Rick Mercer's hilarious talk will be one of the many activities happening during this month's Alumni Weekend!

Hey UBC!  Now that finals are done, take a breather and check out these awesome events happening on campus this month:

May 2 – UBC Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition (Opening Reception): The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery presents an exhibition of work by the 2013 graduates of UBC’s two-year Master of Fine Arts program. Free admission

May 4 – Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference – Infect: CUTC is Canada’s largest and longest running undergraduate technology conference. Over 14 years, the conference reached 4000 students, worked with 150 industry leaders and helped hundreds of students find jobs.

May 9 – August 23 – [a]drift: The Beaty Biodiversity Museum launches [a]drift, a visual art exhibition by Edith Krause that features human life-sized images of tiny marine creatures.

May 11 – A Growing Affair: Spring is here and so is UBC Botanical Garden’s annual plant sale!  There will also be activities, informative displays, and demonstrations for both new and experienced gardeners. Free admission

May 14 – Career Crash Course – Arts: Not sure what to do with your Arts degree? Work with alumni, industry professionals and Centre for Student Involvement and Career advisors on networking, resume and interview skills.

May 15 – Rising to the challenge – Advanced bread making at home: This advanced bread baking workshop is designed for home bakers who are aiming to further improve their baking skills and their home-baked loaves. Cost: $35 (+ $1.87 registration fee)

May 17 – Spring Fling Doubles Mixer: Join the UBC Tennis staff in celebrating the start of spring with a night of great doubles tennis at the tennis centre! Cost: $35 (includes – 2 hours of nonstop doubles tennis, food, beverages, prizes!)

May 22 – Baccalaureate Concert: This concert is a part of UBC’s graduation week celebrations and will feature students graduating from the UBC School of Music. Free admission

May 22-24 & May 27-29 – UBC Spring Graduation ceremonies:  Find the schedule and all relevant UBC graduation info here. Don’t forget to join the conversation with #UBCGrad2013.

May 25 – UBC Alumni Weekend! With more than 60 activities to choose from, Alumni Weekend is open to everybody, but registration is required, RSVP today!

Know any upcoming events happening in UBC?  Email us at info.events@ubc.ca or tweet us @UBCevents we’ll add them to the list or feature them in the next events blog post!

Have a good summer everyone,

Ariel

New wall for Storm the Wall! A new location this year, any guesses where it will be?

Hey UBC! Take advantage of this last month of school before final exam crams by checking out these cool on-campus events happening in March:

March 13 – Kombucha and Beyond: Natural Health Drinks – Join Foodwisdom at the UBC Farm to learn how to make your own nutritious health drinks. $35 (+ $1.87 registration fee)

March 14 – Rock Paper Scissors UBC REC Championship

March 14 – Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, discusses scientific and social policy issues in research on HIV/AIDS

March 15 – UBC Relay for Life – A 12-hour non-competitive relay to CELEBRATE cancer survivors, REMEMBER those we have lost, and FIGHT BACK against this disease. $15 Registration

March 16 – Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UBC Global Health Conference, as part of Celebrate Research Week

March 16 – UBC Archaeology Day 2013 – Archaeological Interactions, speakers, free coffee, snacks, and lunch

March 20 – UBC Walter Gage Toastmasters Club International Speech Contest

March 20 – Storm the Wall is BACK! Are you ready for one of UBC’s most iconic experiences? Swim, sprint, bike, run & STORM THE WALL!  Register by March 20!

March 22 – The Digital Tattoo Project: Think Before You Ink – Learn how to effectively manage your online presence. Feel free to bring your laptop and follow along!

Know any upcoming events happening in UBC?  Email us at info.events@ubc.ca or tweet us @UBCevents we’ll add them to the list or feature them in April’s installment!

See ya next month UBC,

Ariel

Welcome back to campus!

If you’re looking for some motivation to kick off your first month on campus, check out this interview with two very successful women, who are UBC alumni.

Anna Wallner and Kristina Matisic were back on campus filming their latest TV show. These two smart and savvy women are famous for putting their investigative journalistic skills to work hosting their hit TV shows The Shopping Bags, Anna and Kristina’s Grocery Bags and Anna and Kristina’s Beauty Call.

UBC Events caught up with them to ask, what were their most memorable moments at UBC.

Q: Favourite event at UBC?

Anna: Football games at Thunderbird Stadium.
Kristina: Plays at Freddy Wood Theatre.

Q: Favourite place to eat on campus?

A: There was a place that sold cinnamon buns. I can’t remember the name of it but those cinnamon buns were the best ever. I think I ate one every day in first year. They were definitely to blame for my freshman 15!
K: There was a coffee shop at the SUB that I loved. Every morning I’d get a latte and a cookie with smarties in it and head to class. I loved being able to take snacks into class, something that wasn’t permitted in high school.

Q: Most memorable moment?

A: Going skydiving with the UBC skydiving club (I have no idea if the club still exists).
K: It wasn’t a moment but a whole year. I loved the Arts One program. I’m not sure if it’s still offered. It was a great way to ease into university life and I really enjoyed the program format, the books we studied and the small group environment.

Q: Favourite place to study?

A: The basement of Main Library. It was a great place to find a corner where no one would bother you. Sedgewick Library on the other hand was a total social scene.
K: I studied at the Main library, along with all my friends. I don’t think we got much done. Then I’d head home to study in earnest. I was definitely a work before play kind of girl.

Q: Your advice to future UBC graduates?

A: My advice is to always do what you love. Be interested and you will become interesting. The career will follow.
K: Don’t feel like you need to have your whole life planned out ahead of you. You just need to take a first step. Each course, each interview, each job and each experience will teach you something and give you insight into what career path is right for you.

Q: If you could sum up campus life as a theme song what would it be?

A: Rock and Roll all Night – Kiss
K: Who needs sleep by the Barenaked Ladies!

Q: First dish you ever cooked as a university student?

A: Macaroni and cheese.
K: I didn’t do a lot of cooking as a university student. I ate a lot of ramen noodle soups and of course, macaroni and cheese out of a box. They’re both such comfort foods, not to mention inexpensive and easy to make.

Q: If you could bring back one thing from your university years, like big hair or something, what would it be? And what would you rather leave behind?

A: I’d like to bring back acid wash as a fashion staple. But I’m happy to leave the big hair behind.
K: I’d definitely leave behind the perm I had in second year. What was I thinking? As for bringing something back, that youthful, wrinkle free skin wouldn’t be bad!

Q: Favourite outfit during your university years?

A: A pair of old ripped up levis from my boyfriend.
K: My favourite thing to wear was my black motorcycle jacket and faded Levi jeans. I actually bought a new motorcycle jacket recently. It has more modern styling than the one I bought in university. And I still wear jeans, of course. Some things don’t change much!

Q: Favourite place to hang out on campus?

A: The Pit Pub, every Wednesday night (I got a job there so I wouldn’t have to wait in line!)
K: The Pit pub. We had a quite a few fun afternoons and evenings in there.

Thank you ladies for taking the time out of your busy schedules to chat with us. We look forward to seeing both of you next time you’re on campus!

Just a note, the UBC Skydiving team is still active and the Arts One program is still going strong!

One of the highlights of being on campus during the summer months is the UBC Blueberry festival. It’s four days of yummy blueberry goodness from freshly-made blueberry pancakes to straight-up blueberry eating. There was even a blueberry tart eating contest! I didn’t enter, but I did enjoy a delicious blueberry tart.

Opening day was a little quiet. CiTR was setting up their live broadcasting table, and Steve Golob, the residence chef for Vanier was being interview by Brenda Grunau, the station manager at CiTR, before his live cooking demonstration. But as the clock struck noon, the lunch hour rush hit, and the blueberry scones, pancakes, blitzes, which is a crepe stuffed with blueberries and cream cheese, tarts, muffins, polenta cakes and crumbles were quickly snapped up.

Overall, the opening day of the Blueberry Fest had more of a blueberry bake sale feeling, but I’m sure the Family Day portion lived up to its festival name.

Sarah, Liam, and Lu (cameraman) headed down to the UBC Farm for their annual Joy of Feeding fundraiser. They got a chance to chat with the cooks and ran into Vancouver Mayor, Gregor Robertson!

Sarah and Liam headed to a few of the spring congregation ceremonies happening at UBC Vancouver and decided to ask our new grads a few questions.

Before coming into UBC Theatre’s performance of Macbeth, I was quite curious of how the production would compare with my preconceived understanding of the story. From my experience viewing Shakespeare plays by various theatre troupes, modern interpretations have usually resonated with me more than traditional ones have. Although UBC Theatre’s portrayal of the story was traditional in nature, it pleasantly surprised me with it’s skillfully staged and accurate depictions of this bloody tale.

Sitting in the audience, I felt an odd mix of pity and anger for the character, while lady Macbeth, played by Christine Bortolin, tried to wash the blood from her hands and desperately cried “out spot, out”. Meanwhile, human vulnerability to power and our own mind is clearly illustrated through her husband’s character of Macbeth, played by Alexander Keurvorst.

A twist on the relationship between the witches and Macbeth kept me on my toes until the end of the play, as they appeared in the form of his conflicting conscience. The live bagpipe music throughout the play completely submerged the audience into the story and helped them connect with the characters’ states. The director, Patrick New, made each character in the play memorable, regardless of the role’s scope, making them an invaluable part of the play.

It is fair to say that the story’s most important lessons were inexplicitly yet vividly conveyed to the audience through cleaver twists, scene selection and the wonderful acting of the UBC Theatre troupe. I salute the actors in succeeding to evoke contradicting emotions in the audience that Shakespeare perhaps intended the viewers to feel.

The play is on from now until March 31st at the Frederic Wood Theatre. You can purchase your tickets here.

Lee Johnson, Keyanna Burgher, and Lu Zhang with George Stroumboulopoulos.

For the past two years we’ve been producing weekly videos that highlight upcoming events at UBC. Since January 2011 we’ve had the pleasure of having a regular hosts for our videos – Angela Jung, Lee Johnson, and Keyanna Burgher. It’s the end of the term and we’re looking for a host for the summer months (Lee and Keyanna are heading home, but will be back in September).

The UBCevents host will film minimum one video per week during the summer (May 1st – August 31st) with the opportunity to continue from September – April 2013. The successful applicant will also get access to several special events throughout the year when filming opportunities arise. Time commitment is max. 5 hours per week.

Eligibility:

Applicant must be a current UBC student.

To Apply:

Upload a video of yourself on YouTube expressing why you want to be the next host of UBCevents. Email the link to your video and a short bio to info.events@ubc.ca by Friday, April 20th, 2012.

Please note that this is a volunteer position. The successful candidate will start in the first full week of May.

For questions about the UBCevents Video Host position, please contact jamil.rhajiak@ubc.ca.