David Copperfield’s Pickle Not For Men By KATHLEEN DE VERE News EDITOR On November 19th, Prince George gave up its notions of cyn- icism and skepticism to take in a night of grand illusions, courtesy of world-renowned magician and entertainer David Copperfield. Copperfield wowed two sold out shows at the Multiplex with his signature combination of mind-boggling magic tricks, heart wrenching antidotes, and laugh- out-loud comedy. Always a consummate show- man, Copperfield peppered his show with pop culture jokes -Lara Flynn Boyle, Snoop Dogg and Mary-Kate Olsen all got big laughs out of the audience - as well as some more risky humour. There were silly jokes about babies, pickles thrown into the audience that could only be PHota BY DANA SCHWEHR David Copperfield may not wish to share his pickle with the boys, but that won’t stop them lusting over his manly machine. Of course, we mean the motorbike. picked up by women - to quote ‘Copperfield, “no man can touch my pickle,” and butt grabbing galore - especially when it came to the volunteers:he selected, who were almost always beautiful young women. At one point after a young lady grabbed his butt he even went so far as to say “Hey! It’s Copperfield, not Cop-a-feel!” Humour aside, the real attrac- tion of Copperfield’s show was the magic tricks, and they were breathtaking, even for a cynic such as myself. Having a good friend who knows some slight of hand, as well as knowing a thing or two about digital video editing, my ability to suspend my disbelief may have been a little bit less than the average audience member, but I was still highly impressed with most of Copperfield’s illu- sions. (The rest still have the gears in my little mind turning in a futile attempt to unravel the tech- nique behind the illusions.) Copperfield entered ‘in true style by magically appearing rid- ing a motorcycle. After his grand entrance, his show only let up for a second when a lime green 1948 Plymouth Convertible had to be removed from the stage by his crew. Yes, an entire car that ran and everything, so, at the risk of underestimating the power of the illusion - it was really damn incredible! ~What proved to be my favourite illusion of the night wasn’t the most spectacular, or the most heart wrenching (there were two of those, and while other people may have liked them, they weren't my pickle, if you know what I mean), it was the illusion with the duck. Copperfield did a fairly stan- dard “make the cute duck disap- pear and re-appear somewhere else” trick, and then with some prompting for a member of his crew, he proceeded to perform it in slow motion. The slow motion version made hilarious use of a duck puppet, and self indulgently funny use of the old standard ‘Chariots of Fire.’ While Copperfield was ‘performing,’ a stagehand ran out and grabbed the duck, stuffing into the bucket where it was supposed to appear. Of course, in the end the real duck appeared and the audience was once again delighted. Overall, Copperfield’s ‘show may not have won over us cynics, but it sure was fun to lose your- self in the magic of his illusions. UNBC Student Takes on Canada World Youth By STEPHANIE MORGAN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Well, I can honestly say that though things have not been going great, they look like they’re going up. When I first applied to CWY, I never really knew what I was getting in to. Since starting the program I’ve had to readjust many of my more popular and rather dearly held beliefs, how groups work for one. I’ve never really been in a group as tight as ours, and I keep wait- ing for it to blow up...and yet it never does. I think it may have something to do with the fact that we’re still getting to know each other, but it’s still questionable. Like a few people have mentioned to me, this does seem more like a Big Brother-esque ideal then anything else. Look at the program - find people from all over the country, stick them in a group with people who may or may not know their language, give them work pro- jects, add salt and puree. Yet it works, and has worked for over 30 years. One of the main aspects of the program is that all of us want to make the program work, so even if there are fights, no one really wants to make it escalate (now). I’ve just come from a rather interesting discussion with my - project supervisor (our PS), and I think that one of the other reasons the programs are so strong is because of the PS’s. They have to deal with the random expressions ‘of angst and cultural differences of at least 18 quasi-teenagers as they adjust to a new city and entirely new lifestyle AND they have to coordinate the program with all the work place supervi- sors, host families, and both CWY and the exchange country’s pro- gram (in our case it’s CAIEP). While they do get paid and they get to travel around the world, I would never begrudge our PS his job. He does an amazing job, and has never once made any decision unfair. While it has only been about 3 weeks we're off to a good start. Ss I’ve started my work place- ment. I go to a middle school two days a week, and I work at a local newspaper for one day. The other two days are group days. The school has been interesting and more then a little intimidating. We’re rotated around different classrooms, and Yifan (my work counterpart) and we may not see each other extensively in one day. We help in. many different ways, sometimes acting as assistants to the teachers, and at all times doing presentations for the class. We never quite know what's going to happen next, but it has only been a few weeks, so I guess it’s too early to judge. My Mandarin is still pretty bro- ken, and though I’m trying I’m still having difficulties with it. Most of the vocab I've learnt is on the blog” “o" “CWY at http: / / canadaworldyouth.blogsp ot.com if-you want to check it out, though it’s generally easier to ASK someone to say something then to learn it from a book (espe- cially with a tonal language! eek!). & ENTERTAINMENT The Mike Footit Band Rocks By KEVIN VAUGHAN STAFF WRITER Partying to blues music can be quite entertaining with a good band and some sweet music. The Mike Footit band with Mike Footit, the lead singer and guitarist, was hosted by the Blues Underground Network at the Legion on Saturday, November 13th. The Mike Footit band has a CD in circulation called “Woodshed” which is full of acoustic blues music. Mike Footit has been play- ing guitar for almost 30 years and playing blues for 10 years. The other members of the band are drummer and theramin player Simon Stubbs, sax player and singer Justin Frey, as well as bass guitarist Dean Cherkas. The band has been together for over five years. Each member's individual talent stems from their long history and love of music. All members have played their respec- tive instruments for at least 15 years! At the Legion, the band was playing blues music in concert while mixing in some old time | rock and roll as well as country music. Even though it was in the Legion, the show had superb stage appeal. The bands' playing had many people dancing along, and others sitting at tables enjoying the show. The audience’s ages had a wide range. While all attendees were over 18, the average age was between 30 and 60. The band played over three sets PxHoto By BELINDA Li Mike Foottit of the Mike Footit Band stuns the audience with a guitar solo at the Blues Underground Network’s dance held on November 13. throughout the evening and the music was great. Even though the music didn’t seem to vary much in beat or lyri- cal content, with the mixture of Rock and Roll and Country in with the Blues, the evening was very The band has been together for over fiye years. Each mem- ber’s individual tal- ont stems from their long history and love of music. nice. Mike Footit himself wrote most of the blues played at the concert. One such song, Red light, was a particular highlight of the evening. When the drummer, Stubbs, played an interesting little instru- ment called the theramin the con- cert was taken to a whole new level. The theramin is a small, bizarre, radio instrument from early Russia. The sax player, Frey, skillfully played two different types of Saxophones. The man on base gui- tar, Cherkas, played with skill to match the band. The Mike Footit band is plan- ning to eventually produce a CD. Despite the fact that the band does not have any big dreams for a major label, they will certainly enjoy a spectacular future enter- taining the north. Travel On An Amazing International Program! Are YOU ready? Discover other countries and other regions of Canada! Learn about social justice and development issues! Live and work with people from other cultures! Canada World Youth has international volunteer programs for youth 17 — 24. Contact CWY at www.cwy-jcm.org or toll free 1-866-7-VOYAGE. Apply now for programs that start summer 2005! Priority deadline January 15°"!