the Carillon - The Red Dress Issue

the carillon

the staff

The University of Regina Students’ Newspaper Since 1962 November 21 - 28, 2013|Volume 56, Issue 12|carillonregina.com

editor-in-chief michael chmielewski editor@carillonregina.com business manager shaadie musleh business@carillonregina.com

cover

production manager kyle leitch production@carillonregina.com copy editor michelle jones copyeditor@carillonregina.com news editor

Despite all appearances, the RIC was not attacked by Communist ghosts.

rikkeal bohmann

carillonnewseditor@carillonregina.com

a&c editor robyn tocker aandc@carillonregina.com

Actually, this is the product of the Red Dress Project, a social awareness campaign to bring attention to a very serious issue. Read about the efforts of Jayson Derow, Jaime Black, and company on the opposite page.

sports editor autumn mcdowell sports@carillonregina.com op-ed editor farron ager op-ed@carillonregina.com visual editor emily wright graphics@carillonregina.com advertising manager neil adams advertising@carillonregina.com technical co-ordinator arthur ward technical@carillonregina.com distribution manager

allan hall

foreign correspondent dietrich neu staff writer

paige kreutzwieser

news writer

alec salloum

a&c writer

destiny kaus

sports writer photographers

brady lang

news

a&c

haley klassen spencer reid apolline lucyk

contributors this week victoria dinh, taylor rattray, taryn riemer, taylor sockett, taras matkovsky, john murney, john loeppky, simon fuh

the paper

THE CARILLON BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Chmielewski, Shaadie Musleh, Autumn McDowell, vacant, vacant, vacant, vacant 227 Riddell Center University of Regina - 3737 Wascana Parkway Regina, SK, Canada S4S 0A2 www.carillonregina.com Ph: (306) 586 8867 Printed by Transcontinental Publishing Inc, Saskatoon, SK

The Carillon welcomes contributions.

Correspondence can be mailed, emailed, or dropped off in person. Please include your name, address, and telephone number on all letters to the editor. Only the author’s name, title/position (if applicable) and city will be published. Names may be withheld upon request at the discretion of the Carillon.

Letters should be no more than 350 words, and may be edited for space, clarity, accuracy, and vulgarity. The Carillon is a wholly autonomous organization with no afilliation with the University of Regina Students’ Union.

Disaster relief.

Page 5

Sans Murder.

Page 7

This satellite image from the University of Wisconsin shows just how destructive Superstorm Haiyan was.

The Filipino students at the U of R have answered the call for help from their homeland. Their story on page 5.

Michael, our Editor-in-Chief, wasn’t able to interview The Black Dahlia Murder in Saskatoon. What he was able to do was make faces at Cam Broten, get obnoxiously drunk, and take the piss out of a roadie who hates Canada.

sports

op-ed

Opinions expressed in the pages of the Carillon are expressly those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of The Carillon Newspaper Inc. Opinions expressed in advertisements appearing in the Carillon are those of the advertisers, and not necessarily of The Carillon Newspaper Inc. or its staff.

The Carillon is published no less than 11 times each semester during the fall and winter semesters and periodically throughout the summer. The Carillon is published by The Carillon Newspaper Inc, a non-profit organization.

the manifesto

In keeping with our reckless, devil-may-care image, our office has absolutely no concrete information on the Carillon’s formative years readily available.

What follows is the story that’s been passed down from editor to editor for over forty years.

In the late 1950s, the University of Regina planned the construction of several new buildings on the campus grounds. One of these proposed buildings was a belltower on the academic green. If you look out on the academic green today, the first thing you’ll notice is that it has absolutely nothing resembling a belltower.

The University never got abelltower, but what it did get was the Carillon, a newspaper that serves as a symbolic bell tower on campus, a loud and clear voice belonging to each and every student.

illegitimi non carborundum.

Grey Cup bound!

Page 15

Christmas came early for Riders fans this year. With the Grey Cup just three days away water melons are being prepared, clever signs are being thought up and beverage plans are being made. Do not attempt to contact me on Sunday.

news a&c sports op-ed cover

photos

University of Wisconsin Shadowgate thestar.com Kyle Leitch Arthur Ward

errata

Last issue, we credited the cover to Emily Wright, when in fact it was Technical Co-ordinator Arthur Ward who conceptualized and shot the photo. Sorry dude.

To be fair, Emily did hold the flash.

National Novel Writing Month.

Page 16

Because sometimes, goofy acronyms are just too much. November is upon us, and so is NaNoWriMo. Can you write a novel in thirty days? Find out on page 16.

In other news: At first, we thought embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was making a joke about his eating habits. Then we realized he was making a chauvenistic joke.

In other other news: the following people have never been seen in the same room together: Rob Ford, Big Van Vader, Chris Farley, John Madden, Rush Limbaugh, Jabba the Hutt, and Tom Hanks.

Coincidence?

news

Editor: Rikkeal Bohmann news@carillonregina.com the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

The REDress Project at the U of R Over 600 aboriginal women are reported to be missing.

Arthur Ward Black has over 300 dresses in her collection currently.

paige kreutzwieser staff writer Walking through University of Regina last week, you may have noticed something different something red.

Hanging from each floor were red dresses, elegantly suspended by individual hangers, and dangling over the banisters for any passer-by to admire. Outside, red dresses moved in the wind hanging from trees around the University of Regina Green. Or maybe you saw them lined up, illuminating the pathway into the university’s Research and Innovation Centre (RIC).

What you may not know is their importance.

“To dress the intersectionality of sexism and racism, and how it is perpetuating this,” explained Jayson Derow, a partner and advocate in organizing the REDress Project installation on campus.

Derow, a fourth-year Human Justice student at the University of Regina, had heard about a Winnipeg based artist, Jaime Black, in a few of his women’s and gender studies classes. In April of this year, Derow and a couple classmates formed a committee to work toward bringing Black’s exhibit to Saskatchewan.

The REDress Project exposes the social issues surrounding Aboriginal women in Canada.

“We have 65 to 70 red dresses hanging up throughout the RIC area and each dress represents a missing and murdered Aboriginal woman,” said Derow.

But what Derow wants people to know is that num-

ber of dresses hanging around the university just scratches the surface of the statistics he has learned as a student.

“There is reported over 600 missing and murdered Aboriginal women, but that is only what’s reported,” adding that there is actually over 2,000 missing Aboriginal women that are not reported.

“We have 65 dresses and that’s powerful enough. So imagine seeing 2,000 dresses.”

So why the colour red?

“Red has always been a powerful colour for me, personally,” said Black, the creator of the exhibit, “I think it is a very sacred colour, but it is also the colour of life blood,” explaining that the project portrays that women give life and the connections we share as humans have this life blood.

According to Black, it also explains what women (especially ones of Aboriginal heritage) are going through on a day to day basis in the country, adding the colour red’s strong connotations of violence.

To Derow, the colour red carries many meanings, one being “in nature, you don’t really see that colour around much until it’s that transition stage.”

“It’s an inescapable conclusion that we can’t go into the past and change things.

But rather we can bring about this awareness and bring about change.”

An activist with an interest in Aboriginal culture and politics, the Métis artist says that her desire for bringing about

change and her artistic background became a match made in heaven.

“I wanted to use skills as an artist to further the understanding of social issues that are around us.”

The REDress had its inaugural show at the University of Winnipeg in 2011, where she was able to get the school’s women’s and gender studies program to assist. Since then, Black said people are contacting her with requests to expose her exhibit.

Black admits this project didn’t begin on an easy road.

“I’m working from the ground up, so it’s always a struggle.”

But, Black can be happy that the road has led her to things such as taking the exhibition internationally to London, England.

Black is satisfied with the response she is getting for the REDress Project.

“I think it’s always an amazing thing every time I do this exhibition. Different people come together as a community, share their strengths and their stories and can start working together.”

She is especially happy with the result of the set-up in the RIC. “Everybody walks through here and they wonder, ‘Why are [the dresses] here?’ It gives people an opportunity to educate themselves and it gets people to educate other people.”

Derow is also impressed with the response they have been getting throughout the week the project was displayed at the university, but he hoped there was more.

“I just wish more people who aren’t already aware of the issue to start coming up and asking more questions. . .what we want to do is break down the barrier between that and start bringing everyone together.”

“It is not just an Aboriginal issue, it’s a human issue.”

The dresses for the project are donated (by communities and family members of the missing) to Black, where she hangs them throughout the exhibition location. She currently has over 300 dresses in her collection, and the size of the site dictates the amount of dresses used. “I’ve done installations of eight before, and in a gallery that takes up a lot of space.

But they need a lot of space to breathe.”

A panel discussion for the project was held at the university, with the aid of the campus’ Aboriginal Student Centre (ASC). Derow felt the discussion went well, but once again had a bittersweet feeling.

“It’s frustrating because people who come to those kind of discussions are already aware of the issues and what this project is trying to elicit is trying to bring people in that aren’t aware.”

Derow said they would like to focus on increasing the male and Caucasian population attendance at events like this.

Red has always been a powerful colour for me personally… I think it is a very sacred colour, but it is also the colour of life blood.

Jaime Black

“It’s a Caucasian majority and Aboriginal minority [in this country] so we have to combine those ties and look past those differences and come together as a collective and say hey, this is a problem and we need to fix this now.”

Derow admitted that getting the funding and sponsorship for this project was a struggle. He felt he was getting the run around from the government bodies he was contacting, so he turned towards the ASC.

“[The ASC management] put us on the right way and we started rolling from there. They were a huge asset to us in putting us in the right direction.”

Derow hopes to take some time before indulging in another project like this, but says he does have offers from fellow students to do another event.

“I’ll take two days break and then we will discuss it,” he joked, admitting he wants to continue to bring awareness to the university on other social issues and injustices.

Black is currently working on more intimate projects on the side, but the new mom said that many of her projects do have this personal connection for her. “But the personal becomes political when you are facing social ideas.”

“So I hope that by plumbing the depths of my own experience, I can expose some of the experiences of other women.”

In 2014, the exhibition will soon be installed in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in her hometown of Winnipeg.

4

news

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

Zero tolerance

33 % of all alcohol-related crash deaths involve those between the ages of 16 and 25. rikkeal bohmann news editor 37 per cent of fatalities on Saskatchewan roads were alcohol related last year. In response to this, the Saskatchewan Government is enforcing tougher penalties for drinking and driving. This legislation will have a zero-tolerance for alcohol and drug use for those under 19, and those in the graduate license program.

Kelley Brinkworth of SGI commends the new legislation.

“It will just take a little bit of time to actually get the legislation in place, but yeah, I really hope it will, you know, make someone think twice about getting behind the wheel when drinking.”

The new laws will be in place in May of 2014.

Young people or those new to driving will have their vehicle taken away if any blood alcohol content (BAC) is found in their systems. The same will happen for other drivers with a BAC bewteen .08 and .15.

Anyone who refuses to take a test will also have their vehicle

Bryan Reckard Don’t drink and drive guys, seriously.

seized. This is one of 14 measures being implemented on traffic safety measures by legislative committee.

SGI says that 33 per cent of all alcohol-related crash deaths involve those between the ages of 16 and 25, young people being largely over-rep-

resented in drinking and driving incidents, says Brinkworth.

Meaghann White, the president of Students Against Drinking and Driving (SADD) Saskatchewan, has seen the effects of drinking and driving.

“I know some friends in some communities close to

Yorkton have lost people due to drinking and driving and it doesn’t just affect the community. It affects everybody around.

A lot of people are related. It’s just something that’s a horrible disaster that doesn’t need to happen.” SADD is happy with the new legislation.

There are those who think this legislation is not going far enough, though. Danielle Chartier, a New Democrat MLA, believes that the standards should be even tougher, where vehicles should be able to be taken away with a BAC of .05 or more. Mothers Against Drinking and Driving (MADD) Canada also wants laws to be tougher.

They would like to see the age extended to 21 for the zero tolerance policy.

MADD estimates that 9.76 out of every 100,000 die due to impaired driving in Saskatchewan. The national average is 3.17 out of every 100,000.

“It is something that is preventable. Drinking and driving is something we can make zero and eventually it will be,” says White.

Brinkworth recommends always planning a safe ride home.

“There’s lots of ways you can get home safely. Just never get behind the wheel while you’ve been drinking. Call a friend, take a taxi or public transportation, stay the night.”

Gym, tan, laundry… minus the tan

Saskatchewan is only one of three provinces not protecting kids from tanning beds. victoria dinh contributor It’s that time of year again, folks.

Winter is just around the corner, so get those parkas and toques out to prepare for that dreaded torrential snowfall. Summer is in the past and along with it is that tan that you’ve been working so hard on. But, wait, isn’t cosmetic tanning the best option for a quick and easy way to get back that long forgotten summer’s glow? The Canadian Cancer Society doesn’t think so. They say, “If at first you don’t get cancer, fry, fry again.”

A few months ago, the Canadian Cancer Society started a petition in Saskatchewan to restrict indoor tanning for youth under 18. Donna Pasiechnik, manager of media and government relations at the Canadian Cancer Society, believes that this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

“Saskatchewan is only one of three provinces that is not protecting kids from indoor tanning and potential skin cancer,” Pasiechnik says.

Melanoma is on the rise. It is one of the most common skin cancers among young Saskatchewan women between the ages of 15 and 19. Kendra Morrow, family medicine resident at the Regina General Hospital, advises the public to take care of their skin whether tanning artificially or in natural sun.

Morrow says, “With

Froztbyte These can emit five to ten times the radiation as midday sun.

every burn there’s a significant chance you can develop skin cancer. And with that, if it is melanoma, treatments can be very limited.”

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, indoor tanning has been declared a known carcinogen that causes cancer.

When used before the age of 35, it also increases your risk of developing melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, by 59 per cent.

Pasiechnik adds, “In

some cases, these tanning beds can emit five to 10 times the radiation of midday sun.”

University of Regina cheerleader, Paige Fischer, says that her teammates are encouraged by their coach to tan for competitions because it creates a more uniform appearance.

The team is sponsored by a local tanning salon that offers discounts to the cheerleaders for use of the tanning facilities.

However, despite the reduced price, Fischer and some of her

teammates prefer to spray tan instead.

“I think it’s definitely a better alternative,” Fischer says, “there’s no adverse skin effects.

You can’t get cancer from it or anything. It lasts a couple days and you’ll look more tanned in a shorter amount of time. You’d have to spend months [tanning] to actually look that tanned.”

The Canadian Cancer Society is working hard to get their message out there through their petition. Some tanning sa-

lons offer access to healthier alternatives such as spray tanning.

Others have even refused services to youth under 18 entirely.

However, the Canadian Cancer Society would like to see a change in the tanning culture in Saskatchewan and sway minors from tanning altogether.

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

news

5

URFSS relief efforts

Filipino students at the U of R gather donations for affected areas. robyn tocker a&c editor

Aimee Castillo worried for her family when she heard of Typhoon Haiyan hitting the Philippines on Nov. 8. The president of the University of Regina Filipino Student Society (URFSS) says once she heard her family was safe she was “more concerned for the Filipinos in the affected area.”

In response to the disaster, URFSS held a fundraising lunch for two hours on Nov. 15 in the Luther College Student Lounge.

The $2140.30 raised was divided between Luther World Relief and Canadian Jesuits International, and will be sent to representatives in the Philippines. URFSS also collected 15 boxes of donations, including dry food, clothing, and blankets on Nov. 15.

Castillo says the money raised will be divided and used to help with the major concerns facing the Filipinos, such as housing, medicine, clothing, and food.

Dinah Tambalo, a member of URFSS with family in the Philippines, says she’s proud of the group for the work they did, but it’s heartbreaking to see

University of Wisconsin Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies Super Typhoon Haiyan’s full damage is still unknown.

what’s happened to the country.

She was relieved to hear of her family’s safety. She says she was keeping up to date on the storm the day before it struck and, thanks to Facebook, her friends were able to share with her what was going on.

“It’s heartbreaking … it affected such a big part of the country.”

The Post-Doctorate student also explained how, a month before the typhoon ar-

rived, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rumbled through Bohol.

The Philippine province was still in need of assistance before the typhoon started terrorizing the country.

Tambalo served food at the lunch fundraiser and says it was encouraging to see people willing to help out. The society did a good job of organizing the fundraiser, she says, especially since the typhoon happened during midterms.

Yet, Tambalo did notice there is a lack of information among the students. Some, she says, didn’t come talk to her about the typhoon until almost a week after it happened.

“It seems like people are willing to help if they know what’s going on.”

Castillo says the Canadian and the Saskatchewan government are doing their part to help. Tambalo is also satisfied with what the Saskatche-

wan government is doing, but she says the university could put more effort into informing students about how they can help. Tambalo makes a point that it’s not just about sending goods, but how to rehabilitate the country after its destruction.

URFSS plans to host more events in the future to help with relief efforts. Castillo says she is working towards holding a charity event with comedian Haris Khan, who has used his comedy shows to help out many deserving causes in the past. She also says she is arranging something with the Chamber Singers through their director Dr. Dominic Gregorio.

Castillo is grateful for her group’s hard work. “I’d like to say a thank you for the cooperation of everyone and their help with making the donations successful and for still helping.”

Winter driving woes

On average, the winter months see 8,311 collisions in Saskatchewan. alec salloum news writer

Well, damn it, winter has reared its ugly head once again and Saskatchewanians are bracing for its impact. Among all the concerns and issues we have to endure in the foreseeable future, horribly cold weather, frost bite, cars not starting, diminished hours of sunlight, we also have the perils of winter driving to look forward to.

We have already seen freezing rain and snow hit the city and south Saskatchewan.

Global Regina reported that the Regina Police Department had already responded to 22 accidents on Monday, Nov. 11 in the morning alone. In addition, Nov. 16 saw even more snow and deteriorated driving conditions.

A major issue faced by many drivers in the winter is ice. This can be aggravated further when travel on highways or higher-speed motorways, such as the Ring Road and the Lewvan, is unavoidable. This has been an issue facing many Rider fans trying to make it to Calgary for the Western Division Final, as many highways have fallen under winter weather warnings. The RCMP issued a warning to all drivers on Highway 1 East of Calgary bad news for traveling Rider fans.

Emily Wright I’m not looking forward to this again…

Jennifer Leflar, Communications Supervisor at SGI, was able to provide statistics on winter driving and what months pose the greatest danger to Saskatchewan drivers.

“On average over the winter months (December, January, and February) in the province there are 8,311 collisions resulting in 1,625 injuries and 33 deaths each year,” Leflar said.

Though this is substantial, it is not the definitively worst season for driving. According to SGI statistics, the worst month for driving is No-

vember, which, in turn, makes the fall months the worst. The fall months, on three-year average like the aforementioned winter statistics, witnessed 8,589 collisions resulting in 1,990 injuries and 47 deaths. However, November accounted for 3,666 of these collisions.

Given the stark nature of road conditions in the coming months, drivers, especially new ones, are feeling some anxiety. Neil Cowan, a business student at the University of Regina, is a relatively new driver who will be experiencing winter driving

for the first time.

When asked about it, he said, “I am incredibly nervous about driving this winter, the roads here are incredibly slippery and dangerous.”

This a fair point, especially when considering the recent snowfall and icy conditions.

Cowan does seem to have a history with Regina’s poor road conditions.

“A couple years ago I twisted my ankle walking in the winter, so I’m not looking forward to testing my driving abilities on ice.”

So, in light of these circumstances, there are steps that can be taken. Leflar provided several tips for winter driving, for experienced and inexperienced drivers. One point that all drivers should consider is “leaving more distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you, so you have more time to stop.”

Fender benders and other such accidents account for a great deal of reported collisions in the winter months, so know your car and know its braking capabilities.

Also, “give yourself extra time to get to your destination.” Being in a hurry can have severe consequences when conditions are poor. Taking time in the winter months is imperative for safe driving. Defrost your windows, clean your mirrors, and make sure visibility is unobstructed. Winter tires also need to be considered when driving this winter. Without question they will help to cope with ice and snow in the city and on highways.

Ultimately, drivers need to be aware of the conditions they are driving in and adjust accordingly, reduce speed, be aware of your location and keep your composure!

6

news

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

U of R moves up

U of R is ranked 8 out of 15 top schools. taylor rattray contributor

In Maclean’s 2013 issue of the top Canadian universities, the University of Regina was named 8th in the top fifteen Canadian universities in the comprehensive category. These universities, according to Maclean’s, “have a significant degree of research activity and a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional degrees.”

Universities are ranked by various factors, such as student and classes, faculty, resources, student support, library, and reputation by data garnered from Statistics Canada, financial figures for the fiscal year, The Canadian Association of Research Libraries, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and various smaller surveys.

Zengrun Zhang, a Business Administration student, believes there must be some reason for such a high ranking, and that it all depends on the students.

According to C. Gon-

Emily Wright Gold Star, U of R!

salves, also a business student, this ranking is accurate, and he claims, “It is not a university that does everything perfectly, but I feel that it is adequate, at least in the categories there are.”

Robin Keen, a second year social work student, says, “I’ve always thought [the University of Regina] was a good school, especially regarding certain programs. If Maclean’s

ranks [it] out of 49 schools, I’d say I’m pretty happy with going to a school ranking eigth in the country. I won’t lie, I didn’t think it would be quite that high, but now that I think about it a little

more, I think eigth sounds about right, and pretty good.”

Additionally, Keen states, “There’s always room for improvement, but overall I think [the University of Regina] is on the right track.”

As for development, Keen believes, “It seems as though money is being spent on things that are nice in theory, but that our school isn’t ready for, meaning more needs to be done to benefit the majority of our student body before introducing the things that, while nice, aren’t necessary to our education. More than anything, I think this is where there is room for improvement, a re-evaluation of where our money is going.”

Whether or not students agree with Maclean’s 2014 top Canadian schools, a ranking of eigth for the University of Regina is definitely a reputation booster for a school that has always been undervalued.

the Carillon: wrecking the bell curve since 1962.

A review of the RICOH GR

This point-and-shoot may be small but it’s certainly for the big shots! arthur ward technical co-ordinator

When one thinks of a professional photographer, big lenses and cameras often come to mind. Well, the engineers over at RICOH intend to blur the lines a little bit with the release of their new camera, the GR. At first glance the GR appears to be just another point-and-shoot camera but don’t be fooled as it’s not a toy for amateurs.

Although small, 4.6 by 2.5 inches to be exact, and just over 8 ounces, the GR’s light magnesium body gives a rugged, indestructible feel in your hands. Upon my first trial of the GR I was baffled, as I couldn’t figure out were the zoom controls were. Then a quick glance at the lens showed me how I was fooled by the GR’s pointand-shoot like appearance. This compact camera is outfitted with a fixed focal length 18.3 mm lens (which is equivalent to 28mm on a full framed camera) and an f/2.8 maximum aperture.

Right away, you can see that the designers at RICOH had the more experienced and professional photographers in mind when designing the GR.

With a price tag of $800, most consumers would be turned off of spending that much money for what appears to be a regular compact cam-

RICOH Imaging $800 for a camera with no zoom?!

era without a zoom. RICOH’s GR is intended for professional photographers as a camera not to replace their existing kit, but rather to compliment it. Its small footprint means that it can be pushed in any side pocket and taken anywhere. Most professional gear can get big, heavy and bulky, and at other times the presence of such camera equipment can often be intimidating, scaring away potential subjects.

The GR gives photographers access to 16 megapixels for those large prints, RAW

image formats for more post processing control, a hot shoe mount external flashes and a continuous shutter drive of 4 frames per second for those unpredictable action shots.

One impressive feature that is identical to the pro DSLR cameras, is the GR’s two thumb wheels, one to the front and rear of the camera, that are used to adjust the exposure settings.

This makes the GR a familiar camera to operate for pro users.

Another professional feature worth mentioning is the GR’s expansive ISO range

of 100 – 25600, which performs quite well up to ISO 3200. The GR is also designed without an Optical Low-pass Filter, which is used by most cameras to eliminate the moiré or zebra pattern distortion that occurs when taking photos of certain textures.

Instead, the GR relies on its Engine V image processor to eliminate this. Only a few other cameras on the market were brave enough to make this move, most notably Nikon’s D800E which earns this little camera a lot of respect among the pros.

These key features,

along with the GR’s incredibly small size, make it the perfect sidekick for any pro photographer. Although the fixed focal length doesn’t provide any zoom, think of the GR as a soldier’s service pistol, which is used in close combat. The GR is prefect for street photography and sensitive photojournalistic assignments where professional gear will be too intrusive.

With all this being said, the RICOH GR also has features that will appeal to the curious novice looking for that unique point-and-shoot. Features such as a fully automatic mode, aperture and shutter priority modes, a macro mode for those detailed close ups and Face Detection modes for getting those shots of your friends and family in focus.

The GR also has those cheesy image effects like colour filters that seem to be a standard on all point-and-shoots.

However, don’t be fooled, as the GR’s amateur looking body certainly packs a professional punch.

a&c

Editor: Robyn Tocker aandc@carillonregina.com the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

The Carillon didn’t interview TBDM The night was really eventful, nevertheless. michael chmielewski editor-in-chief

There’s honestly nothing like it. Jumping in the car, energy drinks and junk food in hand, to road trip to a concert.

Although Saskatoon is by no means a huge voyage from Regina, it’s still fun. My friend and I hit the road, for what was sure to be a sick night of brutal death metal. We’d seen The Black Dahlia Murder before in Regina, and even got to hang out with the band after the show a couple years ago.

They were super cool dudes then, so I thought that it might be possible to get a quick interview sometime during the night. I had been looking forward to the show for quite a while, especially since they released their strongest album to date, entitled Everblack.

Blasting the new album, we headed north. The drive was full of loud metal, and also seeing a certain politician: no road trip is complete without making stupid faces and waving at Cam Broten as you zoom by.

Before we knew it, we were in S’toon, and we headed straight for Louis’ Pub at the University of Saskatoon. I have to admit, I was kind of nervous.

TBDM is one of my favourite bands. The venue was initially confusing, because I couldn’t see a door where I could pop my head into to request an interview, as compared to the Exchange or Riddell in Regina. If I had been responsible, I would have contacted the band’s publicity agent to book a time, but I literally couldn’t find the contact info. Plus, I didn’t think it’d be a huge issue.

Soon enough, after stopping at the merchandise stand, then the bar, I saw Brian walking around the venue. I went up to and introduced myself to the founding member and riff master. We shook hands, had the regular introductions, blah blah blah, “new album’s great, saw you in Regina, “ etc. and then I asked if the band had fifteen minutes for an interview.

“Sorry to disappoint you dude, but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” he told me.

He probably could have seen the disappointment in my face, but waited for me to answer.

“Well, I’ll check back later, man,” I said. He nodded and told me jokingly “not to get too drunk.” I was already on the way there with a Louis’ “pint” and shot of Jack down. We both laughed and went our separate ways.

So that’s exactly what I did. On my way to hit the bar, I was ID’d by the security again. They had blocked off a little area of the venue where people could drink so that the whole show could be all ages.

As I handed my ID over to the

Shadowgate Heartburn sucks.

guard, I asked him “why don’t you give out armbands to those who want to drink so that you don’t have to ID every time. It’ll make things quicker.”

He looked at me for a while in deep thought. Still holding my ID he finally said, “That’s a pretty good idea! Go on in man.” The ID went in my wallet, and Louis’ took out my money. They actually have a really good beer selection on tap.

A few more in the first band started, and my friend and I headed down to see them.

Standing there with about six other people, Noisem started up. Although vocalist Tyler Carnes later disagreed with my classification, the band had a cool sound that felt like a mix of Napalm Death and Sepultura, but what do I know.

Realizing that I probably wouldn’t talk to TBDM, after their set I asked Tyler if he’d be down for an interview. He agreed right away. I told him I’d grab him later, because I suddenly had an idea.

I tried to see if any-

body was in the fellow student newspaper the Sheaf’s office, but they had the outer doors closed, so I couldn’t have knocked on their door if I wanted to. I found it quite funny that they were within a stone’s throw of a watering hole that was just beneath them, exactly like the Carillon.

After hanging out with a couple people I knew, I went back to grab Tyler. I signaled that we should go outside so it’s quieter, because by now the next band had already started.

But when we got outside, a couple interesting characters came up to Tyler to talk. Although they didn’t realize it, I turned my recorder on while they were chatting. Here’s where it starts, with some random dude saying “sorry I was, like, born a fucking Canadian … and NFL destroys CFL,” to which Tyler replies “Definitely.”

The debate raged on, incoherently at best, until at one point I chimed, loudly, “but it must be interesting to watch three-down football for you guys.”

“No, it’s four downs,” said Carnes to which I replied to the person I’m about to interview, who granted me an interview, “no, in fucking CFL, you idiot.” The Baltimore native went on to reminisce about the Baltimore Stallions. The conversation moved to other subjects, with a heavy amount of spitting

in the background, for some reason.

Unlike my interview with TBDM that never happened, I didn’t plan this one out, so it was fun to try and make up questions on the fly. One highlight of the interview was discussing how Tyler wasn’t used to playing on stages, so he jumped on the concert floor with his mic to join the audience. In this way, a lot more people gathered around. He credits this to his punk origins. He started talking about how receptive Canadian crowds were, and the different potentially dangerous cities in Canada.

At this point, a drunk metal head with a heavy slur in his speech starts yelling “Vancouver,” and goes on to make the astute observation that whereas Regina had two murders that week, quote “places like LA, eh, have like 20 a day, fuck.” In sum, that’d be 7300 homicides a year.

Lastly, I asked him probably the most important question. What’s your favourite Canadian beer? He answered with Boréale Blonde, which he claimed was the best beer he’s ever had.

This stands in stark contrast with what TBDM’s roadie told me later, that essentially everything in Canada sucked.

I was trying to have a normal conversation with him until finally the disrespct was enough: “how’s Detroit,” his hometown “doing nowadays?”

He asked for it and got it right on the chin.

After the roadie went back in, slightly less proud, the same guard from before came outside. He remembered me.

“Hey! The ideas guy!

Do you have a lighter?”

Someone else gave him one, and to my surprise, suddenly he started smoking a joint. Topnotch security, and no wonder my ideas blew his mind of out this world.

A lot more things happened that night, but there’s too many to tell. I didn’t end up getting the interview TBDM like I had hoped. After their set I went up to them and said, lying, “look guys, my boss back in Regina is going to be super pissed that I couldn’t get an interview.” They still couldn’t, but I understood because they were very busy that night. Nevertheless, the band played great as always, including my favourite song, and the night was definitely a memorable one.

8

a&c

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

Tattoo addiction You can’t have just one. destiny kaus a&c writer Tattoos are cool. Really cool.

And, in this day and age, they’re taking the world by storm. But, it never used to be this way. Shayla Riche, a Kinesiology student at the University of Regina, got her first tattoo in grade eleven, back when tattoos weren’t so cool.

“Everyone was like, ‘Wow you’re so young! What the hell are you doing?’”

Poor girl. Thankfully, today’s society has become more accepting toward tattoos, which I love, because I believe tattoos are a phenomenal form of art.

Not everyone can draw, run a tattoo machine, and tattoo for hours on end. Tattoo artists have serious talent.

Riche says it best: “I guess your body could be considered a canvas.”

Gorgeous statement and so true. Riche herself let an artist paint her canvas on two occasions. She has her dad’s favourite car tattooed on her back and the quote “Dream without fear” on her foot. Overall, Riche loves her tats and has never really thought about what they may look like when she’s old and grey.

“I’ve never really thought about it. I don’t think I’m going to be sitting around naked all the time when I’m old.”

This valid point never ceases to amuse me.

Interestingly enough, Riche and Morgan Kotylak, a nursing student at the University of Regina, have not been bitten by the tattoo addiction bug . . . yet. Neither Riche nor Kotylak plan on getting anymore tattoos anytime soon.

Kotylak has one tatty that comes together as a cul-

mination to express who she is as a born-and-raised, horse-riding, Saskatchewan cowgirl. She states that tattoos “show who you are, and they always have a reason.”

On this point, I beg to differ. Yes, tattoos can have great significance behind them, but some people just want tattoos because they like how they look. I recently watched an episode of Tattoo Nightmares where a young lady was a tattoo model. All she wanted to do was get sweet tattoos and show them off to the world; a walking canvas. How cool is that?

But, like the individuals who appear on Tattoo Nightmares, some people end up deeply regretting their tats.

Kotylak says, “If you want to have a tattoo then get one. No harm done. If you regret it, it’s your own fault.”

Boom. Blunt, but well said. Yes, sometimes sketchy

tattoo shops screw people over (I have seen this over and over on Tattoo Nightmares and America’s Worst Tattoos. It happens). But, a lot of individuals regret their tattoos because of their own stupidity. For example, who in their right mind would willingly choose to get tattooed in someone’s moldy basement, while a cloud of cannabis smoke looms over the entire room, and the “artist” uses his or her own homemade tattoo machine?

This is asking for trouble. One cannot expect to get a beautiful, technically correct tattoo in a situation like this one.

Thank goodness legit tattoo shops and tattoo artists exist. Rik, a tatty artist from Regina’s own D’Nile Tattoos, takes pride in his work and in the evolution of tattoo culture.

“They used to do it with sticks,” Rick states, “and now it’s come a long way … it has evolved lots because of the

television shows making it rise in popularity.”

Does he believe people can get addicted to tattoos?

He sure does.

“I believe it’s something people need to go back and do again and again, yes.”

I concur. I have seen it firsthand. After getting one tattoo, plenty of my friends have gone and gotten more . . . many more.

Rik, himself, is a living example of this. He currently has around 70 to 80 tattoos and is working towards making them all into one.

Some people may think this is crazy. I think it’s awesome.

Truth is, tattoos are art. And, considering that today’s society more readily accepts this form of artistic expression, tattoos will only continue to rise in popularity.

Big rodeo, bigger animals Agribition brings us back every year. taryn riemer contributor A day at Agribition always starts with excitement and a lot of energy. A first-timer would think they could see it all in a day, however they would be mistaken.

People from all walks of life come out to see the event.

Kids as young as newborns to seniors were enjoying the exhibits. A kid-friendly pavilion was set up where kids could pet animals, learn about museums and do crafts. Many families explore this pavilion. This area was also the First Nation pavilion. Kids could learn about First Nations culture and see artwork. There was also clothing and jewelry on display.

Farm equipment, animal necessities, vehicles and other farming goods were on display as well. There were large displays with tractors and other farm equipment in two of the arenas. In the soccer area, dozens of different business had their products on display.

Jim Anderson, the president of Frost-Free Nose Pump Ltd, has been coming to Agribition for 11 years. He enjoys coming to Agribition so he can talk to people about his product.

“I like it when people come along and we get into a good discussion and then I see the light come on in their eye about how this works. Then I know I’ve made my point.”

Along with large equipment exhibits there are also exhibits that cater to the spouse of the farmer who is at Agribition.

Some people call it the homeware section, others call it the girl area. Whatever you want

to call it, it’s to be noted that it’s not just for the women, although there are things that are directed at them.

This area of Agribition is always packed with people looking for a cool new gadget or even a new article of clothing. Vendors in this area can be polar opposite when it comes to their product. However, there is some flow to the way things are set up. In one corner there is artwork, in another cooking supplies and another corner has clothing.

Deborah Letness is the creator, president and owner of DD Jewellery Collection. She has been coming to Agribition for five or six years and has many people coming back every year to see her collection.

“You can kind of build a reputation and the reason why I’m in this spot [which I don’t move from] is because people know I’m here.”

There are so many things to buy and look at in this area. Once you have gone through this area, there are still many options for where to go next. If it’s still early in the day, a good option is to check out the animal shows in the barns.

There is an excellent beef cattle show that is held every year, along with many other animal shows.

Talking to people about why they come to Agribition year after year, Lise Hixson has an easy answer.

“Cause my husband likes to come here. I just come to see what they have.”

If animal shows aren’t your idea of a good time at Agribition, there is still many more things to see. Around the Brandt Centre, there are more vendors for people to tour

through. The Brandt Centre is also the main area for the rodeo. During the day, there are events like team penning. However, the evening show is where most people want to come out and watch.

Seven o’clock is when the big rodeo starts. There are all the classic events that you

would see at the rodeo: bull riding, team roping, steer wrestling and much more.

The rodeo ends around ten and people slowly start to head home. Another day at Agribition is over and a lot of things were seen and bought.

Even after spending close to a full day at Agribition there is

a good chance you didn’t see everything. It’s a good thing that there is more than one day of this grand event. It probably would take a person two or more days to get everything in. In the end, a couple of days there is worth it.

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

a&c

9

Coffee convenience?

New Starbucks in Cathedral raises questions. robyn tocker a&c editor A father with an empty Safeway basket hands his daughter a drink overflowing with whipped cream. The Starbucks worker gets to work on cleaning up the counter while the little girl guzzles her treat. I could call this convenience, but it seems more like insanity. Then again, I don’t have a little daughter and the necessity to buy groceries for dinner.

As I sit across the new Starbucks in the Cathedral Safeway, two minutes don’t go by without a new customer walking up to the sleek, brown counter.

People of all shapes and sizes get their caffeine fix and while it’s convenient, why is it here?

Shelley, a worker at Safeway, says all Lifestyle stores, which is what the new Safeway is, have Starbucks in them. It isn’t as if the store demanded they receive a Starbucks like all the other Safeways in the city. It helps that this is the only Starbucks in the Cathedral area.

“We’re busy. People were dying for a Starbucks,” says Shelley.

The new, renovated Safeway opened Oct. 31 and with it the customers looking for a Starbucks poured in. Local

Arthur Ward MMMMM, coffee.

coffee shops in the area have not seen an effect on their business yet.

Rosie, an employee from Roca Jack’s coffee shop says she has seen much more traffic in the Safeway parking lot. She has also seen new people who never went to Safeway before enter. Some staple customers who used Safeway in the past, she says, don’t go there anymore. Personally, she hasn’t seen business in the shop be affected.

“We have a solid reputation in the community.” Rosie has worked in the coffee business on and off for 15 years and with her experience, she judges

Starbuck’s quality of bean is less than satisfactory, at least for her tastes. This could be a reason Roca Jack’s business is remaining steady, despite the new business in the area.

Serena, a Cathedral community member, says she is not a fan of Starbucks, and while she can’t speak for the community, for her, it’s all a personal choice.

“I don’t think people in the area wanted a new Safeway.”

There are local grocery stores which offer locally grown alternatives to what Safeway offers, just as there are shops like Roca Jack’s that offer a different

quality of bean.

Jule Gylchrist, the owner of Cuppa-T, also has not noticed a difference with her business, but that could be because her store provides loose-leaf tea.

“There’s a difference between bagged tea and loose leaf tea, and customers know that.”

Loyal clientele is what makes it or breaks it in Cathedral, and Cuppa-T has just that.

“We have loyal customers who are geared toward supporting local businesses,” says Dalton Fayad, the owner of 13th Ave. Coffee Shop. “[Our customers] are conscientious of

where their money’s going.”

Fayad says their business hasn’t been affected yet, also due to the fact that his store is also a restaurant that doesn’t rely fully on food.

“People come for food and get a coffee to go with it.”

Yet Alma, an employee at the Cathedral Safeway Starbucks, says it’s very convenient to have a Starbucks here.

“When people are shopping, they can get their coffee to go.” She says business has been going well and as Shelley said, they are busy with coffee-dependent customers.

A local business owner says they are glad to see a renovated Safeway with its Starbucks.

“It’s great. It brings people to the neighborhood.

They come eat here then go get their groceries. It’s a positive thing.”

While I might be a little concerned about the little girls with frothy drinks, and I may be questioning the papery taste of my drink, I can’t blame people for seeking convenience. It does come down to choice, and if I lived in the area, I don’t know what I’d choose. But it’s nice to have options, right?

The power of true love’s kiss Sleeping Beauty rests on the main stage. destiny kaus a&c writer

What’s better than finishing up end-of-the-year projects and studying for finals? Watching Sleeping Beauty at the Globe Theatre! After four full weeks of practice and rehearsal, this spellbinding production will hit the Globe’s stage on Nov. 20 and run until Dec. 29. Personally, I plan on taking in this spectacle, not only to get a much needed break from my academic endeavors, but also to sincerely absorb the whole theatrical experience and immerse myself in the ever-so-enjoyable story that I heard time and time again when I was a child.

The Globe Theatre’s interpretation of Sleeping Beauty replicates the classic fairy-tale; it will transport the audience from the human world to the land of the dead, and, finally, to fairyland.

According to Globe Theatre, as the story goes, the royal fairy family and the royal human family have their issues.

Both the Queen of the fairies (Maeve) and the Queen of the humans (Adela) cannot have children. This royally sucks. So, Adela sets out on a journey through the land of the dead and into fairyland to get help from Maeve’s evil sister Malefia.

Why Adela seeks help from a

devilish woman, I do not know, but it works.

Adela soon gives birth to a beautiful baby girl and names her Rosetta (AKA Sleeping Beauty). Like any evil sister would, Malefia comes back into the picture once again to wreak havoc on this poor little child.

During the celebration of Rosetta’s birth, Malefia casts an evil spell upon her. On the night of her sixteenth birthday, Princess Rosetta will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. The only way this spell will be broken is with true love’s first kiss. Oh the suspense! Oh the romance! All the makings for a great play.

Agnes Tong, who plays Princess Rosetta, makes her debut performance for the Globe Theatre in Sleeping Beauty.

“[Princess Rosetta] is a rough and tough tomboy,” Tong says. “She’s independent … she hunts and she fends for herself … she has a good head on her shoulders.”

Clearly, Princess Rosetta is not the typical Disney princess who flaunts countless ball gowns in attempts to attract the most handsome prince. She likes to live on the edge, experience life, and think rationally.

Tong has never performed “in the round” before (performing on a round stage completely encircled by audi-

Jeff Hamon Photography From left to right: Lucy Hill, Agnes Tong, and Judy Wensel

ence seating). Thus, instead of only having to worry about one or two entrances for characters, Tong and the other actors must deal with four different entrances. I feel as though if I were placed in this situation, I would get lost or deeply screw up my stage instructions. Props to these actors! Additionally, show biz has other challenges.

Tong says, “There are

a lot of scene changes … and changes in costumes.”

She explains how some actors have a mere 50 seconds to change from a human world costume into an excessively elaborate fairy costume complete with wings.

This impresses me to the nth degree. Heck, I sometimes struggle to change my normal, everyday clothes in 10

minutes let alone 50 seconds.

Though the Sleeping Beauty crew will start official performances on Nov. 20, they have already performed various dress rehearsals and preview shows in front of a few schools.

According to Tong, this play was definitely a hit for the kids. Children watched with bated breath, and cheers filled the theatre. All in all, Tong hopes that children and adults alike will thoroughly enjoy the show.

“I want everyone to have a good time.”

Personally, I believe a good time will be had by all.

What’s there not to like about a classic fairy-tale getting reproduced on the main stage of the Globe Theatre?

To add to the storyline, Sleeping Beauty has a ton of technical elements, such as lights and special effects that will enhance the already magical fairyland set. As audience members will file into their seats, they will be surrounded by a mystical land with a canopy of forest hanging overhead.

I believe this breath-taking set and impeccable story will come together seamlessly to tackle the age-old battle between good and evil. In the end, who will prevail?

features

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

War, Politics, Racing, Hookers, and Fake Accents More ridiculous adventures from Thailand.

Craig Martell Protestors in Thailand.

dietrich neu foreign correspondent “They shoot you, you shoot them back!”

My boss was slightly agitated. We were talking about the unrest in the south of Thailand. For the past ten years, insurgent groups have regularly attacked Thai military bases, police cars, civilians, and public monuments in three provinces that share a boarder with Malaysia.

The attacks were often carried out with homemade explosives, or illegally purchased automatic weapons. News of the clashes made the front pages almost daily. On this particular day, one of the insurgent groups had rigged 26 anti-tank missiles to explode simultaneously.

No one was hurt after the bombs detonated, but a violent gunfight erupted afterwards between police and the insurgents. A schoolteacher was the only casualty, caught in the crossfire.

“This is bullshit,” said Sampan, my section editor at the newspaper. “They kill our people, burn our temples, and all the government does is talk.”

“Why you talk?” He continued, speaking of the government, not me. “If they shoot you, you shoot them back. No talking.

They burn our temple, you burn their mosque.”

The violent conflicts were the product of a land dispute between predominantly Muslim Malaysian rebels and the Thai government.

In the 1700s, Thailand conquered large amounts of northwestern Malaysian land (bordering on Thailand’s south).

The British eventually colonized Malaysia, but when they relinquished control of the country, the Brits decided to let Thailand keep the land it overtook years ago.

The insurgent groups (about 8 of them) are trying to take it back.

The Thai government has tried several times to negotiate the issue, but all the previous talks failed.

“Fuck you,” said Sampan, pointing to a billboard of Thailand President Yingluck Shinawatra as we drove by. “You

nawatra, was forced to flee the country and live in exile after a military junta overtook the government and charged him with multiple counts of corruption.

He was also accused of executing a bombing on New Year’s Eve that same year, and was reportedly about to be charged in connection with violent military crackdowns that killed almost 100 civilians.

“He was a competent leader,” said Sampan. It was the first time I heard him show respect for one of Thailand’s political elite. I was a bit surprised,

If passed, the bill would absolve Thaksin and his exiled cohorts of any crimes or charges they faced after the junta took over. Considering the bill was proposed by the government, and the government is run by Thaksin’s sister, it is understandable that people were a little upset about it.

But the government backed down on the bill as the protests escalated in an attempt to quell the public’s anger. It didn’t work.

“Now they want another military coup!” Sampan said.

considering who he was praising.

“But, he is a corrupt asshole,” he added. “Awe shit!”

That made more sense. Sampan used the phrase “awe shit” regularly as a parallel for “oh my god.”

Political turmoil was alive and well in Thailand that day. Massive protests, involving upwards of 20,000 people in some cases, were being staged across Bangkok in opposition of a recent Amnesty bill that was being pressed through parliament.

“Again!? What the fuck is this shit? Half the people at these protests don’t even know the issues. They don’t know why they are there.”

I could understand his reaction. Another military coup wouldn’t really be the best thing for a country that thrives on tourism. A military overthrow would probably set the country back several years.

“People don’t think, they just join their friends and do whatever,” said Sampan.

I could feel his blood rising as we raced down Bang-

SSGT Stan Parker, USAF Shoot first, and ask questions later.

should shoot them all.”

Sampan commonly said “Fuck you” when talking about politics. His opinion of policymakers in Thailand was simple: they are all corrupt crooks. He’s not entirely wrong.

Thailand has a tumultuous political history -- marred by widespread corruption and military coups. The country’s political history reads like a how-to guide on overthrowing the government.

The last time was in 2006, when the current president’s brother, Thaskin Shi-

kok’s expressway. The speed limit was 80 kph. Sampan was going 150. It wasn’t a big deal, because so were all the other drivers. In fact, driving the actual speed limit would have probably started a traffic jam.

He was driving me to a press conference for my one of my stories that week -- The Race of Champions. It was an ironic moment, because Sampan was weaving in and out of traffic like a NASCAR driver.

At first I thought the race sounded prestigious, but what I would eventually find out is that it is probably the stupidest race in world history.

The “competition” pits the year’s racing champions in every major racing league against each other. All of the racers use identical cars. An attempt to make the race “fair”.

Again, this sounded intriguing on paper, until I realized that two of the champions are motorcycle racers, another is a Nascar champion who probably hasn’t turned right in 10 years, and another one is a drag racer who only knows how to hit the gas and go straight.

Half of the field doesn’t even race cars in the way they are being asked to, and they are supposed to go toe-to-toe with car race legends like Michael Schumacher.

Every year, the competitors that race cars for a living completely annihilate the ones that don’t -- shocking. I can only imagine the riveting action, watching Schumacher lap his opponent for the fourteenth time.

It reminded me of the old freak show fights Japanese MMA promoters used to set up years ago.

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

More ridiculous adventures from Thailand.

11

Takeaway The Red-Shirts of 2010

Dietrich Neu

E01

The alleyway where Club Ai can be found.

The Race of Champions track at Wembley from 2007.

The promoters would match up mammoth 350-pound monster-men against puny lightweight fighters -- billing the bouts as “David vs Goliath” style contests. Except in these match-ups, David gets his ass kicked every time.

The Japanese fans would cheer and scream as the smaller fighters would scurry around the ring in an attempt to avoid their inevitable demise.

They would eventually be caught by the larger men, who would immediately fall on them and smash their faces into a bloody pulp -- rendering them unconscious.

The fans would continue to cheer as the near-dead fighters were carried out of the arena, praising their “fighting spirit” for basically signing up to have several of their bones broken.

The Race of Champions is the freak show match-up of the racing world. A silly waste of time.

My interview that day was with the vice-president of the event, and I was planning to keep my thoughts to myself.

I walked into the conference room, seconds later one of the PR staff handed me a bottle of wine -- it is common in Thailand for companies to give small gifts to journalists that go to their press conferences, but wine? I happily accepted the bottle.

Considering how pointless the race was, I was surprised when I saw the 100-seater press gallery was full, which never happens. All of the Thai journalists were late, which always happens.

The press conference almost put me to sleep, as usual. 40 minutes of people talking in a language I don’t understand. My head bobbed up and down as I transitioned between REM sleep and consciousness.

To pass the time, I started thinking about an interview I had watched the day before. It was between British DJ/celebrity Zane Lowe and Kanye West.

West was acting like a delusional goofball, as always, which is probably why I was rehashing the moment to pass the time.

“Come.

Interview now,” one of the PR staff said

abruptly, snapping me out of my daydreaming state.

Seconds later, I was in front of Bill, the vice-president of the Race of Champions. With Zane Lowe’s interview fresh in my mind, I introduced myself in an English accent.

“Ello, ow are you?” I said. Bill paused for a moment.

“You’re from England, aren’t you?” He said. I had no choice but to keep the lie going.

“Is my accent that obvious?” I asked.

“I have a good ear for that,” he said. Which is obviously bullshit because my fake English accent sucked.

“Shall we start the interview?” I said. For some reason “shall” seemed like the more English thing to say.

The next 10 minutes was a ridiculous bungle of a conversation. I transitioned between Canadian, British, Australian, and Irish accents -- all the while pretending to be interested in the most pointless race in history.

It went off without a hitch -- my finest moment as a bold-faced liar.

Unfortunately, the interview wasn’t the end. Apparently, Bill took a liking to me, because he started grilling me about my past.

“Where are you from?”

He said.

“Um, live up north,” I nervously replied.

“Oh, I have friends in northern England. Where?” I paused for a long time.

“Scottsford,” I said.

Bill was from Spain, which was good because Scottsford doesn’t exist. I could feel the sweat on my forehead as I waited for him to either call me on my bullshit or believe my lie.

“Never heard of it,” he said. “Where did you go to university?”

“Cambridge,” I lied.

Keeping this lie going was a struggle. I had to reach into the depths of my limited knowledge of England to maintain the fiction.

“So you know Duncan then?” He said. I was fucked.

Who is Duncan? A student, a professor, a janitor, his nephew?

My answer would make or break

the facade.

“Yeah, he’s a great guy,” I said vaguely -- in an Irish accent.

“The man was born to teach,” he said.

It turns out that Duncan, whoever he is, teaches communications /journalism at Cambridge.

That was all I needed to hear. I happily lied my way to the end of the conversation, making up fake teacher-student experiences that “changed my outlook on life.”

It was quite possibly the most ridiculous moment of my life, or at least that’s what I thought at the time. I was wrong.

That night, when I returned to my apartment, I noticed my friend, Timo, arguing with one of the Japanese tenants. His name was Yuki.

“Take me there!” He said authoritatively. Timo spotted me walking in, and demanded that I come with him. I had no idea where he wanted to go, but I instinctively agreed anyways.

Yuki seemed unsure about going to wherever it was.

He laughed repeatedly, but it was obvious that he felt weird about going where Timo wanted to go.

“Take us to Ai Bar,” Timo demanded.

Yuki eventually relented and agreed to take us. As the taxi drove us there, I still had no idea what I was getting into. The only thing Timo said is that you have to be, or be with, a Japanese person to get in. He promised a good time. It was interesting to say the least.

Club Ai (pronounced I-YA) is located in a back alley of Bangkok’s Japanese district, called “real Japan” by some.

After gabbing some pre-bar beers, we tip-toed our way down a dark, wet, and smelly alleyway before a Japanese man emerged from the darkness.

“Club Ai!” He shouted.

Before we could answer he turned around and motioned for us to follow him. We eventually made it to a dimly lit door.

There was no signage on the outside.

The door cracked and squeaked as the man opened it. On the wall behind the door

was a sign that read “Japanese only”. We were in the right place, apparently.

Timo said the club reminded him of a scene from the TV show Twin Peaks. I hadn’t watched the show at the time, and didn’t pay his comments much attention.

The interior of the club was a stark difference from the dirty, busted up, outside.

Yuki stumbled as we walked inside. I looked down and grabbed his arms to stop him from falling over. When I looked up again I almost fell over myself.

The inside of the club was filled with golden-laced chandeliers and leather booths.

A four-piece jazz band played quietly in the corner.

A massive row of beautiful Japanese women greeted us as we walked in. They were some of the most attractive women I had seen in Thailand.

All of them were dressed in pink formal uniforms, with large amounts of cleavage -- obviously. Each of them had a numbered plastic tag on one of their breasts.

“You know where we are, right?” Timo said.

“Yeah,” I replied. It was a brothel, and the beautiful Japanese girls were prostitutes.

I knew that it was a matter of time before I wound up in a place like Club Ai. Adventure around Bangkok long enough and it is bound to happen. It was still a shock. The manager approached us.

“Make your pick,” she said.

Yuki rounded up the girls that could speak English.

Both him and Timo made their picks quickly. I hesitated between two of them, and ended up picking both.

All of us sat down at a nearby table. The girls went to work right away. Rubbing our legs, kissing our necks, laughing at our drunkenly slurred jokes.

One of the girls I chose had a red tag, the other had a green one. The manager explained that women with red tags could be “rented” for two hours, and the women with green tags would spend 24 hours with their customers.

We were the youngest

people in the club by 20 years.

Every other table was filled with fat, old, greasy, and probably rich Japanese men.

The girls at our table seemed eager at the prospect of fucking someone who wasn’t old enough to be their dad.

Paying for sex has never been high on my list of life achievements, but I would be liar if I didn’t say the prospect was tempting.

At that point, I was wasted and some of the best-looking women I had ever seen were kissing my neck and rubbing my back -- not to mention the price tag was less than 60 Canadian dollars each.

If I was by myself, I very well might have done it. But before I could convince my drunken self to pay for sex for the first time in my life, Timo spoke up.

“Eway houldsay eavelay,” he said.

“What!?” I said. His slurred words made no sense at first. Timo repeated them with more aggression.

“Eway houldsay eavelay!”He was speaking pig-Latin, and the translation was “we should leave.”

The girls were expecting us to pay “top dollar” for their services, and the manager was staring at us from across the room.

“We need to pay or leave,” Timo said bluntly. He added that things might get violent if the owners found out that we were only window-shopping.

Reluctantly, I got up, and started to walk out of the door. The girls were grabbing my arms as I left, and the manager was yelling something in Japanese.

Yuki told me that she said we were banned for life because we wasted everyone’s time. Not that I was planning to go back anyways.

The girls were still grabbing my hands as I walked out. I pulled away and stumbled into the puddle-filled street. Timo and Yuki followed. The manager was still yelling.

“That was fucking crazy,” I said.

It’s easy to find trouble in Bangkok.

sports

Editor: Autumn McDowell sports@carillonregina.com the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

ROUNDTABLE

Haley Klassen Ahh yes, the pump up circle.

michael chmielewski, taylor sockett, brady lang, autumn mcdowell

broke more than their tibiae Many of you have admitted in the past that you do not attend Cougars games regularly. Has this changed at all this season?

Chmielewski: I’ve never been to a Cougars or Rams game here actually, and no it hasn’t.

That being said, I encourage everyone to fully, blindly, and unabashedly support Cougar’s sports. Drop your classes, quit your jobs, ignore your family, and come out to a game! It’s your duty as a U of R student, and should be your first priority.

Sockett: It has been brought to my attention that I lack “school spirit” despite the fact that I go to nearly every home hockey game. But to appease my Twitter haters, I will be making an effort to attend even more Cougars events. After all, it’s free to get in, so I’m sure there’s something worse I could do with my time.

Lang: Not overly, I have attended some hockey games because who wouldn’t want to go to the rink regularly?

McDowell: I actually attend the games quite regularly. I have fre-

quently been seen braving the cold at the Rams games, anxiously hoping to win a chip hamper at basketball games and tipping back a few tall ones at the hockey games. I think the only sporting event I haven’t attended is a swim meet, but since we only host one and it is directly in the middle of finals, I can’t be held responsible for that.

What has been your favourite Roughriders moment from this season so far?

Chmielewski: As bad as this may sound, I haven’t watched a game yet. I’m not being sarcastic either. It seriously sucks.

Sockett: Last week in the forth quarter during a game where it looked like we might lose, Dwight Anderson had a hit that should be recognized as the turning point. Anderson obliterated the B.C. receiver, forcing the Lions to punt. After that Durant did the rest.

Lang: Honestly, this season has been a blur since the opening game against Calgary. I’m waiting out until Grey Cup 101 to answer this question.

McDowell: That’s a tough one.

While I think my favourite moment will be rushing the field after we win the Grey Cup on Sunday and celebrating with the entire province, so far my favourite moment has to be at-

tending the Labour Day Classic via party bus.

By the way, I just got NHL 14, which is pretty cool.

With just over one week until the big game, will you be attending the Grey Cup in Regina on Nov. 24th?

Sockett: Who cares, for one the Oilers suck so bad; two he’s an unproven rookie. Yakupov should sit down on the bench, shut the fuck up, and earn his ice time like every other player who’s ever laced up the skates.

Chmielewski: Unfortunately no, but my plan is to go watch it in a bar somewhere if at all possible, but it probably won’t happen.

Sockett: No, I’ll be drunk and warm in the comfort of my own or one of my friends houses.

Lang: I will not be at the game, but I’m just waiting for the craziness on Albert St. post game.

McDowell: Yes, I will. I will be one of the lucky ones in the press box, not freezing my ass off, in fact. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, and although I will have to remain sober and try and contain my cheering, I couldn’t pass it up. Right now, my main concern is how I am going to make it to Albert Street post game to join the mob of screaming and drunken fans.

Do you think that former first overall draft pick Nail Yakupov will be traded by the Edmonton Oilers this season?

Chmielewski: It’s hard to tell. I think, for a 20-year-old, someone my age, that’s a lot of pressure. I don’t know really, but I hope it works out well for him.

Lang: Honestly, Yakupov needs to be sent to the AHL, he needs to be taught some professionalism and also how to play defence. He will be traded to somewhere like Florida and possibly fall off the face of the Earth, Kovalchuk part two.

McDowell: It’s hard to say, but I am going to go with yes. The team recently traded possibly their best defenseman – which isn’t saying much – in Smid and brought in nutcase Bryzgalov, so who knows what they will do.

But, let’s be honest, he hasn’t been producing the way a No. 1 draft pick should be and as a result he should be traded while the Oilers could still get something decent for him, otherwise he’ll end up in the KHL shortly.

Tampa Bay Lighting star forward Steven Stamkos recently broke his tibia during a game after crashing into the net.

What effect will this have on the Lightning’s season?

Chmielewski: Apparently he might not make the Olympics, which really sucks. I can’t be sure about the effect on the Lighting.

So in place of a thoughtful answer, I’ll remind you that I just got NHL 14 and my brother beat me in a best of three series. It hurt.

Sockett: Well the Lighting were horrible last season with Stamkos, so they can’t be any better off without him. I think we’re ignoring a conspiracy here. In the Coke Zero commercial, Stamkos was traded by his own father, perhaps his dad knew that Steven has weak tibiae.

Lang: I’m not worried about the Lightning; all I’m worrying about is Team Canada in Sochi for the Olympics.

McDowell: The Lightning might as well throw in the towel, wave the white flag and have the fat lady sing all at once, because they are done for. I mean, the team was awful with Stamkos on their roster, imagine what little they will accomplish without him? I like Tampa Bay, but this isn’t going to be pretty. Also, I think I speak for everyone when I say that my hopes of Team Canada gold have been dashed slightly. Maybe if he would have tried to get up a third time on his broken leg, it would have worked.

HEY, YOU! the Carillon is hiring! see the back page for details.

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

sports 13

Top dogs

Regina Thunder become National Champions paige kreutzwieser staff writer

The Thunder rolled on Nov. 9, when Regina’s Junior Football Club clinched their first ever Canadian Junior Football League national championship.

With a score of 55-26, the Regina Thunder were able to defeat the Vancouver Island Raiders in some of the coldest weather thus far experienced.

“Just really happy, proud and happy, for our guys and going through all the highs and lows to get where we want to be it is a big deal,” said head coach Scott MacAulay after the big victory at the Prairie Football Conference Championships over the Saskatoon Hilltops.

“I’m just proud of them for doing what they said they wanted to do.”

Going into the Canadian Bowl, MacAulay said that they had to not worry about the Raiders and just focus on their own team.

Even though they had never played the West Coast team before, MacAulay said he was curious about how they would match up.

He knows exactly how they match up now.

Asher Hasting, fourthyear quarterback for the Thunder and third-year Justice Studies student at the University of Regina, said that watching film made him a little anxious.

“After watching them dominate on film and totally beat the crap out of every BCFC team by the time game-time came along I was a little nervous thinking ‘these guys are pretty good’,” he said.

Teammate Brady Keller, fourth-year receiver and a second-year history major at the U of R, said that film made him a little nervous as well but that “it became a more so ‘let’s do this’ kind of thing.”

One player on the Thunder roster was actually fairly familiar with the V.I. team.

Mitch Thompson, third-year receiver and current physics major at the U of R, moved away from his hometown of Regina and out to the West Coast, where he played his first year of Junior football for the Raiders.

But, it’s all in the family for Thompson, because his brother, Alex, is on the current Raiders’ roster. His parents were able to live the dream by watching both their boys play against each other in a championship game in their hometown.

Playing in front of family and friends was a huge advantage to the team. A crowd of around 5,000 strong came out and braved the cold weather to support the team. Even U of R quarterback Cayman Shutter bore the cold to watch his cousins (the Thompson boys) play.

“It was pretty cold sitting in the stands,” admitted Shutter, but Thompson said playing in it wasn’t that bad at all.

philandrews18.blogspot.com The national champions, relaxing after a hard-fought championship win.

At half time, Keller joked that he remembered his hands were really cold, but agreed with Thompson that when you were out there running, you weren’t really thinking about it.

But cold was definitely to the advantage of the Thunder. Keller said one of the Raiders actually went up to a Thunder player before the game and asked, “How do you play in this stuff?” So, while the West Coast

for the V.I. opponents, warning them to not let their confidence get the Thunder off their game.

“At half, we weren’t up too much and if we let up, they could come back,” Thompson said. “Because they do have a good team, even though we beat them pretty bad.”

Keller scored the first touchdown of the game. His opponent had been trash talking him for the first two drives and so Keller responded with a cou-

game you think ‘Ok, we have to score another one.’”

Hastings felt the same.

“We were up [at half time] and things were going pretty well, but we’ve played pretty crappy in third quarters this season so far,” he admitted.

In the end, the Thunder came out on top. For Thompson, he said it was a bittersweet victory as his brother, unfortunately, wasn’t able to get many touches on the ball, “but I was

rodpederson.com Hopefully the Riders have the same fate as the Thunder.

boys were trying to figure out how to keep warm, the Thunder already had two weeks of cold practices under their belts.

During the game, Hastings said there was lots of high energy throughout the team.

“Lots of guys on defence were yelling in the locker room all those cliché things to make sure we kept the pedal down,” said the quarterback.

Thompson said MacAulay had them prepared well

ple words.

“But, after I scored on him, he didn’t say anything else,” he said. “So, that was nice.”

The touchdown itself was the kind of thing Keller said he had been working on in practice.

“All week, I was really trying to attack the ball, because I knew at some point [in the game] I would have to,” he said. “But after you score in a

still happy.”

Both Keller and Hastings agree that even though the national championship was an incredible victory, especially for the organization, beating the Hilltops was the highlight of the season.

“That was the turning point for the program,” Hastings said. “[The Hilltops] have been the bullies of the whole league for years now, and they are a benchmark of the CJFL.”

He called the PFC win a “monkey off his back”, due to the way his previous Hilltops encounters had been. A broken collarbone in 2012 hindered his record against Saskatoon, and then he dealt with broken ribs during this season.

“Going into the Hilltops things hadn’t turned out so well,” he said. “I had probably thrown more incompletions against them so to finally be able to beat them was a very happy moment for me.”

The future for these three boys isn’t something they are focusing on right now. Shutter was casually trying to recruit Thompson to play for the Rams, and even though Thompson thinks it would be pretty neat to have his cousin throw to him in games, the Roughrider practice team player doesn’t have any certain plans yet.

Hastings believes MacAulay and the Thunder have a lot of momentum going and sees great things for their future.

But, when asked about offers, he wouldn’t give any details. All he did was laugh and say “Go Thunder.” Fair enough.

For Keller, he knew he always wanted to play football after high school and just hopes he can open some doors to new opportunities at possibly a university or even coaching level.

When asked when they get their rings, Keller responded with “not soon enough.”

The Thunder boasts their national championship in their hometown the same year as the Riders play in the 101 Grey Cup in Regina. Thompson said he isn’t sure yet if he is able to be on the sidelines or not for the game, but what a ride it would be this year for him if he could.

14

sports

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

Hebert’s here

Men’s basketball team member shines on the court. brady lang sports writer

Regina Cougars fourth-year men’s basketball player Brendan Hebert was named the University of Regina’s player of the week last week, and for good reason.

Hebert, a hometown product from Regina, has been averaging 10.3 points per game through the Cougars six games early on in the 2013-14 season. Hebert has shone brightly throughout the 1-8 start to the Cougars season and has led the team in multiple categories such as minutes, three-pointers, and assists.

The Saskatchewan product has stepped up in many different roles this season, including leading the team in minutes, making him one of the most important fixtures on the team for many obvious reasons.

Hebert has been put in a veteran position in the 2013-14 season, as he is one of only three players on the team with four or more years of experience. The guard has also been inserted into the starting role and has been excelling early on.

So far this season, Hebert lead the team to a big upset win against the UBC Thunderbirds. Ever since then,

Haley Klassen No pressure.

though, the Cougars have struggled against tough teams such as Victoria, Alberta, and against their unbeaten rivals Saskatchewan Huskies.

The 1-8 start for the club has al-

most mirrored last season’s beginning as the team went 2-7 in their first eight contests, eventually finishing 7-15, tied with Thompson Rivers for ninth in the Canada West Standings.

The Cougars should be set for a step back this season as the team lost four important veterans on the squad over the offseason. Lone fifth-year Addison Docherty was red shirted in the 2012-13 season and has missed multiple games early on this season, so Hebert and fellow fourth-year guard Darius Mole will have to shoulder much of the workload heading into the season.

The Cougars also went through quite the adjustment, losing long-time Head Coach James Hillis in the offseason and replacing him with longtime assistant with the women’s and men’s basketball programs, Steve Burrows.

The team’s coaching staff has grown with the hiring of Wade Hackl and former Cougar Jordan McFarlen, making the 2013-14 season somewhat of a growing year for the club.

The Cougars dropped their two-game set to the Saskatchewan Huskies this weekend in Regina and fell to 1-8 on the season.

Game one of the two game set ended up a 90-78 victory for the undefeated Huskies.

Cougars’ forward Jeremy Zver – a native of Regina – went six for six with a team high 15 points while the aforementioned Bren-

dan Hebert added 11 points and eight rebounds. Kade Marra also added seven rebounds for the Cougars.

The second match of the set ended in an 85-68 loss for the Cougars. Brandon Tull came off the bench and led the team with 14 points in just 20 minutes played.

Fifth-year guard Docherty came off the bench to score 10 points in just 11 minutes of playing time while going three for five from three-point range. Travis Sylvestre scored seven points while leading the team with eight rebounds with freshman guard Ryan Delwo also adding eight points for the Cougars.

The Cougars will now go on the road for the next two weekends in Calgary against Mount Royal and then off to Prince George for a game against the UNBC Timberwolves.

Top 5 questionable medical procedures in sports Creating robots one step at a time. allan hall distribution manager

ent’s began attempting to have the surgery done on their children pre-emptively so that their children could gain a competitive advantage.

5. Fighters getting plastic surgery done to reduce bleeding One of the possible ways to lose a fight in boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) is for a ringside doctor to stop the fight due to excessive facial lacerations.

This is a situation where a fighter’s face is bleeding so profusely that the fight needs to be stopped for medical reasons. This is especially evident in MMA where a fighter can be kneed, elbowed and kicked in the face with uncovered limbs.

After years of training and competing, some fighters develop a significant amount of scar tissue, which makes them more susceptible to be cut.

Fighters now have begun to undertake plastic surgery in an attempt to be less susceptible to this. Plastic surgeons will sand the bones of an athlete’s face, remove old scar tissue, and then overlay it with tissue from a cadaver. Notable fighters that have undergone this surgery include Nick Diaz, Phil Baroni and Wanderlei Silva.

4. Testosterone replacement therapy For men, the amount of testosterone that their body naturally

1. Stem cell treatment

no-pedia.com I couldn’t not pick this picture.

produces begins to decline as they age. This ultimately leads to a decrease in muscle mass, bone density, energy and red cell production for men as they age.

In order to counteract these effects, some men have begun to undertake Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). This is a form of hormone treatment where additional testosterone is distributed to the individual by testosterone skin creams/gels or injection. This is one of the most controversial drug issues facing MMA today because of the increasing amount of fighters using the hormone treatment to unnaturally prolong their careers, and in some instances, to allegedly gain a competitive advantage.

3. Regenokine

to get this medical procedure.

This is an experimental medical procedure that uses a modified version of a patient’s blood to relieve pain.

During this procedure, a sample of the patient’s blood is removed and then incubated in an elevated environment to create a fever. The blood is then spun in a centrifuge to separate the components of the blood.

Anti-inflammatory proteins from the separated blood is then injected into the patient’s body.

Some have argued that this is a glorified form of blood doping. Because this medical procedure has not been approved in the United States, athletes like Kobe Bryant and Brian Urlacher have flown to Germany

2. Pre-emptive Tommy John surgery The most well known surgery for pitchers in baseball is Tommy John surgery.

This is a medical procedure where a surgeon will attempt to reconstruct a patient’s damaged elbow by replacing the tendon in the patient’s elbow with a tendon elsewhere from their body. As this surgery became more well known some players and fans began to foolishly believe that the surgery would make pitchers able to throw with a higher velocity despite medical research indicating otherwise.

Some overzealous par-

This is an experimental medical procedure where a patient’s hematopoietic stem cells are used to help repair muscle tissue.

For this procedure, doctors will take samples of the patient’s bone marrow and then separate the components using a centrifuge. The stem cells are then separated from the bone marrow slurry and then injected into the injured area to promote the regeneration of the injured tissue. Like Regenokine, because this is a medical procedure that has not been approved in the United States, athletes will go to countries with more lax regulations to get the medical procedure done.

One of the most notable users of this is when Bartolo Colón, a former Cy Young Award winning pitcher that was suspended for synthetic testosterone use, went to the Dominican Republic to get this procedure.

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

sports 15

We’re going to the show

Saskatchewan Roughriders fans plan for victory what the balls? (formerly “what the puck?”) autumn mcdowell sports editor

This is the single week out of the entire year when no one in Regina cares about hockey. It’s Grey Cup time.

After the beating that the Saskatchewan Roughriders laid against the Calgary Stampeders last Sunday, a game which had everyone in the province on the edge of their seat, everyone is calling for a Grey Cup victory.

Is it true? Are the Riders destined for greatness? Well, according to the numbers, they are. For the last two years in a row, the host teams have not only played in the Grey Cup, they have also won it in front of their hometown crowd. Can someone say, ‘rigged?’

In all seriousness, the Riders have worked hard to get here. Dealing with off-field drama and on-field injuries has been a trend this year, but no matter the bar fight or Twitter fiasco, the Riders have persevered.

Now, it all comes down to one final game against some familiar foes.

Grey Cup 101 is filled

thestar.com Stiff-arm those Ti-Cats.

with ample headlines that the media is going nuts over. Kent Austin making his return to Regina, Henry Burris and Andy Fantuz facing their former teammates, it’s something out of a storybook.

If the Riders can pull off the victory over the Ti-Cats and go out on top in front of 40,000 screaming fans, there will be riots. And if they lose, there will

be riots.

If and when the Riders hoist the coveted trophy, Albert Street will become a giant rave and fans will rejoice with complete strangers and come together over alcohol and football. Indeed, it will be magical.

Some people are claiming that if we lose, people won’t riot, but I would beg to differ.

While I don’t think that it will be

quite as extreme as the Vancouver riots were when the Canucks lost in the Stanley Cup final to the Boston Bruins, I don’t think any Riders fans will go quietly.

Keep in mind, this is the fan base that put manure on former kicker Paul McCallum’s lawn after he missed a 19-yarder in the playoffs, can you imagine if a player costs us the Grey Cup? They might as well prepare their

exit strategies now.

This week, all of the talk has been where fans will be watching the game. While many friends will be gathering around TV’s at local sports bars, or watching it from the comfort of their own home, others will be purchasing tickets with extravagant price tags on them, just to be able to say that they were there.

In fact, one desperate ad on usedregina.com suggests that these fans are offering a stay at their condo in Phoenix, with the length of stay depending on how good the seats are, obviously.

Whatever the case may be. The province of Saskatchewan will stop for a few hours on Sunday, all attention will be on the game and everyone will collectively hold their breath until the clock hits zero. We may never get the opportunity to cheer for our team in a game of this magnitude at home ever again; enjoy it while it’s here.

See you on Albert Street, everyone.

Life without Stamkos Team Canada loses a star. brady lang sports writer

Team Canada was dealt a huge blow last week after sure-pick Steven Stamkos went down with a broken tibia.

The Olympic Games in Sochi are now just three months away and Team Canada – dare I say it – does not look like the front runner going into the Olympic Games. Without Stamkos, the Canadians will definitely be one team that is lacking offensively, especially at the right wing position.

Up the middle Team Canada is the deepest team in the Olympics sporting obvious captain Sidney Crosby, Jonathon Toews, John Tavares, and Matt Duchene just to name a few. The defence looks decent with Duncan Keith, Shea Weber, Drew Doughty, and Alex Pietrangelo.

As we begin to compare the Canadians to other teams, the Americans definitely look like the frontrunner if we had to pick the biggest threat to the defending Gold Medal Champions. Team Russia, led

by Alex Ovechkin, and Team Sweden are, of course, always strong, but Canada does play with a sense of pride regardless of who is on the ice for the Red and White.

Stamkos could have

thestar.com Maybe he should try and get up a third time.

very been Team Canada’s top player in Sochi alongside Crosby and other NHL superstars, but his broken tibia could very well be healed by the time we see the Canadians hit the ice.

Without Stamkos in the line up, the complexion of the Canadian hockey team would be affected greatly, especially when it comes to the power play. Stamkos’ specialty is definitely on the point in the power play as num-

ber ninety-one for the Tampa Bay Lightning lights the lamp a lot regardless of whom he plays.

His shot is second to none and if Stamkos is unable to play the Canadians will have to look towards a Team Canada veteran in Rick Nash to step up and play well under pressure for the team. Nash was also hurt earlier this season, but has come back and is playing healthy in New York for his Rangers.

Regardless of the team’s offense, the Canadians biggest problem is between the pipes. Who will start?

The team has players such as Carey Price, Roberto Luongo, and Corey Crawford, who are hungry for the spotlight, but only one has a gold medal to show for. Luongo is a solid goaltender, but lately there has been a lot of uncertainty in the Vancouver net minder. Can he

perform under pressure? What about the big goals he has let slide past him?

On the other hand, both Carey Price and Corey Crawford would be other great goaltenders that are proven at the international and professional levels respectively. Price is a big game goaltender internationally, as he has shown with his time at the World Junior level.

Crawford backstopped the Chicago Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup last season and is also a big game player.

Whichever way we decide to dissect this year’s version of the Olympic team, we know that if Stamkos is unable to play, it is a huge loss for our team’s chances at the gold medal.

Stamkos is a worldclass player, yet we all know that our Canadians will play with our gritty Canadian pride and will do whatever they can to bring another gold medal back to Canada.

op-ed

NaNoWriWah? Lofty ambitions are the things humans are made of. Some of us want to find the Lost City of Atlantis. Others want to make it into the book of World Records for longest toe nails. I just want to write a novel. Seems crazy, right? Wrong. You know why?

NaNoWriMo.

I’m not speaking in code. National Novel Writing Month is an annual event held every November from the very first day all the way till the last, equalling out to thirty days. In those thirty days, you write a combined total of 50, 000 words.

That seems like a huge amount of “the,” “a,” “but,” “no,” and so on and so forth.

It’s a big number, right?

Right? Well, after looking on Wikipedia (oh so reliable sourcing), the average novel is over 40, 000 words. Novellas are anywhere from 17, 500 to 40, 000 and short stories average at 7, 500 words. When you think about it, you’re just writing a bunch of short stories. Every day.

Okay, every day might be a bit excessive, but that’s the guide line set out on the NaNo website. On said website, you make an official account, create a novel, and update your word count. When I started back in 2010, I was, shall we say, going through a stupid stage when it came to naming things. I was young, I didn’t know any better!

I’m stuck with a stupid name, but that doesn’t mean I can’t

write an awesome novel in thirty days!

Back to the point, though. In order to finish by Nov. 30, the site says you should write 1, 667 words per day. Over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at typing, so it usually takes me a little over an hour to make that word count happen. Sometimes two, if I’m distracted. But, finding a chunk of time to just sit down and write is not easy.

However, being as experienced as I am (or not), I’ve figured out some helpful tips to make this daily writing thing possible.

Start off with a bang.

Find time that first day to write as much as possible. It gets your word count up, and it makes you feel less guilty if you can’t find an hour to write the next day.

By no means should this novel challenge come before school or work, but if you do it as a reward system, it can make you get your homework done faster AND write for a while. Something I read online that’s been really helpful is to round up.

1, 667 is an odd number. Give yourself the goal of 2, 000 words instead. It can make keeping track of where you’re at way easier.

Don’t compare yourself to other word counts! You can be “writing buddies” with people on the website, and this gives you the ability to see where others are at in their novel. If WritingQueen263 is already at 10, 000 words on the

Editor: Farron Ager op-ed@carillonregina.com the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

third day, don’t sweat it! This is your novel. It’s your baby, and all babies are different. Some learn to walk quicker than others. As long as you feel like you’re progressing nicely, and you’re happy with what you’re writing, then who cares what someone in Tokyo is putting out?

Also, revising is not necessary! The challenge is to put out 50, 000 words in 30 days. Editing isn’t always going to fit into the schedule, and that’s okay! Personally, I always read over what I’ve written just to get a feel for where I left my characters, and sometimes I do edit a bit, but I try my best not to for the sake of time and my own sanity. After those thirty days are up and I’m left with a fuck-ton of words, that’s when the real fun begins.

If you can’t set aside more than thirty minutes at a time during your day, don’t panic. Sometimes it’s better to write in little spurts during the day.

You can get inspired by something a professor says and it can be a great addition to your work. Plus, it gives those fingers a necessary break.

If you feel like 50,000 is too much, that you just can’t do it, don’t give up. I’ve known people who use this challenge as a way to get an idea on paper, and while they don’t get to the word mark, they still create an amazing story that they can work on later when they have more time. Word count should

never make you hate your baby.

I remind myself every day of these things, and it’s making finishing my work easier.

To be fair, sometimes I put off certain things just so I can write.

I get up a little earlier, I write through a lunch break, I put off writing an article about NaNo . . . but I’m a write-aholic. The first step is admitting I have a problem, and I certainly have one.

When I first started writing a novel in 2010, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

I had stuck to short stories and poetry before, so I was going in blind. It was hard, so very, very hard. I did not get to the word count goal. In the last few days I got a thing called “I hate my novel why did I ever think this was a good idea it’s all a cliché my life is ruined.” Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who suffers with it during NaNoWriMo. It went away after Nov. 30 was gone, and I eventually did finish my first novel. That, my friends, was the most rewarding experience of my life. After that, I was hooked.

Since 2010, I have written several novels, not all for NaNo, and I’ve even self-published one. It’s not my best work, but hey, I can cross that off my bucket list now.

You might realize you don’t like writing long pieces after this. There’s nothing wrong with that! Every writer is different, and every writer has a different story to tell in a different

Face/off Almost exactly one year ago today, my life changed forever.

No, I didn’t take up smoking, only to give it up. I didn’t even become a raging alcoholic who found the bottom of the barrel for the last time.

While these accomplishments may be applause-worthy, I did something much more important, something that only people with true will power can do. I deleted my Facebook account.

To be honest, I was reluctant to even try Facebook the first time it was offered to me, as I knew the high likelihood that I would become addicted.

And while I had managed to resist the peer pressure for many years, I finally surrendered, and made an account.

My first experience with Facebook was something extraordinary. I was receiving friend requests left and right and suddenly my life became dependant on seeing that little red number sign next to one of the icons. But that is where the magic ended.

Although Facebook is a great tool for connecting with old friends, or keeping in contact with people that have moved away, the majority of people rarely use it for these recreational purposes. Most peo-

Haley Klassen

ple, including myself, become obsessed with keeping on top of their brother’s, girlfriend’s, brother’s, friend’s, cousin’s drama and creeping pictures to make sure that you’re skinnier, nicer, and generally more ridiculously good looking than other people that you have barely talked to. And you all know it’s true.

The truth is, Facebook

affected my life negatively in many ways, and perhaps that is why I am so bitter towards it. My theory is if you are looking for something, you won’t stop looking until you find it. Evidence of cheating ex-boyfriends often surfaced through Facebook, and while some people might suggest that it was better to find out, I would rather have not found out through a social

media site. You cannot imagine the pit in my stomach that it had caused me so many times.

Before I knew it, Facebook went from being a casual drink at supper time for me, to a pack-a-day full out addiction.

Suddenly it was consuming incredible amounts of my time and, finally, I knew that I had to quit the book cold turkey.

I was addicted to Face-

way. Boxing ourselves in is the worst thing we can do as writers. I’ve taken enough creative writing classes and read enough books to know my job is not to write the story everyone wants me to tell, or someone has already told. That’s a disservice to my passion and to myself.

NaNoWriMo has been a great help in getting me to write the stories I didn’t even know were wanting to be written. The current novel I am working on is inspired by too many late nights reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Although the themes, characters, and plot are completely different, I often ask myself “What would Evil Santa do?” That train of thought usually ends with “kill everyone” but I haven’t reached that stage in the novel. Yet.

Is doing this challenge worth it? Hell yes. Is it stressful, frustrating, and all those other synonyms? Of course. But what, these days, isn’t?

If you’ve ever had a story idea and thought “Gee, I wish I could write that,” well what’s stopping you? Nothing, that’s what. Go to www.nanowrimo. org, create an account, and get started! You may not make the word count, but you’ll feel awesome, and anything that makes us feel that good about ourselves can’t be that bad, can it?

robyn tocker a&c editor

book for roughly four years before I finally decided to kick that monkey off my back, and I can honestly say that it was the best decision I have ever made.

Suddenly, with just one click, knowing every detail about my friend of a friend’s lives just wasn’t important anymore. When someone comes up to me and asks, “Did you see on Facebook..?” I no longer care. My life is much more drama- and stress-free since getting rid of Facebook, and if you have the will power, I highly recommend doing the same.

Although I may still be a recovering addict of sorts, every once in a while still getting the urge to see that small red number, or crave those friend requests, that small gratification isn’t worth it to me anymore.

While the rest of you refresh your pages repeatedly to see the likes go up, I’ll be enjoying life. Facebook free since Nov. 2012.

autumn mcdowell sports editor

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

op-ed 17

Another day, another P3 A month ago, the Saskatchewan Government stated their plans to build nine new elementary schools to deal with the surge of students within the province, through a public-private-partnership (P3) model.

Since Oct. 22, limited information has come out of this announcement. What we do know is, according to Premier Brad Wall, student enrolment has climbed over 70 percent in the last six years, and some elementary schools are even experiencing 180 percent capacity.

We also know that the Chairs on both the Regina Public and Catholic school division boards are in favour of expanding their facilities to deal with not only the aging infrastructure of their current schools, but also the immediate issue of over capacity.

Whether you support a public-private-partnership model or not, it is inevitable that students need more effective learning environments if their classrooms are reaching 180 percent capacity.

But, despite the lack of details at the moment, people around the province are still upin-arms about the idea of businesses involving themselves in our educational system.

Much uproar is due to the lack of information on P3 models in the educational sphere. Basically, people don’t know if it’s going to be an efficient economic decision or not.

Examples to look upon are the

Kyle Leitch

1997 Nova Scotia P3 school model and the 2008 government of Alberta’s decision to build 18 new P3 funded schools in Calgary and Edmonton. Both have been critiqued due to the P3 model (and the former even being canned completely) because of the financial burden that it creates.

Nova Scotia’s experience is the go-to example for those against P3 models; site selection issues, diminished community accountability, and lack of transparency are key reasons to their argument.

Yet, our province needs some sort of answer for the increased population in Saskatchewan. When teachers are overrun with students, does effective learning really take place?

The biggest issue surrounding the Sask Party’s P3 education model is there are still so many questions from the public and not enough answers.

Right now, the school has much control over who can use their facilities (i.e. gyms), but once the schools become partially privatized, does the responsibility of extra-curricular activities

shift?

What about the concept of joint schools and how this will affect the students? This comes from the government’s proposal of the Catholic and Public school divisions operating classrooms under the same roof. Is this functional to have two schools buying for time with the use of certain things, for instance, again, the gym?

Or what about approvals for upgrades to either the building or the equipment and resources inside? How much stake will the private side have, or will these decisions still stay among the school divisions?

The most important issue to me is how this will affect the students. If more space, better learning environments, and innovative buildings (check out Douglas Park School and their open-concept building) is what we are getting out of this, than I don’t see a problem in a P3 model being involved in the educational system.

An underlying issue concerning me, however, is the toll this may be taking on the teachers.

Communication between the current government and teachers is already tarnished, and this was highlighted between the Sask Party making their “innovative” announcement the same day teachers around the province were voting on a new contract -- and to some, this is a political move done by the government to gain

more confidence and support from teachers, something the Sask Party is lacking.

So, what this P3 model will really bring to the future of elementary classrooms is still up for debate. But what we need to do, as university students -- especially those in the education department -- is to raise these questions.

Because in 20 or 30 years, when this public-private contract is coming to its closure, and more of us become property owning taxpayers, I don’t want any surprises to find out that “oops! We went over budget and now I’m stuck paying higher taxes so the government can pay off Viterra Elementary School.”

We do need more schools -- both elementary and secondary -- to deal with our growing population, but don’t get fooled by the esthetics that these private companies may flash our way. We need to have constant communication with the front line -- the teachers -- to know what they need to make classrooms more effective for their students, not just what looks good to the CEO of a company.

paige kreutzwieser staff writer

Admirable dictatorship Justin Trudeau recently got himself into heavy controversy on two counts. The first involved a promotional poster for one of his fundraisers that critics complained was demeaning to women. However, that paled in comparison to what he said at that same fundraiser. When asked which country’s administration he most admired after Canada’s, Trudeau said that he admired China’s “basic dictatorship” for its ability to turn the economy around. He went on to say that he admired China’s investments in green energy and offering praise for the Canadian territories form of consensus governance (which Yukon, unlike the other two, does not have).

When I first heard about these comments, I was a bit stunned and worried. I had previously decided to support the Liberal Party, and though I was impartial to Justin Trudeau (I preferred to have Marc Garneau as Liberal Leader), I thought he was doing a fairly good job in practicing the honest and transparent style of politics he had promised, and then this happened. What worried me was not the actual content of what his speech. Thanks to the “basic dictatorship” of China, the Chinese economy is in a better shape than it was under Mao. According to Vijay Mehta

Simon Fuh

in his book, The Economics of Killing, China’s industrialization under the Deng Xiaoping regime managed to lift 600 million people out of absolute poverty in thirty years. Nor is Trudeau’s quip about Chinese prowess in green energy investment factually wrong. Despite (or even because of) their massive pollution problem, China has made

a serious effort to invest in wind and solar power, far beyond American and Canadian efforts.

What worried me was that Justin Trudeau did not understand how to deliver the message he wanted.

In his National Post opinion article on the incident, Andrew Coyne defines Justin Trudeau’s gaffe as a “quite de-

liberate statement, presented not flippantly or off-hand, but in a determined effort to sound provocative or profound.” I agree with this interpretation of Trudeau’s words, for they reveal an interesting irony. Trudeau, after all, was elected Liberal Leader in part because he was seen as being more personable and less like a “career politician.”

the Carillon: dirty, socialist rag since 1962.

However, he now finds himself in a position where continuing to successfully market himself requires the abilities and instincts of a career politician.

China still remains a major human rights violator, despite its economic progress. Since Canadians like to think of themselves as supporters of democracy and human rights, you cannot just simply mention China in such a light way as Trudeau did. Spontaneity and willingness to speak will not be tolerated if it results in those kinds of statements.

My advice to Trudeau would be to develop an oratorical style suitable to Parliament.

Learn some clever quips and insults. Develop a manner of speaking that will not only appeal to people, but get them to think about what you just said. I am willing to overlook this slip-up, simply because I find Trudeau to be a refreshing change from Stephen Harper’s way of politics. But, if he does not learn to speak better, or retreat into purely scripted responses, then my support could be gone.

taras matkovsky contributor

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op-ed

the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

Conservative pattern The death of a bastard Last week was an anniversary of sorts in Saskatchewan politics. Nov. 7 marked two years since the Wall government was re-elected to power in this province.

To give a quick recap on the results, the Saskatchewan Party gained 11 seats for a total of 49 out of 58, while the New Democrats lost 11 seats and ended up with a total of 9. No by-elections have been held since the last election, so the standings in the Legislature remain the same.

The anniversary of the government’s re-election is kind of funny, because this is a funny time in Saskatchewan political history. By all measuring sticks, a conservative revolution seems to be transforming our political culture.

If the Wall Government is re-elected to a third term in April 2016 (and all current polling suggests that is going to happen), then we will come to the inescapable conclusion that the Saskatchewan Party is the new ‘hegemonic’ or dominating superpower of Saskatchewan politics. This is because since 1944, no party other than the CCF/NDP has strung together 3 back-to-back election wins in a row in this province.

What is far more interesting, from a political pundit’s point of view, is what the rest of the political landscape is going to look like in Saskatchewan after 2016. It is certain that the Saskatchewan Party will be the party of choice for a clear plurality of voters (as long as current polling trends prevail). But what about the opposition New Democrats?

Their new leader Cam Broten seems like a decent fellow with a nice family and all, but he has not caught fire with the public yet. But what is more noteworthy is that the New Democrats lack energy

and focus on the opposition benches.

For example, there is a fall sitting of the Legislature underway, but you wouldn’t know it from monitoring the media’s coverage of the event. This is a far cry from 25 years ago, when the NDP were also in opposition, but at that time the opposition MLAs provided a spirited and robust alternative to the Devine Government, and succeeded in bringing that corrupt regime down in 1991.

If the Official Opposition is unable to find a way to re-energize and regenerate before the 2016 election, their future as a viable force in this province could become questionable. The one advantage that the NDP have right now is that there is not another non-government party in the province right now that mounts a serious threat to replace the New Democrats in Official Opposition.

The Greens, the PCs and the Western Independence Party are not on the radar screen, and the Liberals can’t seem to find a leader. So there is time for the NDP to recapture their winning formula and mount a strong enough opposition to the Wall Government to replace it someday. Therefore, it looks like Saskatchewan politics is going to stay in a holding pattern, for now. But, then again, our province is always known as ‘next year country’, so who knows what 2014 holds in store for us? We won’t have to wait long to find out.

john murney contributor

So apparently the word “selfie” just beat out the word “twerk” as word of the year, according to Oxford Dictionaries. This is coming from the organization awarded the 2010 word of the year to the abomination “refudiate” (thanks, Palin!) and the 2009 word of the year to ‘unfriend’ (thanks, Facebook!).

Just as I was starting to get over the decision to change the word “literally” to mean literally everything and nothing at the same time. Now I have to try to see what inexorable end the English language finds itself as it begins to careen off Dead Man’s Curve.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that a language must adapt for the people around it in order for it to survive.

Otherwise, the alternative becomes me getting a knock on the door from a Stasi-era language enforcement group and, before you can say “bling,” I’ll be doing hard labour in the frozen wastes of Uranium City for misrepresenting the actual volume of a buttload. However, when we start ignoring cracks in the language, namely through letting just anything half-resembling a word be added to our vocabulary, soon the hole becomes to big that we can’t just stick our finger in the dyke and wait for help.

The thing to understand with English is that it’s a bastard language.

It really is. We’ve got Germanic words, Latin words, Arabic words, Celtic words, Greek words – the list is figuratively endless. We don’t so much borrow from other languages, but rather we pillage (an Old French word, mind you) from other languages. English isn’t a noble language. Chances are it never will be at this rate.

As it stands, I fear that English will become that cretin that your mother uses as an example to not fall in with the wrong crowd. It will start with you incorporating words like “yolo,” “threequel,” and “bouncebackability” (all words found in your local Oxford Dictionary) into your lexicon. You’ll then start dropping your apostrophes into words like it’s going out of style, and yet somehow still miss the spots where they actually need to go. Finally it will all end with you in the street, begging passersby for any spare vowels so you don’t just make meaningless guttural sounds anymore.

Perhaps I’m too set in my ways, being the ripe old age of 24 and still in a university setting. After having the Carillon’s Technical Editor explain to me the function of hashtags (the 2012 word of the year!), maybe I’m not ready to carry along with evolution of this bastard language. You know what? Screw that noise, I’m going to go backwards with English and start using things like double contractions. That way, you’ll be able to tell your children’s children about how they oughtn’t’ve decided that a loud yelping noise was a way to express schadenfreude experienced when their dumbass friend breaks his neck on the iMonolith while attempting to make a, “hashtag sick hoverboarding holovideo, yo!”

farron ager op-ed editor

graphics

Editor: Emily Wright graphics@carillonregina.com the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013

...and humour, oh my!

Dear Mr. Ford Dear Mr. Ford,

We at the Disgraced Politicians Society of the World would like to welcome you into our fraternity. To run one’s reputation into the ground is not something new; in fact, it as old as time itself, but your ability to combine these failures while still being employed is something all of us aspire to. In short, we are here to help.

We have helped such public figures as Anthony Wiener and Bill Clinton bounce back from their discretions with generally positive results. After watching your continual fall we think that your appearance on SNL is a definite plus and your rant about your sexual endeavors rather interesting. We must advise that you not mention your private affairs in public and that, while your city council turn their backs on you, we will not do the same.

Do not forget what got you to the forefront of Canadian politics. Should you be able to recover from your current status, we would like to suggest that you delve further into politics.

After all, it could be worse, you could be me. While I was recent-

ly sentenced to 28 years in prison you, good sir, are capable of much more. No amount of derogatory language thrown in your face should be treated as a barrier to your future success.

For one, how have you negatively impacted the public’s perception of Toronto? The Raptors and Maple Leafs are still horrific, its citizens still think it is the center of the universe, and the media still worships its existence.

If anything, the fact that media are practically setting up tents in front of your office is a black mark on the wonderful country of Canada. Being the former mayor of Detroit, I always looked across the river and wondered what political shenanigans I could get into with a looser justice system and some Tim Hortons in my system. You sir, are living my dream and we at the Disgraced Politicians Society of the World aim to further your cause.

Let’s consider the worst-case scenario you, in all your glory, could not get re-elected in 2014. I say to you: what does it matter! Your own city council is so blinded by propaganda and quotes taken out

of context that, by that time, you might only be able to make outlandish statements once a week - at best. Even if you do not get reelected, I hear the Marijuana Party of Canada is looking for a new leader. What better place to make an impression on the Canadian political landscape than running a party that has no rules and leading them to victory? Just a word to the wise: you might want to start by getting your MP candidates to vote for themselves.

Sincerely, Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Simon Fuh

john loeppky contributor

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the carillon | November 21 - 28, 2013