Reflecting our collective fears
Halloween is a time of year that is surrounded by darkness, fear and celebration. Witches, ghosts, bats and vampires are all popular images that symbolize…
Noreen Mae Ritsema
Aspiring to intoxication
There is perhaps no better way to legally distort reality than with alcohol. For some — OK, for many — it is the social lubricant…
Migrant agricultural workers in Canada
Ralston White and Paul Roach, both migrant workers from Jamaica working on an Ontario apple farm, died from inhaling toxic fumes recently. Although an investigation…
Shaping up
The ads are everywhere, buy the new Sketchers Shape-ups and you can “get in shape without setting foot in a gym.” Yes, advertisements claim that…
Theater as transformative action
Racism, motherhood, plastic surgery and the politics of love — these are some of the issues that are being dealt with theatrically as part of…
Know thy artist
With many questions about legitimacy and safety still lingering in the tattoo world, professional tattoo artist Andrew Triebel of Triebel Tattoos — working out of…
Tattoos as permanent reminders
Tattoos are at once permanent and a constant reminder of impermanence. When we choose to get inked, it is undying passion and value that permeates…
Sparkly rock shines light on social responsibility
There is a diamond ring for sale. It’s blue — vivid blue, to be precise — and it is expected to sell for about US$15…
The pseudo-science of seduction
Classes have been in session all summer but September is when things really start to heat up on campus. Thousands of new students reluctantly say…
Strippers in suburbia
When the hook from this classic Ol’ Dirty Bastard song started playing and Roxy Roller unenthusiastically chewed gum and pranced around the dance floor topless,…