Eight days before I found myself in the underground parking garage of the Drop-In Centre listening to a social worker practice his bagpipes, I drove downtown with Gauntlet photographer Chris Pedersen, an audio recorder and vague notions of the insidious link between mental illness and homelessness. In mid-September, I had explored homelessness for a piece… Continue reading State of mind
Month: November 2007
Guy Gerber
Dancing has become passe for music geeks. The old cliche of a bearded dude dressed in vintage clothing, cabbie hat on his head, arms crossed, head imperceptibly moving to the beat is a woeful truth. Every now and then, though, the lights get low, the disco ball comes out and a bunch of idiots start… Continue reading Guy Gerber
Spun: Buck 65
By Brad Halasz
What would hip-hop be like in 1957? What would it be like for a rap artist to sing about Che Guevara, Chavez Ravine and the Kerouac era of beat poetry? One needn’t take heavy drugs to imagine such lunacy, but must instead crank up east coast hip hop artist Buck 65’s Situation. A conceptual look… Continue reading Spun: Buck 65
Spun: Dave Gahan
Newcomer Dave Gahan’s eponymous release, Hourglass, combines dark, gritty electro synths with house beats to create an interesting sea of sonic textures, leaving one wondering exactly what the hell they’re listening to–in a good way. While the album describes itself as “synthpop,” it sounds more like acid house at times, bouncing to industrial techno and… Continue reading Spun: Dave Gahan
SU View: Start the season right with Nog Fest!
‘Twas the week before Nog Fest and all through the U, kids dreamt of parties that they would go to. Exams are close but do not fret er’, just party out in your ugly sweaters! December 7 at the Den, it’s Nog Fest two thousand and seven. Ugly sweaters is the theme, the holiday party… Continue reading SU View: Start the season right with Nog Fest!
Spun: Most Serene Republic
The opening moments of Ontario-based band Most Serene Republic’s latest, Populations, is a slow-building concerto tuning, fading into the delightfully complex instrumental pop tune “Humble Peasants.” Of note within the song, also emblematic of the album itself, is a delicacy not otherwise heard in Most Serene’s previous work: ethereal piano, proud horns and a driving… Continue reading Spun: Most Serene Republic
Every little thing she does is magic
By Ryan Pike
Throughout the 1990s, the realm of animated film was ruled over by Disney. Bolstered by such award-winning films as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, Disney could do no wrong. Soon the ’90s ended and traditional cell animation gave way to computer-generated animation, leaving Disney out in the cold.… Continue reading Every little thing she does is magic
Stringent standards subvert superfluous squandering
By Jon Roe
The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association launched an ad campaign at the end of Oct., calling on the government to increase the availability of bio fuels and to expand programs to get older vehicles off the road. Though both would help to reduce greenhouse gases and smog, their recommendations are ultimately flawed and approach the problem… Continue reading Stringent standards subvert superfluous squandering
A modest response to the writers’ strike
As the Writers’ Guild of America strike heads into its third week, the effects are finally being felt. Although some programs have banked several scripts in anticipation of the strike, a large number of shows did not. The result is several shows running out of new episodes and lapsing into reruns. For students buried under… Continue reading A modest response to the writers’ strike
Dancing prancing wizards
The Harry Potter juggernaut has steamrolled through 2007 with no signs of stopping anytime soon. Children’s novel writers cower in fear of the glasses-wearing, wand-toting wizard-messiah-in-waiting. With a blockbuster fifth movie, an enormously popular end to the series and a devoted fanbase trying to interpret every little details throughout the book, Harry Potter will piledrive… Continue reading Dancing prancing wizards