OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER. NOVEMBER 22, 2006

405 :
any walt ER

1. Cloaking 1 De-
vice

No longer confined simply to the
realms of science ficuon, British and
American scientists have developed a
device which can cloak an object against
waves (all excepr light) by absorbing
them and sending them back our with-
out any visible change i in the waves, Cur-
rently light is the one thing the device
can't cloak from but the team is working
on it and its still a big step forward for
rechnclogy,

2. Wii

Nintendos latest console olieog | isa
depature from the norm to say the least,
using a motion sensor controller the wii
is set to change the way people play video
games. While many at first appeared to
have their doubts those who have had a
chance to play with the console for ex-
tended periods of time have no -doube
that itll be a hit, While the graphical

power isn't anywhere as good as either.

Sic P57 oe Bie ll les pe

FEATURE

A Sense of Community

ANNA GRADOWSKA
STAFF WRITER

When I first moved to Prince George
from Vancouver two years ago, I had:no
sense of the town's personality, It seemed
like some backwater collection of hous-
es and industries with no real history.
Thankfully, this year, I got to bond with
the people of Prince George and discov-
et the issues that affect this town that no
one in Vancouver can-discern._

I became a lot more interested in
womens issues this year and learned a
lot more about the town’s perspective.
This fall I went to Take Back the Night
and Take Back the Highway became im-
mersed in the culture of those events. It

ANDREW KURJATA
EDITOR IN CHIEF

Forget the end of history. The Soviet
Union may have collapsed over a decade
ago, but its communist legacy lives on.

The flashpoint was Hugo Chavez,
the left-leaning president of Venezuela.
Over the past year, he engaged in a re-
gional power struggle against the United
States that has threatened to end plans
for a free trade zone extending through-
out the northwest hemisphere. A
staunch critic of neo-liberal economics,
Chavez has focused on using his coun-

try's oil wealth to build an increasingly

was a great bonding experience and in-
credibly empowering and educational.
had never really know how women
in this town were affected by violence.
Through all the stories and songs, I heard
so much of the voice of Prince George
women. I was particularly interested in
the voices of First Nations women of
the area. As a white privileged woman,
you rarely get to hear other perspectives.
The issues that face native women are
compounded by issues of race, and their
stories really inspired me to be involved
in womens rights.
These events, which were marches,
were the first of their kind that I had
ever been involved in. I'd never walked

left-leaning Latin America, doing such
things as taking on part of Argentina's
debt and engaging in an oil-for-doctors
program with Cuba, This has seen the
return of some old communist friends to
the international scene: before his health
problems set in Fidel Castro was once
again becoming a poweful player, and
ex-commie revolutonary Daniel Ortega
was just elected president of Nicaragua.

Meanwhile, despite the fact they both
have market economies, China and Rus-
sia continue to present a challenge to
the West. They have lent tacit support
to the changes in Latin America, and

Hidden Gems ‘06

BY ANDREW KURJATA
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

One of my favourite things about the
end of the year is when all the critics put
out their lists of the best music of the
year. Aside from the stone-cold clas-
sic “St. Elsewhere” from Gnarls Bark-
ley, 2006 didn't really see the release of
any clear contenders for the top spots.
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Racon-
teurs, and My Chemical Romance will
probably be up there for the old-school
rock fans, hip-hop heads will be talking
Clipse, Lupe Fiasco, and the Roots, and
the snootier critics will cite TV On the
Radio, Muse, and Yo La Tengo. If you
haven't heard these albums, go check
them out, like, now. They're all great.
But amidst all the hype-making and
gauntlet-throwing, there are bound to
be a few good albums that slip through
the cracks, generally because the artists
behind them are a. too old, b. too weird,
or c, Canadian. So in recognition of this,
I present to you 2006's best albunis that
no one else will recommend.

Big Old Eyes- Cathedral and Cath-
edral

Most definitely, this is one of the best
albums of the past year. The only reason
this will be the only publication to say so
is because this is the only publication to
hear the album, since its release is pretty
much limited to Prince George and area.
Check it out.

k-Os- Atlantis: Hymns for Disco

Ever since “Northern Touch” came
out in 1998, people have been saying
this is the year Canadian hip-hop breaks
through to an international audience.
Half a decade on it's safe to say this isn’t
going to happen, but no mind, On his
thitd album k-Os brings new levels of
innovation to rap, combining it with
futuristic rock, jazz, and classic ‘soul, It's
the rest of the world’s loss that they're
never going to hear it.

Weird Al Yankovic- Straight Outta
Lynwood :

Over twenty years (!) since his first
album, Weird Al releases his strongest
set yet. He still officially does parodies,
but “White & Nerdy” and “Trapped in
the Drive Thru” are so inspired (and the
originals by Chamillionaire and R. Kelly
are so stupid) that Yankovic surpasses
his source material to make two of the
best songs of 2006,

Ray Davies- Other People’s Lives

As the lyricist behind the Kinks,
Davies has been praised as one of the
greatest songwriters of all time. Though
the production on his first official solo
album can sometimes sound dated, his’
craft shines through.

Easy Star All-Stars- Radiodread

Last year around this time, I was
hanging out in the record shop in the
basement of Electron. I noticed that
the music playing seemed familiar, but
couldn't quite put my finger on it. The
owner told me it was “Dub Side of the
Moon,’ a reggae cover of Pink Floyd's
“Dark Side of the Moon.” It was so pet-
fect I soon had my own copy and was
sharing it with all my friends, 2006 saw
the Easy Star All-Stars (a collective of
about a dozen reggae artists) repeat the
unrepeatable, putting a bit of Rasta into
Radiohead.

Mastodon- Blood Mountain

Speaking as someone whose heavy
metal collection amounts to Black Sab-
bath, Metallica, and System of a Down,
Mastodon are that rare thing in hard-
core rock: a band that focuses on craft,
not speed; songs, not sludge; and man-
age to sound innovative and classic at
the same time.

Beyoncé- B’ Day -

Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguil-
era, and Nelly Furtado all had better
singles and bigger hits. But with B’ Day,
Beyoncé has released an album devoid

in the streets in protest or attended a
rally,'so there was a lot of significance of
these experience for me. Sharing in the
pain of loss and the angry of abuse with
women who had experienced these emo-
tions was powerful.

I definitely got a sense of community
from being there and a bond to other
women I had never experienced. I hope
that next year I can be involved too and
support these causes, I encourage anyone
who is interested in women's issues (and
those who are completely unfamiliar) to
participate. I've learned so much about
Prince George through these events that
no amount of casual participation could
have given me,

Communism Strikes Back |

have joined Chavez in stirring things up
in the Middle East by supporting “rogue
nation” Iran and the Hamas party in
Palestine. And of course North Korea
made its own waves with its semi-suc-
cesful testing of nuclear weapons.
Leftist nationalists in Latin Amer-
ica? Nuclear threats coming from Asia?
Washington and Moscow engaging in a
subtle diplmoatic struggle in the Middle
East? It seems that when it comes to
international politics, the more things
change, the more they stay the same.

of filler that is steeped in soul classicism
and hip-hop attitude, Not since Aretha
Franklin (or possibly Lauryn Hill) has a
female R&B singer been this-commer-
cially successful while being this good.

The Hold Steady- Boys and Girls in
America

For their first two albums, the Hold
Steady sounded like a drunk who thinks
too much ranting over the best bar band
in the world. They don't mess with this
formula too much on their third outing,
and the result is the most visceral experi-
ence in rock all year.

Various Artists- ‘Tropicalia: A Bra-
zilian Revolution In Sound

Did you know that. some of the best
psychedelic music of the sixties came
out of counterculture bands located in
Brazil? Neither did I, until the release
of this fantastic compilation that is like
nothing you've ever heard.
_ Final Fantasy- He Poos Clouds

Dont let the title fool you, Owen Pal-
ette, the string arranger behind The Ar-
cade Fire and Stars, combines resonant
vocals and sparse violins to make some
of the most haunting, beautiful, and up-
lifting music around.

Malajube- Trompe-Loeil

You know that Rogers cellphone
commercial where all those kids go on
a road trip before school starts? Well,
the debut album from this Montreal is
where its soundtrack comes from, along
with eleven other indie-pop gems. Even
if you don't speak French you'll want to
sing along.

The Pipettes- We Are the Pastas

This British trio look and sound just
like a 1960s-era girl group, along the
lines of the Angels or the Crystals. But
with song titles like “One Night Stand”
and “Dirty Mind,” they're attitude is all
21st century, with song titles like “One
Night Stand” and “Dirty Mind.” To get
an idea download “School Uniform,’ a
great single that for some reason is not

included here. Then buy this album.

KYRA JANOT
STARE WRITER

‘This year marked n new advances in
making the PC to Mac switch even eas-
ier, Upon the release of Apples “ Boot
Camp" software, Mac 1 users now have
the capability: to run Windows XP (and
possibly, on Intel based Macs, Vista as
well), without going through buggy,
early stage PC emulators. ‘The age of the
ideal computer has finally come. that is
to say, games that DON’T suck coupled
wich freedom from Vaneanduced para-

2006 beouphe a lor of os “fos
me anyways. I finally moved out of my
parents basement, moved to PG and en-
rolled my ass in school.

Coming here was probably the best
thing for me, even without my moms
cooking,

So 2006 was pretty much the year
I stopped being a lazy, no good, smug
loser who lived in my parents basement,
and became a lazy, no good, string loser
who lives up North.

2006 brought some good scuff £00,

body style, this will be the f
available from North Am i