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SFU encourages Emerge-ing writers

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EIC
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On October 16, Emerge, a collaborative work by some of SFU’s most talented writing students will debut. Emerge is an anthology written by participants of The Writer’s Studio, a program at SFU focused entirely on book production. Guest editor Daniela Ezla will open the launch event at Harbour Centre, during which contributors will perform readings of their works.

Current student and contributor to Emerge, Cormac O’Reilly, describes the process of creating and publishing the anthology. SFU students in the four different cohorts of The Writer’s Studio — poetry, speculative genre fiction, creative non-fiction, and literary fiction — collaborated on this anthology, explains O’Reilly. These students spent the year receiving feedback from both peers and mentors, culminating in their final project, Emerge.

Emerge is the name of the anthology and the class, the class being an elective offered through The Writer’s Studio program. This semester, 17 students took the course, learning to produce and write books. O’Reilly sums up the program aptly as a class that teaches students how to publish a book.

An anthology is released each year by The Writer’s Studio class and usually contains short stories and poetry. For O’Reilly, the process of putting the whole thing together has provided him with “a deeper appreciation of other genres” and allowed him to “learn about different types of writing.”

The Writers Studio is a part-time program based on Iowa Writers Studio, says O’Reilly. This program guides students through the process of self publishing, as being published by a third party is extremely difficult, according to O’Reilly. Students “learn more about the publishing process,” eventually leading to the publication of their original works in the anthology. O’Reilly continues, “Emerge, the course, is a good way to find out how things get to print. There’s a story to how the stories come out.”

The process  is especially exciting for the students, says O’Reilly, as for many, it is their “first chance to be published, first time to be heard.” The anthology has an open theme, with an emphasis on helping to establish “emerging new voices.” O’Reilly says that the “payoff is both the process, and the end result” noting that, by working with his classmates on the project it “becomes more of a collaboration.”

In the speculative genre fiction cohort, O’Reilly describes his work as “everything else that doesn’t fit into literary fiction.” Members of his cohort write historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. “I’ve tried dystopian fiction this year,” he says.

In the anthology, O’Reilly’s contribution is entitled “Valentine’s Day Dinner.” He wrote this piece two years ago and has recently revised it. “[It’s] about a scene that unfolds in a restaurant on Valentine’s Day [. . .] it’s supposed to be dramatic,” he explains.

O’Reilly describes the Emerge launch event as the “first chance to share [the Writer’s Studio] experience with others.” He explains that “The Writer’s Studio is designed for people who don’t have time to write” in their everyday lives. He adds, “A lot of us are working other jobs. [Emerge] establishes that hobbies can be more than just a hobby. For some people, maybe myself included [. . .] the idea of seeing something you’ve created in print form is an extremely powerful experience.”

 

Coffee, Tragedy, History: Joe’s Cafe: cappuccino and conversation

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EIC
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The self proclaimed purveyor of the “best cappuccino in town,” Joe’s is an ancient inhabitant of Commercial Drive. Opened about 40 years ago, Joe’s has remained unchanged. It’s a reminder of another time, when coffee was not just a drink you picked up on your way to work, but a social experience.

All kinds of people from the area frequent Joe’s, and anytime you go in, you can expect to have an interesting conversation with one of the patrons. It is not a cafe for sitting alone and scrawling in a notebook, but a cafe for conversing with real people — a welcome escape in the midst of a wireless world.

As you enter Joe’s cafe, the first thing you will notice is the prominent bull’s head mounted on the wall. The cafe’s quirky decorations combined with simple white-washed walls lend an unassuming charm to the establishment. Pool tables are available in the back, and the seating is communal. It is an easy mistake to assume that the cafe is Italian, but Joe himself is, in fact, Portuguese, explaining the Portuguese flag in the cafe.

I went to Joe’s on the recommendation of Ton (pronounced Tuh-ln), the grandfather of a friend of mine. Ton, an inquisitive, retired architect from Holland, who lived through some of Europe’s darker days, fits right in at the cafe. With him as my guide, we found a table and were almost immediately engaged in conversation by people from all walks of life.

We spoke to a polite old man in his late 80s, a couple from out of town, and a young man dressed in all Rastafarian colours. At one point, a woman (who, Ton informed me, lives on the street) offered to sell him a poem — when he didn’t have any money to give her, she gave the poem to him anyway.

I ordered a cappuccino, and while it is certainly hard to claim the best anything in a city like Vancouver, I can say that it is the best cappuccino I have had so far. The foam was perfect, and the coffee was rich and smooth. As a former barista from a certain prevalent chain that shall remain nameless, Joe’s is a breath of fresh air for me, and an experience that every Vancouverite should have.

CJSF celebrates 11 years on the FM dial

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EIC
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CJSF has been around as long as SFU, but they just celebrated their 11th anniversary being at 90.1 on the FM dial on September 26 at the Astoria Pub. A promising night of indie music and the chance to support SFU’s very own radio team — how could I resist? It beat watching Gossip Girl reruns on a Friday night.

I brought a friend to the party with me, and she was a little spooked by the venue’s neighbourhood. The Astoria Pub proudly advertises its name in great big neon lights hanging grandly off the front of the building, illuminating the entrance in an eerie red glow. A couple of partygoers were huddled around the entrance, smoking and chatting.

We left the cold, litter-ridden East Hastings and were swallowed up by the dim, seedy-looking bar, where we were greeted enthusiastically by members of the CJSF team. They certainly seemed excited to be there. Even though my friend and I had gotten there about an hour and a half after the official start time, the pub was still pretty dead. Apparently, fashionably late was the style everyone was going for.

Immediately, I was smitten with the ambience. The shabbiness of it all, and the fact that it felt like there was a layer of grime over every surface, only enhanced the character of the place. The walls were lined with pac man and pinball machines, reminding me of the good ol’ pee-scented Movieland Arcade over on Granville, which tugged at my heartstrings.

Pockets of people were milling around, some at the bar ordering drinks; others by the pool table, taking half-hearted shots and laughing with friends; and some were chatting quietly at tables or hanging around the raffles prize table.

The party featured six local bands. Defektors, Skinny Kids, Soft Serve, Sleuth, Thee Ahs and Hermetic all have a solid presence in the Vancouver indie music scene and CJSF supports them by regularly playing their songs on its programs. I’d neither heard of them nor heard them before that night, but from the sound of it, this group of bands has quite the following.

The bands performed with heart, but some of them were so loud I could barely hear myself think, let alone hear what the guy asking me to buy raffle tickets was saying. Don’t get me wrong, I like alternative rock and heavy metal as much as the next guy, but some of the music being performed was meant for a loud crowd, people screaming in a mosh pit, with energy radiating right back to the passionate performers. The crowd that night was just a different kind of crowd, more introspective and quiet. In the end, it was great exposure to some of the bands Vancouver has to offer.

The party was a celebration of CJSF’s successful first 11 years on the FM dial, and also a thank you to the dedicated employees and volunteers who put music and programs on the air, without whom CJSF’s success would not be possible.

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

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EIC
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Teenage girls have their young adult adaptations; teenage boys have their super hero flicks; older folks, I suppose, have protagonists like Allan Karlson — a hundred year old man who flees his dreary retirement home to regain his independence. Alan goes on a journey involving biker gangs, millions of dollars, and elephants, and all the while, the film features flashbacks to his glory days which saw him dance drunk with Stalin and influence the Manhattan project.

This film sends positive messages about how older people can continue to lead youthful lives even into their golden years, while also presenting a pleasant story bursting with nostalgia and well-recognised historical references. This film is The Big Lebowski meets Forrest Gump for seniors.

There aren’t enough movies like this endearing Swedish film that has already broken box-office records in Scandinavia. The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared is a playful mess of a film, bursting with storytelling tangents, absurd contrivances, and ridiculous exaggerations; it’s like a tall tale told by an old man who is disenchanted with the blandness of living in a retirement home. It is all over the place, but that is the fun of it. 100 Year Old Man’s main flaw is also its greatest pleasure.

For all the crowd pleasing ingredients mixed into the batch, there is a surprising amount of dark humour that often changes the colour of the mix. Yet none of this comes off as offensive because each character in the film does the best they can in the situation they are in. No one in the film is a villain; everyone is in a tough position, which sometimes leads to ridiculous ends and humorous pain.

There is one gut-busting scene in the movie where Alan and another old man are being threatened by a biker who is trying to get $50 million back from the old man. The biker will be killed if he can’t return the money to its rightful owner, so he threatens the old man and his friend. The two seniors knock the biker out and throw him in a deep freezer, but they forget to shut the freezer off, because they probably have some form of dementia, and the poor guy freezes to death.

There is nothing deep or intellectual about this absurd film. It boils down reality and historical events to playful gags. It elevates those trapped to a place where they can forget about their current state through nostalgia for the past and optimism for the future.

Ballet Preljocaj’s Empty Moves (parts I, II, & III)

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EIC
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Set to John Cage’s Empty Words, this lengthy work featured four dancers completely in tune with each other and focused on the slightest of movements. The quartet demonstrated complete trust in each other as they manipulated each other into various positions and pushed and pulled themselves into elaborate formations where they were all connected. In the ultimate test of trust, one of the dancers stood straight up on the shoulders of another and fell backwards into the waiting arms of the other two.

With stiff, straight limbs, elaborate patterns, and many sequences of slow, deliberate movement, this choreography was fascinating to watch. There were a few contrasting sections of faster-paced movement with wonderful rhythms stomped out by the male dancers as they galloped around the stage. When all four of them moved in fast-paced unison, their fierce determination was a powerful sight.

Split into three parts that were each developed separately over the years, the sections were book-ended by the same sequence, marking each transition. These sequences also served as a slight break for the dancers as they passed a large water bottle around, incorporating the water break into their movements before continuing on.

Colouring their movements was the abstract composition of John Cage. Using an infamous 1977 recording of Empty Words, an increasingly disgruntled audience can be heard in the background as the minimalist composer calmly intones abstracted text that seems completely meaningless. Preljocaj’s choreography is an interpretation of this composition, while at the same time a juxtaposing response to it.

It is interesting to see the way a string of unconnected words, or even simple sounds, can still carry meaning for us. Similarly, the often stilted, precise movement of these dancers carries a great deal of meaning even though it is not fluid. Some would say the Cage recording is not music, just as some would say many contemporary dance works are not dance.

Preljocaj explained it well: “The notion of the alienation effect, of the disintegration of the movement and of a new manner of choreographic phrasing, takes precedence over meaning and essence. Through these means this dance work connects with the text by Henry David Thoreau which was John Cage’s starting point, and attempts to reach the unflappable pugnacity of the mastermind behind that evening [in 1977].”

Empty moves (part I) premiered in 2004 and (part II) was added in 2007. The full work consisting of all three parts premiered in June 2014 at the Montpellier Dance Festival. There is a fourth part to Cage’s recording, and Preljocaj intends to add the final instalment in the coming years.

For more information about The Dance Centre’s Global Dance Connections series, visit thedancecentre.ca.

This week in comics

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EIC
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peers6

Peers (Leslie Lu)

Knot your ordinary hero (by Eric Smith and Jacey Gibb)
Knot Your Ordinary Hero (Eric Smith & Jacey Gibb)

Local mom denies allegations that she’s mad, confirms she’s disappointed

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EIC
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It’s possibile her son was forced to smoke against his will.

After hours of speculation from concerned family members, a mother from Vancouver has come out as saying that, although she isn’t mad at her son, she is certainly disappointed in him.

“I understand that he’s just at that age,” Martha Sydor, 47, announced in a calm yet very stern voice, “but that doesn’t mean he gets to disregard our house rules like that. I just don’t know what’s gotten into him lately.”

The announcement comes shortly after reports that her son Tanner came in two hours past curfew last night and smelled like cigarettes — though Tanner claims the scent originated from someone other than him.

“She’s just being controlling,” Tanner rebutted, following his mother’s comments. “I don’t even smoke. I was at a party and someone must have blown smoke on me, I swear.”

While she’s aware that Tanner had to grow up some day, Martha stands by earlier claims that she thought she and his father “had raised him better than this.” Investigation is still underway, but Martha isn’t ruling out the possibility that her sweet baby boy was overtaken at the party and pinned down, while someone forced him to smoke cigarettes against his will.

Whether the incident will affect Tanner’s ability to attend an upcoming Mother Mother concert is yet to be seen, but sources close to Martha say he will have to earn her trust back before she considers giving him and his friend a ride to the show.

Tanner has yet to release an official statement on his mother’s comments, but he’s responded to them directly by asking her to stay out of his room.

Great Pacific garbage patch discovered to be primarily stuff you’ve lost over the years

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EIC
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Study has brought much-needed attention to the garbage patch’s high volumes of phone chargers and water bottles.

A study released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has revealed what some environmentalists had already feared most: up to 90 per cent of the Great Pacific garbage patch is comprised of crap you’ve continued to lose or misplace over the years.

Widely recognized as the accumulation and literal manifestation of consumerism — particularly non-decomposable plastics and other side effects of a disposable consumer mindset — samples of the garbage patch indicate high levels of mismatched socks, Bic lighters, hair ties, iPod cords, and scrap pieces of paper with that cutie from the bar’s phone number on it.

“It’s troubling, to say the least,” UNEP specialist Kenny Wilkins told press following the announcement. “All of those times you falsely accused someone of taking your lighter or yelled at a sibling for losing the remote again. We never could have suspected this is where it was all going.”

The ballpoint pen and phone charger cesspool is located in the Pacific Ocean, between Asia and North America, and was first discovered back in 1997. Though the mass’ exact size has been difficult to estimate — with reports typically falling between the size of Texas to as big as the United States — scientists warn that it grows larger every day, “because you lost your keys again.”

“I doubt many would argue we’re facing one of the biggest environmental crises of our generation,” Wilkins continued. “It’s easy to lose track of an old shirt or your drunk friend Tiffany while outside of the club on a Friday night, but people need to be aware of where all these lost items are going. This out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality is what caused the Pacific Garbage patch to form in the first place.”

While it’s still unclear what removal or deconstructive initiatives, if any, the UNEP has planned for the waste behemoth, Wilkins emphasized that efforts are focused on future prevention rather than immediate dismantling: “Unfortunately a lot of the damage has already been done; we can, however, work together to prevent the problem from getting worse. We have to realize that we’re not the ones who’ll have to live with the consequences. It’s our children and our children’s children who will be left to deal with a continent-sized mound of misplaced receipts for electronics we bought on an impulse.”

Several organizations, including Greenpeace Canada and the World Nature Organization, have already begun initiatives to encourage simple, low-cost ways with which people can stop losing their shit so it doesn’t end up part of the junk vortex. Earlier this week, Greenpeace launched the The Not-Lost Cause campaign to positive response, offering simple suggestions such as rolling your socks into pairs before putting them away, having a specific hook in your house designated for keys, and not getting so blackout drunk that you lose your wallet, phone, and dignity.

Independent poll finds Mel Gibson largely responsible for failed Scottish referendum

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EIC
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They can take your lives, but they can never take your associative memory of Mel Gibson. Image credit: Kenneth Uzodinma.

A poll by an independently-run UK group, conducted in the wake of the failed Scottish referendum, indicates that most registered voters opted against separation from the United Kingdom because of Mel Gibson’s supposed connection to Scottish independence. 

The poll, conducted by non-partisan group UK Statistics Authority, sought to compile and examine reasons behind the referendum’s surprising outcome. With a relatively high voter turnout of 84.6 per cent, 55.3 per cent voted against separation; of those in favour of staying a part of the United Kingdom, 61 per cent reported that their primary reason for voting “no” was the belief that Mel Gibson is somehow behind the Scottish independence movement.

“The fact that Braveheart holds a large sway over people’s ideas of what Scottish independence means can no longer be ignored,” said University of Dundee statistics professor Malcolm MacDuff, after digesting the poll’s findings. “I mean, it’s absolutely ludicrous that people still associate Mel Gibson with a role that’s almost 20 years old, but what are you going to do about it?”

Arguably Gibson’s most famous role, Braveheart found the actor portraying the iconic Sir William Wallace in his struggle for Scottish independence — the film is also widely regarded as the only film where Gibson’s radical traditionalist Catholic views aren’t overtly promoted.

“The number of Braveheart reruns on TV are so powerful that we now have conclusive proof that many ill-informed individuals actually believe Mel Gibson holds some form of leadership role within Scotland; his own personal beliefs are being mistakenly paired with what Scottish independence actually means.”

While Braveheart coincided with the height of Gibson’s popularity, the actor’s reputation has staggered in recent years, with repeated arrests for drunk driving, accusations of homophobia by numerous LGBTQ organizations, and the 1998 action-comedy Lethal Weapon 4. As a result, Scottish dreams of independence and many Scottish National Party (SNP) supporters find themselves in Gibson’s long shadow.

Ewan Stuart, a member of the SNP, said the poll’s results weren’t surprising but that the population should be better informed about current political figures, as well as Gibson’s later, more underrated films.

“That piece of shite makes all of us look like a bunch of boozy, anti-Semites and we simply aren’t,” fumed Stuart, “and I think we can all agree that Braveheart wasn’t his last great film. What about Signs? I’m sure no one’s walking around thinking Gibson’s actually a retired priest who’s struggling to keep his family together during an alien invasion. At least, I hope not.

“For god’s sake, the man is an actor, not the bloody First Minister of Scotland! Come on, people. Pick up a newspaper. At least read a Wikipedia article or something!”

In response to the poll’s findings, Stuart has begun advocating for a moratorium on Braveheart re-runs until Gibson is no longer viewed as an important political figure or until people stop parodying the famous William Wallace speech on Youtube — whichever comes first.

“We need to ban re-runs of Braveheart until the damage has been reversed. Or at the very least, make a reboot starring someone likeable and Scottish like Ewan McGregor.”

Savouring the Cinematheque volunteer experience

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EIC
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It’s a busy life being a university student. Lectures, tutorials, papers, and exams quickly eat away the hours in the week, along with potential commitments to part-time jobs, clubs, and friends. As a film student, whose spare time is filled with 12-hour days on set, I have an especially busy schedule. So how in the world do I find time to volunteer on top of it all?

The answer is simple: I love working at the Pacific Cinematheque Theatre. Before I began volunteering at the theatre a year ago, I never thought of myself as the volunteer type. When I thought of volunteering I envisioned someone serving soup, or working with animals in a shelter — activities I could not see myself enjoying.

The Cinematheque is nothing like this. Instead I serve popcorn and sell tickets to moviegoers. Why then, you might ask, do I not work somewhere like a Silvercity Theatre where I can earn money and do the exact same thing?

The Cinematheque is no regular theatre, as it screens what I would call ‘essential cinema.’ These include new releases, classics, or rarely seen gems, which often stay with me long after I’ve left the theatre. I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, From Up on Poppy Hill, Tokyo Story, and even Dirty Dancing all for the first time at the Cinematheque.

The Cinematheque’s movies have inspired me with their craft and beauty.

These movies inspired me with their craft and beauty by stirring my emotions, and by making me question my assumptions about life. As a film student, it means a lot to me that there is a place in Vancouver that screens these types of films — films that otherwise wouldn’t be seen in theatres by audiences today.

The theatre is small, with only one screening room, and a modest number of volunteer employees. Without volunteers, the Cinematheque wouldn’t have the capacity to operate. The experiences this theatre provided me as a viewer inspired me to help keep it alive, so that others could experience essential cinema as I had.

Along with my passion for the work the Cinematheque does, I also volunteer at the theatre for the benefits it provides. As a regular volunteer working one shift per week, I receive a monthly pass to see free films at both the Cinematheque and Vancity theatres. This means I get free movies and popcorn!

I also have the privilege of working with amazing people. I’ve met passionate movie fans, creative artists, and made a few wacky friends along the way. We even hold volunteer parties where we all come together to watch movies. What else would we do?

All in all, volunteering at the Cinematheque has been a very fulfilling experience for me. Even with my hectic schedule, I still find it well worth my while to spend my Sunday afternoons at the theatre popping popcorn.

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024

Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

Contact us:
[email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society 1965-2024