The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 24, 2002 - B] TERRACE STANDARD INSIDE : | SECTION B COMMUNITY Wo SENNIFER LANG EVENTS B2 ra 638-7283 CHARLYNN — Deepest summer HE land-yachts are in season, easily spolted these days at rest or moving about around town, dwarfing the SUVs they tow. Meanwhile, beach peas, lupins and clover compete for Best Purple on strong tall dark-green stalks. We are in the deepest part of summer. . The Skeena River at Ferry Island has cres- ‘ted then fallen again to reveal gravel beaches and hip-waders. The sun has shone its brightest though it was the middle of the night. Now boys play hip-hop basketball or hide-n- chase way too late and loud into the evening even though it’s raining again. There is to be no school for a long time, and there has been “no school for a long time. The boys of summer have wide feet and skinned knees, and forget ‘their math. People who are otherwise reliable are not at their desks. They have left for a holiday report- edly so complicated it will likely take the en- tire length of their furlough just to get back ’ home. Here in the middle of summer, smaller towns gather around us. They situate them- selves at small bunches of streets connected to a long ribbon of highway that leads away from here in several directions. And, of course, the people here, who are from areas far away, have all come here. These are the things they carry: bicycles, fishing rods, high heels for dress-up, combs, lotion, heart pills, lap-tops, and their toothbrushes. Or they buy new tooth ‘People who are otherwise reli- able are not at their desks. , brushes once they get here, That’s handy! These out-of-towners who are here now in mid-summer have traded places with people who are visiting their city of origin. It’s like one big game of Chinese Fire Drill. If you don’t know the game, it’s a kind of musical chairs for teenagers. This is how you play: During a red light in downtown Steinbach in the 1970s, as many people as possible in two (or more) adjacent cars must change places before the light turns green. Woo-hoo! Works best played on long summer nights. Once I got to sit next to Paul Friesen. That was dreamy, Is mid-summer a good thing? Yes! you might say, but hear me out: there is the loud- ness, for one thing, Nothing makes for a quiet neighbourhood like a gaod four feet of accu- mulated snow. A nice civilizing influence, not available at this time. No snow now, so people are loudly playing and barking and meowing and singing liquid crow songs and power-mow- ing and weed-whacking like there’s no tomor- row. The din! Plus all the strangers. For example, there I was in a store following a small family (parents and grown son, I am prepared to argue) aisle after aiste until I was satisfied they were, in fact, speaking German and had arrived here by air. Just curious! But how is this type of lolly-gagging on my part to fit into 4 new northern tiger kind of economy? I was ‘draining my resources by pursuing this tempt- ing folly, not including the pricey biscuits I bought because they exclaimed over them. Never mind all the normally-productive pil- lars of the community who are off Somewhere Else, spending dollars earned locally. Shame! If you didn’t pack your own lunch (purchased locally} I hope you flew the local airline and if not that, I sure hope you hired a local House- Sitter to walk your damn dog who barks late into the bright summer nights. Yet some of you might argue mid-summer is a good spot to be in. I wouldn't want to say either way. It’s nice, I'L] concede, ta go out- side without having to fetch mittens and hats and scarves, but only if you'd rather fetch sun- screen and hats and sunglasses. _ “The land yachts will vanish as if they're never coming back.’ Sure, it’s nice to canoe to'an island and watch the sand grow as the tide goes out, and discover the forest of tiny mostly-underwater yellow flowers that depend on bees being around at low tide for pollination, That’s what we all want! The tide tells us seasons are short. And I know for a fact thal winter is coming. The : land-yachts will vanish as if they’re never coming back, like the sun, The Skeena will muddy, children will sleep at bed-time, people will be back at their desks where they belong, and snow will blanket all who are here. | carving TSIMSHIAN CARVER Heber Reece is about to embark on an ambitious new project — and everyone’s invited to come and watch it happen. For the rest of the summer, Reece and three of his appren- tices will be working on a 30 foot cedar canoe in a workshop in the back of the Canadian Canoe Mu- seum. “Pye done six foot canoes be- fore, but doing one this size — it’s quite different,” Reece says. “This is something ve been wan- ting to do for quite a while.” The project is a big undertak- ing. Reece says he'll be needing HERBERT REECE is about to set to work on a 30-foot canoe. Museum hosts an ambitious project Canoe will hold up to 10 passengers the input of other master carvers who have done it before. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, a: lot of research,” says Reece, whose commissions include work on the world’s tallest totem pole, on display on a Songhese reserve . near Victoria. The carver will be assisted on the project by his brother Henry, his brother-in-law Darryl Wilson . and his nephew Burton Amos. Reece, who plans to make the boat seaworthy, figures the canoe will hold about 10 people. “It’s not going to be just sitting in the museum,” Reece says. “It’s going to be used.” Undressing the Nation promises. scandal, skin and d plenty of puns | By JOANNA WONG THINK CANADIAN politics lack scandal and spice? The Terrace Little Theatre’s latest produc- tion, Undressing the Nation, wants you to think again. This week, director Daniel Barnswell hopes to “expose” Riverboat Days audiences to dou- ble entendres, endless innuendo and copious amounts of bare skin in a play he calls Cana- da's answer to Monica Lewinski. “Let’s just say that we have scandalous be- havior, politics, the media, and a lot of hat co- medy all taking place in the hallowed halls on Parliament Hill,” says Barnswell. He says the one act play will appeal to anyone who likes their comedy “naughty.” “Right from the opening scene it’s pretty scandalous,” he says. Undressing the Nation is the brainchild of Kico Gonzalez-Risso, one of B.C.’s award- winning playwrights. The play was a sold-out hit when it pre- miered in Calgary as part of a national compe- tition. . Gonzalez-Risso was even approached by producers interested in making Undressing the Nation into a TV show. BODY LANGUAGE: The cast of Undressing the Nation will bare some skin for the sake of comedy when the play hits the stage at the McColl Playhouse. JOANNA WONG PHOTO Bamswell says he chose to do the play after Art Attack, another Gonzalez-Risso farce, be- came the biggest hit of the season at the TLT. “After 1 started dealing with farce, I real- ized how rich a genre it is,” he says. “Every line is a joke. There’s so many funny funny things.” Barnswell says Undressing the Nation provi- ded a good challenge for his well-seasoned cast. “The script flies — it takes a lot of ener- gy.” he says. “[The actors] will all lose a few pounds.” Cast member Brent Nixon says the play is the first time he’s played a role where he can really let loose. “It’s a lot of laughs,” says Nixon. “I told one guy today I'll guarantee you 10 cents a laugh.” Besides the shows in Terrace, Undressing the Nation heads to Prince Rupert next month for Udder Fest followed by the Prince George Fringe Festival. “| think the timing is good,” says cast member Margaret Davies. “With the state of the government I think comic relief is needed.” Undressing the Nation runs July 27, 30, 31 and Aug. 1-5 at the McColl Playhouse during Riverboat Days. Letter home A year in Brazil MY NAME is Gareth Earl and [ love to travel. Now that P’ve gra- duated, tried a year of college and participated in a youth exchange, I’m on the road again. I arrived in Brazit on May 21 at around 11 p.m. As I stepped off of the plane, the air felt humid and J] soon began to sweat (I don’t think that my thick Canadian jeans or dress shirt helped). My host family greeted me with hugs and kisses happiness, cooperation and re- spect. My role is to teach English, collect food donations and play with the kids during break. The children call me “Tio,” which means uncle in Portuguese, Recently, we had a party at the school to celebrate a festival called S’o Joao. It was a good op- portunity to meet the children’s families and experience the cul- ture. We danced, played games and had a good and spoke Portuguese very quickly, assum- ing that I understood, but what little Portu- 1 can't tefl you how cool it was to be here for the time. I’ve been playing and watching a lot guese I had heard in ’ of soccer. [can’t tell Terrace couldn’t have World Cup! you how cool it was prepared me for this. to be here for the I was told not to worry and that World Cup! E would soon learn. We collected my bags and headed for my new home in Olinda. Olinda is a city in the northeast pert of Brazil, near the state capi- tal, Recife. I’ve been here for just over a month now and believe it or not, ] actually understand some Portuguese. Five days a week, I volunteer at a Iocal school for tess fortunate children. At the school, AMO, the child- ren Jearn values such as peace, Yesterday, I got up early and played beach soccer with some friends until noon. Nothing beats beach soccer! When you get tired, you just go for a swim. I have to say that I’m a little out of my lea- gue, but I can keep up with the pace. Part of the reason for coming all this way to Brazil is because Bob Bussanich, the director of AMO, convinced me to. The rest is because I saw it as a good learning opportunity, a In my spare time,- 3 GARETH EARL, wearing a hat, poses with some students at the AMO School during a party marking thea S’o Joao festival. challenge and because I love to travel. | will be staying here for one year. Along the way, I’m taking lots of pictures, making friends and enjoying the sun, - © The AMO school project assists street children in one of the poor- est areas of Brazil. It was spear- _ headed by a Terrace teacher, Bob Bussanich,. and-is the subject of local fundraising efforts. -