Author: Admin

Redmen Sports: REPORT CARDs

The Redmen volleyball team has flown so far under the radar for so many years that it would be easy to overlook the team’s steady improvement over the course of the season. Despite lacking size or superior athleticism, Head Coach Simon Berleur has done a commendable job at building a program that increases in confidence and competitiveness every year.

SSMU REPORT CARDS: JOSE DíAZ – VP Finance and Operations

Vice-President Finance and Operations Jose Díaz began his term in the most difficult position of any of the executives. Tobias Silverstein, his predecessor, had resigned midway through his term, leaving the rest of the executives to handle his portfolio. Despite this initial disadvantage, Díaz stepped confidently into his position and has handled his portfolio well throughout the year.

Dissecting art

Nicholas Ruddock’s debut novel, The Parabolist, is told through interlacing narratives that pivot around a group of University of Toronto medical students in 1975, taught by Roberto Moreno. Moreno is a recently immigrated Mexican poet and member of the (fictional) parabolist movement, a group which “arranges words and ideas in such a way that the energy input burns.

POP RHETORIC: Material Girl Gaga

When Lady Gaga first entered the pop music scene back in 2008, I forced myself to take a second look. Her lyrics were symbolic of both the feminine mystique and female empowerment, she wore avant-garde and provocative clothing (or a lack thereof), and she had the strong ability to capture the attention of millions by dominating the music charts for weeks on end.

Nancy Drew’s newest competition

When Alan Bradley set out to write his first detective novel he had no idea it would lead to the character of Flavia de Luce, or to a series about the young sleuth, in which The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag is the second novel. “I was writing another detective novel that I thought I had plotted very carefully for story and characters, then Flavia just materialized in it,” Bradley says.

CD REVIEWS: Barenaked Ladies: All in Good Time

For a Canadian alternative rock band, the Barenaked Ladies have had their share of success from the shoebox of life. I was both intrigued and astonished to see them release a new album, All in Good Time, after some recent ups and downs with the band’s front-man, Steven Page, splitting from the group in 2009.

Avoid iTunes’ high prices, legally

People love Apple, and a perfect example of this is the iPod. In order to use an iPod, one must have iTunes installed. If iTunes isn’t installed, the iPod will not work. But when iTunes is installed, Apple’s movie player, Quicktime, is also installed, as well as a number of other iServices that Apple doesn’t tell you about.

PIÑATA DIPLOMACY: Ricky’s regret

If I regret any of my columns from this year, it would be February’s “Middle-class guilt.” My regret isn’t so much over the views I tried to express, but over the fact that I haven’t yet negotiated a comfortable balance between the nuanced views I try to maintain and my emotional writing style, which tends to be excessive and – as my mother complains – angry.

Summer adventures in Southeast Asia

Squeezed between the twin giants of China and India rests a college student’s oasis: a collection of diversely charming states replete with swarms of horny backpackers, flawless beaches, delectable cuisine, and dirt-cheap alcohol. This magical haven, Southeast Asia, is the perfect travel destination for any jaded, over-educated university student seeking one last trip before entering the real world.

Toronto bands unite for Arts & Crafts triple threat

This spring, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Jason Collett and indie bands Zeus and Bahamas unleashed “The Bonfire Ball” in North America. The three-in-one tour has been travelling across the continent since the beginning of March, and has even been as far south as Mexico City, playing a show for the one-year anniversary of record label Arts & Crafts’ expansion to the region.

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