theconcordian Volume 31 Issue 23
Independent student newspaper at Concordia University. Since 1983.
March 4, 2014
CSU in review Executives reflect on the year so far Page 3
Photos by Keith Race
In this issue // life arts
music
sports
opinions
Be free, free to bleed p. 6
Best music for studying p.14
Basketball playoffs recap p. 16
Seeing red over lipstick p. 18
Fiction: writers collaborate p. 9
We tell your stories. Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian
theconcordian.com
news 2
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Tuesday, MARCH 4, 2014
Write to the editor: news@theconcordian.com
CITY Sloane Montgomery News editor
>> Construction begins on Turcot Interchange CBC News reported that on March 2, Transports Québec closed down the access ramp from St. Jacques Street to the Ville-Marie Expressway, (Highway 720), to begin repairs on the Turcot Interchange. While approximately 8,000 drivers will be affected by this closure on a daily basis, Transports Québec insists it is not too big of a detour. Western Montreal from Decarie street on is expected to face the largest headaches due to the closure. NDG city councillor, Peter McQueen, is doing his best to alleviate some of this distress by suggesting other routes to get downtown and installing bus only lanes on both Sherbrooke Street and St. Jacques Street.
“Play and Destroy” a DJ battle for charity Enactus Concordia raises money for the Breakfast Club of Canada Sloane Montgomery News editor
Enactus Concordia will be hosting a DJ battle on March 7 at Le Belmont on St. Laurent, as part of the student association’s Help Hunger Disappear campaign, aiming to raise awareness about the issue of hunger in the Montreal community. For the second year in a row, the Enactus team has been working towards supporting this project through a series of fundraisers and events.
Play and Destroy will kick off at 10 p.m. with DJ Kr!pto followed by DJs from UQAM, McGill and Concordia. Over the course of the evening, students will compete one-on-one by playing songs from their iPods and music players from a variety of different musical genres. The aim of the contest is to gain the loudest reaction from the crowd by measure of cheers and applause. The student who gets the loudest praise moves on to the next round until at the end of the night a winner is chosen. The campaign this year is being coordinated by two of Enactus Con-
cordia’s newest members, Genevieve Normandin and Valerie Sicard. “Even in Canada, a startling 700,000 individuals turn to food banks every month, knowing this we knew we needed to do something,” said Normandin. Their goal is to reach these individuals by hosting events and collecting money. Breakfast Club of Canada’s mission is to provide healthy breakfasts in a safe environment in order to support and encourage student learning. The organization currently operates 36 clubs, reaching 2,278 students in the Montreal area.
>> Montreal based director wins Oscar Malcolm Clarke has won an Oscar for his short documentary The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, reports Global News. Originally from Britain, Clarke has called Montreal his home since the mid 1990s. The 38-minute documentary is about the story of Alice Herz-Sommer, a Holocaust survivor “whose devotion to music and her son saved her life throughout two years in a Nazi prison camp.” Herz-Sommer passed away peacefully less than a week before the Academy Awards at age 110, making her the oldest Holocaust survivor. This was Clarke’s second Oscar in the same category; in 1989 he won for his short film You Don’t Have to Die about a child battling cancer.
>> Ukrainians protests outside Russian consulate Approximately 200 civilians gathered outside the Montreal Russian consulate on the afternoon of March 4 “to protest against the mobilization of Russian armed forces” that have entered into Ukraine. CBC News reported that the demonstrators held signs denouncing president Vladimir Putin while wrapped in Ukraine flags, chanting: “No war in Ukraine!” and “Putin hands off the Ukraine.” Other protesters prayed and held up pictures in remembrance of the more than 100 people that have been killed since the antigovernment protests erupted in late November 2013.
Event // news
Enactus Concordia works together to raise money and awareness for societal change.
The Help Hunger Disappear campaign was originally started by Campbell’s Soup in 2008 with the aim to tackle the issue of hunger across Canada. The company put out a challenge to Canadians to help find ways to alleviate hunger in their communities. Taking note of this challenge, members from Enactus Concordia put together their program as an initiative for the movement. Enactus describes themselves as, “an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders.” Enactus Concordia is one of 1,600 chapters of an international organization of students that encourages entrepreneurship in their community through an environmentally sustainable approach. It currently has 30 members and operates five major projects targeting the community. The organization plans to grow and is constantly seeking new talented students. If you or anyone you know would like more information about Enactus Concordia or to help support this cause by purchasing a ticket, contact Genevieve Normandin or Valerie Sicard at gnormandin@enactusconcordia.com and vsicard@enactusconcordia.com or check out the event page on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/events/350873888386659/.
The Concordian is hiring! All positions are open for the 2014-2015 academic year Editors at The Concordian are responsible for pitching stories on a weekly basis that are relevant and interesting to Concordia students and editing story submissions according to section criteria and Canadian Press Style standards. In addition, editors are asked to assist writers in producing their best work, encourage writers to pitch story ideas, as well as participate in weekly story and production meetings. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the production of the paper on a weekly basis. Responsibilities include managing section editors, copy and content editing, establishing and maintaining deadline schedules and ensuring that the overall presentation of the paper meets journalistic standards of publication. PRODUCTION MANAGER The Production Manager is responsible for the visual presentation of articles and images as produced by The Concordian. Each week, the Production Manager orders pages from the printer and lays out how articles will appear on the page. NEWS EDITOR The News section covers news which are important to Concordia students. This includes but is not limited to: Concordia events, politics, student activities, and local or national
news that is relevant to Concordia students. LIFE EDITOR The Life section contains stories designated as “features.” Topics in the Life section include but are not limited to: personal narratives, health, fitness, beauty, fashion, extracurricular activities, trends and relationships.
take photos as requested by editors as well as give out photo assignments to photographers. GRAPHICS EDITOR The graphics editor is responsible for creating the graphic art material used in the paper. They will be asked by editors to illustrate stories for their section.
ARTS EDITOR The Arts section covers all events and topics that fall into the ‘art’ category, such as, visual art, theatre, improv, dance, literature and film.
COPY EDITOR(S) Copy editors are responsible for ensuring that all articles are written according to Canadian Press Style and Canadian English grammar standards.
MUSIC EDITOR The Music section is responsible for covering artists and bands that are of interest to Concordia students.
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Production assistants help the production manager to layout the newspaper each week with the application InDesign.
SPORTS EDITOR The Sports section covers all sports events at Concordia.
ONLINE EDITOR The Online editor is in charge of uploading all articles to our website, in addition to using Twitter, Facebook, and other social media to interact with our readers.
OPINIONS EDITOR The Opinions section allows student writers the opportunity to provide a compelling and thought-provoking arguments on topics of interest. PHOTO EDITOR The photo editor is responsible for all photographic media used in the paper. They will
Submit your cover letter, CV and three samples of your work to applications@ theconcordian.com no later than March 9. *To apply you must be a registered student for 2014-2015.
Tuesday, MARCH 4, 2014
Sloane Montgomery News editor
With the end of the 2013-2014 academic year quickly approaching, The Concordian got together with the CSU executive, who ran under the team name CSYou, to look back at their year and progress. “My favourite moments have been anytime that my team came together, anytime they produced something valuable for the community. I’ve had a front seat to all of their accomplishments, lucky me!” said CSU President Melissa Kate Wheeler. Coming together as a team was a favourite memory and accomplishment for the majority of the executives. On an executive bonding level VP Internal James Vaccaro fondly looks back to Orientation week to a night where he and VP Finance Scott Carr closed up a Thirsty Thursday’s event at Reggie’s at 4 a.m. and then proceeded to build and clean BBQs for the following day’s Open Air Pub event. Sleeping only 45 minutes, Vaccaro and Carr started off their next morning at CSU’s Free Morning Coffee event. “Although it was one of the most challenging days of Orientation, and our mandate at that point, I look back and laugh at how ridiculous this job can be sometimes, and the random things you need to be ready to do in order to get the job done,” said Vaccaro. On a community level the CSYou encouraged and brought forth a lot of awareness concerning Concordia’s potential for sustainability. Constantly at the forefront to promote ethical and sustainable
change at Concordia is VP Sustainability Ben Prunty. Prunty said his favourite accomplishment has been the Concordia Transitions event, “The entire process was rewarding for me, and I think I can say the same for everyone involved. From having an extremely solid group of volunteer students organizing it beside me from day one, to the excitement from students who got involved later in the process, and finally, all the smiling faces at the c o n f e re n c e itself.” The CSYou also takes pride in the efforts they made to bring different faculties of students t o g e t h e r. VP Student Life Katrina Caruso said that the only thing she would do differently is to encourage even more student faculty collaborations for various events. “I know that the CSU has created a stronger bond between the faculty associations this year, and I am very happy that I made this a priority,” said Caruso. “This was a large priority for me this year as VP Internal, because I really do feel that as students, we have much more to gain by coming together than we do by dividing ourselves across faculty lines,” said Vaccaro. The entire executive team was in agreement when stating that they had learnt a lot about time
management, themselves and accepting that things do not always play out the way they had hoped or worked extremely hard for. “I have had to learn to say no and take a step back when it is due. I have vastly lowered my expectations of situations because nothing ever pans out the way you planned it in your head. I have learned how difficult it is to manage people and I have learned a lot
about myself in the process,” said Caruso. Although the year has had its ups and downs the executives still feel strongly that being part of the CSU has enhanced both their work experience and their time at Concordia. “In terms of work experience, CSU has given me an incredible amount of skills and confidence I didn’t have before,” said Vp Loyola Crystal Harrison. VP Academic Gene Morrow explains that being part of Senate and the CSU gave him an understanding of university politics and
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Student Life // news
CSYou – your Concordia Student Union Looking back on a year of experience
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life he could have never gained by merely going to class. “I’ve had the opportunity to learn more than I ever thought I could about how a modern university operates, and all the work that students never really see that goes into this behemoth we call Concordia,” said Morrow. Often the voice of contradiction, VP Finance Scott Carr explains how he has learnt a great deal when it comes to embracing the ability to see different perspectives and to use tact when delivering his own. “The CSU is an experience that will take you on a personal journey as much as a professional one. Coming into the CSU with a fair amount of previous experience allowed me to truly refine certain technical skills. But it is truly my soft skills that have developed to make me a better manager and leader,”said Carr. Despite some challenges and conflict of opinions that have formed between fellow executives, VP External Caroline Bourbonniere believes that their disagreements were at times unfortunate but at other times beneficial. “When we chose to run together, we were aware of our differences and took a leap of faith. Our disagreements are unfortunate but they only stem from our passion for our visions and our jobs,” explained Bourbonniere. Wheeler encourages all students to take a chance and get involved in student associations, not exclusively to the CSU. “Being an executive on the CSU will change you. It’ll mess with your sense of self and challenge you in ways you’re not ready for. If you survive, you’ll come out the other side strong, confident, and with a clear vision of what you want your life to be for. That sounds intense, but it’s true. If you empty yourself into it, it’ll fill you back up,”said Wheeler.
NATION Amanda L. Shore Editor-in-chief
>> Ford visits Hollywood
In a move that Coun. Doug Ford described to The Canadian Press as a means to endorse “Toronto as Hollywood North,” Mayor Rob Ford landed in Los Angeles on Saturday. At the airport, Ford was met by latenight host Jimmy Kimmel, dressed as a chauffeur. During his visit, Ford is slated to be a guest on Kimmel’s show as well as attend Kimmel’s Oscar party. Although Kimmel joked that he would take Ford as his date to the Oscars there are no plans for Ford to make an appearance at the award show.
>> Tougher
Penalties for Sexual Predators Act CBC News reports that Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay announced a new bill on Feb. 28 that aims to increase measures for the protection of children from abuse. Among the nine propositions on the proposed bill is a proposal to make the sex offender registry public. “This isn’t to encourage vigilantism,” MacKay said. “It’s to encourage protecting children from past proven behaviours.” Another proposition would have the spouses of individuals charged with child pornography to be legally required to testify.
>> Violent crimes are expensive
According to a report by Justice Canada, five types of violent crimes had a combined $12.7 billion economic impact in 2009. As reported by The Canadian Press, the high cost is due to a number of factors, such as the loss of income from social welfare and court costs and medical care. Sexual assault and sexual offences topped the bill as the most expensive crime at $4.8 billion. The cost to victims was $10.6 billion.“The victims bear the greatest burden of the impacts, much of it intangible, and family, friends and employers can also be burdened,” the authors conclude.
>> Watch out below!
A flashback of challenges, mishaps and accomplisments of 2013-20414 from Concordia University’s Student Uniion.
A ski lift at the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort, carrying four passengers, fell seven meters on Saturday, leaving two passengers in critical condition. CTV News reports that the resort’s manager, Mike Morin, attributes the accident to an empty chair swinging and striking a tower and causing a “deropement” on the the doublechair lift.
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theconcordian
Tuesday, MARCH 04, 2014
WORLD Milos Kovacevic Assistant news editor
>> Ukraine warns of war
In an escalating response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s successful parliamentary bid at using military support for intervention in Ukraine, Ukraine has put its armed forces on standby and said any such action by Moscow will make for war. Reuters reports that the Ukrainian government is claiming that Russia has already landed thousands of troops in the autonomous and mostly ethnically Russian Crimean peninsula. The peninsula has seen its parliament and several airports and cities seized by pro-Russian gunmen. This comes after a victory of pro-Western protesters and politicians in the capital of Kiev that caused the fleeing of President Viktor Yanukovich and fears of an impending Ukrainian civil war between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian factions.
>> Taliban truce The BBC reports that the Pakistani Taliban have announced a month-long truce with Pakistan’s government that signals the resumption of stalled peace talks derailed last month after the death of 23 Pakistani soldiers at the hands of the terrorist group and military reprisals. Both sides are said to be optimistic about the development, which might see an end to the years-long struggle between the two. The Pakistani Taliban demand, amongst other things, an ending of American drone attacks on the organization and the imposition of sharia law in Pakistan.
>> Doctors without borders no longer welcome in Myanmar Médecins sans frontières (Doctors without Borders) has been expelled from Myanmar after the government accused the group of fomenting dissent and instability while aiding the Rohingya minority, says The Globe and Mail. The French humanitarianaid organization was one of the biggest suppliers of AIDS and tuberculosis medication to the country of 60 million people. Myanmar has seen savage tensions and revenge attacks erupt between the predominantly Buddhist majority and the Muslim Rohingya, who are considered illegal immigrants without citizenship rights despite claims of having existed in Burma for centuries.
Campus // news
Sometimes observed and sometimes not President Shepard wants ‘voluntary compliance’ to campus smoking rules Amanda L. Shore Editor-in-chief
President Alan Shepard is not looking to forcibly enforce Quebec’s Tobacco Act, despite the risk of secondhand smoke and the violation of the Tobacco Act’s regulations. “All institutions struggle with the issue, it’s not just Concordia,” said Shepard. “It would be for all public and probably private institutions as well.” Concordia University is subject to the Quebec Tobacco Act under Chapter 2, Paragraph 3, Section 2 and 2.2, which states that “smoking is prohibited outdoors within a ninemetre radius from any door leading to a place referred to in paragraph 1,3,4, or 6 of section 2.” The university has placed cigarette butt receptacles outside the radius, however, faculty, students and staff often smoke within the radius. “On a voluntary basis, you ask people to respect the rules and in my experience most people do,” said Shepard. “Our security officers, if they do see people smoking inside the magic ring, do ask people to stop or to move.” Even when smokers stand outside the nine-metre radius, individuals are still subjected to the smoke as they navigate their way to the entrances. On the downtown campus, in particular, sidewalk space is limited and this provides very little options for people to access Concordia’s buildings without coming into
contact with smokers. “Research shows that secondhand smoke is damaging to health. So if a person is exposed to secondhand smoke because they have to cut through a waft of smoke to get into the building, then that does have a negative effect on their health,” explained Gabriella Szabo, Concordia’s health promotion specialist. Shepard recognizes that secondhand smoke on campus is an issue but doesn’t feel there’s anything more the university can do about it, “It’s a reality of modern life that there’s second-hand smoke out there. I don’t like breathing it anymore than you do but would that mean that I should have police officers standing in the bus line? No, I don’t think so. I think peer pressure works better than compliance
officers.” According to Szabo, the ninemetre radius serves not only as a barrier for protecting the health of non-smokers but also acts as a deterrent for smokers. “It just creates this little extra barrier, this little inconvenience where people, the smoker, recognizes more and more that this cigarette isn’t doing anything for me,” she said. “Now I even have to move nine-metres away instead of standing where I used to stand.” Although cigarette butt receptacles on campus are placed outside the nine-metre radius, the benches beside said receptacles, in particular the benches in front of the Hall building, are not. Therefore smokers who want to use those benches are in violation of the law.
Shepard is also not worried by the mess smokers leave when they neglect to use the proper receptacles. “I think our teams do a pretty awesome job of keeping this place clean. I’ve worked at several universities and both inside and out, the teams who do maintenance and the cleanup do a great job.” For the moment, Shepard is satisfied that security is doing its job and hopes that members of the Concordia community will voluntarily comply with the rules. “We’re not going to get into the business of issuing fines or citations,” he said. “I don’t know that that would actually provide the kind of deterrence you want. What I would really like is voluntary compliance and I think we mostly get that.”
Second-hand smoke is proven to be damaging to your health. Photo by: Nathalie Laflamme
Federal // news
CFS unhappy with 2014 Federal Budget
No proposed plans for the student debt crisis plaguing young Canadians
Laura Howells The Muse (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
ST. JOHN’S (CUP) The Canadian Federation of Students has taken an opposing stance to the 2014 Federal Budget, saying that it does nothing to aid the student debt crisis in Canada. “Federal Budget 2014 actually proposes no solutions to the student debt crisis in Canada,” said Chairperson of CFS-Newfoundland and Labrador, Michael Walsh. “It pays lip service to the high youth unemployment in the country and instead continues to download the cost of postsecondary education onto students and their families.” The budget implements a new Canada Apprentice Loan as part of its Student Loans Program, providing apprentices with over $100 million in interest-free loans to aid in their training. However, Walsh says that increasing the loans system is not part of a real solution. He is disappointed that with over $15 billion in Canadian student debt, the government ig-
nored the CFS’s recommendations of els of youth unemployment in Cana- and meeting with MPs and senators. moving towards a need-based grant da,” said Walsh. “The type of work we’ll do movprogram. Walsh says the CFS will be con- ing forward is ensuring that student “We should be looking at actual tinuing to put pressure on the federal debt is an issue in the next federal spending on programs that will en- government, as well as making sub- budget and moving into the next sure that people are able to get the missions to the finance committee election.” skills they need,” said Walsh. “Expanding the loans program to ensure that apprentices can access the loans will simply further indebt students.” Walsh says the CFS is also disappointed by the 3,500 new paid internship positions the budget creates. He says that with youth unemployment levels so high, providing internships for one per cent of the youth population is grossly ineffective. “We have almost 400,000 youth between the ages of 20 and 29 who are unemployed currently in Canada. Finding jobs for about one per cent of them doesn’t do anything to actually address the lev- Canadian Federation of Students opposes the 2014 Federal Budget. Flickr Tax Credits
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life
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Write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com
Food // Life
Food trucks are still offering their meals on wheels Winter still lingers but Montreal’s food trucks won’t be defeated by the cold weather Angela De Cicco Assistant life editor
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ome food trucks have refused to let winter get in the way of their new relationship with Montreal. While you can catch some trucks parked in and around the city, food truck owners Pascal Salzman, Jared Dunawa, and Ketan Patel of Le Cheese decided to put a different spin on their tasty wheels during the colder months. Le Cheese has opened a pop-up restaurant at Cosmos in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. A pop-up restaurant is a temporary solution for food trucks where they get permission from restaurant owners to rent some space and serve up their dishes. “[We] approached a few breakfast restaurants with the proposal to rent their space in the evenings and use their equipment and to cook our food,” explained Salzman. Cosmos is open for breakfast during the day, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., after that, the space is ready for Le Cheese to do business. The concept of a pop-up restaurant came from Montreal food truck, Grumman
78, who had their own pop up at Nouveau Palais. After its success, “we figured we’d give it a shot,” said Salzman. Even in the winter, party-goers are looking for a late night food option. That, along with the familiarity of the NDG area, helped Le Cheese move indoors. “Having a pop-up restaurant gives us a chance to offer customers a sit down experience,” said operations/marketing manager,
Le Cheese food truck treal’s cold winters.
Benjamin Carter. After the great response they received this past summer, the team wanted to keep that same momentum without having clients wait in the cold, explains Carter. Dunawa and Salzman have been regulars at Cosmos, and couldn’t think of a better place to call home for the winter. “We were extremely fortunate our favorite neighborhood spot agreed to our propos-
has managed to find a way to stay in business despite the mon-
al almost immediately,” said Salzman. Owning a food truck comes with its challenges, specifically a business whose main vein runs through the summer season. For Le Cheese, one of the challenges was keeping up the energy to allow for a smooth transition come winter. To suit the season, some winter-inspired dishes have been added to the menu. Montrealers can warm up to a parmesan-infused tomato soup, or beef chili with cheese curds. However, it was important for the owners that the menu stay more or less the same as their summer one. “We wanted to create as many parallels as possible between the food truck and our pop-up,” said Salzman. “So only a few modifications were necessary.” Despite the cold weather and buckets of snow, Le Cheese is among the many who understand that the life of a food truck in Montreal means adapting to the seasons. If you get hungry for food truck eats, keep an eye out for Das Food Truck and Gargantua parked around the Loyola Campus. The Le Cheese pop-up restaurant is open at Cosmos on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., located at 5843 Rue Sherbrooke W. Montreal.
Restaurant review // Life
Smiles all around at Hughes’ love child Le Bremner Montreal’s old port fine dining proves cool and casual Liana Di Iorio Contriibutor
It’s dark, it’s cool and it smells like heaven. Le Bremner, with Top Chef Canada runnerup Danny Smiles as the chef de cuisine and being one half of Chuck Hughes’ Crown Salts restaurant, already knows that it’s cool. This place is so cool that it doesn’t carry any juice or Clamato in house, but if desired, will make some for you. For my visit, I went with a glass of Captain Morgan and the house-made cola which was so delicious I almost didn’t mind the $9 hole it burnt in the pocket of my $40 jeans. When it comes to the menu, it’s set up in a way that you start with cold appetizers, move on to warm entrées and end with hot desserts. The signature dishes of both Crown Salts restaurants, a Chuck Hughes brand, involve fresh oysters, but the stars of the menu for this meat lover were the fried quail and the lamb neck cavatelli. Quail is an incredibly versatile protein that is delicious any way you cook it, especially when battered, fried and served with homemade ranch dipping sauce. While some are scared of meat that comes from anywhere that isn’t a breast, leg
or butt, I embraced the palette less travelled by and was rewarded with the tenderest of tender shredded lamb neck atop my cavatelli (small, ridged pasta shells) which still has me singing its praises. As the plates are made to share, I didn’t find myself stuffed, nor did I have to loosen my belt (a major achievement for me), which left plenty of room for what I really wanted: dessert.
When a stack of mini pancakes surrounded by a kiddie pool of sucre à la crème is served to you on a plate of china, you eat it up like it’s the Sunday before you start your new diet. In all fairness, I am quite partial to things served on floral print plates, but those pancakes had me thinking of how I could raise funds to buy an engagement ring for whoever made them. They were pillowy, light and contrasted well with the delectable though cavity-caus-
ing sugar fudge syrup and pim’s butter. Now, Le Bremner is not your mother’s upscale dining room. With ambient music consisting of Arcade Fire, No Doubt and The Kinks, a wait staff that I could have looked at all night, and the super-chatty Danny Smiles charming the tables with his sweetheart charisma in a baseball cap and tattoos, there is no doubt that Le Bremner is geared toward people who appreciate flavour as well as style. Le Bremner is located at 361 Rue Saint Paul E.
left: pancakes pimm’s butter and sucre a la creme. right: fried quail and house ranch. photo by liana di iorio.
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Exercise // Life
Working up a sweat has never been more fun Trampoline centre in Laval is great and inexpensive alternative for a Saturday night out with friends Sabrina Giancioppi Life editor
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ot only can you smell the sweat but the energy is at high altitudes at extreme trampoline centre iSaute. Featuring 10,000 square feet of interconnected padded trampolines, it is a jumper’s paradise. iSaute is the first indoor trampoline facility in Québec and, according to their website, they will soon be opening other locations in the greater Montreal area. In the large open jump area there is a trampoline dodgeball stadium, basketball dunk centres, foam pits for aerial jumping, and a slack line. I headed straight for the foam pits and didn’t hold back on embarrassing myself. I gained some momentum on the trampoline and then belly flopped — that’s right, the most awkward and unathletic of jumps — straight into a pit of foam that felt more like quick sand. The easy part was the jump, it took me close to five minutes to remove myself from the pit. Needless to say, it was cause for a good laugh. Trampolining is an activity that almost everyone can enjoy because who doesn’t like the idea of springing into the air with-
out the fear of getting hurt. The little kid inside is sure to come out at iSaute. On Saturday nights there is an over 16 policy so the place isn’t crawling with too many young-ins. Every Friday and Saturday iSaute turns into ClubJump. The lights are turned down and on come the lasers and black lights. It definitely makes the experience more fun and slightly trickier. Wear white to be more visible to the other jumpers so they don’t tramp your style. Adding trampolines to a game of dodgeball is probably not good for anyone who can’t do two things at once. Jumping and dodging is not only challenging but will most definitely leave you heaving and begging for water. According to iSaute’s website, “If you can walk, you can jump and chances are you’ll want to.” iSaute is a great alternative to the typical night out with friends and won’t cost you much either. It is $14 for the first hour and $8 for the second hour. However, special group discounts are available and checking in on Facebook or instagramming a photo will get you a couple dollars off. iSaute promises to be as entertaining as it looks but readers beware, you’ll feel muscles you never thought existed. iSaute is located on 2045 Dagenais Ouest, Laval.
Jumping around at isaute. an indoor trampoline facility that will get you sweaty and sore. photo by jonathan panetta.
Health // Life
Let your flow go: different approach to female menstration Women abstain from using feminine products during menstruation Lindsay Richardson Interim opinions editor
It seems that modern day menstruating feminists have an agenda: painting the town red. This week, IX Daily posted an exposé debunking the feminist concept of “free bleeding,” complete with pictures and tweets from angry women who are supposedly tired of hiding their monthly cycle from the public, primarily male, gaze. “Free bleeding” implies that a woman abstains from using any kind of sanitary product during their period — no pads, tampons, or extra absorbent underwear. Menstrual blood, according to feminists, is meant to flow freely from the body and onto thighs, clothing or furniture. Skeptical Internet audiences claimed that the concept was a hoax, only brought to light by a user from the website 4chan.org, attempting to give female activists a bad name. However, the concept is very real, and not entirely new. Free bleeding has been subject to both controversy and intense discussion online since the early 2000s.The blog “Feministing” was among one of the first online forums to discuss the concept, which they claim is “more of a mindset than it is an action.” In 2012, photographer Emma Arvida Bystrom published a series of photos on Vice. com entitled “There Will be Blood,” depicting women doing everyday, mundane things with menstrual blood fully visible, staining their clothes and freely running down their legs. The photos were meant to provoke thought
and discussion about what is consistently considered to be “taboo.” This concept of menstrual activism, also known as menstrual anarchy or radical menstruation, aims to discuss and expose periods in a way that isn’t fetishized or highly stigmatized. The feminist argument stands that throughout history, men have manipulated woman to be ashamed of their bodies and all of the natural, inherent, “empowering” feminine functions they perform. Today, the options and resources to “control” or “hide” menstruation are endless, and it is essentially the rejection of this control that inspires a woman to assert herself and experiment with her period. More radical, outspoken women have taken to Twitter to express the belief that tampons are actually a patriarchal innovation imposed on women by societal norms, and using them is perpetuating a cycle of “oppression” and “self-rape.” The concept of allowing oneself to bleed freely, while daunting, is considered a means of social and sexual expression, a means to expose the concept of “period shaming,” normalize the sight of menstrual blood, while rejecting male control. Activists consider it to also be an eco and wallet-friendly alternative to using tampons and pads. Others argue that free bleeding reduces a woman’s risk of suffering from side effects related to sanitary products, like toxic shock syndrome, a severe, potentially fatal blood infection that can be contracted by leaving a tampon in for too long. To many woman, using sanitary products is a hygienic, considerate method to deal with the so-called “crimson wave.” “[Time] has given us humans the advanced technological know-how to invent specific products to make our monthly easier to manage, in a more clean and discreet manner,” said columnist Adora Bull in a free bleeding rebuttal published through Modern Women Digest.
However, reactions from the public have been mixed. Female bloggers and their audi-
ence have either praised the concept, or denied its credibility and practicality.
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Women’s day profile // Life
The art behind the science of the heart Concordia professor Ingrid Bachmann discusses her ground-breaking work with transplant patients Daniel Chen Contributor
They say sometimes you feel an emotion so intense, words can’t describe it — this is especially true when talking about matters of the heart. Until March 15, the Old Port’s Phi Centre will be showing Hybrid Bodies, an exhibition that delves into the culture, emotions, and psychology of the post-heart transplant experience and recovery. The works range from recorded interviews and projections to prints and a soapy surprise in the bathroom. Through the works of four contemporary artists working in a variety of me-
diums, the exhibition goes beyond the material surgical procedure of the heart transplant. Instead, the exhibition explores the hidden meanings, contradictions and disorientations that arise from having the heart of a stranger inside your body. The artists were invited by the interdisciplinary academic research team, the Process of Incorporating a Transplanted Heart (PITH), to produce works based on a series of video interviews with transplant recipients. Heart transplants are not commonplace, yet the field is medically and technically quite robust. There is however very little work done on the existential issues related to the transplant. In the PITH interviews, most recipients expressed significant distress when discussing issues
such as the donor and their gift of life, as well as a disrupted sense of bodily integrity and identity that could only be appreciated by other heart recipients. One of the featured artists is Ingrid Bachmann. The internationally exhibiting multidisciplinary artist is the founder of the in everyday life art-lab, co-editor of Material Matters and a Concordia University professor of Studio Arts. “It seemed like there was such a gap between what people were saying and what their body language was saying. People would say ‘I’m great, super great.’ So if you have a written transcript of that you think ‘oh they’re great.’ But their body language would be ‘oh … I’m great … ,’ sort of huddled over. There was this gap. I took what I thought were the main
Ingrid Bachmann, Concordia Professor and Artist is participating in the exhibit, The Hybrid Bodies. Photo by David Romero
themes that came out of that,” Bachmann said on her involvement in Hybrid Bodies. Bachmann’s artwork at the exhibition deals primarily with the many contradictions and disconnects of heart transplantation through the themes of gifting, kinship, and boundaries. Bachmann’s art generally deals with the extraordinary and impossible that exists in the everyday. Working with a range of mediums, her interest lies in the unseen and the smoke and mirrors of the world around us. Her Hybrid Bodies exhibit, “The Gift,” entails a series of recorded dance performance pieces that deal with the theme of gifting that arose during many of the interviews. “One is the idea of the gift, a real gift that is something that makes you happy and changes your life,”explained Bachmann.“The other is the notion of gift as a weight or a burden. How could you ever repay it? The last is a real form of reciprocity between two [people]. The notion of the gift is also used in promoting people for organ donation. It’s called giving the gift of life [yet] when recipients receive it, they’re told well, it’s a pump. A machine.” On a physiological level, their life has been significantly altered, as simple everyday acts of walking and sitting down can be quite exhausting. “I learned a lot of pragmatic things that are really good. Most galleries are set up for able-bodied people … they’re often difficult to get to,” said Bachmann. Her point highlights how understanding post-operative life is as much an experiential and emotional issue as it is a medical issue. Recipients will often think about their donor families. Patients may wonder about the person whose heart they have inherited and what the person was like. “There is the sense of the body being changed a bit. It’s nothing like the sci-fi horror movie of being taken over by another personality [yet] some people have the sense of an intruder,” said Bachmann. This leads to a re-conceptualization of the notion of kinship, as suddenly you have this intimate, material, or even spiritual connection with a stranger. Similarly many transplant recipients experience a sense of disorientation with their bodies as they negotiate what is part of them and what is not, and when their body ends and begins as the body becomes understood as this porous and changing entity. Through these different inquiries into listening and teasing out the hidden contradictory and ambiguous insights on the heart, their research brings to light unspoken and unseen experiences. This is not only a work in improving post-operative life but also a work in empathy. “It puts these ideas out in the public realm in a different way [. . .] Scientists have a very different process. They work in a quantitative way while we work in a qualitative way,” explained Bachmann. Shedding light and understanding these shared but unspoken experiences can be a very humanizing process. “We put it [our work] out as propositions and hope that this exhibition functions more as an artifact for some of these ideas and concerns to be discussed in a different way,” said Bachmann. The Hybrid Bodies exhibit will run until March 15 at the Phi Centre.
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TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014
Women’s day profile // Life
Maria Peluso: a force to be reckoned with Former CUPFA president, teacher, mentor, feminist, activist, and all around generous woman Amanda L. Shore Editor-in-chief
How do you tell a story like Maria’s? On the one hand, you might start with her birthday, but then you’d have to clarify: do you mean the date of her birth or the date on her birth certificate? Maria Peluso was born on January 22, in a small town in Italy. On the day of her birth a great snowstorm raged and Maria’s mother was trapped inside her home. At that time, a child’s birthday was recorded as the day they were registered with the town administration. It was eight days before the storm let up and her mother was able to make it to the village. Thus, although she came into this world on the 22nd, her birth certificate and legal documents state her birthday on January 31. On the other hand, you could begin with when Maria first came to Concordia University. After finishing her undergraduate degree in political science at York University in 1975, Maria came to Concordia. In 1980, she completed a graduate diploma in community politics and the law and in 1986, a Master’s in public policy and public administration. Following the completion of her studies, Maria’s professional career began by teaching at Concordia as well as several other institutions. However, Maria’s contribution to Concordia goes far beyond the classroom. From 1994 until this past October, Maria was president of the part-time faculty association (CUPFA). Although Maria also sat on many committees at Concordia, it is how she carried out her role as CUPFA president that has left a
lasting impact on members of the Concordia community. “Maria Peluso could be considered much like a de facto Provost of part-time faculty. In this role she has contributed so much, not only to the association’s faculty members in all the faculties but also to an academic mission, her students, staff, and the university as a community. She has brought indefatigable energy and effort to so many university initiatives over the years, such as the annual charitable campaigns, services to students and the like,” wrote Lorraine Oades, vice-president of professional development at CUPFA. Members of CUPFA agreed with Lorraine, “She is extremely proud of her members and her membership in the union and she’s somebody who really wants to do her best both for students and for her union members at Concordia,” said Kathleen Perry, former associate dean in the faculty of fine arts. “She really is the person who takes everyone to heart. [A] great advocate for anything part-time teachers needed,” said Father John Walsh, a former professor at Concordia. Marcel Danis, a former vice-president of the university, describes Maria as a fierce campaigner for her members’ rights. In his role as vice-president, Marcel sat across from Maria at the negotiation table. “She’s probably the toughest labour leader that we’ve had in the university. She’s extremely determined and never lets go. It doesn’t matter how hard you try, if she has an issue that she wants to get and she really believes in, she’s really tough,” he said. Maria credits her fighting determination and resolve to having grown up as an immigrant, poor, and on welfare. In particular,
she cites the actions of her parents. Her mother worked as a seamstress until she was fired for trying to start a union. Maria, eight years old at the time, helped her mother to find a new job. Her father was not an activist by birth but simply believed in doing the right thing. While working at a steel mill in Ontario, Maria’s father was bothered by the soot that fell from the smoke stacks and onto the workers’ cars. The workers at the mill were required to park their cars underneath the stacks and Mr. Peluso was concerned about the damage the soot was doing to the cars, the environment, and to the workers. Mr. Peluso brought his grievance to the company’s attention and as a result, the company put pollution control methods into place which kept the soot off the cars and out of their lungs. Maria has not only shown care and support for members of the Concordia faculty but for the students as well. She played a large role in the creation of two scholarships for women students at Concordia, the Judith Litwack Scholarship, and the Visible Minority Women’s Scholarship, and later the CUPFA Endowment Scholarship. As well, she was a staunch supporter of last year’s student strike, despite the diversity of interests. Her leadership was a win-win for the university and for the students during the protest. On the one hand, Maria supported her teachers who were trying to do their jobs, but she also supported the rights of those who wanted the freedom to protest. Additionally, she also supported those students who didn’t want their classes disrupted. Her respect for diversity and freedom, a feature noted by all of her friends and colleague, was likely the source of this conflict. In the greater Montreal community,
Maria has acted as a mentor and guide for women in business. She was president of the Montreal Business and Professional Women’s Club from 1986-1989 and continues to serve on its board of directors. In addition, she is remembered by former employee, Ruth Pelletier, as being instrumental in her success in rejoining the workforce. “I had been out of the workforce for some time ... so she took me under her wing and really taught me the ropes ... she mentored me very, very well. From that I ended up sitting on boards of many different not for profit organizations. I was in media, CJAD radio, CFCF radio, I finally ended up being executive director of Alliance Quebec,” said Pelletier. Alexander Antonopoulos, a professor at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, describes Maria as a “Concordia University feminist powerhouse.” “Maria never shied away from engaging in a way that was not always ‘safe’. She was comfortable in discomfort and that’s the kind of thing that those who are doing feminism today have to become better and better at because feminism is not necessarily what media crack it up to be ..] And so, from that perspective, she wasn’t really being a man in a man’s world, she was bringing her feminism into political action as a way of interfacing with power.” Although Maria stepped down as president of CUPFA this past fall she has not slowed down in the least. Maria is currently serving on Concordia’s board of governors as the part-time faculty member representative and continues to pursue other projects around campus and throughout Montreal. A tireless crusader, Maria will no doubt continue to fight, advocate and work on the behalf of women, members of the Concordia community and humankind as a whole.
As a Professor, Former CUPFA president, community activist and a feminist, Maria Peluso is a force of nature and an inspiration to both men and women. Photo by Concordia University
arts
Tuesday, march 4, 2014
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Write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com
Fiction // arts
The legendary tale of Space-Chap The Concordian gathered its very best creative writers and took a shot at group fiction By Jocelyn Beaudet, Andy Fidel, Saturn De Los Angeles & Milos Kovacevic
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Tally-ho gents!” the Englishman’s voice boomed in the auditorium. Our hero of the hour, the one and only Space-Chap, puffed on his electronic pipe as the murmurs of the audience died out. The delightful gentleman twirled his moustache, adjusted his brown tweed jacket and cleared his throat. Amazingly enough, Victorian fashion had not gone out of style in the year 3000 like many predicted in the great hipster revolution of 2020. But this event was not about style, nor the proclamation of enjoyment before popularity. Rather, this was good ole fashioned storytime with some chums. Today’s tale is of the greatest adventure that Space-Chap had ever undergone: meeting the evil space-god, whose name none dare speak. “Now if you would please insert the spinal whirlygig into your interface sockets, we can begin this great tale once-anew, yes?” Space-Chap told the crowd. The neural transmitters and nano-machines of the memoryimaging machine (trademarked to none other than Space-Chap himself) would give the audience an extrasensory experience, in order that they might relive every moment of the chap’s delightful adventure. Of course, the audience began hooking up the device to the tiny hole drilled into the back of their necks. “If there are no questions then?” Chap asked, walking towards the enormous contraption on the side of the stage. “I have one!” a tiny, impish man from the back of the crowd exclaimed. Our hero met his gaze quizzically, but said nothing. “What is the name of this beast whose name you refuse to reveal?” “Well, I dare not say, sir. The very pronunciation would curl your hairs before they fall out of your head, your eyes would melt. Each syllable of its evil name would doom another generation of your kin, and I warn you good sir, it’s name is endless, like the darkest recesses of the universe folded upon themselves into a single being,” Chap said, his eyes staring off into space. “So you don’t know its name then?” the impish man asked. “I didn’t feel the need to ask. We weren’t exactly out at a dinner party, exchanging pleasantries over tea, crumpets.” All the chums collectively leaned back in their chairs. The spinal whirlygigs began to heat up as images of a boy holding a rocket launcher appeared in their minds’ eye. This was rapidly intercut with moments of static. “Don’t you move,” said a boy’s voice. “Or I’ll shoot.” Meanwhile, space-chap continued to tap his way across the stage. Making frequent clicking noises with his tongue. A smile creased the old man’s face like a rotten apple when his cane hit the contraption. He opened the safety latch — Click — and held a finger over the red button. “I mean it,” said the boy. “I will shoot.” The helmet was far too big for the boy. He had to tilt his head back to see from underneath. And the leather straps were too tight. Pinched his chin whenever he took aim. The boy shut his left eye, listening to the war outside his home. The splatter of machine guns and the rumble of tanks that made pebbles dance and the ground tremble under his feet. Right eye fixed on his opponent: the large chalk drawing on the kitchen wall. A tall, lanky beast with a large appetite for trees. “Ka-Poosh! Ka-Poosh! Ka-Poosh!” He puffed his cheeks out and blew air through his fish-lips at every dull click. A light chuckle caught his attention. The boy’s mother shook her head as she passed him and headed straight for the faucet on the wall. She plunged her hands under the water, scrubbed and said “Who you shooting at, Chap?” Red water and a pair of teeth slipped into the sewer grate.
“The evil space-god.” The evil space-god was oozing out from its little cocoon it had nurtured from the tonnes of industrial waste it had been eating. They were accumulated from an extinct artificial garbage island in the middle of the ocean that used to exist centuries ago. Those machine guns and heavy artillery were leftover armour from a bygone Fourth Millenium war that was dumped on to that smelly isle. Carrying a venomous, phosphorous-coloured and dangerously hot acidic substance from its dozen of voluptuous disgustingly morphed tentacles that complemented its scary physique, the vicious monster went on a marathon spewing a gallon’s worth of this substance on its desired target — the young, rebellious, handsome lad. “Mom, don’t look, let’s run!” the boy hollered, drenched from all of the cleaning sludge that was left undone. “What the hell are you trying to do? Don’t be a reckless jerk! We need to dig ourselves out of here,” argued the mother, who was exerting her last inkling of energy left. In a desperate and unnecessary move, the boy latched away from his mom’s hand and pulled out a really strange looking ancient plastic toy instrument from his bag. It was a magenta-coloured keyboard guitar, keytar for short. Adorned with enamel-coloured hearts decorated all over, it was one of those odd fusion instruments from the modern Renaissance of the 1980’s. He played a disgusting teeth-seething melody that he learned when he was in elementary, reminiscent of autotune-infested music sung by the fallen western pop divas of the early 2030’s. Irritating as one would expect it to sound, the chords coming from the keytar was emitting this supersonic power. Something that was 80 and a half millihertz strong. Something that the space-god, who had a penchant for really distasteful music, had a fond weakness for. All those generations listening to his mom’s ancient and uncool vinyl records were beginning to pay off. “Take that, you stinking piece of crap!” he exclaimed in an odd moment of euphoria equivalent to a musical orgasm, except he was having a ball killing that beast. The space-god began to melt away, something that no one was expecting to happen. The impish man frowned inwardly, initiating cascades of ripples on the projection screens that were his eyelids. Something was odd. He attempted to banish the sights, to no avail. The images refused to vacate his neural pathways, refused to give way to the locals. “No, this isn’t right at all,” he said, recoiling. He had partaken of reminiscences enough to know this choppiness, this disjointed static, narration was a roll of forged, flat consciousness. Had he experienced a single odor, a single texture through the young protagonist’s hands? If this was storytime, its teller was a mute. To add to his umbrage was the image of the keytar, that shameful vocation of his in the theatre days before he had reinvented himself as a gentleman. The spinal whirligig, not content with being a fraudulent contraption, was actively co-opting of his own memories, pushing him Persian rugs woven with tawdry threads. Could the others see what he saw, or did they all hear a distinct song tailored exclusively for them by the false minstrel whispering inside their head? “Trumpery! Trumpery I say!” he yelled, reaching backwards to clear his neural port. But his arms did not obey, tied as they were. Violently he shook his head until the thing fell out and the show’s curtains rose to no applause. And what a site to find oneself in! The rumbling, interpreted
as tanks, was actually the humming of an enormous contraption on the stage, next to Space-Chap. Too late, he felt something dislodge and slip by the pocket fabric, leaving a lightness about his heart. And then, like sperm racing to the egg, the chain-tailed ovals embedded themselves one after another in the gigantic magnet, from each and every one of the crowd, all but him still sedated and constrained by the armchair cuffs. “Fraud!” he bellowed, regretting his naiveté. The brave, illustrious Space-Chap? No! Rather, a travelling charlatan with an eye for the pinnacle of Victorian masculinity: pocket watches. “Why, Space-Chap? Why have you done this to us?” “My good man,” said the caned shape, smoking his pipe. “They say time is money, and I expect a good return for putting on a show. But if you must truly know, I will tell you!” And he began: “It’s simple, gents. There always was an evil, nameless spacegod. He feasts not on the souls of the young, the minds of the bright, or the complicated four dimensions of Euclidian geometry. Rather, it feeds on time, quite literally !” Space-Chap chuckled at his own cleverness. The tiny impish man, who once defiantly demanded to know the space-god’s name, was still unsatisfied with this conclusion. “That’s absurd!” he croaked with the vocal range of a nail scraping a chalkboard. “If all an elder god would require to thrive is the eating of clocks, why would he employ such an uncivilized ruse?! You are lying to us good sir!” The fraudulent Space-Chap considered this statement, squinting with growing ire at the man that had seen through his ruse from the start. Silence permeated the room like a thick fog, as the stunned (and restrained) audience awaited a rebuttal from the chap in front. Gripped by the notion that they would finally understand the reason for the insanity of his story, the perplexed and odd behaviour, the utterly gauche notion of feeding clocks to a monster. And then, Space-Chap uttered the words that explained it all, as his eyes bulged out of his skull, revealing slinky-like springs. “I totally did it for the lulz!” he laughed maniacally, before exploding into a pile of gears, bolts and steam.
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Tuesday, march 4, 2014
Film // arts
Falling in love with aeronautical dreams Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, The Wind Rises, is the animated story of an aircraft designer Elijah Bukreev Staff writer
Not many are familiar with Jiro Horikoshi, but odds are you’ve at least heard of some of his creations — he designed the Zero planes used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. He is also the unlikely subject of a new animated biopic, The Wind Rises, which chronicles his life from his early childhood to the lift-off of the infamous warplanes. Some of it is fictional, although it hardly matters. The film shows the man consumed with passion for his work. When his employers learn that he has a fiancée, they burst out laughing — they had assumed he would marry an aircraft. But working is not all he does. We see him travelling to various regions of Japan as well as pre-WW2 Germany. We see him in love with a young girl he saves during the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and later meets as a grown woman. But above all, we see him dreaming. The movie opens and closes with him in a world of his own, where behemoth airplanes fill the skies and where he can interact with real-life aircraft designer Giovanni Caproni, a mentor he never had a chance to know. The film is intrinsically poetic — the title itself comes from a Paul Valéry poem, which goes: “The wind is rising, we must try to live.” The line becomes a leitmotif, repeated several times in the course of the story, in different languages, by different people. The images are just as wondrous, the
colours vivid, the planes highly detailed and the dream sequences full of fantasy and life. There are scenes of great intensity, disasters both natural and man-caused. It is, however, in the quieter moments that the film truly soars. A scene in which the protagonist sends paper planes to his beloved is among the most memorable. Not all animation is meant for children, and The Wind Rises has been the subject of a controversy. How ethical is it to celebrate a man whose work has caused death and ruin? This issue is addressed in one of Horikoshi’s imaginary conversations with Caproni. The Italian engineer believes that aircrafts hold no
moral value — he calls them “beautiful cursed dreams, waiting to be swallowed up by the sky.” This is an interesting insight, and it holds a sad truth. Horikoshi’s talent is both a blessing and a curse. His tragedy lies in accepting that his art might be used as a tool of war. We owe this little marvel of animation to a man who needs no introduction. Hayao Miyazaki has earned himself a place in the history of film with such masterpieces as Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Castle in the Sky. If you’ve paid attention, you’ve noticed all of his movies deal with flying. While this film is more realistic and straightforward than most, it is nonetheless
magical to see Horikoshi’s creations take off. He seems to make them out of thin air, using only his audacity and power of imagination. Much like Miyazaki himself. This is said to be the master animator’s last film. It’s not the first time he has vowed to quit, but the first time he’s been taken seriously. Thus, The Wind Rises is an unmissable experience, bound to leave you heavy-hearted but admirative. Rumors are circulating that he might be changing his mind again. Perhaps he has one more dream to share. Perhaps he can still feel the wind rising. The Wind Rises is currently in theatres nationwide.
Miyazaki claims that the Studio Ghibli-produced anime, The Wind Rises, will be his last filmmaking adventure. Photo is a still from YouTube.
Literature // arts
The self-realization of sexual orientation On Loving Women is Diane Obomsawin’s latest graphic novel Robin Stanford Contributor
E
veryone remembers their first love, when they were swept off their feet — and no relationship will ever be the same. For the characters in the graphic novel, On Loving Women, this moment comes with their first samesex attraction. In lieu of the traditional coming out story, Montreal author/artist Diane Obomsawin presents a series of quirky black and white comic strips depicting the episodes of her friends’ lives surrounding this self-realization. The result is a charming, honest and sincere look into the lives of these women. The stories themselves do not form a unified narrative but are rather presented as multiple voices relaying a general experience. Instead of a traditional page numbering system, each tale is self-contained and has its own page count. Separating events out in this way highlights the importance of each individual’s experience. The focus is on the protagonists gradual self-realization; not only as a queer person through the coming out process but also as someone who can not abide by
societal norms. This movement to self-awareness takes many forms. In compiling the work, great care was given to provide a simple, straightforward, and honest account. None of the stories shy away from illustrating the situations that arose through this process. Viewed through the lens chosen by the author, such acts are approachable without value judgements being made. These are real human beings, with strengths and flaws just like everyone. Some stories seem to end with the main character on their way to a magical ending, where everyone is happy for the rest of their lives. Others, however, are not so lucky and come across homophobic behaviour from their environment. Regardless of the ending, there is always a sense that the story does not end there. The reader is very aware that the characters presented are real people, whose lives continue off the page. The reality of the subject matter is put into contrast with the art style itself. The black and white drawings are simple while still being poignant at conveying the message. The background scenes and clothing are all drawn in grayscale so as to highlight the white characters. Colour is then filled in by the reader so the characters may be of any background or ethnicity. Although the stylistic choice of using animal heads to represent human characters may seem odd at first, it works rather well. The type of animal used for the episode is often tied to protagonists
themselves. For example, in the first up a copy of On Loving Women at story, the main character expresses her Drawn & Quarterly for $16.95.Diane love of Wonder Woman’s horse-like ap- Obomsawin will be at Toronto Comic pearance. This stylistic choice frees the Arts Festival May 10-11. artist to explore very intimate moments. In service to the story, only some of the panels feature nude women, thus there is only a very minimal risk of these scenes being viewed as lewd or gratuitous. Instead, they come across as very tender and largely heartwarming. Although this work is about the first same-sex attraction of a group of women, there is a universal message. It is not about being queer, or even falling in love. On Loving Women is about the discovery of the self in all its dimensions, even if it clashes with the norms set by Drawn & Quarterly’s On Loving Women depicts simple characters, but society. skirt on a topic that’s anything but. You can pick
Tuesday, march 4, 2014
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Literature // arts
Innocent conversations with the Grim Reaper Jason Camlot’s latest work, What The World Said, is a collection of poetry on coping with death Milos Kovacevic Assistant news editor
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ow should one appropriately mark and deal with the loss that comes with a death? Montrealer, poet and Concordia professor Jason Camlot’s, latest collection, entitled What The World Said dispenses some words of wisdom: “Only a fool mourns extravagantly at something so inevitable/ you know it has to happen/ so your feelings should be prepared.” But things are never so easy, and his attempts at acclimatization form the central motif behind the work, letters thematically arranged around the passing of Camlot’s father. Throughout, Camlot calls upon his Jewish heritage. After his father’s death, Camlot observed the year-long grieving process as prescribed by Judaism that included daily forays to synagogue and liberal prayers. The insights and imagery that arise from a not-so-religious man
trying to celebrate his father and mourn his passing in religious ways is touching and fascinating. Intrusive minyans, meditations on Gehenna, and Yiddish (and Hebrew) colloquialism popup throughout, their combined imagery exploring Jewish notions of loss and acceptance — a heavy subject fitting for a people known for bereaved prophets and wailing congregations. Drawing upon these roots, Camlot’s questioning is more a resigned petition than an interrogation, and for all his reproach to religion, we get the sense he’s going through the motions with an honest heart but can’t receive full comfort or understanding from conventions done out of propriety. There is always a poignant disconnect in the quest to find meaning or comfort in the ritual. There are a few rough moments in the sea of letters. The more abstract poems, sometimes abundant in numbers and acronyms, are impenetrable. This is understandable — poetry is first and foremost a triage between the poet’s need to speak, a very varied lexicon and an inner world — but seldom comprehensible. For this reason, the most interesting
and playful parts of the book are the ones where Death is squarely confronted. Here, Camlot’s Grim Reaper is taunted, chastised and implored for answers by a narrator who is innocent and naïve, befuddled at Death’s imposing nature but likewise familiar with him as if he was an acquaintance kept at arm’s length. Death is chastened for not receiving letters and for not returning books. Death is told he can’t have dinner. The narrator is annoyed at Death’s lateness for a game of hockey. Death comes off as that one sympathetic guy, who despite himself (or itself), does as he does. Finally, the book serves as an exposé of how a wordsmith comes to terms with Death — something of interest to readers who may be searching for a way out of grief and writers wanting to explore the technical aspects of it. Though poetry is more free-form than prose, its clever imagery and arrangement is still an enlightening exercise for conventional writers wishing to explore something different. Camlot’s What The World Said deftly and expertly employs different angles to get at his sadness, but leaves room for wry humour and a strange lightness and
playfulness that will be appreciated even by the heartless. What The World Said is available for sale at chapters.indigo.ca
What The World Said collection of poetry.
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Missed Nuit Blanche? Don’t distress! The Concordian has got you covered with a photographic roundup of the events of one of the most exciting nights of the year. Visit theconcordian.com to find out what went down all around the city and right here on the Concordia campus.
Photo by Nathalie Laflamme
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Tuesday, march 4, 2014
Film // arts
On first loves, fears and Woody — the movies of our childhood The Concordian looks back at its first favourites
Princess Mononoke I am about eight years old, Christmas is around the corner and my brother and I are watching TéléQuébec’s special holiday programming. The lady’s voice announces to us that we are now going to watch a darn princess movie — probably one of those girly Disney films that our sister is so fond of. Then, the movie starts and I rapidly realize not only that this is definitely not one of those boring princess stories, but also that this is probably the most epic and awesome movie I have seen in my entire life. During the hour and a half that followed, my brother and I screamed out of excitement and surprise, shared the profound pain of the kind yet doomed young prince and cried out from rage and despair while looking at the destruction of nature by the hands of greedy humans. More importantly, I fell in love with the fearless Princess Mononoke. Ever since this marvelous abnormality that clashed so fantastically with the naivety typical of the usual children’s films that have entered my life, there has been very few holidays that did not involve an enchanting rendezvous with my favourite princess. You can all keep your apple-eating, shoe-losing, sing-songy princesses — mine has been raised by giant wolves, and that is only one of many things that makes her the best!
The city will be holding the 17th annual Montreal International Children’s Film Festival until March 9. This festival encourages excellence in filmmaking and promotes the best of children’s cinema worldwide in order to foster a creative frame of thinking and a critical eye for a younger generation. We asked you what film inspired you as a child, which one helped shape you and which one is your favourite.
Home Alone As a child, didn’t you fantasize about staying up all night long to watch action-packed movies while eating ice cream in your parents’ bed? Home Alone gave us the opportunity to live that dream in a more thrilling way with the main character, Kevin, portrayed by Macaulay Culkin. This 8-yearold boy is accidentally left all alone at home by his parents. Besides fully enjoying this experience, he also proves that he can be responsible, by taking care of the house in a more than unusual manner. Most of the film concentrates on the ingenious traps that Kevin fashions to get rid of the two burglars trying to invade his personal space. While in this particular situation, most children his age would probably panic and cry, but this little boy finds a fun way to solve his problems. Following Kevin’s approach would be almost impossible in real life, but this movie incites the audience’s imagination and invites us to consider that not making a mountain out of a molehill can bring an unexpected denouement. Being a child, I loved watching, year after year, the well-known blonde kid — the protagonist of a suspenseful plot emphasized by surprising special-effects and talented actors of one of the most appreciated children’s movies of the ‘90s.
Mewtwo Strikes Back
The Land Before Time
Toy Story
Having been immersed in both Eastern and Western cinema, choosing one ultimate film from a plethora of films is a painful decision to make. However, there is one that strikes a chord and induces a sense of nostalgia, where I enjoyed and cherished the moments watching that movie with people who were close and dear to me. After all, isn’t that what an awesome movie experience is supposed to be? It was Pokémon. Yes, I am that much of a fan when it comes to this multimedia video game franchise conceived by Satoshi Tajiri. People who know me personally are well aware how much I geekout over these cute, powerful little creatures. I guess there is something really exciting in this film that me and my cousins enjoyed when we first watched it together back in 1999. Just like the group of young trainers going on an adventure, this movie was in itself a personal cinematic quest — including good times and bad. We had the colorful holographic trading cards, the moment when Ash Ketchum rescues a fainted Pikachu from the wraths of the villain-possessed Mewtwo and on top of that, who could even forget M2M’s sweet and sappy rock ballad, “Don’t say you love me”? You may judge me, but please don’t. Pokémon was my favourite movie as a child.
When I told my friends I wanted to have a nostalgia-themed movie night and watch The Land Before Time, I was surprised to see just how excited they were to revisit this childhood gem. Seems that anyone who grew up in the ‘90s has fond memories of the prehistoric pre-pubescent creatures on their perilous adventure to find the Great Valley. The reactions I got from my friends when re-watching this film as adults, sums it all up: “That’s Cera. She’s such a bitch,” spewed the 26-year-old marketing executive, hatefull venom in her eyes, when the triceratops first appears. “This movie is so sad!” wept the 29-year-old pharmacist, hiding her face in her hoodie, as Littlefoot’s mother lay dying in the rain. Don’t let the cutesy cartoon dinosaurs and their childish names deceive you. This is a movie with a dark streak —a movie about the greatest fears that plague us all. It is these universal, powerful fears that make this a profound experience for children and adults alike: fear of losing your loved ones, of braving the great unknown, of those that are different, and ultimately, fear that the path you’ve chosen may lead you not to a lush evergreen valley, but to a fiery volcano. On this dark journey, who better to keep us company than a cast of characters that are funny, colourful and unique. It is their optimism and bravery that guides us, showing us in the end that courage and friendship can conquer all.
One of my earliest memories is of exploring my grandfather’s substantial VHS collection — drawers upon drawers of films, recordings and songs. Surely more than enough to last you a lifetime, but I didn’t need most of them — I had Toy Story. To think of it, that was possibly the first movie I ever saw. It came out in 1995, one year after my birth, so I must have been about three when I first fell under its spell. Back then, I spoke not a single word of English; needless to say, the film’s existential themes, the witty dialogue, the amazing voice-acting, all flew right over my head. I was genuinely shocked, having rewatched the animated classic for the first time in over 10 years, to discover it only ran 81 minutes. How could that be? It used to feel as if a whole day — or all of eternity — had gone by from the moment Buzz Lightyear made his exuberant entrance to the end credits filled with bloopers that made you believe the film was made not on computers but with traditional cameras. Yes, this is one of my favourite films. Its characters have never left my mind — I still have a life-size Woody toy — and to see the third movie, arguably the best of the series, on the big screen was an experience to behold.
- Saturn de Los Angeles
- Tomer Shavit
- Elijah Bukreev
- Cristiana Iulia Ilea - Frédéric T. Muckle
music
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Write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com
Profile // music
Carrying on Seattle’s rock tradition Seattle-based My Goodness discuss their hometown pride Ayan Choudhury Staff writer Jessica romera Music editor
M
y Goodness can sure make a lot of noise for a two-man band. This Seattle-based blues/garage rock duo consists of Joel Schneider on guitar and vocals and Andy Lum on drums. Both Schneider and Lum grew up in the same neighbourhood. They played in rival bands until they reconnected in 2011 at SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, where Lum joined the band after their previous drummer left. Playing predominantly in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, the band has just embarked on their first major North American tour, even recently performing at the legendary Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Schneider simply soaks it all in and relishes the experience of being on tour. He emphasizes that “when it comes down to it, it’s about having fun with the people you’re with. We bring it every night.” As openers for fellow Seattle-based band Augustines, Schneider admits that “the majority of people who’ve seen us [on this tour] don’t know who we are, they’ve never heard our music until we hit that first note.” “When we play at home, they know us. There’s a difference there,” he adds. When asked about why he loves being onstage Schneider replied, “because it’s exhilarating. When the crowd is responding with energy, feeling it and getting involved, it’s the most rewarding thing. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.” Schneider knows a thing or two about the long arduous road to success and acknowledges how far My Goodness and other Seattle natives have come. He looks back fondly and recalls watching Macklemore perform in relative obscurity for years before becoming the chart-topping success that he is today.
>> Bruce Springsteen gets Australian crowd twerking with Bee Gees’ cover New Jersey rock legend Bruce Springsteen closed the Australian leg of his tour in an odd yet memorable way earlier this week. Springsteen, along with the E Street Band, covered the disco-era’s classic tune “Stayin’ Alive” and called on the audience to twerk, reports Billboard. The Boss also played several other covers, including a rendition of AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” accompanied by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. Springsteen has been steadily touring since the release of his latest album High Hopes earlier in January.
Joel Schneider and Andy Lum form Seattle-based rock album Shiver and Shake will be released later in June. With a proud rock tradition including legendary groups such as the fathers of grunge like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains, it comes as no surprise that Seattle’s vibrant musical scene continues to breed successful bands. Schneider also credits the city’s influential public radio station KEXP with some of the band’s initial success. “They played our record for weeks, just to have that outlet is pretty rare.” Both Schneider and Lum also consider themselves blessed to have the opportunity
band
My Goodness. Their
upcoming
to work with esteemed Seattle-based producer, Rick Parashar, who produced Pearl Jam’s groundbreaking debut album, Ten. Schneider hasn’t forgotten when My Goodness were playing in front of crowds of under 50 people. “I think it’s really important for bands to know how to play in front of small crowds.” My Goodness will perform alongside Augustines at Le Belmont on March 9. Admission is $15. Their new album, Shiver and Shake, comes out June 24.
>> One Direction’s Harry Styles claims a non-coveted award at the NME Awards Pop star and rumoured playboy Harry Styles of One Direction has snatched the title of “Villain of the Year” at the NME Awards, reports NME. Styles, who was up against fellow pop star Miley Cyrus and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, amongst others. Styles claimed the magazine’s award for a second consecutive year. Other less-than-envious awards went to The 1975, who won the unfortunate award for “Worst Band.” Other winners at the event include Lily Allen for “Best Solo Artist” and Arctic Monkeys for “Best Live Band.”
Online petition forces Katy Perry to remove religious symbol from her music video The 29-year-old pop star was forced to remove an Islamic symbol from her “Dark Horse” video reports Rolling Stone. An online petition started by Shazad Iqbal on change.org called for the removal of the symbol which he and over 65,000 petitioners deemed blasphemous. In the video, a man sporting a necklace with Allah’s name is burned alive. According to the petition, “people from different walks of life, different religions and from different parts of the world, agree that the video promotes blasphemy, using the name of God in an irrelevant and distasteful manner would be considered inappropriate by any religion.”
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Staff Picks // music
From instrumental to indie: what soothes your soul? The Concordian staff share their go-to playlists and songs for stressful school days There’s no doubt about it, midterm period can be hellish and it takes its toll on your sanity. Some of us need classical music to study, while others need to tune out and unplug and be productive in an absolutely silent environment. Find out what staff members at The Concordian are listening to (or not listening to), during this midterm season.
I love to put on some lyricless music like Fabrizio Paterlini and Joe Bongiorno when I have a lot of reading to do. I get thrown off easily by singing when reading. Writing, though, is a different story altogether: Anamanaguchi, DJ Sharpnel and Renard (RQ) are some of my picks for work-music. -Jocelyn Beaudet, Assistant arts editor
One of the perks of being a journalism major: No midterms. And usually, very little tests to study for. During the ‘study break,’ it’s safe to say my favourite song to listen to was our beloved “Oh Canada” every time a Canadian took the podium in Sochi, instead of actually studying. But the few times I find myself trying to focus on preparing for an exam, the Hockey Night in Canada theme song is always a good distraction. -Samantha Mileto, Sports editor
I think my go to study music would be a combination of Pink Floyd’s masterpiece, Dark Side of the Moon and this one 8tracks playlist of strictly hip-hop instrumentals. Both are perfect for keeping your sanity and not going absolutely bonkerbananas (yes, that’s a made up word) during the stress-inducing midterm period. -Jessica Romera, Music editor
Young the Giant and Mumford and Sons always make my study playlist. Both are the perfect blend of mellow and upbeat tracks that get me through any cram session. New tunes like “Afraid” from The Neighborhood and Half Moon Run’s “Give Up” also do the trick and ironically describe my emotions during finals. To keep me from going insane, Pharrell’s “Happy” is my definite go-to and ultimate spirit-lifter. -Angela De Cicco, Assistant life editor
need total and complete silence to study. People around me are always plugged in to their devices and I’m sitting there like, how is this even possible? However, to get me through this part of the semester, I’m all about Phantogram’s Voices. -Elizabeth Tomaras, Copy editor I’m happy with the program that I’m in. No midterms or exams, only projects. So
whether I’m working on my project assignments, studying for a test or even sleeping, I always put on my earphones and listen to my favorite playlist. As for my go to study jam, I tend to stay away from any music that has lyrics just because it can distract from what I’m doing. I listen to instrumental piano or jazz music to have a peaceful mind so I can stay focused on my work. -Jennifer Kwan, Graphics editor
Give me some Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, or Do Make Say Think and I’ll be set to cram for any deadline. Though, if the deadline is passed and I’m looking to mend the damage I’ve inflicted onto my brain through sleep deprivation and over indulgence in chemical stimulants, I’ll probably switch on some Broken Social Scene, Beatles, Bob Dylan or Pinback. But that’s only if catastrophe was successfully averted. -Keith Race, Photo editor Call me crazy, call me old-fashioned, but I
Quick Spins
Quick Spins // music
St. Vincent – St. Vincent (Loma Vista/Republic Records; 2014)
The Fray – Helios (Epic Records; 2014)
Beck – Morning Phase (Capitol Records; 2014)
Lo-Fang – Blue Film (4AD; 2014)
With its choppy melodies, electronic distortion and synthesized instrumentation, St. Vincent‘s eponymous fourth studio album draws a clear influence from Love This Giant, her recent collaboration with ex-Talking Heads frontman, David Byrne. Thematically, the album focuses on power, faith and our increasingly digital lives — themes that perfectly contextualize her most confident and experimental release to date. Sporting a new bold silver hairdo, Annie Clark explained at the album’s press release, “I wanted to make a party record you could play at a funeral.” Expect a departure from St. Vincent’s previous sound, with elements of funk and art-rock, all within her distinct pop sensibility. Clark has become one of the most innovative guitarists in indie rock, and though St. Vincent may be a challenging album, it should be praised for its originality, style and progressive sound.
Helios is pop/rock band The Fray’s fourth studio album. The first single off the record, “Love Don’t Die,” is an edgy, foot-stomping track that marked a change in the band’s sound. Compared to The Fray’s signature piano-driven ballads, Helios is significantly more upbeat than their 2012 release, Scars and Stories. The Fray takes risks on this record, with a gospel choir featured on the opening track “Hold My Hand” and the funk/ retro-inspired “Give It Away.” Yet the band has not strayed too far from its roots, with songs like “Same as You” and “Closer To Me,” which are sonically similar to some of its older songs, but with a happier subject matter. In an interview with Fuse, band member Joe King attributed their more upbeat and positive record to being in an all-around better place as a band, as well as in each of their individual lives. Overall, the risks paid off and showcase the band’s growth over the past decade.
Last June, Beck announced that he was in the process of recording two albums to be released around the same time: one acoustic album and one with a greater emphasis on electric elements. Morning Phase is the acoustic half and his first studio album released in over five years. This newest release does not stick to what has worked for the artist in the past; Beck does not attempt to rehash the formula of his previous hits, but instead treads into modern indie territory. That is not to say that Beck is emulating current artists, the father of indie is showing newcomers how it’s done. Musically, the new album is stripped down; Beck’s previous work seems overcrowded by comparison. The tone of the album is also much more relaxed than the artist’s previous releases. The lack of variety presented in Morning Phase is its biggest downfall; tracks begin to blend together about halfway through, leaving the listener craving something different.
Blue Film is L.A. native Matthew Hemerlein, a.k.a Lo-Fang’s, full-length debut album. Hemerlein’s vocals are sultry and smooth, making it almost impossible not to draw comparisons to the likes of singer/songwriter and producer extraordinaire, James Blake. “Look Away” starts off the album with an upbeat kicker; the track combines Hemerlein’s suave pipes with classical cello and violin instrumentation blended with borderlinepsychedelic electronic beats. Blue Film then dives into some darker territory with “Boris,” setting a somewhat gloomier tone for much of the album. Lighter notes are felt throughout though, especially on “When We’re Fire” and “Animal Urges,” the latter providing exotically space-age electronic sounds. Showcasing his natural vocal talent and classical training in piano, bass, cello and violin to name a few, Blue Film is organic and fluid. An overall strong debut for Lo-Fang.
Trial Track: “Digital Witness”
Trial Track: “Hurricane”
Trial Track: “Blue Moon”
Trial Track: “When We’re Fire”
9/10
- -Paul Traunero
8/10
--Jaimie Roussos
7/10
--Justinas Staskevicius
8/10
-- Jessica Romera
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Sports in the News Chris Cordella Staff writer
Write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com
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Profile // sports
Life after Concordia Stingers basketball
>> Stadium Series Saturday
Kyle Desmarais has come a long way since playing inter-city in the West Island The fifth NHL outdoor game of the year featured two Canadian Olympians from Sochi, Blackhawks Jonathan Toews and Penguins Sidney Crosby. It was their first time facing off against each other in a regular season game. The game was played at Soldier Field in Chicago, where a significant amount of snow and wind was a big factor in Saturday night’s game. The Blackhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two periods and continued their strong play in the third period, winning 5-1. Toews out -shined Crosby in this game offensively with two goals and one assist. According to the CBC the attendance was 62,921, the second highest of the four other Stadium Series games this year.
Sara Pelletier Contributor
N
ineteen years ago, if you had asked Martha Pierregiovanni and Dave Desmarais what sport their eightyear-old son Kyle would be playing on a professional level, they would have said football without a doubt. Today Kyle Desmarais, a Concordia University economics student at the John Molson School of Business (JMSB), is training in the hopes of someday playing basketball professionally in Europe. In fact, it was football that led Desmarais to play basketball in the first place. One of his former football coaches recommended that he stay active during the winter months by playing another sport. Desmarais chose to try out for basketball. “I started off at the Brookwood house league when I was about 14 or 15-years-old, a league out in the West Island,” Desmarais said. “From 15 to 18 [years-old], I wasn’t very good at all. I couldn’t make the inter-city teams, which I was a little upset about, but hey, I wasn’t that good. Then, a year before I [went to] Dawson, I played for the West Island Lakers AA.” Despite his struggles when he first played house league basketball, continuing to play the sport worked out well for Desmarais. In the summer of 2011, he helped Team Canada win the silver medal at the Summer Universiade in China, the best they had done in over 15 years. A few months later, he represented Canada at the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he had the chance to play against NBA players such as JJ Barea, who represented Puerto Rico and who had just won an NBA title with the Dallas Mavericks. To add to his trophy case, he was part of the men’s AAA basketball team at Dawson College that won both the Provincial and National Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship in 2007. At the national tournament, Desmarais was an all-star alongside his teammate, Evens Laroche. In order to make it on the Dawson Blues team, Desmarais had to compete against the team’s existing players. His determination and hard work are what got him a spot on the basketball team. “To be honest, I thought he was just another kid wanting to enjoy the program and play basketball,” Laroche said. “He eventually proved that he was amongst the best point-guards in the province when he was named a CCAA AllCanadian in [CÉGÉP]. He was a good shooter and scorer. He was definitely a huge facilitator during games at the college and university level no doubt. This surprised everyone. The good thing is that he continued that path and was once again awarded the same nomination in university.” Being athletic and loving sports is in Desmarais’ blood. When his parents first met, his mother was an aerobics instructor and his father won several awards at a bodybuilding competition last year.
>> Heritage Classic in Vancouver City
The former point guard went from being cut as a teenager to being a top player with the Dawson Blues and the Concordia Stingers. Photo by Brianna Thicke Desmarais recalls his childhood as being a great one, with lots of love from his parents and fights with his younger sister, Melissa. The halfItalian, half-Irish basketball player considers himself a very family-oriented person. “My father worked extremely hard to give us everything that we wanted,” says Desmarais. “I definitely got my work ethic from him.” Dwight Walton, a former basketball player for the Canadian National team and the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), first met Desmarais at The Trevor Williams Basketball Camp back in 2004. “We respect each other greatly,” says Walton, who played basketball in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Walton and Desmarais share similar backgrounds. Both played for the Dawson Blues, won All-Canadian awards, and obtained free education in order to play for the NCAA in the United States. “His parents are fantastic as well and are a major part of what Kyle has accomplished up to this point. I constantly tell him what he needs to work on and I feel comfortable doing so. He knows that it’s coming from a good place. All I want is the best for him.” Several years ago, Desmarais would have never imagined obtaining a free education, because of his skills in basketball. However, after being named the Quebec League’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and receiving the All-Canadian award on his third season at Dawson, Desmarais was offered a full athletic scholarship at Central Connecticut University. However, playing NCAA basketball in Connecticut was not exactly a dream come true.
After not being able to see eye-to-eye with his coach, not playing enough during games, and being homesick, Desmarais decided to come back home and play for Concordia instead. However, Desmarais decided last summer not to return to the Stingers basketball team. “Concordia basketball had run its course in my life, it gave me a lot of great opportunities, and I’ll always be thankful for that,” says Desmarais. “But for my own individual development it was time for me to move on. Life after Concordia basketball involves a lot more free time, less stress I would say. I get to put my time into things that will benefit me and help me in the long run. Things like studying, training and improving my skills as a basketball player.” If playing basketball professionally overseas does not end up working out for Desmarais, he hopes to become a financial broker or adviser. When Desmarais is not studying or training, he enjoys going to the cinema by himself. Among his favourite movies are Tombstone, Training Day and It’s a Wonderful Life. “It’s perfect time for myself, it’s alone time. I just get to watch movies and don’t have to worry about everything else,” explains Desmarais. Desmarais claims that it takes hard work and dedication to accomplish anything in life. However, he admits that it was sometimes very challenging to reach his goals. “To stay mentally strong throughout the setbacks early in my career, getting cut from a team, maybe not getting the playing time I felt I deserved, stuff like that,” says Desmarais. “Mental toughness comes from believing in yourself and abilities, and knowing that if you keep working hard, the results will come.”
On Sunday, the Heritage Classic game took place in Vancouver, between the Canucks and the Ottawa Senators. In front of over 50,000 people at BC Place Stadium, the Senators defeated the hometown Canucks 4-2. After the first period, the Canucks jumped to a 2-0 lead just to have it relinquished later in the period with two straight goals by Ottawa. Yet things tightened up in the next two periods, with the game winner coming from Senator and Ottawa-native Cody Ceci midway through the second period. The Senators added an empty-netter late in the third period with Vancouver goaltender Eddie Lack pulled, which sealed the deal for the Senators. This was the final outdoor game for the NHL this season.
>> Trade Deadline 2014
With the NHL trade deadline on Wednesday, March 5, the Buffalo Sabres continued to clean house, as they traded longtime goaltender Ryan Miller and captain Steve Ott to the St. Louis Blues for former Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, St. Louis’ first-round pick in 2015 and a conditional third-round pick in 2016.
>> Carey Price sidelined
Hot off his performance at the Sochi Olympics, Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was injured in his first practice back with Montreal. He is day-to-day with a lower body injury after taking a shot in practice. His replacement, Peter Budaj, is 2-1, winning games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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Basketball // sports
Tough weekend for Stingers basketball teams Both the men and the women fall in their semi-final games at l’Université de Laval Samantha Mileto Sports editor
Women’s Basketball A third quarter fallout by the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team led to a 5948 loss to the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) semifinals on Friday night at l’Université de Laval in Quebec City. After falling behind 6-4 four minutes into the first quarter, the Stingers scored three straight baskets to quickly take a 10-6 lead. A foul by Stingers forward Tamara Pinard-Devos at the buzzer led to three free-throw baskets by Citadins guard Valerie Gauvin, making it 15-11 Concordia going into the second quarter.
Baskets were few and far between in the second quarter, as both teams combined for just 24 points. The Stingers only scored their first basket halfway through the quarter, with a three-point jump shot by point guard Ashley Clarke, giving Concordia a 18-16 lead. But it was UQAM who took a 26-24 lead at half-time. The third quarter saw the Stingers only score two points. UQAM scored 16 straight points to open the second half before Concordia scored their first basket with 2:26 left. Centre Jessica Lubin led the charge with five points. UQAM took a commanding 44-26 lead after three quarters. Concordia had a stronger fourth quarter, but the 18-point deficit proved to be too much for the Stingers. After centre Camille Michaud made it 46-26, 1:40 into the final quarter, Concordia scored eight straight points to close the gap to 46-35. The run was led by guard Kaylah Barrett, who was questionable to play in this game because of a sprained ankle she sustained in the final weekend of the regular season. She had six of the Stingers’ eight points in that run and nine of Concordia’s final 13 points. It wasn’t enough however, as Concordia fell 59-48 in this semifinal playoff game. Men’s Basketball The Bishop Gaiters men’s basketball team pulled through in the fourth quarter to beat the Concordia Stingers 74-59 in the RSEQ semifinals at l’Université de Laval in Quebec City on Saturday afternoon. The first three quarters of the game were back and forth, as both teams traded leads but could not hold on to them for
Both Stingers basketball teams seasons come to an end in Quebec City. Photos by Brianna Thicke long. The Gaiters held a 10-7 lead midway through the first quarter before the Stingers came up with four straight points to take an 11-10 lead two minutes later. Stingers guard, Jean-Andre Moussignac’s five points helped Concordia grab an 18-14 lead with 1:38 left before Bishop’s came back to tie the game up at 18 before the quarter was up. The Gaiters found themselves on top two minutes into the second quarter thanks to a basket by guard Jona Bermillo. But, halfway through the second quarter, the Stingers found themselves with the lead again, after Moussignac’s three pointer made it 30-29 for the Stingers. Bishop’s narrowly led 36-34 by halftime. Bishop’s took a four-point lead just 14 seconds into the second half and were able to
hold onto the lead for the rest of the third quarter. This was due in part because the Stingers went through long stretches without scoring. Stingers forward Mukiya Post’s free-throw shot made it 42-40 for the Gaiters at 7:42 of the third quarter, but Concordia’s next basket came more than two minutes later. The Stingers were able to reduce Bishop’s lead to 52-49 heading into the final quarter. Concordia managed just 10 points in the fourth quarter, allowing the Gaiters to run away with it, the game, and the win. Gaiters centre Mike Andrews had nine points and guard Onnex Blackwood added another six as Bishops beat Concordia 74-59 in the semis, ending the Stingers’ season.
Baseball // sports
Concordia’s baseball camp a year-round success With their season only two months long, the Stingers keep busy in the winter months Matthew Shanahan Staff writer
The Concordia Stingers baseball club is in action for less than two months a year, including the playoffs. In fact this past year the regular season took place over a total of 21 days, and a deep playoff run saw them play nearly as much post-season ball as they did in the regular season. For such an intense league not only do many people put in a great deal of effort during the peak months of September and October, but the off-season preparation is just as important. The club has held winter training sessions consistently on Saturdays from November until April, throughout the past four years. “We’ve had [winter training] since 2009, and I’ve seen a difference in the players the following year,” said manager Howie Schwartz. “We get a chance to do things with the players that they don’t get a chance to do in their summer leagues.” The winter training session has major benefits for the younger players on the team whom the coaches don’t know as well. “It not only helps us develop our current players but also [gives us] a chance to see new guys coming into the program,” said as-
sistant coach Ron Snell. “It also gives us the chance to see our rookies who didn’t get a lot of playing time during the year to show us what they have to offer.” The players seem to be on the same page as the management, having nothing but good things to say about the training that they’re offered. “The extra training is great and you get to stay in shape,” said Stingers veteran Andrew St-Denis. “Whenever the field finally thaws up, we’ll be ready to play.” “For me it’s more about finetuning certain aspects of my game,” said catcher Jean-Christophe Paquin. “It’s more to help the guys get better.” While the Stingers prepare for next season and extend their passion of the game of baseball to the winter months, players and coaches alike are eager to see professional baseball back in Montreal at the end of March. The Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets will square off in an exhibition series at the Olympic Stadium on March 28 and 29.
“It’s going to be great to have baseball back in Montreal, I’m sure [the Olympic Stadium] is gonna be rockin’,” said assistant coach Eddie Archer. “It can’t hurt to show that baseball is something important in Montreal.” “I’m going to both games, so I’m really looking forward to it,” said St-Denis. “Hope-
fully it’ll give Montreal more exposure and hopefully get a major league team here.” The Stingers baseball club’s love for the game is evident through their commitment to their sport at all times of the year. For many, baseball is just a summer pastime. But for the Stingers, it’s a passion that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Photo by Kevin Raferty
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Write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com
Editorial // opinons
The Women’s Movement: progress so far and the future Although female equality is a given in the West, there is still work to be done On March 8, the world will celebrate International Women’s day. The event is meant to celebrate the achievements of the Women’s Movement as well as to discuss ways in which women can continue to move towards complete equality in every part of the world and in every part of society. Although many people feel the war for equality has been won, the reality is that there are still many battles to be fought. For instance, there are women in many parts of the world who are still subjected to the rules of patriarchy, violence against women is still a wide-
spread and growing issue, and in social, cultural and business contexts many women continue to be judged by their gender and not their skills. Despite these hurdles, women have come a long way since the Women’s Movement first began in the early 1900s. In Western society, women are considered equal to men, legally, they have the same rights and freedoms as men and are allowed to participate in all the same endeavors. Socially, however certain stigmas and preconceived notions still exist. For example, the definition of femi-
ninity limits a woman by confining her to the attributes, careers and appearances that are deemed socially acceptable for females. Although many females are breaking boundaries, engaging in jobs once considered strictly for males, there remains the prejudice that they are women doing men’s work. In the West, women have access to the same educational opportunities as men, but not so in many other parts of the world. Malala Yousafzai is a famous example of girls being banned from going to school. However, in part due to Yousafzai’s story, the world is waking up to this in-
equality and attempting to help girls in these parts get an education. Therefore, as a society, we are progressing towards complete equality on an international level by acknowledging that inequality exists in other parts of the world and attempting to fix it. It is important to recognize the many achievements of women across the world, as well as the barriers that still need to be crossed. International Women’s Day celebrates the accomplishments of women, congratulates them on how far they have come and directs the eye toward the future where further strides in equality can be made.
Column // opinions
Confessions of a 20-something
On used condoms, bra stealing, and the real struggle to find a reliable (and sane) roommate Hanna Joy Farooq Contributor
I
still remember how relieved I felt when I found your ad on Kijiji: you said you were moving from Ottawa, and looking for a room close to school. There I was, alone, struggling to pay rent in a 3 1/2. It was meant to be. I moved into the living room when you arrived, accompanied by a friend you didn’t tell me was also going to be moving in with us. After two weeks, the janitor called me to say it wasn’t his job to catch diseases picking up the used condoms that your friend was throwing off the balcony. OK, just a mi-
nor setback, right? A few days later, your friend decided she had enough. She left, telling me I would see you for who you really were. I’m sorry to say it took five months for those words to come true, but when they did, it was time we went our separate ways. Now I see you in all your glory, and I still don’t get you. You are so abnormal to me; you fascinate me. I just can’t stop thinking about you. I’m sorry you had to block me on Instagram and set your profile to private because you think I am obsessed with you. The despicable truth is that, in a way, I am. Sorry. I wanted to apologize properly, so I wrote you a poem called “A public apology” to my ex-roommate. Forgive me if it’s a little rusty:
I’m sorry I can’t stop agonizing over the pictures you posted on Instagram wearing my clothes while I was away in Africa. I’m sorry I still burst with frustration when my girlfriends and I recall the unfulfilled lives of our new lipsticks that you used, without asking or telling, and squashed to uselessness. I’m sorry I am mourning the loss of my earphones, my headphones and my lip gloss. Taking without asking is stealing, by the way. I’m sorry I still wonder why you felt victimized after I accused you of losing my scissors and my Tupperware. I’m sorry I invaded your privacy by searching your room, and I’m sorry I found them in there. I’m sorry I also found my bras and my panties in there too. Were you obsessed with me? I’m sorry you’re still a kid. I’m sorry you’re fresh out of high school, in a new city, without mommy or daddy to clean your bathtub or to flush your poop down the toilet. Enter moi. I’m sorry I cannot get over my disillusionment. I’m sorry that I used to think people who did wrong were subject to remorse, pangs of conscience. I’m sorry I took the bait when you tweeted about me and aired our dirty laundry for all to see. I’m sorry I let you get away with all of it and I’m sorry I believed your lies. I’m sorry I welcomed you and introduced you to my friends, making an effort to get to know you. I’m sorry I shared everything I love with you: my friends, my family, my movies, my Sopranos. I’m sorry I thought the better of you and that you will never own up to being wrong. I’m sorry I met you. I can’t get over how ugly of a person you are and I’m sorry you don’t see it. P.S. I’m sorry if you got a yeast infection. Next time, don’t use cotton underwear.
18
//
Tuesday, march 4, 2014
theconcordian
Social // opinions
Internet hoaxes: easily seen, easily believed Why caution and common sense are crucial in the digital age Marco Saveriano Assistant opinions editor
A
dmit it, you’ve fallen for an Internet hoax. You’ve passed on a chain email because you were scared if you didn’t, you’d be alone forever. You clicked on that Facebook link offering a $500 gift card, and then spent the next few days deleting all the spam from your wall. Don’t worry, we’ve all done it. In recent news, U.S. Olympian Kate Hansen posted a video that caused a stir worldwide. The media was full of so-called “Sochi fails,” ranging from unfinished hotel rooms to bright yellow water coming from taps, but Hansen’s video was about to blow them all out of the water. She wrote on her YouTube page, “I’m pretty sure this is a wolf wandering my hall in Sochi,” and guess what? The video actually showed a wolf outside her door.
The stunt was later discovered to have been organized by late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel, but not before it went viral. In 2013, Kimmel pulled a similar stunt with his “twerk fail” video that showed a girl twerking against a door, then falling onto a candle-covered table as her hair caught fire. People on the Internet went crazy, until they realized they’d been fooled. Nowadays, we will believe almost anything we see on the web, and people are quick to take advantage of our naiveté. Whether it’s comedians or online pranksters, we’re constantly bombarded by fake content and the problem is that people consistently believe it. It’s not that we’re getting more stupid, we’re just getting lazy. In this day and age, we have access to whatever we want in a matter of seconds. We can get news sent directly to our smartphones within minutes of it happening. We don’t have to put any effort into looking for information, so we’ve stopped trying. That’s how we’ve become so gullible — our laziness is being taken advantage of. Internet trolls know that most of us won’t bother checking the facts, and as soon as people
start sharing a ridiculous story, their job is done. If years of being in school have taught us anything, it’s that the Internet isn’t always a trustworthy source. We all need to start thinking logically. Do your research before believing everything you read. If you stumble upon an article about Pauline Marois wanting to open a Quebecoisonly blood bank, look into where the article came from. You know the story I’m talking about, it was all over social media a few months ago. People were so quick to share it in disgust that they didn’t even check the source. As it turns out, The Lapine, the website the story originated from, was a satirical news outlet. Most importantly, use your common sense. Do you really think Zara would give a $500 gift card to every person who shared something on Facebook? Or that there’s actually a disorder called “Alexandria Genesis” that causes people to have purple eyes, immunity to most diseases, a perfect figure, and flawless porcelain skin? One quick Google search can save you from a lot of potential embarrassment. Always remember, if it seems too good (or too crazy) to be true, it probably isn’t.
Browse wisely and save yourself from embarrassment (and viruses). Photo by Sarebear:), Flickr.
Culture // opinions
A red lipstick stain on television’s reputation Photo by jamelah, Flickr
Why banning the use of red lipstick on BBC is an unjustified and superficial move Lindsay Richardson Interim opinions editor
A naked face, pale and unassuming, is a vulnerable face. As a media figure, the face that is turned out to the world should be one that commands attention and respect, one that exudes self-assuredness. By swivelling open a tube of deep red lipstick, everyday women believe that they’ve opened themselves up to passion, channeled an innate sexuality, and will radiate both confidence and personal conviction. When you think about it, red lipstick is an aesthetic choice that holds numerous perceived “benefits” to those who choose to wear it. However, according to the BBC, it is a colour that is too scandalous to be used in their regular daytime programming,
one that Jezebel.com comically refers to it as the “serial murderer of youthful innocence.” In an attempt to filter and acknowledge the influence of the media on young children, the network issued new wardrobe guidelines that prohibits female hosts on youth-oriented programs from wearing red lipstick. BBC wants only positive, not oversexualized, role models representing them. “We know that a lot of young girls will look at how our presenters are dressed, and no they shouldn’t look too sexy,” said BBC executive editor Melissa Hardinge, as reported by the Daily Mail. No one wants toddlers traipsing around with red lipstick smeared all over their innocent little faces. But I am consistently impressed and confused at the public uproar about this colour. What’s the big deal? Red is just a colour, a happy colour that makes people feel good. It’s 2014, is makeup really supposed to
hold any deep significance anymore? Do the negative associations about red lips have any ground in today’s society? On its own, the colour red is undeniably evocative. Studies have shown that exposure to it stimulates the senses, boosts physical energy, and can even increase heart rate and adrenaline. Some East Asian cultures even consider it to be good luck, or the colour of purity. Its associations are resoundingly positive and uplifting. But it’s the close relationship to sex that is still off-putting to some. At one point in time, the use of lipstick was condemned. The Catholic Church compared it to satanic worship, and associated it with marginalized groups like prostitutes and the lower class. It would explain why, in my own experience of wearing it, I have had negative reactions. One elderly woman in particular hissed at her friend while walking by that “only hussies wear that colour.” The re-
mark demonstrated that, absurdly enough, some people still cannot divide the colour from its implications. The term “oversexualized” should be used to define actions more so than appearances. How can a colour alone accurately represent a woman’s personality or agenda? And how come we get worked up about its influence on the public when there hasn’t been any evidence of a negative influence? Rich lipstick today can connote strength, power and luxury. However, it could just be worn with the intent of experimenting and looking good. Women don’t necessarily wear lipstick to cause a stir — it’s these unjustified assumptions about appearances that cause trouble. Given its history and reception, it would be easy to assume that rouge is reserved for “hussies” or “harlots.” But hold your head high, and coyly blow a kiss to those passing judgement, because ladies wear red lipstick too. Photo by RCP from Flickr
thought we’d see: pop mu-
sic’s most influential convict, Justin Bieber, is turning 20. On the interwebs, legions
of Beliebers feel the need to express their undying,
irrational, and largely incom-
prehensible feelings towards him through #20reason-
swhywelovejustin. Only one
thing can be said: these de-
luded Beliebers need to take
The Concordian strives to adhere to the guidelines and standards set forth by the Canadian Press. In accordance with the Canadian Press’ mandate against photo manipulation, The Concordian recognizes that by flipping the photo of Justin Trudeau, printed on the cover of our February 11 issue, we violated journalistic standards of integrity. We sincerely apologize to Keith Race and the members of the Concordia community. The following is Keith Race’s original photo.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 Vol. 31 Issue 23 Amanda L. Shore Editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com Nathalie Laflamme Production manager production@theconcordian.com Sloane Montgomery News editor news@theconcordian.com Sabrina Giancioppi Life editor life@theconcordian.com Roa Abdel-Gawad Arts editor arts@theconcordian.com
“Girlfriend” off repeat and get themselves to school.
Wordsearch // ETC
@cakeonmiley #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin he can murder and rape a little girl and i’d still support him to the end <3” *sigh*
@mysuperbieber #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin He takes care about the world. @bieberauhlzz #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin “my beliebers” our relationship is like no other, how could you not love him @KennaDarrah #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin Because @justinbieber tought me to follow my dreams no madder what anyone else says. @okta_beliebers Dear Beliebers “don’t cry because Justin is an adult now, smile because you saw him growing up. Sincerely me.” #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin @ItzBizzle #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin his music isn’t just a song. It’s his story and he tells us things through it @jojoquist #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin He love us beliebers so much and For us he is our everything, same is this for him @robinverrecass “ never be who you’re not because that’s what makes you not swaggy #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin @avonsstarlight #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin he talks to panda
Jessica Romera Music editor music@theconcordian.com Samantha Mileto Sports editor sports@theconcordian.com Lindsay Richardson Interim Opinions editor opinions@theconcordian.com Keith Race Photo editor photo@theconcordian.com
@biebursdiamond #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin he express so good his feelings in his music, idk but it keeps me alive @mybieberside #20ReasonsWhyWeLoveJustin he saved millions of lifes and even only his smile is keeping millions of these people strong
Concordia’s weekly, independent student newspaper.
Natasha Taggart Online editor online@theconcordian.com Jennifer Kwan Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com
For Leonardo Dicaprio He lost the Oscar, so we gave him a word search...
Elizabeth Tomaras Christina Rowan Milos Kovacevic Copy editors copy@theconcordian.com Besher Al Maleh Marilla Steuter-Martin Production assistants Milos Kovacevic Assistant News editor Angela De Cicco Assistant Life editor Jocelyn Beaudet Assistant Arts editor Jonathan Cohen Assistant Music editor Tim Lazier Assistant Sports editor Marco Saveriano Assistant Opinions editor Editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. Building CC-Rm 431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 514-848-2424 ext. 7499 (Editor-in-Chief) Pascale Cardin Business manager business@theconcordian.com Tyson Lowrie Cindy Lopez Ruben Bastien Board of directors directors@theconcordian.com
Contributors Liana Di Iorio, Elijah Bukreev, Robin Stanford, Ayan Choudhury, Sara Pelletier, Matthew Shanahan, Chris Cordella, Hanna Joy Farooq, Paul Traunero, Jaimie Roussos,Justinas Staskevicius, Andy Fidel, Saturn De Los Angeles
theconcordian
It’s the day we never
Correction // ETC
ART: Hybrid Bodies @ Phi Centre until March 15 Art Matters @ Throughout Montreal until March 21 Noble, Jin,Friesen and Flannigan @ FOFA until March 28 Déviant Élixir @ BBAM! until March 28 Dark Matter @ Galerie Donald Browne until March 29 Blue Skies and Cats @ Galerie B-312 until March 29 THEATRE: The Vagina Monologues @ Cafe Cleopatra March 4 Alex Cross and His Rise to Fame @ MainLine Theatre until March 8 The Walnut Tree @ Centre Culturel Calixa-Lavallée until March 8 Unseamly @ Bain St-Michel until March 9 Merton of The Movies: The Musical @ Studio CETM until March 9 Horror Story @ Segal Studio until March 14 The Aeneid @ La Chapelle Theatre until March 15 MUSIC: Marc-Antoine Larche @ Le Divan Orange March 4 Broken Bells @ Metropolis March 4 Wakey! Wakey! @ Cabaret du Mile End March 5 The Chainsmokers @ Stereo March 6 Young The Giant @ Metropolis March 6 Marissa Nadler @ Casa del Popolo March 8 Namori @ Club Balattou March 9