Kelley Ware Finance Manager dancing Jabba the Hutt slowly peels away his skin, revealing sexy a slave Leia underneath. She begins to dance for the crowd, taking off her clothes and shaking what George Lucas gave her. The scene: Barkerville, during the last weekend of September for Geekenders Lost in Time Il: Take the Sky. This was a weekend of theatre, cosplay, themed lunches and dinners, burlesque dancing, celebrities, and history; all thanks to Vancouver's own nerdy theatre group the Geekenders. For a self-proclaimed geek living in Prince George and unable to afford to go to big conventions, this weekend seemed like a gift from the universe itself. For me, the lead-up to this weekend began in mid-July. An advertisement dropped in front of me, and the moment | saw Claudia Christian's picture alongside Barkerville, my eyes lit up. As a huge Babylon 5 fan, | knew | had to go. The addition of Denise Crosby and Dean Haglund (of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, and X-Files/The Lone Gunmen respectfully) only made it better. The weekend event kicked off on Eating Healthy, Sherri Latimer Contributor veryone knows that eating fresh fruits and vegetables is optimal for health. Fresh fruits and vegetables are full of antioxidants, nutrients, minerals, and water, which all enable our bodies to function daily as we win provincial championships, give presentations, get a master’s degree, go to boot-camp, or fight off perilous infections. There is something else, however, that people should know about these fresh foods: there are products being used to grow these fresh fruits and vegetables, products which can be harmful to our bodies. One of these products is Friday night with a pajama theme. First we settled down to Dinner at the End of the Universe (otherwise known as a buffet at Wake Up Jake's) where we were fortunate enough to have a lovely Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy themed show while we ate, inevitably making us miss the end of the universe. After that, we went to the Theatre Royal where Captain Hammer was planning on a chat with the audience and hosting a trivia contest, but he was very rudely interrupted by Dr. Horrible. The trivia contest eventually happened, followed by a one-man show titled “Call Me Kirk” before all the exhausted geeks went off to bed to get ready for the busy Saturday ahead of them. Saturday morning began with an etiquette course that involved outdated social rules, gloves becoming turkeys, women generally being useless (but apparently able to levitate), men having to do everything, and slightly offensive acronyms. The rest of the morning was spent with tours and free time before Tea with Queen Victoria. During that time | got complimented by the Queen, met a guy dressed as The Doctor, and managed to join Torchwood. The only disappointment was the lack of Captain Jack Harkness. Atter the tea had ended and | had promised to defend the Empire against Eating Organic commonly referred fo as a pesticide. Pesticides are used to grow food all over the world. They are known to have negative effects on the nervous system, child brain development, and have carcinogenic properties. More than half of produce, after being washed and peeled, are still found to have pesticide residues. Pesticides not only contaminate our fresh food supply, but also our water supply, and are even found in store-bought baby food. The most toxic of these pesticides include organophosphate pesticides and organochloride pesticides, but there are dozens of pesticides used. You may feel as though there is nothing you can do, and that is where you — *(Centenipean lo alien threats, we had a period of free time. This included Barkerville theatre, stagecoach rides, panning for gold, an Aperture Science scavenger hunt, celebrity meet and greets, and dinner. My friend and | spent this time running around and having a blast with the aforementioned Doctor and our new friend Nick. The evening began at the Theatre Royal with a fantastic improv act starring Claudia Christian and Dean Haglund - it was glorious. Then it was time for the Geekender Variety Show, what they called “nerdlesque,” with a couple of small acts thrown in between performers. The burlesque routines were hilarious, sexy, and slightly traumatizing to my inner child. There was a sexy ewok, a stripping Kaylee from Firefly, a burlesque themed after Ursula from The Little Mermaid, The Last Unicorn burlesque, LOlCats, as well as the aforementioned Jabba the Hutt/Slave Leia burlesque performance. She had Yoda pasties. | was not sure whether | should have laughed, cried, or both. During the show's intermission, Denise Crosby came out for a question panel. During this time she took her belt off as a joke, swore like a sailor, and managed to answer some pretty awesome questions. She also had been given ae) (Center) Denise Grosby four different bottles of alcohol during this time, although she did not drink them all. After the burlesque show, we wandered over to Barkerville's House Hotel and drank scotch before heading back to the Theatre where several rows of seating had been removed to make room for a dance party. The Dance Farty featured top-4O club music mixed with songs like Weird Science, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and various theme songs. It was the only time where | could be part of a conga-line, dancing around the Theatre Royal in Barkerville, chanting along to the remix song of “They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard” and have it feel completely normal. The next morning, there was one final panel discussing pop culture. Finally, goodbye time came. We had to leave our new friends, since they were all from Vancouver, with hugs and farewells before parting ways with promises of keeping in touch. So ended Geekenders Lost in Time I Take the Sky. The weekend was ful of excitement and new friends. For those of you who did not go, you most definitely missed out. But no fear, from what | have been told they will be back again next year! EBOS OOOO Sococj[oc’ss EWG'S SHOPPERS GUIDE TO PESTICIDES IN PRODUCE ™ DIRTY 2013 2013 APPLES NECTARINES Gaeeee PEACHES TOMATOES POTATOES CUCUMBERS SEIN ACES anne STRAWBERRIES SWEET BELL HOT PEPPERS PEPPERS COLLARDS & KALE* SUMMER SQUASH & ZUCCHINI “PESTICIDES OF SPECIAL CONCERN } 3 EGGPLANT ASPARAGUS ONIONS AMOCADO PAPAYAS CABBAGE PINEAPPLES CANTALOUPE SWEET PEAS 4 CORN FROZEN SWEET POTATOES GRAPEFRUIT KIWI MANGOS MUSHROOMS 4 a 8 $ QUESTIONS ABOUT Saige PESTICIDES IN PRODUCE? VISIT US AT FOODNEWS.ORG ee LI arate a are wrong! You can protect yourselves and others from pesticides by informing yourself about them, advocating for pesticide-free organic growers, and by purchasing items locally. You may think that you cannot afford organic products, but, lucky for you, the Environmental Working Group (2013) has made a list of produce that should be bought organic to reduce pesticides consumed, and a list of those that are lowest in pesticides, and therefore safe to eat (pictured in photo and available at wwwewg.org). Be encouraged to stay informed about your food, and get healthy!