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On Apr. 9, 2015, one week after the final weekly paper of the academic year, the former arts and entertainment section known as ANDY had its last 24-page magazine. The direction and focus of the section in the 2015-2016 year lead to the magazine being discontinued, and was not revived with ANDY’s merging with the Lifestyle section in 2016-2017.
On Feb. 10, 2016, we had our last Sex and the Steel City magazine, which was distributed at the same time as the regular, weekly paper and totalled 32-pages. This was more of a reflection of the former Lifestyle section, and while considered despite the merging of the ANDY and Lifestyle sections in 2016-2017, was discontinued due to budget cuts and low pickup rates.
While these sorts of special issues were generally high quality with the amount of time allowed for long-term goals and let volunteers who do not generally contribute share their perspectives, these concerns and others similar to them have been inhibiting factors for considerations.
We have considered a few options to help elevate these:
1) Have better timing to not align with the usual, weekly release to not potentially cannibalize readership, and have a better gauge of distribution processes.
2) Be willing to produce online only issues.
3) Create issue ideas that are more applicable to a wider student base of the university, and reduce how niche the topics are.
Right now, we have two ideas of what we want to do for this year. The first is an issue entirely dedicated to humour. The Speculator on the back page of every week is a fantastic example of what you could expect. We could branch out a bit, open it up for contributions from you and the McMaster community and create a physical product that would appeal to almost anyone on campus or in the city.
This would likely be released after classes end for one of the terms or during the mid-term recess next term.
The second idea is to revive Sex and the Steel City as an online only publication. This was historically beneficial for putting out stories and perspectives that did not fit into the weekly sections, and was a favourite of our Production and Lifestyle teams of the past in order to show off some of their best work. While the topics did not appeal to everyone and was insistent in maintaining its NSFW mentality, it was a fan favourite to those who picked it up.
This would likely be released just before Valentine’s Day or during the mid-term recess next term.
These are not set in stone by any means. When it comes to the revival or creation of content like this, we want to make sure we are making content that you actually want to read and contribute to. While we can assume a lot based on history and random, sporadic feedback, there is still a degree of uncertainty given the amount of time off we have had from special issues.
We would love to hear about your interest in these two goals and other considerations for projects we could do. If you were passionate about ANDY, we would love to hear it by messaging us on social media or sending an email. If you would like for other sections of the paper to get their chance at a special issue or have a completely new idea, then that is perfect too. Just let us know what you want, and we will do our best to provide it for you.
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As a disclaimer, our Operating Policy states that we are limited to only having one page per issue dedicated to satire and parody. The Speculator on the back page of the physical issue took this up. We have not requested any exceptions to this, and everything you are about to read is factual.
Throughout the year, we run weekly meetings for each of our sections. If you want to contribute as a writer, photographer, videographer or have a passing interest in anything we do, our door is usually open and the emails on the “Contact Us” tab on our website are one of our main sources of communication.
This is all simple enough. One of the things new volunteers often state is that they did not realize that it was a possibility or that they were too intimidated by the prospect to write for a publication with a campus-wide reach. We have addressed the first one, but the second one is a bit more complicated.
While nerves and writing with the intent for a large number of people to read it takes time and experience, I am still working on that and some related perfectionist crises myself, one of the more immediate aids is to provide a bit of background of the type of people who you would likely be talking to. You do not need to know any of this, but it may make you more comfortable than receiving answers from a faceless media organization.
The office has a plastic horse with written characters like &, # and ? on it and wears glasses. It tends to wear a rubber dinosaur puppet as a mask, and sits next to a mini Zen garden. There is also a suspiciously high amount of winter holiday memorabilia, and a picture of a hairy-nosed wombat one our former editors adopted for a month over four years ago.
Our “Editors of McMaster’s student newspaper” plaque took around five years to be updated because the experience of being the Editor-in-Chief is considered to be far more important than the recognition. However, it had to be done recently because it would have been odd to update multiple rows at once.
The paper is known for having the most consistently degenerate staff at the yearly Canadian University Press’ conference. We do not have a journalism school, we bring as many staff members as possible and tend to overwhelm due to sheer numbers alone. It also used to be known as the best university publication in the country a few decades ago.
Given that the office has no windows or sunlight and has questionable air ventilation, staff members tend to become neurotic and loopy after a point. This tends to happen if production night, the night before the paper is placed on stands, goes past 8 p.m. Previous Editors-in-Chief attempted to get staff to go for breaks and walks to help out, but often received resistance because interrupting creative work is hard for people.
The Silhouette was also the last university paper in the country to move away from broadsheet size to tabloid, about half the size, and that only happened this decade. Part of that was a sense of pride to stick it to other papers that wimped out and switched earlier. The other part was that working until 3 a.m. in the morning to get the paper out by that afternoon was, apparently, enjoyable enough to keep doing it with staff, colleagues and friends.
There is a constant obsession with karaoke. In particular, anything our in-house DJ plays during the “80s Power Hour” slot, The Killers and most songs that could spur an existentialist crisis are popular choices.
In short, whomever you may want to talk to about contributing, advice or feedback is probably odd in their own way and far less intimidating than your typical TA or professor.
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In humour, the want to stay fresh and unique should always be present. If you steal jokes or concepts, you are deemed a plagiarist. If your topics lack originality, you are uninspired.
What separates a good comedian from a great comedian is how well they can make relatable events extraordinary and how they communicate its amusement and uniqueness without losing what the audience identifies with. Peter Unwin’s newest novel, Searching for Petronius Totem, finds this balance with Hamilton flair.
The basic premise is grounded and simple. The main character, Jack, retreats to a rooming house in Hamilton, then sets off across the country find his life-long colleague who has disappeared after his memoir was revealed to be filled with lies. There is also some understandable tension between Jack and his wife, who will likely shoot him on sight should he ever return home. Nothing is too out of the ordinary when it comes to a premise, and would make a decent novel with that base to work with.
However, the more substantial situation at hand is what will likely catch your attention. The world is being taken over by a multi-national Fibre-Optic Catering business that creates chicken-like food matter that flies. It is absurd.
“There’s a certain sort of repetitive quality to novel writing now. It tends to tell the same story with the same degree of earnestness, and I definitely did not want that. I wanted something that broke the mold,” said Unwin.
It works because of the attention to detail given to the basic premise. Even aspects as seemingly minor as the main characters being from Hamilton and a decent portion of the book taking place in the city have consistent influences throughout the novel. The dialect, how each character is perceived and the mannerisms of those characters are all affected.
“There’s a hierarchy of hipness or something about where we stand. Hamilton’s sort of gloriously outside of that hierarchy. Middle finger, we don’t care where we stand, we’re the Hammer, and this is us.”
As Jack travels across the country, this manages to come up time and time again. The reputation that Toronto and Ontario has plays into the book’s humour on top of these mannerisms.
Even though Hamilton is portrayed as being outside of that hierarchy, there remains resentment when people misinterpret where the characters are from or stereotype them as a result. It becomes a clever and realistic gag that comes up consistently in the middle of preposterous situations.
“People are proud of where they’re from regardless of how small the town is or how ugly. And that sort of pride in place, like when Jack goes to Vancouver, he just thinks Vancouver is a backwater. He’s from Hamilton. It could never be as good as Hamilton.”
This attention to detail remains present in its absurdity. This Hamilton influence continues to be a key factor in larger-than-life situations. It becomes a way of interpreting edible flying mechanical chickens as a metaphor, and most of the humour can hit home even when it does not initially feel like you can identify with it.
“To a large extent, the book is about things coming to an end, like a dystopia, end of the world type of book, getting there. And also, in a sense, the end of the novel or the death of the novel. You set this within Hamilton, it’s fair to say it has this reputation that’s passed now, is a city that’s suffered from this breakdown in industrialized industry.”
Honestly, it is unknown if someone outside of southern Ontario or Canada would find the novel funny. While you could relate through other points, this is a home-grown and tailor-made novel for its audience, and it is unapologetic about being locally focused.
It is not for everyone. However, considering you are reading an Arts & Culture article in a student newspaper that attempts to cater all of its content for the students of McMaster and the Hamilton community, it is likely that you will like it.
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Aquarius
(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19):
You are going to watch a cute dog video. You will find it hilarious and your day will be brightened. But this is a lie. You’re still going to fail your exam.
Pisces
(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20):
Don’t eat fish. It’s cannibalism and you’re going to have mad gas and diarrhea in your exam. And then you’ll be on Spotted @ Mac and your asshole friend is going to tag you.
Aries
(March 21 - April 20):
You are blessed with ability to cram this month. Please save all your studying for the 15 minutes before the test for maximum effect.
Taurus
(Apr. 21 - May 21):
Take a shower, not because it’s refreshing, but because you reek of sadness and failure. Also you smell like shit. Please have some consideration for the people around you.
Gemini
(May 22 - Jun. 21):
The gods are shining a warm light on you this month. Feel free to wear shorts and tank tops outside. It’s not cold. Your mind is simply still adjusting.
Cancer
(Jun. 22 - Jul. 23):
Now is definitely the time to pick up a new hobby or skill, like knitting scarves with pictures of cats or how to hack into the school system to set off all the fire alarms.
Leo
(July 24 - Aug. 23):
People will be really empathetic for you this month. You should definitely just try crying on the floor outside your professor’s office.
Virgo
(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23):
Your Netflix account is going to freeze. Maybe try “Study N’ Chill?” Nothing like some hard textbooks to get you sweating.
Libra
(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23):
Mind planet Mercury is in retrograde (or anterograde? I’m not sure) which means you’re going mess up on your test. Guess you’re out of luck.
Scorpio
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22):
You love telling people that you’re screwed for exams when you’ve made all your notes. Please refrain from telling people this, not only because it makes you a douche, but also because someone’s gonna spit in your food.
Sagittarius
(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21):
You actually still reading these? Christ, stop procrastinating. Get your shit together.
Capricorn
(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20):
Your computer’s going to break randomly and all your notes will be lost. Don’t bother trying to back your files up; your usb is also going to combust.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The other day I came to your store to buy a seven-dollar venti low fat extra whip salted caramel mocha with coconut milk, and the biggest outrage wasn’t the price or your misspelling of my name again, but rather the fact that your cup was just plain red. I couldn’t believe it. #RedCupGate is real.
I mean, I forgot what your cups looked like in past years (I’m pretty sure Jesus on the cross was on the cup last year?), but this is definitely an outrage. I can’t believe that you are against Christmas. What did Santa ever do to you? By the way, you sure as hell ain’t getting a gift from him this year (just like every past year, but that’s cause you’ve always been a bad boy).
These plain red cups are so offensive. Look at it. It’s just red. The colour of blood. It doesn’t matter that you have gift cards that say “Merry Christmas,” Christmas tree ornaments, Christmas CDs, a Christmas blend, and snowman cookies. How dare you say “Happy Holidays” to me? You must say “Merry Christmas.” I don’t care about other holidays. The Jews can get in line. Hanukkah can wait, because Christmas was here first.
There are just a few of us on the #MerryChristmasStarbucks bandwagon right now, so my hope is that this letter will go viral and all the Christians around the land will rally to the cause started by Joshua Feuerstein (praise be). Most of them right now are being good Christians, spreading their faith, and being nice contributing members of society. But it’d be better if they all just dropped what they’re doing and boycott a cup. Thankfully, a lot of people out there are extrapolating the beliefs of my small dissenting group of extreme fanatics to be representative of all Christians, which makes things easier for us.
Christians, if you’re reading this, the plan is to go to Starbucks, pay them money so you can get a drink that says Merry Christmas on it, and then post it on social media so that everyone can see it. We need everyone to be thinking of Starbucks and joining us in buying more drinks from this hellhole. Only then will they learn their lesson.
Alternatively, we can do what Donald Trump said, and boycott Starbucks. Then we can take all the money saved from not buying your drinks to build a wall to push back those dirty Mexicans.
Taking a page from Joshua, I’m also going to exercise the second amendment and bring my gun to Starbucks the next time I come. In fact, I’m heading to Wal-Mart right after this. Wait. We’re in Canada. Damn it. Screw this place and its polar bears.
This isn’t over you Satan worshipping bastards.
Praise God,
The Best Christians
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Rob Hardy / Silhouette Staff
Changes in the way societies function and interact with each other occur over time. There are points when we sometimes take notice and recognize the shifts taking place. We suddenly realize that a marker, such as the demise of MSN, says much about the new worlds we are entering and the old ones we leave behind.
Some of these changes are positive and may not always be seen as such, while others are for the worse. But unlike earlier times when we could more easily withdraw from or ignore the symbols and mediums of our cultural experiences, this is now more difficult to do. We find that culture is not something that is somewhere out there but actively following us.
One of these sociological trends is likely not very recognizable to generation Y or Z, even though they helped spur it on. However, they became very evident at this year’s recent Oscar ceremony. Apparently thinking that any degree of formality or seriousness is now an archaic throwback to out-dated values, an incredibly vulgar and tasteless host was chosen to invade our televisions.
Jennifer Lawrence was also the cool kid on the block weeks earlier, cheekily making fun of her fellow nominees on SNL, including the more serious Jessica Chastain.
Never mind that the incredible dearth of worthy performances this year actually helped to further boost the young Lawrence - nearly an acting newbie - to Hollywood’s highest honour. But perhaps it was fitting given the clear lack of gravity that permeated most of the proceedings.
That the purpose of the awards is to poignantly celebrate the touchstones of people’s careers takes a backseat to Twitter gossip. Because, after all, when everyone gets in on the act, it always needs to be a punch line, even if the “jokes” are neither funny nor in keeping with the occasion.
But media has always been quick to trade in for the cheap laugh and fast money. Witness the news channels of today, whose newscasters are now supposed to be witty and entertaining as opposed to the more respected voices of a bygone era.
When hard-hitting issues are shown on TV, they are turned into programs like Storage Wars, which shows bickering hucksters bidding on lockers appropriated by storage companies which served as the last refuge for broke Americans that lost all too much in the recent recession. Apparently though, this takes a backseat to the contrived battles as other people’s final possessions get sold for pennies on the dollar.
But it gets much worse in 1,000 Ways to Die, where people’s final moments get dramatized for a laugh, as their lives are reduced to comedic abstractions and their deaths played out so that people can shout “what a loser!” in their living room.
What all of this tells us, if we are brave enough to observe our behaviour, is that we live in a society that may be turning into a joke.
While fun and games are all good, we have to ask ourselves why we seem so ready on the trigger, and where our humanity has gone.
It seems to be the de facto cultural handshake of our time to presuppose beer commercial scenarios in our backyards. For further evidence, take a look at the first cast of Big Brother Canada currently airing on Slice, all chosen for their youth and craziness since the oldest contestant is only 38 - so much for a mixed group and differences based on deeper philosophical thought.
The problem with this sharp turn is that it has made it very difficult for us to know when we really need to buckle down. We may, for example, overstep and screw up a job interview because we assume everyone will be okay with what we thought was a good-natured retort.
Similarly, many a loose office culture has brought companies to ruin.
But even more so, we have lost some ability to be compassionate and empathize with the very real troubles that people face – the kind that can’t be lifted with a smile.
As a result, we may deem tears and sentiment to be sappy and cheesy because we have become too removed, too uncomfortable to stoically face life’s grimmer realities.
Though we use humour to successfully navigate life’s obstacles, there are times when we forget that it is just one tool out of many and its overuse can become quite ridiculous and not in the funny Zach Galifianakis kind-of-way.
