Thursday, February 19, 2026
Near Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby. Winter of 2018.
Metropolis at Metrotown (commonly referred to as Metrotown or Metro) is a three-storey shopping mall complex in Metrotown, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. With over 450 shops and services, the anchors are Hudson's Bay, Walmart, Toys "R" Us, T & T Supermarket, Sport Chek, Chapters, Forever 21, H&M, Old Navy, Real Canadian Superstore, Urban Behavior, Winners/HomeSense, Zara, Cineplex Cinemas, Uniqlo and Muji.
It is the largest mall in British Columbia, and the third largest in Canada behind Alberta's West Edmonton Mall and Ontario's Square One Shopping Centre, with 27 million customer visits annually. The mall is located adjacent to Metrotown station on the SkyTrain rapid transit system. Three office buildings are part of the complex along Central Boulevard.
Metrotown Centre opened in 1986 — attached to a new Woodward's department store, and a Sears Canada department store that had been operating there since the early 1950s - on land that had held a Ford Canada motor factory, warehouses, other light industry, and a supermarket, and which was adjacent to the former Vancouver Interurban Rail line (now the route for the SkyTrain). The mall has been expanded and renovated several times, and has contributed to the rapid growth of the area's population. A new Bay store and an expansion wing was added in 1992.
Two additional shopping centres were constructed adjacent to the original Metrotown—Eaton Centre and Station Square. These three different malls were connected by pedestrian overpasses, as were the two office towers known as the Metrotowers. In 1998, Eaton Centre added Metropolis, a collection of stores aimed towards younger shoppers, including SilverCity which opened in 1998 and Rainforest Cafe which opened in June 1998 (but was permanently closed in October 2001). The name Metropolis came to apply to Eaton Centre once its main tenant, Eaton's department store, shut down. In 2005, a major expansion project combined Metrotown and Metropolis into a megamall, and added many new stores and Western Canada's largest food court. Following this expansion, the two malls became one entity under the name "Metropolis at Metrotown". Station Square, however, has not been included in this megamall, and as of 2013, it is being demolished to make way for a new high-rise complex, to be named after Station Square.
Construction on Metrotower III, located immediately south of the other two office towers, began in the summer of 2008, was put on hold, and was completed in April 2014. This completed the Metrotower complex.
In January 2018, Sears Canada closed as the company went out of business.
The Metrotown neighbourhood is home to a number of smaller shopping centres. The pedestrian overpass originally connecting Station Square was closed in November 2016, and is awaiting demolition. The Asian-themed Crystal Mall opened near Metropolis in 2000, but has no direct connection. Old Orchard Centre is another shopping centre located nearby that is considered part of the Metrotown district. It is a strip plaza that predates the other shopping centres in the neighbourhood.
Immediately below the Central Boulevard entrance and covered walkway is a bus loop and exchange, which is a major hub for services coming in from other parts of Burnaby as well as Vancouver and Richmond. The mall is also served by Metrotown station on the Expo Line of the SkyTrain network.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
The Last Jedi is the worst Star Wars movie ever
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| https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/new-movies/the-last-jedi-is-the-worst-star-wars-movie-ever/news-story/fd57dd0435d18dccc1efaacab5d28f59 |
A LONG time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars movies used to be good.
They featured interesting characters doing cool stuff — flying spaceships, shooting laser guns, rescuing princesses from evil space knights.
Today, under the rule of the Disney Social Justice Empire, Star Wars movies feature boring characters standing around giving cringe-worthy motivational speeches and crying.
Does anyone remember the scene in A New Hope where Luke Skywalker, sniffling as tears stream down his face, gives a two-minute monologue to Obi Wan Kenobi about his childhood and how the Evil Empire killed his uncle Owen and aunt Beru and how he hates, HATES them and they’ll never get away with it and he’s going to RESIST, as music swells and the camera cuts to Obi Wan’s face beaming with pride?
No. Owen and Beru get killed, Luke arrives just in time to find their charred bodies, looks sad for a second and tells Obi Wan, “I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.” Then he f***ing gets on with it and doesn’t cry like a [non-gender-specific person] for two-and-a-half hours.
Or what about the iconic scene in the Mos Eisley Cantina where Han Solo meets Obi Wan for the first time. “I’m just a lowly smuggler,” he giggles nervously. “I’ve never met a JEDI HERO before!” Oh wait, that didn’t happen either. Han Solo didn’t care about Obi Wan. He called him a crazy old man and laughed behind his back.
People didn’t really care about things that much in the original films. Or if they did, they didn’t stand around talking about their feelings — they just did things, and we sometimes felt things as a result. In the new movies, everyone cares about everything, and they have to tell each other all the time, and as a result the audience feels nothing. The drama is forced, but worse, it’s completely unearned.
For three movies now, following The Force Awakens and Rogue One, these characters feel like children dropped into a Disney Star Wars theme park. (Gee, why might that be?) Every two minutes they stop to remind each other they’re in Star Wars. Remember Luke Skywalker? Remember Han Solo? Remember the Force? Any second you expect them to turn to the camera and go, “Can you guys believe this!?”
When they’re not reminding each other of things that happened in previous movies or even previous scenes in the same movie, they’re talking at great length about what they’re going to do in the next scene — usually with tears in their eyes, inspirational music and the word HOPE mentioned at least twice.
There are so many things wrong with Rian Johnson’s abomination it’s honestly hard to know where to begin — the criminal waste of Luke’s final film appearance, the nonsensical plot (since when has space fuel been an issue in these movies?), completely pointless casino mission, flying space Leia, Rose’s entire character, the Phantom Menace-level awful “Resistance Kids”.
To be fair, many of the problems were inherited from J.J. Abrams’ slightly less awful predecessor — Rey the Mary Sue, emo Kylo Ren, the existence of the First Order completely invalidating the defeat of the Empire and the entire original trilogy — but Johnson somehow manages to make everything worse.
From unceremoniously killing off Snoke to dismissing the importance of Rey’s parentage to turning the ending of The Force Awakens into a literal throwaway joke by having Luke chuck the lightsaber, The Last Jedi is almost painfully self-aware in rejecting the previous film.
But in doing so, it feels like Johnson is rebooting the new trilogy in the second film. Not exactly a good sign. As terrible as The Force Awakens was, it’s made retroactively worse in the knowledge that none of the mysteries it introduces actually matter, and yet we’re stuck with these godawful characters and status quo.
One of the most annoying things was the fact that the best scene — the hyperspace kamikaze — was wasted on the worst character to ever appear in a Star Wars movie, instead of being given to Admiral Ackbar, a fan favourite and established character, who was instead killed off-screen and referenced in one line of dialogue.
Having read the glowing critic reviews, it felt like they had seen a completely different film. But then, as Meryl Streep, sorry, Laura Dern, literally turned to the camera and delivered a purple-hair speech to the Oscars crowd, sorry, spaceship, about RESISTING, everything made sense.
As bad as the George Lucas prequels were, at least they felt like they took place in the Star Wars universe. These new movies feel like a parody of Star Wars — a combination of Nickelodeon special and bad Saturday Night Live sketch.
George, we forgive you. Is it too late to bring back Jar Jar? I want off this Disney ride.
ROCKY IV (SCORE CD)
https://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.6605/.f
At last! World CD premiere of original score from mega-hit fourth installment of wildly popular ROCKY saga, starring Sylvester Stallone as iconic boxer, with Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers - and formidable Russian opponent Dolph Lundgren. Original album featured songs plus two excerpts from score. Intrada release offers entire score by Vince DiCola, including his arrangement of classic "Theme from ROCKY" by Bill Conti. Unleashed at last is rich score, initially for keyboards, ultimately for large orchestra. Many highlights include haunting piano/cello theme for "Apollo's Death and Funeral", powerful "Up the Mountain" sequence, dynamic "Training Montage", powerhouse "War", epic "Knockout" for full orchestra. Intrada presents score in crisp, punchy stereo mixed directly from original 24-track digital masters courtesy of Sony. Vivid artwork courtesy of MGM, enthusiastic liner notes by Daniel Schweiger. Finally, biggest gap in Rocky soundtrack series is delivered! Vince DiCola composes, produces. Jeremy Lubbock orchestrates, conducts.
Saturday, February 14, 2026
New 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' Image Confirms Key Villain Is Back for Revenge
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| https://movieweb.com/avatar-fire-and-ash-image-confirms-key-villain/ |
While the two Avatar films released by 20th Century Studios and James Cameron thus far have centered on Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri's (Zoe Saldaña) Na'vi family, other characters and mythologies have helped expand the world of Pandora. One such aspect is the plight of the Tulkuns, whale-like creatures who inhabit the waters of Pandora and are a large focus of Avatar: The Way of Water. One specific Tulkun named Payakan ended up befriending Jake's son Lo'ak, while also having a human enemy in Brendan Cowell's Mick Scoresby, a mariner who hunts down Tulkuns and harvests their bodies for priceless resources. It's now been revealed that Cowell will be returning as the character in Avatar: Fire and Ash.
As part of Empire Magazine's 'Path to Pandora' series, where the publication releases a new look at the film every month, the latest image features Mick on a boat with a robot arm and a grudge. The last time Mick and Payakan went head-to-head in the third act of The Way of Water, Payakan tore off the mariner's limb with his own steel cables. Cowell told Empire that when discussing Fire and Ash with Cameron, they decided to take the character in a darker, more vengeance-fueled direction, saying:
"What Jim [Cameron, director] and I talked about for Scoresby in this film is how he arrived as this wind-in-the-hair cowboy-of-the-seas in the last one, out to make some bank, have some laughs. He’s not in it for the wind, the hair, the laughs, or the money this time. He lost his last fight; he knows there’s this generational, ancestral hatred towards him, and so this time it’s personal. It’s destructive. And in terms of what he wants to do, it’s probably a little more violent, too."
A recurring theme for Avatar: Fire and Ash seems to be the hatred that brings out the worst in people. Whether it's Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and his obsession with killing Jake Sully following the death of his own human body at the end of the first film, or the Mangkwan Clan (known as the Ash people) as the primary antagonists for the sequel, it seems a lot of characters will be fueled by their hatred. Cameron himself said that he chose the title Fire and Ash because it represents the "anger, hatred, violence" associated with fire and the "aftermath" of grief and loss represented by ash.
It will be interesting to see how big a role Payakan ends up playing in Avatar: Fire and Ash, and how the character uses their incredible size, strength, and intellect in their fight against the humans who constantly attack and exploit their kind. Payakan's friendship with Lo'ak could also be explored further, especially since the first trailer already teases tensions between Lo'ak and his father, Jake. Fans will be able to experience all the intense character dynamics and action when Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on December 19, 2025.
Friday, February 13, 2026
Grover Furr on the importance of the Holodomor
Grover Carr Furr III (born April 3, 1944) is an American professor of Medieval English literature at Montclair State University, best known for his books on Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. He has published many books on this subject.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2026
At the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Summer of 2017.
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses in Vancouver and Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, UBC is British Columbia’s oldest university. The university is ranked among the top 20 public Universities worldwide and among the top three in Canada. With an annual research budget of $600 million, UBC funds over 8,000 projects a year.
The Vancouver campus is situated about 10 km (6 mi) west of Downtown Vancouver. UBC is home to TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, which houses the world’s largest cyclotron. In addition to the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and Stuart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, UBC and the Max Planck Society collectively established the first Max Planck Institute in North America, specializing in quantum materials. One of the largest research libraries in Canada, the UBC Library system has over 9.9 million volumes among its 21 branches. The Okanagan campus, acquired in 2005, is located in Kelowna, British Columbia.
As of 2017, eight Nobel laureates, 71 Rhodes scholars, 65 Olympians, ten fellows in both American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Royal Society, and 208 fellows to the Royal Society of Canada have been affiliated with UBC.Three Canadian prime ministers, including Canada’s first female prime minister Kim Campbell and current prime minister Justin Trudeau have been educated at UBC.
The main campus is at Point Grey, approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from downtown Vancouver. It is near several beaches and has views of the North Shore mountains. The 7.63-square-kilometre (1,890-acre) Pacific Spirit Regional Park serves as a green-belt between the campus and the city. Buildings on the Vancouver campus occupy 1.09 million m2 (11.7 million sq ft) gross on 1.7 square kilometres (420 acres) of maintained land. The campus street plan is mostly in a grid of malls (some of which are pedestrian-only). Lower Mall and West Mall are in the southwestern part of the peninsula, with Main, East, and Wesbrook Malls northeast of them.
The campus is not within Vancouver’s city limits, and therefore UBC is policed by the RCMP rather than the Vancouver Police Department. However, the Vancouver Fire Department provides service to UBC under a contract. In addition to UBC RCMP, there is also the UBC Campus Security that patrols the campus. Postage sent to any building on campus includes Vancouver in the address.
UBC Vancouver also has two satellite campuses within the City of Vancouver: at Vancouver General Hospital, for the medical sciences, and at Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, for part-time credit and non-credit programmes. UBC is also a partner in the consortium backing Great Northern Way Campus Ltd, and is affiliated with a group of adjacent theological colleges, which include the Vancouver School of Theology, Regent College, Carey Theological College and Corpus Christi College.
The campus is home to numerous gardens. The UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, the first UBC department, holds a collection of over 8000 different kinds of plants used for research, conservation and education. The UBC botanical garden’s original site was at the “Old Arboretum”. All that remains of it today are trees planted in 1916 by John Davidson. The old arboretum is now home to many buildings including the First Nations House of Learning. The Nitobe Memorial Garden, built to honour Japanese scholar Inazo Nitobe, the garden has been the subject of more than fifteen years’ study by a UBC professor, who believes its construction hides a number of impressive features, including references to Japanese philosophy and mythology, shadow bridges visible only at certain times of year, and positioning of a lantern filled with light at the exact date and time of Nitobe’s death each year. The garden is behind the University’s Asian Centre, which was built using steel girders from Japan’s exhibit at Osaka Expo.
The campus also features the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts: a performing arts centre containing the Chan Shun Concert Hall, Telus Studio Theatre and the Royal Bank Cinema. It is often the site of convocation ceremonies and the filming location for the 4400 Center on the television show The 4400, as well as the Madacorp entrance set on Kyle XY. It has also been featured as the Cloud 9 Ballroom in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (Season 1, Episode 11: Colonial Day).
Since the mid 1980s UBC has worked with property developers to build several large residential developments throughout UBC’s campus. Such developments include: Chancellor Place, Hampton Place, Hawthorn Place and Wesbrook Village.
Monday, February 9, 2026
Sunday, February 8, 2026
6 Benefits of Flaxseed Oil — Plus How to Use It
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| https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/flaxseed-oil-benefits |
Flaxseed oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids and has been shown to have several health benefits, such as reduced blood pressure and improved regularity. Just 1 or 2 servings a day can be beneficial.
Flax seeds are known for their many health benefits, which include providing a hearty dose of protein and fiber, reducing appetite and aiding in weight control.
Given their stellar nutrient profile, it’s no wonder that flaxseed oil is also jam-packed with similar health benefits.
Flaxseed oil, also known as flax oil or linseed oil, is made from flax seeds that have been ground and pressed to release their natural oil.
This health-promoting oil has a wide variety of uses, ranging from cooking to skin care.
This article will explore some of the top benefits of flaxseed oil and a few simple ways to use it.
1. High in omega-3 fatty acids
Much like flax seeds, flaxseed oil is loaded with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Specifically, flaxseed oil contains alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a form of omega-3 fatty acid that is only converted in small amounts to active forms of omega-3, like EPA and DHA.
If you aren’t getting enough DHA and EPA in your diet, most guidelines recommend at least 1,600 mg of ALA omega-3 fatty acids daily for men and 1,100 mg for women.
Just one tablespoon of flaxseed oil can meet and exceed your daily ALA needs.
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to health and have been associated with benefits like reduced inflammation, improved heart health and protection for the brain against aging.
If you aren’t taking fish oil or getting one to two servings of fatty fish in your diet each week, flaxseed oil may be a good solution to help supplement your diet with the omega-3 fatty acids you need.
2. May help reduce cancer cell growth
Although the current research is limited to test-tube and animal studies, there is some evidence that flaxseed oil may help reduce the growth of cancer cells.
In a 2015 animal study, mice were given 0.3 ml of flaxseed oil for 40 days. It was found to prevent the spread of cancer and the growth of lung tumors.
In an older small animal study, flaxseed oil was shown to block the formation of colon cancer in rats.
Furthermore, test-tube studies have produced similar findings, with several studies showing that flaxseed oil reduced the growth of breast cancer cells.
Still, while these findings are promising, more research is needed to determine how these results may translate to humans.
3. Could benefit heart health
Several studies have found that flaxseed oil could benefit heart health.
One study in 59 people compared the effects of flaxseed oil to those of safflower oil, a type of oil high in omega-6 fatty acids.
In this study, supplementing with one tablespoon (15 ml) of flaxseed oil for 12 weeks led to significantly lower blood pressure levels than supplementing with safflower oil.
High blood pressure can harm heart health, as it places extra strain on the heart, forcing it to work harder.
Flaxseed oil may also improve the elasticity of the arteries. Both aging and increased blood pressure are generally linked to decreases in elasticity.
These benefits are likely due to the high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids in flaxseed oil, as supplementing with it has been shown to significantly increase the amount of omega-3s in the blood.
What’s more, numerous studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids improve heart health, with benefits such as reduced inflammation and lower blood pressure.
4. May help treat constipation and diarrhea
Flaxseed oil may be effective at treating both constipation and diarrhea.
A recent animal study showed that flaxseed oil acted as a laxative to promote regularity, all while acting as an antidiarrheal agent.
Another study gave 50 constipated patients on hemodialysis either flaxseed oil, olive oil or mineral oil.
After four weeks, flaxseed oil increased the frequency of bowel movements and improved stool consistency. Also, it was found to be as effective as both olive oil and mineral oil.
However, research on the effects of flaxseed oil on constipation and diarrhea is currently limited to animal studies and studies on people with specific conditions.
Additional studies are needed to evaluate its effectiveness in the general population.
5. May improve skin health
Flaxseed oil may also help enhance skin health.
One small study had 13 women supplement with flaxseed oil for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, they experienced improvements in skin smoothness and hydration, while skin sensitivity to irritation and roughness had decreased.
A recent animal study showed that flaxseed oil had similar positive results.
Mice with dermatitis were given flaxseed oil for three weeks. The oil was shown to decrease symptoms of atopic dermatitis, such as redness, swelling and itching.
However, no studies have looked at the benefits of applying flaxseed oil to the skin of people. Nevertheless, there are numerous anecdotal reports of improvements in smoothness and reduced irritation after applying flaxseed oil.
6. May reduce inflammation
Thanks to its omega-3 fatty acid content, some research shows that flaxseed oil may help reduce inflammation in certain populations.
However, one analysis of 20 studies showed that flaxseed oil did not have an effect on inflammation in the general population.
Nevertheless, it significantly reduced levels of C-reactive protein, a marker used to measure inflammation, in obese people.
An animal study also found that flaxseed oil has potent anti-inflammatory properties.
Some studies indicate that flaxseed oil’s anti-inflammatory effects are equivalent to those of olive oil.
For example, one study in 37 people showed that flaxseed oil supplements didn’t affect any inflammatory markers in healthy, normal-weight adults, compared to olive oil.
While it seems that flaxseed oil may affect people differently, more research is needed to determine its effects on inflammation for the general population.
How to use flaxseed oil
One of the best things about flaxseed oil is its versatility. For starters, it can easily be swapped for other types of oil in salad dressings, dips and sauces.
You can also add one serving (one tablespoon or 15 ml) into smoothies or shakes to add some flaxseed oil into your diet with minimal effort.
Keep in mind that flaxseed oil should not be used for cooking, as it does not have a high smoke point and can form harmful compounds when exposed to high heat.
In addition to being used in food, flaxseed oil can be applied to the skin to enhance skin health and increase skin moisture.
Alternatively, some people use flaxseed oil as a hair mask to promote growth and shine.
The bottom line
Flaxseed oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids and has been shown to have several health benefits, such as reduced blood pressure and improved regularity.
What’s more, flaxseed oil can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used as a replacement for other types of oils, added to foods or applied to your skin and hair.
Including just one or two servings of flaxseed oil in your daily routine is easy and could have numerous benefits for your overall health.
The genesis of artistic creativity. Genius genes and autism / Michael Fitzgerald, (Ireland) (EN)
The genesis of artistic creativity. Genius genes and autism / Michael Fitzgerald, (Ireland) (EN) - The 11th International Congress on Psychopharmacology - 7th International Symposium on Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology - 2019
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Why Canada is Falling Apart
Something is wrong with Canada and this is why Canada is falling apart in real time and how the country is becoming unliveable with all of the problems it faces.
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
On Robson Street in Downtown Vancouver. Autumn of 2017.
Robson Street is a major southeast-northwest thoroughfare in downtown and West End of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Its core commercial blocks from Burrard Street to Jervis were also known as Robsonstrasse. Its name honours John Robson, a major figure in British Columbia’s entry into the Canadian Confederation, and Premier of the province from 1889 to 1892. Robson Street starts at BC Place Stadium near the north shore of False Creek, then runs northwest past Vancouver Library Square, Robson Square and the Vancouver Art Gallery, coming to an end at Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park.
As of 2006, the city of Vancouver overall had the fifth most expensive retail rental rates in the world, averaging US$135 per square foot per year, citywide. Robson Street tops Vancouver with its most expensive locations renting for up to US$200 per square foot per year. In 2006, both Robson Street and the Mink Mile on Bloor Street in Toronto were the 22nd most expensive streets in the world, with rents of $208 per square feet. In 2007, the Mink Mile and Robson slipped to 25th in the world with an average of $198 per square feet. The price of each continues to grow with Vancouver being Burberry’s first Canadian location and Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood (which is bounded on the south side by Bloor) now commanding rents of $300 per square foot.
In 1895, train tracks were laid down the street, supporting a concentration of shops and restaurants. From the early to middle-late 20th century, and especially after significant immigration from postwar Germany, the northwest end of Robson Street was known as a centre of German culture and commerce in Vancouver, earning the nickname Robsonstrasse, even among non-Germans (this name lives on in the Robsonstrasse Hotel on the street). At one time, the city had placed streetsigns reading “Robsonstrasse” though these were placed after the German presence in the area had largely vanished.
Robson Street was featured on an old edition of the Canadian Monopoly board as one of the two most expensive properties.
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