Kevin Fox’s folk-pop style is outside the cello box

Tuesday April 20, 2010 – The Daily Courier – Kelowna

by Tara Miller

Kevin Fox defines multifaceted– he is a singer/songwriter, composer, recording artist and cello player. He has toured for over 20 years as a side-man with the likes of Chantal Kreviazuk and Tom Cochrane and is now on tour across Canada as a solo artist for his album Songs for Cello and Voice.

Described as cello-driven folk/pop, his style seems to dance outside the box for what people associate to the cello.

Shelly Vida, Performing Arts Coordinator for the Rotary Centre for the Arts said “you think cello, you think classical but it’s used so much more in pop and rock. I’m amazed by what he can do. He blurs the genres, appealing to people from different backgrounds.”

Included in Fox’s pitstop in Kelowna is a workshop with local musicians the day before his show. Fox will be teaching improvisation techniques to a group of 20 primarily youth musicians and then bringing them on stage with his trio for two numbers during the show.

Fox, who previously toured through Kelowna as an accompanist with Spirit of the West, is looking forward to being back with the time to spend in the community.

“I’m almost more nervous about doing the workshop. I still find myself nervous going in and love to do these workshops because you never know what to expect. I love the added element of doing a workshop because it’s an opportunity to learn more about a community than just passing through.”

“Touring is not grandiose, the reality is you never get to see more than the tour bus and your hotel room. It’s a privilege to be welcomed to the community and be invited to play. I get to know the people and sense the energy of the town.”

Fox studied classical performance at McGill University in Montreal and then played electric guitar in a rock band, retiring his cello for four years. He returned to the instrument and brought his own twist to it.

He brings improvisation and a language not taught in a classical forum to his workshops but often feels daunted in a room of professional symphony players simply because he works in the context of not having sheet music.

“I’ve always had my own thing going but I’ve never gone out and toured that much until recently, it’s my thing and my music sharing the cello in a way not used as you would expect. It’s cool to see that response. Not many classical soloists or symphony player write their own music so for me it’s a means to express my own energy.“

Fox says he loves feeling slightly out of his comfort zone – generally a “comfortable guy in life” he sees stepping out of his comfort zone as a welcome challenge and stretch.

For his audiences that means “people that come have this element of surprise that the cello can sound like that and be used in that context. I’ve had a lot of positive response to the instrument in general.”

Fox says he’s most challenged by cover songs. His album has a cover of Annie Lennox’s Sweet Dreams. “When I do a cover it’s out of my comfort zone so I leave it to the last moment. In the last 24 hours I’m getting to it but it always works out great and I think that’s a testament that if you push yourself there’s  reward. It’s fun, I love it.”

Audiences for Fox’s upcoming show will see him use his cello in a contemporary genre of music in a relaxed atmosphere.

“I’m a good vibe guy. I’m transparent and comfortable on stage, much like they’re in my living room. It’s like a singer songwriter show, I’m just using the cello. I do talk about it and it still feels new with challenging elements for it every night. I’m confident but uncomfortable – it’s a good edge.”

Fox will be performing at the Rotary Centre for the Arts on Sat. Apr 24 at 7:30 p.m. with local artist pre-show with Jordan Davies performing a free pre-show at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for this RCA Spotlight Series available through selectyourtickets.com.

Local cello teacher Olivia Walsh is one of 20 that will be joining Fox onstage at his Kelowna show.

“He has taken his own extraordinary talent and an excellent instrument and combined the two to create a kind of music that appeals to different generations and rings true in different genres. It showcases not only his talent as an artist and composer and puts it into a level that’s accessible.”

www.kevinfox.ca

Film takes loving look at dirt

April 10, 2010 The Okanagan Saturday – Kelowna

by Tara Miller

Talk dirty to me. It’s a phrase that perks up your ears a bit doesn’t it? The

Fresh Outlook Foundation has used that sex appeal to gain some perk through the Okanagan to raise awareness about… dirt.

Fresh Outlook Foundation is a non profit organization promoting Talking Dirty, a community based social marketing campaign designed to promote awareness of sustainability through screenings of the award documentary DIRT! The Movie.

Narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, this movie delves into this valuable and often passed over resource to show how our soil is alive, what it is, how important it it, what we’re doing to damage it, and what we can do to mitigate that damage now.

Fresh Outlook Foundations, Founder and CEO Joanne de Vries watched the movie at it’s screening at the REEL CHANGE Film Festival at the end of January and was motivated to set out a challenge to create the Talking Dirty awareness campaign.

“I never looked at it this way before, but dirt is a a living system; it is the skin that surrounds the earth. Our goal is to have 10,000 views by 10:10 p.m. on Oct 10, 2010. The movie was so well received and the dialogue to positive following the film that I leapt into this project that night and had a planning committee in place within a few days.”

de Vries’ goal is to have the movie shown through community groups and events throughout every community in the Okanagan.

“We’d like to see community groups, businesses, special interest groups, and even individuals host screenings for which we’ll give each person or group a screening kit. We expect that people will really use their imaginations and to view this film and get a fresh outlook.”

Not only does the film address the importance of our soil, but it challenges common misconceptions about it showing how every person can make a difference through the choices they make.

“The choices you make can hurt or they can help. I think people get overwhelmed about environmental issues. One reason it appealed to me is there is such a thing as cumulative acceptance; the idea that the more people learn, the more the behaviour changes they adopt are easier.”

What appealed to de Vries is the message of the film that encourages proactivity not only individually through things like composting, but along every level up to business purchasing decisions.

“Statistics show that people are more likely to adopt sustainable behaviours at home home first.This new message has impact for every sector and shows the things we can do at work. From landscaping choices to composting of office kitchen waste, it provides solutions.”

Everyone that screens the movie will receive a regular newsletter that will have success stories, provide how-to’s and soil friendly tips.

“We minimize soil’s importance in development and construction, we are covering over too  much of our soil with asphalt and concrete and polluting the soil that we have mostly due to lack of education. I believe, that generally, people, when they know better, they do better.”

The planning committee has representatives from UBC-O, OUC, School District 23, IHA and and soil related businesses and experts encouraging this platform forward but Fresh Outlook Foundation still accepting sponsors throughout the valley for Talking Dirty.

The fundraising kick off takes place at the atrium of the Best Western Inn in Kelowna, Wed March 24 from 5 – 9 p.m. Local wineries have come on board for the event with samples of their wines and will be sharing their sustainability practices in currently in place or in their future plans for the Okanagan soil that supports one of our most recognized industries.

“The mandate of the film is to generate dialogue not to tell people what they should or shouldn’t do. Whatever people’s opinions, we want them to share and be part of the solution.”

The Fresh Outlook Foundation website www.freshoutlookfoundation.com will be posting a list of pick up spots and borrowing locations for the films as this movement takes shape.

‘Reel Injun’ explores inaccurate portrayal of aboriginals in film

as published in eVent! April 7, 2010 – Kelowna

by Tara Miller

On one end, delicately searching for the most accurate and politically correct address for the aboriginal community and on the other end a skewed and stereotyped Hollywood commodity. Canadian Cree film director Neil Diamond made a film that examines Hollywood’s representation of First Nations people with a balance of education and humour.

Reel Injun: On the trail of the Hollywood Indian, produced in conjunction with the National Film Board of Canada and Rezolution Pictures was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last summer, imagineNATIVE and Sundance Film Festivals. Moving across the country with screenings at film festivals, the Olympic winter games and on CBC, Reel Injun is scheduled for a free screening at the The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art in Kelowna next week.

Greg Younging, UBC Okanagan assistant professor of Indigenous studies consulted on the film. “Reel Injun is about the image of indigenous people created in movies, particularly westerns out of Hollywood and shows the impact these films have had, as detrimental to indigenous people.”

Younging says the film shows how indigenous people are stereotyped in these films, often portrayed as “savages, criminals, bloodthirsty”. Not only barbaric in their representation, but grossly inaccurate.

Indian tribes as part of a story line where that tribe, traditions, and wardrobe was inconsistent with the time and place of tribes actually inhabiting that space. Many prominent native characters were played by caucasian actors made up to appear native. Iron Eyes Cody, one of the most famous early Native American film “icons” was actually of Italian descent from Louisiana.

Clint Eastwood is quoted in the film as saying “I remember once we were on a set, the director said ‘I want a real native, upfront. I want to see the real thing.’ We couldn’t find one!”

Reel Injun includes interviews from prominent actors, filmmakers, activists, and entertainment figures to examine the erroneous images in the history of film of indigenous characters and culture.

Hollywood has made over 4000 films about native people over a century of filmmaking perpetuating an ongoing fascination with indigenous history and culture but often lacking a true representation of that history and culture.

Diamond lists stereotypes that appear in almost every film including the Noble Savage and the Drunken Indian. Predictable figures with cloned wardrobes and native imagery woven together to create familiar scenes of cliched characters that provide a jaded image and a minimized perspective and separation of what the indigenous communities are all about.

Younging affirms the times are changing. “There are new emerging indigenous filmmakers starting to make their own films that are culturally authentic.”

Reel Injun screens at The Alternator Gallery, Friday, April 9 at 7 p.m. with a panel discussion Sat April 10 at 4 p.m.

www.alternatorgallery.com

Psychic adds humour in book and radio show

Saturday April 3, 2010 – the Okanagan Saturday – Kelowna

by Tara Miller

Psychic Natasha Rosewood is known for her lighthearted sense of humour and matter of fact approach on her radio shows “Bloody Hell” and she’s bringing it to Kelowna as part of her cross Canada book tour.

“Humour is my trademark. If we can’t have fun then why do it? When people come to me they are at a crossroads, often dealing with serious issues and while i don’t like to make fun of that, I do like to help them lighten up about it.”

Rosewood likens her comedic verve to the style of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers injecting that as lightness into her conversations with her clients and radio show callers.

“Often I’m listening, agreeing, validating. Some people just want to be heard and they need a different perspective to get them over that hump and plug into their own sense of what’s truth for them.”

Rosewood moved to Canada from Britain after working through some serious life issues of her own, she felt she had something special to offer others.

“My life has been a huge comedy of errors. I can laugh at it now. I feel like God is like a big comedian.”

Rosewood says that her role is often one of pulling people forward by giving them hope and helping them tap into their own intuition to connect with what they need to do to move to a positive outcome.

“There are times when something is going to show up anyway for someone and I see that and it can offer people hope and there are times when I say “well you’re going to have to work for it, think positively and set energy as intention to the universe that you want to receive. I hate the fortune teller label, because we all have work to do in our lives.”

The initially unwitting psychic explains her move from flight attendant to psychic.

“Let me tell you I came in kicking and screaming. I was always fascinated by anything with the universe and seeing patterns behind the chaos and what made people tick. I studied it, wanting to master my own life amidst chaos.”

Rosewood consulted with a myriad of psychics to find her own path. “After 10 psychics tell you the same thing I thought bloody hell, I’ll likely appear to be crazy or just weird. I knew I was going to do something big but I thought it’d be in business. When I did readings for people initially I just thought it was a coincidence if I got something right.”

Rosewood’s first book Aaagh, I Think I’m Psychic (And You Can Be Too) talks about her journey into becoming a full time psychic, Rosewood’s second book, Aaagh, I Thought You Were Dead (And Other Psychic Adventures) is 20 of the most interesting stories that Rosewood describes as “teaching stories about how energy and ghosts manifest” including some of her own.

“We are spirits ourselves; these are spirits just without the physical body. But we have control over our spiritual environment and that empowers us in so many ways. There is nothing to be afraid of and they will go away if you tell them to.”

Empowerment is a gift Rosewood hopes to impart on all her clients, encouraging them to reconnect with their sense of self, tapping into the power of their mind to create positive changes in their lives and their bodies, challenging them to create positive visualizations for their own best outcomes.

“I think people respect me because I’m not a fortune teller. It’s always about growth and what you’re learning right now, moving forward, hopefully with some humour. Have a depression session, it feels good but let’s lighten up on ourselves. We don’t know how to grieve in this culture – once we’re allowed to get to the bottom of it and have a cry about it then we can move forward. “

Rosewood has two more books ready to be edited, radio and television opportunities across Canada and moving through the US and all the way to London.

Her visit to Chapters Tues Apr 13 from 3-8 p.m. will include a taping of her radio show on site. Rosewood’s message is “We need to listen to that voice of intelligence that is wanting to support you in this life. We need to really connect with ourselves and love ourselves unconditionally. Be willing and open to say there’s a possibility within a possibility that what Natasha is saying might have some validation.”

Information on Rosewood’s radio show, books and psychic services can be found at www.natashapsychic.com

Pageant about a lot more than evening wear

March 28, 2010 The Okanagan Sunday – kelowna

by Tara Miller

From winner of a pageant at her high school in India to competing in the Miss World Canada Pageant in Vancouver in 2010, 23 year old Dona Sharma had Kelowna  as one of her pit stops along the way.

Miss World Canada will be crowned in Vancouver on May 7 and the winner will receive a trip to Vietnam in November to compete in the Miss World Pageant with 120 other contestants from around the world.

Sharma, a student in Vancouver in UBC’s Biotechnology program and hopeful future med student said “I knew about these pageants when I was a kid, it was always a fun thing for me to watch but I never thought I would do it, it was never a conscious decision.”

A last minute decision, Sharma entered after her mother sent her the link to the Miss World Canada Facebook page. “I heard it was in Vancouver for the first time and I got this link the night before the auditions. I thought, it doesn’t hurt to try out for the audition so I got a picture and typed up a bio and tried out.”

Sharma is graduating from her program at UBC this spring so the timing couldn’t be better.

“I felt like this is a chance and I like doing these kinds of things. In high school as an exchange student I liked representing my country and because of those experiences I knew I would enjoy this. So I tried out and the judges told me right away that they liked me.”

One of the reasons that Sharma was attracted to this particular pageant was because the philosophy behind it was different from other pageants she had seen. For over 25 years the pageant has followed the theme of “Beauty with a Purpose” making charity fundraising a large part of their mandate down through each individual contestant. As a result they have raised over $400 million for children’s charities around the world.

“Over the last year or two I have been doing a lot of volunteer work. Through the Red Cross and at the UBC Hospital. This pageant is strongly affiliated with the Variety Club charity. People have this perception that it’s all swimsuits and girls that don’t have much brains,  it’s a stereotypical image.”

Sharma says the organizers are committed to the message that this pageant is about much more than beauty. Contestants aren’t required to give their measurements upon entry and are expected to participate in fundraising activities and that component makes up part of their score.

Proceeds from each $25 ticket for the pageant in May go towards the Variety Club charities.

The week of pageant activities run the week of May 3 with optional rounds of competition including talent, swimsuit, most photogenic, and international competition. Each round, though optional, gives the contestants more opportunities to increase their exposure to the judges. Sharma plans on competing in all of them.

40% of their scores are based on how they interview and their communication skills with 60% coming from fundraising, promotion of the event, and how they present on stage including the evening gown competition.

“I’m really excited and not really nervous at all. I haven’t done this before so it’s going to be a lot of fun. I think I’ll get to learn so much from this.”

To prepare for the event, Sharma is focusing a lot of energy in the midst of her studies on promotions and fundraising to help raise funds for Variety. “Variety is worldwide and they’ve been helping children and families in BC for a long time through individual grants, emergency response funds, special assistive medical devices and therapies etc. They are a great non profit organization.”

The charity, fits Sharma’s inclination as she hopes to continue on to medical school. She’s selling Variety pins and tickets for the pageant with all proceeds donated to the charity.

“It’s a big opportunity with the chance for exposure and experience and a whole process of learning.Everything from how to accept rejection and dealing with people. It opens doors and offers from everything from entertainment and modeling to more volunteer experiences.”

Tickets and pins can be purchased from Sharma through her family locally by calling 250-448-9610.

Former Telus employee writes novel

by Tara Miller

Saturday March 20, 2010, The Okanagan Saturday – KELOWNA

Published author is a title that Gerald Deshayes never imagined would be one he would have, but a five year journey into writing his first novel has earned him the right to use it. A far cry from his pre-retirement career working for Telus, Deshayes book Gene is receiving positive views from its readers, both locally and abroad.

“I’ve had some great reviews from people who have said, “I just cannot put this book down and I can’t wait to read your next book. I’ve made a giant leap here. It’s a medical fiction based on scientific fact and some will find it disturbing but it’s only a story.” said Deshayes of his book based on the 17 year old character, Gene, that has an accident and discovers he is a quadriplegic.

Falling outside the typical accident, disease, recovery, and coping paradigm of what we’re used to for this kind of drama, Deshayes book offers a radical twist in presenting the character with a chance for a cure in a procedure so far out of our normal realm of thought that it’s difficult to comprehend, but one keeping readers hooked.

“Prior to writing Gene, I was not a writer -  the biggest thing I had written was my grocery list. I never thought I could do it but something changes in your life and you follow it and at least attempt it.”

This journey into writing came together from a series of events in Deshayes life that had impact on him. “I had read a book in high school called Johnny Got His Gun about a young man that came back from the war. He had lost his limbs and ability to speak but was mentally alert…he was trapped in his body.”

Seeing patients at Cottonwoods Care Centre equally trapped in their bodies on during his work visits and watching a special on Christopher Reeve after he became a quadriplegic compounded that impact to Deshayes.

The concept of one being trapped and betrayed by their own body but maintaining mental capacity stacked up in Deshayes mind but it was after the passing of his younger sister to Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) and watching her suffer through it’s various stages that was the final piece that prompted him to write this book. “After she died there was something within me to speak out even if only to satisfy my own soul.”

Deshayes started writing this story down, thinking he would maybe just start with a couple of chapters. He says it was a process that happened in stages and the road to self publishing not an easy or an inexpensive one.

“I wanted to make sure it was the best I could do and that whoever picked it up couldn’t put it down. Reaching that, I had achieved all the goals I wanted to do which was to write for myself and dedicate it to my sister. In the end I had something I hoped was

fun reading and entertaining as well as a legacy to my family.”

Deshayes went through the process of trying to find an agent, sending excerpts of his book out to try and find representation, eventually having Gene self published through Trafford Publishing, through one of their self publishing packages. Deshayes has since decided to take it to the next level, purchasing a publicity package that is currently pushing the book via Authors Solutions in Washington, DC on a 12 week publicity campaign.

Overall, the financial investment has surmounted $10,000 along with his time and efforts, but it has never been about the money for Deshayes.

“The first stage was writing the book, the second was getting it professionally edited, third is to get it published and the fourth is getting feedback on your work, and  good or bad, you’re exposing yourself to the world, you feel slightly vulnerable because other eyes are reading your thoughts through all of this.”

Self published books have a rap for not always being a quality read and Deshayes wanted to make his book the best it could possibly be.

Gene is available at Chapters and Mosaic book stores and online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Moving onto his second book, Deshayes feels he’ll finish it in half the time now that’s he’s paved the way with his first book.

“It’s just flowing out of me. I started a month ago but it’s going to take me half the time. My writer’s voice is ingrained in me and I see that now. I set a goal and I push myself – other people can do it, it takes a lot of hard work but you can do it.”

gerrydeshayes@hotmail.com

Screenwriter sees movies in his head

March 21, 2010 The Okanagan Sunday – KELOWNA

by Tara Miller

West Kelowna screenwriter Timothy Perrin continues work after pitching his TV series Reel Law to the four biggest production houses at Pitchmarket 2010 in Vancouver March 7.

Perrin was one of ten finalists selected after two rounds of judging for the weekend event. Each finalist was given 20 minutes to pitch their series to executives from CTV and Vancouver’s major production company players. Each contender vying for $20,000 in prizes and the opportunity to have their script picked up for production.

From broadcast journalism to practicing law to teaching at OUC through to screenwriter – Perrin’s journey has been multifaceted and multi-adventurous to say the least. But his past experience has created a natural lending to a script like Reel Law. His knowledge, a character that developed from his wife’s quirky alter-ego and the rest of the pieces just fell into place for this project that while a lot of work, was also a lot of fun.

Originally initiated as a legal drama between Perrin and one of his students, it was Perrin’s agent at the time that suggested he add a comedic twist. Reel Law evolved into a sitcom taking place in a law firm specializing in the film industry in Vancouver.

“It’s a sitcom, plain and simple. It happens to take place in a law office, but we’re here to make people laugh. There’s no magic to it. When in doubt we go for the gag – lots of jokes, puns, play on words, as many gags as I can. It’s highly irreverent and politically incorrect.”

Perrin won an Angie Award for Best Screenplay at the 2007 International Mystery Writer’s Festival and was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition for his dramatic screenplay Albatross, co-written with UBC professor Lance Rucker.

“The biggest challenge with a sitcom is that your first draft is always too linear – you have to learn how to tell a story without telling every detail with words – you have to tell the story in pictures.” Whereas Albatross was narrated as a radio screenplay where the words told the story, Perrin needed to change focus to tell the story of Reel Law with pictures and words combined in a 22 minutes script.

The main character came from his wife, Terre’s, alter-ego that they affectionately named Dottie. “It’s this funny accent and voice she uses when she does something stupid. It almost has a Brooklyn accent. When I taught a class where none of the students ever asked questions my wife came in as a student and asked the questions and did it in this alter ego persona.”

“Dottie in Reel Law is a stunningly beautiful woman who doesn’t understand the effect she has on the men around her, she’ a total innocent . No one in  the office understands her nonsensical ramblings except for one man. “

A handful of major characters interact through plots and subplots of connections wrapped up in the short script all with diversity and quirkiness to make them relatable, and funny.

Perrin hopes to meet with and select an agent from the weekend’s Pitchfest as well as positive exposure to Reel Law that could eventually land it into production.

“My dream would be to shoot that show here in the winter and get another series shot here in the summer to keep a crew busy in the Okanagan year round. People are living here and commuting to Vancouver to work – we have the talent here, why not build an industry?”

Perrin’s vision for a vibrant television and film industry in the Okanagan spawned from that belief and in 2008 he started his own production company, Rose Cottage Media Corp. http://www.rosecottagemedia.com/. Perrin continues working on multiple scripts and projects including a feature film and a fellowship application. With so many projects on the go Perrin says that while he has heard of writer’s block, it’s not something that he has had that much struggle with.

“It’s my job, I just do it. Some days its more mechanical than others, other days God dictates and I write – and that is cool – way cool . When that happens I just try to get out of the way and type as fast as I can. I watch, listen and write, it really just happens. I see the movie play in my head and don’t know what’s coming next – I just write it.

Top chefs stir up a little contest

Soup-making contest pits chefs against each other while raising funds for badly-needed equipment at Kelowna Gospel Mission.

by Tara Miller

The Okanagan Saturday, Feb 27, 2010 – KELOWNA

by Tara Miller

Take a classic Aesop fable and some of the best chefs in the Okanagan and you’ve got a great idea for a good cause.

Kelowna’s Gospel Mission (KGM) is hosting the Stone Soup Chef competition as a way to raise money for some much needed equipment for their kitchen that currently serves over 300 meals a day.

Based on the Aesop’s Stone Soup fable of a story of weary travelers in need of food and lodging that come into a village and are denied hospitality and sustenance by its residents. The visitors set up a pot of water, put a stone in it and offer to make “stone soup” for the village. The villagers, in turn begin to bring out food from their own pantries to add to the stock until eventually a full soup has been made and shared by all.

The values of the story of cooperation and innovative generosity parallel the values of KGM. The story provides the theme for KGM’s first annual Stone Soup Chef fundraising event.

Eight of Kelowna’s top chefs will be competing in KGMs own kitchen for the seat of Stone Soup Chef. The preliminary rounds start next week with the two semi finalists facing off at a gala fundraiser on Saturday March 20th.

The chefs will come into the KGM kitchen the morning of the competition and have to create an original, tasty, and healthy soup using whatever is in the KGM kitchen with no notice of the ingredients ahead of time.

Ami Catriona, KGM Marketing and Communications Director “We wanted the top chefs in the city to come into our kitchen, to cook and have fun but also be creative with cooking on a budget. Healthy eating does’t have to take fancy ingredients.”

A panel of five judges including three community personalities, culinary experts, and two KGM clients will assess each soup’s smell, taste, presentation and use of healthy ingredients. The winner of the healthiest and best tasting soup will move on to the semi finals with the winning chef will receive the Stone Soup Chef Trophy.

Funds raise through Stone Soup Chef will go towards purchasing an immersion blender, industrial can opener, Hobart mixer, set of chefs knives, good quality oven mitts and a new walk-in freezer.

Director of Resource Development Eric d. Frans took the chefs on a tour of the Gospel Mission. “We hope to educate people on the chefs in our city and the culinary talent and atmosphere in our community – these are the best chefs in the Okanagan – these are the guys you want to go to. “ At the same time this kind of event can serve to educate the community on the KGM and all of its outreach.

“Over half the clients of the KGM aren’t homeless – they are the working poor, working two to three jobs but not making enough to make ends meet. Up to 40% of the men that stay over at the shelter ask for an earlier wake up call so they can go to work – some just staying until they can save up enough for first month’s rent.”

One component of this fundraiser is education. KGM will be posting each recipe online with a cookbook of recipes along with healthy eating tips and cooking advice from the chefs.

The chefs who are donating their time and talents to this event are equally passionate about this cause. This type of competition is not new to Executive Chef at the Hotel Eldorado, Michael Lyon,  who has done over a dozen chef-offs including upcoming episodes of the Thirsty Traveler TV show.

“Its an important cause. I grew up in a small community and I understand that a little goes a long way. I’ve only been here since the beginning of December so this is a great way to meet the community and share my passion for raising funds for those in need.

When we go in it’s going to take a risk but we’ll be using what they have to work with on a daily basis. It will be outrageous and a blast to have some great camaraderie with chefs in the community to show some spirit. There are no losers – it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Mark Filatow, Executive Chef of Waterfront Restaurant and Wine Bar agrees “ It allows us to give back to the community and provide a positive role model for young Chef’s.  After a tour of the KGM, it really affirmed the need to help out such a great facility. All the support can have a direct impact!

I look forward to the challenge of the time pressure and making a game plan on the spot and running with it. It will be even a little more of a challenge when you are used to having gourmet ingredients around.”

Chef Bernard Casavant, Executive Chef at Manteo Resort adds, “I believe in giving back to the community that I live in. The Mission Gospel is one of those “unsung heroes” of our city. To provide a bit of support by creating a soup for them, no problem. It will be great to work with their staff and to cook from within their means. For my style of cooking, inspiration comes from the heart, and not from a recipe.”

The competitions will take place at KGMs kitchen on Leon with soup served at noon on this schedule:

Wed March 3

Tom Curran- Sturgeon Hall

vs

Bernard Casavant – Manteo Resort

Thurs March 4

Paul Cecconi – Local Group

vs

Ned Bell – Cabana

Mon March 8

Edan Fay – Lake Okanagan Resort

vs

Michael Lyon – Hotel Eldorado

Wed Mar 10

Jessie Croy – Summerhill Pyramid Winery

vs

James Hanna – RauDZ Regional Table

Semi final rounds are March 12 and March 15 with the final round and fundraiser gala including a silent auction on Sat March 20 at The Delta Grand Hotel. Tickets for the gala fundraiser can be purchased online at www.stonesoupchef.com or through Kelowna’s Gospel Mission at (250) 763-3737

www.kelownagospelmission.ca

New hope for the stressed

Self-regulation therapy is a way to learn to discharge the energy that is created by stress and retained in the body.

by Tara Miller

Sat. March 13, 2010, The Okanagan Saturday KELOWNA

Most of us have seen those charts that list stressful events and ratee them from the most traumatic to the least. Any event at the top of the chart is highly stressful, anything further down the list is deemed less stressful. In an effort to quantify stress or trauma and its perceived impact, experts have attempted to categorize stress into neatly labelled boxes.

What the list doesn’t tell you, is that response to trauma varies on an individual level depending on its impact on the nervous system, not their character or ability to just “cope”. There isn’t a clear formula that can determine why one stressor can affect one person one way with an expected duration or prescription of recovery and affect another person differently.

Kelowna psychologist Dr. Lynne Zettl and neuropsychologist Dr. Ed Josephs, created the Canadian Foundation for Trauma Research & Education (CFTRE) and the emerging technique in understanding and recovering from trauma, Self Regulation Therapy (SRT).

Zettl explains, “When we experience trauma – which is anything that overwhelms the nervous system such as a car accident, surgery, or a fall, it’s not about the event, it’s about the impact on the nervous system. Trauma creates a charge in the brain that’s called kindling.”

When trauma occurs that electrical impulse or kindling is held in the brain’s amygdala and makes the nervous system more sensitized to new trauma. This kindling builds in the nervous system, like a container being filled with water.

“The container starts to get filled up with activation of events. We have the capacity with other mammals to discharge the activation, but because as humans, we have a thinking brian, we can override the normal discharge of activation. We’re the only species that can survive in a traumatized state.  Animals in the wild would only survive a couple of days if they didn’t discharge that energy.”

If the container is not emptied, or the nervous system not discharged to release that energy, people can see symptoms of a dysregulated nervous system incluing autoimmune disorders, allergies, asthma, fibromyalgia, headaches, difficulty sleeping, lack of focus, poor memory, depression, and decreased immune system functioning.

Zettl uses a deer in the wild as an example. When there is a threat, “the deer has an orienting response, it’s eyes and ears open up and in a  millisecond it goes into flee mode; they get a surge in survival energy, full on metabolic output, it’s all or nothing. After they have escaped and the threat has passed that electrochemical energy needs to be discharged from the system The deer gets away, takes a few extra big leaps, releases heat, twitching, trembling, heart rate and respiration go down and with that discharge of energy, it comes back down to baseline.”

“Humans go into that same arousal cycle, but we can keep it in a container and we can keep it alive with thoughts, memories, and even if it’s not conscious, the system is getting stirred up.”

The problems arise when we don’t re-orient and get back down to baseline after a trauma. That’s why someone can have a low impact car accident with only minor injuries but have that trauma be the one incident that overfills their container resulting dysregulation.

“Everyone has experiences where their system has been overwhelmed and the container gets full, but it can be confusing for people because they wonder… why now? It’s not about event it’s how the event impacted the nervous system. Trauma is overused and misunderstood, it doesn’t have to be childhood abuse or near death experiences.”

When the system is dysregulated, it can become stuck in a chronic cycle of fight or flight, with all of its biochemical consequences, exhausting the resources that person has to deal with past and future trauma and to discern actual threat from something benign.

“Self regulation is the ability to discriminate between novelty and threat and then discharge. As humans, because of our frontal lobes & the thinking involved we can identify threat, but discernment happens at an instinctual level and that’s really the hallmark of self regulation; that I can be in the world and be exposed to new things and respond with a full repertoire of resources and then come back to base level.”

The creation of SRT as a treatment protocol came out of research and working with the psychophysiological effects of trauma where Zettl and Josephs found the current treatment methods were not aligned with best neuroscientific literature.

“There’s a lot of ideas of working with trauma that are not in keeping with how the brian works and not really successful and can actually make it worse. SRT was developed as a clinical paradigm that blended the brain research with clinical practice.”

“Talking about trauma does not heal trauma – if it did it, people would get better by talking to their friends and family. It is by working with that part of the nervous system for that arousal energy to discharge and helping people complete that discharge.”

It’s work that comes against traditional cathartic counselling that often sees patients in counselling for years, talking about and reliving their trauma in an attempt to heal from it.

“SRT is non cathartic. What we know about the brain is that in order to quench the kindling it needs to be done in an extremely titrated way. Working with the smallest amount of activation to facilitate the discharge. Catharsis does not allow for new pathways to get laid down, it uses the same old neural pathways. With just using a small amount of activation and helping them connect with it, new pathways get formed in the brain. It creates room in the container through a slow and cumulative tracking at a sensation level.”

SRT’s appeal is in it’s lack of threat and ability to lay down new neural pathways and heal trauma by not needing each session to be a daunting experience “People will go to therapists and think they have to suffer and get overwhelmed and its not the case, nor will that provide healing of the wound or resolution. We work with now, the periphery, and complete the arousal cycle.”

A person does not need to go back into the memory of their first trauma or relive every moment of their recent trauma to find healing. SRT works with where the person is at in that moment.

”In this moment you know the end of the story, they are sitting in front of you. We start there by asking “when did you realize you had survived this” We can titrate activation by coming to the edge; noticing and tracking sensation and imagining (new scenarios for that trauma), which creates the same activity in the brain as actually doing it.” This technique lays down new pathways in the brain, emptying the container and bringing regulation back to the nervous system.

Zettl specializes in treating traumatic conditions and trains professionals in SRT around the world. www.cftre.com

Active brain a healthier brain

The Okanagan Sunday, Feb 21, 2010 – KELOWNA

by Tara Miller

Use it or lose it – for your brain and your body.  Brain fitness parallels physical fitness as a new wave of easily accessible brain games helps prevent brain drain by keeping us sharp and focused.

Beyond the concept of life long learning for seniors to inhibit dementia, brain fitness includes personal training for your brain that works at every age and stage of life. “It’s a use it or lose it proposition when it comes to functionality.” says neuropsychologist Dr. Edward Josephs.

“Up until the late 90s there was the long-held belief by neuroscientists that thought that you got a certain amount of brain cells and that was it. Even though we know that everywhere else in the body you can regenerate cells.”

The idea that the brain becomes fixed at a certain point has been refuted by research that has found that the brain has the ability to form new pathways and connections throughout life and regenerate neurons- a process called neurogenesis.

What researchers have also found is that stress can have the reverse effect on neurogenesis. “When people are stressed, they produce chemicals which are toxic to the hippocampus. When stressed over a long period of time this can affect memory. Coritsol, for example, is toxic to the hippocampus and actually kills brain cells. This is one area of the brain where they know nerve cells can grow” explains Josephs.

Josephs explains that stress, while creating a difficult environment for neurogenesis to take place, adds that  “under good conditions, they can actually regain those cells and they’ve found they can grow in other places. The chances are great that you can regenerate.”

Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity is the brain’s ability to change and reorganize itself.   When there has been trauma or brain injury, the brain as an amazing capacity for growing new pathways to compensate and adjust by using specific brain activity to stimulate neurogenesis.

A study in the UK found that children that did a certain kind of brain game program they improved their grades as well as increased their IQ, some moving from the bottom percentile in the class to the top percentile in a matter of weeks. Brain fitness with the right training can take a 60-90 year old brain and revert it to the functional capacity of a 20-40 year old.

“As people get older they learn differently – parts of the brain that were growing a certain way don’t grow that way anymore but other parts of the brain increase. As we age we can learn as well as we did when we were younger because we use the brain differently.”

Our brain health and function can be improved with the right mental workouts and stimulation and with that knowledge, online brain game websites and workouts are peppering the internet to bring specific forms of stimulation in through the information  medium we use the most.

“What we know is that brain cells can regenerate, given the right stimulation. For a brain training program to work it has to force you to work in a certain way where you have to use that part of your brain given the right challenges. “

Online programs to awaken different parts of your brain can give you a full brain workout in 10 minutes a day and with noticeable improvements in memory and attention fairly quickly. The right kind of brain games and mental exercises can improve your memory, focus, mood and alertness.

“A lot of online brain games are clever at making them interesting for you with good visuals, sounds, and immediate feedback to makes it more fun and stimulating. The same way Pilates is effective by isolating specific muscles, brain games can be effective by isolating specific functions of the brain.”

An example of a comprehensive brain games site that has been scientifically designed to improve memory and attention in general is Lumosity.com. The games are divided into categories that isolate different brain functions with practical benefits.

The benefits of a potentially higher IQ or improved grades are perks to the practical life benefits of remembering where you put your keys, parked your car, how to prioritize your day, and the name to go with the face of the person you just met.

Brain fitness can become a lifestyle practice just like body fitness, with minimal effort. Lifelong learning and picking up a new hobby all stimulate the brain as does physical exercise and trying a new physical activity.

The game Sudoku was created because it’s one exercise that is good for the brain, but like crossword puzzles, if you don’t like it or you have become expert at it, you won’t reap the same benefits.

The challenge of beginning is the key says Josephs, “We need to have a youthful curiosity to learn and so we can try something new regularly, just for the sake of trying something new. Think about what might be fascinating or interesting to do or read or experience and do that. Your brain learns from having to be a beginner at something and challenge yourself to learn and grow – as does your body when trying a new sport.In the moment you learn something new your brain actually grow – your brain will grow a dendritic spine.” Dendritic spines grow off a neuron’s dendrite are receptors and act in the capacity of enhanced neuroplasticity.

Some tips to keep your dendrites tingling… Take a new class or workshop, learn a new language or how to play an instrument, explore your creativity, be curious and explore your community, take care of your body.

Managing your stress along with lifestyle practices of getting adequate rest, practicing meditation or yoga and learning to breathe deeply will help to feed the brain nutrients and oxygen it needs.

“The brain gets good at remembering things by practicing remembering things. Brain games replicate the practice of remembering so that you get good at it. The more you know the more you’re able to know because the brain has the sense that it can learn.”

“As you age you don’t have as much dopamine running around in your brain. Dopamine is what gets you excited about a reward and gives us the push to learn.” Keeping the mind active and challenged can help mitigate the natural decline in dopamine that occurs from our 20s steadily into our 80s. said Josephs.

Incorporating brain training and a good brain fitness program can keep your brain evolving giving you mental prowess to benefit all aspects of your life at any age.