illustration by Michael Lee
Josh Fox does not want his drinking water poisoned. Fair enough. Schooled in the documentary tradition of Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock, Fox constantly inserts himself into scenes in his film. The outcome is awkward, but effectively demonstrates that this movie is a personal plea. Slightly self-indulgent, the film brings attention to the much-needed conversation around natural gas extraction. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to recap, is the process used to extract underground natural gas deposits (the film focuses on shale gas). Companies drill into the ground, chemicals and water go in, a small earthquake occurs and gas comes out. The film is especially relevant here, given that Northeast British Columbia has the biggest source of shale deposits in Canada and natural gas production is already well under way in the Peace River region.
The film is a journey into the “heartland of America” in which the protagonist, our good buddy Fox, discovers more and more about the insidious effects of natural gas drilling. After a gas company offers to lease his land in Milanville, Pennsylvania for $100,000, Fox goes on a nauseating road trip filled with dead animals, brain lesions and contaminated water to find the effect of fracking on residents living near well sites.
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On The Air
Funk My Life
Interview by Chirag Mahajan
illustration by Michael Lee
If you could talk to Oker Chen for long enough, he would gladly walk you through the entire history of dance music. Starting with some of his favorites, like soulful house and funky hip-hop, you might be surprised to hear about the interesting and unexpected connections that modern genres have with soul, funk, swing, motown, doo-wop, disco and hip-hop. He’d even explain how these styles originated and adapted from the blues, jazz, and gospel music. His DJ training classes at CiTR must be quite a learning experience.
His show, Funk My Life, has been on CiTR’s airwaves since 2010, and has since aired countless soul and funk originals and bootlegs, mash-ups and re-rubs, dubs and remixes (and only a DJ could tell you what the difference between each one was). But despite the possibly infinite differences between these rhythms and styles, Oker tells me there is always one quality that connects every track: each one has a bit of ‘soul’. That word can mean a whole lot of things, so I had to ask him what he meant.
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