University of Victoria Tops Maclean Magazine’s Rankings as Top Comprehensive School in Canada!
For the second year in a row, the University of Victoria has captured first place in Maclean’s magazine’s annual rankings of Canadian universities. It shares the top spot in the comprehensive category with Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University, last year’s second-place finisher.
In the “primarily undergraduate” category, Mount Allison University in New Brunswick tops the list but the University of Northern B.C. (UNBC) has climbed to second place from fourth last year.
And in the medical/doctoral category, the University of B.C. slipped to fourth spot, down from second place last year, while McGill University led that ranking for the fourth year in a row.
Now in its 18th year, the Maclean’s university rankings compare 47 Canadian universities and surveys more than 87,000 students nationally.
The complete list of the 18th annual rankings hits newsstands on Nov. 13 — and will be on sale until January 2009.
The rankings are weighted by students/classes (20 per cent), faculty (18 per cent), resources (12 per cent), student support (13 per cent), library (15 per cent) and reputation (22 per cent).
Dance Victoria Presents Dance Comedian Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg October 23-26
Dance Victoria, in association with Suddenly Dance Theatre’s 11th Annual ROMP! Festival of Independent Dance, brings Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg to Victoria BC’s Metro Studio Theatre this October 23-26. Described as “half actor, half stand-up comic and 100% dancer,” Friedenberg is nothing less than a phenomenon.
Her satirical, character-driven solos are garnering rave reviews across Canada and the U.S. The Globe and Mail insists that “Friedenberg portrays men better than they can themselves” while the Georgia Straight describes her work as “an incandescently hilarious performance.” In her latest work, you’ll meet slick talk-show host Nick and lovelorn Juanita as they navigate the minefields of lust, desire and love. Friedenberg will amaze you with her dexterity, both as a dancer and as an actor, as she leaps between characters and genders with finesse.
Performances are at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 23; 9:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and a 2:00 p.m. matinee performance on Sunday. Performances will be held at the Metro Studio Theatre, 1411 Quadra Street in Victoria. Tickets are $26 and can be purchased online.
Bob Dylan at Save-On Foods Memorial Arena October 23
Legendary songwriter and pop cultural icon Bob Dylan will appear at the Save-On Foods Memorial Arena beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 23. Dylan is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed songwriters, musicians and performers in the world, having sold nearly 100 million albums and performed literally thousands of shows around the world in a career spanning five decades.
Dylan’s most recent trilogy of studio albums — Modern Times, Time Out Of Mind and Love & Theft –have been among his most commercially successful and critically lauded, each having sold more than a million copies in the U.S. and earning Grammy nominations for Album Of The Year (Time Out Of Mind won that award in 1998). He wrote and recorded “Things Have Changed” for the 2000 film Wonder Boys, for which he received both the Academy Award and Golden Globe. Read the rest of this entry »
Annual Victoria Masquerade Ball Raises Money for Children with AIDS
The annual Victoria Masquerade Ball will be held beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 27th, at the Fairmont Empress Hotel downtown. This colourful annual event is a fundraiser with proceeds being donated to UNICEF BC and directed towards the Unite For Children, Unite Against Aids campaign. a global effort to alert the world to the fact that children are missing from the global AIDS agenda.
The special guest speaker will Nigel Fisher, president & CEO of UNICEF Canada. He will speak on the urgent need for sustained programs, advocacy and fundraising to limit the impact of HIV/AIDS on children and help halt the spread of the disease.
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Victoria’s New Boxing Gym Offers Introduction to the Sweet Science
Victoria’s Capital City Boxing has teamed up with local veteran boxing coach and president of the Greater Victoria Amateur Boxing Association, Chris Jones, to start a new amateur boxing program out of the gym.
“This will be the only Amateur Program running out of the City of Victoria right now although there is one in the western community,” says Sandy Ibrahim, owner of Capital City Boxing. “I’m thrilled to have Chris’ expertise head up the team and look forward to a great year. Chris and I come from pretty different backgrounds, but we are both excited about how well we work together.” Jones, who is in his 60’s, started boxing in his teens and Ibrahim, 40, took it up 5 years ago training out of Cappy’s Gym in Seattle. “We look forward to developing a team of boxers that can compete with other Island boxing clubs as well as those elsewhere in B.C.” Read the rest of this entry »
Great Canadian Beer Festival Draws Thousands This Weekend
More than 40 craft breweries from across Canada and the Pacific Northwest come together to celebrate the diversity of the brewers’ craft this weekend, September 5 and 6, at the 16th annual Great Canadian Beer Festival held at the Royal Athletic Park at Caledonia and Cook Street.
The GCBF has quickly become one of the worlds’ must attend beer events. People from all over the globe visit Victoria to attend the GCBF — as do brewers from as far away as Australia, England and Belgium. Victoria’s little annual beer festival, first held in 1993, has blossomed into an international brewery event. Only all-natural beers from keg and cask are served - with most of the brewers on hand to answer questions, and accept compliments. Read the rest of this entry »
“Half Life” Opens at the Belfry September 16th
Beginning September 16 through October 19, the Belfry Theatre will present Half Life by John Mighton. Winner of the 2005 Governor General’s Award for Drama and the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, Half Life is directed by James Fagan Tait, and stars Mary Black, Anna Hagan, Andrew McNee, Richard Newman, Dawn Petten, Jan Wood and Marcus Youssef.
This delicate, moving piece tells the story of Clara and Patrick, two elderly residents of a home who may or may not have been lovers many years before. Confronted with their parents’ blossoming romance, their children must deal with their own feelings of love and loss. With tenderness and humour, Half Life explores the realities of love, beauty, memory and aging. Read the rest of this entry »
Extreme Sports in Supposedly Sleepy, Laid-Back Victoria BC
Anyone who believes that Victoria is for the “newly wed and nearly dead” should spend some time with Jayson Biggins of Vancouver Island Paragliding, based right in Fairfield. He’ll take you out to Dallas Road on a windy Saturday to watch the paragliders as they bank and weave their way to a soft beach landing – quite literally on a wing and a prayer. Read the rest of this entry »
Victoria BC 14th Annual Vancouver Island Blues Bash Starts Friday
This Labour Day weekend kicks off the 14th annual Vancouver Island Blues Bash at Ship Point on the Inner Harbour, a celebration of Blues and R&B music with afternoon free and evening ticketed performances. Featured are more than 14 individual bands who will perform over three afternoons and three evenings.
Blues in all shades for your soul will be featured, including Jim Byrnes’ House of Refuge, Lloyd Jones Struggle, Bill Johnson Blues Band, The Midnights, Auntie Kate and The Uncles of Funk and many more!
Price: Ticketed Shows: On sale Thursday, August 7, 2008. Jim Byrnes’ House of Refuge: Friday, August 29 - 7:30pm $22.00. Also ticket combo for both Jim Byrnes’ House of Refuge and Lloyd Jones Struggle only $30.00. Ticket combo (one ticket per show) only available through the Victoria Jazz Society office.
The Annual Blues Bash also presents three afternoons of free admission performances: Saturday, Aug. 30 12:30 – 5:00pm, Sunday, Aug. 31 12:30 – 8:00pm and Monday, Sept. 1 12:30 – 6:00pm.
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