Lydia’s Film Critique: La noire de… (Black Girl)

The white-painted walls are prison bars in Ousmane Sembène’s 1966 film La noire de… (Black Girl). They are adorned with African face mask ornaments—wooden trophies of post-colonialism. The promises of freedom will never be found here, and identity will be only lost. This is Diouana’s shared story. In 1966 Dakar, Senegal, Diouana (played by M’Bissine […]

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Kiryn’s Wellness Corner: Calories and open hips

In my last column, I touched on healthy, readily available snacks like nuts and seeds and chopped fruit. Despite the nutritional benefits of “healthy” easy foods, it’s important to be mindful of their varying caloric density. Not to count calories, but for the purpose of illustrating volume, let’s use the measure of what 100 calories […]

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Fellas, Let’s Figure It Out: The importance of sleep

At this point, we all know that sleep is essential. We’ve heard countless lectures from parents, professors, coaches, and maybe even friends on the importance of getting quality sleep. But when college life gets busy and the assignments start piling up, sleep is the first thing to go to the wayside.  This is counterintuitive. Work […]

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Lydia’s Film Critique: Wild at Heart

I recently purchased a suede leather jacket from a vintage shop. She’s a deep orange-tan shade with stylish braided details around the seams—I’ve guesstimated it’s from around the early ’70s. The moment I tried her on I found myself. To me, she “represents a symbol of my individuality and belief in personal freedom,” as Sailor […]

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Not the Last Word: Childhood then and now

I really start to notice my age when I start making comments about the way children are raised today. Kids seem to be so protected that I wouldn’t bat an eye if they started to be sent out the door swathed in bubble wrap. When I was growing up we didn’t have social media to […]

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Listen and Learn: The Bridge Live Rap Battles stunning, hilarious

For the first edition of this, my new music column, I decided it’d be fun for me, a punk rock girl, to check out some rap battles. I have yet to really explore the musical landscape of the Victoria hip-hop scene; The Bridge Live Rap Battles presented by Set the Bar at the Victoria Event […]

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Lydia’s Film Critique: Daddy Longlegs

A dedication to careless responsibility. A eulogy to tangled childhoods. A tribute to bad fathers all around the globe. Daddy Longlegs (2009), directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, is a semi-autobiographical tale about fatherhood at its best and very worst.  Lenny (played by Ronald Bronstein), is a father for two weeks out of the year. […]

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Not the Last Word: On self-actualization

Self-actualization is a hot topic these days. Everywhere I look I see phrases like “Love yourself!” or “Only you matter!” or, the one that particularly sets my teeth on edge, “Dance like nobody’s watching!” I can’t walk down the street without passing 10 gyms offering some new yoga routine that will change my life. It’s […]

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Kiryn’s Wellness Corner: Happy backs and hips

As the first month of school gets on, you’re liking spending a lot more time sitting again, which is not ideal for the lower back or hips. A quick way to alleviate hip tightness is to shift off to one side of your chair so one buttock and one thigh are still on your chair. […]

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Fellas, Let’s Figure It Out: Shaping your circle of friends

While doing some research for this column, I stumbled upon a mind-boggling statistic: 80 percent of people will have failed or completely abandoned their New Year’s resolutions by February 1. My hope is that those of you who read my column several weeks ago on New Year’s resolutions fall into the minority of people who […]

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