Tag: The Concordian

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Sports

The UFC has produced another classic, this time down under

Graphic by Amelia Hart / @ameliaohart

UFC 284 had everything for the casual or hardcore MMA fan: highlight reel knockouts, crafty submissions, and a crowd primed for violence

Islam Makhachev prevails and takes over as the #1 P4P fighter in the world

To the dismay of the Australian fans in attendance, UFC 284 did not disappoint as defending lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (24-1) put an end to Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski’s 22-fight win streak in controversial fashion. Notching the win by unanimous decision, Mahkachev defended his lightweight belt in enemy territory.

Many thought Makhachev’s superior wrestling would wear Volkanovski (25-2) down, but that wasn’t the case, as the latter’s ability to scramble and avoid compromising positions made for a very compelling fight.

As early as the first round, Volkanovski’s takedown defence was tested, but he passed with flying colours. He was also able to impressively defend his neck with the much bigger Makhachev on his back. With time, the fight slowly became a high-level kickboxing match with both fighters scoring knockdowns. Makhachev was able to show off his underrated striking, whereas Volkanovski displayed his elite takedown defence. 

The fight ended with Volkanovski on top, wreaking havoc on Makhachev’s face after he dropped him for the second time. Despite this, the judges gave Makhachev the victory. The scorecards read 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46, leading to a debate on whether or not the right call was made.

I can see a world where Makhachev won, but a 49-46 card is ridiculous. Either way, both the first and second-ranked P4P fighters in the world put on an absolute masterclass, easily surpassing Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill for fight of the year.

I don’t think Volkanovski’s stock dropped, and would even argue that he still deserves to be the number one P4P fighter in the world.

Hear me out. He went up the UFC’s hardest weight class, stood his ground, and put Makhachev in positions he’s never been in before. A lot of people doubted him, but I have a feeling that’s over. I’m not a huge fan of immediate rematches (especially with Yair Rodríguez looming in the wind), but I’d love to see them run it back this summer.

Yair Rodríguez becomes Mexico’s second UFC champion

As underrated as this fight was, the interim featherweight title fight didn’t disappoint. Rodríguez (16-3) and Josh Emmett (18-3) put on a show, resulting in Rodríguez submitting Emmett at 4:19 of the second round via triangle choke. Rodríguez became Mexico’s second-ever UFC champion and set up a highly anticipated fight against Volkanovski.

Rodríguez’s dynamic taekwondo and the sheer power Emmett brought to the octagon led to a modern-day gladiator fight. It was a kill-or-be-killed situation, leading to multi-knockdowns for both challengers. Rodríguez used his kicks like a boxer uses jabs, stabbing away at Emmett before finally submitting him in the second round.

Given that the featherweight division now has an interim champion, when do we get to see Rodríguez vs. Volkanovski for the title unification fight? If I had to guess, I’d say in June or July, at UFC 289 or 290. My way-too-early pick is Volkanovski via decision. I honestly can’t see anyone beating him at featherweight after his performance at UFC 284.

In the midst of a future champion?

Jack Della Maddalena improved to 14-2 with a flawless performance against veteran Randy Brown (16-5) in the welterweight fight. He knocked him down with ease, mounted him, and choked him out two minutes and 13 seconds into the first round, ending the debate on whether or not he’s ready for a step-up in competition.

Della Maddalena’s now riding a 14-fight win streak, making it hard to argue against him fighting a ranked opponent next. His excellent boxing, quick footwork, underrated grappling, and fantastic head movements make him a very tough opponent for anybody in the top 15.

Are we witnessing a future champion? I’m not sure just yet, but the 26-year-old definitely has a lot of potential.

Australia Shines

All in all, Perth was an excellent place to hold a UFC event. Australia-natives like Della Maddalena, Joshua Culibao, and Justin Tafa were greeted with open arms and had amazing showings. The crowd was ferocious and even though the beloved Volkanovski didn’t win, the fans were still graceful in defeat.

Categories
Arts

Love in the Modern age

Concordia student-run magazine launches love-themed poetry reading at Le Frigo Vert

On Feb. 9, the Concordia student-run pixie Literary Magazine and Soliloquies Anthology united to launch a poetry reading event on the topic of love, with the goal of expressing the understanding of love and its different forms.

Julia Bifulco, the founder and editor-in-chief of pixie indicated that her motive for doing the topic on love is the search for the meaning of the word love.

Bifulco was inspired by Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s poem “Variations on the Word Love.” She realized that people use the word love more than we used to. “But really, love is supposed to be the utmost passion that you can feel for something,” she said.

Modern love tends to evolve much more rapidly than it used to. With the flood of dating apps, love seems to be everywhere.

Bifulco recalled a conversation about dating apps that she had with her friend. “She told me that she doesn’t like dating apps because of the lack of power to converse, and it really makes me think about connections.”

The idea of trending on dating apps ties to some contemporary poetry. “Like trendy and instagram poetry,” Bifulco said. “Some of them are very desired, quick and easily digestible.” 

With the great belief that contemporary poetry seeks to create a new poetic movement, Bifulco uses the word “Groundbreaking” to describe the young creative writers. “I hope people that are writing now are writing new fresh things,” she said. “The writing era we are living in is something that’s looked back on is iconic in the way the romantic period is.”

Jade Palmer, co-editor-in-chief of Soliloquies Anthology, referenced a poem the magazine published last year as an example of contemporary love. “The poem used a lot of chat-speak, things like ‘lol’ that you would not normally hear in a poem — that’s so based in our time. It’s such an interesting way to express love rather than saying someone looks like a flower.”

Ribs Beauchamp was one of the presenters at Thursday evening’s event. She is a third-year Concordia student majoring in film studies. “The media makes more types of love accessible, and it makes it easier to share and witness and recognize and talk about,” she said.

The theme of the poem she shared was her mother. “Female love is much different than male love, and that’s one of the biggest reasons my poem is about my mom,” Beauchamp said. “It is because she shares her love and she is not afraid to do it, women are raised as caretakers — it’s a lot easier for us to share love.”

Categories
Features

Author and CNN journalist Marissa Miller sees a glass half-full

Marissa Miller poses with her new book pretty weird photo provided by Marissa Miller

Her book Pretty Weird highlights all of her experiences

An eating disorder, a miscarriage, and mental health issues: Marissa Miller has persevered through all these, and more. Now she has collected all her negative experiences and used them to create something positive.

In her book  Pretty Weird, Marissa highlights all of her painful memories to let her readers know that they are never alone.

Marissa studied journalism at Concordia from 2010 to 2013. Since then, she has grown a large platform and hopes to use it to act as a beacon of hope for others who are going through tough times.

“I’ve always been very much an open book in the literal sense, and I use that to my advantage to make others feel less alone in their struggles,” Marissa said.

Knowing that she is helping people allows her to get past the difficulty of publicizing her experiences. “It becomes less ‘things that have humiliated me in the past,’ and more so ‘things that I can use to be a beacon for other people,” she explained.

One such experience was her struggle with impostor syndrome. But transforming her negative feelings into sentences helped her overcome them, while also comforting her readers. “It really robs the pain of its power,” she said. “It’s almost like using my mental health issues as a way to masquerade the fact that you can be broken and imperfect and also of service to others.”

She started her career as a freelance journalist, working for big outlets such as CNN Style, The New York Times, and NBC News. Now, she works full-time at CNN as a contributing editor writing mostly product recommendations and lifestyle advice. She is also a certified personal trainer and outlines all her work on her blog.

Sheldon Miller, Marissa’s father, admits that her determination and affinity for writing not only gave her confidence, but allowed her to always excel in her work. “I don’t know if she is always the most aggressive-type person…but when it comes to her career, she’s on top of everything.” 

Many people have reached out to Marissa since her book’s publication to tell her that she took the thoughts right out of their heads. “These are universal feelings that I’m putting on the page,” Marissa confirmed. She is very direct in discussing her rejections, fears, anxieties, and relationships in her book. “They might seem very crude and maybe a little bit too raw at times, but this is the human experience that we are all going through,” she asserted.

One of the biggest lessons that Marissa has learned from everything she’s gone through is that there is always something better out there. “That rings true for everything, not just your relationships,” Marissa explained.

“A lot of our depression and our anxiety will tell us that we are only deserving of what’s presented to us and what’s in front of us. But really one of the best things you can do for yourself is aspiring for more and aspiring for better because you deserve it,” she said.

On top of helping others, Marissa was also thinking of her younger self when writing her book, attempting to give herself the “older sister figure, best friend figure” that she never had as a child and teenager. Though her younger sister, Michelle, is one of the only people who knew about Marissa’s experiences.

“I’d say 90 per cent of it I knew about, either as it was happening or she would open up to me a few years later,” Michelle said. Marissa consulted her sister throughout the writing process to ask for her opinion on editorial choices. Michelle was the only person who knew about several moments mentioned in the book as the two sisters have always been extremely close. “We were so tight and open about everything,” Michelle added. “We’ll be on the phone [for] hours a day. Sometimes we’re not even talking on the phone. It’s just on, but we know that [the other person] is there,” Michelle continued.

Marissa’s parents were always very loving and attentive towards her, she mentions in Pretty Weird, but they were not as informed on her experiences as Michelle. “A lot of the stuff in the book, I didn’t really realize,” Sheldon said. “We knew as she got a bit older, there were some struggles and this and that…but until I read the book, I don’t think I realized it [to that extent],” he continued, adding that it was difficult to read about Marissa’s troubling moments. 

More than anything else, he wants Marissa to write the truth, which is what she did. This included some unfortunate stories about Sheldon’s sister, who was close with Marissa and passed away due to health issues related to long-term drug use. But Sheldon wanted Marissa to keep those stories in her book. “I knew she was writing an honest account of her experiences and thoughts,” he explained. “If Marissa was able to grab onto something in a good way or a bad way…for someone to maybe enjoy the book or learn from the book, that’s part of journalism,” he said.

While Marissa always has her family at home, she often chooses to work alone. She enjoys working on her own more than working with a team. “It makes me doubly proud to reflect on my accomplishments because I didn’t have to rely on anyone for them,” she affirmed. Marissa always took charge of group projects when she was in school, so being the only one in charge of her career “is a continuation of that.”

Much of her work as a journalist focuses on lifestyle advice and mental health. She says that she enjoys doing service journalism the most. “One of the only things that give me a sense of purpose is giving advice to other people,” Marissa explained.

In her career she has covered a wide variety of topics, such as finance and real estate when she was starting. As time went on, she gravitated toward lifestyle topics and product recommendations. “People need to know that the products they use in everyday life have more of an impact on their well-being than they think,” she asserted. Marissa is currently doing service journalism for CNN and loving every moment of it.


Pretty Weird, which is still available on Amazon, has been a huge success for Marissa. She hopes to write another book in the future. She is looking towards that, but doesn’t think that now is the right time. “I feel like I have so much I want to say. I need some breathing room,” she asserted. For now, she is very happy where she is. “I do hope to rise the ranks at CNN and stay there forever.”

Categories
Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS – ATUM Act II by The Smashing Pumpkins

The ’90s post-grunge band releases the second act of their Opera Rock concept trilogy

The rock opera album ATUM (more like synth-wave opera) returns for Act II of III, after almost three months of anticipation since the first act. The story of said Opera Act is of an “epic interplanetary story set in the not-too-distant future,” according to Tinnitist. 

The first track is “Avalanche,” and let me just say, it could not be a sweeter start to the second act. Billy Corgan’s daughter steps into the limelight for the first 30 seconds, chanting the mantra “We hope someday we’ll find out what happiness means.” This was done by Corgan to ensure that his daughter didn’t get jealous. Why you may ask? Well, her brother (Corgan’s son) got a chance to sing on a previous album CYR, so naturally, Corgan had to include her. 

After a reiteration of the quote with a vocoder, a ’90s midwestern post-grunge riff leads the song into a wall of symphonic rock. You gotta give it to guitarists Jeff Schroeder and James Iha to give a feeling of carefreeness that really captures the story that Corgan wanted to convey.    

The album takes an edgy turn with “Moss.” Guitarist Iha employs a sinister chord progression. There is a backup singer by the name of Katie Cole who literally sings the word “meow” in the song. The main lyrics start, “You didn’t see what you saw, you didn’t hear what you heard,” which sounds like Corgan is showcasing how social media distracts you from big conflicts and bad things going on in the world with cat videos. 

“Night Waves” was one of the tracks that’s heavily pop-ified. Starting off with synth arpeggio — which wouldn’t seem out of place in a Wreck-it Ralph movie — the verses combine  Jimmy Chamberlain’s drums that have been bit-crunched to sound as though they were part of a similar retro 16-bit video game.   

The most notable songs on the album for me have to be “Empires,” “Moss,” and “Beguiled.” My favourite is “Beguiled” because it has the perfect blend of Siamese Dream / Melon Collie Smashing Pumpkins and synthp — sorry, rock opera Smashing Pumpkins. Sorry, Billy, you can’t fool some of us. The heavy buzz-saw guitar chugs with dark pad synths? Classic you!

Although it fell just short of what it could have become, as the peak of the trilogy (since it is the second act), the album just shows that they were able to adapt. The band was able to try something new and they were not afraid to put it out. For this, I thank The Smashing Pumpkins for not fading away from the limelight due to stubbornness. 

Trial Track: “Beguiled.”

Rating: 7/10

Categories
Music

 Rick Astley sues Yung Gravy

 Did Yung Gravy just rickroll himself into a lawsuit?

What is Yung Gravy up to this time? Is he dating a pornstar? Is he taking Addison Rae’s mother to the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards? Nope. Rick Astley is suing him. You heard me right, the ’80s singer is suing Gravy for his song “Betty (Get Money).”

Astley filed the lawsuit on Jan. 26. Yung Gravy  — who’s known formally as Matthew Raymond Hauri — and his team had procured the rights to record similar parts of the melody and lyrics for the core part of the song’s backing track. In music, this is known as “interpolation.”

After all, it’s not uncommon for rappers and hip-hop artists to sample other musicians’ work, right? Unfortunately for Gravy’s case, it happens to be more complicated than that. In “Betty (Get Money),” you can hear singer Nick Seeley (Popnick) impersonating Astley, singing “Get Money” in the chorus. That was the final straw that led to the lawsuit.
According to SkyNews, Astley says he wants “the profits of the song.” He also wants the  “millions of dollars in damages.” Apparently, Yung Gravy had gone overboard. He toed the line, stole Astley’s voice, and had Popnick impersonate him, instead of just using the melodic track. It’s too soon to know the fate of the Rochester, MN native rapper. What do you think — did he do it for the rickroll clout?

Graphic by Carleen Loney @shloneys

Categories
Arts

Street photography in Montreal

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

Wandering around the city to discover January in Montreal

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

A man smokes a cigar outside of Buanderie Albert, a laundromat service shop on Saint-Catherine St W., as he enjoys the sun and occasionally feeds some pigeons.

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

Geometry and symmetry at Angrignon metro station, located at the end of the green line in southwest Montreal. Its wide windows and red frames give it an enchanting atmosphere that makes you wander around it and utterly forget the purpose of your destination.

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

Between the Lionel-Groulx metro station and the Atwater Market, there is an alley that is always lit by a ceiling light. On the morning of Jan. 25, a young worker carries soft drinks in an unknown shop. 

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

A weighted cart clustered by items sits outside Tim Hortons on Notre Dame St. W. on the morning of Jan. 25.

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

Caroline Hout writes her name on my agenda as she tells me about her portaiture being shown at Berri-UQAM metro station by Parc Emily. Caroline wears bright clothes and makeup to brighten up the day for the people who notice her. She is known as “Caroline Unicorn” because of her unicorn headband. 

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

Musicians Tyne Caine and Charles Viguerie improvise a guitar-violin duet in the metro station at Place des Arts. Both came to Montreal for the music scene and the possibility to grow as musicians. Tyne is from Vancouver and Charles is from the USA.

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

A man follows the lights through a tunnel to Peel metro station.

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

An STM worker plays the ukulele at Verdun metro station, hiding from the sight of people passing by.

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

A peek inside Le Petit Dep on Saint-Paul St. W, Montreal.

Photo by Marta Malvina MOSTARDINI

A snowboarder slides down a stair railing in Parc la Fontaine the day after the opening of the Dillon Ojo track park in Montreal. He and his friends drove from Ontario for the opening of the second season of the Dillon Ojo Snowpark and spent the weekend snowboarding around the city.

Categories
Concert Reviews Interview Music

Erin Marcellina and Hank’s Dream at Quai des Brumes

Erin Marcellina playing at Quai Des Brumes. Alexandra Blackie/The Concordian

The musician debuts their newest EP “Book of Open Tuning” in concert 

Erin Marcellina and the band Hank’s Dream came together last Friday, Jan. 27, to create an unforgettable experience for their fans at the bar Quai des Brumes located in the Plateau Mont-Royal.

Unlike most performers who stay backstage before their shows, Erin and the band were at the front of house. They were greeting guests and introducing themselves to their dedicated fans, who consisted primarily of supportive family and friends. If they were nervous, there was no indication of it. The group couldn’t have looked more in their element.

“I was super nervous before the show. Everything was racing. But the moment I started performing, it was so much easier,” said Marcellina.

Marcellina kicked off their performance with the important piece “I Should’ve Told Him” on their newest EP. Inspired by one of their close friend’s suppressed memories of being sexually assaulted, the acoustic guitar paired with Marcellina’s soft vocals made for a tear-jerking performance and the perfect way to start the show.

This was followed by a noteworthy rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s hit “I’m On Fire,” which created a feeling of nostalgia for the older demographic and revisited personal memories for Marcellina’s father since they listened to this song religiously during a family trip in Ireland.

“I’ve been playing this cover my whole life.  It’s a childhood song and very nostalgic to me. It was easy for me to place it in the set because I know I’m going to play it well,” Marcellina said.

They broke up their performance by entertaining fans with the song “Mommy” that has yet to be released. They expressed to the audience how the song stemmed from them being recently rejected.

Marcellina also sang a spectacular cover of “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall, which animated the crowd as they began to dance in groups on the compact dance floor.

“I chose this one because I had recently watched The Devil Wears Prada and this song was on the soundtrack,” said Marcellina.

Marcellina concluded their set by playing “Your Drug,” the last song on their latest EP, along with a special feature by Hank’s Dream who played accompanying instruments. The combination of Marcellina and the band created a unique take on one of their most popular pieces and demonstrated an undeniable connection between the band and themself.

“Hank’s Dream is made up of such talented musicians and they’re such nice guys,” Marcellina said. They added that this was their first experience performing one of their songs with a full band. “It felt like everything fit really well,” they said. 

As soon as Hank’s Dream walked on stage, the crowd gravitated towards the front rows to watch them perform some songs from their self-titled debut.

They delighted their fans with an exceptional performance of Miley Cyrus’ hit “Party in the U.S.A” which caused the audience to break out into song, almost making it hard to hear the band at all.

This was Marcellina’s third concert and second time at Quai des Brumes. By the end of this show, they had definitely left their mark that evening. 

With the hope of performing once again with Hank’s Dream and a single on its way, Marcellina is truly making a name for themself.

Photo by Alexandra Blackie

Categories
Sports

The age-old issue of pay discrepancies in MMA

Graphic by Lewis Badun @toadmule

When you fight the best you’d expect to be paid the best, right?

Pay discrepancies for fighters in different MMA organizations are now larger than ever. UFC fighters want better pay and insurance.

The UFC is valued at $9-10 billion, whereas Bellator (seen by many as being the second-best MMA organization) is valued at roughly $17 million.

Given those numbers, you’d expect UFC fighters to be paid much higher, but that’s not the case.

Bellator’s fighter pay percentage was estimated at 44.7 per cent of their total revenue between 2010-16, whereas the UFC pays their fighters an average of 16-20 per cent. 

UFC prelim fighters in the lowest contract tier can make anywhere between $10,000 to $30,000 per fight, whereas ranked contenders can make up to $100,000. Champions qualify for a pay upgrade and can earn between $500,000 and $3 million.

On the other hand, Bellator’s top fighters make between $100,000 and $300,000 but given the size of the promotion, it makes sense. They also get the chance to compete in a divisional “Grand Prix” which can net the winner an additional $1 million payout. When a fighter leaves the UFC to go to Bellator (or another promotion), they get a substantial raise as these smaller promotions need elite talent to draw viewers.

Therefore, many high-profile free agents are now choosing to sign with promotions like Bellator and PFL due to the higher compensation. UFC vet turned Bellator fighter Corey Anderson mentioned on Twitter that “In 2 fights 6 months with Bellator, I’ve made double of what I did in 15 fights (11 wins 2 bonuses) 7 years with UFC.”

Pay discrepancy is becoming more of an issue for the UFC as more fighters are beginning to hold out for better pay.

We originally saw it with former champions like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Henry Cejudo, and now more recently, heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. The issue lies with the fact that UFC fighters are not unionized and are essentially independent contractors. This puts the fighters at a severe disadvantage when it comes to negotiating. Along with having little to no leverage, they’re just one wrong kick or punch away from a career-ending injury.

UFC president Dana White has always been very opinionated when it comes to fighter pay. He mentioned in an interview with GQ that it “will never change” while he’s in charge, effectively enraging a lot of people.

The UFC’s upper-echelon fighters do very well for themselves as they are compensated with pay-per-view points and lucrative brand deals, but it’s more difficult for prospects and veterans to have any financial stability.

“I think any professional would like to get paid more but it’s a running business,” said 13-year UFC veteran John Makdessi. “It’s very hard because of the unpredictability when you get hit. Fighting is not like any other sports that have security, like hockey players or football players. As a fighter, you don’t have any insurance or any pension.”

Although many fighters want to be paid more, they are still glad to be able to fight in MMA’s premier promotion.

“The UFC might not pay the most but they’re the most established and recognizable MMA company,” Makdessi said. “It’s a privilege for me to be associated with the UFC since 2010.”

Even with the traction gained through various MMA outlets like Bleacher Report, MMA Junkie, and Bloody Elbow, it seems unlikely that fighter pay will be on the rise in the UFC. Younger promotions such as the PFL, Bellator, ONE, and KSW are more likely to recruit fighters.

One thing is for sure though, you need to have an acute mind for business and seize opportunities whenever you can when it comes to MMA.

“We have to be responsible with our earnings and how we spend our money because you can’t fight forever,” said Makdessi. “Everyone knows that we live in a high-paced world, you need to have multiple sources of income.”

Categories
Community Student Life

Gen Z, what’s happening to our desktops?!

James Fay/THE CONCORDIAN @jamesfaydraws

Recent study shows nearly half of Gen Z gave up on filing their digital documents

I was stunned when Philippe Gingras, creative writing and scriptwriting student at Université de Montréal, opened his laptop in front of me. With a B&W Charlie Chaplin movie wallpaper and images like old-school typewriters to replace those boring file icons, the 25-year-old’s desktop looks like a cool vintage poster.

“I see so many people in class whose desktops are really messy, and it kind of disturbs me,” he said, adding that his own desktop reflects his passions and motivates him.

However, messy desktops are pretty common among Gen Z — those currently aged between 11 and 26. According to file encryption company Nordlocker, almost half of Gen Z respondents leave all their documents on their desktop without a home.

Concordia journalism student Alexa Toguri-Laurin said her old laptop was very messy. She recently got a new laptop and worked hard to organize it better than the last one. “It doesn’t look too messy on my screen, so it doesn’t cause me too much anxiety every time I open my computer.”

The study shows 45 per cent of Gen Z respondents simply use their search bar, or the lovely CTRL+F (or CMD+F for Apple users) to find files rather than look for them. 

While Toguri-Laurin agrees the search option on her computer comes in handy, it’s useless without a consistent labeling system for your files. For her, naming files strategically is much simpler and less chaotic. “There’s so much sensory overload with how messy my desktop was,” she said. “It was so overwhelming for me to scan through my entire desktop and fish out one particular document.”

Tips and tricks from fellow university students

The human brain requires order to focus better. According to a Harvard Business Review article,  messy spaces are mentally exhausting and affect your ability to concentrate. Sarah-Maude Dussault, school and adaptation student from Université de Sherbrooke, uses an iPad but organizes her files thoroughly in Notability. “I have attention deficit disorder (ADD), so if I don’t save it, it never existed in my head,” she laughed. 

So, how do we organize our desktops?

Language and linguistics student at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and journalist Rosie St-André shared some handy tips. She explained that she learned how to organize her computer by watching YouTube and TikTok videos. She said that watching creators like Julia K. Crist, her favourite on YouTube, organize their digital space motivated her to do the same. “It also helps you identify what kind of style you like,” she said.

After watching a few videos, St-André decided to make her own wallpaper on Canva, where she could design and colour-code her background as she pleased. She split it into three sections: school, work, and finances. She also added a motivational quote and some pretty pictures for the aesthetics.

Organization as motivation

“I feel like people get discouraged when it comes to studying because it’s so complicated to get set up for it,” said Gingras. “It isn’t hard to study, it’s just hard to sit down and do it.”

For him, having an organized desktop means sitting down and avoiding a 15-minute search for his documents. We know it – motivation comes in temporary bursts. We need to seize it while it’s there. “I love knowing that I won’t have to search for my documents every time I sit down to get some work done,” said St-André.

Although Toguri-Laurin admits her desktop isn’t your typical aesthetically pleasing desktop from Pinterest, she’s happy with her progress. “It’s an example of how much better I am at organizing my life and making things better for myself,” she said. “I’m really proud of myself for accomplishing that, because I don’t have to stress myself out like I did five years ago.”

Categories
Sports

LGBTQ+ sports leagues exist and are here to stay

Graphic by James Fay // @JamesFayDraws

Volley Boréal is one of the many LGBTQ+ leagues aiming to provide a discrimination-free space

Every Monday, the players at Volley Boréal gather at Collège de Maisonneuve for their weekly game night, a tradition that has been alive since its foundation in 2004.

Volley Boréal is a not-for-profit mixed-gender LGBTQ+ volleyball club. It was created following the fusion of two gay volleyball clubs that existed in the ’80s and served different purposes: competition and socialization. It encompasses 12 recreational teams and 12 semi-competitive teams with a total of around 200 members.

“A lot of players have a need to come socialize in a safe place, to play without any fear of discrimination, and to be themselves,” said Karl Côté, president of Volley Boréal.

Côté joined the league in 2008 when he was looking to connect with the LGBTQ+ community while staying physically active. He found the league through a friend — like most players do — and was immediately welcomed, even though he had never played volleyball before.

Warm welcomes and inclusivity are what Volley Boréal thrives on, according to Côté. Their website emphasizes that “any form of discrimination based on sex, age, ethnicity or sexual orientation is prohibited.”

Volley Boréal is an extremely diverse club, which is immediately noticeable during their weekly games.

“We meet people of all types of backgrounds,” said Mia Beaudoin-Dion, a transwoman who has played with them for two years now. “It isn’t reserved at all to queer people, we have a lot of heterosexual people, allies, that join us.”

When Beaudoin-Dion joined the league, she had just started her transition.

“I was looking for safe spaces in my life that would accept me for who I was,” she said. “I felt no judgment from the other players, unlike with family and friends, where it was more difficult. The volleyball club made me feel better because it wasn’t a big deal. My transition was just accepted and normalized.”

Jean Gilbert, another member, has been with the club for 16 years, as long as he’s been in Montréal. He saw the recreational league grow from six to 12 teams and he witnessed more women starting to participate. It was important for him to be a part of an LGBTQ+ group, but as a 66-year-old man working from home, there was more to it.

“I don’t necessarily see a lot of people,” he said. “By coming here, I can meet people, I’ve made friends. It’s important for me to have a space that can break my isolation and make a change from being at home.”

The need to socialize is also the main reason Sébastien Shah, now vice-president of Volley Boréal, first joined as a member back in 2019.

Even though Shah didn’t join the team with no intention to find a partner, he ended up meeting his current boyfriend of three years. Since then, he’s had the club engraved in his heart and that’s why he decided to join the board of directors: to give back to them like they had given to him. It isn’t even conceivable for him to leave the club.

“I have four classes at university, I’m preparing for internships, my head is barely above the water and everyone around tells me to cut somewhere, to cut in volleyball,” Shah said.

But for him, the volleyball club is a way to decompress from his busy life and to cope with mental health. Being on the board of directors might be demanding for Shah, but it’s fun and gratifying. It gives him his energy for the week, and he counts the days before each Monday.

Shah emulates the feeling of most — if not all — of Volley Boréal’s players. There is an unequivocal and contagious joie de vivre in the gym when they play. Volley Boréal is the proof that inclusivity and sports make for a match made in heaven.

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Opinions

What’s wrong with TikTok’s stay-at-home girlfriend?

Amelia Hart/THE CONCORDIAN

The trend might unveil more about women inequalities than we think

Forget the independent girlboss. Now, working outside the home is out of style. Make room for the “stay-at-home girlfriend”: she cleans, she bakes, she takes care of herself, but most importantly, she’s young, skinny and white.

It started out innocently when influencer Kendel Kay posted a “day in my life” video on TikTok, highlighting what she does as a “stay-at-home girlfriend.” The trend quickly grew and, just like any other viral TikTok trend, within 24 hours it had flooded everyone’s For You page.

It is frustrating to see comments claiming that this is “going back in time,” because ultimately, telling a woman what to do is going back in time. However, I also can’t help but see a problem with the trend.

First, let’s be real: the concept of a woman staying at home is nothing new. However, the stay-at-home girlfriend is exactly that: a girlfriend, not a mom.

Now, let’s remember what a time it was in the 2010s for stay-at-home moms. In a time where the working mom and small business owner was thriving, saying you were just staying home to look after your kids was not the most “girlboss feminist” thing to do. (However, we should be clear here that taking care of a house and kids is a full-time job in itself, but was just never recognized as so).

Ultimately, I can’t help but wonder if the stay-at-home girlfriend is making a mockery of stay-at-home moms. Regardless, it’s safe to say that stay-at-home moms did not get the same amount of compassion from the internet back when staying at home was not it.

Although the stay-at-home girlfriend does get backlash — like some saying she is “lazy,” or “taking advantage of her boyfriend’s income” — she is not exactly being criticized for the bigger societal phenomenon that she represents.

As mentioned above, the stay-at-home girlfriend is young, childless, attractive, skinny, white, and practices self-care. Her level of education remains a secret and she is ultimately valued for the amount of household or self-care tasks she can accomplish in a day.

With the recent spike in misogynistic, alpha-male content à la Andrew Tate on social media lately, I can’t help but think that the characteristics associated with the stay-at-home girlfriend are similar to what these incels describe as the “high value” woman.

There is nothing wrong with being childless, attractive, having a boyfriend and wanting to stay at home, but the trend is just making racist and classist inequalities between women resurface. There is a long history of white, upper-to-middle-class women romanticizing the ability to opt out of labour.

Indeed, after slavery was abolished in the US, many upper-class families would employ Black workers to take care of their homes and families, on top of having to take care of their own. Racist policies in the US like the Mothers’ Pensions and Social Security Act of 1935 helped further depict the image of the Black woman as worker instead of mother. This allowed white low-income single mothers to stay home and care for their children, while Black women were excluded from welfare assistance programs up until the 1960s.

While the trend might seem innocent at first, it actually perfectly demonstrates how the systems of power we are still fighting operate in our society. Romanticizing a stay-at-home life negates the reality of women at intersections of race, gender and class, for which it becomes impossible to be the stay-at-home girlfriend on TikTok, at least without getting more criticism than their white, middle-class counterparts.

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News

Quebecers unite in solidarity for the fifth annual Muslim Awareness Week

People gathered in Montreal to commemorate those who lost their lives in the mosque shooting. Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman/THE CONCORDIAN

Six years after the mosque shooting in Quebec, the Muslim community is still fighting for change

On Jan. 29, six years after the Quebec City mosque shooting, a vigil to commemorate the victims took place at Parc station in Montreal. During the speeches, a man passed behind the crowd and shouted, “Islamophobia doesn’t exist in Quebec!” But is that true?

Hawraa Dbouk, a Concordia student who majors in biology, shared her own experiences: “I once was told, ‘If you want to work there, you might have to take off your hijab, at least at work.’” 

“I think we all take hijab in the wrong way, because we don’t actually know what Islam is about. Islam is all about loving, caring, sharing and tolerance,” 

said Dbouk.

On the evening of Jan. 29, 2017, gunfire interrupted the prayers in the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City. The shooter killed six people and injured 19, which prompted the public debate on Islamophobia.

With the adoption of Bill 21 on June 16, 2019, the Canadian Muslim community has faced even more challenges. This secularism law prohibits public services and public sector workers from wearing religious symbols like hijabs.

“We can’t neglect how many women are getting fired or not even allowed to get employed because of their hijab,” Dbouk said. “I don’t think any religion should be included in work or should be forbidden. We should raise awareness about Islamophobia and biases. Work with me because I am your co-worker, but not because I am wearing a hijab.”

Ghadir Elsayed, who works as an administrator of Integrated Health and Social Services Centres (CISSS), was one of the volunteers in the Jan. 29 vigil. However, she was one of the only two hijabis in the CISSS healthcare system building. 

“When I observed that, it was heartbreaking,”

said Elsayed. 

She also talked about her friend who works as a teacher: “They have to find a job in a school in another province, or in Ontario, and it’s even hard for the student to be appreciated by their act and representation of their own religion.”

Elsayed pointed out the fact that there are no specific resources for Muslim people who are affected by the secularism legislation. “Because of Bill 21, we should have a system built up, federally or provincially, to help teachers, students and other workers who are affected by this law to find a job,” she said. “And they don’t have social workers or psychologists that are more available to them than to other communities.”

Elsayed was encouraged by her friends to find jobs in locations that do not accept hijabi workers. “I didn’t want to go straight to my salary,” Elsayed continued, “I just want to make sure that I am represented, and my community is represented[…]”

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