i fe 4, The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - B1 = i 9 me «4XTERRACESTANDARD & = DUSTIN. QUEZADA 638-7283 he ittle things — make exam _ | time bearable . ara CONTRIBUTED By JENNA RIGO’ ve ANOTHER SEMESTER is nearly finished, and with that ‘comes the:anxiety and stress-of the dreaded “P” word- the: almighty, | life- altering, heartbreakingly dreaded Provincial exams. . These. aren’t just the ‘routine, bi- weekly, cram- -the- night- before’ kind of tests,. these babies happen t to ibe important ; enough to call exams. © - ' _, . Around this time of year, it’s not uncommon to find stu- ~ : dents hyperventilating, ripping: their hair out, or even mor-._ -phing into.: stressed out insomniacs. who babble on and on. about literary terms and stoichiometry.” ‘ ~-"You may think I'm over exaggerating here’ but Test as- . sured, the. “P”. word turns. even the kindest. of, stud nts: int a raging monsters... } | ._EVBISHOP Hard lessons’ hen: was eight, I stole a pack of bub- |: ble. -gum from. -Overwaitea. Grape’ ]- “Hubba Bubba to be exact. I knocked : it casually to the floor, placed my san- : daled foot over it and: walked; ‘shuffling the sneaky | foot, through the, door, past the 25-cent machines, » and: out onto the: sidewalk, where I slipped it into. _my pocket for later... . ~The ride home was ; almost physically painful. “ My mom’ 's cheerful: patter had me convinced ‘she was ‘on to me. ‘My brother’ wasn’t annoying, which proved (in my mind) that he knew so me : KARAOKE contestants.in a duet are Garnett Doell and Ada'Sarsiat, who portray the © gum too and was angling for a piece later. My litle | roles of Rocky Rhodes and Bonnie Lass i in the Terracé Little Theatre production of sister, sweet as usual, was the final nail in my guilt, | The Karaoke Killer. Po DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO _scot-free? I opened the package and'savoured the © — even she was. onto me, but just too’ nice to say a grapelicious . aroma. I unwrapped a plump chunk, Ms - u v ‘popped it in my mouth, chewed twice, and then spit he tt e atr r i cal m e n u- a “|. . [the blob out onto my hand. My ‘stomach. hurt, my [- ak anything. 5 ‘When I was finally alone in my room, 1 couldn’ t . | face burned, and my heart be beat at 10x its: normal . 5S By. DUSTIN QUEZADA en and for their table,” said Jacobs, adding one. iG rate. Iwas a thief. oo "Now, it’ s “not: vall” ‘bad. : : ~ Frovincial exams ‘are’:a’ fact of-life, just like having your. teeth pulled and. your . Teas _ waxed’—.they are going to - happen, it ’s inevitable. How “ ever, those: wretched ‘exams: do carry. ‘the mystical powe: ‘of bringing people together. “,.. Friends spend : endless : : nights together arguing over — ’. which ‘side ‘of the triangle.is ” “othe hypotenuse ‘and. which" ‘sentence in the essay. is the | * thesis: ° Coffee is: ‘consumed. - in large. quantities and mid "night trips-to the store to re believe it. Could it really be that I’d gotten off UE YOU still remember when inappropriate | character also joins a table every night. -“ stock:the munchies: pile: will : __ Thid the gum, vowing that rd learned 1 my les- _]/: behaviour at the dinner table got you sent to... “It’s a lot of fun — we're all.about fun,” — aa always | be lasting memories. 7 son, but determined to keep the theft secret. Twas. “| your room. and still hold, a’ grudge about it, Said the sophomore director’ who has been ee Jenna Rigo “-s * Ty away, these last :few: ~“Tniserable.” Years later when I read»Poe’s “The -] it's time for some dinner theatre." =’ - involved with TLT for over adecade... eo 0 weeks”. leading up. to ithe: Telltale Heart,” I knew exactly what the poor guy - “Big stakes, cocktails, bribes and murder:.. “And as far as:she can remember, dinner ° “dreaded “pe word exams area a little bitsad. 3 had gone through — but the evil thing thumping i in | nothing’s taboo when the Terrace Little The-. theatre has been a local fixture for about 15° This is-our last winter.in school, grads of 2006, This i is: my ‘walls was grape flavoured. atre’s setting the table.’ years but Karaoke Killer is the first murder/’ the last time we will ever have to write January on our.work- * I'd like to say that relief came the instant 1 J” After opening with.a pair of shows last - mystery show presented in the format.” sheets, and this is the last time we will-be permitted to wear.. came clean to my parents and to a store clerk, but week, TLT presents seven more performanc-. _ “It’s a little different than. in the past, our scarves, mittens and winter. jackets j in the freezing cold | it didn’t. I felt that I had compromised something es of The Karaoke Killer resuming this Fri- but people ‘will appreciate it,” Jacobs said. _ classrooms of Caledonia. = an important, although I couldn’t explain what. An [. day, Feb. 3. “People can expect a great meal and a: very. Ip short, I'd just like to take this opportunity. to. wish ev- . epiphany followed: the reason to-admit-screw-ips | “The setting for Joh Mann's murder mys- fanny show.” eryone luck when writing the dreaded “P” word exams. Let’s | -has little to do with'the person you’ ve-wronged, and »} tery is the Pink Flamingo, the nightclub’. “The ‘ensemble’ cast features a number, :. do our best to show that miserable little piece of paper. what: _ with whether they accept your apology or not.. I | home of a high stakes karaoke contest... of TLT veteran actors and plenty of zany -13:years of school has done for us...) ** ee had to confess so that I continue to be the personI [> Club owner Andy Zalooza (Patrick Ma- names. .,. Jenna Rigo is'in her.Grade 12. year at Caledonia Senior oe was inside, the person I wanted to be. cIntyre) finds out quickly that peoples’ com- .. Jacobs’ husband Keith plays bartender Secondary S School. *° .° petitive nature can bring out the best ~ and Tip. Megood, while Amy Turner (Marion . - | worst —in those involved. : - Kind) and Chery! Spencer (Hooda Thunkitt) Those childhood exper jences “Everyone’s at each other’s.throats,” said . are Pink Flamingo waitresses. taught me a lot, namely that it’s director Julie Jacobs. ‘The karaoke contestants: Garnett Doel ’ _ better to do the right thing and With $10,000 and bragging rights on the ~ plays’ Rocky Rhodes, Ada Sarsiat portrays = to suffer for it, ‘even better to be - line, ethics go out the window. -—— Bonnie Lass, John Dafoe is B.G. Wanabe, The competitors see these as reason and Adam Kirkland is Lou. Netunes, while, penalized for something that you. enough to bribe a judge — or even knock. off, - Debbie Haynes and Barb Botelho respec-- didn’t do, than to look good to | ‘arivalortwo. .. tively portray sisters Shapipi and Shadookie . others, knowing. that you ‘re a 2 big _ “They bribe judges, and use their feminine - Indapool. Brent. Nixon. is celebrity judge © fake.” 2 ° -wiles to influence the judges —they’re plenty ~Whiney Barfly. ° - : , 1 ° _ ssf cleavage,” Jacobs said. “And somebody Jacobs said:she can’t say enough’ of her Seo z eS Ate cal few dais ; oe will be murdered every night.” |. . cast and crew. Back by popular demand, the Acoustic Jams have started - Lwish I could say that, was it — that I never made mistakes, never lied, never acted cowardly again, but I did. However, I also accepted blame and en- ~ dured negative consequences for things - that I had no part in. Those childhood experiences taught me a lot, namely that it’s better to do the right thing , arid'to suffer for it, even better to be penalized for something that you didn’t do, than to look good to others, knowing that you’re a big fake.. I’ve often wondered if you can learn that as an. ‘adult. If experiences in childhood don’t reveal that - to you, can you ever get it? Everyone definitely. does not learn it. _. , Sadly for my kids, their life lesson was slammed | home on Friday, January.13th when our dog was hit *. and killed by a blue vehicle and the driver just: kept _ on going, leaving’ my screaming; sobbing nine- year-old to try to get his pet off the road by himself. Thankfully, I was right there and came running, no credit to the driver. It was a hard weekend for my kids.and the pain _ isn’t over. yet. One question kept coming up over . and over again. “Why didn’ t the driver stop? Why, Mom? Why?” _ Why indeed?. Because the driver: was a.cOow-- ard, who apparently never learned that an apology _ goes a long way. No one would’ ve blamed him or . her. In the words of my daughter, “It’s bad enough that our dog had to die, but why didn’t they stop? ° _ Didn’ t they. even care? That makes it so much. worse.”. Yes, it does. None of my words made them feel better. - _ My kids adamantly claim: that if they ever did something like this, they would stop. I believe them; experiencing pain teaches. hard lessons. In a twisted way, perhaps I should say thanks to the driver who's cowardice revealed the importance of doing the right thing even when it’s hard. Forgive me for not: feeling appreciative. A friend of mine, saddened by choices a young adult family friend was making, once commented, “Doesn't he realize that the things you do today _¢reate the person that you are tomorrow?” It’s so - . true. Doing the right thing never gets easier, only harder as the stakes become larger. Stealing grape bubblegum may not seem like a big deal to some, - but it was a big deal. To me. It set the course for how I was going to conduct myself with mistakes that no one would ever know about. Too bad that driver didn’t have the kind of con- science that would cry over stolen bubblegum—. maybe my kids would have felt better. That shouldn’ tdeter a member of the,au- | The production wiil be staged at the Skee- _ dience from trying their hand at the: trophy na Valley Golf and Country Club. Sée page : ey ae pa Avem ue mini- mall cafe. Every second though, as Jacobs said one lucky participant ' B2 for a full list of times and dates. * : Upcoming jams scheduled fo for: Feb: 7 & 21, March 7 ee every performance i is picked to go onstage. Despite the cleavage, the show is rated ° 4, 1 Apai 4 & 18, May: 2& 16. ; “It’s ahoot for the people that get involved general and suitable for all audiences... me Celebrate young artists ~ SKEENA’ JUNIOR Secondary School. presents an’ inaugural a ’ Skeena Fine Arts Fest —- an evening showcasing our students’: ~ creative work in music, creative writing and the. visual and. a “performing arts. a ' “This is.an evening to. ‘et the kids shine and show: their” i abilities,” said Janine Hamming, one of the: school’s teachers . os organizing the event. a Tr ~The showcase. art event takes piace tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 1 from 7-9 p.m.-at the school. Admission is by donation... ‘7 For info, please contact Janine a at 635- 9136. . ge a _ Cronenberg’ S latest a hit THE TERRACE Not Paris Film Festival continues its seties of: Golden ‘Globe’ nominated Pictures with. “A: History of | Violence, a ‘film. with’ a ‘Canadian tie. a 7 eRistenZ,” ‘breaks: nto: ‘the, ‘Mainstream ‘without: -com-* ' promising ‘his edgy. film-. : . making style. aa oe ee + Viggo Mortensen (Lord: ° :, .of the Rings) stars asa man |, ‘ named Tom Stall, who runs: :]? fa diner in an Indiana town 7 a, and lives peacefully. with his” . Wife (Maria'Bello) and kids... . One. day two serial ‘Killers _ walk into the diner, thinking: . to: kill and. steal, -and Tom: oo | .hurls'a.pot of coffee, jumps!" _ over the counter, grabs a’gun -| | ‘and kills them both. He be:, J comes a media hero, which [| attracts “unwelcome atten: - 9 ‘tion and turns ‘his and -his . family’s idyllic life: upside es down. The film also stars Ed Harris, with a brief but memo- ‘[° © rable. performance by William Hurt. | x Bonjour Bonhomme | po 7 oe . The movie was nominated for best picts ~ drama and Kiti K'Shan Primary School hosted Carnalval Bonhomme in a weeklong cel- | rang also up for a best actress nomination in the drama ebration of Quebecois culture. Above, Grade 1 student Jared Kenyon gets ategory: some putting pointers from the Carnaval mascot. _ DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO date at Eien te fates sears s. tine and wy ‘David Cronenberg .