BLACK HISTORY MONTH CALGARY JOURNAL March-April 2019 Return to Analog the allure of physical stuff in a digital world TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO: ANDI ENDRUHN Editors in Chief and City Editors . Nathan Kunz & P. 4 Calgary Journal returns to analog Colin Macgillivray P. 6 Impaired and imperilled: Critics say new drunk driving Production and Design Editor . Alec Warkentin laws give police too much power Photo Editors . Richie Nguyen & P. 8 A salvageable feast Alexandra Nicholson P. 10 The power and psychology of analog entertainment Front and Treaty 7 Editor . Andi Endrun P. 11 Event calendar City Editor . Nathan Kunz P. 12 Animating life on the miniature scale A&E Editor . Thomas Bogda P. 14 Black & successful Black History Editor . Badria Abubaker P. 16 The story behind Black Hair Lifestyle Editor . Aamara Khan P. 18 Budget friendly fashion Digital Editor . Simran Sachar P. 20 Bright lights, big city Health and Voices Editor . Emily Dixon P. 22 Untouched by time: Inglewood Tech Editor . Curtis Larson P. 24 Photojournalists on Instagram Sports Editor . Shelby Dechant P. 26 Why epilepsy can be a slippery slope to homelessness P. 28 Resilience & strength P. 29 Lost in translation Back to the table: Why millennials are going back to Faculty Supervisor/Managing Editor P. 30 Archie McLean playing games the way old fashioned way P. 32 The right to repair (403) 803-6866 P. 34 Game quitters rise up [email protected] P. 36 More than just pom-poms P. 38 Playing for mental health Production Supervisor/Sales P. 39 Calgary Tower: An old friend in the cityscape Brad Simm P. 40 Shot by shot: Parallelism (403) 892-7424 P. 42 Light in the dark [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS CALGARYJOURNAL.CA MARCH/APRIL 2019 3 Calgary Journal returns to analog Why we decided to explore the world of the modern Luddite NATHAN KUNZ COLIN MACGILLIVRAY [email protected] [email protected] here’s no denying technology has made our Tday-to-day easier. Smartphones have con- densed the capabilities of numerous tools into one handheld device and skills that previously took years to master can be tightly summed up in a two-minute Youtube tutorial. Interactions with the digital world are inevitable, but more and more we see people pulled toward the tan- gible, analog items of the past. COLIN MACGILLIVRAY, CITY EDITOR AND EDITOR IN CHIEF It’s debatable that a film photo really looks To me, chess pieces from my first chess set are more better, or an album on vinyl has an additional than just delicate statuettes used to maneuver across a warmth to it, but long after technology should multi-shaded square board. They’re tangible figurines have made these formats obsolete, they contin- BADRIA ABUBAKER, BLACK HISTORY EDITOR that remind me of cold afternoons, huddled around a ue to survive and in some cases, thrive. My Michael Jackson Scream record was something given coffee table with my dad, hyper-focused on staying three Human beings have a natural predisposition to me by my older cousin back when I was 15. I’ve kept moves ahead of him. Outside of sports, my dad and I to all things analog. We still touch things with it ever since and whenever I want to listen to Michael have never really had an activity in which we could sit our hands, making the act of turning the page Jackson, I only ever listen to him on this record. There down and bond over. Playing video games was fun, but it of our favourite novel that much more exciting. is a nostalgic feel and authenticity whenever I listen was difficult to really create lasting memories after being Loading up a new album on vinyl is more of and it takes me back to when my cousin gave me this bombarded with kinetic lights and twitchy movements. an experience than just tapping play on your record and the stories she would tell me about Jackson, Chess gave us both a time to bond and get to know phone. There’s an imperfect, yet unforgettable his music and his iconic dancing. Although I do have each other better, strengthening our relationship in the quality to a film photograph that any smart- his music downloaded on Apple Music, this record is process and our love for an ageless game. phone filter just can’t replicate. There’s even a something I will cling to for the rest of my life. nostalgic quality to this very magazine, as news online has never been more accessible than it is today. While the term “analog” may be more precise- ly used in relation to electronics, we decided to use it as a catch-all category. Within this issue, we wanted to embrace the modern Luddite -- those who could do things the easy way, but choose instead to keep the rituals of the past alive, regardless of if everyone else considers them the “good old days.” From the hand-drawn animators, to friends who gather around a table to play roleplay games, to Calgary build- ings which act as a time capsule for a different THOMAS BOGDA, A&E EDITOR period, we wanted to capture the appeal of the CURTIS LARSON, TECH EDITOR A camera is just a tool to get pictures, and I wouldn’t say I past, and look at its place for the future. take particularly good care of my tools. My old Polaroid is It may be hard to sum up the appeal of a The croaking voice of my grandfather warbles from this old tape whenever I can dig up a deck capable of another story though. While it may not be in great shape book over a tablet, or a record over an MP3, — you have to really pry it to get it open, and I still need but there’s an old-school spirit that thrives in playing it. In soft tones he reads Petey the Snake to my older brother, making up his own little sound effects. to fix a thing or two — there’s motivation to keep it in our city - one we hope to capture through this good shape. It’s a remnant of the 1970s, for one, but it’s issue, our look at the modern Luddites’ return to The audio was transferred years ago, but the tape holds some power still. He was obsessed with putting labels on also a complete object. You have to fiddle with it, spend analog. time with it, and then the photo comes out of the same We asked our editors to bring in their favou- anything around his house — using an ancient drop-in component for his typewriter — every time I look at the box. This process really builds a connection to it, and for rite analog items and tell us why the still hang some reason, makes shooting with it a big deal. A fun on to these pieces of the past. front of the tape and see Petey the Snake across the front of it, I am reminded of him. deal. 4 MARCH/APRIL 2019 CALGARYJOURNAL.CA FRONT FRONT ANDI ENDRUHN, FRONT AND TREATY 7 EDITOR SHELBY DECHANT, SPORTS EDITOR NATHAN KUNZ, CITY EDITOR AND EDITOR IN CHIEF I’m bad with film cameras. I always overexpose, or Picture this: a sleepy Sunday morning, a fresh cup of I wish I could say I have a keen ear for detail, but I my shaky hands will blur the image — but when I coffee, breakfast cooking, pajamas and slippers on. really can’t tell much of a difference between digital pulled this Rolleiflex out of a box of junked cameras What makes this morning different than any other is the music and vinyl. The draw for me instead comes from at my grandmother’s house, it was love at first sight. soundtrack of Billie Holiday playing in the background the experience vinyl offers — from crate-digging The clunkiness in the process, the waiting for my on the record player. This record represents my down afternoons in record stores, to the physical drop (admittedly terrible) photos to be printed and the time, my time where I don’t need to be on my computer, of the needle and the fuzz of the first few seconds, patience it requires me to have when all I want is I don’t need to be at work, all I have to do is make my there seems to be more value in listening to an instant gratification drives me crazy. It feels entirely pancakes, drink my coffee and sing along to Billie. album in this format than off of a YouTube rip. wrong looking down into the viewfinder that’s This album, Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to perpetually covered in dust, and the sticky shutter Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor has helped button catches me off guard every time. I don’t think me through several day long essay sessions and I’ve ever taken a good picture yet, but I’ve never had study-cramming evenings. The double-album format more fun. often forces me to take a second to flip the record or switch to the second disk, often right as I need that break — something you don’t get with the cold autoplay format of a digital version. ALEC WARKENTIN, PRODUCTION AND DESIGN EDITOR It’s simple, to write about the tangibility of a tried- and-true, cover-to-cover, book. That pulpy, lived-in library smell. Lines of text — maybe paired with pictures — faded, bolded, italicized, underlined, struck, split up or parsed out, marching in formation on crisp, smooth pages.