Oct. 30, 2018

theconcordian

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY’S WEEKLY, INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

 /theconcordian  @theconcordian  @theconcordian  theconcordian.com

VOLUME 36, ISSUE 10 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

A walk through Montreal's haunted history Ghost tours share a dark past hidden in the alleys of Old Port Life p. 7

also in this issue...

news

arts

music

sports

opinions

Destroyer delivers Bringing Milan Being alone has Students fight The dark side to be heard p. 2 of art history p. 9 smooth set p. 11 to Montreal p. 12 its benefits p. 14

CITY IN BRIEF

news

NEWS EDITORS /// news@theconcordian.com IAN DOWN & MIA ANHOURY ( @IanDown1996 @mia_anhoury)

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR

STUDENT RIGHTS

The fight for student representation A brief history of exclusion in university government IAN DOWN NEWS EDITOR

MINA MAZUMDER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Archive graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

DÉJÀ VU

As the General Coordinator of the Concordia Student Union (CSU), Sophie Hough-Martin should have been on Concordia’s Senate.

According to the CSU’s standing regulations, the general coordinator and the academic and advocacy coordinator are ex-officio representatives of the CSU on Senate, Concordia’s senior academic governing body.

But earlier this term, Hough-Martin was denied a place on both Senate and the Board of Governors. At the time, she was in conditional academic standing, which, under Concordia’s bylaws, disqualified her from participating.

Hough-Martin said that a major depressive episode in fall 2017 was the reason for her conditional standing. “I was unable to complete my coursework by the prescribed deadlines for an incomplete [grade],” she said.

Earlier this month, Hough-Martin’s academic standing was re-evaluated and she was no longer in conditional standing. However, the incident led to the revival of a 2016 Senate ad hoc committee on student eligibility. Hough-Martin and Mikaela Clark-Gardner, the CSU’s academic and advocacy coordinator, successfully requested to have the committee reconvene to review academic standing requirements for student representatives.

This is not the first time this year that Concordia students have had to fight for representation. In January, the administration announced that the two undergraduate and two graduate students who would participate in the Task Force on Sexual Violence would be chosen by the administration, not by the CSU. Although the administration reversed this decision a week later following a CSU press conference criticizing the recruitment process, it did not remove academic standing requirements for task force participants.

Sophia Sahrane, the research and education coordinator for the student advocacy organization Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ), criticized the requirements for discriminating against survivors of sexual violence. “How do you maintain a good academic standing when you have just been sexually assaulted?” she asked at a CSU press conference in February. “When you have had your agency taken away from you? […] When your abuser is your professor?”

Three years prior to the Task Force controversy, Lucinda Marshall-Kiparissis, then the CSU’s general coordinator, and Marion Miller, then a fine arts

Six-year-old Ellie White is in need of a bone marrow donation to fight Leukemia for the second time, according to Global News. She is in intensive treatment and is calling for people to register to become a potential donor by taking a saliva swab test. If matched, Ellie’s life could be saved.

The West Island section of Highway 40, between Highway 13 (exit 60) and St-Jean Blvd. (exit 52) will be closed Nov. 3 and 4, due to the construction of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM). Initial construction will tear down a railway bridge so the REM construction can begin in the area. The traffic will be deviated to Highway 20. The REM is Montreal’s light rail system that will include 26 stations connecting the city to the Greater Montreal area.

representative on Senate, were stripped of their rights as senators after participating in the 2015 student strikes. Their roles in the protests led to a sanction under Concordia’s Office of Rights and Responsibilities, which disqualified them from voting and participating in closed sessions.

However, an ad hoc committee, the same one that reconvened last month, struck down this bylaw, and Miller and Marshall-Kiparissis had their rights as senators restored.

UNCOMMON PRACTICE

“The majority view expressed over the years is that excluding students on conditional standing is not meant to penalize them but a way of helping them avoid additional burden so that they can focus on their studies and redress their academic standing,” said University Spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr.

“This seems to be kind of a dismissive approach from the Concordia institution,” said Guillaume Lecorps, president of the Quebec Student Union (QSU), which represents eight student associations from around Quebec. He said he was not aware of such regulations at any of the universities that the QSU represents.

In fact, Concordia is one of the only universities in Quebec with academic requirements for students who want to participate in school government. Bishop’s University is the only one with similar requirements.

Of the top 27 Canadian universities listed in the 2019 Times Higher Education ranking, only two—Carleton University and the Memorial University of Newfoundland—mention academic standing requirements in their bylaws. Concordia is in the bottom six rankings in a list which also includes the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia.

THE LEGAL QUESTION

In a statement to The Concordian , MarshallKiparissis said that if Concordia’s administration wanted to “show respect for the new student representatives they allow, they should try actually abiding by the Accreditation Act instead of making excuses for their ‘interpretation’ of the law.”

Section 32 of Quebec’s Act respecting the accreditation and financing of students’ associations states that “An accredited students’ association or alliance may, alone, appoint students who, under an Act, regulation, by-law, charter or agreement, are called upon to sit or participate as student representatives on various councils, committees or other bodies in the institution.”

At a regular council meeting on Oct. 10, councillor Rory Blaisdell introduced a motion to allocate $10,000 towards taking legal action against the administration for allegedly violating the Accreditation Act. “We’re gonna take it to court, and we’re gonna have a judge come down and set the precedent, and say ‘No, Concordia, you can’t do this,’” he said.

Council moved to go into closed session after the motion was introduced, and Blaisdell declined to comment on the proceedings.

However, a legal dispute between the CSU and the administration could be precedent-setting.

Patrice Blais is vice president of Grievance and Collective Agreement for the Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association. He is also part of the ad hoc committee that is investigating the issue of academic requirements. Because of his place on the committee, he declined to offer an interpretation of the Accreditation Act. “However, I can tell you that this issue has not been the issue of litigation and there exists no jurisprudence currently on this issue, so any legal opinion has to be taken with a grain of salt,” he said.

In their fight for paid internships, UQAM students from the Science Education Association will be going back on strike from Nov. 13 to 23, according to Le Devoir. The students want to send a message to new Premier François Legault—many students in the faculty have to complete unpaid internships to finish their degree.

As of yesterday, Quebec cannabis stores will only be open Thursday through Sunday, according to CBC. The new hours are due to shortage of stock. This doesn’t mean that there won’t also be a shortage on days the stores are open. Aurora Cannabis, Quebec’s cannabis supplier, told the CBC they are mandated to deliver 5,000 kg per year.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

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Hough-Martin said the CSU’s executives will attend a steering committee on Oct. 30 to discuss the composition, timing and overview of what will be looked at on the ad hoc committee. Hough-Martin hopes this issue will be resolved by the end of her mandate.

“Students who are in precarious academic standing have even more interesting knowledge and life experience to bring to Senate,” Miller said, adding that they understand why students fall behind in their academics, and can suggest improvements that will help them, “So that’s a very valuable perspective to be getting.”

OCTOBER 30, 2018

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TRAINING

Consent and intervention training at ASFA The training is part of the federation’s new anti-harassment and sexual violence policy AVIVA LESSARD CONTRIBUTOR The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) will implement mandatory consent and bystander intervention training for the federation’s counsellors. The Dean of Students Office will provide the training at the start of 2019.

Elliott Boulanger, ASFA’s internal affairs and administration coordinator, said the executive team is still sorting out exactly what the training will cover. The training will most likely take place in January and will consist of one two to three hour session.

The Dean of Students Office will be covering the newly created anti-harassment and sexual violence policy, which the federation approved earlier this month.

After eight months of research and consultation, ASFA passed a policy to make the process of coming forth with an allegation of discrimination easier for victims. It was approved on Oct. 11.

The training is mandator y for all counsellors. Executives are encouraged to participate, but do not have to. All participants will be trained at the same session. According to ASFA’s bylaws, all of the federation’s executives and employees should “receive adequate training on issues related to harassment.”

“Consent is everything in life,” Boulanger said. She said counsellors need to be aware

of the power dynamic they have with the people who use their services. Without the training, counsellors might not know how to react or what to do when intervening in cases of sexual harassment, she added.

The Dean of Students Office serves as a liaison between university management and student organizations. They already offer risk-reduction training on request to student associations, a service which ASFA has used to train their frosh leaders on consent since 2016.

ASFA has faced two sexual harassment scandals in recent years. Last month, Concordia student Harris Turpin filed a lawsuit against ASFA for allegedly failing to respond to his sexual harassment allegation against its former president, Jonathan Roy. In winter 2015, an ASFA executive, who was referred to by the pseudonym Mei Ling, filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission for discrimination and harassment within the organization, as previously reported by The Concordian.

According to Boulanger, however, the upcoming consent and bystander training was not initiated in response to any recent incidents of sexual assault.

“We want to offer as much as we can to our counsellors,” she said, adding that the federation wants its executives “to be aware and to be able to do their jobs properly.”

Graphic by @spooky_soda

ACADEMICS

A health institute at Concordia

The Institute for Preventive Health and Healthy Living is still in its consultation phase EITHNE LYNCH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Concordia is looking to open a new Institute for Preventive Health and Healthy Living.

This initiative is one of 29 priorities of the Campaign for Concordia: NextGen Now, whose website claims it is Concordia’s “most ambitious campaign ever with a goal to raise $250 million.”

The website fur ther states, “our major effort will support nine strategic directions that cement our position as Canada’s next-generation university.”

Despite the university not having a medical or public health facult y, “given Concordia’s tradition of fostering multidisciplinary collaboration, we feel we are in a unique position to facilitate collaborative thinking about health, and produce accessible breakthrough solutions to today’s health challenges,” said Christophe Guy, vice president of research and graduate studies.

The university has consulted with over 150 faculty members from all four faculties of health-related research expertise about the initiative. “Consultations largely consisted of information gathering and brainstorming sessions with different researchers in the

health sector, who come from diverse disciplines,” said Alisa Piekny, PhD and Associate Professor in Biology. A goal of the consultation session was to “discern how researchers define themselves, and

identify critical mass in areas that could become a ‘silo’ under the larger umbrella of the health institute,” said Piekny.

“Not all of these faculty members may choose to participate in the institute, but

many have indicated an interest in doing so,” said Guy. Piekny said she would participate in the health institute. “I have been involved in discussions on forming the health institute for over a year now, and feel strongly that this is an important initiative for Concordia,” said Piekny.

The institute’s website also states that it aims to integrate and amplify the strengths of the university so that it “complements institutions grounded in medical environments.” This will be done by focusing on three clusters: preventive health, innovative treatment, and health-related data and technologies.

The institute is still in its consultation phase, therefore details on how much it will cost, where it will be located, how large it will be and how long it will take to become a reality are still undetermined.

The university does not intend on taking funds from other initiatives in order to fund the institute. “Some Concordia operating funds will be needed, along the lines of what we provide to other research centres and platforms,” said Guy. However, they intend to raise funds through donations, external funding, and are already in talks with prospective donors.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

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theconcordian

OCTOBER 30, 2018

NATION Birth control residue in the river IN BRIEF Montreal researchers look at how the pill harms freshwater fish ENVIRONMENT

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeal of Balpreet Singh and Harminder Kaur, members of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, who were denied entry to the Quebec National Assembly hearing with their ceremonial daggers in 2011, according to CTV. The high court gave no reason as to why they refused to hear the appeal, although they are not required to. Both the Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeal found the Quebec National Assembly was allowed to establish its own rules.

Simons, a Canadian fashion retailer, has increased its minimum wage to $16 per hour in Quebec, according to TVA. A majority of their sales associates in Quebec saw a $3 increase, regardless of how much they were paid before. A Simons representative told TVA the company did not want to discuss the increase publicly.

The Jean-R. Marcotte water treatment plant. Photo by Elise Martin.

ELISE MARTIN STAFF WRITER According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the 10,000 women who take contraceptive pills risk getting cancer one to two times in their lifetimes. For girls entering puberty, it has become the norm to use the contraceptive pill.

Not only have studies shown that the pill can have harmful effects on the body, but it also impacts the environment.

“We found endocrine disruptors in the Saint Lawrence River,” said Daniel Cyr, in French, a professor in the Canada Research Chair in Reproductive Toxicology. “They come from an oestrogenic pill. People swallow a contraceptive pill, then they use the toilet.

That waste water is then picked up and processed by water treatment plants. One part ends up back in the Saint Lawrence River, the other goes to a factory to become drinking water,” he explained.

Residue can be found in the river because estrogen goes through the filter. “We sent our study to the city and to the water treatment plant in 2002,” said Cyr. However, no changes have been implemented so far.

The major problem lies in what the pill is made of, and the consequences that follow once it’s been ingested. “This means that fish can gulp down the leftover residue.

It causes their reproductive system to malfunction,” said Cyr. Cyr and his team analyzed fish caught by fishermen in the Saint Lawrence River.

“Eventually, male fish turn into female fish,” said Cyr. Knowing these results, researchers fed the fish to suckling rats. “These young male rats had lower spermatozoa counts due to the presence of this residue in the fat content of their breastfeeding mothers,” said Cyr. These studies were completed between 2002 and 2004. Currently, the Institut national de la recherche scientifique’s (INRS) Institut Armand-Frappier, are not working on any other studies, due to a lack of contributors and funds. “There are still systematic studies,” said Cyr. “They found what we already found, but with other species and in other places. For example, they recently reported a high level of estrogen in fish. The same levels that are found in a girl going through puberty.”

On Oct. 19, The Concordian joined a group of environmental studies students visiting the Jean-R. Marcotte Wastewater Treatment Plant to learn about the process of cleaning water from Marc Girard, a former

employee who now volunteers and leads tours of the plant. The amount of water the plant receives daily makes it the third biggest in the world, explained Girard.

Before taking the students on a tour of the plant, Girard explained how polluted water is processed. “The product injected into the water forms flakes from the particles that are present in the water. This makes them heavier and they fall to the bottom of the tank, where they are later collected and incinerated,” said Girard. “With this system, we have 95 per cent clean water.

Before, we used to put chlorine in the water to disinfect it at 100 per cent, but this damaged fauna and flora in the river. We found a solution with INRS to use ozonation (oxygen O3).” Ozonation not only eliminates pollutants from contraceptives, but from other pharmaceuticals as well.

The Jean-R. Marcotte plant is aware of the dangers of ecological imbalance.

During the visit, Girard explained that three years ago, the plant launched a $400

Global News uncovered on Friday that Statistics Canada will be requesting financial transaction data and personal information from 500,000 Canadians who will randomly be chosen from nine banks across the nation. Information requested will include social insurance numbers, individual payments and personal banking transactions.

However, the banks have not yet agreed to this.

Othman Hamdan, a man from Fort St. John in British Columbia, has been ordered to leave Canada after he posted 85 Facebook posts on 14 different accounts that praised ISIS and terrorist attacks, according to CBC. In his immigration hearing, Hamdan argued he was exercising his freedom of speech. His posts encouraged terrorist attacks and included instructions on how to carry them out.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

million project. “We could be the first water treatment plant to use this technique. We are still looking for someone to pick up our construction bid,” added Girard. The project will be ready to use in three years.

The Concordian contacted the person in charge of the project, but they refused to comment.

One of the biggest rivers in the world continues to hold a lot of residue from contraceptive pills. According to Cyr, the impacts of contraceptive residue consumed by fish, which are then consumed by animals, could be similar for humans. As humans consume fish from the Saint Lawrence river, just like with rats, “the first signs may be lower counts of spermatozoa and malfunctioning reproductive systems in men.”

Graphic by Eleni Probonas.

OCTOBER 30, 2018

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WORLD Fighting for justice, truth, accountability IN BRIEF Montrealers show support to victims of police killings POLICE BRUTALITY

MIA ANHOURY NEWS EDITOR

Ethiopia elected its first female president, Sahle-Work Zewde, on Thursday according to The New York Times . This comes a week after it was announced that the Ethiopian cabinet will be gender equal. Sahle-Work was a diplomat in the United Nations who worked on peacekeeping operations in Africa prior to her election. She promises to make gender equality a reality in Ethiopia.

The world’s longest sea bridge title goes to China, as it opened a bridge that connects Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai last week, according to The Wall Street Journal .

The six lane bridge is almost 55 km long—the equivalent of 20 of California’s Golden Gate Bridge. It took nine years to build.

“At every level, there are police officers protecting police officers. We have no chance,” said Julie Matson. Photo by Sandra Hercegova.

SANDRA HERCEGOVA VIDEO EDITOR Bridget Tolley, Julie Matson and the Gibbs family have one thing in common: a family member who was killed by the police. They also share a frustration toward the biases, unanswered questions, and dishonesty surrounding the subsequent investigations.

This year, the Justice for the Victims of Police Killings Coalition held their ninth commemorative vigil on Oct. 22 in front of the Fraternité des policiers et policières de Montréal, the largest municipal police union in the province. People gathered to remember the victims who lost their lives to police violence and abuse and to support their families.

Bridget Tolley, the daughter of Gladys Tolley; Julie Matson, the daughter of Ben Matson; and Jeremy Gibbs, the nephew of Nicholas Gibbs, voiced their truth during the vigil. Police officers in uniform were also present, standing behind the speakers.

“We all deserve justice,” Tolley said. “We deserve the truth. We deserve accountability.

This is what we are here for. We are here tonight to honour and remember all victims who were killed by the police.”

Both Tolley and Julie Matson have been involved with the Justice for the Victims of Police Killings Coalition since 2009. “It has been many years that we have been here, and I want to thank you all for continuing to be here and to support us,” Matson said. “It really does mean a lot as family members—it’s really hard, and it doesn't get easier.”

Tolley’s mother, Gladys, was killed by a Sûreté du Québec vehicle in the First Nations community of Kitigan Zibi in 2001. Since then, Tolley has not stopped fighting for the truth and justice her mother deserves. According to Tolley, the reason she is fighting so hard is because of the way her mother’s case was handled. She said she only found out the case was closed a year after the fact, when a reporter called to inform her.

“None of the police officers contacted me. They told us nothing,” Tolley said. “I finally got the coroner's report and there was [...] one big mistake that said the family identified the body. That was not true. We were never able to see my mother.”

Unfortunately, new families of victims become part of this vigil every year. Jeremy Gibbs, whose uncle was killed by police in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in August, was

next to tell his story. “They dont give a f*ck.

My uncle, he was not armed, he did not have a knife, he wasn't running at them.

He was calm, and they shot him five times,” Gibbs said.

“I am aware nobody is perfect. I am aware we all make mistakes.” said Gibbs.

“I ran into my own share of trouble in the past. But that doesn’t give anybody the right to go and take somebody else's life. Everybody should at least have an opportunity to change—but he didn't get that chance. Now his kids won't be the same. I won’t be the same. The rest of the family won’t be the same.”

For 16 years, Julie Matson has been fighting for the justice her father deserves.

In 2002, Ben Matson was beaten to death by police over a parking dispute in Vancouver.

According to Matson, the only way to make things better is to change the current policing system. “We know this has not been working for hundreds of years, and the only way to actually try to get justice for us is to dismantle the system that is currently in place and try something new,” she said. “Because clearly, as more family members are joining us—which is just so heartbreaking—we need to come up with another solution.”

Registered republican Cesar Altieri Sayoc, who allegedly sent more than a dozen bombs to prominent Democrats around the United States last week, was arrested on Friday, according to USA Today. Bombs were sent to former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as actor Robert De Niro and the CNN headquarters, to name a few. Sayoc is being charged with interstate transport of explosives and is facing a maximum sentence of 48 years in prison.

On Wednesday, a storm hit the west of the Mediterranean in Lebanon and cities in Western Syria, causing a flood and hail so heavy it shatteed r car windows and knocked down electric poles, according to Lebanon’s Daily Star. One death was reported on Thursday.

Public safety officials warned residents to stay cautious on the roads and in the streets.

Ali Bongo, president of Gabon, was hospitalized in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, according to Radio France Internationale Afrique. Bongo was in town for a panel at the Future Investment Initiative forum and attended a speech by Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. Gabonese press officials said the hospitalization wasn’t for anything serious, the president was simply tired.

Far-right candidate of the Workers’ Party, Jair Bolsonaro, won the presidential elections in Brazil on Sunday, with 55.21 per cent of the votes, according to El País . Runner-up Fernando Haddad won only 44.79 per cent of votes. His plans include industrializing the Amazon rainforest and facilitating the ownership of firearms, according to The New York Times .

He also wants to fill his cabinet with military officers, and plans to favour bilateral trade deals, as the Trump administration has done.

Eleven people were killed and six were injured in an open fire shooting early Saturday morning in a Pittsburgh synagogue, according to CNN. The assailant, Robert Bowers, is facing 29 charges, including multiple counts of two hate crimes: obstruction of the exercise of religious belief resulting in death and in bodily injury to a public safety officer. If Bowers gets convicted of a hate crime, he could face the death penalty.

“I guarantee you, if we don't stand up as people and do something now, this will become something that is consistent.

They will start killing us—black or white, it won't matter,” said Jeremy Gibbs. Photo by Sandra Hercegova.

A passenger Lion Air flight crashed into the Java Sea on Monday, with 189 people on after taking off from Jakarta, according to The Globe and Mail. The brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane lost contact with ground officials 13 minutes after it took off. There are no signs of survivors yet.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

life

LIFE EDITOR /// life@theconcordian.com ALEX HUTCHINS ( @alexhutchinns96)

EVENT

Dive into an 1830s opium bar Bar Datcha switches vibes with jazz and tarot every Thursday

Samuel Bonneau Varfalvy does tarot card readings for attendees at Bar Datcha. Photo by Fatima Dia.

FATIMA DIA ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR Walking through the doors of Bar Kabinet on Laurier Ave. W., adjacent is Bar Datcha. The warm yellow light in the entrance dances off the walls and drink glasses at the bar, creating a magical atmosphere.

Patrons sit at the bar drinking and chatting with the bartenders, while a low hum of jazz music emanates from within the walls.

To the right of the bar, black curtains lead the way to the main event: a jazz band performance, and tarot card reading. Opposite to the entrance, the room has pitch-black walls with dim lighting and cloud-like smoke, setting an “1830s Parisian opium bar” vibe.

At the table across from the band sits Samuel Bonneau Varfalvy, organizer and tarot reader, waiting for his next client. He’s lively and interactive, making it feel like those who speak with him already know him. Varfalvy is an artist, manager and musician, who also teaches music. With his partner, Isaac Larose, a nightclub promoter, he brought to life the idea of jazz and tarot in a nightclub. “This whole [tarot reading] thing started a couple of years ago,” said Varfalvy. “I became a little obsessed with tarot after reading about it and learning.”

“He went crazy and started bringing his taxi drivers in the apartment for readings,” Larose said with a laugh.

“We’re roommates and I was just like ‘that’s not okay.’ My girlfriend then suggested we look for somewhere to do this in.”

The duo started the concept of jazz and tarot last year, at The Emerald on Park Ave. That only lasted about five months due to financial reasons and

according to Valvarfy, misconceptions about the nature of tarot. “There’s a very strong Jewish community [there], and a lot of Hasidic people associate tarot with dark magic and witchcraft,” Valfarvy said. “They thought I was a sorcerer or something." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

After the Emerald, the pair found Bar Datcha and thought it was the exact embodiment of their vision. “I think a lot of people would not necessarily go see a tarot reader,” said Larose. “If you put it in a different context where it’s really easy to just try it, people might end up liking it.” The aim of this unusual pairing was also to encourage people who would perhaps not go on their own to have a fun and unorthodox experience.

As for choosing Datcha, Larose, who has worked with other clubs such as Tokyo Bar, wanted to take the already popular vibe and see what else could be added to it. “We wanted this little bar where there’s tarot, and we feel like we’re in an opium bar in 1830s Paris,” said Varfalvy. “And Isaac said, ‘Oh we should add in some jazz,’ and we were like ‘Let’s call it Jazz and Tarot.’”

Varfalvy’s main influence in the world of tarot reading is Alejandro Jodorowsky, a mystic, healer and cult filmmaker who has studied tarot reading in depth. “He’s a psychedelic movie director,” Varfalvy said with a smile. “[Jodorowsky] found the old Tarot de Marseilles from the 16th century, technically the original cards, and he reprinted [them] using this old tarot card printer in France.”

To Varfalvy, tarot is a performance art in a way. “There’s nothing magical or mystical about tarot to me,” said Varfalvy. “It was a sort of card game, and for some reason, people started using

them for like 16th century psychology.”

Varfalvy has a methodology he follows when reading cards. His technique revolves around two foundations. The first is accepting that it is not magic, but psychology. The second is accepting that the future cannot be known, simply anticipated. “The cards point to a relationship with the future that you have,” said Varfalvy. “It’s one of two things: you either desire it or fear it.”

Varfalvy gives the deck of cards to his client and asks them to think of a question while shuffling it—for orientation and direction. He then takes the cards and spreads them in a semicircle on the table, and asks the client to pick three cards out of the pool. According to him, the first one to his right is past, the middle is present, and the last one is future.

“I’ve never done tarot reading before, so there was some apprehension and skepticism going in,” said Cameron Begin, an event attendee. “My friend told me to try it for experience, and often there are people who are good at connecting. Immediately, I felt that I connected to Sam, and kind of surrendered to him and what he had to say. As the cards began to fall and he read them, it felt like he did have a strong intuition. It gave me food for thought.”

At 11:30 p.m., Datcha switches to techno and becomes a full-blown nightclub. In the meantime, Varfalvy continues doing readings for those Larose brings him.

“Bring me my next victim,” Varfalvy said with a laugh, welcoming the next person to the chair across from him.

Bar Datcha (98 Laurier Ave. W.) hosts Jazz and Tarot nights every Thursday from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Broken Pencil: The death of avocados

More everyday food items than you think aren’t vegan-friendly ALEX HUTCHINS LIFE EDITOR In the last two weeks, news outlets like The Washington Post, Huffington Post, The Daily Meal and Vice Munchies have published articles about why avocados aren't vegan-friendly. All these articles debating whether vegans should boycott avocados, yet no articles about whether people should boycott honey and beeswax products. Suspicious.

The wave of vegan avocado-related articles started when Sandi Toksvig, of the BBC’s comedy quiz show QI, revealed to listeners that avocados—as well as almonds, butternut squash, kiwis, melons and many other fruits and veggies—aren’t vegan-friendly. And all for the same reason: their harvesting cycles rely on pollination from honey bees. The most obvious example of non-vegan food made by animals (as opposed to from animals) are dairy products, such as milk and butter.

Ethical beekeeping does—and must—exist in order to maintain the global chain of food supply.

However, in lieu of mass overconsumption and globalization, the degree of human interference in the pollination habits of honey bees has increased dangerously. According to a study conducted by North Carolina State University, the overall health and lifespan of honey bees was shown to be adversely affected by the commercial transportation of bee colonies for pollination purposes—or migratory beekeeping. Now a widespread agricultural practice throughout Europe and North America, migratory beekeeping involves attaching artificial beehives to the back of transportation trucks so the food items being transported are pollinated en route.

Multiple experiments within this study showed the lifespan of travelling bees to be one day less than stationary bees. Although this may not seem like a drastic difference, it is when we consider that the average forager bee’s life span is only 20 days, the study suggested.

What a lot of people—even vegans—may not realize is that a single honey bee will produce merely a 12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime, according to the Vegan Society. Imagine how many bees it takes just to fill one jar of honey.

How many jars have you gone through this year alone? Migratory beekeeping is just one of the many anthropocentric factors contributing to the endangerment of honey bees.

Now, back to avocados (yes, we are still talking about avocados). They arguably aren’t vegan-friendly, but who cares? The Vegan Society acknowledged in an interview with Plant Based News that “it is unfortunately not possible or practicable to avoid [indirect harm to] other animals in most farming at this time.”

So, if you’re not ready to give up avocados, here are a few other ways to better wield your sword of purchasing power. Instead of honey, try date syrup, agave nectar or maple syrup for cooking, baking and sweetening drinks, respectively. Avoid buying honey-based or beeswax products. If you have access to green space, lavender, thyme and oregano are all plants you can grow that help bees pollinate. In general, try to support local food distribution networks and farmers’ markets as opposed to transnational food chains. And please, do not fret the death of avocados.

Save the bees!

Graphic by @spooky_soda

OCTOBER 30, 2018

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COVER STORY

A glimpse of our haunted history

THE GREAT FIRE OF MONTREAL

CHÂTEAU RAMEZAY

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Old Montreal’s spookiest and most troubling ghost stories TEXT AND PHOTOS BY

ALEX HUTCHINS LIFE EDITOR On Thursday, Oct. 25, The Concordian went on a haunted walking tour through the Old Port with Montréal Ghosts, an organization that has been leading people from all walks of life on ghost tours since 1999. Hidden behind bustling tourism, held within the mortar and cobblestone bricks of Old Montreal, are some of the city’s dark secrets from throughout history. While you may not believe in ghosts or hauntings, the stories of people meeting their untimely deaths are very real. How one chooses to interpret the paranormal events that followed their ghastly deaths is entirely up to you.

On April 10, 1734, a fire was started in a house on St-Paul St., which soon spread along St-Joseph thanks to a strong westward wind. Within three hours, the fire burned down a nearby hospital, church and multiple houses. This fire raged for 19 hours, and by the time it was extinguished, most of Old Montreal was incinerated—with the town pointing its finger at Marie-Josèphe Angélique, a slave owned by the Franchevilles. Angélique was born in Madeira around 1700, which, at the time, was a colony in Portugal integral to the Atlantic slave trade. In 1734, under French law, people could be tried and found guilty based on public knowledge. Angélique was seen as a rebellious slave for engaging in a romantic relationship with a white servant, Claude Thibault, and for attempting to flee together.

Angélique was found guilty after a six week-long trial in which no one claimed to see her light the fire, yet everyone spoke to her rebellious character, which somehow proved she was the culprit. Angélique was sentenced to be burned alive in Place Royale. Although this sentence was appealed by superior court, it was agreed that Angélique would be hanged, after which her body would be publicly burned.

After being relocated to Quebec City for inspection, prior to the execution, Angélique was paraded about on a rubbish cart in an act of public shaming and torture, holding a sign that declared her an arsonist. Throughout the decades, while Angélique’s innocence has been a topic of much debate, in 2012, a public square facing City Hall was named after her.

Angélique’s spirit has been seen walking from east to west in the alley adjacent to Place Royale, near St-Paul St. (IMG 1).

In 1879, one of Montreal’s most gruesome murders at the time took place at 242 William St., then a working-class industrial apartment building in Griffintown. On June 26, the decapitated head of Mary Gallagher, a sex worker, was found in the wash tub of her apartment, with her dismembered body sprawled in a pool of blood on the living room floor.

Gallagher’s alleged murderess was her friend and co-worker, Susan Kennedy, who was found by police at the scene of the crime, covered in Gallagher’s blood and rocking back and forth in the fetal position. Old Montreal was a place of income for Gallagher, and she would walk the streets at night in search of business opportunities. Years after her murder, starting in 1929, what appeared to be the ghost of Gallagher was seen walking the streets, and wandering through places like Chateau Ramezay (IMG 4), often a location for her business transactions. Every seven years, Gallagher’s headless ghost is seen in a purple satin dress, drenched in blood, wandering around Old Montreal in search of her head.

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AUBERGE ST-GABRIEL

CITY HALL

Graphics by @spooky_soda

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Euphrosine Martineau was once thought to be the most beautiful woman in all of Old Montreal; desired by all, yet Adolphus Dewey was the man who stole her heart. Upon the announcement of their engagement in 1833, rumours circulated that Martineau was unfaithful and flirtatious with other men, which filled Dewey with rage and jealousy. Determined to be sure Martineau could never leave him, after a heated argument, Dewey tried to bludgeon her with an axe. He believed he succeeded in killing her, so he fled. However, Martineau was still alive, though her unborn child didn't survive the attack.

After regaining consciousness, Martineau dragged her mangled body across the cobblestones to a neighbour’s house, where she scratched at the door until dawn. She died 10 days later due to complications with her healing process. After Dewey was found guilty and sentenced to death, his final wish was to address the crowd during his execution, admit to his crime and acknowledge his need for punishment. Dewey was publicly hanged in the gathering space just outside present-day City Hall (IMG 3), and his ghost has been seen wandering the streets of Old Montreal, asking for forgiveness for his transgressions.

The Auberge St-Gabriel (IMG 5), built in 1688 and established as an inn by 1754, is the oldest inn in North America, and with over 300 years of history comes ghastly tales of tragedy and spooky occurrences. The most notable tale is that of Joseph Frobisher, an affluent fur-trading businessman, who acquired the establishment in 1809.

Frobisher needed his business to survive the winter until, come springtime, European tourists would buy his fur.

Frobisher nefariously ordered the neighbourhood arsonist to burn down his competitor’s establishment, and while he specified that the arsonist should be sure no one was in the building, 12 workers burned to death.

The arsonist begged Frobisher for money to flee town, and though he agreed, when Frobisher reached into his drawer to retrieve money, he instead took out a knife and stabbed the arsonist to death. During their altercation, the arsonist’s satchel carrying explosives fell into the fire, and soon the entire establishment went up in flames.

Standing on the streets, Frobisher wept in horror as his establishment was engulfed in flames, however it was not for fear of losing his business. His six-year-old daughter was still trapped on the second floor, in the middle of a piano lesson with her grandfather. A small shred of hope emerged when Frobisher saw his father trying to hoist his daughter up to a window (IMG 5, left) to get her out of the house. However, when the window was opened, the oxygen intake fueled the fire and Frobisher watched his daughter and father be incinerated alive. A year later, Frobisher died from nostalgia, a term then used to describe cases where people speculatively died from either grief, fear or suicide. On top of the countless inexplicable fires that have since occurred at the Auberge St-Gabriel, present-day staff have reported hearing a piano being played and the occasional laughter of a child.

arts

Happening in and around the White Cube this week…

ARTS EDITOR /// arts@theconcordian.com CHLOË LALONDE

CULTURE

Queerness, community and Rocky A look at Montreal’s renditions of the cult classic and what it means to the city DAISY DUNCAN | ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR

GRÁFICA ABIERTA Curated by Santiago Pérez Garci, the director of the Museo Nacional de la Estampa in Mexico City, this exhibition focuses on the practice of printmaking. Featuring nine artists and their works, Gráfica Abierta looks at the growing interdisciplinary focus on contemporary printmaking, and challenges traditional models of the practice. This group exhibition is showing at several artist-run centres in the Belgo Building.

When: Now until Dec. 1 Where: The Belgo Building, 372 Ste Catherine W. Admission is free.

Concordia student Zynor Majeed has been part of the Imperial Theatre's shadow cast for eight years.

CHLOË LALONDE ARTS EDITOR Towards the end of September, I walked into The Concordian's office, first to arrive at our Friday pitch meeting, to find a large envelope on the floor that was addressed to me. Thinking I had deeply upset someone, I anxiously opened the envelope, emptying the contents on the table. Out spilled several papers, one of them labeled “WHAT TO BRING: TOAST, WATER GUNS … NO RICE.” Another showed illustrated instructions for the Time Warp dance. This was my invitation to the The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I am not unfamiliar with the spectacle, but since I had never seen the live performance, I was riddled with excitement. Autumn is a strange time of the year, sometimes heatwave and sometimes freezing, but one constant remains: Rocky Horror. Posters litter the streets, every lamppost and every café. This was it, this was the year I was finally going to see the live show I had heard so much about. Not long after, I found out there are not one, but two live performances. “What’s the deal?” I asked myself. “Why does Montreal love Rocky Horror so much?”

Two weeks ago, I found myself walking up a narrow staircase above Segal's Market on St-Laurent Blvd. The Mainline Theatre wasn't what I expected; it was homey.

People of all ages bedazzled with feather boas, wigs, fishnets and a lot of glitter waited impatiently in a line filling the entire lobby.

The theatre was small. On three sides, the room was lined with rows of elevated seats facing the performance area in the centre. Out came the usheress, beginning the show with a fantastic musical number. With a run time of 120 minutes, the performance

was longer than the film itself and featured amazing numbers and raunchy call backs. My favourite scene was when the newly engaged conservative couple's strange night began.

Elyann Quessy, as Janet, and Adrian MacDonald, playing Brad, got into a car completely formed by the bodies of the phantom dancers, with Kiah Ellis-Durity at the head, planking for the duration of the scene. When Ellis-Durity first experienced Rocky Horror at the age of 16, she was empowered by Frank-N-Furter's words: “Don't dream it, be it.” They made her realize she could achieve more than she ever imagined. To her, Rocky Horror is the embodiment of sexual liberation and self-confidence.

First-timer Yannick Victor had never seen the film, he only knew of the production in passing from posters on the streets and the one scene in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Victor was simply baffled by the name: Rocky. Horror. Picture. Show. Words that are recognized all over the world, but what do they mean? “I think that very confusion, that inability to put this cult event/show/ritual/performance thing into a box is what it's about,” Victor said.

“There's a clear link for me now between Rocky Horror not fitting into a neat little category and the gender fluidity of the characters.”

Montreal's second version of the picture show is held at the Imperial Theatre. At The Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Ball, a shadow cast acts alongside a screening of the original film. The audience is encouraged to dress up and interact with the cast, spraying water and throwing toilet paper, newspaper and toast at specific points during the screening.

“Honestly, sometimes I wish I actually got hit with the toast,” admitted performer Hannah Miller. “Seeing the crowd having so much fun, playing and being free like kids, is really beautiful. It is the strangest way to build community, but it really works.”

Ten years ago, Miller was introduced to the show by Heidi Rubin, who plays Frank-N-Furter in the Montreal production.

Miller joined the cast as an assistant and played Eddie the following year. Miller has been playing “Montreal's favourite asshole,” Brad Majors, ever since.

This year, Concordia student Zynor Majeed played Rocky. He has been part of the cast for six years and has played various roles. According to Majeed, the ball is much more “extravagant and campy” than any other production he has been part of, which is one of the reasons he loves doing it.

“It's an event that is difficult to describe,” the performer admitted. ”You can never truly have expectations. It isn't your conventional play or movie screening, and I think events that give audiences an experience they have likely never had before reasonably get them excited.”

Rocky Horror, Majeed added, “has given me a space to explore my sexuality and identity.”

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a rule-breaker, and there is antici… pation that its audience and performers will be too.

It remains a curious cultural phenomenon that permits the audience to behave in ways that would be severely frowned upon at any other film screening, and brings together different generations through love and queerness.

Graphics by @spooky_soda

HTMLLES FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT Since 1997, this festival has focused on media arts and digital cultures, while exploring it from a socio-political and feminist perspective.

HTMlles will feature a diverse range of events, such as exhibitions, performances, workshops and panels. The festival has a strong mandate to provide a platform for women, trans and gender non-conforming artists, and to create an anti-oppression environment. Following its opening party, the festival will be holding events until Nov. 5 in various locations around the city.

When: Nov. 1, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Where: 4001 Berri St. Admission is free.

STRATIFICATION VERNISSAGE Art Mûr is welcoming several new exhibitions, including Laurent Lamarche's Stratification, which uses interdisciplinary mediums and sculptural forms. Lamarche’s work looks at the connections and tensions between past and present, organic and futuristic. With the use of a 3D printer for some works, as well as other mediums, Lamarche presents an interesting collection of works for viewers to explore.

When: Nov. 3, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Art Mûr, 5826 St-Hubert St. Admission is free.

ZEI GEZUNT // PORTE-TOI BIEN // KEEP WELL Focusing on the journey of a refugee during World War II and the role of everyday objects throughout this journey, Zei Gezunt looks at the life of Lejb Pilanski and his experiences during this time period. The exhibition features the improvised household objects Pilanski had throughout his journey, and explores the deeper significance of these items in their historical context. Other constructed items, personal materials, audio and video and photograps are included in the exhibit, adding to the exploration of displacement within everyday, seemingly insignificant items. This exhibit is in connection with the Museum of Jewish Montreal’s series, Movements and Migrations, which considers all forms of mobility, from physical to emotional, and the presence of displacement, loss and belonging within these themes.

When: Now until Jan. 20 Where: Museum of Jewish Montreal, 4040 St-Laurent Blvd.

Admission is free.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

OCTOBER 30, 2018

theconcordian

9

ART HISTORY

Bringing inner demons to light

From haunted paintings to tormented ar tists , the ar t world has a dark side At this time of the year, there is an abundance of eerie stories to be shared, especially when it comes to unsettling histories.

THE HAUNTED HISTORY OF TWO FAMOUS PAINTINGS ASHLEY FISH-ROBERTSON | CONTRIBUTOR

1. The portrait of Bernardo de Galvez has hung on the walls of the Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas, since just after the American Revolutionary War. It is known by visitors and paranormal fanatics as one of the most haunted paintings in Texas. With its Spanish colonial revival architecture, Hotel Galvez sits on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico and has been operating since 1911.

Several of the hotel's guests have reported seeing the portrait’s eyes move, and the artwork is known to conjure up feelings of unease. There have even been several reports of visitors attempting to photogr aph t he por t r ait, but t he images always come out blurr y and unrecognizable. For those who wish to get a clear picture of Bernardo, the hotel’s staff recommend asking the portrait for permission beforehand.

2. In 1910, Norwegian artist Edvard Munch completed his masterpiece, The Scream . It is one of the most recognized works of the horror-abstract genre, and served as an outlet for a horrific vision the artist had in his youth. According to some of Munch’s personal writings, his childhood vision encompassed horrific images of “air turned to blood” and the echo of “a huge endless scream course through nature.” Although this painting was inspired by a traumatic moment the artist experienced, the painting itself has several interpretations in the art world especially when considered alongside Munch's journal entries. In one of his earliest entries, Munch wrote: “Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle, and they have

followed me throughout my life.”

According to a report by the Smithsonian Museum, this painting “defined how we see our own age— wracked with anxiety and uncertainty” an d had a sig nif ic ant inf luence on the understanding of ar t in the 18th century. It is the existential dread that haunts viewers the most, according to an in-depth report done by the BBC. The painting has created a popular archetype for horror pop culture, such as influencing the 1996 slasher film Scream .

WHEN DEATH IMITATES ART: THE CURIOUS ENDING OF POE LILLIAN ROY | CONTRIBUTOR

It was election night in Baltimore, and Gunner’s Hall bustled with life. The tavern had been temporarily converted into a polling station, although this didn’t seem to impede usual pub activities.

Mixing spirits and politics made for a popular cocktail in 1849.

A compositor named Joseph W. Walker was walking by Gunner’s Hall when, in the darkness, he spotted the slumped figure of a man. The man appeared to be exceedingly drunk and was dressed in a cheap, worn gabardine suit and a tattered banana leaf hat. Despite the man’s slur red incoherence, Walker managed to decipher the name of a friend who lived nearby. He sent the following note to Dr. Joseph E. Snodgrass:

Dear Sir, There is a gentleman, rather the worse for wear, at Ryan’s 4th ward polls, who goes under the cognomen of Edgar A . Poe, and who appears in great distress, and he says he is acquainted with you, and I assure you, he is in need of immediate assistance.

Yours, in haste, Jos. W. Walker

Less than a week later, on Oct. 7, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was pronounced dead.

The details surrounding Poe’s death are a mystery. To date, no one knows why he was in such a delirious state that night. While an inclination to drink heavily might provide some explanation, it fails to account for his peculiar clothing. The poet was generally regarded as quite fashionable—why then, was his suit soiled, ill-fitting and coming apart at the seams?

What also remains unclear is how exactly Poe died. After he was discovered outside the tavern, Poe was rushed to a nearby hospital. During his short stay, he wavered in and out of consciousness, utterly incoherent and seemingly detached from reality.

A lack of reliable evidence has led to the development of numerous theories surrounding Poe’s death. Was it the result of alcoholism, drug abuse, syphilis, influenza, rabies or poison? Was he mugged and beaten into a state of shock? Some have even speculated he died from the effects of a prolonged suicide.

It seems eerily fitting that Poe’s life ended the way it did. In many ways, his departure was as elusive and chilling as his work. Poe’s legacy is so great that historians and literary buffs continue to search for answers, but it’s unlikely we’ll ever know the truth. After all, in the words of Poe himself, “there are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told.”

BEHIND FRANCISCO DE GOYA’S DARKNESS

YOUMNA EL HALABI | STAFF WRITER

I believe I speak for most art lovers when I say that “colourful,” “merry” and “pleasing to the general public” are not qualities associated with Francisco de Goya’s work. I was first introduced to the Spanish artist through his infamous El sueño de la razón produce monstruos (The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters) . The dark etchings, sombre colours and daunting intensity of the drawings made me believe Goya always

produced such darkness. However, that was not the case.

In fact, Goya was avidly admired by the royal Spanish court in the 18th centur y. For the longest period, his portraits of the royal family were what distinguished him in Spain, namely works like Condesa de Altamira and Her Daughter and Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga , who was Altamira’s third son. In Goya’s portraits, colours were used in abundance. His landscapes, such as Blind Man’s Bluff painted in 1789, were bright and clear.

However, as is the fate of most artists, tragedy struck Goya, forcing him into an isolated life. In 1793, the Spanish artist emerged from a long illness completely deaf, which contributed immensely to his ar t. Star ting in 1797, one can see a growing theme of darkness and disturbance in his work. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters is among the 80 disturbing drawings of his first famous print series, Los caprichos , which encompassed fantasy, satire and ridicule of Spanish society.

Goya’s first dark series paved way for what we now consider his darkest works, The Black Paintings . Comprised of 14 painting s , the collection took about four years to complete. The Black Painting s convey violence, despair, mental illness and evil. Saturn Devouring His Son is a fairly disturbing depiction of the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus eating his child to prevent possible usurpation.

The longer Goya spent away from society, the less colourful his art became. One might agree that colourful works of art always appealed to the masses, but as the renowned Spanish artist became more reclusive, eaten away by depression, he began to paint for himself. No colours , no joy, just projections of his inner turbulence.

Graphics by @spooky_soda

music

Quickspins 1

EMPRESS OF

MUSIC EDITOR /// music@theconcordian.com SIMON NEW

Us Terrible Records

OPINION

Why musicians peak after they fall

Lorely Rodriguez’s second album, Us, celebrates friends, family, new relationships and new beginnings.

She dabbles with more R&B and less dream-pop and sings in Spanish on some tracks, reflecting back to her family roots. Her signature raw, honest lyrics are consistent throughout the album and work as her marker. This sophomore album is happier than her debut, and a pop album at its core but does not break any new musical barriers. Rodriguez’s debut, Me, which came out in 2015, was contemplative, bold and experimental, reaching much critical acclaim. Us is a bit bland in comparison, making it much less stimulating. Although this album contains some catchy songs, as a whole, Us sounds like every other pop album that came out this year.

An alys i ng a rt i s t s ’ posthu mou s popu l arity spike

11 Trial Track: “Everything To Me”

6/10 — ERIN WALKER, STAFF WRITER

2

OPEN MIKE EAGLE What Happens When I Try to Relax Auto Reverse

JACOB CAREY CONTRIBUTOR A 1997 article from The Washington Post titled “Death Roars Up the Charts” began with three simple words: Death sells records. More than 20 years later, death is, indeed, still selling records.

Coincidentally, the subject matter of that Washington Post article became a topic of discussion earlier this month.

Having recently won a lawsuit against Entertainment One, the parent company of Death Row Records, the late Tupac Shakur’s estate has now gained all legal rights to the rapper’s previously unreleased music.

As a result, the estate plans to release at least two posthumous albums by 2Pac. These will thus be the rapper’s seventh and eighth posthumous studio albums, officially making his album catalogue after death double that of when he was alive. It could be speculated that these releases will put “all eyez” back on the late rapper.

Music sales after death are nothing new to the industry, and labels are unlikely to back down from capitalizing on them any time soon. Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death album remained at the top of Billboard charts for three weeks following its release after the New York rapper’s death in 1997. Elvis Presley, the King of Rock n’ Roll, reportedly sold more than 200 million copies of his albums in the four months following his death. However, lack of technology made these statistics

harder to calculate back then. Nowadays, we are afforded better insight into how an artist’s death directly impacts their sales and streaming in real-time.

Late Florida rapper XXXTentacion was beginning to secure his spot in the rap world when he was gunned down last June. As the hip hop community around the world mourned the loss, X’s recent ? album jumped from 24th to third spot on the Billboard 200 albums while its lead single, “Sad!,” went from 52nd to first in the Billboard Hot 100 singles and broke Spotify’s single-day streaming record with 10.4 million listens. Similarly, the recent loss of Mac Miller resulted in his newest album, Swimming , shooting to #1 on Apple Music despite previously only peaking at #3. The Pittsburgh rapper went on to occupy all five spots of Apple Music’s top video charts.

With all these records being broken and heights being reached only after their demise, we must ask ourselves: why?

The first answer that comes to mind is nostalgia. When artists pass away, loyal fans commemorate them in the best way they can: by listening to their music. The sudden realization that this musician will never go on tour again and never record another song causes enthusiasts to revisit their works and reminisce on their legacy. While we cannot be there in person to thank them for what they have done, the least we can do is pay homage through their music.

Another reason these artists gain new

listeners could be attributed to morbid curiosity. Upon hearing of their passing, those who have not yet listened to the artist may be more curious to check out their work. Death is intriguing, and the drama surrounding it can prompt people who are uninformed to dive into an artist’s work. XXXTentacion said as much in his posthumous song, “Falling Down,” with the late rapper Lil Peep, in which he expresses his regret in not having collaborated with the artist sooner, saying that “your remorse kinda makes you check ‘em out.”

Yet, there is never a lack of exposure when it comes to the passing of a celebrity.

In the age of social media, articles reporting the death of a musician get posted within minutes of its occurrence and are shared and commented on by thousands. With the majority of articles embedded with streaming links to the artist’s albums and songs, it is no surprise that they receive thousands or millions of views in a single day. This high-volume traffic causes their streaming numbers to skyrocket and makes their music relevant again.

“You go viral when you die,” said Wayne Larsen, a Concordia University journalism professor. “That increases interest, and in turn, generates sales and streaming.” However, Larsen also believes the death of an artist wipes their slate clean, regardless of their past. “You become eulogized by fans after you die, simply because you become bigger than life. You can’t have a bad album. There

Indie hip hop messiah Open Mike Eagle may have perfected his esoteric, self-dissecting style of nerd-rhyme on this new album. Eagle is for people who keep meticulous agendas and wish rap had more lines like, “I don’t wear a monocle, I don’t know which sequels are truly canonical.” Beneath the wordiness are plenty of clever, quaint meditations on the self that are a joy to hear. The beats are quirky, electric bounces that, while ear-catching, often come off as thin. They generally lack a certain punch that would be exciting to hear Eagle take hold of. This is Open Mike Eagle at his most potent, over production that is less so.

11 Trial Track: “Southside Eagle”

7/10 — SIMON NEW, MUSIC EDITOR

are no missteps after death.”

Perhaps there is truth to the claim that no one wants to speak ill of the dead. Once deceased, we are quick to forgive ar tists for their mistakes, whether from their personal life or musical career. They become embodied in their work of art and all that is left to remember them by is their music and the way they have, and continue, to make us feel through it. Perhaps it is only once an artist dies that they truly become larger than life.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

OCTOBER 30, 2018

theconcordian

11

REVIEW

Collaborative spirit prevails with Destroyer Destroyer played career spanning set, and joined opener Sandro Perri on stage KENNETH GIBSON STAFF WRITER Destroyer is the stage name of Vancouverbased balladeer Dan Bejar, who first came to prominence as a member of the New Pornographers. He’s also a moody recluse and inscrutable to a fault. He does not do many interviews. He had no records or merch for sale at his show at La Sala Rosa on Oct. 24.

Bejar goes out of his way to convey a sense of lackadaisicalness in his music and demeanor. While doing press for his 2011 album, Kaputt, which was somewhat of a breakthrough for him, Bejar famously claimed he had recorded much of the vocal tracks while laying down on the couch or “fixing myself a sandwich.”

As for the sound of his music, you can choose from the list of inevitable descriptors: lush, swooning, baroque. Strings and keys come and go around an anchor of Bejar’s voice and guitar. It’s soft-rock influenced pop sung by a disheveled crooner.

Having no new release to promote (his latest, ken, came out a year ago), Destroyer’s string of recently completed solo shows in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal seemed to be more about aiding opener Sandro Perri’s

A N A LY S I S

Dan Bejar, as known as Destroyer, performs “Goddess of Drought” from his 2002 album This Night, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018 at La Sala Rosa. The show was a rare acoustic performance for the musician, normally having a full band with him. Photo by Kenneth Gibson.

latest album, In Another Life. Bejar contributed vocals to the album, as did the other opener, André Ethier, formerly of Toronto garage rock band the Deadly Snakes.

Perri is a renowned electronic musician and producer who has always gravitated toward an “indie” sound, drawing on post-rock and ambient noise influences. Perri’s gently trembling vocals hover over the first 24-minute composition on In Another Life. That track is followed by three more: “Everybody’s Paris,” parts one, two and three. Ethier and Bejar sing on parts two and three respectively.

Perri opted to simply play these three songs for his set, about 20 minutes worth of music, and had Ethier and Bejar come on stage in turns to perform their vocals. Bejar’s contributions fixated on the idea of being “torn to shreds” in the city of lights, the savageness of urban existence being a common theme in his lyrics.

Despite being a multi-instrumentalist, it’s actually rather rare to see Bejar with one in hand. When he plays with his full band, he normally lets them take care of the music while he focuses on singing. This show

was a nice reminder that all of Destroyer’s songs probably start with Bejar and his guitar.

The atmosphere was pleasurably intimate, the kind of show that feels like you’re sitting in a hot bath. Bejar also took the time to engage in some banter with the crowd, something else he doesn’t normally do.

With just an acoustic guitar as accompaniment, Bejar filled the room with his idiosyncratic and nasally singing style.

Remarkably, Bejar’s vocals sounded precisely as they do on his records. He didn’t flub a single note as he took the crowd through cherished songs from Destroyer’s 12-album discography. Highlights included “Times Square” and “The River” from 2015’s Poison Season, “Goddess of Drought” from 2002’s This Night, “Chinatown” from 2011’s Kaputt, “Foam Hands” from 2008’s Trouble in Dreams, and closing out the show with the timeless “Watercolours into the Ocean” from 2006’s Destroyer’s Rubies.

The crowd reflected the kind of audience an artist like Destroyer builds over a 20-year career. A middle-aged couple had brought their pre-adolescent son. There were a lot of couples entwined in each other's arms and more than one person by themselves, beer in hand, eyes closed, simply letting the music wash over them.

Always heard, never seen

Frank Ocean can seem invisible, but his influence is undeniable LOUIS PAVLAKOS CONTRIBUTOR It took four years for Frank Ocean’s Blonde to arrive after releasing his debut album. In those four years, only silence surrounded the elusive singer. There were no promotions, no interviews and no teaser tracks. Suddenly, an album called Endless arrived in video form. It had been only slightly promoted on his website and on an Apple Music stream.

Then, the next day, Ocean’s proper follow-up to Channel Orange arrived.

The promotion of both albums had a common element: minimalism.

The first of the two new albums, Endless, was released in a mysterious fashion. A video of Frank Ocean woodworking was streamed on the aforementioned platforms.

Throughout the video, the new album played.

A darker, wavier experience than Blonde, this album bathed in sparse instrumentals, strangely recorded verses and airtight sequencing. It was a beautifully empty project that executed so much with so little.

Then came Blonde, the more familiar of the two albums. Blonde is a less experimental affair and more straightforward. However, that doesn’t mean Ocean strayed from his path. The songs were crafted with the same minimalism that carried Endless. Quiet chords and slow drums are the centrepieces of this album. Ocean deals with regret, heartbreak, loneliness and heavy anxiety across all 17 songs, and proficiently weaves them into an obscure sense of relatability. Despite the songs being so emotionally impactful,

the listener is never quite given the full story surrounding each one. Furthermore, Ocean isn’t active on social media and is rarely heard from outside of his music, so there aren’t any stories that can be associated with the tracks on the album.

Ocean’s music resonates purely based on the listening experience.

The stripped-back approach Ocean experimented with has had such an impact that many new artists have delved into the sound and adapted it to their music. He helped create a new minimalistic subgenre of R&B that focuses more on content and less on the instrumentals. Khalid, the 20-year-old R&B singer responsible for recent hit “Love Lies,” borrowed from Ocean’s sound and turned it into a more upbeat, chart-topping hit in “Location.” The

song was a major success, peaking at #16 on the Hot 100, but the production is quite simplistic. Backed by a few chords and soft drums, Khalid’s voice is the focal point of the track. While it is certainly early to be making comparisons, Nineteen85, half of R&B duo dvsn, tweeted that Khalid’s new EP, Suncity, “puts him in the Frank Ocean conversation.” Khalid’s work is nowhere near Ocean’s, but both artists share a form of simplicity in their recent works and aren’t afraid to keep quiet and let the music do the talking.

Ocean’s influence doesn’t stop there; artists like Daniel Caesar, Choker and Col3trane have all released projects that echo his approach. Caesar’s debut album, Freudian, features wavy, lush instrumentals, not unlike Blonde. The album was a success too, as it

was well-received critically and peaked at #18 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums list.

This, along with Khalid’s successful single, shows that not only is Ocean’s sound a huge influence on up-and-coming artists, but that it’s immensely marketable as well.

Caesar and Khalid have seen a huge spike in popularity after dropping their debut albums in 2017.

Choker has released two projects, Peak and Honeybloom, which are excellent but wear Ocean’s influence on their sleeve, while Col3trane’s song “Malibu Sleep” has a flow that sounds similar to Ocean’s verses on “Chanel.” The song also features very little vocal production as it is sung somewhat quietly over the same chords and drums for the entirety of the track. Choker and Col3trane are newer to the music scene than Khalid and Caesar, but their sound is a product of Ocean.

There is a beautiful irony about the level of influence Ocean has on modern R&B. He’s a man who lives in secrecy. There aren’t any stories about him, interviews are impossible to come by, and live performances are almost nonexistent. Yet, his presence looms large. Aside from “Slide” (which isn’t even his song), Ocean hasn’t seen any radio play, but the songs he has influenced have: both “Location” from Khalid and “Get You” from Daniel Caesar have seen a lot of airtime.

Despite only having two albums available for streaming, Ocean’s influence has reached more young artists than many other pop icons. He has birthed a new sound that’s become more visible in popular songs. Even though he remains mysterious and evasive, his presence is always felt.

sports

COLOUR COMMENTARY

SPORTS EDITOR /// sports@theconcordian.com NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI ( @n_digiovanni)

WITH NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI

FEATURE

Sharing a passion for the devil Milan Club Montreal unites A.C. Milan fans across the island

Milan Club Montreal gathers at Ciociaro’s bar in St-Leonard to watch A.C. Milan’s games. Photo by Sandra Hercegova.

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI

SPORTS EDITOR

If you walk into Ciociaro Sports Bar and Grill in St-Leonard on a Sunday, it looks like any typical Italian café found in the East End: there’s an espresso bar, a panino counter, and people chatting around tables. But after taking a deeper look, there's so much more.

Once you walk past the counter, into the back of the café, you can see a few people dressed in red-and-black soccer jerseys watching their favourite team, A.C. Milan, whose nickname is Il Diavolo , or "The Devil." Ciociaro’s is home to Milan Club Montreal, a fan club dedicated to A.C. Milan fans in the greater Montreal area.

“It’s a camaraderie between fans,” said club treasurer Vince Tavernese. “[We have] people from all different types of cultures and religions, but we just meet up to talk Milan. Whether it’s four people here or 40, it’s the same feeling.”

In that back room at Ciociaro’s, they have their official flag and scarf hung up, with a framed jersey from the last time Milan won the championship in 2011. One piece of memorabilia that stands out is a signed Giacomo Bonaventura jersey, a midfielder for A.C. Milan, that the club received from Italy last year. The club’s president, Marcello Furgiuele, wanted to celebrate their one-year anniversary last year with a gift from A.C. Milan.

Originally, Furgiuele asked for a player to visit them in Montreal, although he expected to get refused.

When Milan got back to Furgiuele, having denied the request, they asked him what can be done to celebrate their anniversary. “I put my thinking cap on, so I thought to ask for a signed jersey that we could hang up at Ciociaro’s,” Furgiuele said. “We asked the members which player they would like, and they voted for Bonaventura.”

A few weeks later, the signed authentic jersey came in the mail. “My hands were trembling, this was the first time in my

life I held a player’s jersey, and not one I bought at the store,” the president said.

“I was very emotional from it, I couldn’t believe it.”

This version of the Milan Club Montreal started in 2016, after the previous club had been inac t i ve for a few year s .

Furgiuele said it was run by older men who wanted the club modernized. “The old administrators wanted to pass on the torch, modernize and get with the technology,” he said.

Furgiuele, Tavernese and vice-president Steve Polillo took over to modernize it in an age when soccer fans can watch games anywhere.

“In the olden days, you came to the bar to watch the game because it had it on, or else you’re not watching the game.” Polillo said. “[Now] it’s very hard to attract people to come to one specific location and leave their families to watch the game.”

Part of the club’s plan to attract more youth is starting the Milan Weekly Podcast.

Polillo and Tavernese, who run it, wanted to create a way for English-speaking Milan fans to engage with their team. They wanted to emulate Radio Rossonera , a popular Italian podcast for Milan fans.

“Unfortunately, because European football is so European-heavy, it’s very hard to have English content for your team, unless your team is very [modern],”

Polillo said. “So we partnered with Radio Rossonera to have an English-speaking podcast.”

Ta ve r n e s e a l s o s a i d E u r o p e a n s sometimes think North Americans don’t watch or like soccer as much as they do, but wants to prove otherwise.

“It’s ver y frustrating because our voices aren’t as heard across the pond,” Tavernese said. “Social media is a tool, so if we use it correctly [...] people will know about Milan Club Montreal and the podcast.”

In April, people across North America got to see Milan Club Montreal when they appeared as a guest on La Giostra del Gol, a show that broadcasted weekly Serie A games to Italians worldwide on RAI Italia.

They were interviewed before and after the game, as well as at half-time, during Milan’s game against Napoli.

“It was great, we got a lot of notoriety with that event,” Furgiuele said. “All the bars that were showing that Milan game got us free advertising. It was really cool; anyone that participated really enjoyed it.”

On Oct. 21, Milan Club Montreal had another viewing party for a game against Inter Milan. The A.C. Milan-Inter Milan rivalry, otherwise known as the Derby della Madonnina, is interesting because both Milan teams share the same stadium.

Even as 80,000 fans watched at the San Siro over 6,000 kilometres away, there were dozens more at Ciociaro’s sharing their passion for Milan. At the end, their team lost 1-0.

“We all have the same interests to see our beloved Milan go back to the top of the world,” Tavernese said. “We’ve seen Milan suffer for the last six or seven years, so we’re all in the same boat.”

All three of them have deep connections to Milan, but Polillo wants his kids to fall in love with the team too. His father was a fan of Juventus, one of A.C. Milan’s rivals, so when his aunt sent him a jersey from her convent in Milan, his father didn’t like it, but allowed it.

“I’m going to be harsher than my father was, my kids don’t have a choice, they’re red and black all the time,” Polillo said with a smile. “It means the world to me.”

Along with Furgiuele, Tavernese and Polillo, Mario Tenuta (right) is one of the organizers of the club. Photo by Sandra Hercegova.

Drew Brees is the greatest quarterback in NFL history. There, I said it—but not enough people do. Everyone is quick to call Tom Brady the greatest quarterback, and that’s because of his five Super Bowl rings. Brees only has one, but he’s still a better quarterback than Brady.

On Oct. 8, Brees surpassed Peyton Manning for most passing yards in NFL history with 72,435 yards and counting. At the time of writing, Brady had 68,035 career passing yards, well behind Brees, with four more career games than him. Brees also has a higher completion rate, 67.2 per cent versus 64.0, and more completed passes: 6,410 against Brady’s 5,799. Brady has the edge for touchdown passes with 504, while Brees is right behind at 502.

Statistics aside, what makes Brees so great is how he’s accomplished so much with so little. He was cast aside by the San Diego Chargers in 2006 after injuring his throwing shoulder. An unpromising New Orleans Saints team took the risk on Brees and his shoulder, and in return, he pulled the Hurricane Katrina-damaged city to a Super Bowl title in 2010. When he won that Super Bowl, he carried the Saints on his back with a passer rating of 109.6, the second-highest in his career so far.

Throughout his time with the Saints, Brees has never had a proper defence to support him. During the Super Bowl-winning season, the Saints’s defence ranked 25th in yards against. Since Brees signed in 2006, the New Orleans defence finished in the top half of the league only three times. Meanwhile, Brady has had the luxur y of having a top-10 defence for all five of his Super Bowl titles. If you put Brees on the New England Patriots, with the defence and players Brady has played with, Brees could have had five rings too, but instead, he only has one.

The argument that Super Bowl titles define a good quarterback is ridiculous. Jim Kelly and Dan Marino are two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and neither ever won a Super Bowl title. When people talk about the great QBs in the game, Brady and Manning are constantly brought up, with Brees often cast to the side.

What makes Brees so special is his height disadvantage. At a “small” 6’0”, Brees is your atypical quarterback and can’t look past his offensive lineman the same way his taller counterparts do. But he makes up for his size with his vision and intelligence. While watching Brees play, you see him stand on his tiptoes when he’s in the pocket, and he’s always checking his options for his best available receiver; that’s why he’s so accurate.

It’s time to give Drew Brees the credit he deserves.

OCTOBER 30, 2018

theconcordian

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BOOK REVIEW

Blue Monday preserves rich Expos history Author Danny Gallagher explores how 1981 team came close to history BEN FRASER STAFF WRITER The history of the Montreal Expos is filled with hope, triumph and heartbreak. In the 35 years that the Expos called Montreal home, they only made the playoffs once, in 1981. In Blue Monday: The Expos, the Dodgers, and the Home Run That Changed Everything, author Danny Gallagher tells the story of one of the most infamous days in Canadian baseball history, a moment that set the course of the Expos franchise for years to come.

On Monday, Oct. 19, 1981, in the final game of the National League Championship Series (NLCS), Expos pitcher Steve Rogers gave up a ninth-inning home-run to Los Angeles Dodgers centre fielder Rick Monday, effectively winning the game and the NLCS. For Expos fans, this game, and that home run, is known as “Blue Monday.” The Expos franchise didn’t return to the playoffs until 2012, when they were the Washington Nationals.

For someone who wasn’t around to see that game in 1981, the term “Blue Monday” means almost nothing. But in his book, Gallagher portrays the emotion fans felt that day, seeing a heartbreak

for the Expos and Canadian baseball.

The book starts during the 1977 of f- s e a s o n , w h e n the Expos came very close to signing future baseball Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson and Jim “Catfish” Hunter.

Gallagher traces the p at h of t h e E x p o s from that off-season, a n d e x p l a i n s h ow the 1978-80 Expos teams came up short making the playoffs.

Reading how close the Expos came to qualifying every year only amplifies the heartAuthor Danny Gallagher still believes that if the Expos beat the Dodgers in 1981, they would break that unfolded have won the World Series. Photo courtesy of Danny Gallagher. on that October day.

Gallagher interviewed Expos players such as Rogers the drafting and development of young ocrity for the vast majority of its history and third baseman Larry Parrish, as well stars such as future Hall of Famers Gary came inches away from baseball glory. as former owner Charles Bronfman. He Carter and Tim Raines. You see how Gallagher maintains that, if Montreal tells the story through their voices, and management impacts a team, and the beat Los Angeles, the eventual 1981 thus provides an in-depth look that peaks decisions that can make or break them. World Series champions, they would Blue Monday is a triumph in preserving have beaten the New York Yankees the interest of any baseball fan, not just of the Expos. Blue Monday showcases the history of the Expos, and tells the in the World Series. Any baseball fan how a baseball team builds itself, through story of how a team muddled in medi- should add this to their book collection.

HALLOWEEN

The definitive list of the scariest athletes of all-time From “The Hammer” to “The Refrigerator,” here are some scary players to face

NICHOLAS DI GIOVANNI

SPORTS EDITOR

Everyone loves to associate Halloween with horror movies and monsters but no one ever thinks of scary athletes.

That’s because athletes usually aren’t scary. But there are a few scary athletes that stand out, and here are some of the scariest ones out there.

the ice. He played for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1972 to 1976, winning two Stanley Cups. He was a huge reason behind those Cup victories, not for his skill, but for his pure physical force. At 6’1” and 185 lbs, he was part of the Flyers team known as the "Broad Street Bullies." With the Flyers, Schultz had seasons of 259, 307, 348, and 472 penalty minutes, with 130 fights in 297 games. His 472 minutes in the 1974-75 season still hold an NHL record for most penalty minutes in a single season.

Opposing players used to be so scared of Schultz and the Flyers that they came down with the “Philly flu” before having to play them on the road.

FOOTBALL: WILLIAM “THE REFRIGERATOR” HOCKEY: DAVE “THE PERRY Another athlete with a well-deserved HAMMER” SCHULTZ nickname makes the scariest athletes list.

With a nickname like "The Hammer," you just know Dave Schultz is a scary guy on

William Perry was known as "The Fridge "because his body frame really looked like

one: standing at 6’2”, he weighed 335 lbs.

The defensive lineman played for the Chicago Bears from 1985 to 1993, under Hall of Fame coach Mike Ditka. He had a respectful career as a defensive lineman, averaging three sacks per game and 52 tackles per season, with 138 games played between the Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles.

What made Perry the scariest of all was when Ditka used him as a fullback on offence.

It was a really smart strategy by Ditka, to just give the ball to a 335-lb player and let him run through players. Perry scored two career touchdowns, and scored another in Super Bowl XX in 1986. Can you imagine having a fridge run into you?

BASKETBALL: SHAQUILLE O’NEAL This is the perfect opportunity to include the Monstars from Space Jam, but I won’t.

Shaquille O’Neal makes this list because of his size (7’1”, 325 lbs) and his talent. When you watch him play basketball, you see an absolute monster dominating normal-sized people on the court.

O’Neal was as skilled as you can get. In a 19-year career, he won four championships, three NBA finals MVP titles, one league MVP, and 15 All-Star Game appearances. O’Neal’s greatest strength was his dunking, and he even broke nets multiple times.

Off the court, between his acting and TV broadcaster career, O’Neal is anything but scary.

SOCCER: DANIELE DE ROSSI I skipped over baseball because I couldn’t think of any scary player, so soccer gets a nomination on this scariest athletes list instead. That player is Daniele De Rossi.

The A.S. Roma midfielder’s motto is that, if he goes for a tackle and doesn’t get the ball, he will get the opposing player instead. He has a tattoo on his right leg that is a hazard for tackles.

He’s a warrior on the field, going after every ball and fighting hard in every battle. Even at 35 years old, he’s a scary player to face. He once said he would “like to take a baseball bat” to the teeth of young players who use social media in the dressing room.

PERSONAL NOTE I played goalie in water polo for about three years, so I had to stop heavy balls coming at my unprotected face. After a while, I got used to it and obviously wasn’t scared, as I had saves to make.

There was one player that had such a strong shot, I was afraid to face him.

I would move out of the way pret t y much ever y time he shot. It came in so fast and so strong, I wasn’t risking anything for that.

That player, Abdalla Osman, is currently a goalie on the Concordia Stingers men’s soccer team.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

opinions OPINIONS EDITOR /// opinions@theconcordian.com SANIA MALIK

EDITORIAL

News flash: Your costume isn’t scary if it’s offensive It’s the most frightening time of the year. But we’re not talking about horror movies or scary costumes.

We’re talking about cultural appropriation, folks. We at The Concordian thought it was a good time to dedicate this editorial as a reminder (read: wa r n i n g) to n ot we a r co stu m e s that are culturally insensitive. Your “Native American costume” isn’t scary—the only thing that’s scary is your complete lack of respect for other people’s culture and history.

In 2018, we would have hoped ever yone understood what cultural appropriation is and why it isn't OK. But to refresh some of your memories, cultural appropriation is defined as “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.” That isn’t to say cultural appreciation doesn’t exist; you can still respect Japanese culture, and enjoy Japanese cuisine. But donning a kimono for Halloween isn’t respectful; it only suggests you believe the Japanese culture is a joke that can be worn as a costume.

When scrolling through Instagram the weekend before Halloween, it isn’t that surprising to see people still donning “costumes” that depict

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

Mexican or Arab people. In fact, it’s also not surprising to see that stores like Party Expert still sell “costumes” that are culturally insensitive. Their website gives us er s t he opt ion to narrow down their search, and some of the categories for adult costumes actually include Arab, Gypsies, Indian and Asian. What’s worse is under the category of “Indian,” there are Native

American “costumes.” Conflating Indian with Native American is something that might have been e xpected in the past—but it’s 2018, and shouldn’t we be a bit more aware by now? We have no excuse to live in a bubble of ignorance.

Ever think about how, during Hallowe e n , the re are no “ white people” costumes? Probably because

white people’s existence has never been ridiculed or oppressed. Their human rights have never been questioned as a group, and throughout histor y, they’ve been considered “superior.”

That can’t be said about groups like Native Americans, Mexicans or Arabs.

It’s important to understand that there is an entire history and context behind these cultures, and wearing them as costumes completely disrespects that.

In a way, it strips their struggles and their stories to a simple Halloween getup that’s intended to be funny.

Most roll their eyes and sigh when they see reminders about cultural appropriation. But our goal isn’t to make you feel like you can’t do anything "fun" anymore. People who willfully disregard cultural appropriation are often those who shrug at political correctness. While that’s a whole other debate, political correctness has one main goal: to respect minorities who have struggled to gain equality over the years.

So please think t wice before choosing a costume that’s culturally insensitive. Use the creative power you have (or Google) to come up with a costume that won’t hurt people and won’t disregard their histories. Happy Halloween!

SOCIAL LIFE

How to go from being lonely to a lone wolf Stop romanticizing social interaction and reevaluate what it means to be alone

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

AMANDA KATHERINE VITARO STAFF WRITER Call it being woke, spiritual or cynical.

The fact is, you read past the title, which tells me you’re likely on a different wavelength than most. Everyone else seems to see the world in technicolor. You see it in hues of grey.

Indeed, people who are most in tune with the complexities of human existence are often the loneliest. We speak half

as much as we think, and even then, other people only understand a fraction of the things we say. This can make us feel like we don’t quite fit in anywhere.

But feeling lonely isn't healthy. It can lead us to dark places. In order to escape the crevices of our own mind, we often opt for… dear Lord… a social life. We go to parties. Get coffee with a new friend.

Hookup with our latest Tinder match.

After all, life is short, death is scary, and other people can help us forget all that,

right? Not quite. When you're sensitive to the world around you, loneliness can creep up whether you’re in a room full of people or in bed by yourself.

Whi c h is w hy we ' ve got to s top romanticizing social interaction, and start re-thinking what it means to be alone. As singer Alessia Cara melodiously puts it, lonely people often go out only to find themselves asking: "What am I doing here?" Just moments into something that’s supposed to be casual, loneliness pushes us to surrender, and we find ourselves hanging onto Sia’s metaphorical chandelier (that's right, “Chandelier” is actually a song about feeling sad while at a party!).

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to undermine how hard it can be to be alone with your own thoughts.

However, I am encouraging you to remember that the grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side; because it's also sad to look into another person's eyes, and realize you're trying to be something you're not. Or that you’re exhausting yourself in the process of explaining your perspective to people who don't think like you.

Pop culture has fooled us into believing that a full social calendar is the antidote to loneliness. Not true. It all depends on who you’re with—and because most millennials

have equipped their hearts with bullet-proof walls, it can be really hard to connect.

When you stop romanticizing social interaction, you realize that lousy company isn’t actually better than no company. So how can you work through loneliness on your own? First, get creative.

Write, draw, go ham on an instrument.

Bake a delicious treat you can indulge in later. Once you start creating worlds of your own, you’ll no longer be experiencing solitude, but privacy—a much healthier, and entirely valid way of understanding what it means to be by yourself.

Second, remember that people are generally a bit lonelier, or sadder than they appear. Nobody’s life is perfect. Don’t compare yourself to fronts, especially not those you see on social media. Often the biggest smiles hide the deepest pains.

Finally, remember that loneliness is temporary. Right now, it may seem like you’re destined to be forever alone—but as new chapters emerge in your life, so will new people. In the meantime, don’t be afraid to be a lone wolf. Use moments of privacy to explore your personality. As you delve deeper into your hobbies and interests, you’ll find your true self—the you that will attract better relationships in the future.

OCTOBER 30, 2018

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MENTAL HEALTH

A prescription for the museum

Art therapy is a better way to approach mental health issues, not a trip to a museum Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

APRIL TARDIF LEVESQUE CONTRIBUTOR According to CNN, doctors in Scotland have been handing out “nature” prescriptions to patients with depression and high blood pressure amid evidence that spending time outdoors and getting in touch with nature helps ease symptoms. I personally do not find this difficult to believe, as someone who experiences anxiety and depression and has been treated for both. What I do find difficult to believe, however, is a prescription to the museum.

Montreal doctors, in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, will now give out “museum prescriptions,” citing the

benefits of cultural experiences on mental health and wellness, accord i n g to G l o b a l News. I believe it ’s imp or t ant to first examine the evidence suppor ting the impact of art and nature on mental health. I am all for certain forms of nature therapy, t hough I hesitate to embrace museum therapy.

It may be beneficial to prescribe a patient with a trip to the museum to help them get through what they’re experiencing, until a proper diagnosis can be determined. However, I believe that immediately medicating when further examination is needed isn’t the best route, especially if other forms of treatment can help. If the symptoms are mild, or if used alongside other treatments in more severe cases, I think the suggestion of getting closer to nature holds merit.

A psychiatrist suggested I purchase a SAD lamp, which mimics natural light to help symptoms of seasonal and non-seasonal depression while I awaited further evaluation. I found this to be helpful. Maybe fresh air and real natural light can have similar or better effects, especially given

the implied exercise. Exercise is known to increase blood flow and release endorphins, improving mental and physical health, sleep, appetite, libido and quality of life for people suffering from mild-to-moderate depression, ADHD and anxiety.

Doctor Diane Poirier representing Médecins Francophones du Canada in the Global News article said the study is a pilot project that involved the museum doing research on the benefits art has on mental health. The act of prescribing a trip to the museum is not art therapy given by a licensed art therapist.

It’s also not nature exposure or physical activity, both of which have evidence that supports their effectiveness. Art therapy is supervised by professionals who have training to assist the patient, whereas a trip to the museum is self managed. Although I can’t say it isn’t effective, I think it’s important to not call it therapy, as unlike nature exposure or physical activity, it’s doesn’t have an immediate range of effects nor is it supervised by a professional.

Art therapy with an art therapist can have evidence-supported benefits, according to several studies. In my opinion, however, this doesn’t just entail sending patients to the Musée des Beaux Arts de Montréal (MBAM) to stare at some Renaissance paintings and stop feeling empty inside. Most kinds of therapy, such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and art therapy are guided by professionals.

Going outdoors is patient-managed, but there are observable physical effects

to exercising and being outdoors. If the patient is offered other options but chooses museum therapy, so be it. I would still hope medical professionals suggest treatments that have more effectiveness first. It was not specified how doctors will determine whether a museum prescription is a good option, and when they will prescribe more effective treatments versus participation in this study.

I wonder what would happen if psychologists and therapists were accessible and covered by Medicare, given that waitlists for mental health services at the CLSC are terrible and resources at schools can vary based on demand. People suffering from depression are navigating a very difficult system and can spend a lot of time going back and forth until properly diagnosed. It may do patients a disservice if they do a study rather than be offered effective treatment, unless this is truly what the patients want.

Even if the museum trips work to an extent, art therapy itself has proven benefits. Therapy administered and followed by a professional is structured and effective, yet incredibly difficult to access. The museum therapy idea appears to be a way to mimic some of the results of art therapy without providing a patient access to a professional. The government needs to put more funding into mental health services. When everyone has a range of accessible options, they have better chances of hitting the mark.

EDUCATION

Big Mouth captures the awkwardness of puberty Brutally honest, the Netflix animated sitcom highlights a topic that’s been taboo for too long CALLIE GIACCONE STAFF WRITER There is a prestigious history of animated sitcoms that have proven to be influential on society. From The Simpsons and Rick and Morty to South Park and American Dad , we’ve seen subtle (and not so subtle) social commentary unfold with our favourite four-fingered icons.

Big Mouth is yet another hilarious animated sitcom but with a very taboo focus: puberty. It addresses the uncomfortable, horrible, exciting and confusing time in adolescents’ lives with hilarity and shamelessness. Its range of characters from different backgrounds invokes perspective and empathy. The show examines young boys and girls’ hormonal issues in ways I have never seen before. It is a revolutionary approach to sexual health, and I am convinced it’s a step toward a healthier view of sexuality in our society.

Big Mouth was created by Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg. These real life best friends grew up alongside one another as they explored puberty and body changes in very different ways. The character, Andrew (voiced by comedian John Mulaney) was hit by a puberty truck; he grew up with intense hormonal urges that Morty (voiced by Nick Kroll) personifies

Graphic by Ana Bilokin.

with his character, the Hormone Monster.

The dissonance between Andrew’s awkward, gentle personality and his intense developing sexual desires touches on a huge problem young boys face. The show engages in a conversation surrounding these hormonal impulses, which shines a light on how to properly handle these inevitable urges.

Unlike Andrew, Nick, his best friend (voiced by Nick Kroll) hasn’t hit puberty yet, although he experiences his own anxieties as the show unfolds. Envying his best friend,

Nick becomes extremely self-conscious about his underdeveloped body.

Another ingenious character is the Shame Wizard (voiced by David Thewlis). According to P s yc h o l o g y Today, sex induces shame more than anything else in the human condition, in part because of the lack of conversation surrounding it. Many young adults feel alone in their introduction to sexual acts. In the show, the Shame Wizard affects all the students in different ways, and they slowly come to understand that all their peers feel shame in some way or another.

Along with addressing toxic masculinity, it also addresses male bisexuality, an under-discussed topic in today’s society. Male bisexuality is criticized and judged because of false implications about a lack of masculinity. Jay (voiced by Jason Mantzoukas) is a child exploring his

intense hormonal impulses with female and male counterparts. In a hilarious and uncomfortable manner, his confusion with this topic unfolds.

Big Mouth also addresses female sexuality, from wearing a bra in public for the first time to exploring masturbation and confusing impulses. It wrestles with consent, communication and contraceptives.

In light of the #MeToo movement and the discussion surrounding sexuality, I think this show pushes boundaries and starts conversations that, for many years, society has been too afraid to discuss. Much like comedian Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade—a 2018 movie that depicts a girl going through puberty with raw and often uncomfortable detail—Big Mouth starts the conversation that society needs to be having right now.

A s I laugh along , I’m simultaneously engaging in the most productive conversation I’ve ever had concerning gender roles, shame and sex. So watch the show and prepare to be grossed out and brought back to an uncomfortable time in your life. Nevertheless, watch it with your eyes and ears open. Tell your friends and parents to watch it. But please, don’t watch it with your parents.

Or do—you’d be braver than me!

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OCTOBER 30, 2018

You're invited to our AGM Come join the discussion on November 6th at 6:30 p.m.

Loyola office in CC-431.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

Updates will be posted on theconcordian.com and on our Facebook page @theconcordian.

theconcordian's team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MAGGIE HOPE editor@theconcordian.com MANAGING EDITOR CANDICE PYE managing@theconcordian.com PRODUCTION MANAGER LOREANNA LASTORIA production@theconcordian.com PRODUCTION ASSISTANT ELENI PROBONAS SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR MATTHEW COYTE online@theconcordian.com

NEWS EDITORS IAN DOWN MIA ANHOURY news@theconcordian.com ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS MINA MAZUMDER EITHNE LYNCH

LIFE EDITOR ALEX HUTCHINS life@theconcordian.com

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Concordia University’s weekly, independent student newspaper HEAD COPY EDITOR VICTORIA LEWIN COPY EDITORS KATYA TEAGUE KAYLA-MARIE TURRICIANO KATELYN THOMAS copy@theconcordian.com BUSINESS MANAGER FRANCIS LADOUCEUR business@theconcordian.com ADVERTISING MANAGER BILAL QADRI advertising@theconcordian.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS NATHALIE LAFLAMME DAVID EASEY directors@theconcordian.com

CONTRIBUTORS: Amanda Vitaro, April Tardif Levesque, Ashley Fish-Robertson, Aviva Lessard, Ben Fraser, Callie Giaccone, Elise Martin, Erin Walker, Kenneth Gibson, Jacob Carey, Lillian Roy, Louis Pavlakos, Youmna El Halabi

VOL. 36, ISSUE 10 OCT. 30, 2018.

OUR COVER THIS WEEK “Spooky Old Port” Photo by Alex Hutchins.

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