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A DELIGHTFUL SPOT OF DELIGHT S pot of Delight (426 Richmond St.) is a sex shop that opened in downtown London last September. From its minimalist showroom and absence of pornography to a policy of providing products in line with customers’ privacy and inclusiveness needs, this is clearly a different kind of business than the stereotypical sex shop most people envision. Recently, SCENE spoke with Spot of Delight owner Ana Brown about her shop and what makes it different from other businesses that may draw similar clientele. Why did you open Spot of Delight and what was the goal in doing so? “We opened the store because we felt London needed an independent, communityminded sex shop. We’re trying to do a few things here and offering body safe products is one of them; products made of non-toxic materials that are non-porous, so they can be sterilized. We do all that homework for people so they don’t have to read the labeling and wonder if it’s safe for use.” “We wanted to create an inclusive environment – for people of all ages, sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities, etc. – to feel Deb Matthews, MPP London North Centre Working hard for a stronger Ontario 4 at home and welcome. The other thing is we wanted was to be involved in the community and we do that in a few ways. One way is by putting on a lot of events ourselves, but also by giving our space for free to organizations who want to put on exhibitions or workshops.” How is Spot of Delight different from other sex shops? “We’re a showroom. If you go to other sex shops, everything is boxed. And, of course, you can’t return a sex toy if you don’t like it. If you’re buying something for over $100, you’re buying something without knowing how well it operates. It can be difficult for people. The same with lingerie in sex shops; it’s boxed so you can’t try it on. We have change rooms and you can try on what we sell. For every product we have, we have a demo so it can be tested.” “The other thing is that the look of the shop is very different; it looks like the Apple Store. There’s no nudity and pornography, either.” Will you tell me about the workshops? “We have a series of rope workshops every month. But then we have one-offs. So, for ex- featuring Natural Factors and Webber Naturals GREAT SELECTION Store Hours: Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. (519) 672-3340 www.turnerdrugstore.com E-mail: turner@turnerdrugs.com 52 Grand Avenue at Carfrae Crescent 242 Piccadilly Street | 519-432-7339 | debmatthews.ca ample, Easter Weekend, we have a series of four different workshops.” “We do workshops in basic sexuality as well as more specialized subjects - kink stuff, like wax play, for example. We also do educational events. We had a book signing here, and we had the regional AIDS connection come and give a talk on safe sex. We also do educational workshops ourselves; I’m doing a practical sex workshop later this month.” For more information about Spot of Delight’s products and upcoming events, visit the shop’s website. - Chris Morgan Courtney’s Comfort In Crafts campaign needs your help A bereaved London mother is spearheading a drive to collect craft supplies for the Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre, in memory of her daughter. Fourteen-year-old Courtney Bulmer was diagnosed with cancer in April 2006 and passed away within a year. In the short time that she had, the teen found solace in the hospital’s art therapy room and making artwork. The family realized a need for art supplies to help the young patients cope with their experience. “I thought this would be the perfect way for children at the hospital to have fun, pass the time, distract them from their fears, help them express their feelings, make a gift for Mommy or Daddy, or just let them be kids and colour. I know Courtney would approve and be proud of us for doing this,” said Kathy Bulmer, Courtney’s mom. Colouring books, crayons, pencil crayons, markers, sketchbooks, stickers, small containers of Playdoh, journals, books, and other craft supplies are most needed. Contributions can be made to 102.3 Jack FM radio station at 1 Communications Road, or by contacting Bulmer at court24@hotmail.ca or Cecile Klerks of the Children’s Health Foundation at 519-685-8500 x 57023. Donations are being gratefully accepted until April 20. April Fools: A day of vigilance There are two types of people - those who love April Fools’ Day and those who dread it. Enjoyed (or loathed) around the world each year on the first day of April, the day is reserved for practical jokers who take no quarter for the vulnerable among us. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the day’s origins are not known and essentially unknowable. There are many theories, however, the most plausible being that the original ‘fools’ were the Europeans that resisted the transition from the Julian to the SOCIAL DIGEST JOKEʼS ON US APRIL 1 Gregorian calendar in the 1500s and continued to celebrate the New Year between March 25 and April 1, as per the Julian calendar, instead of the newly established January 1. Those who observed the New Year in the spring were thus subjected to much mockery. Wherever the origins lie, it doesn’t change the tradition of pranks meted out on April 1 - from the minor inconsequential high-jinks to the larger, well-planned and executed hoaxes by media companies and corporations (The Taco Liberty Bell, anyone?). Vimy Ridge remembered In 2003, the Canadian government declared April 9 to be Vimy Ridge Day, an occasion to remember the Battle of Vimy Ridge. This decisive military engagement took place in the Nord- Pas-de-Calais region of France during World War I. The main belligerents in the conflict were the Canadian Corps and the German Sixth Army, and the battle occurred April 9-12, 1917. Vimy is regarded by many historians as the place where Canada established its national identity, accomplishing what British and French armies failed to do in prior engagements, while sacrificing over 3,500 soldiers in the process. In observance of Vimy Ridge Day, the Canadian flag on Parliament sociallife THE SPOT OF DELIGHT SHOWROOM Hill’s Peace Tower will be lowered to half-mast and small ceremonies, including the laying of wreaths, will take place at Ottawa’s National War Memorial and at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France. Seeing green: Saint Patrick’s Day 2016 Order yourself a mug of green beer and grab a shamrock for good luck: St. Patrick’s Day returns this March 17. Also known as the Feast of Saint Patrick, this highly anticipated holiday celebrates all things Irish, and colours national capitals, cities and towns around the world a shade of emerald green for 24 hours. Made an official holiday in the early 17th century, the day commemorates the arrival of Saint Patrick and Christianity in Ireland, and is well known as an international day of revelry. Celebrations commonly involve public parades and festivals, céilithe (a social gathering involving Gaelic music and dancing), and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services, and Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day. This easing has encouraged and propagated the alcohol consumption traditionally associated with the holiday. Easter cometh with the spring Easter – the religious and secular holiday – takes place the weekend of March 25-28, with the day itself falling on Sunday, March 27. Originally created to recognize Christians’ beliefs about Jesus’ death and resurrection, the holiday is also rooted in the celebration of the Jewish Passover, as well as the observance of the spring equinox in many ancient and modern worldviews. Some of the practises associated with the day include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny and Easter parades, not to mention chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Happy Easter from the writers and editorial staff at SCENE! - Amie Ronald-Morgan and Chris Morgan ESTABLISHED IN 1989 MARCH 10 - APRIL 6 • 2016
sociallife T SLIPPERY SLOPE OF SECURITY: FBI VS. APPLE he debate over collective security vs. personal privacy has taken center stage in the case of a terrorist who went on a shooting rampage in San Bernardino last year. The FBI and tech giant Apple are locked in a dispute over whether the company should be forced to help investigators open the phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, the man who opened fire on a holiday party of fellow San Bernardino County workers on December 2, killing 14 and injuring 22. Apple defended its right to refuse to help FBI investigators unlock Farook’s phone, but also said it would “gladly participate” with experts in intelligence, technology and civil liberties in discussions about the plications for law enforce- “imment, national security, privacy and personal freedoms” of digital-security techniques. The legal battle tle between the FBI and Apple has raised the issue of legislation signed by George Washington himself. Now what does a 200-year-old Amerito do can law have with the latest in communicationogy? technol- In short, the All Writs Act of 1789 allows federal judges to issue formal orders that compel a defendant to comply with the court’s demand. Ambiguity built into the act has leant itself to different readings throughout American history. In 1971, government lawyers used the legislation to get a ruling that forced phone companies to record all numbers called from a specific phone line. The Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 required cellphone providers to be able to geo-locate their customers’ phones. The writ does have its limits, though. In 2005, a federal judge ruled that the All Writs Act could not be used to force a phone company to allow real-time tracking of a phone without a warrant. “The law actually seems to be keeping up with technology by being so broad that we’re just reinterpreting it all the time,” said Irina Raicu, the director of the Internet Ethics Program at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Whatever the result of the current case, the outcome will have major legal implications for the fight over encryption in the future. Consequently, the bandwagon of supporters in Apple’s fight against the FBI keeps getting bigger. Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, along with 11 other companies, filed a joint amicus brief in early March which throws their support behind Apple as it prepares to face off against the government in federal court later this month. Their show of support came after Twitter, Airbnb, LinkedIn and 13 other companies filed a separate joint amicus brief, and Intel and AT&T submit- ted their own filings. Tech companies have largely sided with Apple because, despite their differences, they agree with the argument that being forced by the government to create special software to break into encrypted devices sets a dangerous precedent that could leave all personal digital devices vulnerable. This so-called security ‘back door’ concept can be applied to everything from a phone running on Google’s Android software to a PC running on Microsoft’s Windows 10 to personal medical devices. “It would set a dangerous precedent, creating a world in which the government could simply force companies to create, design, and redesign their systems to allow law enforcement access to data, instead of requiring the government to use the measures, and meet the requirements, of legislatively enacted statutory schemes,” representatives from Twitter, LinkedIn et al wrote in their amicus brief. The court hearing to determine whether Apple should be forced to comply with the FBI’s request is set for March 22 in federal court in Riverside, California. SHOULD APPLE BE COMPELLED TO HELP FBI INVESTIGATORS? - Chris Morgan SCI-TECH DIGEST Get your backup at Forest City Surplus Given London’s propensity for experiencing extreme weather events, it’s wise to have a plan to protect valuable electronic equipment and/or data when the power goes down. APC Smart-UPS SC rackmount battery backup – available now at Forest City Surplus (1712 Dundas St. E.) – is the perfect way to ensure there’s no immediate power loss to your electronic storage devices, servers, computers and routers. This attractive rackmount unit has four 120V outlets with audible alarms that will alert owners when the power goes out. The unit’s software improves and tracks power usage, as well as providing a phased system shutdown, fault notification and risk assessment. The APC Smart-UPS SC rackmount battery backup is a brand new product, shipped and sold in manufacturer’s packaging. Supplies are limited and other retailers are selling this item for twice the amount FCS is charging, which is $99.95 each. For more information, visit Forest City Surplus (1712 Dundas St. E.), or check out them out online. Composites on display for community showcase Learn more about the materials that shape our world at the Composite Community Showcase on April 2 at Fanshawe College Aviation Centre (1000 Air Ontario Drive). Composites – material made from two or more source products with different physical or chemical properties that, when combined, produce a substance with changed qualities from its original parts – are important to modern industry, engineering and design. The purpose of the Composites Community Showcase is to showcase how composite technologies are evolving and becoming more commonplace. This event will connect students, second career seekers and the general public with the best aviation, automotive, wind energy and marine businesses in the world. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the various applications and recent advances in composite technologies, as well as careers in related industries through interactive seminars and exhibits. China silences “The Cannon” After repeated criticism of President Xi Jinping’s ongoing efforts to control Internet access, the Chinese government shut down social media accounts of real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, also known as “The Cannon”. A Communist Party member with 40 million followers, Ren was accused by the Cyberspace Administration of China of “spreading illegal information”, although many supporters defended him. Retired historian Zi Zhongyun posted an article shortly afterwards encouraging the Communist Party to consider the real purpose of their anti-corruption campaign and whether it served the public interest. Since becoming president three years ago, Xi has cracked down on those advocating ‘western values’ or criticizing the Communist Party. The day Ren’s accounts were shut down, Xi announced a year-long education campaign to “instill the values [the party] wants in its 88 million members”. Astronaut returns to Earth after year in space NASA astronaut Scott Kelly touched down in Kazakhstan with cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko on March 2, ending a 340 day space mission. Kelly’s physical data will be compared with that of twin brother Mark, himself a retired NASA astronaut, including MRIs of major organs, genetic analysis and examination of the effect of radiation. While he said the “loss of connection with the folks on the ground” was difficult, Kelly was optimistic scientists could use data from the mission to “learn a lot about longer-duration space flight and how it will take us to Mars someday.” In the days following his return to ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY (RIGHT) REUNITED WITH TWIN BROTHER MARK AFTER NEARLY A YEAR IN SPACE earth, Kelly lost the additional 1.5 inches of height gained due to fluid build-up while in space, but continued to experience fatigue and super-sensitive skin. Obesity linked to poor memory A new study from the University of Cambridge found that young adults who are overweight or obese were more likely to perform poorly on memory tests. “Understanding what drives our consumption and how we instinctively regulate our eating behavior is becoming more and more important given the rise of obesity in society,” said researcher Lucy Cheke, adding that “psychological factors also play an important role - we tend to eat more when distracted by television or working, and perhaps to ‘comfort eat’ when we are sad, for example.” The report focused on episodic memory, which involves reliving a recent event, discovering a correlation between a high Body Mass Index (BMI) and low episodic memory test scores. While Cheke notes that overweight people “aren’t necessarily more forgetful”, those with a high BMI may have an impaired ability “to use memory to help regulate consumption.” BRIDJ multi-passenger service launches in Kansas City As ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft make inroads across Canada and the US, a small Boston-based company called Bridj is launching a service involving SCI-TECH DIGEST CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 MARCH 10 - APRIL 6 • 2016 <strong>CELEBRATING</strong> 27 YEARS 5
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