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The December 5th issue of the Interrobang features holiday recipe and gift ideas, the top Christmas movies, and a look at headlines from the past year.

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Page 1: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011
Page 2: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

NEWS 2Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Jess Toso is in her first year ofRadio Broadcasting. “I am out-going and fun and will always bedown for a laugh and a goodtime,” said Toso. “I believe in liv-ing each day like it was your lastand am thankful every day forthe amazing people I have in mylife!”1. Why are you here?Because radio is awesome! 2. What was your life-changingmoment?When I decided to come toFanshawe. I was attending anotherschool and about to finish my pro-gram when I realized I wasn’thappy. I decided last minute toattend Fanshawe and since then Ihaven’t looked back. It’s an amaz-ing program and everyone rocks!

3. What music are you currentlylistening to?“The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars. 4. What is the best piece ofadvice you’ve ever received?Don’t eat that chicken, its gonebad! ... saved me a few times froma sick stomach.5. Who is your role model?My mother, she is one of thestrongest, beautiful people I know.She has supported my brother andI for our whole lives with a smileand is always there when we needher. I could never tell her enoughhow much I love and appreciateher.6. Where in the world have youtravelled?Various places in Canada, Chicagoand Florida BABY! I would love

to travel and see more of the world. 7. What was your first job?Camp Counselor! Woop woop! 8. What would your last mealbe?Sushi! I absolutely love it... kind ofobsessed. 9. What makes you uneasy?Sharks and spiders! I know it’sslightly irrational, but they arefreaky! 10. What is your passion?I love to perform and entertainpeople. If I can make someonelaugh, it’s a good day.Do you want Fanshawe to know 10Things About You? Just head onover to fsu.ca/interrobang andclick on the 10 Things I KnowAbout You link at the top.

10 Things I Know About You...

It’s the Jess Toso show

CREDIT: SUBMITTED

Jess Toso avoids chicken when possible.

CREDIT: KIRSTEN ROSENKRANTZ

A drenched but happy Veronica Barahona, FSU President, posed with members of Fanshawe’s cross countryteam when Rick Hansen’s 25th Anniversary Relay Team stopped by the college at the end of November.Barahona trekked out in the rain with some of Fanshawe’s finest runners, wearing a commemorative medal thatwill make its way across Canada. The relay began on August 24 in Cape Spear, Newfoundland and Labrador andwill complete its journey in Vancouver, British Columbia on May 22, 2012. “I’m happy that this is an experiencethat Fanshawe can be a part of,” Barahona said proudly.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY TRADITION?

Mischa Kavin“Our imaginary Christmas tree - it’s not really a tree, just branches in a bucket that we decorate.”

Josh VanWistinghausen“I love opening a gift on Christmas Eve.”

Brooke Surridge“It would definitely be going out in the snow to make snow angels, forts and snowmen. Also beer-bogganing.”

Ben Kitchen“For me, it would have to be when my mom makes sticky buns.”

Faith Maudsley“Decorating the Christmas tree - it can get pretty silly. For Winter Solstice, we also wassail the tree by spitting apple cider at it, which isn’t quite how they traditionally did it, haha.”

WEDNESDAY 12-07First Run Film: HUGO

Rainbow Cinemas (in Citi Plaza) $3.50 STUDENTS | $5 GUESTS7PM

THURSDAY 12-09

Naughty Christmas PubOBS – 9:30PM $3 ADV | $4 DOORALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE FSU’S ADOPT A FAMILY CAMPAIGN.

DECEMBER EVENTS

TICKETS AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE AT THE BIZ BOOTH

Happy Holidays

from the FSU!

Page 3: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

NEWS 3Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Even the holliest jolliestChristmas elf has something heor she hates about the holidays.Whether it’s getting a terrible giftfrom your Secret Santa or tryingto navigate the bustling malls insearch of the last few items onyour list, Josephine Cleo is cele-brating the things we love to hateabout the “best” time of the year.

In her show, Holiday Snidings,Cleo is taking her snark andsongs to the Wolf PerformanceHall stage on December 10,telling stories, performingChristmas songs and three of herown original songs. The showwill be fun for all ages – “nothingsaucy, just sassy,” said Cleo.Zach Havens, of the band ToTell, will accompany her songson the piano.

“Christmas is just rife withopportunities to make fun of it –and I don’t mean the religiousaspect,” she said. “I’m billing itas ‘Celebrating the things welove to hate,’ but it’s not mean-spirited in hate, it’s the annoy-ances.” Though the show maypoke fun at some holiday tradi-tions, Cleo compared it to “thegrumpy old man with the heart ofgold,” adding that it was reallyabout getting into the Christmasspirit.

Cleo said she draws some ofher inspiration from working at aMAC makeup counter at a mallduring the holiday season, whenher co-workers would sometimesbe up to half an hour late for theirshifts because they couldn’t finda place to park. “You think it’ssupposed to be this time of givingand goodwill, but (people) willram your car to get your parkingspot,” she laughed.

“It’s a show meant for fun, andI want people to come to laugh(because I’m funny), forget theirtroubles (because the show isengaging) and bond over the not-so-great holiday headaches (mis-ery loves company!),” she added.“I also hope they will walk awayfrom the show having found afresh new voice in London(mine) that aspires to reach theheights of the Divine MissMidler,” of whom Cleo is a hugefan.

Cleo is already on her way toBette Midler-level stardom, hav-

ing a small piece of the star’s his-tory on stage with her onDecember 10. After finding anonline auction of one of Midler’smicrophones from a show Cleoherself had attended at Caesar’sPalace in Las Vegas, “a split-sec-ond decision and mouse clicklater, and I am now the proudowner of Bette’s Shure KSM9handheld vocal microphone inchampagne finish,” she grinned.

“I said to myself that if I wonthe auction, it would be an omenthat good things are to come, andthat I am on the right path towardmy dream of being a singer.Maybe it’s just wishful thinking,but if Bette started inBathhouses, then surely I canbegin my career at the WolfPerformance Hall!”

Cleo is a graduate of theAccounting program atFanshawe, and is currently work-ing as an Accountant in London.Though she is fairly new to ourcity’s music scene, this is not herfirst time on stage. In May thisyear, she put on a show about herjourney to becoming a singer.“I’ve known since I was 11 that Iwanted to sing, but I just neverended up getting there,” she said.Her May show had people in hys-terics, and this Christmas showpromises to be another excellentnight of entertainment.

Part of the proceeds fromHoliday Snidings’ ticket saleswill benefit London’s HumaneSociety. Cleo has a dog and a catfrom the Humane Society andsaid she thinks they do a greatservice for the furry citizens ofour city. “A relationship with apet is like no other. It’s uncondi-tional love,” she said. “Anythingthat I can do to support (theHumane Society), I will.” She isalso encouraging people to bringdonations of wet or dry cat foodto the show, as well as monetarydonations to purchase raffle tick-ets for some awesome prizes,including a MAC cosmetics giftbasket and gift cards to Best Buy,Weezi and Grooves.

Tickets for Holiday Snidingsare on sale at Weezi (2-204Albert St.), Grooves (353Clarence St.) and her websitejosephinecleo.com. Tickets are$20, and the show starts at 6:30p.m.

Seasonal snark to put youin the holiday spirit

ERIKA FAUSTINTERROBANG

On December 6 at noon in theAlumni Lounge, the Women’sCampus Safety Committee willbe providing a memorial for the14 young women, all engineeringstudents at École Polytechniquein Montréal, who were murderedon December 6, 1989 by MarcLepine. Fourteen other students,of which four were male, wereinjured and Marc Lepine subse-quently killed himself.

The murder of such talentedyoung women profoundlyshocked everyone – both womenand men. For women, it was aterrifying reminder of their vul-nerability to hatred and harm as aresult of their sex and aspirations.For men, it was a stark realiza-tion of the fear that women faceevery day of their lives.

There was no doubt that MarcLepine had targeted the women.His suicide note talked aboutother women whom he wished tokill. When he first entered theuniversity, he separated the menin the building from the womenand made statements during theshootings about “fighting femi-nism.”

December 6 has become theanniversary of what is known asthe “Montréal Massacres,” butmore importantly, it has beendesignated as the National Day ofRemembrance and Action OnViolence Against Women. Butthere is a present perception by

some that women are no longerparticularly at risk of violenceand that there is no longer a needto advocate for social and politi-cal change, or education andtraining to prevent violenceagainst women. Others suggestthat the violence that womenexperience is no different fromthe violence experienced by menand that is mostly perpetrated bystrangers or casual acquaintanc-es.

In Ontario, a Committee wasformed in 2003 by the ChiefCoroner’s Office to reviewdomestic violence related homi-cides in Ontario each year. Thesecases are homicides perpetratedby intimate partners – notstrangers or casual acquaintanc-es. In Ontario, there are approxi-mately 20 to 30 domestic vio-lence related homicides a year. In2010, there were 18 cases,involving 36 deaths reviewed bythe Domestic Violence ReviewCommittee. Most of the victimswere female. There were twomale victims and both of thesewere the children of the perpetra-tor. All of the perpetrators weremale.

It is estimated that there areover 600 cases of missing andmurdered Aboriginal women inCanada. In spite of repeatedattempts by families of thesewomen to have these cases fullyinvestigated, the tragedies thatthese families experience –Amnesty International calls

these tragedies of a national pro-portion – continue.

What can you do about it? Acknowledge that this vio-

lence is still happening. Learn torecognize the signs of abuse andknow what actions to take.

Attend the memorial onDecember 6 at noon in theAlumni Lounge to honour the 14engineering students, to honourthe missing and murderedAboriginal women and to honourall of the women – our mothers,our sisters, our neighbours, ourfriends – who have been abusedor lost their lives in our owncommunities through violence.

Remembering December 6with on-campus memorial

BEV COULSTONWOMEN’S CAMPUS SAFETY COMMITTEEE

CREDIT: BLUE IRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

Josephine Cleo is putting on a holiday show at the Wolf Performance Hallon December 10 to benefit the Humane Society.

CHECK YOURGRADES onWEBADVISORGrades will be available on WebAdvisor December 21 after 6:00 pm.

(for programs ending December 16th)

It is important to check your grades and academic standing as soon as

possible in case you have failed pre-requisite courses for the Winter Term

and/or are required to reapply to your program.

If your academic standing is "Required to Reapply" you must contact your

Academic School before December 23, 2011 or the week of January 2, 2012.

Many of the Schools will have extended hours the first week of January to assist

students.

More information regarding grades, academic standing and registration for

the next term can be found on MyFanshawe under

Office of the Registrar, Student Records.

We wish you good luck on your exams and

final assignments.

We're here to help you succeed.

CREDIT: ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE

A memorial to the victims on theexterior wall of ÉcolePolytechnique in Montréal remem-bers the victims of the MontrealMassacre that happened onDecember 6, 1989.

Page 4: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

NEWS 4Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

If you’re feeling pressure tolook a certain way, if you’reunhappy with your weight orwaist size or if you’re just gener-ally feeling unhappy with theway you look, The Healing Placecan help.

The Healing Place is a newsupport group on campus thatbegins on January 9. The weeklymeetings will take place onMondays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. inF2010-5. It’s an entirely opengroup, and participation is volun-tary – no registration is required.Participants are not required tocome every week; they just showup when they want to talk.Everything said in the group isentirely confidential. “It’s a safeplace where people can sharethings without worry of being

caught in the hallways or cen-tered out,” explained JerilynHurwitz, a Registered SocialWorker with Fanshawe’sCounselling and AccessibilityServices and Founder of TheHealing Place.

In the past, a local organizationcalled Hope’s Garden ran a sup-port group at Fanshawe for peo-ple with eating disorders, butthey lacked the funding to comeback this year. Hurwitz said shedecided to create a new groupwith a new name to try to bemore inclusive. “I didn’t want tofocus just on people who haveeating disorders,” she said. “It’sfor anyone who’s feeling likethey’re struggling with what theysee in the mirror, or feel like theirhappiness is based on the numberon the scale or the size of theirpants, that type of thing.”

“I’ve always been activelyinvolved in eating disorderawareness (and body imageissues),” she continued. “I feelvery strongly about the mediaand the impact that it has onyoung people in terms of pres-sures that they face.”

“I am a social worker and Irecently got a degree in women’sstudies, and that really openedmy eyes to a lot of differentthings in terms of culture, genderand that kind of thing,” she said.“There’s such a lack of under-standing (in the area) that I feellike I want to try to give people avoice and (make the issue) moreunderstood.”

For more information aboutThe Healing Place, contactHurwitz at [email protected] or by phone at 519-452-4430 ext. 3995.

ERIKA FAUSTINTERROBANG

The Library and MediaServices on Fanshawe’s Londoncampus will once again offer24/7 access during exam week.

The 24/7 Library access begins

at 8 a.m. on December 8 and runsuntil 4:15 p.m. on December 16.These extended hours will alsoinclude access to the print collec-tions and photocopiers. Use yourFanshawe student ID to get in.

Please note that the Library

Student Research Lab hourswon’t change, because it’salready open 24/7.

So head to the library andshhhh! Get studying!

Need a place to study for exams? Head to the library HANNAH LECTER

INTERROBANG

The holidays are on a lot of peo-ple’s minds right now, but don’tforget that you’re still a studentthroughout the winter break. Partof your responsibilities as a studentincludes checking your grades andknowing your academic standing.

If you’re in a 15-week program,your grades will be available onWebAdvisor on December 21 at 6p.m. The college will be open onDecember 22 and 23, and staff willbe available to help you decidewhat to do should you be in jeop-ardy of failing your program. Ifyou see that your grades are poorand you need help, get in touchwith the Student Success Advisorfor your school (a full list of SSAs’names and contact information isavailable attinyurl.com/fanshaweSSA) or yourprogram coordinator for help withyour next steps.

The college will be closed fromDecember 24 to January 1, soRobert Kitchen, a Student SuccessLeader with the Student SuccessCentre, advised students to marktheir calendars to check theirgrades and, if needed, do some-thing about problems as soon aspossible. “Block some time now to

deal with this and then go enjoy therest of your time off.”

“We’ve done a lot for studentsuccess in recent years,” saidLynne Gaudet, AssociateRegistrar, Registration andRecords. “The college does reallycare about student success.”

“We’re certainly encouragingthe students who have done poorlyon their semester to check theirgrades and really effectively usethe time between semesters,”added Kitchen. “Some studentsdecide that, because of their status,they don’t want to return to theirprogram. If they want to start inanother program, start to do thatstuff on December 22 and 23.”

“If you’re a struggling studentand you start to miss classesbecause you’re not enrolled in theright classes … it becomes a recipefor disaster,” he continued. “Don’tlet that be you. If you can deal withit before (it becomes a problem),it’s certainly much better.”

Take advantage of the servicesFanshawe offers to help you suc-ceed. Don’t wait – be proactive,check your grades and get help ifyou need it.

ERIKA FAUSTINTERROBANG

Open your gradesbefore your gifts

New group aims to help withbody image issues

Page 5: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

OPINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] 5

Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

I’m conflicted about Christmas. Somemay even claim I’m a bit “grinchy.” While Iagree with its sentiments, its modern daypractise frankly makes me feel like remov-ing myself from all associated celebrationsof it entirely.

My “bah humbug” attitude was solidifiedas I got older and everything started to feelobligatory. When you’re a member of a fam-ily characterized by several broken mar-riages, remarriages and stepsiblings, tryingto include everyone in the gift-givingescapades adds up real fast. Since when is aholiday associated with “glee” supposed tomake you broke? There’s nothing very funabout that.

If the above wasn’t bad enough, I startedto find myself in a situation with a certain

unnamed relative wherein anytime they’dpurchase me a gift, there’d be an additionalunseen price tag attached – something I referto as the “Trojan horse of gift-giving.”Somehow just because I accepted somethingI thought was given out of generosity, I wasmanipulated into doing this or that for saidindividual… and if I failed to comply, I wasreminded how much money was spent on meand how my non-compliance was apparentlyindicative of a lack of appreciation. Coinedby psychologists in the 1960s as “the guilttrip,” this is by far the WORST of the gift-giving practises and is nothing more than athinly veiled attempt to psychologically con-trol and abuse someone.

Today, my friends, we are here to speakon the art of sincere gift-giving, and in thiscircumstance, sincere can be taken as syn-onymous with “mature.”

When it comes to the art of sincere giftgiving, I believe Sean Connery’s character inthe movie Finding Forrester summed it upperfectly: “The way to a (person’s) heart isan unexpected gift at an unexpected time.”After all, doing so indicates that you were

obtaining a gift for this individual purelybecause they happened to be on your mindand you wanted to do something to brightentheir day. In this context, please note that theterm “gift” does NOT simply refer to a com-modity purchased at a store, but can includesending a note to someone you’ve fallen outof touch with recently just to remind themthat even though you do not speak often,they still are very important to you or prepar-ing someone their favourite dish afterthey’ve had an extra long day at work.Genuine acts of kindness toward completestrangers, such as helping an elderly womanor man carry their groceries to the car, are byfar the most meaningful, as you have nodirect relation to said individuals.

What I’m trying to get at is this: REALgifts are given from the HEART to the recip-ient “just ‘cause” and with NO stringsattached or expectations of reciprocation.NO holiday – whether we’re talking Xmas, abirthday or Valentine’s – should ever makeyou feel obligated to do something for some-one you wouldn’t normally do. On the otherside of the equation, a mature recipient

acknowledges and appreciates the “effort”put forth and never maintains a price limit ofwhat should be spent on him/her nor com-pares gifts from different givers. As the oldsaying goes, “It IS the thought that counts.”

As all of you go out and spend far morethan you can afford this year just to partici-pate in a practise of an annual celebrationthat has lost all relation to its genesis, I askyou to remember what I’ve written aboveand perhaps try to see that the TRUE gift ofChristmas is the ability to spend time withyour loved ones. They may drive you crazyand have ridiculous habits, but not everyonehas a family or friends to share wonderfulmoments with. In sum, gift-giving shouldNEVER define a relationship. A relationshipshould be defined by the gifts we do for eachother WITHOUT obligation.

FSU Publications OfficeSC1012www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Publications Manager & Editor John [email protected] • 519.453.3720 ext. 224

Staff Reporter Erika Faust [email protected] • 519.453.3720 ext.247

Staff Reporter Kirsten Rosenkrantz [email protected] • 519.453.3720 ext.291

Creative Director Darby [email protected] • 519.453.3720 ext.229

Advertising Mark [email protected] • 519.453.3720 ext. 230

Web Facilitator Allen [email protected] • 519.453.3720 ext.250

Letters to the [email protected]

Graphic Design Contributors:Megan Easveld, Bernie Quiring, Kayla WatsonPhotographers:Anthony ChangBaden RothColin ThomsonAriana PinderIllustrator:Adéle GrenierContributors:Aimee Brothman, Patricia Cifani, Susan Coyne, VictorDe Jong Nauman Farooq, Bobby Foley, Brooke Foster,Madison Foster, Maisha Francis-Garner, Tyler Gary, AllenGaynor, Christina Kubiw Kalashnik, Wendy Lycett, TaylorMarshall, Tabitha McCarl, Alison McGee, MaggieMcGee, Rick Melo, Chelsey Moore, Emily Nixon, PaigeParker, Rose Perry, Jaymin Proulx, Scott Stringle, MartyThompson, Justin Vanderzwan, Michael Veenema,Jeremy Wall and Joshua Waller

Comics:Dustin Adrian, Laura Billson, Robert Catherwood, ScottKinoshita, Chris Miszczak and Andres Silva

Cover Credit:ADELE GRENIER

Editorial opinions or comments expressedin this newspaper reflect the views of thewriter and are not those of theInterrobang or the Fanshawe StudentUnion. All photographs are copyright 2011by Fanshawe Student Union. All rights

reserved. The Interrobang is published weekly by the FanshaweStudent Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., Room SC1012,London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through theFanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to edit-ing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied bycontact information. Letters can also be submitted online atwww.fsu.ca/interrobang/ by following the Interrobang links.

CREDIT: THEFORSAKENCHILDREN.ORG

Dear Editor:Does it not bother you that the whole rea-

son behind Christmas is changing to a moreworldly view?

- Crossing CHRIST out of Christmas =Xmas

- Can’t say “Merry Christmas” in stores orschools anymore

- Cutting out Christmas events at schoolbecause it supposedly offends people

- “The best part about Christmas is …PRESENTS!”

- Santa Claus parade, Santa decorations,Santa movies… Santa’s taking over!!

- You ask any kid about Christmas andthey say/think “SANTA!”

What happened to the whole CHRIST fac-tor… the whole reason we celebrateChristmas in the first place?!

Many Christians celebrate Christmas anddiscard the whole God factor.

People may have the right to do whateverthey want, but to stop us from celebratingChristmas ourselves, saying MerryChristmas or having Christmas events is

wrong.I know there are still Christian families

who still do the whole “Santa” thing… but Idon’t really agree with it. Why are youdeceiving your kids for YEARS makingthem think he exists?! What happens whenthey find out you were lying to them? Maybethey’ll just laugh or grow out of it or maybethey will just have trouble believing youabout other things.

You spend the whole time raising them totell the truth, while you’ve been lying tothem the whole time.

This can even apply to non-Christians,even if you tell yourself you don’t believe inGod, what reason do you have for lettingyour child believe in something that’s nottrue?

It is alright to have fun with the whole“Santa” thing… as long as we know the truthbehind it. I’m not saying it’s bad, but themore emphasis we put on it, the more it leadsus away from the truth.

I just don’t think it’s wise to get caught upin all that… why not get caught up all about

Jesus?!Now that I see all this, I look back and I’m

glad I was never raised into the whole Santascene, it was always decorations of theNativity Story and the Nativity movie. Wehad shepherd sacks filled by grandparentsand parents, instead of stockings filled bySanta and elves. And before opening ANYpresents we would read the story in Luke,Chapter 2 and pray... now THAT wasChristmas!

I guess it’s alright to have a little fun with“Santa,” but don’t forget the real meaningbehind it and take it seriously… because itisn’t just a holiday off work and school... it’scelebrating our Saviour!!

We all know… Jesus is the only reasonwe’re here!!

“The greatest gift of all wasn’t foundunder a tree but nailed to one!”

That’s just the truth with my opinionattached, and I hope you all just think aboutit.

Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS.Grace Bunch

Christmas versus Xmas

Dear Editor:I use London Transit exclusively for com-

muting, and I’m confused about why theLondon Transit Commission hasn’t yetadded their bus schedules to Google Maps.

I’ve relied on Google Maps to plan mytransit routes in several cities I’ve lived in,including Halifax, Toronto, New York, LosAngeles and the other London (U.K.), and Ican assure you wholeheartedly that theGoogle Maps experience is far, far, far supe-rior to what I currently encounter when I tryto plan a trip with the LTC.

First off, the LTC doesn’t currently have asystem that identifies the best route for get-ting me from Point A to Point B. I can’t sim-ply punch in my current address and my des-tination address and get an easy-to-under-stand description of how to get between thetwo addresses using the bus.

Here’s an example of what the LTC rider-ship reasonably expects: 421 Adelaide St. Eto 1200 Bathurst St. orhttp://g.co/maps/5q2pv.

Transfers, alternate routes, connectiontimes, total travel time, walking distance toand from stops, the ability to set intendedarrival/departure times, etc. – when I useGoogle Maps, all of this is at my fingertipsin an intuitive and reliable interface on a sys-

tem that’s developed, maintained and con-tinuously improved by the brightest mindsand smartest engineers on the planet. And allthese features are generated automaticallyby Google’s algorithms – there wouldn’t beany number crunching required by any of theLTC’s engineers.

Second, the LTC’s reliance on PDF andHTML timetables for each bus route isarchaic and out of touch with the expecta-tions of its current ridership, half of whomare university or college students who havegrown up using services such as GoogleMaps on their home computers and mobiledevices. I’m not suggesting that the PDF andHTML timetables should be eliminated –they’re a great backup to have and shouldcontinue being available online – but they’reanachronistic as a primary means of routeplanning.

Third, the LTC’s WebWatch system,though well-intentioned, is a poorly imple-mented, buggy, unreliable and ultimatelyhollow experience without the full and com-plete integration of the LTC’s transit datawith Google Maps. For some reason, it feelsas if the LTC was trying to replicate them-selves what Google’s entire team of GoogleMaps engineers had already made freelyavailable to much better effect, a curious

decision given the LTC’s budget restraints.Here’s the step-by-step guide on how to

add transit data to Google Maps:maps.google.com/help/maps/transit/part-ners. As Google makes clear, adding transitdata to Google Maps is simple, but moreimportantly, it’s free. Free! All they need todo is provide Google with the schedule foreach route and the coordinates for each stop,data that they already have because of theirill-fated efforts with WebWatch. In otherwords, the LTC can make a substantial, tan-gible improvement to the daily experience ofits entire ridership without adding a singlepenny to its annual budget.

How is this a decision that merits furtherdebate?

What are the downsides to keeping whatthe LTC currently has and adding GoogleMaps as another route planning tool?

The top six metropolitan areas in Canadahave all added their transit data to GoogleMaps, along with smaller cities like Halifaxand even Fredericton. If they’ve all addedtheir transit data to Google Maps, andreceived rave reviews from their ridership asa result, why hasn’t London?

Pardis

Rider calls for integration of London

bus routes into Google Maps

PSYCH YOUR MINDRose Cora Perry www.rosecoraperry.com

Bah, humbug! Christmas shishmiss

Page 6: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

OPINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] 6

Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

The Canadian government has come underheavy fire for their actions regarding thetown of Attawapiskat. Despite an investmentof $90 million to the town, there are familiesforced to live in tents with no running water.

If only this were an isolated case. The gov-ernment historically only steps into these sit-uations when public pressure becomes toomuch to ignore and this event alone hasdrawn international attention.

The Assembly of First Nations claims theyneed around 80,000 new homes in reservesacross Canada to house the population.Stories of tragic teen suicide, rampant alco-holism and corruption in leadership are thesad reality of many reserves, yet little is doneto improve the quality of living. PrimeMinister Stephen Harper stated in the Houseof Commons that the funds given toAttawapiskat alone amounted to $50,000 forevery man, woman and child in the town.What remained unspoken, however, was howthese funds were implemented. In 2005, thegovernment was already spending $8 billionper year funding reserves and wanted toincrease it to $10 billion, yet six years later,here we are.

The money allotted by the government toimprove living conditions doesn’t reach thepeople. The money is spent on contractors tocome in from outside the reserve and buildstructures. According to the residents of thesestructures, however, in many cases, the con-tractors do sub-par work to save costs. It’ssadly typical of what our government hasbecome. Instead of giving the money to thesecommunities, the government spends it onprograms and strategies that they think willbring positive change. It’s like the old catch-22 of a parent telling their child they’llalways have money if they budget and thechild responding that they can’t make a budg-et because they have no money. If we don’tprovide the resources for children inAttawapiskat to eat every day, how do weexpect them to grow into adults who will leadthe town in a direction of prosperity?

As per usual, the response to this event istoo little too late. The traditional strategy offunding a problem only after it becomes aproblem leads to an astronomical cost. Ahome with a bad roof can be repaired for afew thousand or even a few hundred dollars.A house that has burnt down, on the otherhand, runs in the hundreds of thousands.There’s no doubt that this latest chapter in thetragic saga of the treatment of First Nationswill lead to increased funding, or a grant, orsome other monetary apology, but will thecycle ever end? If we continue to fund thesecommunities in the manner we do now,Attawapiskat will only be remembered as thefirst of many such towns to fall victim to gov-ernment inaction. More money is a start, butthere’s no price tag associated with fixing theproblem completely. The problems surround-ing funding of Native communities are com-plex and require careful consideration, but bythe time that happens, it will probably be toolittle too late, one more time.

Too little toolate… again

Whether you celebrate Winter Solstice,Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, Festivus, BodhiDay, Zartusht-Nodiso Kwanzaa, FreedomDay, Omisoka or something else, theInterrobang staff hopes you have a great onethis year.

Whatever you do with your time awayfrom Fanshawe – praying, eating, drinking,dancing, opening presents, spending timewith loved ones, ghost riding the whip, vol-unteering, sleeping or a combination of someor all of those things – we hope you enjoy it.We’ll be doing most of those things andmore.

Happy whatever.Interrobang staff

Happy whatever,

from the Interrobang

VICTOR DE JONGINTERROBANG

I confess. I want a new computer forChristmas. My IBM Thinkpad is still run-ning Windows XP. It protests when I checkwebsites, download files and play music. Onthe other hand, I am composing this articleon it, and it will, I am sure, send it to theInterrobang in a little while.

In a fit of pre-Christmas desire, I didsomething I have never done before. I joinedan early morning line at the local Walmart toget hold of a new Toshiba laptop advertisedat $268. An early present. But the store hadonly five units and they went to some of thefirst people in line.

I felt like I was turning into a brainwashedparticipant in the commercialization ofChristmas. Somehow, going to an earlymorning opening at a big-box store seemedlike an endorsement of the corporate agendato have all of us shop till we drop and maxout our credit cards in preparation forChristmas. Parking myself in front of the TVlater that day did not help. I watched the2003 film, The Corporation. For those whohaven’t seen it, the documentary, amongother things, warns viewers against becom-ing mindless consumers.

Still, I will have to replace my computersoon, hopefully this month, and I will buysome Christmas presents. But is there a wayto step away from the crazy shopping thattempts us each Christmas?

A few years ago, several Christian pastorsdecided to do something. They decided notto try to get everyone to stop buying pres-ents, but just fewer, maybe even just one

less. They noted that in the U.S. alone, con-sumers spend $450 billion a year atChristmas on things that are not all thatwanted. In the end, the buying and giving ofunneeded gifts often leave the giver andreceiver feeling empty. These pastors asked,what if just a modest fraction of that spend-ing went to take care of people in trouble?

They started something called the AdventConspiracy. In case you have never been ina church around Christmastime, “Advent” isthe name for the month or so beforeChristmas when Christians try to step backand look at how they are living and whatchanges God is asking of them.

The Advent Conspiracy (AC) movementis a “conspiracy” to destroy the traditional,consumerist Christmas we have becomeused to. And on the more important positiveside, it is a movement designed to put us intouch again with the teachings of Jesus,whose birth is celebrated everywhere onChristmas day. It promotes especially hiscore teaching (along with “love God”) tolove our neighbours, to care for those introuble. AC advocates spending less on our-selves and giving more to the poor.

What does this look like in real life? Forone thing, the Conspiracy has receiveddonations from thousands of people andchurches. With that money, it has providedwells for people living in parched areas inLiberia and Nicaragua.

Secondly, instead of buying and receivingan oversupply of gifts this Christmas, wecan, the organization’s website says, giveeach other time. It encourages us to maketime “to love our friends and family in themost memorable ways possible … Time …no matter how hard we look, can’t be foundat the mall.” Maybe this year we can taketime to hear from an Occupy protestor whatshe was hoping for. Maybe we can take timeto chat with the Salvation Army volunteer

collecting donations in the Masonville Mall,asking him how he got into volunteering.

AC encourages people this year to spendmore time on our relationships. And that cantranslate into some good things. Like spend-ing a little more time over a coffee or drinkon campus with a friend, taking the timehear how a friend is feeling after a toughloss, a disappointment, a success or someunexpected change. The possibilities areendless. And, as the AC website suggests,this can be a lot more rewarding than receiv-ing a sweater that’s two sizes out.

I still hope to get my computer replacedsoon. But maybe this Christmas I can alsoreflect the care of God by giving to some-thing good and by giving time to the peoplearound me. And along the way, I may get afresh understanding of Christmas as a giftfrom God. At its best, Christmas is a cele-bration that God was born as human – givinghimself and his time to us – to live with usand to address our toughest needs.

A conspiracy to destroy Christmas

CREDIT: THE ADVENT CONSPIRACY

NOTES FROM DAY SEVENMICHAEL VEENEMA

Page 7: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

OPINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] 7

Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Dear Editor:It pains me to no extent to see stuff like this

in my school newspaper. Although we are allentitled to our own opinions and that’s exact-ly what this column is for. But in an educa-tional institution, it’s sad to see that the ideaof equality for all is such a taboo idea.

In the November 28, 2011 issue ofInterrobang, in an article titled “Out of sight,out of mind: What was the occupy thingabout again?” Victor DeJong said, “Thenotion that there is a ‘solution’ is patentlynaïve…”

It is naïve to think that the world must staythe way it is, when we in the West have somuch and third world countries are continu-ally raped for their natural resources, includ-ing the humans in those regions.

The goal is not to end the wage gap, it is tobring participatory democracy to the people,show that they all have a say in what goes onin their community. Why should the oil frommy land be sucked dry, why should all theaggregates be stripped from the earth in thename of profit? This land is my land, thisland is your land, and we all deserve a fairsay in what’s being done with it.

Your opinion is one sided and the cartoonis a very poor representation of the move-ment. We are products of our environments,and for all you know those clothes could besecondhand. Students should be on the frontlines of social change. Do not fear change,this world has been run by lobbyists and so-called representatives of the people at all lev-els of government. What is the last thing anyof these people have done to better your lifeor that of the people around you. Stop theignorance and actually talk to the people ofthe Occupy movement.

We have so much on this planet, and if wetreated it right, there would be enough to sup-port the seven billion and billions more if wecorrect our ways now.

Stop the ignorance and educate yourself,start an open dialogue with people toembrace positive change.

Nick WilsonParticipant in the Global Occupy Movement

De Jong irks Occupier

Abused women live with the emotional,psychological and sometimes physical scarsof their abuse. Except when they don’t. Thedanger escalates with the abuse and toooften women are murdered.

December 6, 2011 marks the 22ndanniversary of the horrific murders of 14women at L’École Polytechnique inMontréal. In response to the shocking gen-der-based massacre, Canadians have beenobserving this day as our National Day ofRemembrance and Action on ViolenceAgainst Women.

Tragically, the relevance of this dayremains as more than 476 women and 57children have been murdered in Ontario bytheir partners since 1990. Countless morewomen across Canada are murdered or miss-ing simply because they are women, partic-ularly among our Aboriginal communities.These numbers continue to grow daily anddo not account for the tens of thousands ofwomen and children who continue to live inabusive situations.

The most recent Stats Canada annual shel-ter survey, which takes a “snapshot” ofevery shelter across the country, shows thaton April 15, 2010 there were 593 shelters inCanada offering services to abused women,up from 569 in 2008 due to rising demand.On this day, 4,645 women were residing inthese shelters and 426 women were turnedaway from shelters due to shelters havingreached full capacity (full report available atstatcan.gc.ca). These numbers only reflectthe women who have accessed services anddo not reflect the vast number of abusedwomen who are still trapped in dangerousrelationships.

Communities across the country are com-ing together on December 6 to honour those

women, show their support for ending vio-lence against women and take action tomake lasting change.

To effectively break the persistent cyclesof woman abuse, the root causes of violenceneed to be addressed. Gender inequalities,poverty rates, maintaining the gun registry,access to affordable housing and childcareare all directly related to an abused woman’sability to escape the violence and live freefrom fear and harm.

Sustainable funding for women’s anti-vio-lence agencies is urgently needed if they areto continue trying to break the cycle ofabuse, prevent violence for girls and women(and their children), and help survivors ofabuse heal from their ordeals.

On this year’s National Day ofRemembrance and Action on ViolenceAgainst Women, you can show your supportby attending local events (check with ourwomen’s shelter for details), by attending aservice on campus to be held at noon in theAlumni Lounge in the Student Centre, bycontacting our MPP to demand immediate,concrete action to end violence and by beingvocal in our community about how violenceagainst women is intolerable. More informa-tion about the National Day ofRemembrance and Action on ViolenceAgainst Women is available online at theMinistry for the Status of Women Canadaand at oaith.ca

SARAH BINGHAMMEMBER OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ACTION COMMITTEE

ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF INTERVAL AND TRANSITION HOUSES

CREDIT: FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/63428572@N00/315768771

December 6 is Canada’s National Day ofRemembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Page 8: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

I write about random things a lot.I write a lot about random things.Did you know that Eric Claptonreceived his now–infamous nick-name “Slowhand” during his tenureas lead guitarist in The Yardbirds inthe early 1960s? Clapton couldchange broken guitar strings soquickly and fluidly that he would-n’t leave the stage to do so; theaudience would simply give a slowhandclap until he was finished.

There’s no question that rock androll has changed and evolved sinceits birth in the early 1950s, howev-

er beginning around the turn of thecentury, a shift occurred in the waywe connect with music; much likethe spell that protected baby HarryPotter from the Avada Kedavracurse, our love is protecting ourfavourite bands from simply pass-ing away.

The relationship between a bandand their fans used to be muchmore like a marriage. Once partedby death, a dark mourning periodwould begin, and the gaps leftbehind sometimes proved to be dif-ficult to fill. In the years since2000, mind you, a growing numberof bands that have broken up or dis-banded have found their way toreuniting and returning to populari-ty.

Take the example of Blink–182:after they released their Take OffYour Pants And Jacket album in

2001, they began experimentingwith different sounds through col-laborations and side projects,resulting in the creation of Box CarRacer, +44, Angels & Airwavesand Travis Barker’s solo career, notto mention their tonally matureself–titled album in 2003 andreunion despite their sometimes-turbulent history.

And every step of the way,Blink–182 fans supported Barker,Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge inevery one of their endeavours,whether in music, journalism oreven retail. Their fans encouragedthem to reinvent and rediscoverthemselves, and led to the bandreinvigorating their love for theirwork together.

Death From Above 1979 foundtheir way to performing togetheragain this year, as did The Tea

Party after spending several yearsapart. Bush and Jane’s Addictionare both charting very well in theStates right now, and even MenWithout Hats reformed to do TheSafety Dance all across the countrythis year.

Bands may break up, but theemerging trend in the last decadeseems to suggest that the musicthey create and the connection theydevelop with their fans is powerfulenough over time to heal the band,particularly where those bands orartists regularly network with theirfans. Bands don’t break up forever,and if you’re patient, yourfavourites will return to their placein the spotlight sure enough.

At least, one can dare to hope.This year saw the unfortunate endof The White Stripes, REM,Alexisonfire, Thursday, O

Pioneers, Silverchair, Landmines,Gay For Johnny Depp and plannedhiatus for Thrice — not to mentionBen Gibbard’s divorce with ZooeyDeschanel, which is a bummer —but with a little hope and a lot offan encouragement, perhaps they’llreturn to stages and music hallssooner rather than later.

For more of the latest musicnews, views and streams, followthis column on Twitter @fsu_bob-byisms or with Tumblr at bob-byisms.com. There’s also theMusic Recommendations thread inour FSU social network for studentsuggestions for new music to checkout.

Spend some time with music thisholiday; music has a great way ofreminding you of great times, sohave plenty of both. I’m out ofwords.

LIFESTYLES8Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

There’s no doubt that the nameMarine Dreams is one that willbe heard often with the newrelease of self-titled album fromthe artist. The 10-track recordfrom Sackville, NewBrunswick’s Ian Kehoe, whichdropped on November 15, wasfollowed by a number of releaseshows, including one onNovember 27 at London’s TheBrass, and has quickly seen men-tion and praise from sources likeCBC Radio 3 and NOWMagazine.

Formerly of the Welland,Ontario band Attack in Black,Kehoe set off to create his ownsound but never strayed far fromthe others in the band. Past band-mates Daniel Romano, SpencerBurton and Ian Romano all tookthe time to contribute to the newalbum. With the recordingprocess taking place with twodrum kits set up in the Romanofamily kitchen and Welland stu-dio Tapes and Plates (the birth-place of more than one Attack inBlack album), Kehoe explainedthat even though the songs werehis own, nothing was too differ-ent or out of the ordinary. “Theprocess felt similar in manyways but equally as excitingsince I was recording with a lotof the same people.”

Released under You’veChanged Records, the label cre-ated by Kehoe, Daniel Romano(Attack in Black, Daniel Romanoand the Trilliums) and SteveLambke (Baby Eagle, TheConstantines), Kehoe modestlydescribes the album as “awe-some.” He goes on to comparethe sound of the album as “a rockand roll kind of like theRamones.” Although influencesfrom the rock legends can be

heard throughout the album,Marine Dreams definitelyprocesses a milder and morefoot-tapping indie rock sound.The overall lo-fi feel of thealbum and its fuzzy guitar break-downs, as heard in the first track,“Fold The Sky,” give the albumthat raw 1970s feel comparableto bands like The Buzzcocks andThe Nerves, who Kehoe listed asinfluences for his music. Thesame lo-fi sound, when puttogether with the matching elec-tric twang of the guitar and theslight twang in Kehoe’s voice,almost gives the rock melodiesmore of a bluegrass feel. This isnotable in tracks like the slowerballad “No Face” and the morebeat-driven “We’ll Get Her BackIn Your Arms.” Whether it is amore rock or bluegrass soundproduced by the 10 tracks,there’s no denying that Kehoehas given the debut album his

own unique charm.Marine Dream’s self-titled

debut is now available online att i n y u r l . c o m / m a r i n e d r e a m s -album and on iTunes. Check outyouvechangedrecords.com formore releases from the label.

MADISON FOSTERINTERROBANG

A few weeks ago, many of uswere shocked by the terrible newsthat we had lost another of

Canada’s great indie bands:Broken Social Scene had called itquits after a decade of makingmusic together. I’m sure many ofus can recall where we were whenthe news hit and what we weredoing. Although this was a loss ofa great band, it was not the firstloss for any of us and it still doesnot make the news any easier.

Many of you, I’m sure, areaware of the five stages of grief:Denial, Anger, Bargaining,Depression and Acceptance.Although the loss of a band maynot be the same as the loss of afamily member or friend, it stillcauses grief and the five stages canstill be seen. It usually starts withyou reloading the band page wait-ing for the news of the breakup todisappear like it was a bad dream.

Once you accept the news youmight send some time cursing theirname while ripping their postersoff your wall. After you’ve calmeddown and taped all your postersback together is the stage whereyou send countless emails and let-ters to the band begging and plead-ing for them to get back together,stating that “you’ll do anything.”The next two stages are pretty self-explanatory. Depression can some-times involves crying with thelights off (but only in severe cases)and acceptances goes withoutexplanation. So what do you do?How do you deal with the heart-wrenching news? Sometimes allyou can do is try to move on, buthere are some other things you cando to try to cope with the loss.

Host a funeral/celebration oflife

Take some time to grieve for theloss of the band. You could light afew candles and dress in blackwhile listening to their music inchronological order. Invite a fel-low fan to say a few words. Maybeabout how hard they rocked.

Go to their last showI put this in here even though

this isn’t something most peoplecan do – especially since most ofthe people reading this are studentsin London, Ontario. Let’s face it,

unless the band is from London,they aren’t going to play their lastshow here. So travelling isinvolved and travelling costsmoney. Then there’s the ticketprice, which, since it will be theirlast show, is most likely outra-geous. Tickets will be expected tosell fast so the idea of a campingtrip is one to consider. Pretty muchthe whole experience will be cost-ly and difficult, but the decision isup to you. If you were not able togo to the last show either due tocosts or ticket availability, thenpay attention to the next step.

Buy all their music while it’scheap

In most cases, when a bandbreaks up, CD prices are going tofly through the roof. But if you’relucky and act fast, there’s a goodchance that there will be onerecord store in town where thesalespeople haven’t been onPitchfork’s website and thereforehaven’t heard the terrible, heart-breaking news. Again it might be alittle costly and you might have toborrow some money or risk max-ing out your credit card, but thinkof it as an investment.

Move on, find a new favouriteband

Once you feel like you’re finallybetter and ready to move on, thenit’s time to find a new favouriteband. Take suggestions fromfriends or walk aimlessly throughthe record shop for anything thatcatches your eye.

Hopefully this band staystogether longer. Just remember,you can’t sit around and mopeabout the same band forever.They’ll probably get back togetheranyways. Reunion tours are bigright now. And if you’re still feel-ing down about it, well, there’salways ice cream.

MADISON FOSTERINTERROBANG

CREDIT: MARINE DREAMS

Marine Dreams’ self-titled debutfrom You’ve Changed Records.

So your favouriteband broke up

BOBBYISMSBOBBY FOLEY

Your favourite band will reunite

www.fsu.ca

S P O N S O R E D B Y

vote stacheforyourdecember 2nd at 4pm - december 7th at noon

WINNERS WILL BE POSTED ON WWW.FSU.C Awww.fsu.ca/movember

Marine Dreams worth a listen

Page 9: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

LIFESTYLES 9Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

It’s been a banner year for TheCheap Speakers, a power–garagerock band out of Toronto. In 2011,they’ve captured the attention ofradio stations and music websitesall over Canada, scoring enviablecampus chart positions and posi-tive press from EYE Weekly andToronto’s 102.1 The Edge onlinefor their latest digital single“Speak.”

The band, founded by vocalistsBrennan Gault and NataliaManzocco (who play bass and gui-tar respectively) and later roundedout by Tim Dafoe on lead guitarand David Kochberg on drums,released “Speak” late in April thisyear. Recorded and engineered byDean Marino and Jay Sladowski atChemical Sound, the single repre-sents a lot of hard work and growthon the part of the band.

“We’ve grown a bunch betweenmaking our debut EP and making‘Speak,’ and we spent a lot ofmoney on it because we think it’s agreat song,” Gault said. “Betweenthe amount of time we spent on therecording and then having Davidon drums permanently, things real-ly gelled together. I think it’s defi-nitely moving forward.”

“I think the studio was a good fitfor our sound,” agreed Dafoe. With“Speak,” the band is exploring newguitar and drum textures whilemaintaining their lo–fi integrity, acombination that is providingexciting new ground for the bandto build upon.

“Brennan is a songwritingmachine,” Manzocco said of Gault,describing the process by whichthe band composes their material.Although Gault is the principlesongwriter, Manzocco said she

serves as the band’s editor andstresses that the input that theyreceived from Dafoe and Kochbergonly made them more positive thatthe two were the perfect comple-ment to the band’s lineup.

“His songs become evenstronger once run through TheCheap Speakers arrangementmachine,” she continued. “We’llall come in with ideas as to whereto place certain dynamics, likewhere to put solos or how manytimes to repeat certain things, andwe really polish those songs intosomething we’re really happy withand very proud of.”

Known for their explosive livesets, The Cheap Speakers areexcited to perform for Londonaudiences. The band is playing atAPK Live on December 9 with

Paper Lions, The Balconies andThe Hamptons. For more on TheCheap Speakers, visit thecheaps-peakers.com or follow them onTwitter @cheapspeakers.

Paper Lions (paperlions.com,@paperlions) hail from PrinceEdward Island and were last seenin London during Oh! Fest; TheBalconies (@thebalconies) are aclassically trained power rock triooriginally from the Ottawa area;and The Hamptons are a rockabillydance band from Toronto viaSarnia.

For further event information,visit apklive.com. Doors open at 8p.m., and tickets are $5 in advanceby emailing [email protected] $6 at the door. This is a 19-plusevent.

BOBBY FOLEYINTERROBANG

CREDIT: CANCERBATS.COM

The Cancer Bats will in London on December 15 at Rum Runners performing as Bat Sabbath.

When Cancer Bats arrive intown on December 15, they arebringing with them an unprece-dented rock show the likes ofwhich surely will live in local his-tory for years to come: the bandhas been on tour now sinceDecember 2 as a tribute band to1970s metal pioneers BlackSabbath.

But wait, there’s more: not onlywill Cancer Bats perform as BatSabbath, but they will share thestage with local metal successstory Baptized In Blood, who willgrace the stage as Nirvana tributeoutfit Baptized In Bleach.

In addition to the successthey’ve enjoyed since releasingBears, Mayors, Scraps & Bonesearly last year, this tour arguablyelevates Cancer Bats to becomethe most notable rock tribute act inCanada. But as frontman LiamCormier spoke to Interrobangrecently from the studio — listen-ing to the final mixes on theirnewly announced album Dead SetOn Living, due in the spring — heindicated the idea had some hum-ble beginnings.

The band first performed theirtribute set to the metal giants afterbeing approached by festivalorganizers at the 2011 Sonispherefestival in Bohemia who werelooking for an after-party band thatcould play on a side stage after theheadliners Slipknot finished theirset at night. Cancer Bats werealready on the schedule to performthat night, so organizers pitchedtheir idea.

“They put it to us, said we couldcover anything we want,” Cormierrecalled, indicating the organizerslisted Pantera with Black Sabbathas an option for the tribute.

“We were like, ‘No fucking waycan we pull off a whole set ofPantera songs!’” Cormier laughed.“So we unassumingly said, ‘We’lljust go Black Sabbath; that’ll besuper easy,’ and then opened a realcan of worms because of howjazzy and crazy Sabbath is. It wasfunny for us to take it on as theeasy route, but then realize it’sactually really difficult.”

Cormier’s excitement was easyto hear over the phone, for the tourand for the new material he had toreflect on sitting in the studio.According to music sites online,the band — also composed ofScott Middleton on guitar, MikePeters on drums and JayeSchwarzer on bass — beganrecording the album in August,and according to Cormier, thealbum hadn’t been finished formore than a couple of hours whenhe spoke to Interrobang.

“Every time we write a record,we always go back and listen towhat we liked about the otherones,” he explained. “We love ourband, and we love what we do, sowe’re always trying to finely tuneit, make it better. So it’s like we goand pull out all our favourite partsfrom our past records and try to doit again as a new band.”

“I never want to try to write asingle; I want to write a really funsong we can play live, not get toofar removed from why we startedthis band in the first place,”Cormier said, indicating that aband needs to be able to laughthings off. “We’re friends and wedo this because we love it and it’sfun. Writing your fourth recordand trying to make something suc-cessful and not get too caught up inthe commercial side of things, Ithink that’s where you need tohave a sense of humour.”

Bat Sabbath and Baptized InBleach are set to descend on RumRunners here in London onDecember 15, with doors openingat 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 inadvance, and are available onlineat tinyurl.com/bats-london.

For more information on BatSabbath or their Bastards ofReality tour, visit cancerbats.comor follow the band on Twitter@cancerbats. Baptized In Blood,who celebrated their signing toRoadrunner Records last year witha huge release party, can be foundonline at baptizedinblood.com oron Twitter @baptizedinblood.Further information can be foundappearing onlondonmusichall.com andFacebook each day closer to theevent.

No silent nightfor London

BOBBY FOLEYINTERROBANG

CREDIT: VIRGINIA LEBLANC

The Cheap Speakers make a stop at APK Live on December 9.

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The Cheap Speakerscrackle with life

Page 10: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

LIFESTYLES10Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

CREDIT: AMOS THE TRANSPARENT

New Year’s Eve is one of themost exciting and fun nights of theyear. You get to celebrate (or moveon from) everything that’s hap-pened over the past year and looktowards a new year. Whetheryou’re planning a family-friendlycelebration or a fancy night out,here are a few ideas to help youout. Remember: New Year’s Eveisn’t just about what you do, it’sabout who you’re with.

LondonRockin’ New Year’s Evelondon.ca519-661-4500Celebrating New Year’s Eve in

Victoria Park has become a tradi-tion for many people in London.The night will include skating onVictoria Park’s ice rink, hot choco-late and coffee, live entertainmentand fireworks. Whether you’rethere for the whole night or justpassing through on your way toyour next party, this is definitelyworth checking out.

Puttin’ on the Ritz: New Year’sat the Aeolian

aeolianhall.ca519-672-7950

Keep your New Year’s Eveclassy with a throwback to yearspast. The evening will includemusic from the ’40s, featuring thevocal quartet After Four and theAeolian Jazz band. There will alsobe hors d’oeuvres, dinner, dessertand champagne. Doors open at7:30 p.m. and tickets are $60.

Club/Pub NightThere is a good chance that your

favourite bar, club or pub will behaving a special event for NewYear’s Eve. Many of them includespecial booths, bottle service andchampagne. Visit their website orcall them for more informationabout their celebration, and makesure you buy your tickets inadvance because they tend to sellout quickly.

TorontoCitytv New Year’s Bashtoronto.caNathan Phillips Square in down-

town Toronto will transform into amassive New Year’s party that isbroadcast all across Canada. Thisalcohol-free event features Citytvpersonalities and live performanc-es and is a fun way for everyone toring in 2012.

The Ninth Annual New Year’sEve Family Countdown

torontozoo.com416-392-5929This event is perfect for families

with children of all ages, withentertainment includingAbbamania, the WotWots andMajinx Magic Show. There willalso be meet-and-greets with Shrekand some wild animals. The eventstarts at 5 p.m. and will have acountdown at 8 p.m. so kids cantake part in the New Year’s cele-brations. Tickets are $20 for adults,

$12 for kids between 4 and 12, andadmission is free for children 3 andunder.

Customize Your NightIf you’ve never gone to any

clubs or bars in Toronto, this is agreat time to explore and try some-thing new. Website liketoronto.beforelastcall.com can helpyou figure out what bars or clubswill be the most fun for NewYear’s.

Niagara Falls ET Canada New Year’s Eve at

Niagara Fallswfol.com905-374-1616Entertainment Tonight Canada’s

Cheryl Hickey and RickCampanelli will be hosting thisyear’s celebration. Starting at 6:30p.m. in Queen Victoria Park, thisexciting event features fireworksand live music, including KardinalOffishall and Barenaked Ladies.Approximately 30,000 people areexpected to attend, so feel free tobring all of your friends and fami-ly.

CollingwoodNew Years at Blue Mountain

Villagebluemountain.ca705-445-0231Whether you’re planning to ring

in the New Year with family orwith a group of friends, BlueMountain has the party for you.The night features a buffet dinner,live entertainment, an eveningfamily party, a nighttime bash foradults and, of course, fireworks.Tickets are $75 per person, $50 perchild 12 and under, and free forchildren under 5.

KIRSTEN ROSENKRANTZINTERROBANG

GET YOUR ARTWORK ON

THE FRONT COVER OF THE

2012 - 2013 STUDENT HANDBOOK.

- SC2001 or www.fsu.ca/contest

For more information contact: Darby Mousseau in SC1012

ENTRIES DUE MARCH 23/2012

The most stressful part of yoursemester, final exams, is finallyover! Now all that’s left is to packa few bags and head home, right?Not necessarily. There are a fewmore things to consider whenpreparing for the winter break.

Did you pack everything you’regoing to need for the next fewweeks? It can be very helpful to sitdown and make a list of all thethings that you use on a daily basisand make sure that you pack every-thing on that list when the timecomes. Coming from experience, Ican tell you that it can be quite apain in the derriere to get home andrealize that you left your cell phoneor laptop charger at school, or evenjust a favourite pair of jeans or bot-tle of foundation.

Is there anything in your roomthat could be dangerous if leftunsupervised for a long time? Youwould be surprised at how manydifferent things can be fire hazards,so take the time to check aroundbefore you leave. Make sure thatthere isn’t anything covering yourheating vent, such as papers, card-board or clothing. Also be sure tounplug everything from your out-

lets, don’t just turn off whatever isstill plugged in. It’s also a goodidea to make sure that your win-dow is securely shut to stop badweather from taking over your padwhile you’re away.

Did you leave anything that willend up being gag-worthy to cleanup when you return? Make surethere aren’t any dirty dishes orhalf-eaten leftovers hidden any-where in your room. If you’re feel-ing especially productive, it wouldbe a great idea to do a completeclean-up of your room. A clean-upwill also help you find any buriedpersonal items you may have for-gotten you wanted to bring alongwith you. Make sure you alsocheck the fridge for perishablefood items that you either want tobring along or throw away.Speaking of garbage, it’s also cru-cial to you (and your roomies’)sanitary sanity to make sure that allthe garbage pails are emptiedbefore you leave. Oh, and one lastthing: please don’t leave your dirtydishes in the sink or dishwasherwhile you’re on vacation, it’s rudeto your roommates and downrightnasty if left to simmer alone forthree weeks.

TABITHA MCCARLINTERROBANG

It seemed for a while that Amosthe Transparent had almost forgot-ten that they had planned a newalbum. Luckily, the Ottawa folkrock band is back in the news withtalk of the new album, and in theirtrue fashion, they’re doing things alittle differently.

The band – featuring membersJonathan Chandler, Chris Wilson,James Nicol, Mark Hyne andDaniel Hay – went to work on theirupcoming full-length album afterthe release of their A is For AmosEP late last year, a release that sur-prised fans with a much differentsound than what is to be expected.The five-track album, inspired bythe Rockaby Baby series, featuredlullaby versions of a few of theirsongs – a treat to the children ofthose in the band. Now, afteralmost a year of recording andback to their usually folk rockmelodies, Amos the Transparentstill wanted to put out an albumwith a bit of a twist.

They began the recordingprocess of the album to be titledSure As The Weather back in thewinter at the home of Wilson’smother, but the original plan tohave the tracks recorded in thespan of a month was quickly

derailed soon after discovering thepoor sound quality produced bythe location and by their inabilityto say no when it came to playingmore shows. After that, they foundit difficult to get themselves backon track, but were finally able todo so after some time and wereable to finish the album. Althoughthe band will not be releasing a LPin its entirety until January of2012, they made the first foursongs available for download onNovember 29. After this, they planto make four more tracks availablesometime this month before thefull release in the new year. Thismarks the second full-lengthrelease for the band after 2007’sEverything I’ve Forgotten toForget, which received praise andchart rankings from Billboard andXM Radio. Despite the success ofthe past, Chandler stated that theystill wanted fans to get a taste ofthe album little by little.

Amos the Transparent justwrapped up a few shows with fel-low musicians The Darcys andplan to play more in the next fewmonths to continue to promoteSure As The Weather. Fans areadvised to keep their eyes peeledto the band’s website,coolplanet.ca for the upcomingtracks.

MADISON FOSTERINTERROBANG

Sure As The Weatheravailable little by little

Ontarians sure know how to party

You’re ready to gohome for the holidays,but is your dorm room?

Page 11: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

www.fsu.ca

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Celebrity LossesJack Layton: Layton was the leader of the New Democratic Party in Canada from 2003 to 2011. In the 2011 federal election, he led the NDP to a historic 103 seats, making Layton the most successful leader electorally in NDP his-tory. He died on August 22 at the age of 61 from cancer. Amy Winehouse: Five-time Grammy Award-winner Winehouse was known for her incredible talent and controversial lifestyle. She died from alcohol poisoning on July 23 at the age of 27. Ryan Dunn: Dunn is best known as a member of the Jackass television show and movies. He died on June 20 at the age of 34 in an alcohol-related car accident. Steve Jobs: Jobs was the Chairman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive

his iconic status reached far beyond the tech world. Jobs died on October 5 at the age of 46 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. Elizabeth Taylor: years in the spotlight. She was known for her incredible beauty, devotion to raising awareness for HIV and AIDS research, and her many marriages. The iconic actress died on March 23 of congestive heart failure. She was 79.

Celebrity DivorcesArnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver: After 25 years of marriage and four children, the two separated on May 9. Shortly after the separation, it was made public that Schwarzenegger had an affair with their housekeeper of 20 years, Mildred Baena, and had father a child with her, Joseph, who is now 14. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries: The couple began dating in October 2010, and got engaged in May 2011. Their August 20 wedding was televised as a two-night special on E! and had a combined 10.5 million viewers. After 72

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore: After rumours

divorce, ending their six-year marriage.

The Royal WeddingOn April 29, two billion viewers around the world tuned in to watch the long-awaited wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Prince William proposed on October 20, 2010, with his mother’s engagement ring, and the couple made the public announcement on November 16, 2010. One million people lined the route between Westminster Abbey, where the couple was married, and Buckingham Palace in order to catch a glimpse of the couple and Middleton’s highly anticipated wedding gown.

RetirementSteve Jobs: Jobs virtually touched the lives of everyone who has ever used

of Apple Inc., which today makes computers, tablets, cell phones and more. Jobs battled pancreatic cancer from 2003, and resigned as CEO in August.Oprah: She may be retired, but that’s not slowing her down! On May 25, the last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired. It ran nationally for 25 seasons and was the highest-rated talk show in American television history, according to Encyclopedia Brittanica. Her show may be over, but Oprah’s got her hand in many other media, including magazines and radio.Regis Philbin: This beloved media personality ended his tiem on the show, Live With Regis and Kelly (originally Live With Regis and Kathy Lee), with a

Pete James: Local radio host James ended his 56-year career as a sports commentator on October 31. Throughout his career, James hosted the opening ceremonies for two huge arenas in London, The London Ice House and the John Labatt Centre, and was the commentator for London Knights Hockey Club games for 40 years.

It Gets Better This campaign aimed to convey the message that life will improve for gay teens. It was created by author Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller in response to a rash of suicides by gay teens who had been bullied. Videos with the It Gets Better message were submitted by workers for the Pixar company, Chris Colfer from Glee and more, all showing support for gay teens. London Mayor Joe Fontanna even marched in this summer’s local gay pride parade to show his support for gay rights. TV funnyman Rick Mercer took issue with the It Gets Better campaign, creating a video that stated that things need to be better for gay teens now.

Long-Anticipated ReleasesFrom the re-releases of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars Harry Potterworld celebrating. The Lord of the Rings Blu-ray release included high-

material. The Star Wars

features. After 10 years of annual Harry PotterHarry Potter and the

Deathly Hallows – Part 2was released.

London, Ontario ProtestsOccupy Wall Street/Occupy London: Occupy Wall Street began on September 17 in New York City, focusing on social and economic inequality, unemployment, and the greed and corruption of corporations. The movement quickly spread globally, with people camping out in tent communities in over 1,500 cities. The movement spread to London on October 22, where occupiers camped out and held meetings in Victoria Park until November 9. Support Staff: Support staff at colleges across Ontario went on strike

and support staff workers returned to work at all 24 Ontario colleges. Beal Student Tasered: After a 17-year-old H.B. Beal Secondary School

student was involved in, high school students took to the streets to protest alleged police brutality. On September 27, students took part in a sometimes-rowdy day-long protest.

TrialsCasey Anthony: After the suspicious circumstances were found surrounding her two-year-old daughter Caylee’s death in

degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law

Dr. Conrad Murray: Dr. Murray was Michael Jackson’s doctor, and was charged with involuntary manslaughter after Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication in June 2009.

According to trial testimony, Jackson, an insomniac, often begged the doctor to give him powerful

enough drugs to put him to sleep. Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Royden Wood: After accusations of sexual misconduct, London Pastor Royden Wood was

assault for long-term and intrusive relationships with female members of his congregation. Wood,

who founded the Ambassador Baptist Church operated at Adelaide and King Streets in London until 2007, claimed the convictions

RiotsLondon, England: Following the shooting of

Mark Duggan on August 4, protestors organized by Duggan’s friends and relatives took to the

streets in a peaceful march two days later. Between 120 and 200 people ended up in front of

the Tottenham Police Station, demanding to speak to

the crowd got out of hand and the riots began, eventually spreading to other boroughs

and districts of London. From August 6 to 10, over 3,000 people were arrested and over 1,000 were charged. Vancouver Stanley Cup: On June 15, when the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in game seven of the Stanley Cup tournament,

looting stores. Over 140 injuries were reported during the riot, with at least

arrested the night of the riot, and 16 others were arrested later. The riot caused an estimated $5 million worth of damage to the city.

Change in the Middle East and North AfricaThe Arab Spring: This revolutionary wave in the Arab world began on

occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen and have spread to many more countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The results included the ousting and/or death of many leaders in the area, including ousted leader of

Osama bin Laden: After nearly a decade of searching, American troops

bin Laden was the leader of Al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for the 9/11 attacks in New York City.

Extreme WeatherLondon Heat Wave: On July 21, temperatures in London broke records by reaching 36°C and soaring over 45°C with humidex. Tornado in Goderich: On August 11, an F3 tornado passed through Goderich, Ontario, leaving 37 people injured and one dead. The storm saw winds reach 300 km/hr. The tornado destroyed downtown Goderich and left the city in a state of emergency. Tohoku Earthquake: The magnitude 9 earthquake occurred on March 11 off the eastern coast of Japan, triggering tsunami waves. The earthquake left

called in Japan after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant cooling system failed, and surrounding residents had to be evacuated because of high radiation levels. The earthquake was so powerful that tsunami waves even reached parts of California and Oregon.

2011 was not only the year of the rabbit, it also had many

memorable moments. Here are some of the things 2011will be remembered for...

TRIALSAND EXTREMES

PROTESTSWEDDING

KIRSTEN ROSENKRANTZ AND ERIKA FAUST

Celebrity Losse

es

London, Ontario Prot

tests

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KIRSTEN ROSENKRA

se of highmi waves even

ANTZ AND ERIKA FAUST

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It’s that time of the year again!The holidays will soon be rollingup and, well, the fashion world isgoing crazy. I find the holidays adifficult time of the year becauseshopping needs to be done, bakingand cooking needs to happen, dec-orating needs to be finished up andgenerally people like for their lookto reflect the happy season.

There are plenty of non-conven-tional ways to enhance an outfit.Personally, I think the best way tomake a look more special is withaccessories. Clothes reflect ourstyle, and accessories help enhanceour look to reflect what we’re try-ing to convey without necessarilytalking about ourselves. I feel asthough people don’t look to acces-sories as a form of self-expressionas much as they do with clothing,and therefore accessories aren’tused to communicate who we are.Personally I find that accessorieshelp to express how formal youwanted to look, therefore they’regreat tools for Christmas.

Since you will soon be shoppingfor others, and maybe yourself, Ifelt you might need a little inspira-tion.

Blowouts: A lot of people onlyconsider getting their hair cut and

coloured to spice up a new look. Anew trend called tinseling isincreasing in popularity. Tinselinginvolves having little pieces of tin-sel placed into your mane.Whether they’re the same colour asyour hair or contrasting colours,tinseling is a good way to addshimmer and shine. It’s noticeablebut doesn’t scream “try-hard.”Gold is nice for blondes, copperfor brunettes, red for gingers andsilver is great for black hair.

Frosting: if you’ve ever seenHow to Lose a Guy in Ten Days,you should be very familiar withfrosting yourself. Diamonds (fakeor real) are a very good way ofdressing up any outfit. I personallyfind that Aldo Accessories storeshave some great frost. Colourful orclear sparkle will make you shine.Big cuffs are a great way of addingas much bling as possible – but ifyou do a necklace, don’t dobracelets, do rings. And if you doearrings, you can do bracelets. Thetrick is to draw attention to morethan just one region; it allows theeye to look up and down, whichlengthens your silhouette. I alsorecommend staying away from anylong necklaces if you’re doing abelt or any type of scarf, as it tendsto cut you up. Diamonds aren’t justfor your mother, they’re meant tobe playful; layering them and play-ing with different colours is some-times what’ll take your outfit to thenext level – definitely recommend-ed.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes: The shoes

we usually admire the most are thecrazy ones. I always find I loveshoes that I am the least likely towear. I always like the wild-coloured shoes with the flowersand feathers and sparkles andbuckles, but I usually end up buy-ing the plain black Mary Janes. Weusually buy what we’re most com-fortable with, but realistically thatgets you nowhere. This year, buy afun pair of heels or wedges withsparkly shine and maybe a littlefeather that you’ll admire. Getthem in a fun colour – red, green,gold or royal blue; it’s the holi-days, you’re supposed to wearbright colours.

During the holidays, just aboutanything goes: purples, greens andgold. Just have fun and try thingsyou normally wouldn’t – that is mybest advice to you. HappyHolidays.

What: An abstract showing ofmakeup artistry painted on livemannequins. (19-plus event, nocover)

Where: Lavish Night Club (238Dundas St.)

When: Friday, December 9.Doors open at 9, show starts at 11p.m.

Who: Joshua R. Waller’s make-up creations.

Models Outfitted By: Megin’sLeggins and Nidia Martinez

Hair Styling: Joclyn Millardand Marissa Guichelaar

What is perfection and who getsto decide what is perfect? Arethere really concrete beauty guide-lines and rules that we must followto be considered perfect? Are wenot all beautiful in our own ways?The reality is that our imperfec-tions are what truly make us beau-tiful. Imperfection really is perfec-tion.

The media likes to portray whatthey deem to be “perfect” as askinny woman with an airbrushedcomplexion who has “plastic-like”features. In other words, perfection(in the eyes of the media) is a man-nequin. But why would we want toidolize something that is an inani-mate object? This became themain inspiration behind TheImperfect Mannequin; the idea oftaking something that is deemed so“perfect” and destroying it, decon-structing it until it is finally imper-fect.

The night will consist of a run-way show combined with an art

showing of live mannequins (realpeople). The extreme makeupartistry incorporates beauty, bodyart and special effects to truly rep-resent imperfection and to makeyou view “beauty” in a differentlight. Fourteen creations will walkthe runway and in their statuesqueposes, will stand as art piecesthroughout Lavish.

All models will be outfitted inMegin’s Leggins, beautifully craft-ed and vibrant leggings, as well asFanshawe’s own Nidia Martinez’stheatrical and breathtaking gar-ments. All the imperfect creationsare completed with the hair designdone by the extremely talentedJoclyn Millard and MarissaGuichelaar of Cutz SalonProfessionals.

With a night filled with suchsurreal creativity and imagination,it is the perfect event to not only beinspired but a place to meet otherindustry professionals (photogra-phers, models and artists of all tal-ents). Anyone in the artistic indus-try knows that the people you net-work with is the most importantaspect to moving forward andgaining more experience.

After the show is over there is ofcourse an after party featuringLady Finesse, spinning the best inthe top 40s/remixes/house. On topof that, live makeovers and bodyart will be happening! So if youcome with a clean canvas, youhave a chance to become an imper-fect mannequin as well!

One of the most beautifulwomen who ever lived, MarilynMonroe, stated, “Imperfection isbeauty, madness is genius, and it’sbetter to be absolutely ridiculousthan absolutely boring.” Step outof the guidelines, and enter theworld of The ImperfectMannequin.

Imperfection isperfection

CREDIT: ALDO.COM

The TREJOS shoe by Aldo is agreat addition to your current shoecollection, a lovely holiday pick!

LIFESTYLES22Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Surely I can’t be the only oneintimidated and dreadful of thechaotic and dizzying season ofChristmas and the shopping habitsthat come with it. Walking downthe busy streets of Toronto is usu-ally hard enough to maneuver, andwhen holiday strollers stop toadmire the stunning displays andsip their cocoa, it can be nearly dis-astrous. (Hey, I’ve got a train tocatch!) Luckily, for people like me,online shopping sites have easedthe pain of weaving throughthrongs of people strolling downBloor Street or clumped togetherinconveniently above an escalatorin the Eaton Centre. Unluckily forme and the rest of the world, we –somewhat foolishly – rely on apostal service and can be disap-pointed by delays and not havingpackages delivered on time. This iswhere I usually try to become a lit-tle more creative in hopes of givingsomething that will be loved,arrive on time and spare me thetrouble of hustling through shops.

In previous years, my love forreading anything printed in theglossy pages of a publication ledme to both give and receive maga-zine subscriptions as gifts. Part ofthe requirements of a good gift inmy books is something that a per-son would really love, but wouldnever shell out for on their own. Asmuch as I love French Vogue, Iwould rarely buy a copy of it, let

alone a year’s supply, so you canimagine my delight when monthafter month I received my holidaygift. Awesome, right? Loving theidea of a gift that keeps on giving,I looked more and more into sub-scriptions of different sorts and lastyear, I stumbled upon a site calledBirchbox.com.

Based in New York City andfounded by two MBA-holdingHarvard-educated gals, Birchboxwas created back in September of2010 and has a whopping 45,000subscribers today. The monthlybox is filled with four or five cus-tomized sample-sized beautygoodies ranging from makeup tofragrance to skincare. After fillingout your beauty profile, certainproducts are selected especially foryou. The Birchbox site also sellsfull-sized versions of the samplesand a point reward system is usedto encourage sales of the products.Shipping strictly to the U.S., beau-ty junkies around the world simul-taneously sighed in frustration,once again being excluded by geo-graphical boarders.

Purchasing a six-month sub-scription to Birchbox for myAmerican gal pals last year left mefeeling a little empty inside, andnot with the feel-good gift-givingvibes you’re supposed to get.Truthfully, I was a little (okay, alot) jealous. Recently, while read-ing one of my last gifted issues ofFlare, attempting to stay focusedon gift ideas and not selfishlyswoon over fur coats and glitterynail polish, my eyes nearly poppedout of my head when I came acrossan article featuring Luxebox byLoose Button (loosebutton.com): aCanadian version of the Birchbox!I immediately signed up for ayear’s subscription for myself (it’sthe best value; you get two monthsfree) after filling out my beautyprofile to get the products best suit-ed for me. Luxebox differs slightlyfrom its American counterpart asLuxebox doesn’t sell the productsit sends out, but it does tell youwhere to purchase them if youchoose to do so. I loved myLuxebox so much, gift-giving thisseason just became a piece of cake.

CREDIT: LOOSEBUTTON.COM

Luxebox might just be the perfect gift for someone special on your list.

FASHION WRITERAIMEE BROTHMAN

CHRISTINA KUBIWKALASHNIKFASHION WRITER

BEAUTY BOYJOSHUA R. [email protected]

Presents that keep on giving

Sparkle and shine

Page 23: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

LIFESTYLES 23Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

It’s never easy meeting the par-ents, especially for guys, becausebefore the dad meets you, healready hates you. Mothers tend tobe the opposite; they will like youbefore they meet you. The key ismaking the dad rethink his opinionof you and reassure the mom’sintuition.

The first thing you should dobefore you meet the parents isshower. Most of you might bethinking this is pretty obvious, butI have a feeling there are a fewguys out there who need to bereminded. First impressions meaneverything when meeting yourgirlfriend’s parents, so dress nice-ly. I’m not saying bring out the tuxand tie, but clean underneath yournails and treat this as an interviewfor whether or not you are goodenough to date their daughter.

Since it’s the holidays, youshould bring the parents a gift –maybe a bottle of wine or someflowers. It doesn’t have to besomething big, especially if youare a student. Just something smallto thank them for having you overthat will show them how thought-ful you are.

Topics to avoid when meetingthe parents should include politics,religion, partying stories and pastrelationships. No parent wants tohear that their daughter is dating a21 year old who was engaged tohis high school sweetheart or thathe holds the record in his fraternity

for the most one-night stands. Herdad isn’t one of your buddies –there’s no need to brag about thisone.

The question that you should beprepared to answer is “What doyou want to do with your life?”This is important. If you have nogoals in life, they will take it as asign of laziness and lack of ambi-tion. It’s understandable if you arein college or university and stilldon’t know what you want to dowith your life – most people don’t.That being said, for this night ifyou have no ambition in life orgoals, you should make some up!

Your actions speak volumes, soyou need to show the parents thatyou have respect for them and theirdaughter, and there are two waysyou can do this. First, do not usepet names in front of parents. Nodad wants to hear his daughterbeing called “babe” or “princess.”Secondly, keep your hands toyourself! Yes, deep down, her dadknows you do more than just holdhands, but you do not want toremind him of that or make thatthought resurface, especially on anoccasion when you know he isgoing to have a knife in his hand atsome point. If you don’t treat theparents with respect, why wouldthey think you are treating theirdaughter with respect?

Now, being a bit more specific,how to make sure the mom lovesyou more than she did before shemet you. One word: flattery. Momslove compliments, especially abouthow good or young they look. Ishould add a disclaimer here: Youare complimenting Mom, not hit-ting on her. Remember, Dadalready hates you for taking one ofhis girls.

If you want to go above andbeyond, you could always findsomething the mom likes and get itfor her. For example, my momLOVES candy, especially anythingsour. When she sees someone hascandy her face lights up like aChristmas tree. So I always tell theguys I’m dating when they meetmy mom bring her a bag of candyand it always works.

If you want to go that extra mileto win over the dad, unfortunatelyit’s not as easy as saying “Youlook too young to have a child incollege,” but what I have learnedover the years is that dads like itwhen their daughters bring a guyhome who has the same interests asthem. Find out as much as you canbefore you meet him so you canfind some similar interests. Forexample, if her dad loves sports,you’d better know somethingabout sports. If not, there’s thisnew crazy thing called the Internet– use it.

I could give you all the tips inthe world to help you survivemeeting the parents, but no matterwhat, it’s never going to be easy.Although it may be difficult, Ihope these tips will help you getout alive.

It’s that time of year again: holidayseason. There are so many specialdays to celebrate all within a fewmonths of each other: Thanksgiving,Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’sand a whole host of others. Believeme, I know that it can be tough to getinto that holiday spirit when your sig-nificant other can’t be with you.

While nothing can really replacephysically having your partner therewith you to celebrate the holidays,there are a number of things that youcan do to make each and every spe-cial occasion work long distancestyle.

• Celebrate early or late. This year,my husband was away forThanksgiving (which just so happensto be my favourite holiday), soinstead of missing it, we celebratedearly! Who cares if you have a fullturkey dinner with all the fixin’s onLabour Day weekend? If you reallywant to spend a certain holiday withyour partner, it doesn’t matter whatcalendar day you do it on – what mat-ters is that you celebrate together.

• Spend holidays with your familyor friends. It can be tempting tothrow yourself a big pity party on

holidays just because you’re by your-self but that is never a good idea. Goto the big family dinner or makeplans with your friends. Whateveryou do, make sure to be around peo-ple who care about you and whomake you happy. This will make get-ting through holidays on your own somuch easier.

• Make time to talk to your partneron holidays. Make sure that when aspecial holiday rolls around whenyou can’t actually be with your sig-nificant other that you set aside timethat day to talk to each other. Even ifit’s a quick text or a five-minutephone call, taking the time to say“Happy New Year, I wish I could bethere with you,” will mean a lot toboth of you.

• Do something for yourself. Doyou have a holiday tradition that yourpartner was never really into, likewatching a certain movie or puttingup decorations? If you’re spending aholiday without them, you have theperfect opportunity to be a little self-ish. Do everything that you want todo to mark the occasion, instead ofhaving to worry about what you bothwant to do. I, for instance, put up myChristmas decorations the day afterHalloween this year, because therewas no one around to say, “Don’tyou think it’s a little early?”

I hope these tips help you make itthrough this festive time of year,even if that special someone can’t beby your side.

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For those of you who can’t getenough eggnog and yuletide andreindeer and so on, I’m sure youcan’t wait for Christmas tocome. For those of you who arenauseated by merely the smell ofeggnog, well, December 26 iscoming up too, so it will all beover soon. Whether or not you’refull of Christmas cheer, the holi-days can be a huge drain on yourfinances. Let’s go over some tipsto help you avoid overspendingthis holiday.

First, Christmas is hard tobudget for, largely because trav-el is expensive (someone needsto explain to me why it costs somuch to fly within Canada,because airline tickets arebeyond ridiculous) and no onewants to be known as the personthat buys cheapo gifts. There areabout a million reasons tosplurge and far fewer to budget,but you do have to watch whatyou spend around this time ofyear, as it will make a huge dif-ference in your finances comethe new year. Sit down and fig-ure out what you’re going tospend ahead of time, just tomake sure things don’t get out ofhand too quickly.

Second, watch what you puton credit cards. Or, if you arespending on a credit card, makesure you don’t overspend so thatyou have enough in the bank topay your credit card off quickly.The most painful part of holiday

spending can be dropping a tonof money on travelling, food,gifts and all that other stuff, andputting it all on a credit card thatcharges 20 per cent annual inter-est. Don’t be the person who isstill paying off this Christmas’sexpenditures next Christmas.

Third, avoid expensive vaca-tions. This can be tough if youreally, really want to spend thisChristmas on a beach some-where, but you have to realizewhat you can and cannot afford.If you can’t afford a tropicalChristmas vacation, then don’tget in over your head by takingon an expensive vacation thatyou’re going to spend ages pay-ing for. Of course, if your par-ents are covering the bill, that’sa different story – just don’tshow them this article.

There are usually lots of bar-gains to be had on the shoppingfront at Christmas. Black Friday(and Cyber Monday) are nowpast us, but if you’re savvy (notto mention willing to line up at 6a.m.), there are some deals thatcan be found on Boxing Day. I’dbe impressed if I met a familywho decided to hold Christmason December 27 and did all oftheir Christmas shopping onDecember 26, getting the BoxingDay bargains. Perhaps you couldjust skip Christmas altogether.I’ve heard Festivus is a moreinexpensive holiday.

Jeremy Wall is studyingProfessional Financial Servicesat Fanshawe College. He holdsan Honour’s Bachelor of Artsfrom the University of WesternOntario.

Tips on watching yourChristmas spending

CREDIT: THEDAILYGREEN.COM

LONG DISTANCELOVEAlison [email protected]

Love, Lust & LiesPatricia [email protected]

TALKING CASHJEREMY WALL

Survival guide to meeting her parents

The holidays don’thave to be lonely

Page 24: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

LIFESTYLES24Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

The Muppets (2011)Remember when you were a kid

watching Kermit, Miss Piggy,Gonzo, Fozzie and all the rest ofthe Muppets on The Muppet Show?Or maybe you remember their fea-ture films like Muppet ChristmasCarol or Muppet Treasure Island?No matter where you saw them orwhich was your favourite, allMuppet fans can now rejoice; TheMuppets are back!

In the newest release from direc-tor James Bobin, whose previouswork includes Flight of theConchords, all of Jim Henson’slovable muppets are back in ahilarious, feel-good, family-friend-ly musical. The Muppets tells thestory of two brothers, Gary andWalter; Gary has a beautiful girl-friend, Mary, while Walter is sus-piciously muppet-like. The triojourney to Los Angeles to tour theold Muppet studio (as in themovie, much like real life, theMuppets have been out of the spot-light for more than a few years),but after finding the place in diredisrepair, Walter overhears an eviloil tycoon’s plans to teardown thestudio and drill for oil. Gary, Maryand Walter track down Kermit andconvince him to get the oldMuppet gang back together onelast time to raise enough money tosave the studio.

The cast of The Muppets is sim-ply spectacular! Jason Segel takeson the leading male role (at least interms of the human cast) as Gary.Segel truly never ceases to amazeas he manages to flawlessly pulloff both good old family valuesand dry, witty humour withabsolute precision. Amy Adamsplays opposite Segel as Mary, andin typical Amy Adams fashion is

perky, delightful and charmingevery moment she spends onscreen.

While Segel and Adams bothgive amazing performances, theyare continually upstaged by theMuppets. Kermit, Miss Piggy,Gonzo, Fozzie, Chef, Animal,Scooter and countless others arebrought to life by the voice talentsof Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson,Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, DavidRudman and Matt Vogel. Notenough can be said about these tal-ented men who do a minimum offive characters each.

Chris Cooper brings to life TexRichman, the evil oil tycoon, andRashida Jones plays a TV execu-tive who gives the Muppets onelast shot. Both prove hilarious towatch. There are also a number ofcelebrity cameos – so watch care-fully or you just might miss them!

The beauty of The Muppets isthat it is aimed at adults as much asit is at children. Characters consis-tently refer to the lunacy of break-ing into song and dance numbersout of nowhere, speak directly tothe audience and make countlessclever self-references.

Whether or not you have kids,you need to see The Muppets. Youwill laugh out loud at this intelli-gent, entertaining, all-around goodtime of a movie. And I dare younot to tear up during Kermit andMiss Piggy’s rendition of“Rainbow Connection.”

The Grand Theatre is hosting amodern musical twist on the clas-sic fairytale Cinderella. The musi-cal offers an exciting evening forboth children and adults. Themusical runs November 23 toDecember 31.

Cinderella is a story we allknow. A prince holds a ball thatCinderella desperately wants to goto. When her evil stepmother andstepsisters do not let her go,Cinderella’s Fairy Godmothercomes to the rescue. The FairyGodmother transforms the poor,young girl into a beautiful, charm-ing ‘princess.’ A pumpkin and hermouse friends become a carriageled by horses. Cinderella is now fitfor the ball, but the Godmotherwarns her to be back by midnight.At the ball, Cinderella catches theattention of the Prince, but shemust leave before the clock strikes12. With no name and only theglass slipper she left behind, thePrince starts his search across theland for the mystery girl who wasat his ball.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s

version of Cinderella holds true tothe fairytale’s key elements with afew added twists and turns, includ-ing a slightly more modern atmos-phere. Every element of this musi-cal helped to enhance the audi-ence’s experience. The acting, setdesign and costumes, music andsinging kept the audience enter-tained and glued to every moment.

Both Alessia Lupiano and KyleGolemba made their GrandTheatre debuts in the roles ofCinderella and Prince Christopher.The cast of young, skilled adultsalso found room to include DanieDixon and Justin Eddy, both ofwhom are currently only gradeseven students. The acting, while abit on the hammy side on occasion,was clearly intended to entertainall age groups. Director HeatherDavies obviously wanted this to bea performance for adults and teensas well as children.

The set design featured manydetailed sets including the village’sstreets, Cinderella’s home and thePrince’s palace. The crew madegood use of every set piece byusing each piece multiple times.The transition between scenes was

flawless and was rarely distracting.The cast’s costumes reflected theclassic version of Cinderella whilekeeping in theme with the modernperformance. In particular,Cinderella’s dress stole the breathof everyone in the audience.

If nothing else, the music andsinging are the key selling point inCinderella. Every actor con-tributed their voice to at least onesong, which made for a colourfuland full sound. The solos byLupiano and Golemba were beauti-ful and made the evening unforget-table. Cinderella features songsincluding “The Prince is Giving aBall,” “In My Own Little Corner”and “Impossible.”

Overall, Cinderella is a phenom-enal show that will entertain, capti-vate and amuse audiences of allages. While it was clear that par-ents and children made up most ofthe audience, this is a musical thatteens and young adults can enjoyas well.

Cinderella runs until December31. For more information on ticketprices and show times, visitgrandtheatre.com.

A Christmas Story(1983)

Merry Christmas, everyone. It’sthe most wonderful time of theyear, when people of all differentbackgrounds and beliefs cometogether to celebrate the birth ofPassion of the Christ star Jesus ofNazareth. And nobody celebratesChristmas more than big-timeHollywood producers. Every year,we get classics like Santa’s Slay,Santa Claus Conquers TheMartians and Santa With Musclesto unwrap. Now, I’ve reviewed theaforementioned films in the past(read the articles oncinemaconn.com, I’m trying tocrack triple digits in visitor trafficthis year), and I was hoping toreview a film that was on par withthose superb efforts this year.Unfortunately this year’s film, AChristmas Story, simply is not ontheir level.

A Christmas Story is a little-known 1983 film that I had quite abit of trouble tracking down. Ieventually managed to find aretailer based in New Zealand thathad a copy. So for a whopping$113.49 with shipping, I nabbed acopy. I’m going to be so pissed offif they end up showing this film onTV over the next month.

For those who have never heardof this film, here is a brief synop-sis. The lead character of the filmis nine-year-old Ralphie, and thefilm focuses on his obsession withthe one gift he wants at Christmas:a Red Ryder BB Gun. Though thefilm was released in the 1980s, ittakes place several decades earlier.Kind of like Happy Days.Unfortunately, there is no Fonziepresent to save this utter dreck.

Throughout the film, Ralphielies and manipulates at every turnin order to score the present.Spoiler alert, his parents actuallybuy it for him! Someone call childservices! They buy him a gun. I’msurprised they didn’t throw in abottle of Jack Daniels, some unfil-tered Marlboros and the phonenumber of Miss Kitty, the townwhore. A gun, seriously, great par-enting. My daughter is three yearsold, and I won’t even let her use afork. Do you know how hard it isto eat chicken breast with a spoon?She does. Sure enough, Ralphienearly shoots his eye out after justa few minutes with it.

The film’s worst sequence is oneof its last. After the family’sChristmas dinner is ruined by apack of dogs run amok, the familyis forced to dine at a Chineserestaurant. The waitstaff attemptsto sing some Christmas carols, andhere the writers choose to mocktheir culture by having them sing“Fa-ra-ra-ra” instead of “Fa-la-la-la.” How deliciously racist. I don’tknow why the filmmakers thoughtthey had to go down this route.They could have made this scenemore positive by showing the staffexcelling by solving complexmathematical equations or doing

some wicked Kung Fu moves, butinstead decided to belittle thesepeople.

Peter Billingsley, who playedRalphie, never amounted to muchafter this role, and rightfully so.His portrayal of Ralphie was loath-some. Every year when VinceVaughn stars in a movie, he insiststhat his best pal Peter receive asmall role. So as long as Vaughnstill has some stroke, Ralphiewon’t need to hang out in theunemployment line.

Christmas is a time of joy, andthis fine holiday does not deserveto have its name besmirched byappearing in the title of this lumpof coal in all of our stockings. Thecast, the director, the screenwrit-ers, hell, even the on-set caterersdeserve a permanent place onSanta’s naughty list. I wish myparents had bought me a BB gun soI could have shot my eye out andnot have had to watch this turkey.To all those who are unaffiliatedwith this motion picture, may I sayMerry Christmas. To those whodid have something to do with theproduction of A Christmas Story,then may I draw your attention tothe mistletoe hanging directlyabove my ass.

A Christmas bore-y

CREDIT: A CHRISTMAS STORY

A Christmas Story stars Peter Billingsley as Ralphie.

BROOKE FOSTERINTERROBANG

CinemaConnoisseurAllen Gaynorwww.cinemaconn.com

REEL VIEWSAlison [email protected]

Who can resist The Muppets?

Bringing back a classic

Page 25: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

It’s important to support localbusinesses and shops, and whatbetter time to do so than atChristmas? Downtown Londonhas many great locally ownedstores to make shopping easier.

Since many of you reading thismay not be from London, you maynot have had time to explore allthat downtown has to offer. Hereare some downtown shops thathave something for everyone onyour Christmas list.

Eye Candyeyecandylondon.tumblr.comI’m sure most of you have

walked by this shop at 609Richmond St. a thousand times butnever really noticed anythingabout it other than the fact that it’sa lovely shade of Pepto Bismolpink. When you look past thecolour, you’ll find that inside is acute accessory store. It may besmall, but it doesn’t lack in selec-tion. The store started whenElizabeth Noel owner VeronicaHosszu ran out of space for all herjewellery, which she designed her-self and made at affordable rates.Since then, it has become a homefor all sorts of other interestinggifts ideas and accessories. Fromnecklaces to earrings, handbags to

scarves, there’s bound to be theperfect gift for any woman on yourlist.

Heroesheroescomics.caAlthough London may have a

handful of comic book shopsaround the city, there is no denyingthat Heroes, located at 186 DundasSt., has the best selection. It canalmost be overwhelming whenwalking into the shop to see a largenumber of comics and figurinesand to look up and only see morestacked up to the ceiling. Heroeshas tons to offer, including inde-pendent graphic novels, manga,comic books, figurines and more;there’s no doubt that this store isthe best stop for any comic bookcollector this year.

City Lights Bookshoptwitter.com/citylightslondn If you have never been to City

Lights Bookshop, where have youbeen? It’s a staple of downtownthat has been around since the1970s and has even become a bit ofa tourist attraction. London’s pri-mary used book, CD, DVD andvinyl shop at 356 Richmond St.definitely doesn’t skip on the cool– they even opened up a secondfloor for vinyl, interesting readsand classic literature. City Lights ispractically guaranteed to have

LIFESTYLES 25Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

FSU USEDBOOK SHOP

Drop off your booksDecember 5th to December 16th

January 2nd to January 4thFSU Office- SC 2001 – 9am – 4pm

Buy books January 3rd to January 12thUsed Book Shop – SUB 1035 – 9 am – 4 pm

www.fsu.ca

Shop local this Christmas – head downtown

A NEW BODY BY CHRISTMAS,take the challenge today! Find outhow at www.shakeitoffonepoun-datatime.bodybyvi.com on yourInternet Explorer browser andchange your life today.

CAR POOLING - I am looking forany other students that live in theCambridge, Kitchener-Waterlooareas that are students at Fanshaweand commute to London every day

and would be interested in car pool-ing, even if it is just a few days aweek. Email me Jaimie [email protected]

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Coupleseeks egg donor. You are self-assured, vibrant, caring, generousand willing to help another in anyway. Giving the miracle of life wouldbe the utmost gift known. Pleaserespond in strictest confidence [email protected]

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NINTENDO WII games for sale -TNA Impact ($3), Mario StrikersCharged ($8). Email me [email protected]

WWE HARDCOVER BOOKS forsale, all in very good condition.Hardy Boyz Exist 2 Inspire ($3), TheRock Says ($3) and Mick Foley: Foleyis Good ($4). Email me [email protected]

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Office hours Monday to Friday 9am - 4:30pm. Classified deadline isevery Wednesday by 12pm. email: [email protected]

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On December 8 in Fanshawe’sG building, sixth-semester archi-tecture students will be putting onan exhibit of their ‘sustainable liv-ing’ structure designs, viewablefrom 12 to 2 p.m.

There are five groups of stu-dents, each presenting their ownunique architectural model andcomputer animated ‘walkthrough’of their structure. The studentshave been working on this projectall semester and have come upwith some very innovative ideasthat have strong potential in thereal world.

The displays will include a dis-aster-proof home, an eco-friendlysustainable cottage, an “eco farm,”a “HiTech Home” and a housemade from 87 to 90 per cent recy-cled materials.

The “eco farm” project isdesigned to be a full-sized farmand fully self-sustainable business.According to Travis Reid, one ofthe students in the group, this ideais completely new, and is “not likethe smaller urban farms talkedabout in sustainable design.” By

harnessing energy sources such asmanure, wind power and solarpower, the farm is designed to pro-duce enough energy and product toalso help support its respectivecommunity by selling the pro-duced energy and goods.

Using concepts such as eleva-tion, tempered glass, concrete andlateral support, one group hascome up with a disaster-proofhome. This home is designed towithstand natural disasters such asearthquakes, tsunamis, wildfiresand tornadoes.

The designs of the sustainablecottage, “HiTech” and recycledmaterials homes include solar pan-els, ground-source heating sys-tems, rainwater collection, “earthtube” heating and cooling systems,postconsumer materials and recy-cled building materials.

The elements of the designs thatallow such ideas to become realityare quite extensive and can’t begiven justice in a newspaper articlesuch as this. The beauty of theseideas can only be fully illustratedby the minds that created them,and that is exactly what they planto do.

Student architecturedesign exhibit

TABITHA MCCARLINTERROBANG

MADISON FOSTERINTERROBANG

what bookworms or music lovershave on their list, but if they don’t,there’s bound to be something elsehiding on the shelves. You couldeven just pop in and see CaptainKirk, who is always there in theScience Fiction section.

Kiss the Cookkissthecookonline.comTucked away at 551 Richmond

St. in between Kent and Albert isthe culinary store that, although itlooks small on the outside, hasplenty of space for its vast selec-tion of kitchen wares inside.There’s even a section for cookingclass (a possible gift idea). Thechance of Kiss The Cook not hav-ing the piece you’re looking for isslim, and their prices are compara-ble to those of the Bay and even

Wal-Mart. You’re guaranteed tofind a gift in this store, whether it’sfor a culinary master or someonewho needs some help in thekitchen.

Commander Salamandercommandersalamander.caA little blue shop off the beaten

track at 360 Talbot St., around thecorner from the Covent GardenMarket, is the self proclaimed“Altar of Pop Culture” – and it’s awell deserved name. This store haseverything from lunchboxes to cof-fee mugs to pens, posters andknick-knacks, featuring anyythingand everything from The Beatles toStar Wars. And who can forget allthe tin robots? They also carry aselection of accessories and clothesfrom brands like Sailor Jerry and

Betty Page. It’s hard to list all theinteresting and creative gifts avail-able at Commander Salamandersince they’re constantly bringing inmore. The best way to know is tocheck it out yourself. You won’t bedisappointed.

There you have it. Just remem-ber that there is plenty that down-town has to offer and these are justa few of the great shops in the area,including Richmond Row and theCovent Garden Market. During themonth of December, two hours offree parking will be offered allthrough downtown. So if you makethe trip this holiday season, keep inmind that there are many greatgifts to be found right in the heartof the city.

Page 26: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

LIFESTYLES26Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

THE TONIGHT SHOWwith Jay Leno

This is what I love about America.In the Middle East, they take the rev-olution into the streets. They topplegovernments. They liberate theoppressors. We riot for a $2 waffleiron.

A woman claims she had a 13-yearaffair with Herman Cain. You knowwhat that means? While he was foolingaround with those four other women,he was cheating on his mistress.

Well, the inside talk is that SarahPalin is going to endorse NewtGingrich. If you think Newt ishappy, you should see Mitt Romney.

As you may have heard, ConradMurray sentenced to fouryears in the L.A. countyjail. Or as Lindsay Lohancalls that, about a weekand a half.

BEST IN LATE NIGHTCOMIC RELIEF

CONAN with Conan O’Brien

I went back to Boston to visit myfamily for Thanksgiving, and I can-not tell you how good it is to be backin a room full of total strangers.

It’s Cyber Monday, when every-one shops online. As soon as I wokeup I pepper sprayed myself.

This is a crazy story inGreenwich, Connecticut, threewealthy investors who were alreadyworth millions won the $254 millionpower ball jackpot. Yeah in a relatedstory, everyone’s head at OccupyWall Street just exploded.

A photo from one of Saturn’smoons shows it may have the ele-ments necessary for life.Isn’t that cool? Yeah, thethree elements found therewere nitrogen, methaneand Red Bull.

LATE NIGHT with Jimmy Fallon

Over the weekend, PresidentObama took his daughters to a book-store. Barack bought Malia ThePhantom Tollbooth, while Maliabought Barack Economics forDummies.

Sunday, Chargers kicker NickNovak was caught on TV urinatingon the sidelines during San Diego’sovertime loss to Denver. Markingthe only time fans were really glad aplayer didn’t go for 2.

A man in Georgia was arrestedfor burglary after he left hisFacebook account open on the vic-tim’s computer. But this isnice: He’s only been in jaila few hours, and his statusalready says “In aRelationship!”

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE with Jimmy Kimmel

Contrary to what people seem tobelieve, Regis Philbin did not retire.He was fired after they caught himstealing.

Cyber Monday is a day that everystore online puts everything on sale.It’s basically Black Friday for peo-ple too lazy to put on pants.

Another woman came forwardwith allegations about Herman Cain.I think she’s number 9-9-9 now.

The food industry says the newrules give schools the flexibility toincrease nutrition. The same wayelastic waistbands give us the flexi-bility to keep in shape.

In a world whereKardashians are celebri-ties, maybe pizzas can bevegetables. AndTwizzlers are a fruit.

You ever think

we drink too much

coffee?

NNnnaaaaggHH

It’s short for may you have peace, love, and good times with family and friends

Over the years, things have become increasingly more and

more “Politically Correct”.

It’s become taboo to say “Merry Christmas” and the dear old

Christmas tree has become the “Holiday Tree”

Bah Humbug!Merry Christmas!

“Oh Holiday tree, O Holiday tree , thy

leaves are so unchang-ing” doesn’t sound

nearly as good when sung.

Why can’t we call it as we want?

It should be okay if someone calls it a

Christmas Tree, and if someone else calls it a

holiday tree.

If someone says Merry Christmas, understand

they mean it in goodwill.

If someone responds with another greeting,

such as Happy Holidays, Happy Hannukah, Happy

Eid, Yuletide Greetings, Happy Kwanzaa, etc,

understand they mean it in goodwill, too.

It’s okay to respond in any polite way. Well, almost any way.

Bus Stop

Nerds

fsu.catwitter.com/ fanshawesu

facebook.com/ fanshawesu fsu.ca/social

youtube.com/ fsuweb

Page 27: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

LIFESTYLESAcross1. Square root of 81

5. Jamaican sect (abbr.)

10. Former world superpower

14. City in Oklahoma

15. Group of islands in the Gulf of

Bothnia

16. Soft leather

17. Skin condition characterized

by pimples

18. Short story

19. Iraq’s neighbour

20. Expressing gratitude to

22. Observing

24. Compass direction

25. Excellent (2 words)

26. Edible round clam

30. Entangles in

34. Not achieved (said of a goal)

35. Operatic songs

36. Biblical priest

37. Last word of a prayer

38. Wines (informal)

39. Portend

40. ___ Diego: California city

41. Fabric of silk with a glossy

surface

42. Senseless

43. Example of

45. Sports buildings

46. Accompanying

47. In the past

48. Capital of the Philippines

51. Forsakes

56. In ancient Greece, a contest for

prizes

57. To a large extent

59. City in N.E. Sweden

60. Make music vocally

61. Biblical character who did not

die

62. Soon

63. Leg joint

64. Capital of Yemen

65. Part of a poem

Down1. Tidy

2. Unit of length

3. One of Columbus’ ships

4. Location of first garden

5. Participating in a speed contest

6. By oneself

7. Made music vocally

8. Dynamite (abbr.)

9. Gland-like benign tumours

10. Joins together

11. Hindi dress

12. Bridge

13. Activated a bell

21. Small sandpiper

23. Change for a five

25. Negatively charged ions

26. Seemingly (comb. form)

27. Discourage

28. Endings of prayers

29. Female bird

30. Sesame Street character

31. Particularly strong man

32. Feminine name

33. Trigonometric functions

35. Name of the letter H

38. Places affording good views

39. Five minus four

41. Type of boat

42. Press

44. Sudden sharp physical pain

45. Author Christi

47. Manila hemp

48. Disguise

49. Against (informal)

50. Not any

51. A very long time

52. Twofold

53. All (comb. form)

54. Sign gas

55. Of sound mind

58. Genetic carrier (abbr.)

Solution on page 31

1. The word Christmas is OldEnglish, a contraction of Christ’sMass.

2. The first president to decoratethe white house Christmas tree inthe United States was Franklin

Pierce.3. Electric lightsfor trees werefirst used in

1895.4. The first

Christmas cards werevintage and invented in

1843, the Victorian Era.5. It’s a Wonderful Life appears

on TV more often than any otherholiday movie.

6. Rudolph was actually createdby Montgomery Ward in the late1930’s for a holiday promotion.The rest is history.

7. The Nutcracker is the mostfamous Christmas ballet.

8. Jingle Bells was first writtenfor Thanksgiving and then becameone of the most popular Christmassongs.

9. If you received all of the giftsin the song The Twelve Days ofChristmas, you would receive 364presents.

10. The poinsettia plant wasbrought into the United States fromMexico by Joel Poinsett in theearly 1800’s.

11. Holly berries are poisonous.12. Contrary to common belief,

poinsettia plants are non-toxic.13. In 1843, A Christmas Carol

was written by Charles Dickens injust six weeks.

14. Coca Cola was the first bev-erage company to use Santa for awinter promotion.

15. Clearing up a common mis-conception, in Greek, X meansChrist. That is where the word X-Mas comes from. Not becausesomeone took the Christ out ofChristmas.

16. Traditionally, Christmastrees are taken down afterEpiphany.

17. More diamonds are soldaround Christmas than any othertime of the year.

18. Christmas pudding was firstmade as a kind of soup with raisinsand wine in it.

19. The Christmas turkey wasimported to France by the Jesuitsand it is still known in someFrench dialects as a Jesuite.

20. Christmas Pudding origi-nates from an old, Celtic dishknown as frumenty.

21. The first Christmas stampwas released in Canada in 1898.

22. In Germany, Twelfth Nightis known as Three Kings Day.

Aries (March 21 - April 19)Discussion for its own sake is

inspiring, but it wastes time. Workwith what you know. Transformsomething uncertain into a finishedproduct. Once you show, no fur-ther telling is necessary.

Taurus (April 20 - May 20)Keep the mood light and the

compliments flowing. Businesshappens easily when everyone iscomfortable. Put on a happy faceeven if you have to explain some-thing for the tenth time.

Gemini (May 21 - June 20)You could sell coal in Newcastle

or sand in the Sahara, if either saleseemed necessary to you. Geminiis convincing. Use your power forthe good of the world instead ofsquandering it on practical jokes.

Cancer (June 21 - July 22)Get that grievance off your chest

right now. A reasonable tone andrational words will have col-leagues taking you seriously.Many hands unravel a complexissue more easily than a single,tentative finger.

Leo (July 23 - August 22)You’re a leader but don’t let

visions of success ruin your effec-tiveness. Good teamwork looks alot like a party in progress. Turn upthe heat so that you can roll upyour sleeves.

Virgo (August 23 - Sept. 22)Just when you thought you’d

seen the last of something useless,here it comes again. The coopera-tion of others is the key to yoursuccess. Try to make your case onelast time, but keep it fresh.

Libra (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22)Caring people are here for you.

It’s a relief and a blessing to getthe respect that you deserve.You’d cheerfully spend this timesoul searching, but you suddenlyhave guests to entertain.

Scorpio (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21)No matter how lucky you may

feel, the odds could be turningagainst you. Even if the gametakes you far afield, never losesight of the rules. Temptation ismore exciting when you resist it.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21)You must decide whether both

sides will end up polarized ormerged. A superficial approach isfar from perfect, but it’s betterthan none at all. If this wholeprocess fails to interest you,you’re probably asleep.

Capricorn (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19)People looking for a sympathet-

ic ear should go elsewhere. Youhave problems of your own, andyou’re not ready to whine aboutthem. The only room that’s avail-able here is for those who pulltheir own weight.

Aquarius (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18)People in search of a good time

recognize each other on a primallevel. Grab an opportunity with bothhands and never look back. TheGemini Moon inspires recklessness,but you’re still accurate as ever.

Pisces (Feb. 18 - March 20)The view may be painful, but

shying away from what’s comingwon’t prepare you for it. Piscesgets extra points for tactfully dis-cussing a delicate matter.

mediumDaily Sudoku: Thu 27-Mar-2008

7 5 6

5 3 4 9

2 8

1 5 2

3 4 8 6

7 6 8

3 2

3 9 5 8

6 5 4

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid con-tains the digits 1 through 9. That means no number is repeated in any col-umn, row or box. Solution can be found on page 31.

Sudoku Puzzle

puzzle rating: medium

LIFESTYLES 27Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Word Search

SIGNS OF THE SEASON(Words in parentheses not in puzzle)

Cards

Carols

Fruit Cake

Garland

Jesus

Holly

Mistletoe

Ornaments

Present

Santa

Snow

Tinsel

Tree

Turkey

Wreath

B

L

O

E

K

A

C

T

I

U

R

F

L

X

H

A W R E D D E H O L L Y A O

I N G N A C K Y S C I V C N

S R T E M A N R N A U A G E

L P U C N I H R O S R A E O

S D R A C K S C W O P I O T

E F K A N Y N D L C X O S E

T S E R E V F S U T M I N L

O T Y D E D A V N A V G I T

I N O N S H T A E R W K I S

R E N A B E P R E S E N T I

T M I L E A S T R O S V R M

A A E R I R T S A E U O S T

P N T A E G A N L S A Z L A

R R A G X Y A D A R F R A B

R O N O T I U S U S E J N G

KIOSK QUIZ ANSWER

THE FIRS FEE PAYMENT DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 29TH.

PRIZES SPONSORED BY CHARTWELLS

Page 28: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

LIFESTYLES28Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Easy and festive Christmastree brownies

Holiday party season is finallyhere and I couldn’t be more excit-ed. I’ll take any excuse to get cre-ative in the kitchen, but Christmas-themed baking really gets megoing. Here’s a simple, festiverecipe to impress your guests with-out spending hours in the kitchen.You’ll need:

For brownies:- 1/2 cup butter, plus 1 tbsp.- 1 cup white sugar- 2 eggs- 1/3 cup cocoa powder, plus 1

tbsp- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour- 1/4 tsp. salt- 1/4 tsp. baking powder 1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Grease an 8-inch round cake panwith 1 tbsp. of butter and dust itwith 1 tbsp. of cocoa powder untilit’s coated.

2. Cream together the remainingbutter and sugar until light andfluffy. Add the eggs one at a timeand stir until just combined.

3. In a separate bowl, whisktogether the remaining ingredients.Stir the flour mixture into the but-ter mixture until completely com-

bined. Be careful not to over-mixor your brownies will be too fluffy.

If you’re short on time, use abrownie mix and follow the direc-tions on the box.

For decoration:- 1/2 cup green chocolate wafers

(you’ll find these at most bulkstores)

- 1/4 cup sprinkles or small can-dies (again, try the bulk store)

- 8 small yellow chocolate can-dies

4. When your brownies havecooled, cut them like a pie intoeight equal slices.

5. Put your green chocolatewafers into a resealable bag andmicrowave them on high for 30second bursts. Between each blast,squish the chocolate around to helpit melt. This should only take abouttwo minutes.

6. Working one brownie at atime, snip a small hole in the cor-ner of the bag and drizzle thechocolate back and forth across thebrownie. Before it cools, sprinkledecorations into the chocolate. Puta little dab of chocolate on the backof your yellow “star” and stick it tothe top of the brownie tree. Repeatthis with each of your eight slices.

These will keep for a few days inan airtight container, though I can’timagine they’ll last that long. Buthey, they are so easy to make thatyou may as well whip up a forestof Christmas tree brownies!

ELISE COPPS-SMITHINTERROBANG

Yummy street food in India

Some people eat to live, whileothers live to eat. That secondgroup comes to mind when I thinkof Indian food. A lot of peoplethink Indian food is just curry, butit’s not – it is a variety. Every partof India has its own specialty infood items.

Part of the joy of India’s richcuisine is that it consists of thou-sands of regional cuisines. If wefly to North India, the specialty isButter Chicken Curry and spicyfood; South India has Idli (savourycakes), Sambar (vegetable stew)and Dosa (rice batter and blacklentil crepe); East India has FishCurry and Momos (dumpling); andin West India you can find VadaPav (similar to a burger), Gujufood and Hyderabadi Biryani (bas-mati rice and goat meat). Theymight have unusual names thatyou’ve never heard before, butthese are the specialties of Indiathat no Indian or even a foreignercan resist.

Cuisine across India is a resultof different spices, vegetables,herbs and fruits. The extensive useof onions, ginger paste and garlic

paste makes the food awesome –the exotic flavours of India canmake you gain a lot of weight! Youdon’t have to step inside an air-conditioned restaurant to enjoy theflavours of India; look to thestreets, where hungry citizens andvisitors can grab a plate of food forjust a few rupees (less than aCanadian dollar) and fill their tum-mies with delicious food.

To beat the exotic heat of sum-mer, there are variety of drinks likeChuski (similar to a snow cone) inDelhi; Banta in Hrishikesh (lemonsoda); Sugarcane juice in ruralBengal; Tender coconut water onMarina Beach, Chennai; the richcreamy Lassi (a savoury yogurt-based drink) of Jaipur; and manymore.

The preparation and timing arevery important in Indian cookingas the process is long and elabo-rate, but it is worth it in the end.Knowledge of India’s many differ-ent cuisines is growing internation-ally. Check out restaurants inBrampton or Toronto, or lookonline for some new recipes tobring the taste of India to Canada.

SHIVANI DHAMIJAINTERROBANG

CREDIT: NEWS.DISCOVERY.COM

Silent night? After your last exam, you can finally sleep in heavenlypeace.

‘Twas the night before exams,when all through the dorm

Not a student was sleeping, withessays to form;

The books were open by the lap-tops with care,

In hopes that ideas soon wouldbe there.

The teachers were nestled allsnug in their beds,

While visions of holidaysdanced in their heads;

And I in my slippers andFanshawe sweats,

Was starting to have some studyregrets.

Three hundred words written,and most of them wrong;

Why did I procrastinate for everso long?

So much still to do for such aslow writer,

I knew that this meant pulling anall-nighter.

Empty cups of coffee litter thefloor,

My roommate rolls over andgives a loud snore.

When, suddenly, what should I

hear?But a low rumbling sound,

caught by my ear.A quarter past 12, the sky is

black,The time has come for a mid-

night snack;Without hesitation I head out my

door,Throw open the fridge and cut-

lery drawer.A slice of pizza or left-over

cake?I suddenly had a decision to

make;Give in to temptation, or choose

to be smart?I knew what was right to do in

my heart.Some berries, granola makes a

yogurt parfait,To keep those nasty hunger

pains away;Energy restored and stomach

content,Back to the stack of books I

went!So take heed this semester,Don’t get left behind,Eat healthy; be good to your

body and mind.And soon you will be filled with

holiday cheer,It’s the end of the semester, see

you next year!

The All-NighterBefore Christmas

Nutrition Ambition Emily Nixon

Christmas and the holiday sea-son are upon us once more, andalready dreams of sugarplumsdance in our heads. Well, not real-ly; most likely you’re beginning tothink about exams and getting bustickets purchased. I’ve been think-ing recently about all of this andI’ve come to realize thatChristmas, while a stressful time,can be the perfect opportunity tounleash your inner foodie.

When a holiday comes around,family gathers and inevitably foodis prepared and served. This year,make a splash with your family bysuggesting some interesting waysof spicing up the traditional holi-day feast.

The following recipes are aninteresting take on some tradition-al dishes that are usually found onyour table around the holidays. Wehope this inspires you to be cre-ative and see that sometimes eventhe most routine dish can be madenew!

Awesome Sausage, Apple andCranberry Stuffing

From allrecipes.comNote: This recipe is for a 10-

pound turkey.Ingredients:- 1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat

bread- 3 3/4 cups cubed white bread- 1 pound ground turkey

sausage- 1 cup chopped onion- 3/4 cup chopped celery- 2 1/2 tsp. dried sage- 1 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme- 1 Golden Delicious apple,

cored and chopped- 3/4 cup dried cranberries- 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley- 1 cooked turkey liver, finely

chopped- 3/4 cup turkey stock- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread

the white and whole wheat breadcubes in a single layer on a largebaking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 min-utes in the preheated oven, or untilevenly toasted. Transfer toastedbread cubes to a large bowl.

2. In a large skillet, cook thesausage and onions over mediumheat, stirring and breaking up thelumps until evenly browned. Addthe celery, sage, rosemary andthyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutesto blend flavours.

3. Pour sausage mixture overbread in bowl. Mix in choppedapples, dried cranberries, parsley,and liver. Drizzle with turkey stockand melted butter, and mix lightly.Spoon into turkey to loosely fill.

Oranged Cranberry SauceFrom allrecipes.comIngredients- 2 (12 ounce) packages fresh

cranberries- 1 orange, zested- 3 cinnamon sticks- 2 cups orange juice- 2 cups packed brown sugarDirections1. In a medium saucepan, com-

bine cranberries, orange zest, cin-namon, orange juice and brownsugar. Add enough water to cover,and bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Immediately reduce heat, andsimmer for about 1 hour, or untilthe sauce has thickened. Taste forsweetness, and adjust with addi-tional sugar if necessary. You can-not overcook, so continue cookinguntil you have a good thick consis-tency. Let mixture cool, thenrefrigerate in a covered container.

Angeletti CookiesFrom realsimple.comIngredients- 8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted but-

ter, melted- 1/2 cup granulated sugar- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract- 2 large eggs

- 2 cups all-purpose flour,spooned and leveled, plus morefor rolling the dough

- 2 tsp. baking powder- 1/4 tsp. kosher saltGlaze:- 1 1/3 cups confectioners’

sugar- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract- 2 tbsp. multicolor nonpareil

sprinkles, for decoration (option-al)

Directions1. Heat oven to 375°F.2. In a medium bowl, whisk

together the butter, granulatedsugar, vanilla and eggs until blend-ed. Add the flour, baking powderand salt and mix until just com-bined (do not overmix).

3. With floured hands, roll leveltablespoonfuls of the dough intoballs and place on parchment-linedbaking sheets, spacing them 2inches apart. Bake until puffed andthe bottoms are pale golden, 7 to 8minutes. Transfer to a rack to coolcompletely.

4. Make the glaze: In a smallbowl, whisk together the confec-tioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons waterand the vanilla until the mixtureforms a thick but pourable glaze(add more water if necessary).

5. Dip the top of each cookieinto the glaze and let set, roundedside up, on a rack set over a pieceof parchment paper. Sprinkle withnon-pareils, if using. Allow theglaze to set, about 20 minutes.Store the cookies in an airtightcontainer at room temperature forup to 5 days.

From both of us, we’d like towish you a Merry Christmas and ahappy holiday season. May thebest of what life has to offeralways find its way to your table.Until next time, happy eating!

Have questions, comments orsuggestions? Feel free to e-mail usat [email protected]

Food For Thought

Prepare the ultimate holiday feastJESSICA AND MARK WILKIE-FACCHIN

INTERROBANG

CREDIT: ELISE COPPS-SMITH

Festive Christmas tree browniesare a treat that is easy to make,and will surely be a hit at anyChristmas party.

Page 29: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

SPORTS&LEISURE 29Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

Use your imagination tohelp you achieve

In mid-November, Dr. NataschaWesch of Elite Mind Performancecame to speak at Fanshawe aboutthe illusion of sport. Wesch is aMental Skills Coach and SportPsychology Consultant for variousvarsity, provincial, national andinternational athletes.

She obtained her Ph.D. in SportPsychology after completing aMaster’s degree in ExercisePhysiology/Biochemistry and aBachelor’s degree in ExerciseScience. Her extensive athletic his-tory as an international rugby play-er, varsity hockey player and com-petitive gymnast has given her thepractical knowledge necessary tohelp her support other athletes.

During her presentation, Weschgave students advice on how toimprove their physical athletic per-formance by taking time to focussolely on training their mind. “Oneof the things that happens in sport,and I think in other areas of per-formance, is that we spend somuch time training the technical,the tactical and the physical side,and we leave the mental side tochance,” she said.

One of the most useful ideas sheoffered students was by comparingthe mind to a GPS. “If (I) want togo to Windsor, what do I plug intothe GPS? Where I want to go. Do Iplug in ‘Don’t go to Sarnia?’ Icould, but it’s not going to take meto Windsor, it’s just not going totake me to Sarnia,” she said, com-paring this scenario to that of agymnast on a balance beam. “Ifyou plug in ‘I don’t want to fall,’you will fall, because you’re nottelling your mind and body whatyou want it to do to get to the des-tination that you want,” she added.

When imagery is used toimprove mental performance,Wesch said it is like packing downa pathway in the snow. “The moreyou pack it down and walk thesame path over and over, itbecomes the last thing to melt …Imagery will do the same thing asif I were actually practicing ordoing something. It will packdown the snow, make it more con-crete and it will stick in my mind.”

Wesch said that one of the bestways to continue packing down thesnow in your mind, so to speak, isto practice imagery before yousleep because you are more likelyto dream about it during the night.As Wesch puts it, you will get“More bang for (your) buck.”

The techniques offered byWesch can easily be applied toanyone. She suggests that you useimagery every day in order toimprove whatever it is you arehoping to do better. “If you imag-ine something, then you canbelieve it because, essentially,that’s your reality.”

KIRSTEN ROSENKRANTZINTERROBANG

Alexa McAllister is currently afirst-year student here at FanshaweCollege in the collaborative nurs-ing program with the University ofWestern Ontario. She is a memberof the UWO Women’s Lacrosseteam, a team that won the OntarioUniversity Athletics championshipin October. Not only that, but theteam also went undefeated allwhile having eight freshman on theteam. McAllister was a part of asuccessful defense (only allowinga league low 45 goals all season)and a successful team while attend-ing a different school.

I caught up with her to discusshow playing a university sportwhile not attending the universitywas for a first-year student.

What were those weeks likewhen you were training?

“Very busy. I had to bus toWestern every day from 5 to 7p.m., so I would miss half an hourat the beginning of practice. Thetraining was basically through thepractices; we would do trainingsessions once a week for the prac-tice. It was a lot of travelling –pretty much every weekend wewere away – so that made it reallybusy for me also.”

What was the hardest thingabout playing athletics at a dif-ferent school?

“Really just the transportation, itwas very inconvenient. But it wasworth it in the end.”

Are you happy you got to dothat in your first year?

“Yeah, very happy, for sure.First of all, it was a great experi-ence because we won the OUAchampionship, which was a greatexperience as a rookie, and I got toplay a lot this year, which was alsovery exciting.”

Do you have any advice forstudents looking to play athletics

in their first year?“Don’t be intimidated when you

go out there. I talked to the coachbefore to the season (started), justto discuss what it was like playingon the team. But for sure just tryout and give it your best out there.”

Like you said, the WesternMustangs Women’s lacrosseteam won the OUAChampionship this year, a teamyou were a part of. How do you

plan you do any better after yourfreshman year?

“Just by doing the same thing,really! Next year, the team reallyisn’t going to change too much, sowe have a really, really strongteam. Hopefully we can get thesame result as last year.”

Best of luck for Alexa as she isstill training with the lacrosse teamat Western and still commutingthere on a regular basis.

MARTY THOMPSONINTERROBANG

CREDIT: WESTERNMUSTANGS.CA

Fanshawe first-year student Alexa McAllister helped the WesternMustangs win an Ontario University Athletics championship this year.McAllister is in the collaborative nursing program.

The last generation of the FordFocus model sold in NorthAmerica was, in a word, awful. Itdidn’t look very good, had terri-bly uncomfortable seats and hadthe performance and handling ofa UPS truck.

Internally, Ford knew theywere about to serve the buyingpublic a mish-mash curry madefrom bits and pieces of some oftheir other old models, and triedto dress it up with a heavy sprin-kling of technology (like theSYNC system) to make the prod-uct look good.

Did it work? For a lot buyers,it did. The last Focus was not ahuge seller, but it sold in bigenough numbers for the produc-tion line to stay open.

However, Ford North Americaknew they could not pull off thesame trick again with their nextnew Focus, and collaboratedwith their European division tocome up with the model you seeon this page today.

This model is now a Globalmodel. Some technical and

mechanical changes vary for dif-ferent markets, but in general,anywhere in the world whereFocus is sold, this is essentiallythe car you’ll see.

From a visual perspective, itlooks very nice. It is an attractivecompact car in both its sedan andhatchback form. Personally, Imuch prefer the look of thehatchback version to that of itssedan sibling. My favouritedesign touch on this car is actual-ly the fuel-filler door on thehatchback model and how beau-tifully it is integrated into thelines of its rear light cluster.Someone at Ford had their think-ing cap on.

The interior is not as convinc-ing. It looks fine and it has a lotof room, but the quality of the fitand finish is not great. It felt likethey saved money on clips thathold pieces in place – not what Ilike seeing in a brand new car.

Thankfully, the seats haveimproved quite a lot over the oldmodel, so they are fine on a longdrive.

For driving you to your desti-nation, the new Focus is current-ly only offered with one engine,a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder motorthat produces 160 hp and 146lb/ft of torque. This motor caneither be equipped with a five-speed manual or a six-speed

dual-clutch automatic gearbox.My tester hatchback came with

the manual gearbox. This gear-box has a nice feel to its throwsand the clutch is very easy to use,but its engine is just not verywilling. Honestly it felt like thecar had half the power its manu-facturer quoted. Progress on theroad will not be very rapid.

Thanks to its excellent chassisand suspension set-up, the newFocus handles very well, and youcan certainly carry a lot of speedthrough twists and turns – I just

wish the powertrain would com-pliment this car’s handling abili-ties, but with a turbo model onthe horizon, that will address thisissue.

Most people who buy cars likethis are more interested in fueleconomy rather than power. Iaveraged 8.6-litres/100km in myweek, which is decent, but not aclass leader in this category.

Prices for the new Focus startat $15,999 for the sedan “S”model, while the base hatchbackis a better-equipped “SE” trim

and it starts at $19,899. In gener-al, a similarly equipped sedan is$900 cheaper than the hatchbackmodel.

So what is the final verdict?The new Focus is muchimproved over the model itreplaces, but some of its compe-tition is better still. It’s not badand it’s worth a close look ifyou’re in the market for a com-pact car that looks good and han-dles well. Good job, Ford, nowhurry up with the turbo model.

Ford works to Focus on the improvements

CREDIT: JACKIE NOBLE

Dr. Natascha Wesch

CREDIT: FORD

The 2012 Ford Focus is sure to please buyers.

MOTORING NAUMAN [email protected]

Catching up with Alexa McAllister

Page 30: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

Christmas is fast approaching.Here are a handful of gift ideas forthe discerning hockey fan in yourfamily (or just for yourself, per-haps). All of these gifts are avail-able for sale at nhl.com (thoughthey can probably be found cheap-er elsewhere).

Are you looking forward to the2012 Winter Classic between theNew York Rangers andPhiladelphia Flyers? Well, youcould always be watching it instyle. There are a ton of differentmen’s and women’s shirts featur-ing both teams available on theShop NHL website, everythingfrom t-shirts to long-sleeved ther-mals. In fact, the NHL site has aton of memorabilia no matter whatyour team is. Hate both theRangers and the Flyers? Try aWinnipeg Jets tie. You can alsocustomize tees, hoodies and long-sleeved shirts, personalizing themwith your own name and number.Number 69 is reserved for onlythose with good taste.

Are you mad for Monopoly? Trythe NHL-themed version of thisclassic board game. A zamboniinstead of a car, a Stanley Cupinstead of a thimble – what’s not tolove? Curious about which team isBoardwalk? Think most StanleyCups. The board, however, fea-tures the Atlanta Thrashers insteadof the Jets. It would have beengreatly amusing if the Thrasherswere Baltic Avenue, but that dubi-ous distinction goes to theWashingon Capitals. Not aMonopoly maniac? Try DetroitRed Wings-themed Yahtzee.

Speaking of the Jets, does thereturn of the NHL to Winnipegleave you missing a few of theother teams that the NHL haspassed by? Well, you could alwayskeep the dream alive by sporting aQuebec Nordiques t-shirt or aHartford Whalers jersey. TheNordiques shirt is $28.99 and the

retro Whalers jersey is $69.99. Areyou a Toronto fan, but looking forsomething different from the com-monplace Maple Leaf? Try aToronto St. Pats fitted hat for$29.99. Montreal fans have theoption of a Montreal Maroons hatfor the same price. There is a lotmore retro stuff out there. I’venever seen anyone sporting aKansas City Scouts or ClevelandBarons shirt, if such things exist.Find me a California Golden Sealsretro shirt and I’ll be impressed.

There’s seriously tons of stuffavailable for sale on Shop NHL’swebsite. How about Tampa BayLightning beer mugs? Or anAnaheim Ducks bar stool? Habsshooter glasses? Some of the mostridiculous stuff can be found in thesite’s “Toys & Games” section (asif Red Wings Yahtzee isn’t ridicu-lous enough). How about aColumbus Blue Jackets gardengnome? Seriously (and it would beseriously awesome if these gnomeswere autographed). Or for the seri-ous collector in your family, a ‘72CCCP puck autographed byVladislav Tretiak.

Best advice? Ignore all this stuffand get your skates on and headoutdoors for the holidays.Although if someone sent me a TieDomi autographed Leafs gardengnome, I wouldn’t complain.

JEREMY WALLINTERROBANG

Gift ideas for thehockey fan

SPORTS&LEISURE 30Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

CREDIT: HALLOFFAMEMEMORABILIA.COM

The NFC East was supposed tobelong to the Philadelphia Eagles.With several high-powered freeagents and returning stars, theEagles were heavily favoured towin the Super Bowl as well. As itturns out, they just weren’t verygood, and the division will belongto either the Giants or theCowboys.

A lot of questions will beanswered in week 14 when theGiants visit Dallas to face theCowboys for the first time thisyear. The Giants are trying toavoid their trademark second-halfslump, and their recent losing has alot to do with quarterback EliManning. His turnovers are up

from earlier in the year and thesemistakes are leading to points forthe other team.

The Cowboys come in red-hot,with a chance to grab a strangle-hold on the division with a win.This matchup will happen again inweek 17, so expect a pair of verygood games from these teams.

Key Matchups1. Giants Defensive Line vs.

Tony Romo: In case you forgot, itwas the Giants that injured Mr.Romo a year ago. In order to keeptheir run going, the Cowboys mustkeep Romo on the field, and thatmeans slowing down this Giantspass rush.

2. Giants vs. Second-HalfSlumps: I have no idea what hap-pens to the Giants after week 10 orso. They just seem to lose theirconfidence late in seasons, and ithas cost them several divisiontitles. In order to avoid anothersuch crumble this year (and savetheir coach’s job), they need to

stop turning the ball over and startscoring lots of points again.

3. Ahmad Bradshaw vs.DeMarco Murray: The GiantsNEED Bradshaw back at 100 percent in this one. The Giantshaven’t been able to run the foot-ball at all without him, and that’sthe main reason for Manning’srecent struggles. Murray, on theother hand, has exploded onto thescene. The rookie out of Oklahomahas run over, around and throughmost of the opposition, and hisplay has helped spark TonyRomo’s recent run as well.

The RundownThis has must-win written all

over it for both teams. Barring anArizona miracle, the Cowboys willcome in on a five game winningstreak, so they will have all of themomentum. I think it gives themthe edge, as does playing at home.I’ll take the hotter quarterback(Romo) and the Cowboys 34-24.

Put up or shut up

Packers win the Super Bowl asa six seed

The Green Bay Packers wereexpected to compete for the NFCNorth division title in the 2010/11season, but many were overlook-ing them when Brett Farve decidedhe was going to play one more sea-son for the Minnesota Vikings.This team went through a lot ofadversity. Five starters on defensemissed most of the regular seasonand all of the playoffs, along withtwo top offensive players, runningback Ryan Grant and tight endJermichael Finley. The Packershad to win their final two games ofthe regular season just to make theplayoffs, before winning three roadgames and defeating the PittsburghSteelers in Super Bowl XLV. Itwas Green Bay’s fourth SuperBowl title and quarterback AaronRogers was named Super BowlMVP. After starting this season11-0 their win streak is now at 17games.

The Miami HeatMuch like the NCAA’s

Michigan Wolverines of the early1990s and their “Fab 5,” the MiamiHeat and their “Big 3” wereexpected to dominate the NBAwith anything less than a champi-onship being considered a fail. Inthe 2010 off-season, the Heatsigned arguably the three biggestnames on the free agent market:Lebron James, Dwayne Wade andChris Bosh. These three players

took a lot of criticism from ana-lysts, fans and players for agreeingto play for the same team. For themost part, those who were notMiami fans were cheering for thisteam to lose. Early season strug-gles had this team holding a 9-8record and it looked like their lackof depth would prevent them frombeing the great team they weremade out to be. After a players-only meeting, the team went on a12-game win streak and ended upfinishing the regular season in sec-ond place in the east with a recordof 59-24. They ran through the firstthree rounds of the playoffs, win-ning four games to one overPhiladelphia, Boston and Chicago.They went on to lose four games totwo in the Finals to Dirk Nowitzkiand the Dallas Maveriks, makingLebron have to wait at least onemore season for his first champi-onship.

Texas Rangers’ Game six col-lapse

Something the Texas Rangerswill never forget is how close theywere to winning the 2011 WorldSeries. In the ninth inning, theRangers had a two run lead withtwo outs and two strikes toCardinals batter David Freese.Freese managed to tie the game ona triple that sent the game to extrainnings. St. Louis’ celebration wasshort lived after Josh Hamiltongave Texas the lead back with atwo-run homer in the 10th inning.The Rangers had St. Louis down totheir final strike once again, withtwo outs and two strikes, Lance

Berkman hit a game-tying single,keeping the Cardinals alive. Freesewould be the hero once again, hit-ting a walk off home run in the bot-tom of the 11th. The Cardinalswould then go on to win gameseven 6-2, capturing their 11thWorld Series title.

Jets return to WinnipegAfter 15 long seasons for

Winnipeg hockey fans, NHL com-missioner Gary Bettman con-firmed on May 31 that rumourswere true and the AtlantaThrashers would relocate toWinnipeg for the 2011 season. Theprice was reported at $170 million,made by True North Sports andEntertainment. The team played itsfirst game at home against theMontreal Canadiens on October 9.

Sidney Crosby’s concussionOn January 1, in the fourth edi-

tion of the NHL Winter Classic,David Steckel of the WashingtonCapitals blindsided NHL superstarSidney Crosby. In Crosby’s nextgame on January 5 against theTampa Bay Lightning, he sufferedyet another hit to the head, this onedelivered by Victor Hedman. Afterthese two hits, he experienced sev-eral concussion symptoms thatended his season. There was ongo-ing coverage of Crosby’s progressthroughout the year and manywondered if he would be the nextEric Lindros and never be thesame. Crosby has so far silencedhis critics. As of November 29,Crosby had two goals and sevenassists in just four games sincereturning from the injury.

CHRIS LETHBRIDGEINTERROBANG

CREDIT: NATHANIEL S. BUTLER/GETTY IMAGES

Lebron James and the Miami Heat came up short in their bid for an NBA Championship, losing to Dallas.

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Top sports stories of 2011

Page 31: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011

On November 28, theWashington Capitals had a pressconference to officially announcethat London Knights Coach DaleHunter would be the new HeadCoach of the Capitals. Therumours had finally been con-firmed: Boudreau out, Hunter in.

Hunter finished his hockeycareer as a player with theColorado Avalanche in 1999. Hebegan his career with the QuebecNordiques in 1981, playing sevenseasons with the Nordiques. Atthe peak of Hunter’s hockeycareer, he played in Washingtonas a Washington Capital, playingin 12 seasons with the Capitalsfrom 1987 to 1999. His careerstats, including playoffs: GP:1593, G: 365, A: 773, Pts: 1138,PIM: 4294.

Hunter has coached the LondonKnights since 2001, and he hasbrought: one Memorial Cup(2004/05); seven HolodyTrophies, MidwestChampionship; two WayneGretzky Trophies, WesternConference Champions. His OHLRecords: Most wins (59), MostPoints (120), Fewest GoalsAgainst (125). He also won theHamilton Spectator Trophy (2003to 2007). He won OHL coach ofthe year in 2003/04, 2004/05 and2009/10, and won CHL coach ofthe year in 2003/04.

Without a doubt, Hunter hasbrought a lot to the LondonKnights organization; with 459wins as Head Coach for theLondon Knights, he is a fittingchoice for the head coaching jobin the Washington Capitals’organization. Now he faces hisbiggest test as a head coach: howis he going to get AlexanderOvechkin going?

With a number of speculationsthat Ovechkin isn’t performing tohis potential – or for his contractfor that matter – Hunter’s effec-tive power-play he brought toLondon for years will now be test-ed in Washington. His five-for-ward power-play is something hehas done in London for years.They keep scoring and leading inthe power-play goals per cent andit was a game-changer in theOHL, but how will it fit in withWashington? The fact of the mat-ter is that they already use fourforwards, with Ovechkin replac-ing one defenseman the hugeoffensive threat from the point,Mike Green. This is somethingHunter shouldn’t change; thechemistry is all there, and chem-istry is something you do not tryto change, especially when it hashad so much success in the past.What Hunter needs is a new strat-egy for the power-play. What hehas done for London is work thepuck down low in the offensivezone on the power-play. This issomething he may fall back on ifthe shots from the point are notcoming.

The other side of the situation isback in London: who is going totake over as the head coach for theLondon Knights?

Mark Hunter was the 2003/04OHL Executive of the Year andnow former Assistant Coach tohis brother Dale Hunter, and isgoing to be coaching the Knightsuntil the end of the season. Thiswill be very interesting to watchand as a hockey analysis; not onlyis Mark Hunter now Coach of theLondon Knights, he is also theCo-Owner and General Managerfor the organization. This meanshe can do exactly what he wantsto do with this club and really hehas no one to answer to. Mark is avery smart hockey businessmanand you can look for big shake-ups with the organization withinthe next two years as he tries foranother push for the MemorialCup.

SPORTS&LEISURE 31Volume 44 Issue No. 15 December 5, 2011 www.fsu.ca/interrobang/

With the race for the fourth spotin the English Premier Leaguethickening in the last couple sea-sons, it would be easy to dismissthe former member of the ‘BigFour’ Liverpool as a contendingforce for a spot of Europe.However, don’t count out the Redsas a team that can seriously chal-lenge in the current bottleneckbetween third and eighth.

A spirited Liverpool side chal-lenged Manchester City andgrabbed what was a deservingpoint at home on November 27 tocontinue an unbeaten streak of twomonths. Slowly, this side has beenamassing points against teams likeChelsea and Manchester Unitedwithout much applause. In the Citygame, Luis Suárez proved hisworth against a difficult (to say theleast) Manchester defense. He hastime and time again been the bestRed on the field and that matchshowed it once again. But it does-n’t stop at the front. Dirk Kuyt ishaving some form of resurgencethis season. Always a favourite ofthe Kop, he has since moved onless chances and worked more as asupporting force for either Suárezor Andy Carroll. This has workedfor all parties because Kuyt hasbecome legendary for his physicalskills with the ball, yet his six-footstature doesn’t necessarily warranthim as a target man. Having him

dominate one side of the field and,in the case of the City game, outplay opponents on his own side ofthe field, makes him an asset to thesquad.

The purchase of Charlie Adamseemed to be inevitable last sea-son, and Liverpool was lucky to bea part of the deal. With the absenceof Steven Gerrard, Adam has pro-vided some creativity out of themidfield to the extent that he candictate the game a little bit; some-thing with Blackpool he wasunable to accomplish versus thebig boys. However, Adam is onlythe second part of the skill that thisclub has creatively in the middle ofthe park. Jordan Henderson is only21 and has shown with his formerclubs that he is a proven playmak-er. His vision is like no one else’s,even on this side.

Lucas is one of the best stoppingmidfielders in the English PremierLeague. According to The

Guardians Chalkboard application,Lucas made 11 tackles in thematch, all of which were success-ful. He is constantly giving greatcover for both the forward band ofmidfielders in Adam andHenderson, but he also sits back ina way that he can cover plenty ofthe pitch. His tackles and intercep-tions officially recorded span fromboth sides of the pitch, all in thearea between the 18-yard box andthe centerline. Considering theCity offense were limited to onlyseven opportunities on goal, Lucasplayed a crucial part in decon-structing any Manchester Cityattacking move.

Liverpool has slowly climbedback into contention for a chancein Europe. Manager KennyDalglish has brought this teamsome stability and consistency.Look for this team to consistentlyclimb the title to a European spotin the coming months.

Liverpool still contending

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CREDIT: PAUL ELLIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Lucas is just one effective player on this team on the rise.

Hunter’s Captial gain

CREDIT: OHL IMAGES

Dale Hunter coaching the London Knights beside son and AssistantCoach Dylan Hunter.

AROUND THE OHLRYAN [email protected]: @Ryan_Springett

FANSHAWE FCMARTY [email protected]: @martythompson_

Page 32: Interrobang issue for December 5th, 2011