Author Archives: Emma Simons

How to support the arts right now

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With the arts being almost completely dismantled since the pandemic began (and yet sports and bars are allowed to remain open) I wanted to get some ideas out there on how we can support the arts during this time.

Just because we can’t see live theatre, music or movies does not mean that it is not still being produced (and a lot of really powerful art will be produced as a result of the isolation from the pandemic). Art is still there, in all its delicate or powerful forms, so here are some ways to support it in your community. 

Live Theatre: Live theatre has to be one of the hardest hit by this pandemic, no audiences means that a lot of theatre companies have had to resort to online shows, or just shutting down completely.

 It might be hard to dig into your wallets and pay for a show you’re going to be streaming from your laptop when you could just log onto your prepaid Netflix account but theatre companies have gotten creative in other ways to support themselves too.  

Such as live panels, audio shows, purchasing ticket vouchers to upcoming shows and asking for donations. If any of these ideas speak to you, look into supporting them, even liking them on Facebook can put their theatres name on the accounts of people who can afford to send a donation. 

Art Galleries: A lot have remained open with limited hours and ticket sales, so this is an easy and fun way to help out the visual arts community and get out of the house for a bit, you’ll be feeling more refined by the end of your gallery tour!

https://twitter.com/VanArtGallery/status/1359553194779582465

Live Music: Concerts are not a thing right now (and I will feel like a piece of my soul is missing until they become a thing again!) but that doesn’t mean live music doesn’t exist right now. Smaller, more intimate shows are happening at breweries and restaurants around your community. This is the best way to support local music right now, give artists a stronger fan base and you can find some new songs to vibe to along the way.

Be a patron of the arts, its comfort for the soul folks!

Canadian television shows to watch

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Growing up, I would be surprised when I was genuinely enjoying a show that was Canadian, I remember watching Life with Derek on Family channel or Heartland on the CBC and thinking “Wow this is actually good?!”. I think we have all done this, being under the impression that Canadian television and movies are tired, cheesy or just plain not as good as American television, which frankly isn’t true. 

With the rise in popularity of Canadian sitcoms like Schitt’s Creek, Letterkenny, and Kim’s Convenience, not just regular Canadian viewers, but also the world is looking at our media as fresh and inspired. So here are some other Canadian television shows to watch, if you have already burned through some of the previously mentioned classics!

Total Drama Island (2011-): This Canadian show held a place in my heart growing up and spoofs the plot of shows like Survivor and Big Brother. I didn’t realize how popular this show was with other people until I learned (quite recently) that they are rebooting the show this year! Don’t be fooled by the animation, this show is just as entertaining as an adult.

Where to Watch: HBO Max or The Cartoon Network

Being Erica (2009-2011): This CBC dramedy centers around a woman who while visiting a therapist realizes that he has the ability to send her back in time, to correct the mistakes she made, only to realize she can only move forward . This show was ahead of its time for how it showcased a female character. Erica has many layers to herself, and this show demonstrates the everyday emotional struggles women have, she isn’t perfect, and is not thrown into a typecast/trope.

Where to Watch: CBC Gem (don’t forget this is free for us Canadians, just look it up!)

Photo via www.cyberspace5.net/

Rookie Blue (2010-2015): This Canadian cop show follows 5 rookie cops who have just graduated and are starting their careers. It is juicy, passionate and has got all the drama, so much so that it has been described at the Grey’s Anatomy of cops shows.

Where to Watch: No main streaming networks but can pay to watch on Google Play or Youtube. 

That’s all for right now!

Taking a break: The best way to be good at working from home

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We are nearing that mid- school year slump, getting excited for March break/ reading week and really finding less and less motivation to complete the simple tasks as part of our school/ work routine. If you are feeling like this, unmotivated, unproductive, uninspired, I have the ultimate idea on how you can have a more productive work day. 

Take a break. Take one big, long break in the middle of your work day and don’t feel guilty about it. 

https://twitter.com/yvesdilf/status/1362195797962412032

This might be the thing that you look at and go “Isn’t that the opposite of what I should be doing?” After all that means you aren’t being productive during those times, but breaks are necessary for people to complete their work effectively (that’s why real workplaces have breaks during the workday). 

Take an actual big break during the middle of your work day and do something else that could be productive for yourself personally ( and gets your eyes off those screens). Make lunch or meal prep, read a book about someone else’s life that puts your procrastination into perspective, or go shower, get your brain thinking of other smaller tasks. 

Photo via static.vecteezy.com

While “the middle of the day” could be hard to gage, with different people starting their work at different times, a good way to view it is that 4 pm is often the biggest slump time in peoples day. 

Taking a break especially in a rut when you can not get into a creative head space is the best way to boost creativity. You come back to your day’s tasks feeling refreshed, more motivated and less like you wanna take a nap at your desk.

These work/ school at home orders are still a struggle. There are few of us who really know how to do that home school/ work routine flawlessly, but separating work time and personal time the same way we should be separating work and personal spaces is a positive step to having some work life balance during this pandemic.

True Crime documentaries to watch on Netflix

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Now that Valentine’s Day is over we can now get to what February is all about, cozying up on the couch and watching some true crime documentaries! (That might just be my Februarys). But in my opinion Netflix has turned the true crime documentary genre into something of a cult following where we all gear up to watch these miniseries  (you know if you are into learning about some of the most disturbing crimes that have happened). 

There are some extremely popular ones out there like Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes or Making a Murderer but I wanted to discuss some of the more underrated documentaries in my opinion. 

With this said there is all do respect to the victims and the family members of the victims that were hurt. If topics such as assault and sexual abuse are hard for you to handle this is an official trigger warning, these documentaries are not for everyone and I completely understand everyones boundaries. But here we go, 

Don’t F*ck With Cats (2019): I don’t remember this documentary getting as much hype as I originally thought it should, but this documentary miniseries is a ride. It is about the brutal murder of Lin Jun and the killer who was a self obsessed psychopath who sparked rage on the internet as he would post videos of him killing cats. The internet groups trying to put a stop to him end up helping to solve who this man was. This killer sparked an international manhunt and really showed the lengths people on the internet will go if you f*ck with cats. 

How To Fix a Drug Scandal (2020): This documentary miniseries centres around two drug lab chemists and how their separate drug tampering incidents spanned over years and affected the lives of so many people including their own. It was an interesting look at how much we hold drug lab chemists to the highest standard of truth in the legal system but some labs don’t have policies in place to make sure they are doing their jobs correctly and honestly.

Stills from How To Fix a Drug Scandal. Photo via /readysteadycut.com/

Abducted in Plain Sight (2017): I remember exiting watching this documentary series feeling angry and hopeless towards adults. All the horrific events that happened to a 12 year old Jan Broberg could have been easily avoided, it is a heartbreaking watch, but still you can’t take your eyes off the screen or believe what falls out of the mouths of the adults in this show. If you can stomach topics of child abuse and sexual assault this is a crazy documentary to watch.

What to do this week

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It is the end of the long weekend and even though the pandemic may make you feel like everyday is a long weekend (you know being stuck at home everyday), a break is still always appreciated! But now we are back on that “at home” work grind and you might be looking to break up the everyday with some fun activities. So here are some ideas on what you can do this week at home or socially distanced.

Vancouver Augmented Reality: Put on by the Vancouver Mural Festival, this completely digital event is running until February 28th and is a free way to see amazing installations. This event can be done by simply strolling through some of your favourite parts of Vancouver including in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. All you need is your phone to see incredible 3D artwork from people all over the world. 

https://twitter.com/wikitude/status/1359435587489591299

Dine Out Vancouver: I know I suggest this one all the time too, but why stop a good thing? This event gives you great deals on places new to try and some that are already in your restaurant repertoire. Help support local in the tastiest way. 

Catch Up on Your Reading: According to the weather app our weather is going to turn sour again heading towards the end of the week, and by that I don’t mean snow but with typical yet still ever so depressing, rain. So stay inside and catch up more on your reading or television binging. With nothing to do and nowhere to go anyways, take advantage of the time by relaxing in your coziest stuff at home. February and curling up to something entertaining like a book just go hand in hand! 

Have a great week everyone, hopefully spring comes around the corner quickly!

How to find relationships and meet people

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It’s hard to make relationships right now, whether that be romantic relationships, friendships, heck it’s hard to stay acquaintances with a work colleague right now!

It can make your bubble feel suffocatingly small if you find yourself only really being able to speak to your family and one or two close friends, while work/ school meetings go by without most people saying a word. 

So how do we create relationships during this time? We can’t ask someone to meet for coffee but we also can’t just waste away with no social stimuli for the next… however long this pandemic is going to take. So here are some ways to create relationships. 

Online Fandoms or Dating Sites: I don’t think I have ever joined an online fandom or dating site, but I have heard so many success stories of people meeting their best friends on these websites and meeting their significant others through Tinder or Bumble. I’m sure there are so many other places online to meet new people that I ( a very unsavvy internet person) can not even fathom. But my ultimate advice is if you have been wanting to join one of these online spaces for a while just try one out, leave a couple comments or reach out to a person who seems interesting to you. 

Photo via static.pexels.com/

Ask Classmates/ Co-workers for Virtual Hangouts: I would feel completely friendless without my classmate besties since the pandemic started, we play online games, are in multiple group chats together and try to “hang out” together every so often, (which is just mainly us over discord streaming our voices and talking or playing Jackbox). But without these hangouts my circle would feel incredibly small and I would feel a lot more lonely.

 So if you’re feeling overly isolated try reaching out to someone who runs in the same circles as you (meaning like school or work). Maybe there is a classmate that you are always in group projects with that you really like and want to get to know more, or you want to start talking to one of your favourite co-workers again, it’s a good thing to reach out. If anything you gain a stronger friendship in the process and they feel flattered by you asking. It can be scary but worth it. 

Invest in the Relationships you already have: Your bubble might feel really tight especially if you are living at home with your parents again. But this can be a good time to learn about their past and really get to know who your family members are outside the family. Or to call up a friend or an extended family member and really get into conversations that are not just about the current climate of the world. Try to find new ways to spark up your current relationships, you’ll (hopefully) come out loving them more. 

Photo via understandingteenagers.com.au/

Relationships of any kind are tricky, give yourself time to develop them.

Opinion: Why Tiger King helped us through quarantine

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With it being almost a year since Tiger King graced our screens (it was March 20th 2020 can you believe that?) I thought I would try to take a wild guess on why this show was so insanely popular. I remember sitting down and watching it, my mundane routine broken at night when it was time to collectively come together with my family and watch this show, it was oddly addicting, seeing the lives of these crazy zoo owners and the antics that happened in the meantime. 

 It’s hard to tell if this show would have had the same cult following if it hadn’t been released at the height of the stay at home orders. If the magnitude of this wacky show would have hit audiences the same. 

Maybe the reason it was such a massive hit was because we all collectively watched it together. Most shows and movies that everyone recommends to watch you either get to it eventually or you don’t at all. But having absolutely no where to go and seeing what felt like the whole world watching this series, just made you have to turn it on and join the virtual party. Watching this made us feel a part of something huge, which globally I don’t think the world has ever seen. 

The reason I think it stuck was how outlandish it is. You can not predict the course of this show if you even tried.  It has some of the craziest people, you truly think they were characters created in a storyboard room with 12 writers. 

Then there was how people related to the show. The  chaos and unpredictability was like a mirror to our pandemic times as we all felt that first jolt of turmoil to our normal world and we clung on to this show as a life raft to happiness during some people’s darkest periods in their lives.

 It helped us get through the terrible first stage of quarantine and almost a year later (and still not any closer to being out of this worldly mess) maybe some of us will cling to it again. 

Opinion: Why Schitts Creek Helped us with Quarantine

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It was called “Canada’s Best Secret” for so long, following the lives of a socialite family, the Rose’s who after losing all their money end up living in a motel in the town of Schitt’s Creek. 

I think my reaction to watching this show was the same as everyone else’s. I thought it was good but nothing special until I sat up 3 hours later and realized I watched 10 episodes consecutively completely hooked. This show has now become comfort food to me, I have watched the series twice with no chance of me stopping, (it’s like my version of Friends or The Office). 

This show is fantastic, the writing is superb and the character development is something we don’t see done this well on most shows, with the four leads remaining true to their elitist (and fashionable) selves but softening their edges over time by opening themselves up to love and compassion. 

I think the reason I and everyone gravitated towards it during quarantine more so than other sitcoms like Modern Family or How I Met Your Mother is that we relate to the theme of loss. Sure we are not all millionaires that lost our fortune, but we all had to deal with a loss that we had no control over because of the pandemic.

 Some more so than others, maybe you lost your job and have struggled to make ends meet or you lost your grade 12 prom and graduation, something not as dire but still a loss nevertheless. 

We all had something taken from us, something that we had no control over and because this happened on a global scale we had no idea how to handle it. But we can take something from Schitt’s Creek about how to handle these awful, out of our control situations. 

We follow the Rose family lead their lives in this town with little animosity towards the situation. Sure they keep to being their sassy selves, try to get out of owning the town and at first don’t accept their lives in the town, but no one blames each other for the situation or wallows in self pity over it (well maybe with the exception of Moira recoiling into a closet).

They make the most of it, they did not lose hope that eventually they would gain their lives back, all while sticking true to themselves and growing exponentially from their lost fortunes by finding real love, friendships and self fulfillment.

There are so many other reasons why this show has become the insane hit it has and it deserves all the love and attention it is getting. If you have not watched the show I highly recommend it.

An extremely brief history of Valentines Day

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You may remember Valentine’s Day when you were younger as a holiday that was filled with little cards from classmates and with  everyone dressed in red and pink and gorging themselves on candy. Or as you got older you’d remember it as a holiday where you’d celebrate with that boyfriend you only had for a month or with friends because you would rather spend it with your pals than on a blind date with someone random.

No matter if or how you celebrate this day, the holiday has been around for a very long time and has always been rooted in romantic partners, sex and love. Today I’ll take you on an extremely brief look at the known history of Valentine’s Day. (Shoutout to National Geographic and National Geographic Kids for this material!)

Photo via weneedfun.com/

Valentine’s Day is named after a Saint, St. Valentine (obviously) with many origin stories

St. Valentine, Photo via hips.hearstapps.com/

that circulate around who he was and how he inspired this day. The most popular story is that he was a priest who would help people get married in secret. Back in Ancient Rome the Emperor Claudius II of Rome had banned marriage because he believed single men made better, stronger soldiers, but St. Valentine disagreed with this and put on religious ceremonies anyways. This was later discovered and he was killed on February 14th. 

Although  this is the story of the man it was named after, there were other origins that this holiday could have came from. The earliest one was years before St. Valentine lived and it is of a pagan tradition that brought people together in mid February. It was centred around feasts, meeting potential partners but most importantly fertility. 

*Cue a graphic warning*. According to this origin, men would strip naked and sacrifice animals such as goats. Once these goats were sacrificed their hides would be stripped and the men would whip women with them to promote their fertility. 

Our traditions surrounding this holiday have come a long way since that origin story and I’ll go back to taking the cute Valentines cards and tacky, supermarket flowers.

What to do this weekend

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It’s a pretty big weekend coming up, between Valentine’s Day and Family Day being back to back it can truly be a weekend filled with love (even if that means it’s socially distanced). But with the Arctic outflow winds damaging some possible outdoor activities, here are some ideas on how you can spend the weekend with loved ones at home or in public. 

As always, remember to respect those around you when you are out in public by being socially distant and wearing your mask, now let’s get started!

Go To A Museum/ Art Gallery: The best way to spend this weekend, away from the cold wind chills is to spend it inside, but if you were looking for an outing of some kind this weekend head to a museum. A lot of them continue to remain open during this time with discounted pricing and less people allowed inside, making for more of a relaxed way to learn about history and culture. Look into The Museum of Vancouver or Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery. (Just a reminder to check before you go as most places are closed on Monday for the holiday).

Photo via /www.besthealthmag.ca/

Make a Special Dinner: If you are looking to save some money this year with either Family Day or Valentines Day, try making a new/ fancy dinner at home. There are tons of recipes out there not to mention a bunch of trendy recipes that are easy, affordable and delicious (yes I am thinking of that feta tomato pasta that’s trending on Tik Tok right now). Make dinner together, as a couple or if you have kids get them involved by helping to stir or grate cheese or something that suits their little talents. 

Do Some Snow Activities: Yes, if you are not getting blown away by the winds and can brave the cold then head outside because the forecast is calling for snow! Go tobogganing or head to the ice rink for some socially distanced skating. 

Have a fun and loved weekend out there everyone!