“I feel that giving a promise ring is a bit more serious than giving a Claddagh ring. I think a promise ring is a symbol of one’s dedication and promise to stand by a significant other,” Cairns says. “Personally, I’ve always thought of a promise ring as something that is a step below an engagement ring, therefore something that should be done in a very serious relationship in which you can see yourself with this person for a long time.”
The definition of a promise ring has changed a lot from its start in biblical times. Today it is interpreted by each couple who chooses to partake in ...
I am upset when asked by Canadians who do not speak French, “Do you speak the real French?” They usually add: “I went to Montréal and I could not understand a thing.”
“Do you speak French?” I ask.
“Yes, I took three courses at university, 35 years ago.”
I wish these people would realize how proud I am of ma langue maternelle (my mother tongue.) I walk away and wonder how they would feel if I asked them: “Do you speak the real English?”
* * *
When I was not quite six years old, my mother brought me to the parlour of the Convent Notre-Dame du St. Rosaire where I was to be ...
Although sometimes it may seem like it, YouTube is not just for cute cats and music videos. Users are harnessing the video-sharing platform for a different kind of entertainment—an educational kind. Remember when Mentos symphony videos were the pinnacle of awesome and we all found out what happens when Mentos and Diet Coke are mixed? YouTube education has broadened since then; thanks to many innovative, independent content creators, it has also gotten a lot slicker. It’s a no-brainer that plenty of Internet junkies like educational content when it’s presented in an interesting fashion by ...
According to the Dec. 22 edition of the National Post, two-thirds of Canadians consider themselves spiritual, but only half say they are religious. Increasingly, the article suggests, “[the modern world] is turning away from organized religion, shunning dogma and church attendance for a vaguer notion of spirituality” (Carlson, A6). The “spiritual but not religious” moniker now has its own acronym, SBNR, gaining mainstream usage on dating sites and other social media personality profiles. (For those, however, who are religious, the SBNR handle can offend as it seems to infer that those ...
Hopefully, we have all recovered from our annual ritual of drinking copious amounts of liquor while making empty promises late into the night. (Did you really mean what you said about learning a new language, running a marathon, and being nicer to others?) In case you’re still basking in the possibilities of your New Year’s resolution—or if you just want a delicious salad dressing to drizzle on every vegetable ever harvested, here is my favourite: creamy fig balsamic vinaigrette. I suggest mixing it in with some dark leafy greens, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and a couple of ...
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The Navigator is produced by 15 students who want to bring you stories that matter to students. Ever wonder how the paper is produced, or about the stories behind the scenes? Read on for a recap of what the Nav. had to offer in 2012: the controversies, the hits, and the process.
This is how we do what we do
The Nav. works on a bi-weekly production schedule producing 14 issues per school year: seven during the fall semester and seven during the spring. Issues appear on newsstands every second Wednesday, with editorial content from the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor, Arts Editor, ...
The deadline for the 2013 issue of Portal magazine is approaching fast. Jan. 11, at 11:59 p.m., is the cut-off for students to submit their works of previously unpublished poetry, creative non-fiction, short fiction, scripts, graphic art/original artwork, and photography to the nationally distributed literary magazine run by students in the Creative Writing and Media Studies departments here at VIU.
“Many students are pursuing other academic avenues but are also gifted creative writers,” says Art Director Diane Bolt. VIU Students of all ages and disciplines are encouraged to submit ...
For me, 2012 was a year of amazing concerts. I was lucky enough to see some fantastic shows, from City and Color in Jan. to The Shins in Sept., and after each one I was overcome with the familiar post-concert high, the feeling of “wow, that was the best show I have ever been to.” Seeing Mother Mother on Dec. 16 at The Port Theatre for their stopover in Nanaimo during The Sticks Tour was the perfect end to a year of fantastic concerts. Just as the others were, in its own way the tour for Mother Mother’s new, apocalypse-themed album was the best show I have ever seen.
There were a few ...
It seems that in the last few years—2012 in particular—we’ve seen a surge of powerful female vocalists emerge on the music scene. In the pop, rock, and indie worlds women like Adele and Florence Welch have risen from the bubblegum masses to create new expectations of individuality and original talent for female artists. In the case of Lana Del Rey, this role has been filled, reinvented, and mastered over the course of the last year.
The New York native began writing songs when she was 18, after a four-year stint in juvenile rehab. It was a struggle for her at first—up until 2010 she ...
The Belle Game
If you are looking for a rising local act to latch on to, Vancouver-based indie-pop group The Belle Game is one to watch for in 2013. The group has teamed up with Boompa Records associate Bella Union and will release two new songs, available on limited edition 7” vinyl on Jan. 21. Tracks “Wait Up For You” and “Wasted Light” have both movement and dreaminess, like the beach on a drizzly day, and The Belle Game combines a west-coast inspired sound similar to that of Best Coast with the foggy influence of Beach House to create their own balance of tentative tempo. The ...
The future of cinema has arrived in the form of 38-year-old Vancouver writer-director Panos Cosmatos and his debut feature film, Beyond the Black Rainbow. Shot in Vancouver, the film was released for some North American festivals in 2010 but wasn’t distributed on DVD and Blu-ray until Sept. 2012. Raised in Victoria on Vancouver Island, Panos is the son of the late Italian-born director George P. Cosmatos, who has directed 11 feature films himself. When George Cosmatos passed away in 2005, Panos inherited his father’s lucrative royalties from the 1993 Hollywood blockbuster, Tombstone. ...
I’ve decided to skip doing a full review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (4 out of 5 stars) since fans will go see it no matter what is said, and Peter Jackson has offered up something far more interesting to talk about: High Frame Rate 3D. I plan to go back to see a 2D or regular 3D show so I can watch the movie and not the technology, but, as far as new technology goes, it is worth experiencing.
The new format took almost an hour for my mind to adjust, and until then the picture appeared to be on fast-forward. This was not helped by the film’s clunky prologue, but Martin ...
We all live with monsters. Some are cute. They giggle when we tickle them. Monsters in literature and film terrify us, but we love the adrenaline rush they provide. And, then, there are the monsters, real and imagined, that threaten to destroy us. Like it or not, we must all learn to live with monsters.
“Living with Monsters” is the title of the free public lecture to be presented by Kathy Page, of VIU’s Creative Writing department, on Jan. 18 at the Malaspina Theatre from 10–11:30 a.m. Part of VIU’s on-going Arts and Humanities Colloquium series, Page’s presentation will examine our ...
Two brothers are digging a hole outside a farmhouse. After a disagreement about their mother, one of them walks out of frame. He returns a moment later to bash his brother over the head with a shovel and the camera pans to the side where Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) is watching, just like an audience member at a theatre. He turns to the camera and delivers the first charming quip (of which there will be many) to his audience about Ed Gein and how he inspired Psycho. And so begins the entertaining, somewhat lightweight look at one of the most famous directors in history, and the ...
"Hockey captures the essence of Canadian experience in the New World. In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive."
—Stephen Leacock
The National Hockey League entered its third work stoppage in just two decades on Sept. 15, 2012, putting the season on hold as hockey’s doomsday clock struck midnight with no last-minute resolution.
Fans would wait 113 days for the owners and players to reach an agreement. The previous lockout, a mere eight years ago, resulted in the ...
Dec. was kind to Nanaimo’s Junior-A Clippers and Junior-B Buccaneers, and both teams closed out 2012 with a victory. The Clippers recorded three wins and three losses in a month that saw them on the road for four games, while the Bucs notched six wins in eight games.
The Clippers began Dec. with a two-game homestand, first falling to the visiting Powell River Kings in a hard fought 4–3 loss. Special teams were the dagger for Nanaimo, who went 0–3 with the man advantage and allowed two powerplay goals on three opportunities.
The second game of the homestand was Dec. 9 against the ...
Volleyball
The Mariners men’s team is hosting its 2013 Identification Camp on Jan. 13 in preparation for next season. Head coach Abe Avender and Assistant Coach Graham Sigalet will evaluate attending athletes looking for a future in varsity volleyball.
Avender says the camp is an important aspect in team recruiting. “We hosted an ID camp the last two years which was an excellent way for athletes to connect with VIU and our Men’s Volleyball Program,” Avender says.
Meanwhile, the women’s team will travel to Cranbrook Jan. 18–19 to take on the COTR Avalanche, before hosting ...
Nanaimo will host the 2014 B.C. Summer Games, making it the second time the event has come to the Harbour City.
Nearly 4000 athletes, coaches, and officials will visit Nanaimo from July 17–20, 2014 to take part in 19 events, says the BC Games Society. Athletes with a disability can compete in Athletics, Equestrian, and Swimming events.
Nanaimo last hosted the event in 2002, and also in 1985. According to an assessment following the 2002 event, participants and spectators spent an estimated $1,287,898 during the games.
Venues for the games have not yet been announced, but 2002 ...
Toronto Blue Jays fans have reason to rejoice for the first time in years, as another season to forget was followed by an off-season to remember.
Just months ago Jays fans were going through the usual end-of-season motions, accepting another year out of playoff contention and uttering the adopted team motto, “maybe next year.” A promising spring training record had fans thinking perhaps it could be their year to compete for a position atop the American League East.
But an injury-riddled season depleted the bullpen and resulted in stretches without leaders Jose Bautista, Brett ...
A fresh semester at VIU means a new batch of Campus Rec. activities for students. Registration for intramural leagues and outdoor recreation events began yesterday and sign-up for fitness programs will take place on Monday. Here is a look ahead at the events planned for this semester.
Plenty of intramural sports are offered for 2013, including the return of indoor soccer, mixed volleyball, and 3-on-3 basketball from last semester. A relaxed badminton league is added to the docket for Wednesday nights and will feature a mix of individual and team matches.
Hockey fans can get their ...
SASKATOON (CUP)—As athletes and coaches we spend a lot of time working on physical, technical, and strategic skills in our particular sport. But is that enough? What about the mental aspect of the game? How important is it for athletes to prepare their psychological mindset?
According to Tom Graham, clinical research coordinator with the University of Saskatchewan’s Psychiatry department, training the mind for sport is extremely beneficial.
“The mental part is huge because it can either unleash or derail those technical, tactical, and physical preparations that we spend so much ...
Dear Editor,
I think it was Premier Mike Harcourt who once said that the NDP are “guests in power” in B.C. This is an accurate reflection of the political climate in the province as the right of centre parties usually have the media, business, and big money behind them to hold onto power indefinitely.
Below are three wishes for the New Year that a future NDP government can legislate to help level the electoral landscape.
Wish #1: Lower the voting age to 15. If youth are old enough to work and pay taxes, they should be entitled to vote. Youth are also a huge disenfranchised ...
“Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts.” —Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey.
Erdogan said this in reaction to the treatment of Gaza citizens, especially children, during the latest standoff between Israel and Palestine. And I have to agree with him.
In reaction to the killing of a Hamas military leader, Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip began firing rockets towards Israel. Israel responded by bombing the Gaza strip, amassing troops on the border, and threatening a land invasion. Rockets and bombs were launched on both sides for several days. Palestinian ...
