second-set win. But the Chargers silenced the VIU crowd in the third set which Camosun took by a commanding 25-16 total. The Mariners tried to extend the match in the fourth set, fighting back from a 17-2 deficit to make the score 19-12, but the Chargers won the final set 25-18, and the match 3-1.

A night earlier, in Victoria, the two teams came out fighting with the Chargers picking up the convincing 25-17 win in the first set in front of their home fans. The second set was evenly matched with neither team able to jump out to a big lead.

Eventually it was the Chargers who took control of the match with a 25-23 win in the second set. The third set was as evenly matched as the second, but the Chargers were able to pick up the narrow victory in the third set 25-22, sealing the 3-0 victory in front of the home fans.

This year, the Mariners will return some key pieces from last year’s team, which finished the regular season with a record of 22-2 on their way to a bronze medal in the National Championships. Ashley Van Acken and Tyler Turnbull are both back for their fourth years in the middle for the Mariners. Third year players Megan Groenendijk and Megan Rosenlund also return to the team this season.

The Mariners’ next home games are Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1 against the Fraser Valley University Cascades. The game starts at 6 pm on Friday and 1 pm Saturday. For more information on the Mariners, please visit <mariners.viu.ca>.

SPORTS 21

Odds & Ends

Student Showcase: Spenser Smith Spenser Smith is a Creative Writing major at VIU. His hobbies include skateboarding, photography, and drumming. His poem was inspired by going back to Saskatchewan, where he grew up, and going fishing with an old friend.

Giver Just north of Regina, at the tip of Long Lake I cast a crawling worm into meadow water I watch as ocean skies drown each sailing gull Swimming clouds kiss the stretched blueness The wind flies lost, its soft breath whispers As live shadows sway to the beat of the earth

I feel the line tug as my fingers fumble the rod In pure elation at the prospect of a fresh catch I spin my hand swiftly, carefully reeling in The silver-scaled carp, attuned to each vibration I hold the slimy, twisting mass of flesh in wonder A life alien from my own yet our heritage is one We are bound by ancestry, given birth by stars The prairie sun blazes through the heavens Wearing scattering rays like the crown of a king Mother Nature, the original artist, giver of life.

Comic by Jon Hiebert

ODDS & ENDS 22

THE NAVIGATOR

Kyeuno Patterson does a wally over the hip at the new Cedar skatepark Spenser Smith

October/November

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

22

23

24

25

Gustafson poet Katherena Vermette presents to students

Beginner AcroYoga workshop

The Slackers Return to Nanaimo w/Sammy Kay & the Fast Four + Dope Soda

Liminal State art show

$35

The Queens, 34 Victoria Cr.

FREE

7:15 – 9:45PM

$19.50

Nanaimo campus, bldg. 355, room 211 Free 2:30 – 4PM

OmTown Yoga, 43 Commercial St.

The Electric Umbrella, 321 Wesley St.

8PM

9PM

26

27

28

29

30

31

01

Cedar Farmers’ Market

Fringe Flicks: Tracks

Flu clinic

Drop-in Life Drawing

Crow and Gate Pub Field, 2313 Yellowpoint Rd.

Avalon Cinemas, 6631 North Island Hwy

Nanaimo campus, Welcome Centre, Bldg. 300

On The Dock with Deep Roots, Candace Curr, and Auliya Vicious Band

Vancouver Island PSYCH FEST The Globe Hotel, 25 Front St.

Nanaimo Theatre Group: The Foreigner Halloween Hangover w/ Street Sweeper Loose Tooth & The Tubuloids

$10 advance $15 door

The Cambie, 63 Victoria Cr.

9PM – 1AM

$8

10AM – 2PM

$12

$23 cash per person

7PM

For more info, visit <viu.ca/events>

The Dinghy Dock Pub, 8 Pirates Lane $20 (round-trip ferry & the show)

Nanaimo campus, bldg. 325, room 213 $5 6 – 9PM

7PM

9PM

02

03

04

Vancouver Island Chamber Music Festival

Lunch Time Yoga

Kizomba Dance Lessons

Nanaimo campus, Royal Arbutus Room, bldg. 300

The Globe Hotel, 25 Front St.

Harbour City Theatre, 25 Victoria Rd. $20 2 – 7PM

By donation (bring your own mat)

$12 7 – 9PM

12 – 12:50PM

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CALENDAR 23

You're invited to participate in the Student Experience Survey!

We want to hear from you – what can VIU do to improve your experience?

Watch your inbox on November 4, 2014 for an invitation.

The VIU Student Experience Survey is an annual survey that asks students about their experience at VIU. This will be the third iteration of the survey. The results are used for improving the quality of programs and services at VIU.