It’s also the most dangerous time to surf.

Winter surfing: it's cold out there (photo courtesy HaliKat).

But there are things surfers can do to minimize the amount of danger brought on by winter weather.

“Obviously, with bigger waves, know your ability. That’s number one,” says Joel Knickle, a seasonal surfing instructor at Pacific Surf School in Tofino. “Don’t go at some crazy wave that you can’t necessarily surf well.”

Knickle stresses that practice is key when it comes to developing your ability to ride larger waves.

“The best way as far as surfing goes,” he says, “is to start small and get bored before you try to really progress, because it’s important that you’ve got all the fundamentals down as far as riding your surfboard goes and catching the waves.”

But the winter winds are sometimes the least of worries at beaches dominated by cobblestone points and reefs accompanied by strong currents.

“It’s important to understand where these things are,” continues Knickle. “Explore the reef at times when it’s low tide, just so you know what you’re getting into before you surf a place.”

He also suggests talking to locals before you hit the waves at a spot for your first time.

“You might only break a fin or damage a part of your board, but it could also be your dome,” says Knickles.

Knickles’ aim is not to discourage, but rather to inform new members of an ever-growing surfing community in Victoria.

“It seems as though a lot of people are deciding to come to school here, either UVic or Camosun, just for the fact that they’re going to be able to catch waves before classes, after classes, or on the weekends,” he says. “If you want to live in a city where you want to surf, Victoria would be a good choice.”

Take a harbour ferry ride with your sweetie (photo provided).

A different kind of date

The traditional “dinner and a movie” date can get old; you can’t really talk during the movie, and paying $7 for a bag of popcorn is ridiculous! Get creative: have a picnic in your living room. Chocolate-covered strawberries and heart-shaped pizza? Yumm! Instead of sitting silent during a movie, laugh over a fun board game

Dinner recommendations

Elizabeth Smyth, columnist for EAT Magazine and Camosun instructor, suggests Cafe Ceylon, an Indian food cafe with reasonable prices she calls “a hidden gem,” for an “exquisite” lunch. Another spot Smyth suggests is an Ethiopian buffet restaurant in Esquimalt called the Blue Nile. “If you’re not caught up in candle lights, and your date is adventurous and not fancy polished, bring them to Esquimalt. Make a joke about it!” she laughs.

Sidney by the sea

Smyth also suggests taking a trip up to Sidney to peruse the bookstores, walk along the harbour, and stop for Thai food. “For the more introverted people, this is a sweet date,” says Smyth. “Sabhai Thai has a nice atmosphere and is nicely decorated.”

Ferry for two

Taking one of those small green harbour ferries to Fisherman’s Wharf from the Victoria harbour costs only $5. After a lovely ride, stop for fish ‘n’ chips by the unique boathouses, then watch the sunset along Dallas Road.

Movie date

If a movie date is something you’re into, the Roxy on Hillside and Quadra has a dirt-cheap double feature (just $4!) every Tuesday, including Valentine’s Day. Comfortable couches are located at the back of the theater for you to snuggle up on with your significant other.

Skate with your sweetie

For a fun, recreational date, skating or swimming at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre is only a toonie after 11 pm. A little late, but it’s a great thing to do after a drink or a walk around the city. Handholding included.

Build a love nest

Let’s face it; you’re really never too old to build forts in your living room. Create an ambience with nature sounds and twinkle lights. A bottle of wine, chocolates, and camping games and you’ve got yourself an adventure without having to leave the house.

Missing women marches in Vancouver draw huge crowds (photo provided).

In Victoria, the fourth annual Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women will take place Sunday, February 12.

Spokeswoman Sinead Carbonneau says that Vancouver’s event is well established and can count on attendance every February 14. In an effort to match Vancouver’s involvement, organizers in Victoria are keen to allow those with jobs and children to attend.

“We realized that what was really important for us was being able to allow families to bring children to the march,” says Charbonneau, a University of Victoria graduate in women’s studies. “We see having children at the march as essential.”

With the Missing Women Inquiry making international headlines, it becomes even more important to generate awareness about acts of violence towards indigenous women. According to Stolen Sisters, an advocate group for indigenous women, 28 percent of all acts of violence against indigenous women across Canada occur in BC.

“I think about how up in arms the public was over the HST reform, and now we’re talking about how indigenous women face the highest rates of violence in Canada in British Columbia,” says Charbonneau. “BC is literally the most violent place for indigenous women to be. And we’re having an inquiry right in the largest city and so few people are taking account of it.”

Charbonneau sees the Missing Women Inquiry as something of a failure when it comes to acknowledging the importance of indigenous families and community voices. But she also recognizes how significant and important the inquiry is as a symbolic move.

“Something like this needed to happen,” she says, “and I also feel that this inquiry has brought at least the general outline to the broader Canadian public, and I think that’s really important.”

She also sees the Memorial March as crucial, not just as an awareness-generating community event, but also as a way for urban First Nations to combat feelings of isolation by gathering with a unified community.

“In the last few years we’ve had hundreds of people,” says Charbonneau. “There are few indigenous events in Victoria that gather that kind of response. As a Metis person, I can speak to how unique and empowering it is to be in the streets with hundreds of other indigenous people and our allies. Just being there together is something that I remember when I’m struggling with the isolation a lot of urban native people feel.”

Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Starting at Our Place (919 Pandora Ave.)
Sunday, February 12, 11 am

But one local burlesque performer is trying to get rid of these stereotypes. Cheesecake Burlesque Revue’s Champagne Sparkles says that burlesque is accessible, or at least the version of burlesque that they perform is.

“We do cute, funny, cheeky, burlesque,” she says. “So we really are cheesy, and sort of inspired by a broad range of stuff—Broadway musicals, movies, different kinds of music. We don’t stick, necessarily, to a particular era, aesthetic style, or type of music, but we do really focus on humour in a lot of our performances.”

The Cheesecakes are bringing burlesque to town (photo by Dani Boynton).

On top of performing in the Cheesecake Burlesque Revue and being behind the technical side of the group’s production, Sparkles runs her own business, and—considering this is a person who engages in a style of performance based on the classic strip tease—it’s in an unexpected field of work.

“My other work is really intellectually based,” she says. “I do environmental consulting work. So it is really on the scientific end of things.”

How does one go from environmental consulting to moonlighting as a burlesque performer? For Sparkles, it started out at a burlesque-themed birthday party. The ladies got together, picked names, and were taught how to put on a small show. This inspired Sparkles to do the same sort of thing for a friend of hers.

“We invited friends over, and we did a little show for them, and they loved it,” she says. “And somebody at that party invited us to perform at a public event,” she says. “And we thought, ‘Sure, why not?’ Well, that sold out; there were 250 people in the audience. We didn’t know that as we were backstage getting ready. Then we came out and it was jam-packed. I think I almost fell over, actually.”

From birthday parties to shows as far away as Berlin, Sparkles and the Cheesecakes have had a chance to make an impact around the world. Through their quirky, approachable acts, these ladies are able to accomplish more than they ever thought possible.

“We are lots of different ages and lots of different sizes,” says Sparkles. “Some of us have kids, and we all have other jobs. We are pretty regular ladies that work really hard to put on a good show. And because of that, we are accessible to our audience; they can find in us things they can relate to. And what we didn’t really know getting in to it is that women would feel good about themselves by coming to see us.”

Second Annual Bump & Grind Valentine
Saturday February 11, 8 pm
Metro Studio Theatre, $22-$25
cheesecakeburlesque.com

A scene from Sunflower Hour (photo provided).

This brilliant mockumentary puts overlooked children’s entertainers in a whole new light. I wish this was a TV series so I could continue to watch these characters on a weekly basis: it’s that funny.

Aaron Houston wrote and directed this comedy, starring four unlikely puppeteers who audition for the children’s show Sunflower Hour, which just happens to be run by porn moguls.

Leslie (Patrick Gilmore) is a closeted, clueless Christian whose evangelist puppet preaches against homosexuality; Shamus (Ben Cotton), the stereotyped Irishman with an overly social leprechaun puppet. Spawn of Satan (Kacey Rohl) is the outcast teenage goth who wants to prove a point; David (Amitai Marmorstein), a bullied optimist who knows all the songs to Sunflower Hour.

The puppet Bootsy was inspired by Elmo; the rest of the puppets are extensions of the characters, which leads to hilarious and awkward situations.

Houston’s inspiration came for this project while watching a children’s show with his daughter. The concept of ego came to mind when the puppeteer’s names in the credits were bigger than any other names. That’s how Sunflower Hour was born.

Then, the whole film was shot in Vancouver on a $29,000 budget. Not bad for such a great movie.

“You’re never sure whether you’re going to be rewarded financially, or if people will even connect to the piece emotionally,” he says. “It’s easy to become filled with self doubt.”

But as real as the emotional struggles are, the financial ones are just as difficult.

Nic Vandergugten and his art (photo by Lucas Milroy/Nexus).

Vandergugten, who got his Associate of Arts degree in English from Camosun in 2009, says he had to borrow money from loved ones to help scrape by as an artist; while he has always been able to repay his debts, he feels bad having to take debts from people in the first place.

“You can become a financial strain on people around you,” he says. “You’ll have to borrow money from parents and friends, at the hopes that you’ll be able to reciprocate that.”

Vandergugten, who grew up in Victoria’s Chinatown in an artistic household, says that becoming an artist wasn’t really that far of a leap for him.

“I guess in a sense I took the long road to taking up the family business, because my father is an artist,” he says. “I went back to square one and decided to just focus on being an artist. For me, with my work, all you need to start is a feeling that you can put into a really rough sketch. It’s hard to put into words; it’s an experience that happens in the moment.”

Before becoming involved with printmaking, Vandergugten was a sushi chef; he says the aesthetics and concepts of Japanese art may have helped lead him to carving. Vandergugten also realizes that, for him, just like for many other srtists, creating art is a very spiritual experience.

“To me spirituality is something that is just there, and it is mysterious, but it helps guide you,” he says. “And the more you open up to that and trust in that, the more that things seem to fall into place.”

When February 14 arrives, people roll their eyes, furrow their brows, and poke fun at anything V-Day related. But I say Valentine’s is to be adored, not detested.

Let’s face it, February sucks. It’s cold, grey, often rainy, and always unpleasant. What better time to celebrate a holiday dedicated to love and intimacy? Valentine’s Day is a welcome reason to cuddle up and forget your February blues. And if you don’t have a partner, don’t sweat it. Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be just for couples. In fact, it’s a great excuse to get your friends together and celebrate singlehood. Remember the innocent days of childhood, when we exchanged pun-laden Valentine’s cards with our classmates? The feeling of that hand-decorated paper bag heavy with messages of friendship was sweeter than any box of chocolates and had nothing to do with coupling up.

Graphic by Jessica Tai/Nexus

Valentine’s Day has no shortage of critics. They are keen to point out that big business uses Valentine’s to hock goods; in this case, goods like chocolate, flowers, and heart-shaped pot holders. There is no denying that, for many, this day has become a commercialized mess that over-emphasizes the importance of gift-giving and being in a romantic relationship.

Then there are those that proclaim we should treat every day like Valentine’s Day. It would be nice if every day could just be one big love-fest, but that’s not how things are. In reality, maybe we need a so-called “made-up” holiday to remind us to get out of our February funk and show a little affection.

Yes, Valentine’s Day is commercial, but it doesn’t have to be. Skip the obscene restaurant scene and make a special home-cooked meal. Instead of roses, give someone a homemade moss terrarium. Bake a tray of heart-shaped cookies, carefully ice each one with delicate pink icing, and eat them all while watching Dexter.

So, this year, do anything to make an otherwise sub-par month a special one; rekindle your love of February 14.

Students must now commit to 12 weeks of unpaid co-op work in order to be considered for financial assistance, a government requirement that has students and staff concerned.

Because the spring and summer semesters are 14 weeks long, government policy states that work terms must be a minimum of 12 weeks in order to qualify for funding. This presents a problem for co-op students in some of Camosun’s programs who may want to pursue either a mandatory or optional work term outside of those time frames.

Camosun's Gloria Darroch (photo by TJ Nyce/Nexus).

“We don’t control this the way we control most courses at the college. It’s the employers that have control over the positions,” says Gloria Darroch, director of co-op education. “We’ve tried to make it as flexible as possible for students to get a work term and not be bound by the normal add/drop dates.”

Unfortunately, the government policy isn’t as flexible. Upon discovering that some students were completing the 250 work-term hours in less than the 12-week minimum, Camosun financial aid was forced to move to a stricter set of requirements.

“In the past we weren’t aware that the start and end dates weren’t accurate,” says Lynda Funston, financial aid and awards coordinator. “If you are knowingly applying for four months of student assistance, but you know you are not going to be engaged in [your work term] for four months, then you’re basically committing fraud.”

Unfortunately, the specific timelines often make it difficult for students to find fulfilling internship opportunities that fit this mold.

“It’s impossible to force an employer to follow the same rigidity as you would with an academic course,” says Lois Fernyhough, co-op instructor for the applied communications program (ACP). “This kind of a ruling is going to be denying students a number of valuable experiential learning opportunities.”

Second-year ACP student Colleen Rabatich says she wouldn’t have been able to accept a valuable opportunity to intern at CBC Radio this summer without assistance.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do this internship if I didn’t have financial aid,” says Rabatich. “I would have been doing something that wouldn’t have given me as much experience and wouldn’t have helped my future.”

Given these challenges faced by co-op students, Darroch thinks it’s time for policies to change.

“The government is way far behind in recognizing that students don’t just work and go to school anymore,” says Darroch. “It seems to me that the rules around financial aid from the government are out of whack with reality.”

“I was really happy about the outcome. It was a feeling of accomplishment,” says Camosun psychology student Nathanial Goyet-Lamoureux. “It’s good to know that we are all in this together. Everyone has debts and it’s scary sometimes, but I feel that we can support each other and together we can accomplish great things.”

The February 1 on-campus event was part of the national campaign Education Is a Right, in conjunction with the Canadian Federation of Students, who are encouraging students across to country to rally government for change.

Students at the recent Day of Action on Lansdowne campus (photo by Dylan Wilks/Nexus).

“We want the NDP and other parties to listen and make these issues part of their platform,” says Madeline Keller-MacLeod, CCSS external affairs executive.

The Education Is a Right campaign asks for reduction in tuition fees, re-establishment of the BC Student Grant Program, and the elimination of student-loan interest fees.

“The minister of advanced education [Naomi Yamamoto] is not interested in even lowering interest on student loans,” says Keller-MacLeod. “We are asking for elimination of interest.”

The event included free food, a crafts station where students could write messages on t-shirts, a video crew recording students’ thoughts, and games, including one that was a student-debt take on Snakes and Ladders (“You’re exhausted, drop out now,” was one of the moves on the board).

Camosun College granted academic amnesty to students who missed classes to attend the event, but some students who didn’t attend the rally still wanted their money’s worth.

“We already paid tuition, so why would we not go to a class that we already paid for?” says biology student Amanda Hewlett.

Meanwhile, Keller-MacLeod has no doubts that the day of action raised awareness among most students.

“We accomplished a lot and more students are now involved,” says Keller-MacLeod. “The event just built momentum; it’s nowhere near over.”

“I’m so bloody busy trying to get my shit together,” admits Proops. Between interviewing Eddie Izzard, performing standup, and recording an episode of his podcast (jokingly titled “The Smartest Man in the World”), Proops clearly has his hands full.

Most know him from Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but Proops has explored every corner of the comedy world. And although he’s had his hands in many funny pies, he always ends up coming back to improv. But Proops’ cross-disciplinary approach is less common than you might expect.

Greg Proops is coming to town (photo provided).

“Most standups don’t care for improv at all, and most improvisers think that standups are self-centred assholes, and I think they’re both true,” he says. “I’ve been fortunate enough to do both, and I find that the improvisors that I work with are enormously creative and do lots of other things as well. If we never get around to sitting around and formally writing a sketch, it’s because we have so much fun making it up.”

Proops’ standup set at Sketchfest is also improvised. “That’s kind of a freefall as well; they kind of hand you a list of topics and you have to make them up as you go along,” he says. “I prefer the freefall to the prepared.”

Proops says that he finds it hard to imagine what he’d be doing in a world without comedy, but it’d probably involve him getting up to no good.

“I’d probably be a petty criminal or drug addict or something. Well, I’m both now, but I’ve combined them with my job,” he jokes.

In an alternate universe, Proops also entertains the idea that he might be writing history books somewhere. The dramatic arts, even in an improvised setting, don’t even come into the equation.

“There are other types of improv where the goal isn’t to be necessarily funny,” says Proops, “but I find that being funny is a good launching-off point for focus.”

Whose Live Anyway?
Friday, February 17, 7pm and 9:30pm
McPherson Playhouse, $49.50
rmts.bc.ca