Author Archives: Sophie Tomei

2023 Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair

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https://www.instagram.com/p/CsVOyZiBWdv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Attention Evolution COWBOYS: The Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair is happening THIS WEEKEND! They’re coming off of a 3-year hiatus, so if you’re a cowboy, or just a cowboy at heart, then I wouldn’t miss this event. It’s being held from May 19 (this Friday) to Monday May 22nd at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey, so you’ve got all weekend to check it out. There’s a lot going on here, so let’s take a look at the rodeo side of things first:

There are five main rodeo performances, and over 96 cowboys and cowgirls participating. The performances will feature roughstock rodeo events like bull riding, saddle bronc, and bareback. I gotta be honest, I’m not much of a cowgirl myself, so I’m not actually too sure about what those events are, but I’m sure that they’re really fun to watch, regardless of your level of understanding of rodeos. Performances will be taking place each day of the event, with the finals being on Monday. Make sure to wear your best cowboy hat and boots if you plan on attending!

Next up is the country fair itself. There’s a lot going on there, from an outdoor stage with tons of performances each day, a saloon, a barn, and even WRESTLING. There are carnival rides, pony rides, and a vintage truck museum as well. There’s also plenty of food options available as well, so make sure to bring an appetite. 

The fair also offers something a bit more unique–the Cloverdale Rodeo Youth Initiative Foundation. It’s an annual scholarship program awarded to a number of high school student recipients. If you decide to drive, the parking fee is $20, BUT all that money goes towards the scholarship fund, so not a bad cause to support!

I have personally never been to a rodeo, but I had a manager at one of the jobs I worked at who had horses and regularly participated in them, so I’ve seen a lot of clips that he would show me. Also, being from Ottawa, I attended the Carp Fair many times growing up. It’s basically the equivalent to the Cloverdale Country Fair, sans rodeo. They also had a reptile zoo though, and I remember holding a big snake as a little kid and feeling like the coolest kid in the world.

Definitely check out the rodeo and country fair this weekend if you’re looking for a fun time! It’s truly the perfect opportunity to live out your cowboy fantasy.

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Thoughts on gaming culture

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Do you play video games? Are you…a gamer? Don’t worry, I am too, or at least I consider myself to be one. The definition of a “gamer” isn’t fully clear–there is a certain amount of gray area surrounding what constitutes a “gamer”. My personal definition of the term is anyone who plays video games in any capacity. The type of game doesn’t really matter…at least, to me. There are many people who would disagree with me, I’m sure. Gaming has a pretty distinct culture surrounding it, and it isn’t necessarily that great, but it also isn’t completely terrible.

A lot of gaming culture is focused on multiplayer games, which I don’t personally have a ton of experience with. Streaming, playing with your friends, watching other people play games–these are all shared experiences that gamers can bond over, and the culture has developed primarily through these multiplayer games. Gamers have a ton of specific terms and gaming vernacular that has developed across various games. League of Legends (ew), for example, has its own set of terms that I really don’t feel the need to write out here because they make basically no sense if you don’t play the game, but look them up at your leisure. Or watch this guide. Anyway, MOBAs like League have their own little language, FPS games have theirs, RPGs have theirs, etc…it’s actually pretty incredible, from a linguistic point of view. Humans just love developing their silly little languages.

On a negative note, the gaming community has not historically been very kind to women…and as a WOMAN myself, I can attest. I do not play games that I deem “war/terrorism simulators” because I simply do not find them fun. I don’t have a proper issue with them, they’re just not my cup of tea. But I have been ACCUSED of being a fake gamer for not playing these types of games! I like RPGs and tactical strategy games, sue me! Girls in particular are often made fun of for not playing “real” games, but I think that’s all really juvenile, because if a game exists, then it IS REAL. Gaming culture isn’t all bad, though–one of the key elements that I enjoy is the strong sense of community. Playing games and bonding over a shared love of video games is a pretty wholesome thing, and I think that gaming culture achieves that pretty well. Despite the weird, fabricated rifts that do exist among different members, the passion for gaming can usually override this.

Urban v. rural

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As soon as I’m done writing all these articles, I’ll be packing my bags and moving back to Ottawa, where I’m from, for the summer. I’ll be staying at my parents’ house, and they live in the WOODS. The house is not too deep in the forest, but it’s surrounded by thick greenery, and we frequently get deer, turkeys, and a bunch of other wild animals in our backyard. I honestly feel like Snow White everytime I go back. It’s definitely a contrast from living in Burnaby/Vancouver, which has its fair share of greenery, but is for the most part really urban, especially compared to where my parents live. I feel lucky that I have the opportunity to experience both urban and rural settings, but it does leave me with the question of which is better? Let’s get into the pros and cons of each.

Living in a big city means that you are connected, and basically never bored. There is pretty much always something to do if you know where to look–concerts, parties, house shows, plays, musicals, orchestras, movies, etc…the list could go on forever. There are also people everywhere, so you never really feel isolated. Having basic resources as well as secondary ones be easily accessible is a huge benefit of living in a city. One of the biggest pros, at least for me, is the walkability of the city. This might only really apply to Vancouver, but for the most part bigger, more urban areas are generally more walkable. Not having to drive everywhere and being able to take transit or just walk is huge. Not only is it better for the environment, it is less hassle than having to deal with parking and gas and all of the expenses that come with owning a car. On the other hand, cities have much higher levels of pollution, and transiting everywhere can be inconvenient since it does take longer than just driving somewhere.

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A rural area may have more limited access to resources and things to do, but the trade off is living somewhere with more access to the natural world. When I’m living at my parents’ house, I’m able to just step out of my house and go on a nice nature walk without having to worry about cars or other people or anything like that. Rural areas also provide a lot more privacy, if that’s something you like.

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Both rural and urban settings have their draws and drawbacks. Which do you prefer?

Planted Expo Vancouver 2023

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This one’s for all the vegan and vegetarian Evolution readers–Planted Expo Vancouver is happening the weekend of May 27th! The event will take place all day that Saturday and all day Sunday, (10-5pm) at the Vancouver Convention Centre downtown. Planted Expo is a giant convention for all things plant-based. Food, sustainable clothing, and other plant-based lifestyle goods will all be sold and showcased at the convention. According to their website, there are over 200 exhibitors at the convention, so there’s plenty to explore! The convention is also hosting a bunch of featured guest speakers, which would probably be a pretty interesting listen. They’re all leaders and experts when it comes to the plant-based movement. Tickets are $20 for adults, which isn’t too bad considering the value of the experience. And I know I mentioned it at the beginning, but you don’t necessarily have to be a plant-based eater to attend! Everyone is welcome. I was vegetarian for 3 years of my life, and during that time I ate a lot of fun and interesting meat replacements, so I’m sure there will be lots of stuff like that at Planted Expo. It could also be a good opportunity to learn about this stuff, too, if you’re unfamiliar. I’m sure a lot of the speakers will delve into some environmental topics, and you probably have the potential to learn a lot from what they have to say. 

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I became vegetarian in high school mostly for moral reasons, because I did (and still do) enjoy the taste of meat. I had to do a project about an environmental issue in one of my classes, and after doing all that research, I felt like I needed to be vegetarian. I lasted a long time before I needed to start eating meat again for health reasons (iron got way too low). But while I was vegetarian, I enjoyed it quite a bit! It forced me to get creative with planning meals and finding other sources of protein and stuff, it was overall not too bad of an experience. There are so many reasons for someone to be vegan or vegetarian, too. I feel like Vancouver is a pretty plant-based-friendly city–there are a good number of vegan restaurants around, and most places also offer plant-based options.

If you’re considering eating plant-based, already do, or just want to try interesting vegan food, I recommend heading to Planted Expo Vancouver next weekend!

Cats v. dogs

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I currently don’t have any pets of my own, but I wish I did! I’ve grown up with dogs, and at one point I had a betta fish for a few years, but my heart lies with cats…even though I’ve never had one, and am also allergic to them. I just think they are the cutest animals ever! But I know that a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily agree with me. I’ve noticed that self-ascribed Dog People are more often than not also Cat Haters. They like dogs, sure, but for some reason they just passionately HATE cats. Sometimes I feel like they’re not even dog people, literally just cat haters. Meanwhile, people who like cats tend to really love cats, and feel relatively indifferent to dogs. It looks like the dog people are a bunch of HATERS! I’m just kidding…both pets are pretty awesome, in my opinion. I would personally prefer a cat myself, but I have no issues with dogs! I think they’re fun little guys. But both are suited to different personalities.

Cats are, for the most part, very independent little creatures. They often prefer to be left to do their own thing, which makes them great pets for people who equally enjoy having their own space. Cats are also pretty low maintenance, all things considered. They’re technically self-cleaning, and they take care of their personal business in a neat little box that can be tucked away in a laundry room or some secluded place in your house. They also have so much personality, and they don’t get that big, either, unless you’ve got a Maine Coon or something. Cats aren’t perfect, though, no matter how much I tell myself that they are. Most breeds shed a lot, which is not great for people with allergies, and their litter boxes can also smell pretty bad.

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Dogs are not independent in the slightest, and require a lot of attention and constant care. They are definitely more of an undertaking when getting a pet. Dogs are usually pretty high-energy, and are perfect for people who are active, or who maybe want to be more active. They are truly sweet and can often be more affectionate than cats, which is another one of their big draws. Despite being more work than cats, dogs do have a lot of personality, and there are more breeds that are hypoallergenic, as well.

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I am a fan of both pets, but really I just love animals. Are you team DOG or team CAT?

Thoughts on AI in art

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I feel like it was inevitable that I would be at some point writing about artificial intelligence. I’m sure that you’ve definitely heard plenty about it at this point, but I do think it’s still a significant topic of discussion. I’m in the camp that is primarily against using AI to make or contribute to art, but I can’t deny the fact that I still find it interesting, if a little terrifying as well. I recently got access to Google’s AI Test Kitchen after being on a waitlist, and I tried it out for the first time yesterday. The only thing they have available to play with is MusicLM, which is a program that takes a written prompt that you provide and turns it into a short clip of music, based on the prompt. It’s still in a trial phase, hence the test kitchen, but I will admit, it’s pretty fun to give it different prompts to see what it comes up with. I put in the prompt “drum and bass track that would play during a video game boss fight”, and this is what the machine spat out for me:

Clearly lacking a melody, but it did well with the drum and bass part! I am generally against using this type of stuff to make actual music though. Have you seen the videos making the rounds on social media of AI singer voices, like Drake and Kanye? They’re really freaky, in my opinion. The art pop artist Grimes (from Vancouver!) has been encouraging the use of her voice with AI, which is an interesting move, but she’s been all-in with the AI stuff since day one. 

I’m really not a fan of using stuff like DALL-E and Midjourney to make “art”. I won’t get too into it, but it’s not an ethical way of making art because the engines just pull a bunch of art made by real artists without giving any kind of credit to the original artists.

And then, of course, there’s ChatGPT, which is quite the hot topic. I’ve played with it a little bit when it was first a thing, but haven’t really touched it since. I don’t know if there’s something wrong with my brain, but I’ve never really been able to make it produce anything of actual quality. 

I would say that while I do find AI stuff interesting, I am still kinda scared of it, for the most part. When I was doing news for Evolution, I reported on a story that claimed that almost a quarter of all jobs will be impacted by AI in some way in the coming years. To me, that’s some scary stuff. How do you feel about AI being used to make “art”?

An introspective look at French Canadian culture

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I mentioned before that I’m Italian…but only HALF Italian. My other half is French Canadian! Technically Franco-Canadian, since I am ethnically French Canadian (my ancestors were French colonizers…not great, but it is what it is). My mom’s family is from West Nipissing in Northern (ish) Ontario, which is a pretty rural, mostly-French-speaking community. I’ve visited it almost every year of my life so far, so I’d say I’m pretty close with my extended family on my mom’s side. And trust me, I have a lot of relatives–tons of great aunts and uncles, cousins, cousins, and more cousins. My great grandparents had eight kids, so the family is pretty huge. They all speak French as well, but they speak a specific dialect. I’m not really sure how I’d classify it, but it sounds the most similar to Québecois French, but not quite that….Québecois. The French that I speak is a lot more…metropolitan, just because I learned most of it in Ottawa going to French school growing up. 

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French Canadian, or francophone, culture is very strong, and has a lot of pride surrounding it. French Canadians are often very proud of their language, and do their best to preserve it. That’s why the English language is basically contraband in Quebec–they wanna preserve their French! Interestingly, francophone culture isn’t too similar to French culture in France, where it derives its roots from. French Canadian cuisine does feature a couple of distinct dishes: “Pâté Chinois”, which translates to “Chinese Pie”, is a traditional French Canadian dish that is basically the same thing as shepherd’s pie. It’s also often eaten with KETCHUP, which is a common theme in French Canadian cuisine. The dish’s origin is kind of a mystery, with many hypotheses in existence. Another classic dish is tourtière, which is just a meat pie, ALSO typically eaten with tons of ketchup. Poutine is, of course, a big one that most Canadians are aware of. And of course, maple syrup. My family actually makes their own maple syrup from local maple trees…it is quite delicious. 

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Keeping with that DIY theme, my mom’s family also hunts a lot of their own meat, and builds a lot of their own furniture. They’re very resourceful! I don’t know how much of a role that plays in French Canadian culture as a whole, but it is definitely a pillar of my experience. That, and being really close with family. 

There’s a lot that I’m probably skipping over, but this is a general overview of some of the aspects of French Canadian culture! I hope you learned something new!

An introspective look at Italian culture

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So, I am Italian, on my dad’s side. Half-Italian. He’s first-generation Canadian–his parents immigrated to Canada in their twenties. He grew up in a pretty Italian household, naturally. His parents spoke to him in Italian, they would do family trips to Italy in the summers to visit the rest of the family, and they ate almost exclusively Italian food. 

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Italians have a very strong and relatively proud culture. A lot of it involves food, which is probably one of the reasons why their cuisine is so delicious. My parents made an effort to immerse me in Italian culture from a young age. There’s a video of me watching Winnie the Pooh Italian dub as a really little baby, which is funny in retrospect, because I cannot speak nor understand any Italian today. Still, they did their best. My mom is an excellent cook–she’s not Italian herself, but being married to my dad, she learned how to cook really amazing traditional Italian dishes. A lot of her knowledge came from cooking with my Nonna, which is the Italian word for Grandma. As a result, I grew up eating a lot of really good Italian food, which rocks, looking back. 

My family also always sits down to have dinner all together, and usually the meal can last over an hour. That’s one aspect of Italian culture that I appreciate–the significance placed on meals, and how they’re viewed as a time to bring everyone together. Growing up, I’d go to friends’ houses and find that their families wouldn’t sit down to eat together, and instead eat whenever each individual person felt like it. I remember thinking this was strange. 

From my experience, a lot of Italian culture really revolves around being social and forming connections with family and friends. Italian social gatherings are LOUD, and often people are talking over each other, but I find that charming and fun. 

Italy is also an OLD country with an incredibly rich history. Italian art, architecture, music, fashion, and cinema are all recognized as being some of the best in the game. Especially from a historical point of view. If you know anything about music, for example, you’ve probably noticed that basically all musical terminology comes from the Italian language! A lot of words in the world of painting do, too. 

I can confidently say that I am proud of my Italian heritage. I’ve visited Italy with my parents once, and it was incredible. I got to meet a bunch of my Italian relatives!

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Next time you find yourself eating pizza or spaghetti or something, remember where your food comes from, and how awesome Italian culture is!

Richmond Night Market

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Do you enjoy eating a variety of delicious food from around the world? Then I’m fairly certain that you’d be interested in the Richmond Night Market!

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The market is an annual event, it happens every year, and it is open from the end of April to October on the weekends. It takes place in Richmond, and is basically just a massive international food festival, but there are also vendors selling other, non-food related wares. It was founded 23 years ago by Raymond Cheung, and has been expanding and developing ever since, and is now considered the biggest night market in North America. Each year features a new theme, with this year being “Summer Wonderland”. When I hear summer wonderland, I imagine Alice in Wonderland going on summer vacation…but I’m not sure how they’ve done it over at the night market, since I haven’t been yet this year! Apparently, there is a wonderland forest, and a ton of rainbow-colored decorations to explore.

Opening day was April 28th, and the market is open every weekend from then until October 9th, so there is plenty of time to visit throughout the summer.

Food is the main attraction of the night market–there are stalls upon stalls, each offering different things. According to their website, the market has over 600 different food items, which is a crazy amount! The foods also come from all sorts of cultures–this year’s market includes foods from Turkey, Mexico, and Indonesia for the first time! The market is a great opportunity to try street foods in particular, which can be very different from stuff you’d get in a restaurant. The only drawback from the market is the prices of everything…on top of the $8 entrance fee, the food itself can be somewhat expensive. But if you’re getting only a couple things, it really isn’t too bad!

In addition to the food, the night market also has entertainment! The market has a live stage with performances ranging from martial arts demonstrations to musicians and dancers. There’s also a giant bouncy castle for kids…but I do wish that they’d let adults in, too, because that sounds really fun, and I cannot remember the last time I went into a bouncy castle. But now that I’m thinking about it, maybe combining eating a lot of food with jumping up and down in a bouncy castle may not be the greatest idea.

If you’re looking for something fun to do in the evening, I recommend the Richmond Night Market!

Wednesday – Rat Saw God (2023) album review

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American indie rock band Wednesday released their fifth album Rat Saw God on April 7th, 2023. This is another artist that I feel like could be good to play on Evolution! This is also the first album I’ve reviewed with a FEMALE vocalist, so big win for us gals with this one. 

Wednesday is an American band from North Carolina that formed in 2017. Fun fact, the band’s vocalist, Karly Hartzman, was apparently inspired to start playing guitar after watching pop artist Mitski’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Their previous albums have all been within the indie rock, shoegaze-y, noise rock realm, but Rat Saw God leans into the noise rock elements a lot more. The album is short–only 10 tracks and 37 minutes long. The album evokes an American southern, almost suburban hell feeling. Listening to it made me think of spending sun-drenched summer afternoons outside as a kid with nothing better to do.

“Bull Believer” is the standout track on this album. At eight minutes and thirty seconds long, it serves as almost the centerpiece of the album, despite only being the second track. Karly Hartzman’s vocals are distinct–she has a very specific vocal style, which is squeaky and somewhat monotonous, but these are assets, not detriments. I’m a huge fan of female vocalists that have a unique sound, and Hartzman fits the bill. Her vocals match the tone of the music perfectly. Her lyrics also tell beautiful, sometimes painful stories. Also, her screams on “Bull Believer” really make the song special.

I like the noise rock-country fusion thing they have going on, too. Admittedly, on my first listen, I understood what they were trying to do, but thought it kind of fell flat. After giving it another listen, I had a change of heart. Despite the fact that noise rock is having its moment right now in the music scene, Rat Saw God deserves the praise it has been receiving, and does the noise rock thing well.

My favorite tracks are “Bull Believer” and “Turkey Vultures”. This album is good–it’s not my favorite of the year, but I enjoyed it. I feel like Wednesday has potential to sound truly great, but they need to potentially stop appealing to what’s trending in music right now and find their own distinct sound.

If you’re looking for a decent indie rock/noise rock record to get into a summery mood, I’d recommend Rat Saw God. I also really love the title itself, I think it’s funny to imagine a rat seeing God. Anyway, I’d give it 3.5/5 stars. Check it out, if you feel like it!