Month: June 2009

Fraser Institute Alberta high school rankings miss the mark

By Daniel Pagan

A free market think-tank’s high school rankings have drawn fire from instructors, parents and school principals province-wide. The 10th annual Fraser Institute’s Report Card on Alberta high schools, released last weekend, drew concerns that it focused on academic performance at the expense of classroom participation, teacher assessment and extra-curricular activities. The rankings were established as… Continue reading Fraser Institute Alberta high school rankings miss the mark

Spun: Green Day

By Roy Cotton-O’Brien

When asked to, most people characterize Green Day as an emotional band. Their sound, loaded with anger, fear and confusion, came to a head in their last album, American Idiot. The political anxiety that facilitated Idiot is no more, as their latest LP, 21st Century Breakdown, focuses on larger social ills. Breakdown tells the tale… Continue reading Spun: Green Day

Spun: Meatdraw

By Ryan Pike

In the music industry, names are an important way of managing expectations. Victoria’s Meatdraw may sound like a metal band, but they are not. Their website describes them as a “carnival exorcism dance band,” which isn’t a bad label for their brand of energetic, folksy music. The six-piece’s second album, Fin Du Monophone, is a… Continue reading Spun: Meatdraw

Spun: Chairlift

By Laura Bardsley

Consisting of vocalist/guitarist Aaron Pfenning, vocalist/keyboardist Caroline Polachek and drummer Patrick Wimberly, Charilift are a low-key and engaging group. They’re best known for extremely catchy single “Bruises,” which was featured in Apple’s commercial debuting the 4th generation Nano. If you can say their last names, you win 10 points, but if you can listen to… Continue reading Spun: Chairlift

Spun: Iggy Pop

By Ken Clarke

The last song you’d expect to open a new Iggy Pop release is 1945 French jazz standard “Les Feuilles Mortes” (Autumn Leaves), sung in French no less. Preliminaires — which translates as Foreplay — is Iggy’s 15th solo recording and is an eclectic mix of jazz, blues and subtle electronics. Clearly this isn’t the Iggy… Continue reading Spun: Iggy Pop

Hades Publications explores the outer limits of science fiction

By Adriana Sveen

What would happen if the earth was taken over by a race of subterranean mole people? How would the human race cope if we discovered individuals with superhuman abilities? While these ideas may seem absurd, they are very real possibilities for Hades Publications publisher Brian Hades. His search to answer such questions led to the… Continue reading Hades Publications explores the outer limits of science fiction

Revitalized E3 offers look into the future of gaming

By Andrew Swan

The future of E3 — the Electronic Entertainment Expo — came into question three years ago. In 2006, many of the companies traditionally associated with the trade show petitioned the organizing body, the Entertainment Software Association, to cut back the size and scope of the three day event. E3 consequently became open only to industry… Continue reading Revitalized E3 offers look into the future of gaming

An unvirtuous affair to forget

By Silvia de Somma

Easy Virtue, a play by English playwright Noel Coward and then a silent film by Alfred Hitchcock, is director Stephan Elliott’s fifth movie. Depicting the whirlwind marriage of an upper-class Englishman, John Whittaker (Ben Barnes), to an adventurous American widow, Larita (Jessica Biel), Easy Virtue highlights the effect of the union on John’s strictly traditional… Continue reading An unvirtuous affair to forget