more photos

Richard Ostler's photos are uploaded on this public web-album http://picasaweb.google.com/sherocious

Please let us know if you have trouble accessing it. Enjoy!

Thanks for the memories (updated)

The first of the photos have been submitted (thanks Aaron Vidaver!) - the album is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidaver/sets/72157600303504535 We'd love to post your photos on the blog - please email them to the hillside email and we'll post 'em!

We are a damn fine-looking group, I have to say!


Thanks for coming - I think the evening was a huge hit.
- your hung over grad committee

*****

Rachel's speech is captured here: http://www.box.net/shared/5tzoo3em89 Thanks again to Aaron V for transcribing the eloquent Ms Cave and her address to the crowd: "Hi everybody. Welcome Class of '87. So Richard asked me to say something and nobody says 'no' to Richard. And, actually, the only thing that really must be said tonight is 'thank you' to Richard Ostler and 'thank you' to the Reunion Committee that put thistogether. I thought their blog was sweet and excellent and funny and I think it was a lot of work. It's Wade, it's Shelagh, it's Mark Vaughan, it's Richard, it's--who else Richard?--Eric Stockner. Anyway, you guys. So here we all are and what are you supposed to talk about at a reunion? I looked up reunion speeches and people talked about--hey, listen to me. I'm going to keep it short but I do want your attention. ... No, seriously, in the back. Nigel? Nigel? Tell those guys to chill for just a second. ... We're all here probably for different reasons. I don't know why people come to reunions. Maybe they're curious to see who's rich or who's whatever. I don't know why I'm here tonight except that I'm very happy to see a lot of you and I think a lot of you look fantastic. I think you all look fantastic to me. The other thing that I think we should say is that we haven't lost anybody in our grad class and for that we're very, very lucky. ...Listen, I'm drunk too but this is hard enough. I was nervous. I was really nervous until the guy--when I bought cigarettes because I was so nervous (I don't even smoke)--the guy asked me for ID and I thought 'right on, I'm going to be okay'. Anyway. I hope you get a chance to see the people that you came to see tonight and to wish them well. I don't know what it is that we have in common but we had some very fleeting moments. You realize twenty years later how fleeting your youth was. And we're just here to reconnect with that. I would say one thing personally to Sally Taylor and to Fiona McColl and to Tracey Sutton (who couldn't be here tonight) your families were very good to me and I appreciate that. And to all the people who were in my other circles of friendships I'm glad to see you and I hope you have a wonderful night and I intend to get really slaughtered."

3 more days!

Grad Profile: SCOTT CABIANCA

Where do you live now: WV..."A Place of Excellence?"

Constant Companion(s): Motrin, Advil, Tylenol.

Nickname: Cabo, Cowbell, Scotty-Dog, Kenny's-Boy.

Married: "...You Gotta Be Fuckin' Kidden'Me!"

Children: "...You Gotta Be Fuckin' Kidden'Me!"...well...actually….2 kids....kinda.

Last 20 years in 20 words (or more): an unexpected Rogue Wave arriving right at ‘Ten-To’ forced me to either spill the Truth, or live the Consequences … i took the latter … and, in Edmonton, on my way back to St. John’s, i somehow found fame in Bollywood and had dreams of becoming a Master. it didn’t last long, however, as Flying Vees Hockey and one-night-in-Bangkok quickly changed that diaper.

Favorite Music: "Gimme Back My Bullets". I still only listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Gold and Platinum.

Favorite (weekly) Journey: Club Pk to Lolita’s – we love you Dr. Drea.

Favorite Hillside Memory: Having a provocative female French Teacher run her hands through my hair (and stuff).

Greatest Achievement: "Getting Off Scott Free."

'87 Yearbook Quote: "Rocko" could always be found in the smoke hole with his leather on. Pet peeves include band aids and having no finger nails. "Scooter" will be remembered for his late party skills and his wide-eye look. Scott's least memorable but most famous occassion was his lack of eyebrows. His future plans are for a relaxed summer and eventually Cap. Message to u.g.: "Stay Conscious"

Reunion - updated attendees list

As of today, the following grads have paid to attend our Reunion:

Tanya Downie (Williamson), Andrea Lee-Aloni (Lee), April Sleeman (Accola), Bill McEachnie,Brad Wise, Sally Taylor,Brian McConville, Catherine Stavely (Fronczek), Chris Jung, Chris Jarvis, Claire Gray (Hill), Chris Mills, Pat Link (Cooper), David Garner (Wollen), Carolyn Doucette, Dori Hodges (Hemingway), Jennifer Thomson (Bell), Eric Stockner, Fiona McColl, Gail Morrison, Heather Johnson, Jeff Cassidy, Jim MacCallum, Mitchell Davis, Julian Bannister, Kevin Frew, Lee Hester, Clayton Lorence, Leanne Sexsmith, Mark Vaughan, Maaria Curlier (Solin), Sharon Selby (Addison), Nigel Witt, Paul Degruchy, Peter Bomben, Pia Banister, Richard Ostler, Scott Cabianca, Samantha Krumme (Olley), Shelagh McIntyre (MacKenzie), Scott Stanley, Susan Elliott, Suzanne Biehl, Tim Neame, Kerstin Schneider, Aaron Vidaver, Thea Ewert (Bentley), Wade Domries, Lara Cameron, Marianne Hill (Guy), Sean Broderick, Suzy Casilio, Kevin McCandless, David Graham, Kathleen (Katie) Walker, Lisa Harris (Read), Ursula Pauwels.

Is your name on the Guest List?

For those who are curious, at the time of this writing (names get added daily - check back here for updates), the following grads have already bought their tickets to attend and party at the event of the summer - your grad Reunion:

Tanya Downie (Williamson), AndreaLee-Aloni (Lee), April Sleeman (Accola), Brad Wise, Sally Taylor, Brian McConville, Catherine Stavely (Fronczek), Chris Jung, Chris Jarvis, Claire Gray (Hill), Pat Link (Cooper), David Garner (Wollen), Carolyn Doucette, Dori Hodges (Hemingway), Jennifer Thomson (Bell), Eric Stockner, Fiona McColl, Gail Morrison, Heather Johnson, Jeff Cassidy, Jim MacCallum, Mitchell Davis, Julian Bannister, Kevin Frew, Lee Hester, Clayton Lorence, Leanne Sexsmith, Mark Vaughan, Maaria Curlier (Solin), Sharon Selby (Addison), Nigel Witt, Paul Degruchy, Peter Bomben, Pia Banister, Richard Ostler, Scott Cabianca, Samantha Krumme (Olley), Shelagh McIntyre (MacKenzie), Scott Stanley, Susan Elliott, Suzanne Biehl, Tim Neame, Aaron Vidaver, Thea Ewert (Bentley), Wade Domries, Lara Cameron, Chris Mills and Suzy Casilio.

The early-bird deadline has now come and gone; tickets are now $60. Stop procrastinating, you! We want to see you in June!

We're also still missing contact information for the following grads: Chris Atkins, Janice Bathurst, David Chan, Chris Clarke, Jufoon Dajani, Andrew Elsey, Ruby Flores, Jonathan Fulker, Marianne Guy, Andrew Hajek, Neil Hogan, Laurence Hung, Nicola Kappius, Jason Kostrzewski, Jonathan Lancaster, Andrea Ma, Anita McGee, Megan Oliver, Suzanne Sale, Dennia Tsang, Anna Woo and Lisa Yu. Please let us know if you have any leads so we can send along the Reunion information.

See you soon!

Your aging-well Grad Reunion Committee

Grad Profile: AARON VIDAVER

Constant companion? Dorothy Trujillo Lusk.

Where do you live now? Vancouver.

Occupation? Archivist.

Children? One step-daughter, Anna (17).

When and where are you the happiest? I find happiness at all hours in all kinds of places from sub-basements to the woods. I’ve noticed that my affective states are less dependant upon my location than upon nutrition and general physical and mental health.

What was your favorite journey? My most important journey (aside from birth itself) was the one I made from the hospital in Duncan (where I was born) to the home of my adoptive parents Josephine and William Vidaver in West Vancouver (where I grew up). That was luck. I spent a year in Stauffen, Germany (1971-1972) with my parents and while I don’t remember any of it I think my fetishization of certain German words (überlieferungsbildung, wirkungsgeschictliches Bewußtsein and gesamtkunstwerk, for instance) date to this early experience. My only other off-continent travel was a summer in England (1984) to trek around with Simon Raybould (who attended West Bay Elementary through Grade 6). I have an assortment of favourite memories of traveling in California. My family is from there primarily and so we used to drive down twice each year through the 1970s and early 1980s. I did my archival internship in Massachusetts (1997)—where the commuter rail system (supplemented by busses) allows for excellent day-trips to outlying areas like Gloucester, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Lowell, Walden Pond and other spots (saw my first amanita phalloides in Maine that summer)—then worked on a contract in Banff (1999-2000) which has no real transit system but was astonishing nonetheless. My favourite journey would have to be the four-day Greyhound bus ride I took from Seattle to Atlanta (1993) to attend an American Philosophical Association conference. After that I knew that despite the familiar looking people down south the United States is, in fact, an exotic destination. My favourite drug-induced journey, which this question perhaps hints at, consisted in a short series of MDMA sessions (1994-1995). I wish we’d had safe access to the empathogens back in the day (1984-1985) rather than having to fumble around with Hofmann’s Problem Child.

What are your interests? Writing, editing, publishing. Archives, politics and law (pertaining to access to information, privacy, accountability, inter-agency cooperation, destruction of documents). Autonomous social movements and the apparatuses that abhor them. Philosophical and tactical aspects of dissent, refusal, practical negation and withdrawal from participation in the juridical system. Natural history. The lumpenproletariat. Sentences. Fungi, lichen and succulents. Freedom 35. Self-sabotage and counter-interpellation. The resurgence of an appeal to citizenship and obedience in the latest cultural avant-garde. Etiquette and hospitality in the context of squatting and land reclamation. Domesticated cats. Wild birds.

What is your fondest memory of Hillside? Being the boyfriend of Carolyn Doucette. I am also grateful to Michael Wineberg who, mid-way through Grade 12, brokered an agreement with Dallas Christofoli to permit me to drop my science courses (except for Algebra, which I loved, and Physics, which I enjoyed but didn’t love) in favour of various “work experience” and “study block” credits that allowed me to deepen the pursuit of what I was doing by myself and with friends in English, Writing (and Dream of the Butterflies magazine) and Journalism (with Drew Meikle and members of the Non-Entity Club). Earlier pleasures of studying at Hillside include Economics 11 and Law 11 (combined with Consumer Ed 10 to form the holy trinity), Computer Science 11 (with Barry Underwood—I subsequently did his marking for him in Grade 12 as another “work experience” project) and Typing 9 (with Tom Taylor who wrote “Aaron occasionally shows sparks suggesting great potential in this subject: with determination it could be realized” on my report card). I look back in fondness to the time (Grade 10) when Heather Cameron and I appeared on Shaw community television to explain to the world who our heroes were (You Tube upload pending) and to the various antics (Grade 8) of The Slush Cat Gang (Neil Hogan, Patrick Rittich, Mark Vaughan and me).

What is your most embarrassing memory of Hillside? Going to score my first gram of pot and taking along an Adidas bag thinking that I would require such a large device to conceal my purchase on the trip home.

What is your favorite music, past/present? I agree with a comment made by Al Yankovic during the recording sessions for Straight Outta Lynwood: “Not too stupid, just stupid enough.”

What do you consider your greatest achievements? Taking care of my mother during the last year of her life (2005-2006) is at the top of the list. Then comes editing a book on the Woodwards Squat (2003-2004), editing and publishing The Rain Review of Books (2006-), keeping Filler, my diary (1990-2010), helping friends (1994-) and stayin’ alive (1969-).What is your greatest regret? My regrets fall into two categories: regrets over things I did do (eg. cracking the engine block on a rental car in the desert) and regrets over things I did not do (eg. failing to support friends who went back east after graduation). I have more of the latter than the former.

What are you waiting to do? I’m waiting to complete Filler before it becomes obsolete. I’m waiting to read Dorothy’s next book, DECORUM, before I commence couples’ Pilates. I’m afraid the “most likely to ... lead the next political revolution” attributed to me in the yearbook is not something that will happen. Not just because the concept of leadership is confounded in the “post-Seattle” era but because the concepts of “revolution”, “political”, “next” and “the” are all in the middle of being rethought. It’s not clear which parts of the radical heritage are salvageable. But please check in with me in another twenty years.

20 years in 20 words or less: Capilano. Greenchain. Samantha. Nanaimo. SFU. Francesca. UBC. Estrus. MIT. VAG. FORM. Flukes. KSW. Banff. Lusking. PILLS. Woodsquat. Rain. Palliative. Metafiller.

PS: I have digitized two sets of photographs that may be of interest to people: a series of shots that I took of the Hillside demolition (1996) and a series of portraits from West Bay (1975-1981) featuring at least two dozen of us.

'87 Yearbook Quote: Aaron's words of wisdom are to the administration: "When treated like people, the animals got up off the floor and acted in a responsible manner."

Grad Profile: THEA BENTLEY

Constant companion- Vic, my best friend and husband of twelve years. We met while were students at UBC.

Occupation- pediatric community health nurse for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and a recreational gymnastics coach

Children - Two lively and energetic boys. David is 7 1/2, very curious and inquisitive and Mark is almost 4 and very busy (future stunt man or Fear Factor contestant)

When and Where you’re the happiest….Doing something with my family - at the beach, sledding,or all watching a movie.

Favourite journey- A medical missions trip to Mexico. It really opened my eyes to how unbelievably lucky I am to live in Vancouver and reminded me about the blessing of giving of ourselves.

Interests- not too much time for those with work,kids etc. but when I get a bit of me time I love running, reading and spending time with friends.

Fondest memory of hillside- sitting outside on sunny days and having lunch with friends . We probably didn't fully appreciate that multi million dollar view enough!

Music- Really anything and everything except heavy metal. Right now I am really enjoying a group called mercyme.

Greatest achievement - helping people and trying to be a good mother (it's a humbling experience)

Greatest regret- that there isn't more hours in each day

Waiting to do - fix up our 1930's, bad reno 1970's house. We'll get there one day and in the mean time I like to think my 70s kitchen is retro.

Last 20 years in 20 words or less- UBC, car accident, nursing program, Missions trip, Kitsilano Community Church,Victor, Married, Children's Hospital, Community Health, David, Mark…Busy, blessed and very fortunate.

'87 Yearbook Quote: "Tayer" will be remembered for arriving just before the bell in the mustang. Her PP is the constant mispronunciation of her first name. Thea was involved in grass hockey and swimming and her best memories are of Bio12 with Mr Letcher and his jellybeans. Next year she plans to take a trip down under before heading to UBC to take nursing or medicine. Her message to undergrads "Stay away from Lit12".

Grad Profile: HEATHER JOHNSON

Constant Companion : Rick

Where do you live now: North Vancouver

Occupation: Grade 6/7 teacher in Burnaby

Children: 27 at the moment, but I get to send them all home at 3:00 : )

Favourite Music: Pretty much anything as long as it isn't heavy metal or opera

Where and When Happiest: On summer vacation sitting on the dock at our cabin with friends and nothing that has to be done, then jumping into the lake when it gets too hot.

Favourite Journey: Backpacking for 7 months in the South Pacific followed by living in London and traveling all over Europe for 4 years. Greece and Australia were two of my favourites.

Interests: Playing with my balck lab, jogging, endless renovations, spending time with friends and every now and then doing something to get the adrenaline going.

Fondest memory of Hillside: Doing front of house for the musicals and the car rally.

Greatest Achievements: Getting my degrees, backpacking around the world alone and after a lifetime of being a chicken, throwing myself out of an airplane over Lake Taupo at 10,000 feet (I highly recommend it). Surviving my class this year with my sanity in tact will be another achievement!!

Greatest regret: I try not to have any

20 years in 20 words or less: B.A., B.Ed, Backpacking in the South Pacific and Europe, lifeguarding, living in London with a bunch of Kiwis, teaching in Burnaby, home ownership, Grad diploma, and lots of fun.

'87 Yearbook Quote: Heather, an energetic and loyal Hillside Student, could be found singing "Do-wa-diddy-dum" or handing out cookies at lunchtime. Fondest memories: Japan with NS and dinners at Earl's. She will be remembered for her famous U-Turn in the middle of Lion's Gate Bridge. PP's: pink slips and directed studies. Future plans: teaching English in Japan.

Happy Holidays!

We hope all of our Grads have been enjoying the holiday season. More grad reunion event news to come in the new year. In the meantime, best wishes to everyone in 2007 - lets make it a year to remember (in more ways than one!).

Happy Holidays!