Vol. 20 Iss. 49

Volume 20 Issue 49 - 12/20/2012

Editorial – Joy to the World

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. The debate still plays out bitterly, with people in both camps grumbling Grinchily about the supposed ill intentions of the other. But they’re missing the point. Increasingly I’ve realized that what we should be paying attention to instead is something different: the other word in the greeting, the feeling we’re urging… Read more »

AUSU Update – December 2012

AUSU e-newsletters a success AUSU has been piloting the use of e-newsletters to contact our student body over the last year. We began by sending these newsletters to students registered on our website, and after a very positive initial response, we are now sending e-newsletters to all students currently enrolled in any AU undergrad course,… Read more »

From Where I Sit – Look Up

Despite being bombarded with advice on how to save our sanity during the holidays, most of us still get caught up in the madness. The mall shopping crowds seem well, ?crowdier,? and the list of needed gifts continues to grow. The November credit card statements confirm we are part of the growing debt load problem…. Read more »

Write Stuff – Personal Best

Break out the eggnog and power up your tablets. It’s time for that annual ritual: the flurry of lists that recommend the best books of the year. It’s a fine tradition, but I say we start a new one for 2013. Let’s make it the year to discover our own personal best. I’m not sure… Read more »

The Mindful Bard – Holly Cole, Night

Album: Holly Cole, Night (2012) ?A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.? Maya Angelou ?When a singer truly feels and experiences what the music is all about, the words will automatically ring true.? Montserrat CaballĂ© This Songbird Built the Golden Cage and Comes and Goes at… Read more »

Health Matters – Healthy Holidays

The holiday spirit is everywhere: bows and wrapping, lights galore, and seasonal music piped into malls. The topic of health doesn’t come up too often, unless we’re joking about how many cookies we ate at the party. It may come as a surprise, then, that several holiday traditions have a connection to the world of… Read more »

Gregor’s Bed – The Story of Film

Film: The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2012) Interviews featuring the following: Bernardo Bertolucci, Charles Burnett, Jane Campion, Claudia Cardinale, Youssef Chahine, Terence Davies, Claire Denis, Stanley Donen, Kyoko Kagawa, Abbas Kiarostami, Baz Luhrmann, Paul Schrader, Alexander Sokurov, Robert Towne, Gus Van Sant, Sharmila Tagore, Lars Von Trier, Wim Wenders, Haskell Wexler, Yuen Woo-Ping Director:… Read more »

Did You Know? – AU Holiday Exam Procedures

If you have undergraduate courses ending December 31, 2012, you’ll want to note the University’s special holiday exam procedures?and order your final examinations as soon as possible. If your course contract date is December 31, you must submit your exam requests before the University closes for the holidays. Athabasca University will be closed from December… Read more »

Click of the Wrist – One House to Rule Them All

There’s no place like home for the holidays–especially if that holiday, if you can call it that, is the release of the first film in the Hobbit trilogy. This week’s links take a peek into hobbit holes real and pretend. Built My House of Bricks While LEGO has released many cool sets as tie-ins to… Read more »

Happy Holidays from The Voice

It seems like just yesterday that we began our 20th year of publication, and now we’re wrapping up another great year and moving forward. The Voice has changed in format and style since those first issues, but one thing has remained the same: the wonderful writers, contributors, and readers who make doing what we do… Read more »