By contributor Alison Cheung.
After six months of renovations, the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library is back up and running.
Built in 1996, the Harbourfront Library “was due for some updates,” said , Branch Manager. Initially, the building was simply used as storage for books, but now it is “more active.”
The second floor has been completely remodeled to become what is now called the Creativity Commons—a facility where individuals or small groups can use up-to-date computers and gadgets. The space consists of three areas: Story Lab, Make and Break Lab, and Family History. All are ...
The election is over, Justin Trudeau is being sworn in as Prime Minister as our latest issue hits stands, and Sheila Malcolmson is gearing up to establish NDP plans as Nanaimo’s new MP. So what are Nanaimo’s youth partisan groups planning to do?
“We want to keep engaging youth that have Liberal values,” said Avi Dixit, member of the Young Liberals of Nanaimo. “We want to continue with the idea of positive politics, and stay present.”
The Young Liberals are a nationwide partisan group not associated with the university’s students’ union.
“We worked with Tim Tessier when he ...
VIU's Malaspina Theatre filled up with eager students and faculty on a sunny afternoon on October 20. The sold-out event hosted Colonel Chris Hadfield, engineer, musician, author, YouTuber, public speaker, and first Canadian astronaut to walk in space.
With a long list of achievements under his belt, Hadfield has continued his support of learning by visiting and Skyping with students of all ages across Canada to inspire and remind young learners of their unlimited potential.
Hadfield began by explaining to the audience what it was like to put on the spacesuit every day, a ...
VIU’s Blood Club is challenging the University of Victoria’s (UVic) club, Blood4Life, with the claim that VIU can recruit more donors than UVic.
Both clubs focus on raising awareness of the need for blood donors, providing education, and helping out with blood drives. UVic’s club currently has more donors, as it has been established longer that VIU’s, but nursing student and chair of the Blood Club Scott Remmer is determined to change that.
“I’m currently calling it ‘Operation Bad Blood,’” Remmer said. “I want to start a bit of rivalry between the two schools.”
Chair of UVic’s ...
We’ve all seen it happen. The construction-triggered special one-day-only pop-up-surprise merge road signs appear, and cars immediately force their way from the right to the left lane; it’s not so much a merge as a game of Chicken. Ahead, the right lane stretches, vast and empty, for a full block, to where the truck with the pointy arrow sits flashing, “Go left, go left.” But it’s too late. Like a left-lurching wave of lemmings, they’ve already gone: The Premature Mergers.
Those signs are laid out well ahead for a reason. They’re planting a seed, giving drivers a chance to get used to ...
So, I do realize that we, as Canadians, already know this. Yes, our new PM is a sight for sore eyes. I mean, he always has been, but until news broke about Canada’s election to the rest of the world, no one else really cared.
Justin, or JT as I like to call him, is that really good guy you friend-zoned, then after one summer away at camp, JT returns for senior year a foot taller, grew chest hair, and POOF, everyone and their mom is talking about his pecs.
But you still remember him before he was popular, before People Magazine, The Mirror, Huffpost Canada, and Independent began ...
By contributor Tomi Lawson
Real Estate Webmasters (REW) is holding a job fair with several possible positions for students on November 5.
“REW combines state of the art website design with proven search engine optimization techniques and advanced programming to produce the most effective real estate website on the internet,” said Kathryn Scott, REW’s Human Resources specialist.
According to their website, REW was founded in 2004 and has over 150 employees. It was named one of “Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies” and has been a leader in the real estate business since 2004. In ...
By Megan Wolfe
I love how you understand me
That you never question or judge
You’re always so sweet
And there when I need some love
I can never have a bad day with you by my side
My constant companion
Through the good times and bad
We’ve been through so much together
And I love you so dearly
Especially with bread
And on crepes with toasted coconut
What a way to start the day!
Or even just by yourself
While watching Netflix and lounging in bed
Nutella, you’re my sweetness
By Jeff Sieniewicz
Oh, slick trick,
easy as feigned sympathy,
others will never see.
Friend and foe, you’ll lick.
You and truth never collide.
Twist here,
schisms cleft clear.
Crack the oyster wide.
Each desire,
every dream true.
What’s the due?
Merely turn liar.
Make many mighty claim,
spew hubris over sanctimony.
Hide void and insecurity,
need of noble fame.
Favours to curry,
fearless of sin,
you exchange fact for fiction,
yet overlook the fee.
Register anger, then regret.
Click of ambiguity,
doses of dishonesty.
Those wheels in motion? You set.
Forever lack ...
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By contributor Luke Bowles
As the leaves begin to turn colour, catching the golden rays of the morning sun, and fall to the ground, covering the hills in a brittle layer of colour; and as the crisp autumn air fills your lungs, it’s hard not to see the beauty of Nanaimo at every corner. Our city has a rich history and landscape. It’s hard not to be prideful of where I live and learn.
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This Halloween, it might be tempting to munch on all that candy. Word to the wise, it might be worth thinking about what being put in your body.
Top five healthiest chocolate bars (according to livestrong.com.)
York Peppermint Patties – Just 140 calories each with only 2.5 grams of fat. There are no trans fats, and the small size stops you from over-indulging.
M&M Minis – Only 150 calories, and seven grams of fat per tube. Still better than traditional candy bars filled with caramel and fudge.
Lindt Chocolate Bars – Not only decently priced, this bar has a healthy dose of ...
For foragers and commoners alike, the arrival of autumn means one thing—the sprouting of those delicate long stemmed caps: Mushrooms. No one is more accustomed to nature’s most tantalizing delicacies than Bill Holmes, founder and Forager-in-chief at Deer Holme farms.
Now with a multitude of books dedicated to the craft, various foraging and cooking classes, and heavy involvement within the sustainability movement on the West Coast. Holmes says it all began in Calgary, Alberta when his passion for mountaineering and backpacking led him to reconsider his rationing during his trip.
“I ...
As adults, we all know that the definition of Halloween doesn’t stand for candy and treats anymore. Okay, candy nonetheless, but the discounted ones the day after.
We all know alcohol is packed full of a scary amount of sugars, so this Halloween, why not celebrate with a few new "healthy" spooky drinks and hope that hangover won’t haunt you…
Witch’s Brew from ahealthylifeforme.com
Ingredients:
One and ½ ounce Coconut Tequila
Two ounces pinapple-orange juice
½ ounce Blue Curacao
Marichino cherry
Fresh Ice
Instructions:
Place cherry in martini glass
In an ice ...
This is the third in a contributor column by Zoe Lauckner. Check back next issue for the latest in Mental Health issues.
Last issue’s Mental Health Matters column touched on the topic of self-care—an intentional, self-nurturing practice aimed at taking care of one’s own psychosocial needs. Self-care takes insight and awareness of self—skills that are not necessarily innate, but can most definitely be learned through practice and dedication. Another aspect of self-care is the ability to recognize when you’ve had all that you can handle on your own and when you need some extra ...
By contributor Farida El Sheshingy.
Last year, I turned 21 and it was a huge deal for me. Where I come from it meant that I had become a fully-grown adult, with major roles and responsibilities in the eyes of society. It meant I could make my own decisions and take the path I thought suited me best, regardless of what others thought. It also meant that I’d be a fresh college graduate, but I had other plans; I’m not just a student, I am also a soccer player. When my teachers in high school asked, “What do you want to do when you graduate?” I would answer, “I want to be a soccer ...
By contributor Zoe Lauckner
November 3, 2015 is a big day for VIU student Gisèle Merlet. After completing a BA in Liberal Studies and returning to enter the Creative Writing department, Merlet is beaming at the opportunity to present a token of her dedication to the arts: her debut collection of 15 stories in her first self-published book, As I Rise.
The main characters in these 15 linked stories are Carmen and Alain, who are based loosely off of Merlet and her husband Jean. Inspired by the many life challenges and growth opportunities the main characters face, Merlet chose the ...
Take an NPR reporter with a style similar to Serial and drop them into the world of The X-Files and you have the latest project from Vancouver actor Paul Bae and filmmaker Terry Miles: The Black Tapes Podcast. That’s how the project is being described by many articles and fans as the first season of the podcast wraps up.
The series has been averaging 15 thousand listeners per episode, and has been featured on the front page of iTunes 18 different times. These numbers are high for a small series on the beginning of its journey, and it makes the creators excited for its future. A second ...
By Web Editor Antony Stevens
Brenda Gershkovitch, co-founder of Vancouver-based game development studio Silicon Sisters, spoke at VIU last Tuesday in an open lecture. Pulling from her ten years of experience within the industry, Gershkovitch offered a feminist perspective on game design, and shone light on her studio’s decision to turn down development on the now $100 million earning game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.
Gershkovitch opened the lecture with a picture of herself in the ‘80s’ as a child playing Frogger in Nanaimo’s long defunct Electric Playground arcade.
“I was the ...
The horror comedy genre is hard to nail. You need the right amount of humour, horror, and sometimes absurdity to pull the whole production off. Young Frankenstein holds onto that mantle, and Shaun of the Dead set a new standard back in 2004. The genre continues to produce gems here and there that are perfect for a good laugh and a fright factor. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil works hard to be one of these gems and does a good job of earning that title.
Poking fun at your usual teen and cabin horror films, Tucker & Dale is the story of two well-meaning hillbillies who unintentionally ...
By contributor Elijah Lavin
The Evil Within is a AAA horror game, meaning that it was made by a big name company with a large budget, that was released October 2014. The game is considered psychological survival horror, and it definitely lives up to that title.
You play as Sebastian Castellanos in the beginning, a gritty detective who, of course, has a dark angst-ridden past. Sebastian, his partner Joseph Oda, and rookie Juli Kidman get a call to a brutal mass murder at a local mental hospital. There, a white-hooded figure sets off a chain of supernatural events, leaving the city ...
Nick Sagan’s Idlewild is a hidden gem in the sci-fi genre and deserves to bring Sagan’s name out from under his father’s shadow. Blending The Matrix and Minority Report gives you the bare bones core of the story, and yet Idlewild stretches to be so much more during the whole story.
The main narrator of the story, Halloween, wakes up suddenly with only two details he remembers: someone tried to kill him, and one of his peers is already dead. Using Halloween’s own amnesia as a way to explore the strange world, readers find themselves in what would usually be a cheap parlour trick. But ...
By contributor Brendan Barlow
“In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds…and remembers.” - via imdb.com
I will declare my bias up front, and say that I have been itching for Guillermo del Toro to make another horror movie ever since I saw Pan’s Labyrinth, and I will also confess that I wasn’t the biggest fan of Cronos or The Devil’s Backbone, though I admit that both films are beautiful to ...
After making it through the Federal Election Campaign—78 days that felt more like nine months, which is about the time it takes to grow a baby—I think we can all use a Unicorn Chaser. For those unfamiliar with the concept, Unicorn Chaser is a term coined when, after scanning social media and news headlines filled with violence, injustice, and gore, one needs to scrub their mind with pleasurable images. Often, but not always, it involves baby animals. It’s kind of like taking a shot of whiskey followed by a swig of beer (in this analogy, the unicorn is the beer). It’s like a palate ...
