By Kyle Lees at Ski Ninjas
SFU alumni shortlisted for B.C. Book Prizes
Several alumni were nominated, including journalist Allen Garr, who made heavy contributions to Chuck Davis’ final work
Vancouver journalist and broadcaster Chuck Davis’ work has made two shortlists in the B.C. Book Prizes this year. The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver is a 600-page tome with 125 years of people and their stories, illustrated by archival photographs.
‘Mr. Vancouver’, as he was affectionately known, was a journalist and broadcaster with a deep passion for local history. Unfortunately, Davis did not live to see his magnum opus completed. Diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, Davis passed away in November 2010 at the age of 75.
SFU alumnus and Vancouver Courier journalist Allen Garr, who is listed as a contributor, was part of a collective brought together by publisher Howard White after Davis passed away. Garr coordinated the collection of material and wrote four of the chapters. “Chuck had worked on this book for almost a decade before he passed away, and we were called in to help finish it.”
Of the two prizes that Davis’ volume has been shortlisted for, the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize is awarded to publications that contribute to the understanding and enjoyment of B.C., while the Bill Duthie Bookseller’s Choice Award recipient is chosen based on public appeal, initiative, design, and content.
Several other B.C. Book Prizes nominees are also SFU alumni, including English graduate Garry Thomas Morse, whose poetry collection Discovery Passages is shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Growing up in Vancouver with both Kwakwaka’wakw and Cockney Jew heritage, Morse uses poetry to reconnect with the nwaluk of First Nations, or a spiritual intuition of sorts. Because the oral and vocal tradition of the First Nations, as well as their ancient ritual and historic world, are often complicated by modern stereotypes and turned into plot devices, Discovery Passages posits itself as a link between the world and the Kwakwaka’wakw people.
Michael Christie is another emerging author who is gaining buzz in the Canadian literature community. The Beggar’s Garden, a collection of short stories revolving around the Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, made the shortlist. His first novel, The Beggar’s Garden has received glowing praise, award nominations, and also won the Vancouver Book Award in 2011.
Christie’s nine stories are fictional, but very much grounded in reality. They find the humour, honesty, and sorrow in life as a resident of the DTES. Christie creates sympathy for his characters without passing judgment on their situations, whether they were responsible for it or they fell victim to circumstances beyond their control.
“I knew that I didn’t want to write a finger-wagging poverty book that insults you with all the details,” said Christie. After completing his bachelors in psychology at SFU, he worked in a homeless shelter in the DTES and provided outreach to the severely mentally ill. “That changed my perspective on how human beings work,” he said.
All nominees will be celebrated at the B.C. Book Prize Soirée, held in Vancouver this year. The recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence will also be announced at this event, which recognizes an individual’s lifelong contribution to the literary development to the province.Nominees will then go onto tour the province with B.C. Book Prizes On Tour, providing free readings and presentations at schools, bookstores, and public libraries. Winners will be announced at the gala.
The B.C. Book Prizes Gala will be held on May 12 at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.
Sisters & Brothers captures the sibling dynamic
TIFF 2011 favourite premieres theatrically in Vancouver, Victoria, and Toronto cinemas
When my little sister was eight years old, she told me that she hated me. She was also a constant source of annoyance, taking my clothes without permission, and pretending to cry to get our parents’ pity. Despite our track record, she’s my favourite person in the world, and the person that I feel the closest to.
The sibling relationship is a complex and chaotic one, which is exactly what Canadian filmmaker-slash-screenwriter Carl Bessai’s Sisters&Brothers tries to address. The last of a trilogy that focuses on familial relationships, Sisters&Brothers follows four pairs of siblings as they deal with their turbulent relationships.
Dustin Milligan and Cory Monteith, of Glee fame, play a pair of brothers that deal with the effects of one brother’s rising fame as a young celebrity living in L.A. There is Louise, who is facing difficulties caring for her schizophrenic brother. Rebellious teenager Sarah deals with meeting a half-sister at 17. And neurotic Maggie, who goes to visit her stepsister, an aspiring actress whom she resents for a number of reasons, ends up being dragged onto a road trip with her and a guy she met in a bar, who promised her a role if she went to L.A.
Bessai gave a lot of freedom to his actors to portray sisters and brothers in the way in which they have experienced them. He introduced a general story idea coming in, and would sit down with the actors in each story and hash out the details together. The cast often brought their personal backstories to the script. Camille Sullivan, who plays Maggie, has two sisters herself, and feels that Sisters&Brothers perfectly captures the relationship between siblings. “You have licenses with your siblings that you don’t normally have with anybody else,” she said.
The film portrays sibling relationships as turbulent, difficult, and oftentimes hurtful, but anyone with a sibling can see through the bicker and banter and into the bond that the characters share. The end of the film has been contentious among reviewers. After it was screened at the most recent Toronto International Film Festival, the only criticism that almost every review of the film had in common was, in fact, that the ending was too predictably clean and happy. All the pairs of siblings put aside their differences, and the final scenes are of the brothers and sisters laughing together. Sullivan begs to differ from the film critics. She explained that the arc of the plot shares the dynamic of sibling relationships: all throughout the film, Maggie fought incessantly with her sister, but the ending showed them laughing together. “No matter what happens, it doesn’t matter in the end,” she said of sibling tensions, “That’s what really spoke to me.”
The storylines are spliced with individual aside interviews that let the audience see how the characters really feel about their situations and their siblings, as well as comic book-style transitions that add some spark to the serious and tense moments in the film. Happy ending criticism aside, Sisters&Brothers captures the essence of sibling relationships by placing them in a variety of obstacles, such as mental illness or jealousy. The interaction between the actors is dynamic, and Bessai’s direction nails the transition between stories. Furthermore, as if there wasn’t enough, the movie was filmed entirely in Vancouver — except for Maggie and her sister’s road trip to L.A., which was really a day trip to Squamish — and stars a predominantly Canadian cast, something that makes this film all the sweeter for Vancouver natives.
Sisters&Brothers is now showing at International Village Cinemas.
Heads shorn for charity
By Sahira Memon
SFU Club for the Cure raises over $20,000 for B.C. Children’s Hospital with annual Balding for Dollars event
On Wednesday, March 21, Convocation Mall was overrun with music, food, and a large stage, which displayed live entertainment and plenty of people shaving their heads.
Balding for Dollars is an annual event held by the SFU Club for the Cure, a not-for-profit, student-run club advocating and raising funds in support of cancer research. Balding for Dollars is the club’s largest and most profitable event, raising over $55,000 since 2008, with the funds mainly going to the oncology, hematology, and blood and marrow transplant programs at B.C. Children’s Hospital.
The funds also provide family support programs, research, bursaries and education, and medical supplies and equipment for children and their families.
Planning for the event began at the beginning of the semester, with the board of directors and executives of the club putting the event together. Rachel Osterman, co-coordinator for Balding for Dollars, expressed her appreciation for these efforts in a post-event statement: “[The] team of directors and executives [have] worked tirelessly for the past three months to put on this incredible event, and it [has] definitely paid off.”
This year, through various fundraising efforts and the event in itself, the club was able to raise over $21,000, the highest amount raised through a single event yet. The funds were raised not only through proceeds directly from the event, but pre-event efforts and donations. Frequent bake sales, chocolate bar sales, and donations through tabling at SFU made up a large number of the funds raised. Raffle ticket sales, which were matched by Scotiabank, raised a total of almost $4,000, a record-breaking profit.
The 40 volunteers willing to cut or completely shave their hair at the event, however, raised the bulk of the funds. Prizes were given out to the shavees that raised the most money, with the first prize being tickets to a Canucks game and a signed Luongo jersey.
The event, set in Convocation Mall, began at 10:00 a.m. and ended at 4:00 p.m. Various forms of entertainment, such as live musical performances, sumo wrestling, and a DJ also contributed to the success of the event.
In the aftermath of the success of the event, Osterman thanked the SFU community for their support of the event, and the cause. “Whether you cut or shaved your hair, volunteered, or donated, together we all made a difference in the lives of children living with cancer!”
When not hosting Balding for Dollars, the club raises awareness and funds through other, smaller efforts, such as fundraisers, events, and walks such as the Relay for Life which took place on Friday.
Movie review: The Hunger Games
By Denise Wong
Yet another addition to the list of big budget disappointments rolling out this year
As one of the most anticipated movie releases of the year, The Hunger Games doesn’t quite exploit its potential. Director Gary Ross was gifted with an all-star cast, including Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence as the tough-as-nails Katniss Everdeen, and chemistry between the actors brought the character relationships of the book to life, but the film storyline left much to be desired, with key scenes glided over (sure to enrage fans of the novel).
The Hunger Games is set in a futuristic North America that has been divided into 13 districts, and governed by the Capitol. In order to punish the districts for their past rebellion and keep the populace under control, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games every year. Each district is required to send a male and female tribute between the ages of 12 to 18 into a televised battle to the death.
While the novel is labelled as being for young adults, there is nothing juvenile about the content. It highlights the dangers of today’s reality television culture and the brutalities of war in a way that engages the audience. This is likely due to the more iconic nature of film for a story with a large base of teenage fans, but all instances of gore and violence was eliminated, going straight from stabbing gestures to people lying on the ground. None of the life-threatening injuries that made Katniss’ struggle in the arena so believable are included. Neither were there pools of blood, nor Peeta’s amputation.
Lawrence makes for a mature Katniss, but perhaps just a touch too much so, coming off far more strong and composed than she is in the book. Josh Hutcherson was every bit as charismatic and gentle as Peeta required him to be, but the script gave no chance for him to explore the emotional depths of his feelings for Katniss. The duplicity of Katniss’ feelings towards Peeta was left out entirely as well.
The Hunger Games is a movie about a bloodbath, but without much blood. Despite sitting at a lengthy 143 minutes, the film is heavily simplified from the book, and frankly, without those complexities, it is no longer a story worth telling.
Point//Counterpoint: March 26th
By Gary Lim
Point: Boy, I can’t remember the last time it was so nice outside.
Murray Adams, Septaugenerian
By gum, when I got up this morning, I just knew that today was going to be a great day.
After months and months of that cold, wet mess of a winter it’s finally nice to see a little sunshine poke its head through the clouds. Talk about a silver lining! I literally cannot remember the last time it wasn’t miserable, blustery day. Or what I had for dinner last night.
Let me tell you, the moment I saw the rays of dawn from my bedroom window, I just knew today was going to be special. No more spending my afternoons playing Parcheesi with that cheating Herman Fenton in the rec room, I’m going to go out today. Maybe pick up a loaf of bread from Gunderson’s Bakery and head to the park and feed the, feed the… uh, feed…
Nevermind, it’s not important. What is important is that I’ll finally be able to start work on my garden.
I’ve been stuck in that lousy nursing home all winter, and I’ve spent an hour every day consulting with my farmer’s almanac. This year, we’re looking at an early summer and a cool July, a perfect planting season for tomatoes. Ain’t no better eating than a juicy slice of tomato between a couple slices of buttered bread. Speaking of bread, I should swing by Gundersons and pick up a loaf.
Anyways, with such a humdinger of a spring, 1994 is looking out to be one heckuva year.
Counterpoint: Dad, it’s me Jeff. Jeffery, your son. I’m visiting you today.
Jeffery Adams, Devastated Son
Hi Dad.
So how have you been? Have the nurses been taking good care of you? Yes, I know I don’t visit enough. I’m sorry. But have I got a treat for you— Why am I dressed like this? Well, you need all this junk if you’re planning on going fishing!
We’re going fishing today. Remember? We talked about it last week when I visited. Yep, it’ll be just you, me, and Timmy on the open waters of majestic Lake Tagaboe. Timmy? He’s your grandson. No, I’m not pulling your leg; he’s my son. You came with us to his school play, last Thursday. That’s right! Peter Pan, he was one of the lost boys. See, now you’re getting it.
Hey Dad, do you remember the trips we took when I was a kid? We’d be up at six, scrounging for worms in mom’s garden. Then we’d pack into the rust bucket and drive clear across — No, dad, that woman is nurse Lopez. She’s helping you get dressed for fishing. We’re going fishing, yes it does sound nice.
Actually, hold on for just one second, I need to go into the hall and grab the tackle box. Nurse Lopez will help you get ready. I’ll be back in a minute.
All right! So who’s ready for some flyfishing! What? Oh, it’s nice seeing you too, Dad. Yes, it is a nice surprise that I’ve decided to drop in unexpectedly. Yes, I know I don’t visit enough. I’m sorry.
No, nothing’s the matter Dad. It’s just allergies.
Photo-Chopped: Balding for Dollars
Steven James, emcee for the Balding for Dollars event, ensures students their shorn locks will be going to a very good cause.
By Gary Lim
Campus Updates: March 26th
Mysterious ball of light appears over SFU
Panicked and frightened students ran amok across the Burnaby campus last Wednesday, as what was described by several onlookers as “ a mysterious ball of light” rose from the horizon and suspended itself in the sky for over than 10 hours, before descending in the west.
Fifth-year women studies major Theresa Jackon describes the situation. “It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. One minute I’m changing into my third pair of fresh socks, and then all of a sudden the sky cleared and it came. It wasn’t rain or snow or hail. What was it? What was it?!?”
University officials told The Peak that a human sacrifice will be made atop the AQ pyramid as in the olden times.
Veggie Lunch is people. It’s people!
Crowds gathered in Convocation Mall last Thursday, as a battered and disoriented student burst out from Higher Grounds entrance and repeatedly screamed, “Veggie Lunch is people” before collapsing in a heap, dead.
The student was identified as Darren Thorn, an international studies student, who had gone missing several weeks prior.
As a follow-up, samples of the food-stuffs served by the Krishna group were sent to the RCMP for forensic analysis. The results were horrifying. An anonymous source sent the test results to The Peak.
“My god he was right. People. It was in everything, the rice, the salad, the curries, even the punch. Especially the punch.”
Girl goes out with guy, after he ‘likes’ all her Facebook photos.
Following several nervous months in which he did not have the courage to ask Danielle Li out on a date, SFU student Seth Cook has finally secured a date with her after ‘liking’ all of her Facebook profile pictures. Unsure of how to verbally express his feelings, Cook resorted to passively liking Li’s photos, a strategy that has left observers baffled.
“She is just a random girl in his chem tutorial that once asked him what was on the midterm. The whole thing is creepy and weird,” said his roommate Craig Wallace.
The date is scheduled for next Thursday, after their shared class at Renaissance Coffee. Cook has reportedly been telling anyone that will listen about his upcoming hot date, while Li is under the impression that all she’s doing is borrowing his lecture notes.
