Review: Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider is an iconic video game franchise, as famous for providing gaming’s first powerful female lead as it is infamous for turning that same character into an oversexualized symbol of misogyny. After numerous lackluster outings, the franchise has laid somewhat dormant in recent years, making the new semi-reboot from Crystal Dynamics Studios all the more intriguing.

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Letter to the Editor: words from BUSU President

Hi, everyone. As some of you may know, BUSU held their regular elections for the 2013-2014 academic year last week, on March 18th and 19th.  I ran for re-election, but ended up losing by 30 votes to Stephanie Bachewich.  I had told those close to me throughout the campaign that if I were to lose, I would feel as though the work I did this past year was not appreciated by students.

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Letter to the editor: concerns for the future of BU

Dear Editor: First of all, please allow me to introduce myself briefly. I graduated from Brandon College with a B.A. in 1957. During the early 1960s, I taught in the Brandon School Division. From 1965 to 1969 I served as the Principal of Neelin High School in Brandon. I also taught history courses at Brandon College during the early 1960s.

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The Wal-Mart Supercentre: Yea or nay?

Brandon’s Wal-Mart located in the Corral Centre on 18th Street was recently upgraded to a Supercentre, benefiting students living nearby who are in need of, well, virtually anything. Known for providing shoppers with affordable prices, “Wally World” finally caters to all your possible shopping needs—from that hamster wheel your beloved (and now obese) rodent Fluffy has been missing or a fabulously cherry car freshener to a $10 classic like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to fill your Friday night.

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Review: The Double Decker Tavern

File photo. The Double Decker Tavern on Rosser Avenue. (Holly Kalyniuk / The Quill)

After a hectic, jam-packed week of performing the typical duties of a student (working a part-time job when you should be studying, studying instead of sleeping, house-cleaning in hopes of conquering a never-ending mess, and engaging in extra-curricular activities that have begun to lose their appeal), sometimes restoring balance means a relaxed weekend outing in the company of friends. If that’s the case, regardless of whether you prefer beer, or no alcohol at all, The Double Decker Tavern on Rosser Avenue offers an excellent atmosphere for your much-needed recuperation.

Established in 1994, The Decker features a daily special and a classic menu spiked with specialities like the shrimp basket, zucchini sticks, the Big Ben Burger (on the kids’ menu), bangers and mash, and “Sinfully Scotland” (deep fried Mars bars). For less curious visitors with hunger pains, there are several more standard options available, like a taco wrap, a ham and cheese sandwich, onion rings, and a plentiful nacho platter. With over ten different flavors of chicken wings, every wing-lover will be more than satisfied.  There are even vegetarian options available. Finally, complete your meal with any of the 14 beers readily available on tap, including their own brew, the Double Decker Lager. Another incentive is The Decker’s student deal, whereby students receive 10% off their entire bill on Thursday and Friday upon producing a valid student ID.

The staff is consistently courteous and professional, serving customers in a timely manner and handling less-than-properly-functioning patrons with something comparable to grace. The comfortable atmosphere is made all the more so by the tasteful music playing throughout the pub, which strays far enough from popular radio hits to keep guests pleasantly at-ease. The pool tables and dart board encourage friendly (and inebriated) competition that can invoke booing in epic proportions across the entire upper level.

Rivalry between The Dock on Princess and the Double Decker begs the question of which pub packs the greater punch. While similar in atmosphere, the more constricted layout of the Decker creates a warmer feel, as opposed to The Dock’s large, open billiards area. However, The Dock offers the “Long Nights on The Dock”, a specialty brew which amalgamates alcoholic beverages which theoretically shouldn’t taste as delicious together as they do, and which could easily challenge the Decker’s house lager. Customer service is equally as pleasant in both establishments, and their menus are similar in their differences. In the end, which is the ‘best’ boils down to personal preference, which is usually arbitrarily decided by factors beyond the control of food, faculty or management.

Contrary to rumors mentioned in an earlier review, The Decker will continue to feature live music on Friday and Saturday nights. In the past, everything from jazz to rock has hit the stage, as well as various cover bands like Midlife Crisis and 2012 Brandon Summer Fair Battle of the Bands finalist Out F’ Sync, with some of the upcoming performances featuring local talents Sebastian Owl, Young Pixels, and Young Folk.

For a full calendar of events, visit the Decker’s official website.

Republished from The Quill print edition, Volume 103, Issue 23, March 5, 2013.

‘Safer Ground?’: thought-provoking, touching, terrific

On February 28th, James Forsythe’s powerful production Safer Ground? premiered at the Evans Theatre. Containing both harrowing and heartwarming verbatim accounts from Afghan refugees and Canadian soldiers, it chronicled radically diverse events in the lives of the two groups and was “in many ways a quintessential Canadian play,” according to Forsythe.

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Eating healthfully without breaking your wallet

For those of you not under the comfortable culinary wing of a cafeteria or your parents, cooking can be a time-consuming, demanding task for the average university student – and a deceptively superfluous one, as well. You might be surprised how efficient and economical healthy cooking can become (it is also a valid break from schoolwork!).  If you’re noticing that your wallet’s getting thinner while you balloon, it’s time to try something new.

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Valentine’s: you, too, can be sugary-sweet

Is your pulse racing? Is your vision blurred? Have you lost all desire to see anything but that one special person? Well, you should definitely go see someone. And review those restraining orders, boys and girls!In related news, it’s Valentine’s Day. If you haven’t noticed, this is perhaps the holiday that can cause a lot of controversy – even more than the rest! Do you love it because you’re finally with someone?

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What you can do on Valentine’s Day

Hello, everyone! It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I’m not talking about Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah, or even Halloween: I’m talking about Valentine’s Day – the most amazing, wonderful, magical, stupendous, fabulous, colourful, romantic day of the year. The day of flowers, candy, chocolate, candles, surprises, and pink! There is just so much that this wonderful holiday can offer you!

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7 Ages Productions presents ‘Paper Wheat’ and ‘Rinse the Blood Off My Toga’

Without taking a breath after The Producers, 7 Ages Productions (in conjunction with the Daly House Museum) is at it again. On Saturday, February 9th, Paper Wheat and Rinse the Blood Off My Toga will hit the stage at the Lorne Watson Recital Hall in the BU School of Music building at 8:00 pm.

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Hockey is back – not everyone is smiling

Not long ago, the word “hockey” managed to either curdle blood, or trigger blank looks of incomprehension. Now it’s back, and once again becoming every other word the common Canadian mutters, and the only blood it seems to curdle is mine. If you’ve not heard, the stick-prodding, skull-cracking, figure-skating dudes who play our second national sport have finally worked out a better contract with the people who own their teams.

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