Spyglass — March 2011

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LET’S SPRING INTO

SPORTS

Keep the earth green. Please recycle. Brought to you by the RHHS Spyglass Team.

THURSDAY

MARCH 10, 2011NEWSPAPER.RHHSWEB.COM

The transformation of snow into slush, of chilly days into

lukewarm afternoons, of flu season into allergy season not only signals the transition of our lives from winter into spring, but the shift from winter hiber-nation to being active once more. And, right on cue, Richmond Hill High School has prepared an exciting line-up of spring sports that will encourage even the most lethargic of students to take charge and get active.

What on Earth is typography and why is it important? Well, just look at

the words on this page. Apart from what they mean, do the characters tell you any-thing else about the message?

Do you react differently when you see passages of text set in something like this versus text set in some-thing like this?

So we hear that the teenage Justin Bieber is about to purchase a $1.7 mil-

lion apartment in Los Angeles. Does that make you wonder where your favourite NBA star, Oscar winner, or Grammy’s fi-nalists call home? Just how much luxury surrounds these superstars? Let’s take a look at some of the celebrity mansions that make our jaws drop!

RHHS PROM 2011

BY QIAN SHI

BY EDWARD WANG

BY ALICE YOU

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THE SPYGLASS IS NOW AC-CEPTING APPLICATIONS!APPLICATIONS ARE LOCATED BY THE ENGLISH OFFICE. DUE MARCH 28.

SPRING ISSUE

What is Richmond Hill famous for? Currently, we’re the second most

diverse community in the country. In the early twentieth century, we were renowned as the “Rose Capital of Canada”. And in the 1800s, our Quilting Bee Society won the Ontario championship twelve years running. Just kidding about the last one – not that you could tell. In over two hun-dred years of history, the rose has remained a symbol of Richmond Hill’s comfortable, consistent affluence – to this day, our of-ficial motto remains En la rose je fleuris: “Like the rose, I flourish”.

But rest assured: every rose has its thorns. This town a little north hasn’t always been a little nicer. Not everything was coming up roses for Richmond Hill – in fact, the floral industry came in the wake of an incident much darker and much more tarnished in Canada’s history. Richmond Hill’s first brush with fame came not tied up in a bouquet, but with the occurrence of the country’s most notorious crime of its time: a double murder.

Oh, and guess what? Those murders happened just across the street from where Richmond Hill High School is – right be-hind what is now the Montessori school at the Loyal True Blue and Orange Home.

In 1843, gentleman farmer Thomas Kinnear lived on Yonge Street, north of Elgin Mills Road, at the property that now houses a plaza with a karate studio, fitness centre and Hyundai dealership. An affluent man, Kinnear was nonetheless ex-cluded from most social circles because of his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery – or, more accurately, because she was his lover

(and a gorgeous one, at that). The farm was fairly remote from the rest of the com-munity, and the surrounding land wasn’t developed, so the common-law couple lived in content seclusion with only a maid and manservant. The maid was 16-year-old Irish emigrant Grace Marks, and the servant was a slightly older man named James McDermott.

The facts were these: on July 18, while Thomas Kinnear was away on business, James McDermott took an axe and felled Nancy Montgomery with a blow to the head. He dragged her to the root cellar and lay her at the base of the stairs, then went to fetch Grace Marks. Upon returning downstairs, the pair discovered that Mont-gomery was still alive, though barely. Pan-icking, they used Marks’ handkerchief to strangle her to death. When Kinnear came home, McDermott shot him through the heart. His corpse was laid out in the cellar beside his lover’s.

After the murders, McDermott and Marks escaped over the border to the United States under false identities, but they were caught days later by police. Each accused the other of being the master of the scheme. Both were deemed guilty of homicide. McDermott was hanged that November; Marks was institutionalized in prison at the Kingston Penitentiary be-cause of her youth and gender.

Beautiful 16-year-old Grace Marks – our girl next door, who in today’s world would have been a high-school sophomore or ju-nior walking our building’s halls – was la-beled a “celebrated murderess” by the press. Tourists would visit the asylum where she was later held just to get a glimpse of her.

In his confession, McDermott portrayed the teenager as a seductive and wily femme fatale who manipulated him through jealousy and promises of sexual favours, but loved Kinnear all the while. Susanna Moodie, author of Life in the Clearings (1853), described her sighting at Toronto’s Lunatic Asylum: “Her eyes are a bright blue, her hair auburn, and her face would be rather handsome were it not for the long curved chin, which gives… a cun-ning, cruel expression.” Other accounts described her as being quiet, sweet and composed, proficient at household tasks.

Live the CELEBRITY WAY

WHAT TYPE ARE YOU?


The Manor in Kettleby, the site of this year`s prom.

2 \\ SPRING ISSUE

PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.SXC.HU

Gowns! Heels! Tuxedos! Limos! Dates! Mark Thursday, May 26th on your

calendars, because you won’t want to miss this.

After the much anticipated, yet no doubt rewarding four year wait, the last dance of the class of 2011 is rapidly approaching. Led by teacher supervisors Ms. Tzimika and Mr.McHenry, the Richmond Hill High School Prom Committee has an un-forgettable evening planned for the gradu-ating class.

Set at the Manor, located in Kettleby, the naturally beautiful setting complements this year’s theme, “Garden of Lights”. Al-though just a half hour’s drive away from Richmond Hill High School, the Manor transports us to an enchanting venue. The lush, well-tended grounds, man-made pond, large patio, and the waterfall area make it the perfect setting for Prom. On the other hand, the inside offers an elegant banquet hall with excellent views of the landscape. Each ticket will include admis-sion and dinner, as well as a gift.

Although prom is exciting, it can also be unnecessarily harsh on our wallets (fe-

One of the earliest spring teams intro-duced onto our spring sports radar was the Dragon Boat Team, which is led by Alan Eng and Natalie Wong, and coached by Ms. Sim and Mr. Gibsing . Dragon Boat originated over 2000 years ago, in China, where the crew would race across a body of water in a traditional longboat. Although Dragon Boat racing is primarily a water sport, our Dragon Boat team spends the majority of their time with fitness training on land. The Dragon Boat team is set to compete sometime around June, so keep your eyes open for this promising team.

Yet another spring sport that has already made itself known is Ultimate Frisbee, which involves a team working together in order to get a Frisbee disk from their end-zone to their opponents’ end-zone- this objective classifies this sport as a “back-

and-forth” end-zone invasion game. This fun co-ed sport is has already held its try-outs, but don’t hesitate to try out next year, or support our team.

With the hype of Dragon Boat and Ul-timate Frisbee, comes a sport that is, pos-sibly, the most anticipated spring sport: Badminton! Tryouts were held in late Feb-ruary (for juniors, coached by Mr. Hazle-wood; tryouts for seniors were held in mid January, coached by Mr. Walker), so the junior and senior teams should be up and running by the time spring rolls around; however, if you missed the tryouts, don’t hesitate to stop by the Badminton Club on Thursdays, or cheer our Badminton team on during tournaments (held sometime in April).

Not enough activity for you? Keep on the lookout for more emerging sports, soon to be announced! If Dragon Boat racing, Ultimate Frisbee, or Badminton isn’t your cup of tea, there are plenty of other spring sports that one could become involved with.

Take rugby, for example. This sport is a great alternative to football, which ended in late fall. Played in over 120 countries across the globe, Rugby involves two teams of padding-less players trying to score as many points as possible by carrying, pass-ing, kicking and grounding the ball. It is classified as an ‘end zone invasion game’, with the aim of each team being to gain possession of the ball, take it into opposi-tion territory and to place it in the in-goal area (the end zone). If you’re interested by the prospect of a football-ultimate Frisbee hybrid game, be sure to stop by the rugby tryouts (date to be announced). However, understand that this is, indeed, a contact sport; so, if you’re a fragile, delicate person, you should probably set your sights on a sport other than rugby.

With badminton, comes lacrosse- an unconventional, yet popular sport. A well-liked sport in France, England, In-dia, Australia, and Canada (just to name a few places), lacrosse involves players us-

ing lacrosse sticks (a stick with a basket-like scoop at one end) in order to throw a small, hard ball to teammates, in order to get the ball down to the opposing team’s end-zone. This combination of soccer, basketball, and hockey is a great sport for people with good hand-eye co-ordination and stamina. This native North-American sport is particularly “play-able”, as players need not be exceptionally big or strong.

Alongside lacrosse is cricket, a sport that has been widely played around the world for more than eight centuries. This sport is similar to baseball, in the sense that players batting a pitched ball and trying to score as many runs as possible. However, cricket is played with a flat bat, and players must run and cover the distance of a pitch in order to score a point (unlike the square diamond of a baseball field). This sport is ideal for baseball fans, or for sports enthu-siasts who want to try something out of the ordinary.

Readers should note that the line-up of spring sports doesn’t stop here - there are still plenty of sports to get involved in, if none of the sports mentioned above is your cup of athletic tea. The important point to keep in mind is that the arrival of spring should coincide with fresh starts and new activities - take this time to start getting involved with exercise and sports. This spring, really consider getting in-volved with a fun physical activity. How-ever, if you’re absolutely not interested in sports, perhaps you would prefer exercis-ing your brain instead - maybe Math Club is the team for you.

males’ wallets especially). Many girls find that the result of finding a dream dress, shoes, and accessories, and getting their hair/nails done is a few hundred dollars less in their bank accounts. For the less fortunate, the Children’s Aid foundation has created The Corsage Project, an opportu-nity that offers graduating girls formal gowns, accessories, shoes, and even make-up consultations for free.

When preparing for prom, it is best to plan well ahead. For example, limousine rentals should be booked early on (i.e. as soon as a date is finalized) to avoid paying premiums for late bookings, and to make sure that a limo is available on the date of prom. It’s a similar situation with corsages and boutonnieres – calling local florists at least two weeks in advance is ideal. That way, students can not only get a good sense of the available varieties, they can also save on early orders. In addition, it may be wise to rent or borrow a dress or tuxedo, rather than buying an expensive one that you will only wear once.

Whether you’re already eagerly counting down the days to this ex-hilarating evening, or you just realized that May 26th is ap-proaching, this year’s prom will undoubtedly leave cherished memories of the last of our high school days.

P rom

SPORTSBY QIAN SHI

2011BY JOYCE TAN

LET’SSPRING

INTO

DRAGONBOAT

FRISBEE

BADMINTON

RUGBY

LACROSSE

CRICKET

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE NEWS


SPRING ISSUE // 3

A website dedicated to humour and snark, while still being informative about things you’d never know otherwise. Articles in-clude things like “7 Life-Altering Deci-sions Made For You (Before Your Birth),” “5 Ridiculous Ancient Beliefs That Turned Out to Be True,” and the ever-popular “Creepy Urban Legends That Happen to Be True” series. Rife with references, slang, and modern injokes that most any teen-ager will get. Definitely has a preference to entertainment, as a lot of the articles per-tain to movies, books, music, and so on. The website accepts articles from readers, so if you think you’re funny enough and have something to say, you might want to give it a whirl. You might end up being somebody else’s read.

We all have tons of work to do. Between home-work and projects, chores,

extracurricular activities, and whatever our plans for our fu-tures are demanding of us, we can

For anybody who enjoys science, technol-ogy, sci fi books, movies and comics, or just plain cool stuff to do with biology, psychology, space and other mildly nerdy areas of expertise, this is your go-to site. A weekly perusal of io9 will leave you filled with knowledge of, say, how skinning your knees can be the start of skin cancer, or the underground French village that had been continuously occupied from Neolith-ic times right up ‘till the early twentieth century, or what recent scientific studies have to say about realistic suspended ani-mation—or if you’re in a slightly less aca-demic mood, you can just watch clips of Felicia Day kicking butt in the trailer for the Dragon Age web series coming out.

TED is the website for the videos taken of the speakers who present at the two annu-al TED conferences. They include things like “Arthur Benjamin does Mathemagic,”

This one’s a personal favourite of mine. The Art of Manliness (or AoM for short,) is a blog-type website run by a married couple, and they sure do have fun doing it. AoM is, as the title proclaims, a website filled with the knowledge of how to be a manly man. The writing covers every aspect of a man’s life: Fitness (“Do More than One Stinking Pull-up”,) Dress and Grooming (“Bring-ing Back the Hat”,) Manly Skills (“How to Jump From a Speeding Car”,) relation-ships (“Stop Hanging Out With Women and Start Dating Them”) and more. Girls, even though you aren’t of the male persua-sion, this website is a delightful read—and a good bit of knowledge to keep in the back of your minds when you’re sizing up the potential boyfriend.

This is, of course, just a small sam-ple of what’s out there: the internet is so huge that even if none of these pique your interest, there’s got to

SomethingNewwww. .com

CRACKED (WWW.CRACKED.COM) IO9 (WWW.IO9.COM)

THE ART OF MANLINESS (WWW.THEARTOFMANLINESS.COM)

TED (WWW.TED.COM)

If this doesn’t exist, your parents don’t have jobs. If this doesn’t exist, you don’t have your fridge. If this doesn’t

exist, we are still riding horses to school. If this doesn’t exist, nothing exists.

The above is the definition of “entrepre-neurship”. Saying that entrepreneurship is good for society should not be under the category of clichés but rather under factual statements. Allow me to explain the defi-nition for you.

Let’s talk about your favourite video game console. First, the idea had to be thought of. Next, the technology needs to be de-veloped. However, most importantly,

somebody had to choose to market it! Otherwise, it still wouldn’t be sitting in your home for you to enjoy if it was never made into a business.

So now we know why we value Steve Jobs and why there probably are fanatics pray-ing for his health to improve so that he could get back to work on IPhone 5. He had to go through the whole process from idea to product to get your prized posses-sion to your hands. But perhaps more se-vere than you not owning your music play-er is that without entrepreneurship, the term “jobs” would cease to exist! Think about it. If nobody undertook the path of becoming an entrepreneur, nobody would

own companies. So now who are you go-ing to work for?

We stress so much on entrepreneurship these days precisely for its contributions to employment, innovation, and technologi-cal advancement. As teenagers, we add en-trepreneurship lifestyle as well. Perhaps we could start a tutoring business? Or maybe begin a snow shovelling partnership. Did you know it was this simple to be your own boss?

But your local repair shop owner warns you: know your business before you start it! You gotta love your job!

NOT JUST BI L L AND STEVE.. .

Think You and I !BY

AL

ICE

YO

Uhave very little time to ourselves. But every now and again, we have a whole day that we just don’t know what to do with. We could write, draw, sing, pick up an instrument, go outside and play sports… but some-

times we just don’t want to spend our free time doing something productive. Sometimes, we just want to sit down and surf the web. In the interest, then, of having downtime that’s thought-provoking,

inspiring, and interesting while still being relaxing, this article humbly submits a few suggestions to get you off Youtube and Facebook and onto something a little less known but still just as good, if not better:

be something like them that does. The above four websites are less a to-do list, and more a reminder that there’s more to the web than Twit-

ter, tumblr and your email—but as a fairly picky person I can say that the above four are also a great place to start the hunt. So the next time you

have a few hours to lounge around on your computer, consider skip-ping your usual pit stops and giving something new a try!

which includes a man able to square five-digit numbers in his head, and “Rebecca Saxe: How We Read Each Other’s Minds,” where a charming neuroscientist explains how there is a part of our brains desig-nated to the task of thinking about other people’s thoughts, using pirates and cheese sandwiches to demonstrate. Still other vid-eos contain, say, a gorgeous stripped-down version of Imogen Heap’s “Wait It Out,” or 11-year-old prodigies shredding it up on violins. Taking a peek at this website every now and again will provide you with incredible insight into math, medicine, music, and everything else you’d want to know about how the world is advancing. If you find something you like, never hesitate to show all your friends; after all, these are, as they say, “Ideas worth spreading.”


4 \\ SPRING ISSUE

The eyes of all seasoned political observers and media personnel are suddenly on the Middle East,

which has witnessed an unprecedented wave of political change in recent months. A series of political revolts by ordinary citizens led primarily by young genera-tions has begun to permanently alter the political landscape of much of the region since January of this year. There really is no doubt that the revolutions that have al-ready transformed the undemocratic pow-er bases of the autocratic rulers in Tunisia and Egypt have ushered in a new era of democracy and popular participation in decision-making. Interesting to mention is that it all started with an isolated, seem-ingly non political incident involving the suicide of a graduate student in Tunisia which triggered a massive popular unrest that led to the demise of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali’s 23-year old dictato-rial regime. Inspired by the success of the popular uprising in Tunisia, people took to the streets of Cairo and made history in less than three weeks by forcing President Hosni Mubarak to leave the picture of power politics after staying in full control of the Egyptian state for 30 years. His-tory is also in the making in Bahrain and Libya.

What explains the sudden rise of popu-lar movements by silenced citizens for greater political change in the Middle East which has been a safe heaven for re-pressive regimes for decades? Were all of these simply coincidental? What encour-aged the silenced majority to speak out publicly by defying the iron fists of the autocratic rulers? It seems that the citizens now have one crucial weapon to effec-tively use in their fight for democracy and human rights that they never had before: Facebook.

What comes to mind when the students

think of “Facebook?” are they reminded of Facebook’s unrelenting ability to distract us from completing our homework and assignments? Do the students think of the hit movie, “The Social Network”? If you ask a student either in Egypt or in Tunisia, their answer would be profoundly differ-ent; very surprising to most of us here in Canada. Bloggers, national journalists and news reporters seem to agree that the so-cial networking site Facebook has played a decisive role in bringing disenchanted people together by facilitating communi-cation among them. News reports from different parts of the Arab world confirm that many of the protests in Tunisia were sparked by Tunisian Facebookers who cre-ated groups and pages to inspire others to join what later became “The Jasmine Rev-olution”. A few weeks later, the Egyptian government led by Hosni Mubarak shut down the entire cell phone and internet network ostensibly in fear of the use of the social media in organizing popular move-ments for democracy in Egypt. The ‘Face-book generation’ surprised the world by bringing down Mubarak’s despotic gov-ernment. The leaders around the world have finally recognized the immense po-litical power of social networking sites for people, especially students opting for greater socio-political change.

But have these events in the Arab world resonated at all with the students in the realms of democracy in Canada, who live

far from the troubled countries in the Middle East? “It’s definitely inspiring! Most students here think of Facebook as part of their hobbies or something like that. It’s amazing to see people utilize it for such a worthy cause,” says an inspired RHHS student. Facebook does seem to have added a new dimension to our lives, opening up different possibilities that we never thought before. Middle Eastern students have successfully used it to their political advantage. In many other places, where citizens’ voices are often ignored, Facebook is creating a space for different groups of people, including high school and university-age students, to fight for democracy and freedom. What is now al-most undeniable is that the popular social networking site is not just a distraction from your homework, but rather an effec-tive tool for social change for billions of disenfranchised people around the world.

It is no wonder that people hold con-flicting views about both the use and abuse of social networking sites, including Facebook. For many of the high school students in North America, Facebook might just be a means of connecting with friends from the past or building a net-work of contacts. For others, however, Facebook is a tool of empowerment that allows the young generations to engage in social movements that aim at promoting political freedom, social justice and hu-man dignity.

F A C E B O O K & S T U D E N T S : A Weapon of Political Change

Photo Courtesy of www.straighterline.com

BY RUHAMA QUADIR

I like putting things off. And when I mean leaving things to the last minute, I mean down to the bomb-ticking last

second. Homework, assignments, writing this article, you name it. My hypothesis is that the adrenaline rush I get from the pressure of impending doom has become an addiction. Each subsequent high must be more thrilling and dangerous than the previous one.

For the first time this year, I made a new year’s resolution. 2011 was the year that I was going to get physically active. This may be easy for a lot of you yoga fanatics or P90X followers, but not for me. The simplest method that I could think of was running. Swimming requires a pool and subjecting yourself to seeing far too many Speedos. Joining a gym requires you to actually go to the gym and hopefully have knowledge on how to use the equipment which I sadly lack. So the natural choice would be running. I mean, how hard can it be to co-ordinate your legs to move per-petually faster till you sweat? Harder than someone who still has some pride in him would care to admit. As a self-proclaimed

lazy-holic, I needed to put this off as much as possible.

At least I had an excuse to not start on my resolution with it still being winter and all. Although every time I saw a deter-mined runner jogging through in sub-zero temperature, I couldn’t help but feel guilty and take it as a sign. When the weather started to clear up I argued to myself that there was probably still some ice on the sidewalks. I wasn’t planning on spraining my ankle anytime soon. So the running could wait another day, but my new epi-sode of Modern Family or House couldn’t.

I have run outside a grand total of one time this year, which is a great achieve-ment considering it’s a 100% increase from the last year. Of course I would like to improve my fitness and get active, but I have realized something. I work tremen-dously well under pressure. Ergo, I must wait until I’m 50 if I want to get anything done. Anything can happen when you can manipulate your strengths and weaknesses. And who ever said that laziness wasn’t a virtue?

CONFESSIONS OF A LAZY-HOLIC


SPRING ISSUE // 5

FLIP TO P 7 TO SEE THE YOUR RESULTS!

BY EDWARD WANG

This is what Darwin said in his book, The Descent of Man, pub-lished about 150 years ago.

He had gone on a marvelous voyage by sea in his twenties, aboard the ship The Beagle, and had seen all the different variations of human being. He knew that skin colour was one of the most impor-tant ways in which people differentiated from one another—and his conclusion was that human beings and their pig-mentation did not, in fact, come from the climate. It was his belief that differ-ent humans were descended from differ-ent subspecies of the same species, that it made us different from one another. But he was wrong.

According to Nina Jablonski, author of Skin: A Natural History, not only does skin colour mean we are all from the

same origin, it should also serve as a rea-son to celebrate the advancement of hu-man evolution. Skin pigmentation does indeed vary due to climate—specifically, in the average amount of ultraviolet (UV) light a race receives. The UVB variety, in particular: it’s a double-edged sword for humanity in that it’s incredibly destruc-tive when we are exposed to too much of it, causing skin cancer among other things—and yet it is absolutely vital to the generation of vitamin D in our bod-ies, which we need to keep our bones and immune system strong.

There is a fundamental relationship be-tween UVB radiation and skin pigmenta-tion: more radiation equals darker skin. Melanin is the compound in our bodies that gives us our skin colour – what it also is, in the end, is a natural sunscreen. Melanin prevents damage to the DNA in

the skin cells when the skin is exposed to high levels of UVB radiation.

The cradle of human civilization, as we know, is Africa; it has one of the high-est concentrations of UVB radiation any-where on the planet. Surfacing a little less than two million years ago, the first of our evolutional kind were dark-skinned people, to cope with the amount of UVB they were receiving.

And then what happened? Well, we moved. Human beings migrated all across the globe, first into Europe, then into Asia, and finally across to North America. Because of the angle at which the Earth is tilted, the Northern Hemi-sphere receives little to no UVB radiation at all. With their dark skin pigmentation, the human beings deflected any they did

receive, which resulted in a severe vitamin D deficiency. And so, as part of the evo-lutionary process, our skin grew lighter to accommodate the lack of UVB.

Why is any of this important? Because it shows we’re all the same, and that our skin colour doesn’t make us any worse or better than one another. What skin colour is, in fact, is the product of natural selec-tion—it’s a beautiful piece of evidence, right on our bodies, showing us how far our people have come in the evolutionary process. It should be something that’s cel-ebrated: the diversity of skin pigmenta-tion is a testament to the power of human adaptation and to the history of our spe-cies. Two million years of refinement is on your arms, so appreciate it, understand it, and most of all, be proud of it.

“Of all the differences between the races of man, the colour of the skin is the most conspicuous and one of the best marked… It was formerly thought that differences of this kind could be ac-counted for by long exposure to different climates… This view has been rejected chiefly because

the distribution of the variously coloured races, most of whom must have long inhabited their present homes, does not coincide with corresponding difference of climate.”

Typography is one of the many ways in which a designer or any creative professional conveys meaning within his or her work. Everything you see around you, whether it is advertisements or the label on your soda can, took weeks or even months of deliberation to come up with. A high profile product such as a beverage may go through several different revisions, each one subtly tweaking colors, typography, and graphics until a perfect balance is reached.

A great majority of people unconsciously establish their opinions based on initial appearance so it is crucial that you make your first impression count. As a student, typography can be a powerful

tool for you to use to establish the voice and tone of your documents and presentations effectively. Just as how every person has his or her own favourite colours and foods, many people choose to adopt a

font as their own personal hallmark. Use the quiz below to determine what font suits your personality and prepare to amaze your teachers and peers with your typographic prowess!

1.Your idea of an amazing party is: a.Sitting with your friends in the library and playing educational games to help you study for next week’s biology test. b.Having an intimate conversation with a close friend about fine cheeses and Victorian literature. c.Whatever you’re invited to as long as your friends are there. d.A rave in an abandoned warehouse that you snuck into. e.Going roller skating for your friend’s birthday.

2.You’re sitting on a crowded bus. You decide to: a.Strike up an interesting conversation with the person sitting right next to you. b.Be productive: review your agenda to see what needs to be done first once you’re home. c.Get off and take a taxicab instead. d.Use the opportunity for a performance art piece. e.Sit quietly and stare at your feet.

3.When shopping at IKEA, you like to: a.Use the shopping carts to pretend you’re surfing. b.Examine the store map carefully and plan out exactly where you’re going. c.Sneer disdainfully at the prospect of assembling your own furniture. d.Closely follow the arrows on the floor. e.Write obscene messages on the bath room stalls to protest consumerism.

4.Your ideal place to live in the United States is: a.Los Angeles; in a trailer with your friends who help run your mobile organic produce co-op. b.Orlando; squatting in one of the Disneyworld hotel suites. c.Boston; in a French colonial house situated in an exclusive gated community. d.Chicago; in a two storey house in the suburbs close to the library and the local high school. e.New York; in an apartment close to Wall Street.

5.If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, it would be: a.Nutella sandwiches. b.Nutrient bars. c.Candy. d.Dehydrated soy cubes. e.Caviar.

6.If you were a clothing store, you’d choose to be: a.A Prada boutique. b.Winners. c.Your own vintage store. d.Old Navy. e.The Gap.

7.Your signature scent would smell like: a.Flowers. b.Oranges. c.Mulch. d.Leather. e.Mahogany.

9.If you were a website you would be: a.huffingtonpost.com b.pitchfork.com c.moodle.yrdsb.ca d.reddit.com e.google.com

8.You love to listen to: a.Norwegian death metal bands. b.News reports on the radio. c.Anything that makes you want to get up and dance. d.Classical music. e.Elevator music and smooth jazz.

10.Your mode of transportation is: a.Your fixed-gear bike. b.A limo. c.A Toyota Camry. d.A luxury sports car. e.Whatever gets you where you need to be fastest.

SkintoneBY SIENNA WARECKI

http://peterlumpkins.typepad.com

what’s your type?


6 \\ SPRING ISSUE

This 12000 sq ft home in Miami Beach has 7 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. It was sold to Chris Bosh for $12.5 million dollars and is one of the most unique celebrity homes. Some of the features include a 20-ft ceiling, gym, elevator, and a gorgeous infinity pool with a view of Biscayne Bay as pictured. The house reportedly even blew this NBA star away and he believed that this really was the perfect brand new house for him.

FEATURE NO.3: CHRIS BOSH

Mariah Carey made an offer to buy the world’s most expensive mansion not so long ago. This successful diva did not mind the $125 million it took to acquire this house with 15 bedrooms, a spa and pool with a pavilion, a tennis court, staff quarters for 10, a 9-car garage, and a private jogging track in the heart of Beverly Hills, California.

FEATURE NO.2: MARIAH CAREY

Live the celebrity way!BY ALICE YOU

Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey has always been one of our favourites and she has landed the second most expensive property deal in the history of Los An-geles area’s real estate with this luxurious mansion. Sitting on 42 acres of land, the 23000 sq ft home in California’s Montecito was sold for $50 million and is complete with a lake, an orchard, and tennis courts.

FEATURE NO.1: OPRAH WINFREY

MUSIC LOVERS MUST HAVE !

LIVING IN A SHOE ! ?

HOW ABOUT A ROTATING HOME ?

TAKEOFF !

AND JUST FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT, TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE MOST UNIQUE HOUSES BUILT TO FIT YOUR INTERESTS!


SPRING ISSUE // 7

http://www.snakesandfrogs.com

http://images.mudfooted.com

http://www.naturephoto-cz.com

FrutigerThe quick brown fox jumpsover the lazy dog.Practical and clean, Frutiger is perfect for any focused, professional individual. This font is easily used in any business related write-up where legibility and clarity are key. Look for Frutiger on advertisements, in financial brochures, and in university materials.

CaslonThe quick brown fox jumpsover the lazy dog.This swash-like font is for the refined intellectual. Dating from 1722, Caslon -with its large spacing and beautiful ital-ics- has undergone several revivals. Sug-gesting poise and grandeur, Caslon can be used in essays and official lab reports to lend gravity. Look for Caslon in printed publications such as books and magazines.

MyriadThe quick brown fox jumpsover the lazy dog.Myriad Pro is the perfect neutral font. This unassuming and quiet typeface can be used almost anywhere to set a simple, modern tone. Used with ample negative space, Myriad Pro can also be effective as a bold statement font. Look for Myriad Pro on all Apple products.

HelveticaThe quick brown fox jumpsover the lazy dog.This typeface is the ultimate minimal-ist hipster font. Condense the spacing and bold the characters for instant visual impact. Helvetica was ubiqui-tous within the advertising industry in the mid to late 20th century but it has been recently adopted by anyone who wants to stand out and be different. Do not mix up with Arial. Look for Helvetica in old magazine advertise-ments and subway signage systems.

MuseoThe quick brown fox jumpsover the lazy dog.Museo is a fun, quirky font that is equal

parts flamboyance and reserved simplic-

ity. The friendly, circular forms of char-

acters such as “o” and “e” contrast with

the modified serifs of characters such as

“u” and “m” to create a dynamic feel. This

font is available for free online. Look for

Museo on websites and logos.

Count the number of each number that you have-DO NOT ADD THEM UP!

1. a)1b)2c)3d)4e)5

2. a)5b)1c)2d)4e)3

3. a)5b)1c)2d)3e)4

4. a)4b)5c)2d)3e) 1

5. a)3b)1c)5d)4e)2

6. a)2b)3c)4d)5e)1

7. a)3b)5c)4d)1e)2

8. a)4b)1c)5d)2e)3

9. a)2b)4c)1d)5e)3

10. a)4b)2c)3d)5e)1

Wacky AnimalsWHIPTAIL LIZARD

KOMONDOR DOG

PROBOSCIS MONKEY

BY IMELDA LO

Scientists have recently discovered an all-female lizard species, the checkered whiptail lizard of the Teiidae family from Mex-ico and the U.S. Southwest. About four inches long and with

checkering or striping on a pale yellow or white base body colour, they are diurnal and insectivorous. This lizard species manages to produce sans sex well-bred offspring without the aid of male fertilization. In other words, they reproduce asexually, by the process of partheno-genesis, so all the offspring are genetic clones of the mother. How do they continue to propagate this way without the disease vulnerability and lack of flexibility that often results from asexual reproduction? These lizards, along without other parthenogenetic species, are ge-netically isolated. Komodo dragons, for example, reproduce asexu-ally if necessary, but these small lizards have no such choice. With no males, they cannot exchange genetic material with one another, which means if there are any genetic weaknesses, such as physical mutation or disease susceptibility, there would be no chance for these weaknesses to be overridden by foreign genetic material. Interestingly enough, simulated mating behavior increases fertility, in which one female lies on top of another, engaging in pseudocopulation. When they lay eggs, the lizard on the bottom has larger eggs, while the one on the top has smaller. Every season, they switch their positions.

Imagine if this happened with humans!

A large (over 30 inches tall) white-colored Hungarian breed of livestock guardian dog with a long, corded coat, they are often referred to as mop dogs. Brought to Hun-

gary in the 14th century by Turkish speaking nomads, the Ko-mondor breed has since been declared as one of Hungary’s na-tional treasures. It is also known as the Hungarian sheepdog. The unique dreadlock appearance of its coat indicates that the breed had developed under an extremely dry temperature climate since it provides protection against cold and hot weather. This unique coat pattern also gives a hint of common origin with the Puli and the Bergamasco. However, due to the extreme thick-ness of the coat, external parasites are often a problem. A skin check, then, should be a part of a regular grooming routine. This breed has a massive bone structure and well developed mus-culature, but it is very friendly and intelligent. Easy bored but loyal and respectful of its master, the Komondor is a powerful dog breed with a natural guardian instinct to guard livestock (especially sheep) and other property.

Ladies, do you find men with large noses attractive? Do you think Shahrukh Khan and Woody Allen are attractive? Ap-parently, female Proboscis monkeys do. This species of

monkey is known for the large protruding nose of the male, from which it takes its name. Used to attract females, it can reach up to 7 inches in length. Besides attracting mates, the nose can serve as a resonating chamber, which amplifies their warning calls. Their noses truly do attract females, since Proboscis monkeys usu-ally live in harems with one adult male and many females and their offspring. The nose swells with blood when the animal be-comes agitated and makes warning calls louder and more intense. Endemic to Borneo’s low elevation mangrove forests, swamps, and riparian forests, one of the largest populations is found in the Danau Sentarum National Park. The monkeys live in small groups of 10 to 32 animals and group membership is quite flexible. Unfortunately, due to hunting and deforestation, only about 1000 Proboscis monkeys are known to exist in the wild. It is currently listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. As of now, it is protected by law in all regions of Borneo.

1’S

2’S

3’S

4’S

5’S Only Grace Marks really knows whether or not she was guilty, and to what extent. At various times, she would express remorse or deny any memory of the incident. She was released in 1872, and went on to marry, although she was never heard from again. The Kinnear-Montgomery murders, as sensational as they were centuries ago, may well have faded into obscurity if Canadian author Margaret Atwood hadn’t picked up a copy of Life in the Clearings a hundred and thirty years later. She developed a screen-play based on the life of Grace Marks, then turned it into a novel twenty years later.

Alias Grace was published in 1996 to wide critical acclaim and won the Giller Prize, garnering worldwide recognition and put-ting Richmond Hill on the map once again. Fortunately, dealing with the second wave of fame that the Kinnear-Montgomery murders’ revival has brought has been a walk in the park for the Town of Richmond Hill. Literally. In May 2010, Alias Grace Park was unveiled between Aladdin Cres-cent and Ridgestone Drive – less than five minutes’ drive from RHHS. Aspects of the park replicate life in the 1800s, and sculp-tures embody the storyline of Alias Grace;

their intent is to promote literature in the community. (Parks & Rec must have an in-teresting sense of humour in bringing the fictional story to life in the area where the murders actually happened; it really puts the “recreation” in “crime scene recreation”.) Grace Marks’ case, both in Alias Grace and in reality, hits close to home in reminding us that, as Simone Weil remarked, “Imagi-nation and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.” The line dividing fact and fiction is whisper-thin – some-times, it all comes down to which side of the street you’re on.

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE NEWS


SPRING ISSUE // 8

how to play

DOWN

by david fisher ACROSS

A Kakuro puzzle is a cross-word which uses numbers. The clues are in the small triangles.The blank squares must be filled with digits 1 through 9. The numbers in an answer mustadd up to the clue (Left for rows, top for columns). However, no number can be duplicatedin an answer. For example, two squares that add up to 6 may be 1+5 or 2+4 but not 3+3.

EASY MEDIUM HARD

websudoku.com

krazydad.com

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We`d love to hear them! E-mail us at [email protected]. Or visit us on Facebook: RHHS Spyglass group.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? SUGGESTIONS?

thinks.com

ANSWERS: breakfast, crossroads,

halfhearted, travel over seas, sum-

mary, moral support

HELP US IMPROVE

1. Bad6. Venomous snake9. Kind of code12. Period13. C - IX = ?14. Baseball stat15. Shades16. Once around the track17. Use an oar18. Halloween sights21. Director’s cry25. Pressure unit: Abbr.26. English __28. She, in Portugal31. “If I __ Hammer”(Pete Seeger classic)32. Dict. contents

1. Fitting2. Journalist’s question3. Summer cooler4. Employ5. Classroom activity6. Wheel connector7. Resell tickets8. Bag__ (instrument)9. Goose egg10. Golf club11. Fido’s feet19. “I __ it!” (Aha!)20. Color clothes in a way21. Rhine whine22. Cat in Cannes23. “Voila!”24. Up a creek

34. __ the Explorer(kid’s game)36. __ Mahal37. Spotted beetle39. Beast of burden42. Woolworthcontemporary43. Delegated group47. “The Sopranos”network48. Beastly place49. Come up54. “Alley ___!”55. Be mistaken56. In a foolish way57. Itsy-bitsy58. “Get it?”59. Fern’s offspring?

27. Good cholesterol, abbrev.29. Slow pitches30. “...as a bug in __”33. Japanese wine35. Cause of wrinkles38. Night visions?40. S, M, L, for example41. Put away43. Grub44. Cousin of a bassoon45. Sulk46. Ripped50. Knock51. Wedding vow52. Type of camera53. Part of a needle

TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWERS

1. WHICH BEATLES SONG LASTED LONGEST ON THE CHARTS FOR 19 WEEKS?

1. HEY JUDE2. KIT OR KITTEN3. CHINA4. USA (ARIZONA)

2. WHAT IS A BABY RABBIT CALLED? 3. WHICH COUNTRY GROWS THE MOST FRUIT?

4. WHERE CAN YOU FIND LONDON BRIDGE TODAY?

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Documents

Spyglass — March 2011