6 Arts and Culture Warm up for Cold Snap Make Way for Lee-Wai SAMANTHA FARROW ARTS EDITOR On Saturday night, October 3rd, I attend- ed the first Warm Up for Cold Snap concert. These concert series are a fundraiser for Prince George's winter music festival, which will start in January. The opening act for Rochelle van Zanten got on stage. His name was Lee-Wai Yu. He picked up his guitar and began to play, Let me tell you, his guitar play- ing was fantastic. His vocals? Even more so; they pulled me in and suddenly I was lost in his melodic, haunting, song. While on stage, he sang about lost love, missing his home town of Vancouver B.C., of having too much to drink and not being able to forget that cer- tain someone, all his songs unique and well written; seeing as I am just going through a heart wrenching break up, and have defin- itely had evenings of too much to drink and not being able to forget, I understood. I also understood missing ones home. I thought maybe it was just because I could relate to what was being sung that I was in love with this man’s performance. However, my acting photographer, Ashlyn, who is self proclaimed Metal Queen, leaned over to me during the performance and whispered,’ Wow, this guy is awesome.’ Coming from a girl who only listens to black metal, this says something. I had the pleasure of speaking to Lee-Wai after his performance. He has been in Prince George for two years as the acting Molson rep (such a cool job! 1 AM CANADIAN), is currently recording, but unfortunately, has nothing in video on My Space or Face- book. If he did, I would have provided the link. However, you can check out this up and coming phenomenon on Saturday, October 17 at Nelly’s Pub in the Hart. I recommend that you do, he is an amazing performer, in- fluenced by Indie rock and classical piano, as well as bands like Death Cab for Cuties and The Dave Matthews band, with a vocal ability you won't forget. Lee-Wai is also in the process of forming a band with Mike Vi- gano, a local guitarist; they're currently trying to come up with a name. Hopefully, we will see many performances from them. Oh and as a side note for the ladies, he is some lovely eye candy (yes, he has a girlfriend). I was sur- prised that in my time of nursing a broken heart, this man reminded me that I am not dead. So, again, Nelly's Pub, October 17; I promise you, it will be an awesome show. Rachelle van Zanten October 14, 2009 + Over the Edge Presenting Rachelle van Zanten SAMANTHA FARROW ARTS EDITOR On Saturday, October 3, Warm Up for Cold Snap’s headliner was the one and only Rochelle van- Zanten. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ms. van Zanten, she is a B.C. slide artist hailing from Francois Lake. Van Zanten has been featured in Guitar Player magazine, has given many concerts and performances, played at many festivals, and next month, open for Sass Jordan, Rachelle's music is of a unique style, blues-y, folkie, Indie rock, and very melodic. Rachelle used to play with the award winning band Painting Daisy until they dissolved in late 2005. After that, van Zanten branched out on her own, putting out the album Back to Francois in 2005. Her latest Where Your Garden Grows, was released earlier this year, Warm Up for Cold Snap was lucky enough to snag Rachelle van album, COURTESY OF HER WEBSITE Saturday, November 14 Zanten; she is currently on tour in Canada, Europe, and the US. Her performance at the Art Space on Saturday included songs such Dirty Water, a song she wrote while staying in Alberta because the water was nothing like it was at home, Take Me Right Back, which included an awesome slide solo, and a song from her new album, Showerhead. She refers to Prince George as the Devil's ‘Town due to our large interest in eclectic music, and interacted with the audience on a personal level. It was a pleasure to attend such a concert. To hear her songs or find out more about this Canadian treas- ure, visit her website at http:// www.tachellevanzanten.com/.You can also view her on My Space and Facebook, just type in Rachelle van Zanten, More Cold Snap action: SAMANTHA FARROW ARTS EDITOR One of my favourite Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes is the episode Pangs from Season Four. It's the Thanksgiving episode, ‘tis the season. For those of you who live on another planet, youd have to if you've never seen Buffy, I will give you a brief crash course. Buffy is a vampire slayer; she, and her friends, whom everyone refers to as the Scoobie Gang, live in Sunny- dale, California. This episode features Buffy the Slayer, her best friend, Willow, who is a starter witch; Xander, who has no spe- cial powers, buts dates an ex- vengeance demon named Anya; Giles, Buffy’s prim and proper, very British Watcher; Angel, who is only visiting in this episode, he is Buffy ex, who recently moved to LA, he’s a vampire with a soul; and finally, Spike, who is Buffy’s nemeses, a vampire who has recently been caught by the Initiative, a military group led by Buffy’s future love inter- est, Riley, After catching Spike, they put a chip in his head, and he can no longer bite humans. So, these are the players in this episode, The whole plot behind this episode involves the disturbance of a Chumash Indigenous spirit during the construction of the UC Sunnydale Cultural Center. Buffy, who is missing home while at college, just wants to have a nice, happy Thanksgiving dinner. This is interrupted by the angry Chumash spirit, who is murdering people he feels played a part in the oppression of his people, a visit from Spike, who has just escaped the Initiative and comes to them for help, a sick Xander, who was the one who disturbed the site while he was working, and finally a large battle between the Scoobie gang and more Chumash spirits, conjured by the first spirit. Before the final battle with the Chumash, the gang argues amongst themselves about the right thing to do with the lone angry Indigenous spirit, meanwhile Buffy tries to prepare the perfect Thanksgiving meal. Willow doesn't want Buffy to slay him after what was done to his people; Giles, Xander, and Spike think she should, and Buffy herself is torn. All the while, An- gel is in Sunnydale, watching Buffy, as one of his colleagues in LA had a vision about Buffy being hurt. Buffy has no idea he is there until Xander lets it slip at the end of the episode after the big battle with the Chumash, which in the end, Buffy ends up stabbing the first spirit with his knife, the only way to rid themselves of this spirit. Here are some of my favourite lines from this episode: Willow- “Thanksgiving isn’t about the blending of two cultures, it’s about one culture wiping out another” Anya-“T love a ritual sacrifice...with pie” Buffy to Willow- “It is a sham, but it’s a sham with yams, a Yam Sham” Giles, to Buffy, under his breath after he refers to the spirits as Indi- ans and Buffy corrects him-“Oh, right. Yes, yes. Um, always behind on the terms. Still trying not to refer to you lot as “bloody colonials.” Buffy to Giles- “You're the reason we had to have pilgrims in the first place.’ Giles, sarcastically-“Why not give him some land, that ought to clear Sunday, October 25 Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few Connie Kaldor 8:00 at the Art Space. Thanksgiving: Ritual Sacrifice with ~ “ everything up.” Xander- “Can we come rocketing back to the part about me and my new syphilis?” Xander-“ What, so he rises up and infects the first guy he sees? That's no fair” Xander to Buffy- “Slaying him? The representative from syphilis votes yea.’ Giles- “Buffy, Xander’s in real danger. Are you sure the solution is pie?” Buffy, in response to Giles's comment-“Over bickering and confusion, T'll take pie. We will find a solution. And we will have a nice dinner, ok? Both. End of story, I'm having Thanksgiving, and it'll be perfect.’ Spike, after arriving at the door, looking for help-“I’m saying that Spike had a little trip to the vet and now he doesn’t chase the other 8:00 at the Ramada Hotel. Pie puppies anymore, I can’t bite anything, I can't even hit people.’ Buffy to Willow — “Will, anything in those books about how to stop a Native American spirit guy? Some ™ nice, non-judgmental way to, you know, kill him?” Spike —“You won. All right? You came in and you killed them and you took their land. That's what con- quering nations do. It's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying, “I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it.” The history of the world isnt people making friends. You had better weapons, and you massacred them. End of story.’ Spike- “You exterminated his race. What could you possibly say that would make him feel better? It’s kill ot be killed here. Take your bloody pick.’ Xander , about the above statement made by Spike- “Maybe it’s the syphilis talking, but... Some of that made sense.” Spike, regarding Xander ; “Oh, leave that one. He | looks like he's ready to drop any minute, and I think I can eat someone if he’s already dead.” Anya-“T liked his wife. She gave me pie.’ Spike, riddled with arrows- “Remember that con- quering nation thing? Forget it. Apologize.’ Xander, patting Anya on the shoulder- “And you know what? I think my syphilis is clearing right up.’ Buffy, after the above statement- “And they say ro- ) mance is dead. Or maybe they just wish it.’ # ~=© Although BtVS is an American show, and it deals with the history of the Indigenous people of the US and Thanksgiving, we can easily see how this show can relate to the Indigenous people of Canada. Of course, the history behind our Thanksgiving is less bleak; it goes back to 1578 and the explorer Martin Fobisher, who was headed for the Orient and landed in Newfoundland where he celebrated the first ofh- cial Canadian Thanksgiving, giving thanks for safety on his long journey. At the same time, French settlers arrived with Samuel de Champlain, and they too had a celebration, sharing their food with the Aboriginals. As you can see, our Thanksgiving history is a little less violent, and a bit more giving. All the same, I use the term Yam Sham in my house, as a reminder that not all of Canada’s history has been pretty; in fact, it is as bleak as the US's in some parts, especially during the era of residential school and the First Nations. All in all, this was a hilarious episode with food for thought and some really good lines. Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy, is a genius and has some awesome writers on the show. If you are one of those people who live on a different planet and have never seen this series, give it a watch. It was around long before Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series made vam- pires cool, and personally, I think it has a much better story line. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, or as we call it in my house, a wonderful Yam Sham,