Top 10 movie sequels
Clayton Bambrough
Contributor
The Navigator
This month saw the release of a third Riddick film, starring Vin Diesel as the titular space fugitive. For this list, I’m going to take a look at ten movie sequels I feel are better than, or at least on par with, their predecessors.
Criteria: Sequel must improve on the original in some way, exceed original, or be a worthy continuation of the franchise (if it’s part of one.)
10. The Silence of the Lambs
First up is the sequel to 1986’s Manhunter, featuring Hannibal Lector: the most memorable cinematic cannibal ever. This time around, ...
On the radar: Meldy Wilton
Drew McLachlan
The Navigator
Meldy Wilton has been at the forefront of the movement to save the Colliery Dams in Harewood. To further the initiative, Wilton formed the Dam Poets, a group of local artists using the craft to spread the word on why the dams deserve to stay. I got the chance to speak to her last week at the Lower Dam, where the group often holds readings.
The Navigator: Why is (more…)
Two brothers claim Nanaimo Art Gallery
Denisa Kraus
The Navigator
“Every work of art is a claim. It makes a claim on something, it claims to be something, whether it’s an object or an illusion,” says art historian and curator Dr. Justin McGrail as he explains the title of Nathan and Cedric Bomford’s current exhibition at VIU’s Nanaimo Art Gallery.
The Claim is the latest collaboration of the two brothers, whose internationally (more…)
Round table with Bananafish Dance Orchestra
Denisa Kraus
The Navigator
They call themselves “an eight-piece funk jazz hiphop reggae latin rock crew,” but chances are there’s also soul, beatbox, and guest musicians at their shows. They like to play loud and swamp the audience with organized, improvised chaos. They also enjoy improvising outside their music; that’s why the topics of the interview with five members of the Bananafish Dance Orchestra ranged from togas to underage (more…)
Refugee campus
Drew McLachlan
The Navigator
Aden Ahmed’s face has no trace of stubble, his dark curls have been trimmed back to his scalp, his blue-gold pinstripe button-up and grey slacks look as if they were pressed this morning, and under his wide eyes fine traces of exhaustion have been etched by the familiar transition between summer and school. In other words, if Ahmed were put into a lineup with his fellow accounting classmates, you’d have a hard time picking him out. However, those four years of attending class, part-time jobs, grocery lists, doctor’s appointments, and living as a typical ...
Canada: a nation that’s healing
Therese Guieb
The Capilano Courier
North Van (CUP) — Canada is known for welcoming different ethnicities with open arms. It is a land where multiculturalism allows its citizens to create stronger bonds amongst each other. Despite all this, many of us have forgotten the origin of this country and our ancestors who shaped our nation to what it is today. There is an ominous past within our history: the Indian (more…)
Government punishes small music venues
Jesse Colautti
The Fulcrum
Ottawa—(CUP) The Canadian government has made changes to the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program that will make it much more costly for Canadian music promoters and small-venue owners to book international performers.
Previously, international bands would be required to pay a one-time fee of $150 per band member, maxing out at $450, for the right to enter and work in Canada. New regulations will now charge each employer, the band promoter, or venue owner an additional $275 per musician and crew member—with no cap set on the total cost. (more…)
On the radar: Liam Glaim
Drew McLachlan
The Navigator
Vocalist/guitarist Liam Glaim has been performing in Nanaimo and across western Canada for almost a decade. When his longtime group The Perfect Trend broke up last year, he got together with the former members of Dead Eyes Open to form a new hardcore band, Trace the Sky. I recently got the chance to speak to Liam about starting from scratch; and the past, present, and future of Nanaimo’s music scene.
The Navigator: How did you first get into making music?
Liam Glaim: The first time I ever made music aside from in class was near the end of high school. I ...
The campaign to legalize marijuana
Carly Breault
Contributor
The Navigator
Despite almost a century of prohibition, millions of Canadians today regularly consume marijuana and other cannabis products. Opponents of the criminalization of marijuana cite that criminalization makes poor use of taxpayer’s money, diverts police resources from dealing with more pressing crime, and holds too harsh of penalties on those charged with pot possession. (more…)
FUEL SVN: not just a supplement store
Blake Deal
The Navigator
Nanaimo supplement store FUEL is looking to develop into more than just a supplement store.
Owner Dave McCammon opened FUEL with his partner on June 1 2007. McCammon said when they opened FUEL the main goal was to provide supplements directed towards the body building world. There was no desire to provide health food but rather just focus on sports nutrition.
McCammon said he got into body building when he was 11 years old living in Cranbrook and did it all wrong. McCammon said that he had body image issues which got him into body building and he was ...
Education and prevention programs essential in light of recent chant controversy
Cherise Letson
Atlantic News
FREDERICTON (CUP) — An Instagram video showing about 400 St. Mary’s University students chanting a sexist cheer is an example of a culture campuses need to change, says StudentsNS executive director, Jonathan Williams.
The video, shot on Monday, September 2, shows the students of the Halifax university chanting “Y is for your sister, O is for ‘oh so tight,’ U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for grab that ass—Saint Mary’s boys we like them young.” (more…)
VIU welcomes journalism to campus
Stephanie Brown
Contributor
The Navigator
This semester marks the first year that the new Journalism minor is available as a graduating credential to Bachelor of Arts students at VIU.
The credential only involved one new course being added to the extensive list of Creative Writing classes already available to students, and this class was already in the process of being created before the Journalism minor was established. Due to the well-developed Crew program already available at VIU the journalism minor did not pull heavily on financial resources to get up and running, according ...
First time students academic worries
Stephanie Brown
Contributor
The Navigator
Although the financial aspect of university can be stressful for first time students there are many pressures faced in the first year of university that cause students to drop out.
Statistics Canada selected a group of students in 1999 and tracked their education until 2005, 16% of the students in the study in universities specifically dropped out before graduation. AJ Laing is a returning student to VIU who had a rough start to his university career a few years ago. (more…)
A chunk of Linley Valley West is about to go under the knife
Jennifer O’Rourke and Joanne Jonas-McRae
Letter to the Editor
The city’s Official Community Plan’s environmental protection objective includes the goal of “maintaining water quality in, and the basic ecological functions of, watersheds so they can continue to support fish and wildlife populations.” Moreover, its website says the city embraces sustainability: “Simply put, living a sustainable lifestyle means living without exhausting any resources. While this certainly has environmental (more…)
Priceless experience
Leah Myers
Editor-In-Chief
The Navigator
If I had a nickel for every time, since graduating college, someone asked to me to work for free.... Well then I’d probably have enough to pay off all my tuition debt and break even on my camera gear.
I get it though— it’s just the nature of the industry with photography. With an influx of amateurs (and some very good amateurs, at that) who are willing to work to gain experience, why would anyone pay for a professional? While I’m sure there’s (more…)
Quebec and the fall of Canadian pluralism
Drew McLachlan
Associate Editor
The Navigator
When The Aga Kahn, imam and spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, visited Ottawa in 2002, he told the Globe and Mail that "Canada is today the most successful pluralist society on the face of our globe, without any doubt in my mind. . . . That is something unique to Canada. It is an amazing global human asset.” The visit later inspired the Aga Khan to choose our capital as the location for the Global Centre of Pluralism, a research and education centre dedicated to spreading the tenets of tolerance. While some surely still hold onto ...
Doing the best you can for your athletes
Shelby Blackley
National Sports Editor
CUP
WATERLOO (CUP) — Jamie Carlson has seen athletes come back from some remarkable injuries. “You hate to sell the human spirit short,” he said. Carlson started at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. as a certified athletic therapist nearly twenty years ago. Throughout his tenure, he has seen university athletes at the amateur level, the professional level and the international level get hurt with acute and chronic injuries. And it always comes down to helping the athletes reach their full potential without succumbing to injury. (more…)
Intramural leagues, tournaments, and events a great way to experience campus life
Jay Smitka
The Navigator
Every September the campuses of Vancouver Island University are flooded by an influx of new students. VIU is a big institution with a lot to offer academically and many extracurricular groups and activities students may choose to become involved with.
One great way for new students and those continuing their education at VIU this September to stay active and have fun are the Intramural Leagues, Tournaments and Special Events hosted by Campus Rec.
For those interested in committing to League play there will be three options as Volleyball, Basketball and ...
Yoga helps student relieve stress, find balance
Jay Smitka
The Navigator
With the new school year upon us many students may be feeling stressed out.The shift from summer life back into the academic grind can be a difficult one for many of us and it is extremely important for students to find a healthy way to relax and relieve some of this tension.One way that more and more people are choosing to relax is through the practice of yoga.I took some time to sit down with Dennis Kalack, a student at local yoga studio Moksha Yoga and discuss with him the benefits of yoga, what makes yoga different from other exercise routines and how ...
Sr.B Timbermen headed to national tournament
Jay Smitka
the Navigator
Nanaimo's Acme Painting Senior B Timbermen are headed to the President's Cup. After finishing their regular season tied for first place in the West Coast Senior B Lacrosse Association, with a record of 11-3 the T-men were eventually swept by the Tri-City Bandits in the second round of the playoffs. While the Bandits would go on to win the WCSLA title, it is the Timbermen who will make the journey to Kahnawake, Quebec and represent BC this year at the President's Cup. (more…)
Mariners prepare to defend national title
Jay Smitka
The Navigator
The Vancouver Island University Mariners men's basketball team ended their season last year on a remarkable high note when they clinched the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championship. For Head Coach Matt Kuzminski, who was in his first year heading up the squad the big win came as somewhat of a pleasant surprise. “It all happened so fast” Kuzminski says, “I didn't have expectations (more…)
Culture bite television: Breaking Bad finale is coming
Denisa Kraus
The Navigator
In case anyone is still oblivious to the eagerly awaited return of Breaking Bad onto the small screen – turn on your TV before it’s too late. With the second half of season five having premiered on August 11, the addictive and explosive narco-western from AMC’s high end production is heading to its imminent end.
Sadly, we only have four out of eight episodes left to witness the tense family showdown, gang wars neatly fought out in the New Mexico wilderness, and the transformation of key characters, namely the emergence of Mrs. Heisenberg, making Skylar White ...
Book launch: The Price of Silence
Denisa Kraus
The Navigator
Swedish-born writer Ulla Hakanson will present her debut novel, a crime thriller The Price of Silence, at the book launch in Nanaimo’s harbourfront library branch on Tuesday, September 10, and in Parksville’s library branch on Wednesday, September 18.
Having lived in Canada for 45 years and in British Columbia for 18, Hakanson uses the wild and rugged west coast landscape contrasted with the harsh reality of the Vancouver crime underworld as settings for her stories.
The launch will include the author’s reading of segments from The Price of Silence, ...
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