Students need to eat more than just an apple a day to keep the doctor away.

“I eat a tonne of fruits and vegetables and like to focus on getting what I need from eating healthy foods versus taking supplements,” said Rishelle Klassen, a third-year social work student at Thompson Rivers University in Kelowna, B.C. “I think that there is a difference in the vitamins and minerals you get from foods compared to the processed ones in vitamins.

She does admit, however, that “I do take Vitamin C on a regular basis in the winter because I find it helps me stay healthy and avoid colds.”

“There’s a sort of common perception that students are a bunch of nutritional morons and they don’t know what they’re doing, but a lot of students have thought about their diet,” said Lanny Balcaen, who works as a vitamin specialist at the Nature’s Fare natural health products store in Kamloops.

Balcaen sees quite a few students come through looking for dietary and nutritional advice.

Even when students think they’re eating healthy by having fruit and vegetables daily, they’re often still not getting all the vitamins and minerals needed to stay healthy and prevent future degenerative diseases, the vitamin specialist explained.

“We’re getting and dying from cancer at three times the rate we were 40 years ago,” said Balcaen who is a master herbalist and doctor of homeopathic medicine. “There’s something wrong with this picture. Obesity is rampant and diabetes is going off the charts.”

Unhealthy lifestyles, environmental pollution, chemicals in food and more can cause something called oxidative stress, the production of damage-causing altered molecules and atoms called free radicals. Free radicals are “oxidized,” meaning they lose their neutral status as a molecule, but they can be neutralized with antioxidants.

“You know when you cut an apple and it turns brown? That’s what happens [to our cells],” said Laura Kalina, a registered dietitian in Kamloops. “We’re at an all-time high for oxidative stress in our environment, that’s why we see more people with heart disease, cancer, etcetera. They’re really not getting enough antioxidants. [University students] are probably more at risk than anybody.”

Antioxidants neutralize the damaging effects of free radicals in the body and come from foods or supplements. The major ones include Vitamin C, E and Beta Carotene.

“When you put Vitamin C on [an oxidized apple], it prevents the browning,” Kalina said.

For women between 19 and 50 years of age, it’s recommended to eat seven to eight servings of fruit and vegetables a day while for men it’s eight to 10. A medium-sized fruit or half a cup of vegetables is one serving, according to the Canada Food Guide.

“Pick a variety of different fruits and vegetables so you’ll get a mixture of good fruit plant nutrients, different vitamins, minerals, fibre, essential oils and essential fats,” said Louisa Lee, a dietitian with HealthLink B.C.

Lee promotes eating whole foods to get nutrients.

“Supplements won’t necessarily be the magic thing that will make [you] healthy – it will be food.”

Yet both Balcaen and Kalina suggest finding a quality multivitamin and mineral supplement to take in addition to eating a healthy diet, even when following the Canada Food Guide.

“Research is showing we cannot get enough [vitamins and minerals] from our food, particularly the antioxidants,” Kalina said.

For various reasons – such as growing and breeding practices – the amount of vitamins and minerals our produce contains has changed.

“In 1940, the number one source of Vitamin C and Vitamin A in Canada was the lowly potato, but the potatoes grown today have none of either,” Balcaen claimed.

As a result, even when people are eating fruits and vegetables, they aren’t getting as many nutrients as they think.

When looking for a good supplement to fill the gaps, Kalina said to get one that’s pharmaceutical-graded and chelated. While some supplements aren’t very absorbable in the body, being chelated means they’re bound to an amino acid and more easily recognized by the body.

“You want to get a brand that knows the science behind formulating them so you get just the right amount of calcium to zinc, zinc to magnesium, etcetera because too much of one offsets the other,” she said. “It’s all about synergy.”

University students, especially, should make sure they’re getting enough protein and taking fish oil, said Balcaen. 

“Get some fish oil. It’s very, very high in a couple of compounds that are extremely important for cognitive function. It will really help with your ability to concentrate and focus. You’ll sleep better and you’ll wake up feeling better,” he said.

When asked about the perceived higher cost of healthy eating and supplements, Balcaen, Kalina and Lee agreed that, with a bit of planning, eating whole foods can be cheaper with benefits outweighing any cost.

“Using real foods and supplements, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. That’s something people tell themselves. If you eat real food you won’t be as hungry as often,” Balcaen said.

“For $10 you can get yourself a bag of almonds, walnuts and a little bit of dried fruit. You spend $20 and get a bunch of it, mix it up and put it in smaller bags. That would be a week and half of snacks and it would keep you from going to the [snack] machine.”

Buying local is a good strategy.

“We tend to tell people to buy in season. Look for products [locally], they’ll tend to be cheaper and fresher,” Lee said. “Buy bulk if you can.”

Drinking the occasional fruit smoothie or ordering a side of salad instead of fries is a good place to start, but eating to maintain health requires a lifestyle commitment.

“Picture half or three quarters of your plate being plant foods – that’s your powerhouse of immune-strengthening foods,” Lee said.

It never hurts to take extra supplements and vitamin-rich food when you start to feel sick, but nutritionists agree that always eating a diet full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants will energize you and strengthen your immune system, helping avoid illness altogether.

Most importantly, a healthy eating lifestyle can prevent against eventually getting one or more of the chronic degenerative diseases four out of five Canadian seniors suffer from, according to the consumer edition of Nutrisearch’s Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.

“It takes three months for the body to get the cellular health up. The key is to keep doing it every day to keep your immunity up all the time, not just when you’re getting [sick],” Kalina said.

“I think it’s all about prevention.”

 - Rebekah Hammond , The Omega

Q and A with Ken Bradley: successful owner of CityXpress

Ken, first off, just tell me a bit about your company and what you do.

CityXpress is an internet software development company. We build Ebay-type auctions with media companies, primarily with newspapers. Basically through an auction it allows us to sell products that newspaper and other media use to convert into advertising revenue. For example, CanWest is a big client of ours. They get their clients to put products into the auction and the products get sold at the reserve price. That person who buys the product usually gets a deal by approximately 50% of the original price and the newspaper collects all the cash. The company who put in the product gets advertising credit for the retail value of the product. It’s basically a fancy way for media companies to sell advertising space by using an auction.

What kind of products are being auctioned off and sold in the newspapers and broadcasting outlets?

All kinds of consumable products, services, cars, real estate, in store gift certificates… etc.

Did you come up with the idea of the auction?

My company found out about the idea from someone who was at the Hamilton Spectator newspaper so we built the software originally for the paper’s auction. Then, over the years, we’ve enhanced the software and added additional features and specialties. We then took it to the U.S. and internationally. The business took off from there.

Where are your locations?

We are in about 13 countries across the world. Our home base is here in Vancouver but we operate in Canada, U.S., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England… etc.

How did your business get so big?

We found additional clients to expand into the market place where there are newspapers. In international places we’ve expanded through resellers, we partner with locals. There is a German fellow in Germany who looks after that country, Switzerland and Austria. They all speak German there so we converted the product to that language and he is our reseller there. He is responsible for marketing and signing up new clients, but the auction runs on our services, we support them and then everyone splits the fees.

Newspapers and broadcasting stations across the world have been folding and cutting back on a lot of their services. How has the recent economic downturn affected CityXpress?

Not well. First of all with the recession it hasn’t helped because some newspapers have said they want to put the auction on hold for a while and stick to their core business. Some newspapers have gone bankrupt and so that hasn’t helped us at all. They just can’t afford to put an auction in their paper.

You went to BCIT at some point in your life, what program did you take?

I graduated from a combined program at BCIT, Computer Programming and Accounting. I graduated a long time ago, probably way before most current students were born. The program gave me the basic skills and foundation to start my own business. Because I took the combined program I actually got a professional accounting designation as a CMA. During that whole process, technology was the major driver for me. I started as a computer programmer and then I basically moved into accounting and implementing accounting systems, converting manual systems into computerized systems. A while ago, twenty five years I guess, I decided technology companies were where I wanted to work. I worked for Mobile Data International and several others. I’ve always from square one been really interested in technology and the application of technology whether it was in business or medicine or whatever else, it has always fascinated me. I just enjoy it.

Aside from the economic downturn, what challenges are you facing with your business?

Part of it is hiring good software developers because we are on the leading edge of development, we use relatively new technologies. We like open sourced software and finding people who are able to use that kind of software and applying new stuff is difficult. The auctions themselves are huge traffic drivers and though we are a small company in the scheme of employees and software, if you are running the Vancouver Sun Auction and the Dallas Fort Worth Auction at the same time and the auctions each have two hours to go until close, traffic you generate on those auctions are huge and disproportionate to the size of our company. We get millions of page views an hour. We need to find talented people to deal with these kinds of issues that arise and sometimes it’s difficult to find those people.

What is your advice to students interested in starting their own business?

Students should get as well rounded of business skills as possible. I don’t care where you start and what your background is, at some point in time you have to be able to sell. Sales skills are really important, especially if you will be starting your own business. At some time in everyone’s life you will have to sell something and if you’re a small little place just starting, someone will have to sell, you may not have the resources to hire the super-deluxe sales person so you will have to be that person.

 -Laura Gallant, Link Editor (Broadcast Journalism)

Nearly forgot this thing.

To make up for it i’ll show you some pretty awesome demo reel things.

Feed your ears homegrown music…

Artist: Arkells

Where from: Home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats…rawr!

Sounds like: Solid rock…with a sultry hint of soul and some smashing percussion along for the ride.

 Why it’s worth checking out: Besides the fact that they just plain rock…these boys have toured with the likes of the Matt Mays & El Torpedo and my personal fav, Manitoba-based outfit, The Waking Eyes. Since the release of their first LP Deadlines, back in 2007, these Ontario natives have been steaming up the Canadian music scene. The vocals mix with wicked percussion seamlessly… like the perfect cocktail (shaken not stirred…extra olives). Up next, Arkells will get the crowd going for the 2010 Games; they’re set to play in Surrey at the Olympic Celebration Stage. After this epic plug, the band is sure to be the hot topic on lips across Canada…and elsewhere.\

-Kendra Hart, Culture Coordinator (Broadcast Journalism)

A new team was created at random in our Principles of Management course and so far everything has been great! Our team is called – Pencil Box Hat and “We’re Sharp”.  I did the logo again, this time I kept it simple to match the simple name.

Our first project is to compare two companies and learn about how they deal with external environments.  We chose advertising as our interests and we will have a few interviews with people in the industry.

I will update the interviews as soon as I get permission to from the companies.

We also took a fun picture (starting from 11 o’ clock and clockwise)  Brett Burns, Jennifer Chin, Andrew Pudlas, Michael VanHorne, Svetlana Emerenko, Cynthia Luu and William Heng

Team Aqua Cats approached me to make their logo.  They wanted “water, and a cat”.  I agreed on the price of….an extra large french vanilla coffee.

Here it is:

An intimate sit down with one of the Green Men

The Green Men are not only Vancouver Canucks fans but they are dressing up for a purpose. The men wearing full body spandex suits are what some might call revolutionaries, they want to send a message to GM Place.

 “Presentation at GM Place is a bit stale and half of the lower bowl is made up of corporate fans that are always so quiet and reserved so we decided to lighten the mood up a little and have some fun. GM Place doesn’t really get the fans pumped up anymore. The first game I went to this year the DJ played Coldplay as their opening song… not really a tune that’s going to get the adrenaline pumping. So we decided to dress up and give people a laugh. At first it was just a gag but then it caught on and people starting liking us and we started getting media attention”, explains the mysterious masked man.

For those who are not familiar with the men in green, they first appeared at a Nashville Predators game about a month ago. Every time a Nashville player drew a penalty and sat in the box, the Green Men would be directly beside them heckling the players. Dave Scatchard, playing for the Predators at the time, was particularly agitated by the Green Men and ended up throwing his towel over the box camera. GM Place erupted in laughter and that’s when the boys knew they were making a difference in the game. It was the perfect storm, they had seats beside the away team’s penalty box and were located in the line of sight of the box camera that displayed the two men on the rink’s big screen.

Like all masked men they want to keep their identity a secret, however it has been learned the Green Men have a link to BCIT as they are both Broadcast Journalism students. To the public they will be known as Force and Sully.

The body-tight green suit doesn’t leave much to the imagination. When the guys first walked down the aisle to their seats, among the laughing, people could be heard saying “ew” and “I didn’t need to see that”. Pointing to his costume Sully explains that despite not being able to see much of the game, there are some advantages to wearing it.

“Whenever we walk in the concourse between periods we are bombarded by fans. Last game I think we had 200 to 300 people coming up to us and asking for photos. It’s fun so we don’t have a problem with the attention. And much to my girlfriend’s dismay, on more than one occasion my bum has been pinched by women in their 40’s looking for a piece,” recalls Green Man. If he wasn’t wearing his costume I’m sure he would have been seen smiling as he said this.

“The suit has its drawbacks though. The most difficult thing about it is not being able to drink and see very well during the games. The bathroom is also a real challenge though. We use a stall because we have to unzip the entire costume… we use separate stalls, we don’t unzip each other”, Sully was very adamant that I include the last part.

Surprisingly, their dance moves are not inspired from classic artists.

“We draw on inspiration for our dance moves from a variety of sources. Probably the two artists that stand out the most are Pete Sampras and a young Doctor Phil. Our moves are unique and flow in a certain way that keeps us going for the game”, said the Green Man, half serious.

To squash rumours, the Green Men have not been approached by Mike Gillis personally and have not been given free tickets.

The two mysterious men hope the green trend catches on and the Canucks come out with a green uniform. Sully and Force want the organization to abolish the whale and “Vancouver rainbow” above the logo that is on the current Canucks jersey. For now, they will continue to show up to a few more games this season and spark a little life into GM Place. 

-Laura Gallant, Link Editor (Broadcast Journalism)

Hello!

Semester 2 started on a roller-coaster and the work is already begun to pile up – hence the late post.

Team D has a new name!  We are now called “Tribe Communications” and we are already working on Case Study #1 for Marketing Communications.

Heres a picture of us (starting from the left is – Michael VanHorne, Andrew Pudlas, Stefanie Gajdecki, Cierra Buck, William Heng, Jeffrey Kam):

We’ve decided to stay in the group with each other because things worked well last time.  A few team improvements, one example I like -  we are going to challenge each other this semester by doing things we haven’t done instead of sticking to things we were good at.

The News In Brief in Link 45-8 says that the Latex Luau is on Jan 20th in the Great Hall. It’s actually on the 29th! You’re welcome to come by the Great Hall on the 20th, you just won’t get lei’d!

Welcome to Comp 3906. We will be commencing the course on Monday, Jan 18 at the BCIT Burnaby campus. I have sent out an email letting students know how they can get a head-start and prepare for their first class. You should log into your my.bcit.ca email account to find these instructions.

Last semester was our premiere run of the course, and thanks to the great student feedback received, this semester is going to be even better!

I look forward to seeing you all next Monday! Please drop me a line if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Richard

Link 45-8 is now on stands!

Check it out!

Dont know who the Green Men are? Check them out:

So it’s the New Year and you have a new resolution. Let me take a stab in the dark and guess that it’s to lose weight, right? WRONG!!!! Setting a goal to be a certain weight is a sure fire way to become obsessed with a number. Why is this wrong you ask because you have officially become obsessed with your scale and the numbers it spits back at you.

Let me further explain myself. You work out to maintain a certain weight. Why do you want to stay at said weight? Because it feels right. At the aforementioned weight your jeans fit, the opposite sex stares (sometimes too long), and you feel good.

The point of losing weight is to feel good so why not maintain a feeling instead of a number.

You now ask, how do I go about feeling good? You didn’t think I would give all my secrets away in one article did you. Keep checking to learn how to gain a feeling.

Health: Do you really need eight hours of sleep a night?

Is getting your eight hours really that important? Is it absolutely essential to have dusk till dawn, uninterrupted unconscious quiet time? How much sleep can you miss before your brain melts into a liquid that vaguely resembles Tim Hortons black coffee?

Good morning kids, today we’ll be talking about sleep. Let us not dabble on silly questions like “should you sleep at night?” Yes, you moron. The world record for staying awake is eleven days. Lab rats deprived of sleep for any longer than a month have dropped dead – so don’t try it at home.

The general scientific consensus is that adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function at their best in order to react quickly, form memories, and think clearly. How you get those hours, however, is completely up to you.

Uninterrupted sleep may not be the most efficient option; for example, Leonardo Da Vinci is rumoured to have taken 15-minute naps every three hours in a 24-hour cycle, and he seemed to turn out just fine.

Chiemi Sakai, a Japanese international student from Kiryu, Gumma who attends St. Thomas University in Fredericton, is used to a slightly different way of sleeping. At home, beds are referred to as “futons” – not to be confused with a futon couch – which are very thin mattresses that can be easily rolled up after use. Pillows are often much harder, and filled with beads or sand. Children also sleep in their parents’ bedroom until the age of 12 (each member of the family occupies their own mattress), at which point they would begin sleeping in their own room. Chiemi says she prefers the Canadian way of sleeping.

Different cultures and subcultures tend to have different sleeping traditions. However, the point remains the same: you need to get your eight hours.

Haley Jones, a second-year UNB student, has discovered that her sleep per night has decreased three to four hours since moving away from home. Her advice to students who wish to get a good night’s sleep is to stay away from residence. If you can’t, earplugs come in handy.

As students, we face tough decisions every night. The question is not always “to sleep, or not to sleep,” but rather, “to analyze this Shakespearean sonnet with my right hand, or to down this Jägerbomb with my left.”

Whichever the case, we don’t find ourselves getting Health Canada’s suggested eight hours as often as our mothers would like to hear.

The solution? Make an effort. Pull a DaVinci and nap as often as possible, or schedule your classes for late morning. An extra hour in the sack can make a huge and positive difference to the amount of information you retain from a class, as well as for your mood and energy.

 -Sarah Farquhar, The Brunswickan (University of New Brunswick)

As most gym junkies can attest, the gym gets noticeably busier in January. Not only are more people visiting the gym trying to purge the excesses of the holidays and trying to compensate for missed workouts during holiday gym closures, but there is also a spike in new members joining the gym.

You know it’s the new year because you are blinded by all the shiny, white new runners being sported by people determined to start exercising. You also know it’s the new year because your favourite exercise bike that you use at the beginning of every workout is being used by one of those people wearing shiny white sneakers.

The good news, or at least the truth, is that by the end of January most of those new running shoes will be sitting at the backs of closets under piles of clothes as people realize how much work a workout actually is. It is unfortunate, but at least you get your bike back.

As we welcome a new year, so many people add exercising to their list of New Year’s resolutions. That is important and ambitious, but for some people it is also possible to exercise too much.

If you do go to a gym often enough to have pieces of workout equipment that you affectionately consider your own, it may be time to consider what it means to over-exercise. There are both physical and psychological components to over-exercising and both are complexly related, exposing the difficulty of actually diagnosing the problem.

Physically, symptoms that indicate that you are putting too much pressure on your body include consistently sore muscles, sleep disturbances, lack of motivation, decreased appetite, sudden weight loss and increased incidences of injury. Any or all of these signs translate to your body needing you to exercise a little bit less.

These physical symptoms can be obvious and intrusive indicators that you are over-exercising. Your body is literally telling you to slow down. What can be more insidious, however, are the psychological aspects of over-exercising. Also known as compulsive exercising, this phenomenon is considered an addiction and has been categorized alongside eating disorders.

Compulsive exercisers often lack clear fitness goals and tend to work out longer and more frequently than necessary. It has been speculated that people who compulsively exercise are addicted to the chemical reactions in their bodies caused by exercise.

Interestingly, it has also been found that many over-exercisers have skewed opinions about their bodies, often perceiving themselves to look heavier than they actually are. This is the same distorted body perception that fuels many eating disorders.

The psychological aspects of compulsive exercising are also a matter of a person’s perspective on their exercise regimen. The general guideline indicating whether you are exercising too much or not is reflected in how high of a priority you place on exercise. You should be concerned about over-exercising if you prioritize workouts over friends and family. Another sign may be if your friends and family are concerned that you exercise too much. Remember, exercise is only healthy when it is not taken to an extreme.

Ideal bodies that are unrealistic for the majority of people permeate the media and it is not uncommon to see women reading fashion magazines featuring ultra-thin models at the gym while they work out. Perhaps this common scene shows a correlation between the media’s glorification of thinness and compulsive exercising. What is not so easy to see is the line between healthy exercising and over-exercising. For some people, it may be time to take a step back and evaluate which side of the line we find ourselves on.

 - Noreen Mae Ritsema, The Manitoban

A study published over the summer by University of British Columbia school of nursing professor Elizabeth Saewyc has provided some grim results regarding the level of violence experienced by North American university students.

By Geoffrey Blain, The Brock Press (Brock University)

The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, suggests that nearly one in five students have been victims of violence in the past six months.

Students at participating universities were asked to fill out a short questionnaire when they visited their campus health clinics for anything from a runny nose to a prescription refill. It was found that 16 per cent of women and 17 per cent of men reported experiencing abuse in the past six months.

Although the researchers were surprised to find almost no difference between the percentage of men and women who reported abuse, the dissimilarities became more apparent when evaluating the type of abuse.

Nine per cent of men reported emotional abuse compared to 15 per cent of women, while nine per cent of men said they had experienced physical abuse compared to three per cent of women.

“It’s not what you would expect,” Saewyc said, referring to the narrow difference between men and women. “Constant ridicule, cutting people down, unreasonable jealousy, breaking your stuff, threats. That’s what the emotional violence is. When it comes to emotional violence, that’s a really repetitive one.”

The study determined that alcohol was clearly a factor and was one of the first to study the use of alcohol by victims. More than one third of the students said they had been drinking when the emotional abuse took place and more than half said they had been drinking when they experienced physical abuse.

“I think we’re doing a pretty good job teaching university students and high school students about the consequences of drinking and driving and the [alcohol-related] harms that can happen in the long-term,” Saewyc said. “But we don’t necessarily make them aware that there could be immediate costs – not just getting in an accident, but actually, you are at risk of being assaulted, and that violence has a health cost for everyone.”

The study also examined who abuse was coming from. Nearly half of the emotional abuse reported and about 20 per cent of physical abuse was from an “intimate partner.” Although the research looked at both, intimate partner abuse towards men had not received much attention prior to the study. The study found that violence rarely occurred between strangers and was much more common between men and woman in romantic relationships.

“It makes it really clear that our students really need some more help in figuring out healthy relationships,” Saewyc said.

Although many universities have implemented security measures such as surveillance cameras to help keep students safe while they are on campus, Saewyc says the real danger isn’t until “you open that door at the end.”

“Part of the challenge of security measures is they’re great if you’re talking about stranger violence or a fight that erupts at a big party or bar brawl, but a fair amount of violence is among romantic partners or roommates. It’s taking place between two people behind closed doors and it’s not going to show up on video cameras.”

Do I have enough knowledge and can I really apply what I learned at BCIT to this project to my fullest potential?

This is a test. This is not only a test to see how well I can apply my knowledge, but also a test to see if I can actually work in a professional environment as a marketing consultant or whatever I become in the future.

Ideas are running through my head. But are they good enough? I know these thoughts seem pretty pessimistic, but to someone as young as me about to put myself out there in the real, professional world, I’m kind of scared. Will I be up to par with everyone else out there about to graduate who are much older than I? I bet if employers ever knew my age, they would be a little hesitant to hire me…or they might be excited to see and train a newcomer.

I think I’m more excited than scared right now. I have the help from my lovely group members. I’m sure we will do fine. And our faculty advisor is really helpful.

I also have to think of a few companies that I am interested in that I may what to know more about. A mentor interview to know how that certain industry professional got to where they are today. I am interested in looking at interior designers in the lower mainland. Nancy Riesco and Tanya Schoenroth both have designers in their company that have graduated from Kwantlen’s Interior Design program. Curious to hear their stories.

Another thing I must keep in mind is my practicum coming up in March. I’m really looking into doing the Marketing Internship at Vancouver Magazine. They are always taking in interns on an on-going basis. And I think it would be really good because I’m in the tourism option and it would really help me build more knowledge of my hometown as I grow older and start looking for a career.

So many things to do…so little time!

I went to BCIT yesterday and today and watched the Karate BC Provincials. Yesterday were the adult divisions and everyone was superb. Lots of different dojos competing, Vancouver Karate being one of them. The fights were closely tied and so were the kata competitions. Today it was also pretty good. There were a few funny things that happened today though. There was a little boy who was behaving really badly and his mom called his dad 15 minutes after the tournament has started and told him to take the little boy away.

Then later on, when things have settled down a bit, there was a kid sitting on the top row in the bleachers and out of no where he started throwing up! It sprayed everywhere, like 4 or 5 rows within him. When someone told me this, I started laughing my head off. I’m glad I wasn’t sitting close to him! Haha.

Tarl’s been in the Vancouver music scene for a while. He used to front the band Sam and last year released his own self-titled solo record which has been doing extremely well.  You’ve heard his single “Tonight” on Evolution 107.9FM and I recently had the opportunity to talk all things music with him.

You’ve done the band thing and now the solo thing, so how do you make the decision to break away from the band and pursue a solo career?

The band decided to break away from me and it was just the evolution of the band. Everybody was just kinda going in different directions, we had done what that group of people were gonna do.  I started doing acoustic stuff, had a blast, learned a whole other way of entertaining and then decided to get back into a band.

So you had some music piling up?

You know what it was? I was doing the acoustic thing and I was having a lot of fun… I was just kind of getting a feel for it, because it’s totally different you’re up there by yourself and you actually have to entertain people at the same time. And when I went down to Seattle to do this album it just turned into a rock thing… we came back and I guess I better find some players and put it together and that’s what we’ve done.

It’s amazing how connected the Vancouver music scene is… is there a community feel there? That’s the vibe I get.

You know what? It depends. Sometimes it is, there are groups who are really close. You obviously know everyone… it’s not that big of a city so you do get an opportunity to play with everyone. But some bands, they’ll associate more than others. Your styles and personality really come into it in music, it took me a while to learn that everyone can play an instrument but your personalities have to mesh. There are some really strange folks in music, so sometimes that’s just one of those things.

I want to talk about the internet. You use the internet heavily you’ve got a MySpace, website, you’re on facebook, twitter, Do you feel like you have to be on the internet – people are expecting it of you?

Yeah.

What did we do before the internet?

Phone calls, it was more personal. You had more of an attachment with people. And handbills.

You’re right! The street team.

Yeah going out and accosting people with that stare and be like I don’t even know what you just gave me, get out of my personal space.

Back in the day with our long shaggy hair looking a little scarier…

I didn’t have long shaggy hair…It was more frizzy…Anyways it was more personal. It’s like you’d have a show and you’d go out before the show and literally try and shake people’s hands, whereas now it’s almost lazy I guess to a certain extent but that’s where people expect to see it. So you sit down on facebook and say we’re doing a show.

Do you try to keep some sort of personal aspect when you’re online at least?

Yeah I do. I’ll just try and contact different people and try and do a personal message [via Facebook], So when I give that message I get a message back and keep that friendship going, because you meet so many people and there’s so many cool people that you meet and it’s really nice to be able to stay in touch and that’s the excuse, to tell them about shows, to stay in touch, I’ll take it.

It must be a strange place as a performer to be meeting people; because these are people who are connecting with you on such a deep level- I love your music.

It’s a little creepy sometimes. No it totally is, I never, kinda looked at it that way, from a rewarding standpoint. I’m so addicted to just playing its more selfish from my point. I love playing music I love recording music and I really do, I mean obviously somewhere along the line you feed off people liking it, but it’s if you dig it and however way you dig it…I’m so happy for that, but it’s not what I was doing it for.

Now… music downloading, if I were to go online and torrent you and rip off your music that way, how do you feel about that?

You know what? I’m so on the fence because for me at this stage my career, the more people that know about me the better. But at the same time, you can’t really get ahead. You look at a band like Radiohead where they put their stuff online, they already have millions of dollars and they already have the distribution of people knowing about them already. Whereas when you’re at my stage, trying to get booked everywhere, trying to get your name everywhere, it’s an ugly sort of beast you know? That’s the thing if somebody buys a CD; I’m like so appreciative that it’s not even funny. And if somebody buys it online like through itunes it’s really exciting, and then I’ll say just burn it, if you really like it the best advertising I can have is you handing it to a friend. And hopefully down the road somewhere along the line one of their friends will actually come and buy, it maybe will come back to me.

The future of Tarl, is it just touring, is there a new record in the works?

Just found out today, we’re going back into the studio, we have a bunch of brand new songs that we actually play at shows, which we’re so excited to play cause obviously the core group of fans have had this CD for just shy of a year so they’re waiting and wanting and so we’re excited to go back into the studio and have a whole bunch of brand new stuff and I don’t know if we’ll do a full CD this time, but we’re going to try and see and see what iTunes and like release 2 songs at a time. And keep people happy and keep us in everybody’s peripheral.

And wanting more!

What could be better than getting advice on how to succeed in the future? Getting advice from a BCIT grad who knows what it’s like to be a BCIT student. I had the chance to chat with Kalpna Solanki about her studies, experience, and success.

How did you start your business and come up with the idea for your product?

I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Everyone in my family at some point or another has or is involved in running their own business. So that’s kind of essentially my background. When i was thinking about business ideas I had just had my daughter and we eat organic food so I made home cooked food at home. There was nothing similar to what I was making her at home because everything out there was jarred and there really was no frozen baby food. From home I was basically cooking fresh vegetables, locally grown foods as much as possible, I would steam them, I would puree them, and then I would freeze them into ice cube trays. People say ‘well why frozen, why not jarred?’ and really it’s similar to the difference between frozen peas and canned peas. Who eats canned peas anymore? Frozen peas are so much better. That was kind of the same thinking for the frozen baby food. So I decided to put my mind to it and start my own business making frozen organic baby food. We were the first in North America to launch frozen organic baby food.

So when you had this business idea in mind how did you begin to market your idea, get it off the ground and distribute your product? 

I looked around at various distributors and I teamed up with a local company called Horizon Distributors and they also recommended to me some food brokers that would also basically go out and market the product for us. I also met with some retailer chains like Overwaitea Foods. One of the senior people at Overwaitea told me right away that if I make the product then they will sell it for me. It sort of took off as a result of that. It’s an ongoing effort on our part to make sure we are constantly marketing the product to moms and retailers.

How did BCIT help prepare you to start your own business?

First I took my Environmental Health Diploma at BCIT which gave me a really sound food manufacturing background. I already had an MBA but I also went through the Entrepreneurial program at BCIT that was really helpful because it put me in contact with some really sound business people who were teaching the program and it enabled me to get a business plan and a timeline.

How do you balance your family life with your business?

When you own a business I don’t think you ever really stop working. I work longer hours but I choose when I work my hours. So I’m up early to get work done and then I always drop my daughter off at school. I then come home and do some more work until I pick her up at school and get more work done when she has gone to bed. Although I do work longer hours, I don’t work 9 to 5.

What advice do you have for students looking to start their own business?

I think it’s really important to do the research, that’s really key. Talk to people in the same business you want to get into, call them up its amazing how willing people are to give out their time. The other thing is it’s a lot of work and initial projections may not turn out how you planned so I would say double your start up costs and you might be in the ball park.

-Laura Gallant, Link Editor (Broadcast Journalism)

A Preview

You could forgive the western Canadian motorcycle industry for being confused. While the Olympian circus is yet to arrive, the weather in Vancouver is feeling more like early spring. Vancouver-area motorcycle riders and scooterists will be feeling the love from January 21-24 as the Vancouver Motorcycle Show roars into the Abbotsford Tradex Exhibition Center.

The VMS is a comprehensive showcase of motorcycles and motorcycling paraphernalia, with no less than 176 exhibitors plying their products and services for the world to see. Everyone from BMW to Yamaha will be displaying new models, with perennial fan favourites like Ducati, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Harley Davidson, and Honda dominating the floorplan.

For those out to pick up helmets, jackets or other gear, or just looking for more information on motorcycling in general, it’s also a great place to spend a few hours. Enthusiast clubs like the Beecee Beemers, the British Motorcycle Owners Club and the Greater Vancouver Motorcycle Club, as well as various riding schools like Pro-ride and Open Road Driver Training will be on hand to field questions from seasoned veteran owners and complete newbies alike.

Most importantly, once the adult $12 ($8 under 15 and free under 6) entry ticket is paid for and scanned, there are live displays and entertainment options to fill the program bell to bell. “Vintage Rider” and “She Ride” Nights, on Thursday and Saturday nights respectively, are great ways to meet and greet motorcycle enthusiasts from all over the Lower Mainland and are always a big hit at the show. For anyone hoping to witness a departure from the normal hum-drum of motorcycle street-cruising, star “stunter” and Speedchannel’s SuperBikes show host Jason Britton is in town for the weekend and showing off some extreme moves on the tarmac together with the Asphalt Junkiez, Vancouver’s premier motorcycle stunting club. For the off-road types, the super-moto races, trials demonstrations, and Yamaha Riding Academy for kids aged 6-12 is sure to put smiles on faces of all ages.

It’s going to be a fun weekend, and a great way to remind us that while there’s plenty of skiing, snowboarding, and ice hockey left to go in 2010, spring, summer, and the motorcycle season are just around the corner.

 -Theo Birkner

By far, the most attention my blog has received has been in response to a simple argument: UBC arts students must learn to network while they are students.  On the one hand, I hear that I’m a little ridiculous to suggest that students have the money, time and understanding to do so; on the other hand, I’m applauded by pointing out this fact.

If the stereotype of Gen-Y is true – they hold a strong sense of entitlement – then I think I can add to my argument that students seek a post-secondary education so that at the end of their programs, they can find gainful employment as educated adults.  Ultimately, we go to school with the presumption that good jobs will be attainable as a result.

I wrote that article regarding the need for UBC arts students to network as a UBC grad as well as a BCIT grad.  In British Columbia, BCIT is known for producing graduates with what is described as being ‘practical’ skills.  All business students graduate after having completed communication classes which are geared towards business-style report writing and giving PowerPoint presentations, as well as business strategy classes which require an ability to manipulate excel spreadsheets.

What’s more is that the students in BCIT’s school of business students complete their programs with relatively the same classmates during their entire two years of studies.  They are required to complete term projects that require group work throughout the term, making the need to connect with colleagues the norm.  As a result, students create a strong network of contacts within their program out of necessity.  This experience shows them the benefits and challenges of networking as they work closely with some classmates, barely work with others, but are connected to all.

In business, your success will be limited if you only converse with a few.  By opening yourself up to making as many business-related connection as you possibly can, your opportunities become endless.

While I was a first year student (in a two year program), it was also invaluable to meet the second year students.  I am still in contact with students who graduated from my program the year after me, and offer advice when current students demand it.

When I made the argument that UBC arts students need to learn how to network while they are still attending school, I did so with my particular background from BCIT in mind.  I know what it is like to be a UBC arts student (meandering in and out of hypothetical questions and interacting with others only when I chose to do so), and I also know what it is like to be a BCIT school of business student (where you`re directly told what is demanded of you, including when you must engage with the students in your program and otherwise).

Now that I am no longer a student, and am an actively seeking employment, I can tell you that BCIT`s approach of educating its students about networking, giving opportunities to do so (which were not all listed here), and showing the benefits of the social practice is much more beneficial for the student than ignoring the challenge.  In other economic climates, networking was a positive opportunity to get ahead of your job-search competitors, whereas today I believe it is a necessity to run alongside them.

Canada’s bold and feisty RnB songstress Jully Black is back, with her new album The Black Book. This album is Black’s third studio album, following two years after the Gold selling sophomore album Revival which was released in 2007 and spawned the massive hit single ‘7 Day Fool’. The Black Book is a new sound for the mostly brassy, soul singer. Black plays with a more guitar, rock-influenced sound than her usual Aretha-inspired throwback riffs, especially in songs like ‘Share My World’, ‘I’ll Rock It’ and ‘Recalculate’. Much of the album is reminiscent of the new trend in RnB, which sees the mixing of a harder sound with the traditional RnB vocals, made popular with previous singles from Rihanna (‘Shut Up and Drive’) and Kanye West (‘Love Lockdown’). The whole album has the repeated themes of change, empowerment, and growth. The album booklet further pushes Black’s theme of growth by including her most inspirational personal quotes… my personal favourite being: “the greatest sin may be the un-lived life and the unlearned lesson”.

 Before we get started, can you explain a little bit behind the name “The Black Book”?

Well everyone knows that if you have a little black book, there’s some sort of sacred phone number or little note, whether it’s your diary or just a small notebook. So for me the black book was a place I could direct my most meaningful words and the most special songs that came to me in my season of writing.

This is kind of a new venture for you. You’re known for RnB music but you’re testing the waters a little bit with some other kinds of genres with this album. Can you tell us about making that crossover with testing new stuff on this record?

It came really naturally because my voice is always my voice…it lives inside of me. So, to me it’s the foundation of everything I do, so even though you may hear a more crunchier guitar or a more heavy drum beats, in my mind and spirit I’m still the same person. So taking a little bit of a turn in The Black Book for me was just a part of change and evolution. Just like how before we started you mentioned my new hair, it’s the same thing. New hair-do, new sound, same person. At the end of day- same person.

Just to talk about the new hair and the new sound, in music today there’s a lot of emphasis on being current and constantly reinventing yourself and you see a lot of music acts bringing out new albums right away, so high turnover. Do you think that kind of pressure inhibits your own deep passion of what you want to do?

I think so, yes because it becomes a bit of an assembly line, and a bit of a factory rather than what you’re really experiencing, like your true artistic process. The arts, unfortunately I think, has become a place of cotton candy, there’s no steak or potatoes or lobster there…some substance, I think the substance is lacking a bit. So for me, it’s been two years since Revival and The Black Book, but it feels just like yesterday ‘Seven Day Fool’ came out, so if you’re patient and you continue to work on yourself then time will fly, and before you know it, you’re back in your creative process. So yes there is a bit of unsaid, but no managers or my label didn’t say, “Jully, it’s time for a new record”, I just felt like it was time for new record. It could have been three years in between but it just so happened that it came naturally.

Do you find that with this new growth you mentioned with The Black Book that there’s not enough leverage (when you put out a new album) of exactly what you want to say? Or is it kind of like this what I want to say now and I’ll save the rest for a new album?

What you hear is exactly what I was feeling and even now when new ideas come because you’re constantly creating, especially in your mind, I have to really stay present with The Black Book. It’s almost like having a child and it needing your full attention. You got to take maternity leave and nurture your baby- same type of metaphorical analogy…where it’s like I need to give The Black Book the attention it deserves, even if I feel like writing a new song right now could be The Black Book Volume two, I know that it’s not time yet.

Could you talk about some of the new collaborations on this new album?

The whole album has been a brand new experience as far as the production team. I put together a new production team called the Trifecta Music group, consists of Young Pete Alexander, who’s also my musical director of my band and my drummer and Kellis Parker Jr.…both of them hailing from Atlanta, Georgia. I also reunited with Kardinall Official…we just realized the other day when we were hanging out that all the songs we’ve done together, I’ve been on his projects from Old Time Killing to Money Jane, you name it. But he hasn’t been on any of my records, so I was like FINALLY! And lastly there’s a gentleman named Scar, who’s a singer/songwriter, he wrote a couple John Legend singles, he is an awesome singer and he’s on a song called The Plan. It’s really a tight-knit family, we’re running it the way like how Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and Rob Temperton had this really cohesive energy, so we took time to study the great so we could make this record.

And it seems like you had a lot more artistic control over this record than previous albums. Can you explain a little bit more about that?

Yes, absolutely! I think more of us women need to step into that role. It’s there, we can totally handle it! It was nice to know that there was a bigger responsibility and that I was capable of doing it. Because you’re the only one that can really see the vision, you can articulate it all you want but you see it in your head, whether you’re writing a song or producing a show, you see it in your head, so therefore, often times it’s best that you do it and have people observe how you like it to be done. So it was a really nice feel.

And to just keep going on that…RnB music in Canada is still kind of a growing thing. Thanks to yourself, Kardinall, and Deborah Cox and a lot of these key players it’s getting more international recognition but what are your thoughts on the process now, like how much it’s grown and recognized that “yes” Canada does have an RnB and Hip Hop scene?

I think it’s still growing at a pretty slow rate. Personally, in comparison to rock and pop etc., I think that Canada should have little more sense of pride and support of what’s theirs before we all leave. There’s a big Drake phenomenon happening now, but he was in Canada for the longest time, chilling on Degrassi, but now he’s with Lil’ Wayne, and now Canada’s like he’s ours. Same thing happens with comedians and actors: Sandra Oh, Jim Carrey, Mike Myers. So I realized because I use to complain about it a lot, but I realized it’s not just an RnB and Hip Hop thing, it’s a total Canadian problem. You know what, treat your artists, same thing with our athletes, why don’t we have more gold medals at the Olympics? We need our corporations to support our athletes. So it’s an all-around Canadian issue. This is my campaign, especially with the song like Running…I decided you know what, I’m running for the right now, I’m speaking up now, I’m really not going to keep this inside of me anymore because there’s a need for change. We have the infrastructure, we have 30 million people plus, there’s no reason why each of us shouldn’t be able to sell 1 million albums and have a great career at home.

-Mana Mansour (Broadcast Journalism)

Feed your ears homegrown music…

Artist: The Wet Secrets

Where from: Edmonton, Alberta (I stand corrected…Edmonton obviously kicks ass in some regards).

Sounds like: A drunk marching band ditching their batons to have a crazy jam session.

Why it’s worth checking out: Marching bands are sexy…just ask The Wet Secrets. What started as a drunken conversation back in 2005 quickly exploded into a wickedly creative alternative venture. The Wet Secrets is a five-piece ensemble made up of some heavy shakers like Lyle Bell from Shout Out Out Out Out. The alt-rock effort blends insanely absurd lyrics with whimsical instrumentals and solid gritty vocals. Subsequently giving birth to off-kilter sound with tracks like “Grow your own fucking mustache, asshole,” “I teabagged myself” and “It’s hard to meet somebody (living as a disembodied head).” It’s tough not to giggle like a teenage stoner as you listen to these songs, but ultimately they’ve got substance and meat behind them. Plus any band that plays paint cans and makes it sound cool has got my respect. Check them out at: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/The-Wet-Secrets.

John Mayer’s latest, Battle Studies doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but his disc still spins out feel-good hits that will send high school girls’ hearts swooning once again. Clean sounds, perfect harmonies and constant beats ride with listeners through the album.

Battle Studies is a watered down version of his previous albums – no songs really stood out from the rest and some of the album was just plain bad.

The distorted guitar in Mayer’s attempt to cover “Crossroads”, the blues classic popularized by Eric Clapton, was a vain attempt at a coolness I don’t think Mayer will ever be able to embody.

“Who Says” is a playful melody and is the only song on the album I enjoyed enough to include on one of my IPod playlists; and it deserves at least a few repeats.

On the cover of Battle Studies Mayer looks seductive and has slicked up hair, an album, meant just for the ladies. But still, I much prefer the music of John Mayer of the John Mayer trio where Mayer is in his comfort zone of blues guitar – and makes music that can appeal to many more ears.

-Jacob Barker (Broadcast Journalism)

Feed your ears homegrown music…

Artist: The Wet Secrets

Where from: Edmonton, Alberta (I stand corrected…Edmonton obviously kicks ass in some regards).

Sounds like: A drunk marching band ditching their batons to have a crazy jam session.

Why it’s worth checking out: Marching bands are sexy…just ask The Wet Secrets. What started as a drunken conversation back in 2005 quickly exploded into a wickedly creative alternative venture. The Wet Secrets is a five-piece ensemble made up of some heavy shakers like Lyle Bell from Shout Out Out Out Out. The alt-rock effort blends insanely absurd lyrics with whimsical instrumentals and solid gritty vocals. Subsequently giving birth to off-kilter sound with tracks like “Grow your own fucking mustache, asshole,” “I teabagged myself” and “It’s hard to meet somebody (living as a disembodied head).” It’s tough not to giggle like a teenage stoner as you listen to these songs, but ultimately they’ve got substance and meat behind them. Plus any band that plays paint cans and makes it sound cool has got my respect. Check them out at: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/The-Wet-Secrets.

-Kendra Hart, Culture Coordinator (Broadcast Journalism)