For colour blind fans, the Super Bowl keeps fumbling

Plus, how tourists are killing the St. Lawrence Market, kindergarten’s back-to-basics blues and the smell that took over the world [The Star] First Up [By Andrew Joe Potter] By Andrew Joe Potter Happy Super Bowl Sunday — sadly, the last opportunity until September for your uncle to complain every time Taylor Swift is shown during the broadcast. For those who don’t feel existentially threatened by her presence, Lara Buchar has mapped out the [ultimate Swift-themed Super Bowl party](. Here’s the latest. MUST READS Nick Lachance/Toronto Star Education [Experts are concerned about the Ford government’s “back to basics” kindergarten reforms]( When Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced plans to revamp the approach to kindergarten, he vowed that play- and inquiry-based learning would be paired with more formal instruction in math and literacy. However, educational experts tell Kristin Rushowy that at such a young age, play actually is the work. Overloading the curriculum will likely have the opposite effect. [Here’s why the stakes are so high when it comes to getting kindergarten right](. Getty Images Super Bowl [Why colourblind football fans are still toiling through inaccessible Super Bowl broadcasts]( When a hundred million people sit down to watch the big game tonight, not everyone will see the same thing, Ab Nacef reports. Eight per cent of males are affected by colour vision deficiency, and the NFL and other sports leagues are way behind on accessibility. [Here’s why millions of football fans could have trouble watching tonight](. Nick Lachance/Toronto Star Shopping [Longtime tenants of St. Lawrence Market worry tourists are turning it into a fancy food court]( With two large stalls sitting empty in bustling St. Lawrence Market for months now, veteran vendors know the average tourist is likelier to grab a peameal sandwich and a butter tart than load up on groceries, Jake Edmiston writes. The market’s butchers, grocers and fish mongers are worried catering too much to one-off visitors will eventually squeeze them out. [Take a look at why some believe the tourist horde is less a blessing than a curse](. Susan Kao/Toronto Star illustration MUSIC [No longer merely passengers to their fave artists’ success, Gen Z super fans are actively writing and remixing music history]( “Being a Barb is not for the weak,” Sahil Suvarna laments, referring to the rank-and-file soldiers in Nicki Minaj’s fan army. Obsessive fandom has always existed, of course; Emilie Hanskamp points to Elvis’ acolytes and Beatlemania as historic comps. But the Barbs, Swifties and Beyhive aren’t merely passionate, passive consumers. [Today’s fans have immense influence on their idol’s careers](. Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star Culture [How a father’s unlikely suggestion unlocked our writer’s quest for language]( When Karon Liu was beginning to learn how to read and write in his ancestors’ mother tongue, his father offered a surprising piece of advice: start reading comics. Emboldened, the Star’s food writer quickly became a regular at Chinatown’s Chan Sheung Kee Book Co., loading up on new volumes to assist in his quest to learn traditional Chinese. [Here’s how Karon is reclaiming a piece of his family history, one comic per night](. UP CLOSE Tom Pennington After Kansas City’s Super Bowl win in 2020, Quebec’s Laurent Duvernay-Tardif famously put his playing career on pause to work on the pandemic’s frontlines. With his team once again in the Big Dance, the ex-player (and future doctor) tells Joe Callaghan what he’s been up to — [including yet another wild turn in an already one-of-a-kind career](. SMELL THIS Joseph Saraceno You may not know it by name but your nose is likely familiar with Santal 33 by Le Labo, Sarah Daniel writes. From humble beginnings, the scent (and its many knock-off imitators) is now well-represented among today’s nose-forward elite. [But the road from experimental candle scent to best-selling fragrance has plenty of potential pitfalls](. Thanks for reading. You can send your questions, comments and signature scents to the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_208717), and we will see you back here Monday. If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below. [Unsubscribe From This Newsletter]( [Sign Up for More Newsletters and Email Alerts]( [View in Browser]( Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. 416-367-2000 [PRIVACY POLICY](