I’ve had a soft spot for Cancer Bats since high school, watching them open many Alexisonfire shows in Toronto. I’ve endured the dirty looks received for wearing a shirt with “cancer” written on it, and for many other people their first two albums are too much to handle.
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.
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.
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.
Women helping women
In 2011, Winnipeg is planning to open Manitoba’s first birthing centre, where mothers can give birth in a less clinical atmosphere with the assistance of midwives, nurses, and doulas. While it’s a step forward for natural births in the province, midwifery and natural births are still the minority among birthing practices in Canada.
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.
For deaf Montrealers, basketball team offers an athletic outlet
Staring up at the scoreboard in McGill’s Love Competition Hall, the visiting team watched the seconds tick down to zero before they began to celebrate their 74-68 exhibition basketball win over the Redmen volleyball team last Tuesday. The visitors are used to keeping an eye on the clock, though, because the sound of the buzzer isn’t very helpful.