Floating on the surface: one student’s experience overcoming more than just waves at TofinoI have not been much of a risk taker in my 26 years of life. Nothing I did was ever to the extreme, and like most sane people, I avoided putting my life in danger. For some reason, I did not classify surfers in the category of “adrenaline junkies.” It might have been because I had […] Continue Reading |
Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival returns to its rootsWhen it came time for those involved in the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival (GVSF) to plan how they were going to celebrate their 25th anniversary, they decided to celebrate the present by looking to the past. So they decided that two of the first productions they ever performed will be performed again. GVSF artistic director […] Continue Reading |
Camosun College student wins gold at national Skills Canada competitionWhen he was offered the chance to compete in the Skills Canada national carpentry competition, Camosun College student James King didn’t think he was quite up to the task. But King had been singled out by his teachers for his good work and the speed at which he got it done. “I thought, ‘Why me?’ […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Ex-local boy Leeroy Stagger still delivering the goods 10 albums inLeeroy Stagger Dream It All Away (Rebeltone Records) 4/5 Victoria’s Leeroy Stagger is now on his tenth album, a landmark achievement for any singer/songwriter, so it’s pretty cool that Stagger, now based one province over in Alberta, has managed to make it this far. And it’s not without reason: Stagger’s take on foot-stomping roots rock […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Fans & Motor Supply Co. bring lazy ’70s rock to Victoria with much successFans & Motor Supply Co. Quiet Dream (Independent) 3.5/5 These Victoria locals have been spending time with some classic ’70s rock albums. By the sounds of it, Fans & Motor Supply Co., whose name even evokes homage to bands from that great decade of music, reached even deeper beyond the classics to get inspired for […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Seafair show promise with The QuerenciaSeafair The Querencia (Independent) 3.5/5 Cleveland-based six-member indie-rock ensemble Seafair show promise with their sprawling 13-track album The Querencia. Developing a sound similar to early Paramore, Seafair lend an extensive classical background to fill out tracks, creating a cinematic soundtrack to rural life in Ohio. The album’s production is clean, with each melody easily isolated […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Husky use Australian suburbs for powerful inspiration on Rucker’s HillHusky Rucker’s Hill (Nevado Music) 4/5 Inspired by Australian suburbia, Rucker’s Hill is a tempestuous indie-rock EP that will tug your heartstrings. Upbeat vocals with a hint of melancholy drive abstract chord progressions, reminding one immediately of The Shins, with nostalgic and bittersweet lyrics similar to Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs. The album is refreshingly honest […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten explores the lost rock and roll of CambodiaVarious Artists Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll (Dust-to-Digital) 3.5/5 This soundtrack to the film of the same name documents the history of rock and roll in Cambodia: it ain’t pretty. Cambodian rock musicians have been killed for being rock musicians, making both this album and the documentary fascinating and important looks […] Continue Reading |
Lit Matters: Umberto Eco and the power of learning“To survive, you must tell stories,” wrote Umberto Eco, an Italian scholar and novelist best known for mind-bending intellectual thrillers like The Name of the Rose. Eco, born in 1932, is a titan of 20th-century intellectual history and continues to make scholarly contributions to a boggling array of disciplines; his personal library includes some 50,000 […] Continue Reading |
Langford-based film studio aims big with new productionJust over a year ago, a dream was put into production. Alexander Panagopoulos and his team over at Langford’s Ragnarock Studios wanted to create a film project to get their company up and running. They had developed a story set in ancient Greece, and, as a fan of action movies like 300 and having Greek […] Continue Reading |
