Stop #117 — Kingly and Seventh — 6:54 AM
He woke and slowly detangled his body from hers, folding her limbs back on herself like origami. Lost in her dreams, she murmured softly into his shoulder, her hair a tangled veil across her face. He paused, and trailed his fingers down the dinosaur ridges of her spine, exposed through her thin cotton shirt. He imagined each little vertebra was a speed bump, and his hand was a race car, dipping, swerving, sliding. Then he got up and was halfway out the door before she stirred, pulling the blue raincoat he left across her legs around her body ...
Current and former BC students celebrated the Budget 2019 announcement on February 19 that eliminated interest from provincial student loans, effective immediately. This follows years of work done by students, volunteers, and allies calling for meaningful relief from the increasing cost of accessing post-secondary education.
The announcement makes BC the fifth province to recognize the impact interest has on students; following Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island (Newfoundland and Labrador offer non-repayable grants). The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives estimates ...
Due to the recent measles outbreak in Vancouver, BC Health Minister Adrian Dix has announced his plan to have mandatory vaccine registry in place for the beginning of the school year in September. All students in both public and private schools would be required to provide proof of immunization against measles and other diseases.
The new regulation is expected to help health officials locate and assist parents who might be unaware their children are not vaccinated, haven’t kept their immunizations up to date, or don’t have access to vaccinations. Those who refuse based on religious or ...
March started off with VIU announcing Dr. Deborah Saucier as the university’s next president and vice-chancellor. She will join VIU for a five-year term starting July 4, 2019. Saucier was most recently the president of MacEwan University, taking on the position in 2017.
VIU held an international search for the next president, tapping into internal and external communities of the university. Saucier was recommended by a collection of students, faculty, and staff that made up a Presidential Search Advisory Committee. For Saucier, VIU’s commitment to quality teaching, student success, ...
Back in 2014, a study by the American Psychological Association found that teens reported higher stress levels than adults, especially during the school year. In 2019, the Pew Research Centre found that 70 percent of teens reported anxiety and depression as a major problem among their peers. We know young people are stressed the hell out—but why?
According to the Pew Research survey, teens reported that they feel pressure to get good grades, the pressure to look good, the pressure to fit in socially, and pressure to be involved in extracurricular activities. While half of teens ...
The seemingly benign practice of setting clocks forward one hour in the spring and one hour back in the fall, daylight saving time (often erroneously called daylight savings time) is not without its consequences.
According to a 2012 study from the University of Alabama Birmingham, the Monday and Tuesday after clocks are moved forward in March is associated with a 10 percent increase in heart attacks.
“Exactly why this happens is not known but there are several theories,” said Martin Young, the study’s author. “Sleep deprivation, the body’s circadian clock and immune responses all ...
On Saturday, March 23, Evolve Nightclub will be hosting Seven Deadly Sins, presented by Nanaimo’s only drag entertainment collective: WIG.
Thematically, the show will be a unique interpretation of Dante’s Inferno, paying homage to the 14th century literary classic with WIG’s distinctive brand of dance, theatre, musical narrative, and of course—divine comedy.
The audience will follow Dante, played by WIG performer L’Empress, as she embarks on a journey down into the frightening, but fabulous, depths of hell. In her purgatorial pursuit, Dante will be met by the Seven Deadly ...
As Vancouver Island University continues to integrate Indigenous perspectives on campus, the university celebrated two new pieces of Coast Salish art that will be displayed at the Nanaimo Campus.
The unveiling ceremony for the Te’tuxwtun (Mt. Benson) totem pole was held in the newly constructed Centre for Health and Science (CHS) on February 9. William Good, artist of the Te’tuxwtun totem pole, and his family attended the ceremony. Footprints of the Wolf, a Snuneymuxw drumming family, was a highlight of the event. Good drummed in the younger members of the group as they performed the ...
How long have you been calling Mariners Games?
I think my first year was 2008.
How would you describe Mariners culture?
I think what the culture has done is developed a culture of winning, but I think also as a culture of developing really outstanding human beings.
I’ve never had to go through the rigors of training as well as doing studies and that sort of stuff, but I’m forever in awe of the students who do that and contribute both academically and through sports teams. I mean you’re not always going to win, just as you’re not always going to get an A in class. But what ...
Playing in her final season at VIU guard Emma Platner has a lot to be proud of. Throughout her five-year career, coaches and teammates have relied on her leadership both on and off the court. She took time to chat with the Nav about the team’s preparation for the upcoming provincials, and personal takeaways from such a remarkable university basketball career.
Thoughts on the team’s performance in the 2018 Pacwest tournament:
We worked so hard all season; maybe the results are disappointing, but I’m not disappointed with the effort that our team gave during the tournament. We were ...
Super Smash Bros Ultimate is the best game for the Nintendo Switch period. Matter of fact: Smash Ultimate is the greatest Smash game of all time.
Smash Bros Ultimate is the most recent installment in the Smash Bros franchise. It launched for the Nintendo Switch on December 9, 2018, and has since become the fastest selling Nintendo game of all time. So, why has Smash Ultimate sold so quickly? Because it’s amazing.
Let’s touch on a few of the game’s most impressive elements: Smash Ultimate features 74 playable characters, and 103 stages from games like Metroid, F-Zero, Final ...
Tastes like cardboard,
you say, face scrunched,
wistful of a mother’s recipe
you haven’t yet mastered.
I swallow my offense:
this may be the last time
I hear it; your voice.
Stacked by the front door with my fellow fallen
comrades,
our frayed edges fluttering in the burst of cold
each time you pass.
If I were to speak of taste,
I would tell you of damp paper, your childhood drawings
filling my corners with mildew dreams.
Once, I was a magic carpet, Pandora’s
hope, a portal away.
Now, your conversation turns to leases, graduation,
a long-term job—
of no ...
The comfort zone can easily be mistaken as a place of safety, but the greatest rewards await just beyond internalized walls. The natural tendency to cling to familiarity isn’t a reputable safety net. In fact, it holds people back. Pushing against the barriers of the comfort zone is uncomfortable, but the ability to lean into discomfort wholeheartedly will result in freedom.
Choosing to stay within the limits of the comfort zone comes from a place of deep fear. Perhaps it’s the fear of failure, embarrassment, or simply not being enough. Accessing the intrinsic spark of bravery within ...
We met in the local mall. I was hanging out in a department store when he walked in. I noticed him immediately. He was tall, clean-shaven. He wore dusty Carhartts, and his steel toes echoed loudly across the linoleum floor. He looked at me, smiled, and sauntered over. He reached out his hand and touched me with a calloused palm. I was too surprised to react, and he stared at me.
“Wow, you’re beautiful,” he murmured.
The sales associate came over.
“Can I help you find anything, sir?” he asked, shooting a glance at me, and then back at the man. The man shook his head and didn’t ...
The 14th annual Islands Short Fiction Contest (ISFC) received a boost in funding from the Vancouver Island University Department of Creative Writing and Journalism, putting the total to be bestowed at over $2200 in cash and prizes to be awarded over three categories. ISFC is a regionally-focused competition intended to highlight the work of writers in the area, and submissions are only accepted from residents of Vancouver Island and the northern and southern Gulf Islands.
The entry deadline is March 29, 2019, by 12 pm. Complete details and entry forms are available here.
The Nav ...
It can be hard to find independent films on the big screen, with the mainstream big-budget box office production companies monopolizing movie theatres across the country. However, independent film in Canada survives through festivals like Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) or, on the western coast, the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), and various other festivals scattered across the country.
In Nanaimo, indie movies have found another way to survive and even make it onto the big screen. In its 19th year, Fringe Flicks, an independent film series hosted by ...
I cannot consent to swallow your love cold—
down my throat you pour, I choke.
At five years we left your stranglehold.
From you, my childhood was pigeonholed,
left alone, you couldn’t phone despite us being kinfolk.
I cannot consent to swallow your love cold.
At nine I suffered from your mould.
Ten I counseled once again, heartbroke
that at five years we left your stranglehold.
As a child, I was too young and couldn’t be told
how to recover from your garrote.
I cannot consent to swallow your love cold.
The memories of you I tried to remove sevenfold
but time made it ...
This year Literacy Central in downtown Nanaimo will host a weekly workshop for emerging writers aged 15 – 30. The workshop will be facilitated by Greg Brown, a Nanaimo-born writer whose work has been published in Paragon, Postscript, Pulp Literature, Tate Street, Prism International, The Journey Prize 30: The Best of Canada’s New Writers, and others.
During the summer, Brown teaches at the University of Virginia’s Young Writer’s Workshop, and says that he enjoys working with young writers because of their enthusiasm for the craft.
“I found that the younger kids in general were ...
February can feel a bit like fitting into a new pair of pants. Having just peeled yourself out of the previous year’s pair, the new ones aren’t quite worn-in enough to be comfortable yet. You’re optimistic though. Every morning you squeeze yourself back in, stretching that fabric out just a little bit more. These new pants are practically still fresh enough to avoid washing them for another week—unless you’re hitting the gym. But let’s face it: February’s already here. If you haven’t gone by this point, you’re not ever gonna go.
With respect to ill-fitting pants, February is also the ...
Upon first glance, Cold Front Gelato, located at 306-60 Commercial Street, is like many of the other shops in the area: cool, funky, and smelling amazing. In some ways, such as their insistence to stay loyal to the local community, they are the same. From the outside, the shop looks Scandinavian in style, with its white tiling, wood paneling, and detailing of soft green light fixtures.
The metallic gleam of the 16 gelatos on display and the polished espresso machine reflect the immaculate creation of the gelateria’s products. Made fresh every day in small batches, the gelato and the ...
Here’s the thing. Letter writing, in its more refined days of thinner paper, messy cursive, and licked stamps, was how people connected. When my grandfather immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in the ’60s, he landed over 6,000 kilometres from home. The only way to hear from his family still in Europe was to write home. Every other Sunday he would write to his father and account the drastic changes, and wealth of opportunities that Canada gave him. On alternating Sundays, his father would do the same.
Even back then the postal system was a bit spotty, so often they would hear ...
Vancouver Island University will be hosting the 11th annual Vancouver Island Leadership Conference (VILC), March 8 – March 9.
VILC is sponsored by the VIU office of Co-Curricular Engagement and Learning. The conference is also supported by a team of students across multiple faculties and disciplines. Jonah Ferguson, a political science student and social media coordinator for VILC, says the conference will be an excellent opportunity for VIU students.
“I see this conference as an opportunity to expand my leadership capabilities, to network with other like-minded individuals, and ...
Six bald eagles are dead and six others are sick and undergoing treatment in Nanaimo at the VCA Island Animal Hospital.
The eagles were found in North Cowichan around the Herd Road area. The first two were brought in to the Raptor Rescue Society in Duncan on Wednesday, January 16, with the rest being discovered in the following days. As of the last reporting by the Hope Standard on January 25, no more victims appear to have been found.
The Raptors Centre is assisting the Rescue Society with the ordeal, which appears to be an unintentional case of bad grub.
“We suspect that a ...
“If some countries have too much history, Canada has too much geography,” former Prime Minister Mackenzie King said in a 1936 House of Commons speech.
Fast forward to 2019: Canada is still big, and, while we’ve gained 83 years of history since King’s words, the question of what constitutes Canadian identity is still debated.
What does it mean to be Canadian? Is it waiting in long drive-through lines for crappy coffee at the house of our lord and saviour, Tim Hortons? (Hallowed be thy name.) Or maybe it’s consuming a mountain of fries smothered in gravy and curdled milk, and ...
