11/19/12

When the rain gets you down, you watch New Girl. By Erica Baker

5 Things on your computer to bring cheer to your spirits during this rainy season.

  1. New Girl

Have you met Jess? In its second season, New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel (that cute female from 500 Days of Summer you had a crush on once) as Jess has become my favourite thing to watch while eating dinner. Episodes are only 22 minutes long and in that short amount of time they are firmly packed with enough funny jokes to turn my frown upside down. In addition, Hannah Simone who plays Zooey Deschanel’s bff went to UBC, fun fact!

  1. Jessi Cruikshank’s Twitter account

Step one: go to twitter.com/jessimtv

Step two: look at all the funny pictures and messages she tweets regular

Step three: laugh out loud

Samples:

 “@JESSIMTV Where do ‘BEFORE’ pictures come from? At what point do you decide to take a picture of yourself fat and frowning in your underpants?”

“@JESSIMTV Uma Thurman’s baby’s name is ‘Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson’. Still better than Cruickshank.”

Another fun fact, Jessi is from Vancouver. Holla.

  1. TED Talks

Watching a TED Talk always seems to brighten my rainy day. Here are some of my favourites:

This guy made a toaster from scratch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ODzO7Lz_pw

The $8 billion iPod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZadCj8O1-0

Sarah Kay’s “If I should have a daughter” slam poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snNB1yS3IE&feature=relmfu

  1. The Daily What

Enough to keep you distracted for the rest of your life. Link: http://thedailywhat.tumblr.com/

  1. The Onion

Basically, a bunch of really clever comedians get together and mock the world as a fake news source and call it The Onion. Here are some of my favourite tweets from their account recently (@TheOnion)

“@TheOnion Girl In Airport Wearing Warm-Up Pants And High School Volleyball Team Hoodie | For More Local News: http://onion.com/W4qXlB 

 “@TheOnion Kids Menu Just Appetizers | For More Local News:http://onion.com/W4qXlB 

“@TheOnion Romney Pitches In To Repair Millions Of Downed Romney/Ryan Lawn Signs http://onion.com/RxFwtz 

You can get more, including video and full news articles, on their website: theonion.com

11/19/12

“Image That” – By Alima Hassam

I think everyone knows how it feels when you have so much work and you don’t know how you’ll get it done.

You don’t know where to start. You feel like you’ll never be able to get all the work done. So what’s the point of trying? Then, to try to retrieve a glimmer of hope, you look at your schedule for the next couple of weeks and you realize those helpless feelings aren’t going to go away (anytime soon) because the next couple of weeks are just as hectic as this one.

The wet, dark, gloomy weather doesn’t help either. It just makes you feel more grumpy and unproductive.

What’s worst? This pain is self-inflicted. You choose to go to school. You’re actually paying money for this misery you feel.

I was questioning why I choose to go to university in the first place. Then I realized: This as much as any class I’m taking in university is a life lesson. Where would I be if I quit? I would have wasted 4 years in school, a lot of money, and be no better off. Yeah, maybe I wouldn’t be stuck in the library. But what would I be doing instead? Not the career I’m currently striving for. I’m in school because hopefully one day I will be able to benefit from the education and life experiences gained from university.

Imagine That

Imagine that you weren’t stuck inside taking notes sitting in lecture halls all day after day.

Imagine that all year-round the sun shined as if it were May.

Perhaps you’re bored in class right now,

but you’re considering the future anyhow.

For once you get your degree

you are granted creditability.

To peruse a career in what you desire

whether it is art, law, science or fire;

For you see, school helps you to grow like a tree,

then afterwards you are able to be free;

Learn as much as you can

then you’ll have more fun with work you land! 

11/19/12

BORING WINTER BREAK IN YVR? THINK AGAIN! By Karan D’souza

So are you an international student who isn’t going home for Winter Break, a fellow Canuck who doesn’t have enough money to get all the way home and back at the peak of Winter prices, or maybe just someone who’s hanging around Gage for no good reason? You have to find something to do over the break, well thank your lucky stars because Vancouver is one of those cities where you can find things to do no matter what type of activities you enjoy. Here are my top 3 picks for things to do over Winter Break!

  1. Peak of Christmas – They call us the city that goes from sea to sky, so why not start with the sky. Grouse Mountain during the summer is a place I avoid like the plague, because it involves this dreadful thing called the grind. For those who are lucky enough to have not experienced the pain of walking up those stairs, for your own sake keep it that way. However, the winter brings a new and fresh look. The easily accessible mountain boasts an outdoor ice-skating area, sleigh rides, breakfast with Santa, live entertainment and of course hot cocoa and some delicious bites. See.. no exercise involved.
  2. Bright Nights at Stanley Park – They create a beautiful lit area in Stanley Park, with various scenes like Santa Claus in the North Pole, or elves working on the presents. It is delightful and marvelous experience, so grab a warm coat, some hot cocoa and head down to an annual Vancouver Tradition.
  3. Polar Bear Swim on New’s Years – “Want to chill out while bringing in the New Year? Meet up with the other crazies at the foot of Denman and Davie on the Beach around 1pm New Year’s Day”. Vancouver has one of the oldest Annual Polar Bear Swim in the world, the once a year event attracts a large crowd. Go down, and jump in, or just stand on the side and watch these outrageous people nearly get frozen to the core.

So no matter what you choose to do over your break, if you are in Vancouver with nothing to do, maybe try something new, and enjoy the variety of options that this fine city has to offer.

11/2/12

Surveys for Campus Sustainability Engagement Strategy

Direct URL: http://www.sustain.ubc.ca/surveys

UBC is dedicated to fostering a campus-wide culture of sustainability. The vision is for sustainability and resource conservation to become a normative behaviour across the campus community.

In 2012/13, Campus Sustainability is asking campus community members (students, staff, faculty and residents) to contribute their feedback and ideas to a campus-wide Engagement and Social Marketing Strategy that will assist UBC in further achieving its reduction targets for energy, greenhouse gases, water and waste. Once completed, the Strategy will be implemented over several years and will provide implementation details for programs designed to reach UBC’s ambitious sustainability targets.

The Strategy phases include surveys, focus group sessions, and a pilot program. As a first phase, we are conducting surveys regarding current sustainability practices of campus community members in specific campus locations. These surveys take approximately 5 minutes to complete and prizes will be drawn for those who submit completed surveys. Prizes include a $100 prepaid VISA and four $25 iTunes gift cards.

Please click on the link below to complete the survey:

Student Residents of Walter Gage Towers. Click here to take the survey. Survey Deadline: November 16, 2012

10/26/12

Quick and Healthy Eats for Busy Students – By Jeremiah Carag


There seems to be not enough time to do anything when you’re a busy student; however, the truth remains that you need a certain level of sustenance when you’re staying up for late hour study sessions. Of course, the common pitfall to satisfying a hungry stomach amidst a busy schedule is resorting to instant meals, which are often unhealthy and quite mediocre in taste.

Spare some time to make a decent and well-deserved meal for yourself! Here are some links of some websites online that offer quick, tasty and healthy recipes:

Studentrecipes.com
This website is a great resource for busy students like you. I am particularly a big fan of how they categorize their meals by main ingredient (e.g. type of meat or vegetable) and by purpose (e.g. cooking for one, for busy people, for a party, etc.). Check out their blog entry on kitchen essentials, which features a must-have kitchen appliances and supplies checklist.

Minnesota University’s Student Health Services
“Beyond Mac and Cheese” is the title of this page, and they could not have expressed it any better! Scrolling through the list made me drool (Tomato and Basil Pasta Bake!). They also have a Nutrition Information page, which gives you healthy eating tips and nutrition information for the usual snacks such as candies and fast food. After reading this, you might think twice before opening that bag of M&Ms.

BBC Good Food
What was once my reputable news source is now my source of great recipes. You can sign up for an account and start a binder, where you can collect all your favorite recipes. If you’re still not convinced, check out their food photos and if that does not get you, then I don’t know what will.

Happy cooking and eating! 🙂

10/26/12

Getting in the Last Bit of Sun before the Monsoon Season – By Brandon Wong

If you still haven’t gone to the beach you might want to go soon, before the rain starts. It’s the perfect place for a picnic or just hanging out. We’ve been pretty lucky so far this year; September usually has much more rain. There’s still enough sun around to hit up the local beaches.

The closest beaches to UBC are Wreck Beach (where the naked people are) and Tower Beach. As it is getting chilly outside, less nudists frequent the beach during this season. Wreck beach is nice and sandy, and fairly open when the tide is down. To get there, take the trail by Vanier, and walk down a long flight of stairs. Keep in mind that it is a long way back up, and there is no light either.

Tower beach is North of Gage; to get there you can take Beach Trail #3. The beach itself is quite rocky compared to Wreck. Moving away from UBC in the eastern direction, you can find Spanish Banks, Locarno Beach, and Jericho Beach. They are easily accessible using the C19 or the 4 or 84 and a quick walk. Alternatively, it is a fun bike ride down Northwest Marine Drive (UBC has a higher elevation than the beach; it’s a long way up).

The beach is a great place to watch the sunset (super romantic). Especially now that the sun sets earlier, you can go right after dinner. It’s a tad cold at night so bring a blanket and cuddle up 😉
*note, drinking in public is illegal in BC (no wine, beer, etc)