Third Wave Feminism

courtesy of: http://www.inspireyourworld.com/issue4/globalfight/woman.gif

My new roomate did her Master's thesis on Third Wave Feminist zines. My first question when I heard this was of course, "so what's Third Wave Feminism?"

Third Wave Feminism follows from Second Wave Feminism. The Second Wave occured in the 1960s and 1970s in Europe and North America and involved the questioning of gender roles. First World Feminism took place in the 19th Century and mainly dealt with women's social and legal inequalities, especially the right to vote, education, employment, and marriage laws. There are many differing opininons on the origins and definitions about the Feminist Waves.

The new generation of Third Wave Feminists (feminism today) have always lived in a world where feminism exists, but new problems have arisen. Feminism is still alive but there are new ideas, new structures, and new issues to be dealt with. It's the new wave of moving forward...

My roomate believes in keeping the Third Wave Feminist movement alive. She publishes her own zines on this theme, and if you are interested in reading one, let me know.

-Alix

The City

Painting by: Gage Opdenbrouw, 2004

Here is a poem I wrote while exploring the underbelly of Toronto...

Cityscape

the Mad Rush
above which there is only the Moon and silence
motors motorbikes mopeds myriad of materials
adding up
rising up
amounting to nothing

buildings of concrete brick stone
cold stillness piling
thick pancakes
one on top of another on top of another
syrupy lamplight glistening along their mass

inside cement cubicles
worker ants sit
transfixed
in awe of glowing boxes
anything to shut out the noise below
the noise in their heads

beneath
lie pipes plastic plumbing
under-bowels groaning with the effort
of pushing through ages of sludge
bloated intestines coiling around and around and around

high above the Moon rolls over,
and the creature lives on

-Alix

Phonetic alphabet

courtesy of: http://homestudio.thing.net/database/images/COMMUNICATING/Radio-Transmission-50s.jpg

Ever had trouble thinking of a word to represent a letter of the alphabet when telling someone your postal code over the phone? Well, the Phonetic Alphabet is here to solve that problem. Developed in 1957, this communication code is widely used by the Canadian police force, military, and for most radio transmissions. Here it t'is...

A .......... ALPHA
B .......... BRAVO
C .......... CHARLIE
D .......... DELTA
E .......... ECHO
F .......... FOXTROT
G .......... GOLF
H .......... HOTEL
I .......... INDIA
J .......... JULIET
K .......... KILO
L .......... LIMA
M ..........MIKE
N ..........NOVEMBER
O ..........OSCAR
P .......... PAPA
Q ..........QUEBEC
R .......... ROMEO
S .......... SIERRA
T ..........TANGO
U ..........UNIFORM
V .......... VICTOR
W ..........WHISKY
X .......... X-RAY
Y .......... YANKEE
Z .......... ZULU

Over,
Alix

seeing stars

courtesy of: http://www.nald.ca/CLR/sick/graphics/page30a.GIF

Lately, I've noticed that I keep temporarily blacking out when I stand up too quickly. Dizzyness, or "seeing stars" can be caused by many factors. One of these is postural (orthostatic) hypotension, which is a decrease in blood flow to your brain due to a drop in blood pressure from sitting or standing up. If you have low blood pressure, you are more likely to experience postural hypotension.

Low blood pressure, or hypotension, means that you have low blood volume. If there isn't enough fluid volume in your blood vessels, then your circulatory reflexes can't restore normal blood pressure as quickly.

To help understand postural hypotension, pretend your body is a column of fluid. When you are lying down, the column is level, and the fluid pressure is equally dispersed from head to toe. But when you sit up, the fluid column becomes upright, making the fluid pressure rise at the bottom of the column and fall at the top. If this pressure drop isn't corrected, the blood flow to your brain will drop, and you'll get dizzy.

The best ways to deal with dizzyness are to lie down, lower your head, drink water, and/or sit and put your head between your knees.

For more information, see:
http://www.msaweb.co.uk/posturalhypotension.pdf and
http://www.drdaveanddee.com/hypotension.html.

-Alix

Jocelyn Hill

courtesy of Michael McKenna, 2005

Arbutus

courtesy of: http://www.sharnoffphotos.com/photos/madrone.jpeg

Today I went hiking at Jocelyn Hill, near Prospect Lake (on Vancouver Island). The forest was filled with wildflowers, including Blue Camas lilies, Chocolate Lilies, Fawn Lilies, wild strawberries, Western Trilliums, and Calypso Orchids.

My favorite part of the trail were the rocky bluffs overlooking the ocean. Here, there were many short Arbutus trees in full bloom with small creamy bell-shaped flowers.

Arbutus (Arbutus menziesii), also known as Pacific Madrone, is Canada's only native broadleaf evergreen tree (it keeps its leaves year-round). In 1769, Father Juan Crespi, who was chronicling a Spanish expedition to Monterey Bay, California, named this species "madroño" because of its resemblance to the Mediterranean madroño or strawberry tree. (Arbutus is Latin for strawberry tree.)

Arbutus is unusual because its bark is constantly shedding throughout the year. The reasons for this shedding are unknown but theories include getting rid of pests and diseases, as well as the production of flamable litter contributing to quick, hot fires that kill off the Arbutus' comptetion and allow it to regenerate.

Arbutus is also very medicinal. The Saanich used its bark and leaves as cold and stomach remedies, in a tuberculosis medicine, and for contraception. The bark was also used to colour food.

In BC, Arubutis trees are declining in health. Victoria arborist Don Bottrell says,"Five different stem, leaf and twig pathogens are attacking the Arbutus, as well as two species-specific insects. It's a very serious problem." Destruction of coastal habitat is also putting the Arbutus in jeapardy.

-A

Aliens

courtesy of: http://www.baroncapital.com/s_02/images/sa_8_28_02_2.jpg

Do aliens exist? I've never encountered one myself but have met a few reputable people who swear they've seen them. I wouldn't be surprised if they were around though, those cheeky devils.

I am reading a book called "Bringers of the Dawn" by Barbara Marciniak. It is about a group of aliens called Pleiadians who channel their wisdom for humanity through the author. Might sound weird, but this book offers a wealth of insight on the state of the world and what we can do about it.

Check out http://www.universe-people.com/bringers.htm for an online version, although whoever put it online should have edited it first.

-Alix

Change

courtesy of: http://www-k12.atmos.washington.edu/~ejust/Vashon.Tornado.gif

I feel as though I am living my life in the middle of a tornado lately; everything around me is moving so quickly and all I'm trying to do is stay centered. But change is a catalyst for growth, and I believe it is best to embrace what we find to be most challenging.

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." ~Anatole France