Fashion blogging

Keeping an eye on the world’s style

Inspiration can come from many sources, and as the world becomes more and more connected and we have access to more information than we’ll ever need, these sources are increasing. No longer is the modern fashionista limited to the people around her for outfit ideas when street-style from Milan is just a click away. Fashion blogs are about so much more than looking at pretty pictures and catching up on the industry. Fashion bloggers take readers to places all over the world, and capture what inspires them personally so it...

o. don’t b. silly

Don’t sell me tampons by telling me I’m gross

Pop quiz time: pick three words to describe vaginas. For o.b. tampon co., the obvious choices are “Icky, Ugh and Eww.” Unfortunately if those were your choices, then like them, you are currently failing Sexuality 101. The o.b. tampon company has recently come out with a series of ads that treats inserting a tampon like brain surgery, and the female body as dirty. On the company website are displayed market research quotes including “I remember hating applicator tampons that can hurt if you’re not careful.” Now correct me if I...

Man in Box

Risk taker or money maker?

One man. One box. Thirty days. Thirty thousand pounds. How would you be able to cope, being completely isolated for thirty days and nights? How would you handle being alone, in a tiny steel box in which you can’t stand up, or even sit comfortably? Just ask Tim Shaw. In the past, he has starred in commercials and hosted reality shows in the United Kingdom, but now, he is the “Man in Box.” Tim has voluntarily been put in a sheet steel box that measures no more than three and...

Who does food aid aid?

Food dumping hurts local agriculture

As we pat ourselves on the back for the impressive $25,000 we as a school helped raise to send to Haiti, we should be careful to check up on where it goes. Notably, if this money is to be spent on long-term food aid, we could be doing more harm than good. Food aid is considered to be essential in the recovery effort during any disaster, such as a famine or Haiti’s earthquake. After all, what else do hungry people want? They need food, they need water, and they need...

Beer is good for you, but that’s not the point

Scientists have recently concluded, using science, that beer may help increase bone density in adults. Researchers at the University of California, Davis (which is also where one of the very few brewing schools in North America is located) will be publishing their findings in the February issue of The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture and should leave beer drinkers totally unaffected. The study was conducted to extend the findings of previous studies which found that beer was a rich source of dietary silicon, which is a key...

ChatRoulette is a dangerous game

Internet phenomenon populated largely by penises

The internet certainly is a curious place. It also happens to be a pant-load of fun, and we have to thank it for being the receptacle into which we have all poured countless hours that could have been better spent on a thesis. As such, it is the responsibility of the Xav to inform its readers of the newest way to kill your day. It’s called ChatRoulette, and can be found at www.chatroulette.com. Internet lore suggests that it was invented by a 17 year old Russian kid, and fearing disappointment,...

Antigonish’s Third Eye Film Series hosts An Education

Sixteen year old Jenny Muller (played by an almost unrecognizable Carey Mulligan) leads a predictably grey life in the suburbs of London–that is, until she meets David (Peter Saarsgard). David, the archetypical charm-your-pants-off older man, introduces color to Jenny’s existence, opening her eyes to art auctions, concerts, Paris and, of course, her own sexuality. Jenny’s experiences with David and his friends open her eyes to the concepts of ‘taste’ and ‘cultural capital,’ as well as (eventually) the apparent necessity of economic capital–an idea which, it turns out, her father will...

Priscilla a success

X-Pride fundraises $1900

Last Friday evening, X-Pride hosted Priscilla, Queen of the Highlands, a drag show featuring our very own Dr Chris Frazer, otherwise known as C. Leah Cruise. In addition to Cruise, the show featured performances by a collective of local drag queens, dressed to the nines and enthusiastically interacting with the audience. The show kicked off with the introduction of the current Empress of the Imperial Sovereign Court of Atlantic Canada (ISCANS), C. Leah Cruise, and the Emperor, Nate N! Bent, of Halifax. The MC, Boom Boom, spent the evening flirting...

Performing Arts Series hosts ThoughtControl

There’s nothing better than a good magic show. Audience volunteers get sawed in half and then miraculously put back together, doves appear out of thin air, and the host of the show demonstrates powers that appear to have been channeled from the underworld. What’s even better is a magic show that does not describe itself as “magic” at all. On February 14, the Antigonish Performing Arts Series hosted Thomas Baxter’s ThoughtControl at the Immaculata auditorium. ThoughtControl isn’t your typical “magic” show experience. Instead, it is probably the most persuasive argument...

Play review: The Grapes of Wrath

Local actors give strong performances in depression-era classic

“We are the grapes of wrath, we never take a bath, it’s our style to seldom smile and never laugh.” The VeggieTales’ song was this reporter’s first and only real experience with The Grapes of Wrath before last Thursday night. Don’t fret if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet; the play will run from the 18th to the 21st as well at the Bauer Theatre and tickets are $7 for students, $10 for seniors and $12 for anyone who doesn’t fit either of those descriptions. For anyone...

Keeping your stripes in line

How to make your clothes behave

Self-actualization, when it comes to dressing yourself, is knowing exactly what looks good on you and what doesn’t. However, even if you are able to achieve this and step out of your house every day looking like Audrey Hepburn, no one is perfect. Shit happens, as they say, and you must be prepared for your outfit to develop a few flaws. Here is how to deal with these flaws and always look put-together. Co-dependency issues So you throw on your favourite silk dress, and much like your last annoying boyfriend,...

Kim Wempe stops in on her way to the ECMAs

Former StFX music student nominated for two awards

A former StFX student is making a big impact on the East Coast music scene. Wempe, a former vocal jazz student now based in Halifax, was recently featured on a Canadian Showcase network drama; is headed to Vancouver to play at the Olympic Games’ Atlantic House Stage; and is up for Female Solo Recording of the Year as well as the Rising Star Recording of the Year honours at the East Coast Music Awards. “I hope I win the Rising Star award,” laughs Wempe. “[The other nominees for Female Solo...

Modern day manners

Cell phone junkies look rude, not important

We’ve all experienced it: sitting with a friend over lunch, who is conducting two conversations on top of the face-to-face one in which we are currently engaged, through the magic of text messaging. Texting allows us to have silent, instant conversations with people all over the world, and it is changing the way we communicate. The changes may not all be for the better, however, as courtesy and manners go out the window in favour of convenience. Cell phones and laptops permeate our culture. It’s hard to go into any...

StFX musicians host jazz nights at the Inn

When the topic of what to do on a Thursday night in Antigonish comes up, listening to jazz may not be the first activity that comes to mind. However, StFX music students plan to abolish this attitude by hosting a night devoted exclusively to jazz music every second Thursday at the Golden X Inn, with the next set of performances slated for this Thursday, February 18. The upcoming jazz night will feature the Triage Quartet, a student ensemble led by Mike Morriseau, a fourth year music student who specializes in...

Less spin more skin

Male strippers need to cut the theatrics

I was recently afforded the opportunity to take a trip to Halifax to attend the “Everything to do with Sex Show” at the Cunard Center. Besides the abundance of middle-aged couples who would consistently push in front of us as we watched demonstrations, (which was more a charming affirming to the longevity of our sex lives than anything,) the most thought provoking part was the male strippers we saw. The show started with a booming voice announcing to the convention that all the “ladies” should move towards the main stage...