When I was a fourth year violin performance student at the University of British Columbia preparing to apply for graduate school, the general advice I was met with was to select schools based upon the teacher you wanted to study with. This was fairly sound advice since the mentor-mentee relationship is a significant part of most music school experiences. But in selecting which schools to apply to...
With The Many Saints of Newark being released in theatres this past weekend, it is only fitting that we discuss one of the greatest shows to ever touch television More than anything, the positive reviews of The Many Saints of Newark allowed me to finally exhale. It appears that at the bare minimum, Many Saints is a good movie. Critics have liked it so far, and user reviews have been...
According to Hume, there is not much of a relationship between roads, hell, and good intentions. In section one of Justice, whether a natural or artificial virtue, Hume characterizes intentions (referred to as “sentiments”) as the “real” indicia of morality, whereas actions are mere proxy. Correspondingly, good intentions, independent of an action’s outcome, are necessary conditions for the...
It’s job-hunting season and, despite the Zoom interface, you want to look your best (at least from the waist up). And if you’re a hand waver like I am, there’s a decent chance your wrist will be on display. Just because we’re going to be shackled to Scotiabank, TD, and various provincial loan agencies for the foreseeable future doesn’t mean we can’t find cool yet affordable watches to wear. Sure...
The most prominent and most exclusive social event in the world with a breezy $35,000 per person ticket resumed this September after being cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19. The Met Gala is an annual fundraising event usually held on the first Monday of May for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. A bizarre premise where the highlight for viewers is watching...
Rappers are always talking about the cars they buy, the houses, the jewelry, or other luxuries. Dave has no interest in putting on the façade; he speaks in facts. Want to know how truly successful Dave actually is? Go ask his financial advisor. However, the reason that this version and not the original makes the list is because of the added final verse. Specifically, if you are a fan of English...
The city’s film festival always boasts formidable options, and this year is no exception Every September, the brightest stars in film descend upon Toronto for the annual rendition of the city’s famous film festival. While last year’s iteration was a more muted affair given the state of the pandemic, this year sees a welcome return to theatres, where folks like Christopher Nolan would argue that...
The late actor left an indelible impact on everyone who saw his work Last year I wrote an article on The Wire, one of my favorite television shows of all time. In that article I highlighted one of the characters in the show that stood out to me – Omar – portrayed by the late Michael K. Williams, who tragically passed away on September 6.. This article is simply an ode to the late Mr. Williams. He...
What can we learn from Stormblood? As November creeps upon us, we approach the release of the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker expansion. Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn has grown to be a critically acclaimed Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) since its re-release in 2013, sitting at over 32 million active players at the time of this article. Given its rising...
The Chicago native is back with a bang with his latest On 29 August 2021, Kanye West dropped his tenth studio album, Donda and it was not without controversy. The album, named after his late mother, came to fruition through three separate listening events in two of the largest venues in the United States. The events were also being live-streamed to millions all over the world. At one point in the...
Growing up, Luke didn’t feel Indigenous at all. Most of his family lived on or near the reserve on Scugog Island quite close to Lindsay, Ontario, where he was born. “We’d go out to res very often, but it never felt like an Indigenous community, it was just my family,” he tells me as we sit on opposite sides of a picnic bench on a cold November morning in front of his studio in downtown Kitchener...
Almost every aspect of law school is tough: building your summaries, studying for exams, job recruits, and having to balance all that with your extracurricular and volunteer activities. Plus, you have to deal with it all in a virtual environment where you’re stuck inside watching the seasons pass you by. That is precisely why it’s so important to watch a show with a main character that exudes...
It’s safe to say that this year has been one of the most challenging school years I’ve had, and I’ve definitely found myself turning to “feel-good” entertainment more and more. I love turning on an episode of “Parks and Recreation”, re-reading Lord of the Rings, or making a matcha latte as a reward for getting through another long day of working from home. As exam season approaches and stress...
The music of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) is some of the most exquisitely crafted in the classical repertoire. The composer’s perfectionism is evinced by his small output. There are basically a handful or two of major works, and many of the orchestral pieces are simply arrangements of compositions for piano. But there are few, if any, duds. Take, for example, the String Quartet (1903). It is easy to...
It’s hard to believe that we’re nearly at the end of the academic year, and while that is a relief in many ways, it means that we have to confront the beast once more: finals. It’s time to scream at yourself for not having taken better notes in class, fire up the ol’ L&L database, and get to work. And so, I have compiled an ever-so-carefully curated playlist of classical music to...
This year, with a longer than usual eligibility period and closed theatres preventing traditional premieres and releases, the Oscars nominations look very different. Regardless of how the actual awards pan out, the big winner seems to be diversity, with historic nominations for actors of colour in nearly every category. It’s truly amazing that in the nearly one hundred year history of the Oscars...
What began as an exploration of Canadian cuisine became an deeply personal and moving family history Chop Suey is a personal favourite of mine, and a few years ago, I decided to track down the origin of this quintessentially Chinese-Canadian cuisine. I found that story in Ann Hui’s book, Chop Suey Nation. I recently found myself re-reading Chop Suey Nation and immersed in the narrative Hui...
It is often remarked that Prokofiev’s music started out spiky, and became more lyrical and harmonically conservative later on—especially after his return to Russia in the mid-1930s. While many of the earlier works are angular (e.g., the Scythian Suite) and many of the later works (e.g., Romeo and Juliet) are unabashedly melodious, there are also plenty of pieces that defy this categorization. For...
It may surprise you that many composers continue to write music in the classical tradition, broadly construed. One possible reason for the belief that the development of classical music ended some time ago is the “classical” label itself, which suggests that the category is historical. As well, it doesn’t help that “contemporary classical” is not really a coherent genre. Composers are engaging...
I woke up this morning groggy as usual. I showered, brushed my teeth, threw on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, and begrudgingly walked downstairs to start working. Eight hours later I returned upstairs, watched a few hours of mindless television, then surrendered back to my bedroom, feeling thankful, but resentful, that I made it through another day that felt like it was filled with absolutely...
Music school demands much from every student, but for some, it takes far more than it gives. An undergraduate degree in violin, cello, or piano performance is unlike any other major. To be accepted into an arts or sciences program, you must show, at the very least, good grades, but in the case of music school, prospective students are required to have already dedicated their entire...
“The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts With the continuous change in circumstances and the associated routines and emotions, it can be really difficult to keep adapting to new demands. I have found this to be especially true over the last few months with the overwhelming sense of responsibilities that arise...
Are you French?
Do you speak French?
Do you want to speak French–particularly in the law?
Are you interested in learning about civil law, bilingualism in the law and legal studies?
Are you interested in…croissants?
Come join the Osgoode Francophone Association.
Hiring staff members today!
Simply contact Josef Wolanczyk at nineworlds99@gmail.com for more!
The Wire is a cop drama. The Wire is a study of the systemic and institutional racism that remains incredibly relevant in North America today. The Wire is a character study of some of the most common yet elusive American people—those who you don’t learn about in history textbooks, but those who are inherent in every society. There are many different ways to describe The Wire but none of these...
J.S. Bach hardly needs an introduction. I could have named the article “My Music: Bach” and you most likely would have known whom I was talking about—notwithstanding the fact that there are a number of other fine composers named Bach. Indeed, Bach’s reputation is such that, while his music is unquestionably great, I sometimes wonder whether he unfairly overshadows his contemporaries. Are we still...