FISHBOWL MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

MARCH 2022 - FISSUE #162

FROM MY KITCHEN Page 5

WHAT'S ON THE "ROCK" Page 8

DANCERS of DAMELAHAMID SPIRIT AND TRADITION at ArtSpring March 23rd - page 3

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THE FISHBOWL • MAY 2021 • PAGE A

On Our Cover

p h o t o cred i t s c h ri s ra n d l e

Dancers of Damelahamid Spirit and Tradition

The current ArtSpring Presents season features two outstanding Indigenous dance companies. Back in November we welcomed contemporary company Red Sky Performance, and this month we’re excited to see the return of the acclaimed Dancers of Damelahamid for their third visit to Salt Spring.

If you’ve seen one of their stunning productions at ArtSpring before you’ll know they use masked dance, multimedia, and vivid graphic design to tell stories of ancestral and contemporary Indigenous identities. 2015’s Spirit Transforming / Luu hlotitxw moved the audience through time and space and into the spirit world, while Flicker / Simygee in 2018 bridged both traditional and contemporary Indigenous dance, with beautiful use of projection and shadow dance.

Led by Executive and Artistic Director Margaret Grenier the company has long been established as one of the leading professional Indigenous dance companies in Canada, touring nationally and to festivals around the world. Grenier – of Gitxsan and Cree heritage – grew up with coastal dance foundational in her family. Her parents, Ken and Margaret Harris, started the Dancers of Damelahamid in the 60s following the lifting of the 1884-1951 Potlatch Ban, during which time the Canadian government outlawed traditional song and dance in Indigenous communities. Damelahamid was the ancestral name of the land of the Gitxsan. Their work, which continues today through Grenier and her family, sought to revive what were purely ceremonial traditions, and bring them out into the public arena.

Just as dance was something that everyone in Grenier’s family did together when she was a child, she has continued the tradition of having her own family at the forefront of the company since taking over from her parents in 2003, either as part of the creative team, or as

Salt Spring Island’s #1 Source for Arts, Entertainment & Culture. Check out our Facebook page!

dancers on stage. And her parents’ work of reaching out to other communities and reconnecting them to their own traditions lives on under Grenier’s direction of ar tistic dire ctor the annual Coastal Dance Festival. ma rg are t gre nie r he a The festival, held at Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology, presents artists from all along the West Coast, as well as from Indigenous communities in South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

The production they bring to ArtSpring this month – Spirit and Tradition – was first performed in 2010 and continues to tour across Canada and internationally. Hugely popular with audiences of all ages, this is a story about ecological sustainability, with rich backdrops of coastal mountains and oceans. Choreographed by Grenier, the work uses masks, regalia, and puppetry to draw the audience in to scenes of a diverse ecosystem, while teaching the importance of interconnectedness and community.

The performance is 60 minutes, with no intermission. There will be a post-show talkback facilitated by our dance outreach coordinator Aina Yasué.

Wednesday March 23 | 7:30pm | $30 adult | $5 youth Thnk you to the sponsors of this performance, Joan Farlinger and Salt Spring Coffee. Box Office - Tuesday-Friday 10am-1pm | tickets. artspring.ca | 250.537.2102 Please note - Proof of vaccination is required for every patron age 12+ attending this event. Patrons age 19+ are also required to show a piece of valid government photo ID.

THE FISHBOWL is brought to you by publisher Genevieve Price.

Ad Sales: Deadlines are the 10th of the month previous to book ad space & submit content.

Columnists: Seth Shugar, Mishka Campbell, Jen Redpath, Jessica Terezakis & nora bouz.

Calendar events can be submitted up until the 15th.

Green Printing & Layout: Imagine That Graphics.ca

For rates & information call Genevieve today at 250.538.8427 or email thesaltyfishbowl@hotmail.com.

THE FISHBOWL • MAY 2021 • PAGE B

Price is

Right

Well Being Interior Design with nora bouz

PRODUCT REVIEWS by: Genevieve Price

PHARMASAVE

MAKEUP BRUSHES If you’re anything like me, you don’t have time to spend hours applying your foundation and concealer, especially on those days when your alarm doesn’t go off and you wake up late and have 5 minutes to get up, get dressed, apply makeup, and get to work or on to a Zoom call. Yeah. Those days.

When it comes to foundation, it’s easy to assume that choosing the right shade is the most important part. And while getting that perfect match is critical, which foundation brush you use is just as, if not more important.

I love Pharmasaves Brand for all my makeup brushes and you know I love anything and anything Marcelle for Makeup.

Step One: Dot Over Your Face After cleansing and applying your moisturizer, it’s time to apply your product. Pour some foundation onto the back of your hand, then rub the foundation gently with your fingers in a circular motion. This step will add heat to the formula and make it easier to blend.

Next, dab small dots of foundation with your fingers onto the center of your face, or your T-zone: your forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin. Start by applying a small amount first, then adding more as you need after blending to avoid a cakey finish.

Step Two: Blend in Paint-Like Strokes Now that the product is on your face, it’s time to blend, baby, blend. Always start in the center of your face and blend outward. Most people usually have the most redness in the nose and cheeks area, so that’s where you’ll want the most coverage.

Use short, paint-like strokes as your move the brush outward for the most natural finish. Because of the foundation brush’s dense bristles it’s super easy to buff and blend without leaving behind streaks.

Step Three: Spot Blend Wherever You Need Just like an artist covering a canvas, you want to blend across your whole face before you get into those hard-to-reach areas that might need more coverage.

Use the higher point of the brush for the larger areas of your face, like the hollows of your cheeks, your hairline, and jawline. Then, once you’ve covered your face, go in with the lower point of the brush to blend in smaller areas, like down the sides of your nose, around your nostrils, and around your eyes.

Sponsored by THE FISHBOWL • MARCH 2022 • PAGE 4

Does size matter?

The eco-conscious house.

Building a dream home is a fantasy many have mused, and some have achieved in reality. Whether it’s a house in the city, a homestead in the country or a tiny house, the single-family detached dwelling is the most desired by Canadians.

Recent studies show that the average Canadian has the thirdlargest ecological footprint (EF) globally, with 7.25 hectares, compared to the average Japanese 4.77 and the average Indian 0.86. Considering this time of environmental crisis, it is essential to consider the Ecological Footprint (EF) of the structures we design and build.

Since relocating to Salt Spring in 2020, I have encountered several projects with the best intentions to build eco-conscious homes.

Unfortunately, my clients faced significantly higher prices for natural buildings and eco-friendly materials. Ultimately and unfortunately, this has led them to return to conventional construction.

Although conventional construction appears less costly when calculating the immediate cost, it comes with a higher price tag when considering its short lifespan, premature and frequent need for repairs and ultimately, the significant environmental impact.

In light of these considerations, I pose the following question: how can we build homes that satisfy our functional, esthetic and wellness needs while maintaining a reasonable budget and minimizing our environmental impact?

To answer this question, consider the following factor: Size Size is the most impactful factor in this equation. Reducing the size of the structure reduces materials, labour, and energy consumption, to say the least.

An intelligent design is crucial to achieving the right size, responding to all needs while optimizing space within a defined perimeter, bringing many exciting features with delightful surprises and individuality. An intelligent design is multi-functional and flexible, allowing the home to adapt to unknown future needs.

Reducing the size of the structure will free up funds to use highquality systems and materials that last beyond the current average house lifespan. In Canada, 12%of buildings fail before 25 years, while most structures live between 50 to 90 years. This translates into one to two generations! In 2016, statistics showed over 3 million tons of demolition and land clearing (DLC) went mainly to landfills. Add the millions of tons generated by the manufacturing of new materials and the energy and raw materials used.

So building with high-quality systems and natural building modalities that last five or more generations while using eco-friendly materials significantly lifts the astronomical environmental burden our planet faces.

If a nurturing home is your priority, let’s start by identifying the language that describes that home. If high-quality, welcoming, warm, healthy, and authentic come to mind, turning to scalable, intelligent, adaptable buildings is critical to manifesting these homes that will last for many generations to come.

Nora is an interior designer focusing on well-being in the built environment. Based on studies in environmental psychology, natural building, and sustainability, Nora works with the most impactful design elements to improve the quality of life indoors. 250-418-0754 norabouz@lucidaforwellbeing.ca | www.lucidaforwellbeing.ca

From my Kitchen

With Genevieve Price

ð "Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise."

Maya Angelou

ð

WOMAN WITH CONVICTION March 17th – April 6th

Saltspring Gallery, 135 McPhillips, Saltspring Island THE WOMEN OF SHE SAID HAVE COME TOGETHER ONCE AGAIN TO PRESENT AN ART SHOW BASED ON A THEME. THIS, OUR NINTH YEAR, THE WOMEN HAVE CHOOSEN WOMAN WITH CONVICTION AND, AS ALWAYS, EACH ARTIST WILL OFFER HER OWN INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THESE WORDS MEAN TO HER. THE ARTISTS THIS YEAR ARE: SAM BARLOW, SELENA BARWIN, RAVEN FOX, GAIL GLODE, ANH LEE, APRIL MACKEY, PREMILLA PILLAY, CLAIRE SICHERMAN, CHRISTINA SIEGERS, AHAVA SHIRA, AND CHARLENE WOLFF. COME OUT AND SEE OUR SHOW, BE INSPIRED AND LET YOUR IMAGINATION INTERPRET THIS THEME.

ð

I have toyed with exploring vegan options on and off for years.

Then I watched the movie The Game Changers, which follows a series of elite athletes who live and swear by a vegan lifestyle. Inspired!

After that, I thought I would start slow and introduced meatless Mondays which was really just an attempt at meat free meals at least once a week.

Buddha Bowls are a great way to ease your family into a meatless meal while adding tons of flavour and nutrition and it’s a definitely a meal that fills the belly. I’ll focus now on the preparation of the tofu, your key to success.

I’m not going to lie, I love to fry my tofu but you can also bake it for a bit of a healthier version.

For my family of five I use two packages. I like to use a medium tofu, may we suggest Soya Nova Tofu.

First I drain and then gently dab and squeeze any excess of moisture out of the tofu. Next, I cut into approximately 1 inch by half inch cubes.

In a nonstock frying pan, one I trust to truly be non-stick, I add a healthy dollop of coconut oil and a splash of olive oil. For added flavour but not vegan go ahead and add a dollop of butter.

Once the oil is nice and hot I drop the tofu in leaving space between each cube. This often means two batches but allows the tofu to brown nicely. I like the oil nice and hot so seers the tofu right off the hop. Because it’s a moist watery product the seer is critical. I flip only once after about seven minutes of cooking on medium/high heat, not overhandling the tofu is key.

Once I have browned the two larger surfaces of the tofu cubes I add two or 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and a healthy sprinkling of nutritional yeast, I then gently toss for a moment or two more as the soy caramelizes.

To build your Buddha Bowl simply use a base like brown rice, quinoa or rice noodles, a leafy green like spinach or romaine and a variety of your family’s favourite vegetables, I do steamed broccoli for my picky eaters.

I like to let everyone build their own so they are sure to eat their veggies. I love to top every inch of the bowl in the always fantastic Hollyhock Nutritional Yeast Dressing.

Enjoy!

THE FISHBOWL • MARCH 2022 • PAGE 5

the

Sweet Spot

with Seth Shugar

Self-Partnered in Partnership

When Drugs or Alcohol are Involved in Sexual Assault Trigger warning: Sexual assault

Many of us have heard the term “date rape drug” or have been told to watch our drink at a party. But have you heard the term “drug-facilitated sexual assault,” aka DFSA? DFSA occurs when drugs or alcohol are used to reduce someone’s ability to give consent to sexual activity. A person could purposely drug someone else without their knowledge and then sexually take advantage of them. Or someone could take advantage of another person’s state of intoxication or drug use.

Someone could pressure someone else to take more drugs or alcohol than they are used to, initiate sexual contact when someone is incapacitated and unable to give consent, or purposely not tell someone how much alcohol is in their drink or what dosage of drugs they have ingested for the purpose of sexually assaulting them.

Many sexual assault survivors blame themselves, but especially when drugs or alcohol were involved. They often have little memory of what happened or feel that it was their fault because they took drugs or alcohol.

We want to remind survivors that it’s never their fault. No one ever chooses to be sexually assaulted, regardless of how much drugs or alcohol they’ve consumed. The only person to blame is the person who assaulted them.

DFSA can happen to anyone. Around 25% of all sexual assaults reported involve a survivor being drugged or incapacitated through alcohol or drugs. In an estimated 80% of sexual assaults, the survivor knows the assailant. In most DFSAs, alcohol was the substance that incapacitated the victim.

What are the signs that someone has been drugged?

Some people may feel very drunk after consuming a small amount of alcohol. They may experience confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, and/or vomiting. Many survivors wake up with memory lapses. They may have blacked out and felt like something sexual has happened to them.

If you notice any of these signs, go to someone you trust and seek medical support. If you notice these signs in a friend, keep them safe and get them medical attention so they can be tested and monitored.

If you’ve been sexually assaulted or think you may have been, please contact IWAV’s Sexual Assault Response Program: (250) 9317712 or sarc@iwav.org Our SARP offers support for recent or historic sexual assault, free counselling, options for reporting, accompaniment to the hospital, information, and resources.

THE FISHBOWL • MARCH 2022 • PAGE 6

When handled skillfully, breakups and break-downs reliably result in radically improved relationships with oneself and others.

No one has articulated how this mysterious process occurs more charmingly than Shel Silverstein in his masterpiece The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. After enduring a series of break-ups on its quest to find a soul mate, the wedge-shaped Missing Piece finally finds the Big O. But the Big O is not missing a piece. It has learned to access its own internal resources and meet its own needs, and it wants to roll with someone who can do the same. So it breaks-up with the Missing Piece. And the Missing Piece has a break-down. Until, in time, it lifts itself up on one end and flops over. And it repeats this process – “lift, pull, flop” – over and over again until it gains momentum and its edges start to wear off and its shape begins to change into a little “o” until — finally! — it begins to roll.

Which suggests what exactly? It suggests that lasting satisfaction in life and love come not when we finally succeed in getting a partner to make us feel whole and complete but when we start seeing our lives and relationships as the crucibles in which we get to make ourselves feel whole and complete.

Which is very different from rugged individualism, mainly because it’s not an either/or approach (either in relationship or self-partnered) but a both/and approach (both in relationship and self-partnered).

But how to self-partner? According to the Missing Piece, it’s by noticing our edges and getting curious about what makes us feel edgy – lift, pull, flop – and then by going inside and finding out what our edgy parts are trying to do for us – lift, pull, flop – and discovering what they’re afraid might happen if they didn’t get so edgy.

Lift. Pull. Flop.

In the archetypal tradition, this process is called hieros gamos or the “sacred inner marriage.” In other approaches it’s simply called a “you-turn,” a term that reminds us, when we’re driving hard toward the other, to pull a youie, go inside and explore our own reactivity, hopes and fears.

But the process does not stop there. No, the “you-turn” is followed by a “re-turn” to the other who we may then regard as a sort of secondary caretaker and to whom we can, courage permitting, report what we discovered when we went inside.

Which is precisely what the Missing Piece does. After it has learned to soften its edges and roll on its own, it catches up to the Big O. And at the very end of the story, on a single stunning page, we get a glorious illustration of two self-partnered beings rolling in partnership.

Unfortunately, Silverstein never wrote a sequel to this marvellously prescient tale so he never fleshed out his vision of what a sustained partnership between two self-partnered individuals might look like. Fortunately, however, this will be the topic of the next installment of The Sweet Spot.

Seth is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, Marital and Family Therapist and Board Certified Life Coach. He works with individuals and couples in private practice. You can reach him at sethshugar@me.com or book a session at www.sethshugar.com

Live on Stage in March Both of the productions in our ArtSpring Presents March lineup have timely themes of interconnectedness and community. They each bring a group of artists together to share the knowledge and passion for their practice among themselves and their audiences.

We’re excited to welcome back Indigenous dance company, Dancers of Damelahamid, on March 23. Formed in the 60s, the company was born out of an urgency to revitalize the practices of traditional Indigenous song and dance, and to ensure they were not lost, following the lifting of the 1884-1951 Potlatch Ban. They return with Spirit and Tradition, an all-ages production whose message of reciprocity and ecological sustainability is delivered through Coastal masked dances, projected imagery, soundscape, and LED puppetry, immersing the audience into the rich and diverse ecosystem of the coastal mountains and oceans.

Our second event of the month on March 27 brings together a ten-strong group of musicians with a host – Canadian bassoonist and impresario George Zukerman – for a special program of early works by Ludwig van Beethoven. Featuring works all written before he reached the age of 30, Zukerman originally created The Young Beethoven concert to coincide with the composer’s 250th anniversary celebrations in 2020. In between performances of seldom heard pieces, and the celebrated Septet, Opus 20, we will finally get to enjoy Zukerman’s engaging and expert commentary on the works, along with stories of the young Beethoven’s life.

ArtSpring Presents Dancers of Damelahamid, Wednesday March 23, at 7:30pm. Proudly sponsored by Joan Farlinger and Salt Spring Coffee. and The Young Beethoven, Sunday March 27, at 2:30pm. Proudly sponsored by Regan Hunt.

All tickets are $30 adult | $5 youth. Box Office - Tuesday-Friday 10am-1pm | tickets.artspring.ca | 250.537.2102 Please note – As per the current public health order, proof of vaccination is required for every patron age 12+ attending these events. Patrons age 19+ are also required to show a piece of valid government photo ID. Face masks are mandatory at all times for everyone age 5+. At the time of going to print audience capacity is 50% (129 seats). Please visit our website or social media pages for more information about current protocols.

The Salt Spring Arts is pleased to welcome Sarah Genge, our March Artist in Residence. Sarah is a recent graduate of Emily Carr University of Art + Design (2020). She is an artist and filmmaker who lives and creates on the ancestral, occupied traditional lands of the Coast Salish people: the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam nations.

Sarah’s work explores the subtleties of everyday life and the wealth of information that can be drawn from hyper-focused and highly personal examinations of the quotidian.

Sarah spent this past winter, documenting the people who live and work in the small town of Wells, BC.

Once

a

booming

mine town in the 1930s, now a population of 200 people

remain

artists,

independent prospectors, those who prefer to live in the bush, and the recently moved-in

employees

of the new mining development. Her documentary aims to portray a snapshot of the contemporary dwellers who reside in the historic town of Wells, with all its diversity and contradictions, through a series of intimate and honest portraits of those who call it home.

MAR 3 - Sarah Genge - Reception & Artist Talk 6-8 PM at Mahon Hall Well, Well, Wells, is a 30-minute observational documentary film. Through glimpses of the characters who make up the town of Wells, British Columbia, this film explores the joys and tensions of the community as it undergoes change. Director Sarah Genge will talk about her process of living in Wells while creating a documentary about the town with the people who make up its community.

MAR 24 - Sarah Genge - Film Editing Interactive Talk 6-8 PM at Mahon Hall Additional Events MAR 2 - Artist Call for Artcraft Opens - Online MAR 2 - Artist Call for Grants + Awards Opens - Online MAR 23 - Chris Arnet - Mahon Hall Historical Talk 6-8 PM at Mahon Hall

THE FISHBOWL • MARCH 2022 • PAGE 7

What’s Happening on the Rock

March Live Entertainment

MOBY's Live Entertainment Every Tuesday Trivia 7:30pm Every Wednesday Music Bingo 7:30pm

Legion Branch 92 Entertainment Schedule March 4th Karaoke 7:30pm March 11th Bruce Cobanli---Before Night Falls 7:30pm March 18th Karaoke 7:30pm March 25th The Regulars 7:30pm March 26th Two Point Oh 7:30pm

Friday, March 4 Brent Knudsen 7:30pm Friday, March 11 Tom Hooper 7:30pm Thursday, March 17 Buck Dodgers 4:30-7:30pm Friday, March 18 Morien Jones 7:30pm Friday, March 25 Vixx 7:30pm

Salt Spring Film Festival at ArtSpring Tues. March 1: 4 pm FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK 7 pm THE CAVIAR CONNECTION Wed. March 2: 4 pm A ONCE AND FUTURE PEACE 7 pm DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD and MARY TWO AXE-EARLEY Thurs. March 3: 4 pm THE NEW BAUHAUS 7 pm FOREST FOR THE TREES

ArtSpring Entertainment Schedule Tickets - tickets.artspring.ca | 250.537.2102

Fri. March 4: 4 pm LADY BUDS 7 pm THE RACE TO ALASKA Sat. March 5: 4 pm P.S. BURN THIS LETTER PLEASE 7 pm PRECIOUS LEADER WOMAN Sun. March 6: 4 pm IT IS NOT OVER YET 7 pm MY TREE

Salt Spring Film Festival Tuesday March 1 - Sunday March 6 4pm and 7pm, $13 per film

The Comic Strippers presents: The Improvisers Saturday March 26 | 7:30pm $35 | $30 per ticket for groups of 6+

Vetta Presents: Bassoon!

Monday March 21 | 7:30pm $20 adult | $5 youth

The Young Beethoven Sunday March 27 | 2:30pm $30 adult | $5 youth

Dancers of Damelahamid Spirit and Tradition Wednesday March 23 | 7:30pm $30 adult | $5 youth

Salt Spring Painters Guild exhibition ArtSpring lobby March 2-30 open during box office hours and prior to theatre events

March Offerings Thursday, March 10

Tuesday, March 8

Online on Zoom 7pm to 8:30pm Star of the Sea Centre is hosting a panel conversation on how faith responds to the Climate Crisis: how it might uphold us, shine light for our way forward, offer us hope instead of despair, and perhaps embolden us to act and make a difference for our grandchildren and those who come after us.

A panel of four representatives from the Buddhist, Jewish, Islamic, and Christian faiths will speak to these questions. After their presentations, the panellists will hold a conversation with us all, responding and answering questions.

Online on Zoom 7pm to 8:30pm Those Iconic Irish Poets — William Butler Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Patrick Kavanagh, Samuel Beckett, Eavan Boland, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce… and then there’s the contemporary poets — Colette Bryce, John O’Donohue, Sinéad Morrissey, Paul Muldoon... the list is long for those eloquent bards past and present. And then there’s those from other Celtic regions — the Isle of Mann, Wales, Scotland… and we include Robbie Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dylan Thomas, Gillian Clarke, David Whyte. Too many to name them all! Come join us for an evening of savouring these prolific writers. Bring your favourite Celtic poet’s poem to share or join us to hear and respond to poems brought by others.

Faith and the Climate Crisis

Please come and share your understanding, thoughts and concerns.

An Evening with the Celtic Poets

Please register at staroftheseassi@gmail.com to receive the Zoom links.

The evening will be facilitated by Gyllian Davies and Heather Martin.

Donations for participation in these events are welcome.

Please register at staroftheseassi@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link.

THE FISHBOWL • MARCH 2022 • PAGE 8

It’s fitting that displacement and reconnection are themes of this year’s Salt Spring Film Festival, having been displaced from our usual venue at the high school and relocating to ArtSpring amidst the challenges of safely reconnecting in person during the pandemic.

Fortunately, ArtSpring features a bigger screen, better sound and stadiumstyle seating, and film buffs will be able to see every single film in this year’s six-day program.

Rarely does a particular theme emerge from the festival’s wide-ranging selections, although we tend to focus on environmental, Indigenous and social justice issues, along with crowd-pleasing art and music documentaries. Ours is one of the very few festivals in the world that chooses films by consensus, as our Screening Committee meets weekly in late autumn to debate the merits of hundreds of documentaries previewed at other festivals.

Difficult enough at the best of times, this process was particularly challenging this year as we had so many great films from which to choose and very few screening slots. The result is a wide-ranging but surprisingly coherent line-up of award-winning films, with recurring themes of social dislocation and the universal desire for kinship.

Several of these films are profiles in courage as Indigenous people struggle to repair the inter-generational displacements of colonialism, including DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD, in which two generations of women adopted away from the tribe return together to their Lummi homeland; MARY TWO AXEEARLEY: I AM INDIAN AGAIN, in which a tireless Kahnawake woman forces the federal government to restore status rights to Indigenous women; PRECIOUS LEADER WOMAN, in which Olympic snowboarder Spencer O’Brien returns to traditional Kwakwaka’wakw territory to find the strength to overcome a debilitating diagnosis; and A ONCE AND FUTURE PEACE, in which Tagish Tlingit people in the Yukon resuscitate their ancient practice of peacemaking circles for use in restorative justice programs.

Interpersonal connection is paramount in several films, as people age with dignity and sometimes with unapologetic defiance: a legendary all-female rock band reunites after half a century in FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK; women who spent decades creating the California cannabis industry collaborate to prevent corporate takeover in LADY BUDS; octogenarian drag queens reminisce on surviving the dangerous mid-century era when underground drag bars were run by the mafia in P.S. BURN THIS LETTER PLEASE; and a controversial “compassion treatment” for dementia in a Danish nursing home is explored in IT IS NOT OVER YET. People venture into nature for a variety of reasons in THE RACE TO ALASKA, in which an assortment of daring oddballs brave the waves in one of the world’s most challenging endurance tests; in FOREST FOR THE TREES: THE TREE PLANTERS, in which a mixed bag of young people form community and push themselves to their physical limits; and in MY TREE, in which a Toronto playwright makes a pilgrimage to the parks and forests of Israel to dig up buried memories of who and what was displaced in the decades-long forestation of the Holy Land.

Other festival highlights include a visionary Hungarian artist displaced by the Nazis who founds a Chicago school of modernist art & design in THE NEW BAUHAUS; and the corrupting influence of petrodollars in Caspian kleptocracies courting Western corporations and celebrities in THE CAVIAR CONNECTION. After two long years of pandemic lockdowns, social distancing and remote communication, it’s not surprising that many people are feeling a sense of displacement and looking to reconnect with the community through shared, in-person experiences. The Salt Spring Film Festival invites you to do just that in the first week of March. We look forward to seeing you at ArtSpring!

p hoto cre d its alex b ohs

p hoto cre d its l iv von oe lre ich

THE FISHBOWL • MARCH 2022 • PAGE 9

Jen’ll Tell Ya Featuring Jen Redpath & Jessica Terezakis

Dear Jess and Jenn, I heard that vaginal orgasms are better and stronger than clitoral orgasms. Is this true? - O Dear O, Thanks for your question. It certainly is a question that we get a lot and answering it involves a couple of different parts.

First off, we want to acknowledge that having an orgasm and experiencing pleasure go far beyond just our genitals being stimulated. Our brain is in fact the biggest sex organ!

MRIs have shown that multiple parts of the brain are involved when we experience orgasm. The genital sensory cortex, motor areas, sensory cortex, hypothalamus, thalamus, and substantia nigra are all activated during sex. We also release a whole bunch of amazing neurochemicals and hormones like dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin, which are related to pleasure, connection, and relaxation.

Fun fact: research has shown that people who are unable to feel genital stimulation can still experience orgasm. The brain can actually remap itself and create new pathways to pleasure without our sexual organs being involved. Our bodies are so amazing!

Secondly, pleasure is often a matter of personal preference.

Some people prefer different things and as they say, different strokes for different folks (literally and figuratively when it comes to sex and pleasure!). Being aroused has a lot to do with attraction, setting, safety, and other parts of our bodies being stimulated, including that big beautiful brain of ours.

Thirdly, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room, the clitoris!

Which is in fact much bigger than what we see on the outside. We like to think of it as the tip of the iceberg! The entire structure is mostly internal and can be as big as 12 cm or 5 inches. The clitoris also has around 8,000 nerve endings, approximately twice as many as the head of a penis, and it also grows in size when it is aroused.

So to imagine that the vagina and clitoris are separate from each other in terms of pleasure is a bit of a myth! What we may feel as a vaginal orgasm might in fact be connected to a clitoral orgasm.

As Dr. Betty Dodson said, “an orgasm is an orgasm is an orgasm!” Focus on discovering what you like and try to not worry too much about the labels!

Options for Sexual Health is located on the 2nd floor, 134 McPhilips Ave Salt Spring Island and our hours are 4:30pm 6:30pm Tuesdays!

Interested in volunteering with a progressive sex positive organization? Check out https://www.optionsforsexualhealth.org for more information under the Get Involved tab.

Stay Sexy Salty!

THE FISHBOWL • MARCH 2022 • PAGE 10

The School for Good Mothers

by Jessamine Chan

Mishka’s

Book

Reviews with Mishka Campbell

When a first time novelist has an entire back cover filled with quotes from reviewers whose books you yourself have read and enjoyed, you know that this is a work to sit up and pay attention to.

Despite its repeated comparisons to “The Handmaid’s Tale”, I really didn’t expect a weighty discourse on the nature of motherhood (what is a “good” mother anyway?) and society’s simultaneous intrusive surveillance and lack of support, especially for mothers of colour. My ill-preparedness definitely contributed to how impactful I found this novel to be, as I was surprised both by the direction this story headed in and also by the emotions it stirred up in me. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

Frida Liu had a very bad day. Mother to a toddler, Harriet, whom she co-parents with her ex-husband Gust. Frida makes a very bad decision on her very bad day, and it turns out to be a very bad mistake. You’ll find out immediately what exactly occurred on this very bad day, but I won’t spoil it for you, just as I will not ruin a huge plot reveal that is noticeably absent from most reviews and synopses. This novel takes place in a future not too far away, at a time when mothers can be severely punished for infractions as slight as inattentiveness. The Government/State’s subsequent judgements somehow feel both extreme and expected. I found the relationship between Frida, Gust and Gust’s new partner, Susanna (whom he left Frida for) to be a gratifying surprise. Although Frida is hurt and lonely, jealous even, she is met with compassion and kindness from two characters who the author could easily have vilified. This book made me uncomfortable in the best kind of way, as my discomfort often leads to growth. I know some readers will dislike this novel because they struggle with the idea that they should intrinsically empathize with Frida simply because she’s the main character. They don’t want to feel sorry for her because they believe that what she did on the very bad day is so terrible that it’s unworthy of forgiveness. I’m not sure we’re expected to sympathize with Frida, or even like her, but I do think that by reading her story, we’re meant to learn something…even if it’s entirely up to us what exactly that is.

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Scopes Brought to you by our own in-house astrologer who now goes by her numerologically correct name of “Ya Righta”

 Aries

Your aim to drink 2-3 litres of water today may come crashing down on you when you’re stuck in road work later this week.

 Taurus

Act daft today, help people close to you smile, and feel the healing power of laughter.

You are easily replaced, don’t take your boots off.

 Cancer

Everything you’ve ever felt about anything will be tested today during some troubling moment in which you’ll learn something about anything or everything.

 Leo

This year may seem to have started as you intended, but what’s happened since, eh?

You

haven’t

done

anything. Get out there and get something sorted!

 Virgo

If you think it’s my job to tell you good news, you’re wrong pal. You’re going down!

Avoid happy thoughts, they’ll only bring you down with a crash.

 Scorpio

Your lucky drink for today is: Fresca. The day is as long as the night. It’s all one big crap chute anyhoo. Are we making sense?

 Sagittarius

 Gemini

Nothing.

 Libra

Today is not your lucky day.

It’s tomorrow instead! So that’s something to look forward to whilst your stuck behind the school bus.

 Capricorn

Don’t try to tell people how to live their lives! Your life is your own, and you should feel perfectly free to bugger it up royally.

 Aquarius

Perhaps it’s true that you’re not the immense stud you once were.

 Pisces

Morale boosts are for needy geeks - you’re as hard as nails and neither require nor deserve any praise. Today is a series of blunders that follow each other.

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