The Unexpected Twists and Turns

Money is Power, Apparently

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:43:00 +0000

About 8 weeks ago, some of you may recall that I made a date with cash, that is, to use strictly bank notes and change for a two-month period. Credit and debit cards were not to be used, if humanly possible (Yes, I slipped up a few times).

This challenge came about for two reasons: a) I had lost track of where I was spending my money, and b) I learned through the Occupy the Holidays movement that merchants pay the banks a 2% to 5% fee for each debit transaction. Hardly seems fair, right? Our local merchants fight to stay afloat financially among fierce competition from major corporations only to be nickled and dimed in transaction fees. No, I decided that banks already had enough of my money and everyone else`s.

And apparently I`m not the only one who feels this way. This International Women`s Day, Women Occupy will be staging a protest against the Bank of America. Interrupting business as usual, the group will be protesting the bank`s predatory economic policies that are destroying families and communities.

My date with cash, my own little protest, was anxiety-inducing in the beginning. And truth be told, I probably would have given up if I hadn`t opened my big mouth and blogged about it. But anyway, I learned a lot.

Every Saturday, I calculated how much I needed for the entire week and took out a large sum on Sunday, grocery day. This is also the approach advocated by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. (The FCAC is a great site for banking tips and interest calculators to help you keep your debt in check.) In most cases, this lump sum approach worked, but I still had to run to the bank on more than a few occasions.

Discoveries

1) The daily latté was a luxury I couldn`t afford. I opted for regular coffee, which amounted to a $2.00 savings a day. A latté still finds its way in, but only occasionally.

2) My closest branch ABM is at least a 15-minute walk away. Therefore, I did a lot more walking, and as a result, my clothes are looser now. Yes, cash only may also serve as a weight loss plan.

3) I also stopped buying things to eat when I felt hungry. Instead, I brought an apple or a V8 with me every day. Makes your bag heavier, but worth it.

4) I paid $13.00 in interest on my credit card in January, compared with only $2.00 in February.

5) My bank statement was half a page long, and I could actually remember the transactions (Eureka!).

6) Advanced planning helps you to organize a lot of other aspects of your life. I planned more meals and organized my time better.

7) I talked to a lot of people about how they kept track of their money. I was surprised to learn that most of them peruse their accounts online a few times a week.

8) I now have a small savings, and February will be the first month in a long time that I have not gone into my overdraft (no small miracle).

If you, too, are fed up with the uber rich banks taking your hard earned money in interest and monthly charges, then you may want to try cash only. Or you might just want to check out some of these user-friendly FCAC tools to help you make informed decisions about your finances:

Credit Card Payment Calculator: This tool shows you how long it will take you to pay off your credit card balance if you make 1) the minimum payment, 2) the minimum payment plus a little more, or 3) pay a fixed amount every month. But more importantly, it shows you just how much you will pay in interest (makes bankers salivate).

Banking Package Selector Tool (chequing): This tool shows you which bank offers the lowest monthly charges to accommodate your banking needs. It all comes down to how many transactions you make a month, and the monthly balance you maintain. It`s a good idea to have at least three previous bank statements on-hand to identify your own banking habits.

The Credit Card Quiz: If you think you know everything there is to know about credit cards, think again. Here are 10 questions to demystify some common credit card myths.

This was crossposted at kickaction.ca

Happy savings!

Related posts:
Occupy the Holidays
My Date with Cash

Viki & TellVic: Social Media Backlash

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:31:00 +0000

I couldn't think of a better follow-up to my previous post on using social media as a means of protest. This week, our majority Conservative government was to push through a series of electronic surveillance laws (Canada's version of SOPA), forcing Internet service providers (ISPs) and other telecommunications companies to disclose information about its customers and their families' online activities without a warrant .

Critics say this e-snooping bill is a violation of our right to privacy and makes our personal and financial information less secure and more vulnerable to cyber crime. In addition, ISPs would have to install elaborate spyware, the cost of which would be passed on to the consumer. But the government sees it otherwise; this is a means for fighting child pornography and other serious crime. This week, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews defended "lawful access" by stating that people "either stand with us or with the child pornographers." Needless to say, this sparked outrage.

The first form of protest was an anonymous Twitter account, Vikileaks30, which began publishing lurid tidbits about Toews' divorce after 30 years of marriage, which also reportedly involved the emergence of an illegitimate child with a nanny/babysitter. Vikileaks30 also disclosed the more than $14,000 Toews spent on the taxpayer dime at Ottawa-area restaurants last year, as well as his 64 trips home to his riding. Well, I wonder how those public disclosures must feel? As you can see, the account now has in excess of 9,000 followers in just a few days. Recently, the Ottawa Citizen traced the IP address to where else?...Parliament Hill.

This was quickly followed by the hashtag #tellviceverything on Twitter. For the second day in a row, Twitter users are telling Minister Toews their every 140-character thought and ah...movement and posting it on Twitter. Here are a few:

As you can see, this type of protest quickly hits a message home: our private lives should be left, well, private. In addition to voicing passive-aggressive displeasure, this form of protest can be a highly entertaining way to spend a few hours in the morning. If you have a Twitter account, you will also see appeals from other tweeps to telephone, fax or email Toews with any thought, epiphany or brain wave you might have.

At any rate, with journalists, organizations and the average joe taking to Twitter and Facebook, this broad-based protest may be the best way to keep Canadians from getting beat up and thrown in jail, as they were at the G20. Just sayin`!

Other related posts:
The Montreal News Group
Occupy the Holidays
Peaceful Tactic: Keep Wall Street Occupied (Busy)
Occupons Montréal

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Review of Retribution & Interview w/ Carmen Rodriguez

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Review of Retribution
and Interview with Author, Carmen Rodriguez
(Three O'clock Press)

The following was cross-posted at Rover: Montreal Arts Uncovered.

Like many, I’m drawn to novels that explore Latin American politics, particularly those rooted in Argentina and Chile. I was immediately intrigued when I heard about Retribution by poet, translator and activist Carmen Rodriguez, mainly because the author lived through the 1973 coup d’état. Rodriguez, her husband and their two young daughters were exiled to Vancouver in 1974.

Retribution opens with granddaughter Tania receiving a letter from the Chilean Consulate in Vancouver informing her that her father may not have been who she thought he was.

Back in 1974, Grandmother Soledad Martinez and her daughter Sol brought three-day-old Tania to live in exile in Vancouver after Sol had been imprisoned in the wake of Pinochet’s military takeover. A survivor of rape and torture in prison, Sol raises Tania to believe that her father had disappeared like so many other Chileans.

Unlike many novels surrounding the events of September 11, 1973, Retribution does not end with the Martinez family being forced into exile. Instead, it focuses on the years after the coup, on how Soledad and Sol come to terms with losing their loved ones and the brutality they suffered at the hands of the Chilean military.

It was refreshing to pick up a book with two strong compelling women characters like Soledad and Sol. The story sheds light on how political refugees overcome loss, trauma and hatred in a new country, an aspect of political stories that is often given short shrift. This is a beautiful, complex story woven together with well-researched political facts. Rodriguez skillfully tackles heavy themes for a first time novelist, and my only criticism was perhaps Tania’s character, which was not as well fleshed out as the other two.

Retribution is a highly realistic and satisfying read which somehow makes the magic realism of Isabel Allende’s House of Spirits seem akin to a Disney production.

I spoke with Carmen Rodriguez about her first novel at the Paragraphe bookstore in November 2011.

There are some very difficult themes tackled in Retribution: rape, murder, torture and exile. Which parts were the most difficult to write and why?

While it is accurate to say that the topics of rape, murder, torture and exile are part of Retribution, the book is also about the regular ups and downs in the life of a Chilean lower-middle-class family prior to the 1973 coup and most importantly, about how a mother and a daughter succeed in turning horror and darkness into beauty and hope. Therefore, the whole book was difficult to write.

I realize that Sol is a fictitious character. Yet, she was a leftist activist and social worker who fled Chile in 1974, and anyone who read your daughter’s book, Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter, would see that you and Sol have a lot in common. Is there a lot of yourself in Sol or does she represent a lot of young leftist women in Chile at that time?

Sol is a composite character. Some of her experiences are based on my own, but her personality, demeanor, outlook on life and actions are her own.

Tania receives a letter through the Chilean Consulate from Judge Leiva informing her that her father may be Marcelino Romero, a man who tortured and raped women in detention after the 1973 coup. Has any such action ever been taken by the Chilean government to acknowledge its wrongdoing or make reparations?

I don’t know. Torturers and members of the military have been tried and convicted. I don’t know if they were specifically accused of rape.

Unlike many other novels on the Pinochet military takeover of Chile, the climax of the book is not the events surrounding September 11, 1973. Instead, it is about the aftermath. Dealing with the loss of her son, the disappearance of her daughter, and the betrayal of her conservative sister, Soledad had a difficult time with her anger and pain. Your account of Soledad’s intense feelings when she arrives in Canada was very realistic. Where did you find your inspiration for this scene?

In the character. I was immersed in her body and mind at the time and this is the way she chose to (re)act at that point in the narrative.

Perhaps the most moving part of your book was when Soledad finally finds her son, Andresito. Before she finds him, she has to go to the military barracks, a prison on Teja Island and to the morgue. Is this a realistic depiction of how parents went about looking for their children after the coup?

Yes. This happened to many people, including the well-documented case of Joan Jara, who found her husband’s body – theatre director and internationally renowned musician Víctor Jara – in the Santiago morgue a few days after the coup.

Writing a book is a long process. Could you tell us some of the steps you went through?

I began by imagining a trilogy: the first book would portray the family’s life in the decades prior to the Popular Unity/Allende government, the second one would take the family through the Popular Unity years, the coup and its aftermath (1970-1974), and the third one would narrate the protagonists’ lives as exiles in Canada.

After much writing and pondering, I decided to put everything into one book. It took a long time to come up with an appropriate structure for the novel and the central theme of “retribution” made its way into the manuscript in its latter stages of development.

Are there any parallels between the student movement today in Chile and the leftist movement of the early 1970s?

The student movement of the 1960s and 70s was part of a larger movement striving for social justice. It included factory workers, farm workers, professionals, intellectuals and marginalized sectors of society. Today’s student movement was triggered by issues specifically related to education: demands for free universal education. However, this initial motivation has brought to the forefront the injustices inherent to Chile’s entire economic model and the inadequacies and limitations of the country’s democracy. Thus, the current student movement has acted as a leader and catalyst for all those sectors that are unhappy with the socio-political situation in the country.

Is Chile as politically polarized now as it was in the early 1970s?

In the early 1970s, Chile’s president was Salvador Allende, a socialist elected to carry out a program of ground-breaking transformations, including the nationalization of the country’s copper mines and other key industries, and agrarian reform. This resulted in fierce opposition from the U.S. government, multinational corporations, Chile’s bourgeoisie, wealthy landowners and members of other sectors of society content with the status quo. The outcome was not only polarization, but perhaps most importantly, U.S. intervention, a concerted campaign to destabilize the country and, ultimately, the military coup d’état of September 11, 1973.

Chile now has a right-wing President — economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera, who became a billionaire during the Pinochet dictatorship by introducing credit cards to Chile. Piñera was elected in January of 2010 with promises of improving the economic welfare of Chileans, but after nearly two years in office he has not fulfilled his promises. His popularity has plummeted and large sectors of the population have begun to show their discontent.

Overall, the situation in Chile today is very different. The wealthy and their political representatives are in government, not in opposition. Large sectors of the population have organized to denounce the government’s neoliberal agenda and propose a fairer agenda, but have neither the economic nor military clout nor the desire to depose Sebastián Piñera through violent means. Piñera may feel compelled to make some changes in order to stop the upheaval and/or will be voted out in the next presidential elections.

Thanks so much Carmen Rodriguez for your time and thoughts. I wish you all the best with your book.

Other related posts:
Meet Revolutionary Mother : More on my talk with Carmen Rodriguez

Other book reviews:
Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre
The Blue Dragon by Robert Lepage and Marie Michaud, illustrated by Fred Jourdain
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
Going Down Swinging by Billie Livingston
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
The Girl Without Anyone by Kelli Deeth
Drive-By Saviours by Chris Benjamin

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The Montreal News Group

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:59:00 +0000

Over the Christmas holidays, I found myself in a Facebook conversation with some like-minded people. We were expressing our concern about the direction of our country's government and our feelings of powerlessness. Our leader has a majority government, and he appears to be forging ahead with his own conservative agenda, regardless of opposition. To make matters worse, our corporate mainstream media appear to be in the pocket of our leader and have seemingly failed in their duties as the fourth estate. As a result of this conversation, I contacted two Facebook friends who continually post interesting articles and asked them to assist me in curating news stories from alternative and mainstream media that shed light on our Prime Minister's daily deeds, particularly with respect to the environment. And to keep things positive, we could post stories about the Occupy movement and other non-violent ways of protesting. My favourite thus far has been singing in Brooklyn to prevent home foreclosures. See video below.

After just one month of curating the Montreal News Group, I no longer feel all the doom and gloom I felt over the holidays. I've learned the following:

1. Canadian mainstream media still cover what the Prime Minister is doing. You just have to dig a little.

2. The alternative media outlet that continually covers what is actually going on with great editorial is the Vancouver-based Tyee.ca.

3. The French media in Quebec cover many stories that are completely ignored in the rest of Canada. For this we need a French-language curator who can also make some comments about the stories s/he is posting. You can contact me by clicking here.

4. Facebook and Twitter are forces to be reckoned with. Just ask the Texas-based Susan G. Komen Foundation. It announced it would no longer fund clinical breast examinations and mammograms through Planned Parenthood, an organization that is constantly under threat of closing. The annual $680,000 that was going to Planned Parenthood helped provide breast exams for some 170,000 low income women. There were over 100,000 tweets from January 31 to February 2. As a result, the Foundation's Board of Directors reversed its decision. The success had to do with a broad-based network of journalists, organizations and feminists. For further reading on the Twitter tidal wave click here.

5. A little closer to home, Avaaz.org has shown just how powerful a petition can be. At the beginning of January, the organization began circulating a petition to stop the Harper government from privatizing a portion of Jasper National Park to put in a 300-metre metal walkway. Within three weeks, over 180,000 signatures were collected, and on January 31, Parks Canada announced that it was delaying its decision. For further reading, it's covered here in the Globe and Mail.

Molly Katchpole, a 22-year-old Washington, DC resident, was offended when Verizon tried to charge her $2.00 to pay her bills online. Through Change.org she started a petition, which soon had 165,000 signatures. Verizon backed down within just a few hours. Katchpole was also behind the petition to stop Bank of America from charging its customers a $5.00 debit card user fee, which garnered 300,000 signatures. The fee was subsequently dropped. For further reading about the force of viral petitions click here.

All this to say, social media and petitions are very powerful means to make our voices heard. We just need to establish a network to have a broad enough base to get our message out and work together in sharing targeted messages.

As you know, the upcoming federal budget will largely decide the fate of our national news network, CBC-Radio Canada, which continues to cover, albeit timidly, the national political scene. We have a plan to mobilize. We just need your support. Please "like" the Montreal News Group and "share" it with your friends.

All the best, Montreal News Group, Curator

Please sign the petition below. There are already over 156,000 signatures. Cheers.

SAVE: A Grassroots Movement

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:19:00 +0000

Just a 4-hour drive east of the Rocky Mountains and a 6-hour drive north of the US border, Edmonton is the provincial capital of oil-rich Alberta. As a result of last decade's economic boom, Edmonton (pop. 782,439) has experienced sustained population growth, which has put increased demand on the city's services. In January 2009, after a reorganization at the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), the Superintendent of Criminal Investigations, Danielle Campbell, was assigned to oversee the policing of sexual assaults.

Campbell is not one to shy away from new responsibilities. In 1994, she became the first woman dog handler on the force, and in 1998, she was the first female member of the polygraph unit in Homicides. She was promoted to Inspector after more than 20 years' experience, and then became the EPS's first woman Superintendent.

In my telephone conversation with Danielle Campbell on Thursday night, she told me that in her new role as Superintendent she quickly became aware of a troubling issue,"Between one to three months into the new assignment, I became cognizant of a disturbing trend--alcohol-facilitated sexual assaults." After drawing her own conclusions, she went to her community partners for their feedback.

Sexual assault is vastly under-reported, with only 6% of victims filing reports with police (a Toronto Police Service statistic). According to a 1985 Solicitor General of Canada study, women gave the following reasons for not reporting their assaults to the police: 1) the belief that the police could do nothing, 2) concern about the police and courts' attitude towards sexual assault, 3) fear of another assault by the offender, and 4) fear and shame.

On February 10, 2010, Campbell invited community partners for lunch to discuss alcohol-facilitated sexual assaults (AFSAs). In attendance among the community organizations and front-line workers assisting sexual assault victims were city rape crisis centres, the Red Cross, public health nurses, organizations that counsel victims and work to prevent alcohol-facilitated sexual assault among teens and Responsible Hospitality Edmonton, whose mandate is to ensure that bars and restaurants comply with safety regulations when serving alcohol.

Over lunch, the group discussed the fact that some 56% of sexual assaults were alcohol facilitated and that the vast majority of perpetrators were males aged 18 to 24. Campbell said there had to be a fundamental change in how sexual assaults were treated. They needed to target the perpetrators of these crimes. The response all around the room was "It's about time!" The result of this meeting was the creation of the Sexual Assault Voices of Edmonton (SAVE*) Committee, a grassroots movement whose mandate was to reduce AFSAs by reaching potential offenders.

SAVE held its first media availability on March 4, 2010, to introduce the Committee and its mandate in an effort to raise public awareness about the AFSA problem. Their second objective was to launch a cutting-edge social marketing campaign that targeted potential offenders. The "Don't be That Guy" campaign was a series of three graphic ads that were posted above urinals in bars around the city, in Light Rail Transit stations, at the universities and in weeklies that cater to the 18 to 24 age group. SAVE conducted its own informal focus groups and found that the campaign did in fact reach its target group.

But Campbell still had to sell the campaign to her Chief, who decided that the EPS would hire Marcomm, a local media research company, to conduct a formal focus group. In the end, Marcomm validated SAVE`s findings: the advertising campaign did indeed reach its target market. The campaign received the go-ahead, and the Don`t Be That Guy campaign was released on
November 22, 2010.

There is also another key component in reducing and preventing AFSAs. Under the city`s Responsible Hospitality Edmonton, Public Safety Compliance Teams (PSCTs) have been set up to enforce city bylaws and to ensure that alcohol is served in a safe, responsible manner. PSCTs are made up of trained professionals from the police force, fire department, city standards branch and the provincial liquor and gaming commission. In addition, all bartenders and wait-staff are required to take training so that they can identify potential AFSA victims.

Since the Don't Be That Guy campaign was released, Toronto, Calgary, Saskatoon, Ottawa, Kingston and Vancouver have adopted the campaign, and Vancouver has already reported a 10% drop in the number of AFSA`s in just six months.

"We`ve been contacted by groups in Scotland, England and Australia," said Campbell."There are apparently even bars in the US who are using our posters as coasters. We don`t care who uses them as long as we are given credit for our efforts."

I told Superintendent Campbell that I found it ironic that Don`t Be That Guy Campaign came out just months before Toronto Police Officer Michael Sanguinetti told 10 students at Osgoode Hall that to ensure their own safety, they should not dress like "sluts," which sparked the worldwide Slutwalk movement.

"Well there`s still some of that here, but luckily those officers still have to follow orders. Yes, change is indeed slow sometimes,"she added.

When I thanked Danielle Campbell for all her hard work in spearheading this campaign, she refused to take credit for it. "There are a lot of people in SAVE who have worked hard to get this initiative off the ground."

We are greatly indebted to the people of SAVE for creating this program, and for implementing a change in approach that has been so desperately needed.

*The number of SAVE members has since expanded, but here is the list of the original members:
Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton
University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre
Saffron Centre of Sherwood Park
Edmonton Police Service
Covenant Health Prevention of Alcohol Related Trauma in Youth
(The PARTY Program)
Responsible Hospitality Edmonton
Red Cross
The Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation
University of Alberta Women's Studies

Related posts:
Success: Don`t Be That Guy
A Legal Definition of Consent
Sexual Assault: Victim Blaming
An "A" for Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign

Success: Don't Be That Guy Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:13:00 +0000

This week, the Globe and Mail reported the first success of the Don't Be That Guy campaign in Vancouver. Faced with a rising sexual assault rate, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) introduced the program on July 8, 2011, and saw a rapid turnaround in statistics in just six months. The incidents of reported sexual assault fell by 10%. Vancouver is the campaign's first success story.

Originally developed in neighbourhing Alberta by the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) under the Sexual Assault Voices of Edmonton (SAVE), the Don't Be That Guy campaign puts the blame on the perpetrator of sexual assault rather than on the victim. SAVE, a diverse coalition of individuals and groups from various professional backgrounds working for women’s safety, developed the posters to raise awareness about sexual assault, in particular, drug and alcohol-facilitated assaults. The three posters featured on this page are from the campaign.

According to EPS Police Superintendent Danielle Campbell, "A recent study out of the United Kingdom involving 18 to 25-year-old males revealed that 48 per cent of the males didn’t consider it rape if a woman is too drunk to know what was going on." Campbell added that "these statistics validate what we have here in Edmonton."

Since the program was introduced just 14 months ago in the Alberta capital, four other cities, including Vancouver, have adopted the program.

Faced with a rising number of rapes, particularly in the summer months, the VPD used the poster campaign to make it clear that sex without consent was sexual assault. In addition, the VPD, along with BarWatch, created training sessions for bartenders and wait-staff to help them identify potential victims who were temporarily vulnerable due to the consumption of drugs and alcohol. The VPD also assigned additional personnel to Vancouver's entertainment districts to specifically focus their attention on predatory males who might be targeting temporarily vulnerable women.

The success in Vancouver is welcoming news. However, yesterday it was reported that rapes in Edmonton had risen year over year. In 2010, there were 600 rapes reported, compared with 687 in 2011. According to Karen Smith of the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, there are at least two reasons for this: victims are now less reluctant to report assaults and young people have greater access to drugs and alcohol. The spokesperson added that the number of reports on a weekend at the Centre is about 15, but when there's a rave or an all night dance party, the number can go as high as 40.

"When young people are under the influence of intoxicants, they seem to commit more sexual assaults," said Smith.

Although the number of reported cases of rape increased in Edmonton, change always involves a few steps forward and a few steps back. The Don't Be That Guy campaign is a positive step towards changing attitudes and placing the blame where it belongs--squarely on the shoulders of the sexual aggressor. Increased awareness is the first step in effecting change, and the EPS and SAVE should be applauded for their forward-thinking campaign. On Friday, I will be writing about how the Don't Be That Guy campaign came into being. Please stay tuned.

Related posts:

A Legal Definition of Consent
Sexual Assault: Victim Blaming
An "A" for Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign

The Covergirl is Really a Boy

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Andrej Pejic Collage by Taxcha

While at the hairdresser`s last week, I was leafing through, what else, a fashion magazine, when I found myself doing a double take. In the February 2012 issue of FASHION, a 16-page photo shoot features Bosnian-born Australian model Andrej Pejic. The 20-year-old blond bombshell has become a sensation in the modelling world in the last year working for such A-listers as Jean-Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs. In fact, Pejic is reportedly the 11th highest paid model in the world. But the model did not have an easy start breaking into the fashion world because agencies found that Pejic wasn`t a perfect fit for either men's or women's modelling. Yes, Andrej Pejic is a man.

Well, androgyny is no stranger to high fashion, and most of us are used to seeing curveless, emaciated boyish models, but to have a man modelling women's clothing is something else altogether, and I don't think that it has anything to do with forward thinking. Yes, we are all aware that many people fall outside the straight male-female mainstream, and the last decade has been somewhat of a coming-out time for transgender individuals. But I doubt that the fashion industry is that high-minded or is in any way trying to raise awareness about transgender issues.

In FASHION, Editor Bernadette Morra pens a letter in which she magnanimously states "I would hope that in this age of same-sex marriage, gay characters on Glee and Ellen DeGeneres as a Cover Girl Spokesmodel, the world is ready to accept Pejic with all the love and humanity he deserves." This issue also features an interview with Pejic with some commentary from Toronto Certified sexuality educator Cory Silverberg which sheds some more light on Pejic's "situation" or anyone who strays from the straight male / female mainstream. Sounds all very inclusive. . .

However, I don't believe that the fashion industry thinks about anything other than sales and what better way than through controversy. It peddles shock value, pure and simple.

I bought the magazine and showed it to a few of my work colleagues just to see their reactions when I told them that Pejic was a man. I watched them with their fingers pointing and eyes widening, but the knee jerk reactions and frowns were reserved for the captions written on the pages of the Pejic's 16-page fashion spread. On a page where he is modeling a $925 banana yellow wraparound dress, the caption reads: "Very chic. When I'm a rich housewife, this is what I'm gonna wear. I'll wear it when I'm cooking." On another page where Petric's thinness is emphasized and he's wearing a beige jacket that further washes out his fair complexion, the caption reads, "Golden Girls on crack." Funny, he doesn't look like a senior.

My reservations about Andrej Pejic modelling women's clothes is the message that it sends women, particularly girls and young women. Not only does the fashion industry suggest that they will never be thin enough to be beautiful, but now it appears to be saying that in order to really be a great fashion model you have to be a man. In FASHION Editor Bernadette Morra's letter, she quotes the director, Suzie Sheffman, as saying "[Pejic's] His ability to bring the clothes to life out-supers the supermodels." So, there you have it.

Although I have nothing against Andrej Pejic, I wish that I had never bought the magazine. I hate the idea of supporting an industry that continually targets women's insecurities. We are just starting to see the impact of how the media undermines women's power through its images and commentary. If you don't believe me then think of all the times you've wasted worrying about your appearance or weight when you could have been doing something to advance your career, develop an interest or work for your community. A great documentary on the subject is Miss Representation. See the trailer below.

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Buying Local: Slak on Villeray

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:47:00 +0000

A few weeks ago when my father was visiting from Vancouver, we walked past Slak, a women's clothing store where the articles are sewn right on the premises. At the time, we could see four young women busy sewing through the storefront window and a few women shopping on the other side. "You'd never see something like that on the West Coast," said my father. "Because you'd never be able to pay the rent in a similar neighbourhood of Vancouver."

As I was running an errand this week, I had a chance to drop in and speak with the store's designer Mélanie Duhaime. She told me that Slak had been open for seven years and that everything was made locally, including some of the work that she outsources to people working from home. I also learned that Slak articles are sold throughout Canada via KA Agence.

Initially, as I walked around the store, I wasn`t sure if I would find anything in my size. But the store did offer a much larger range in sizes than I expected. The cut of the designer`s clothes are typically asymmetrical, but refined nonetheless. Obviously, they are more expensive than what you would pay in a large retail outlet, but in addition to supporting your neighbourhood`s economy and a young designer, your new clothing will be one of a kind.

To see the fall and winter collection, click here.

Fortunately, they were having a sale, which I took advantage of. And in keeping with my 8-week resolution, I paid cash, which didn`t kill this week`s budget.

There are a number of stores affiliated with Slak in Quebec, as well as stores in Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario. For a full list of the affiliates, click here (points de vente).

The Side of Slak Where the Clothing is Made

Slak
352 Villeray
Montreal, QC
H2R 1G9
www.slak.ca

Other hood-related posts:
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
Café Cuzcatlan: Roasting Local Coffee Beans
Creole Cuisine
Oriental Pastry Delights

3D: "Pina" by Wim Wenders

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:06:00 +0000

Model of Tintin in the Theatre Lobby

An unusual occurrence for us, a movie on a Friday night, but it wasn't your regular box office blockbuster. After seeing the Tintin models in the lobby, I was tempted to see the Golden Globe winner for best animated feature, a misnomer according to my significant other. Tintin was not animation, but motion capture, damn it! Instead we went to see a tribute to the late German modern dance choreographer Pina Bausch by Wim Wenders. What made this film so special is that it was filmed in 3D.

But what does 3D really offer the viewer? It definitely makes you feel that you are much closer to the performance, plus there is definitely more pop to the movement. It might not beat seeing modern dance in person, but it is much better than seeing the flat version on TV or in a movie theatre.

Wender's "Pina" combines footage of the choreographer with her dancers and their performances, obviously among them Café Müller and Rite of Spring. Bausch is credited with creating what is known as Tanztheater, combining movement, sounds, elaborate stage sets and close collaborative work with her dancers. Some of the performances were staged outdoors in Wuppertal, Germany, at intersections, in public transit, next to factories and in parks. Her dancers ranged in age from 20 to 50, and I must admit that a dancer performing in her 50s is nothing short of stunning. The filming of "Pina" was intended to start just before Bausch's unexpected death in 2009. In the film, each of her dancers had something special to say about Bausch. One of the most moving messages was from a dancer who wished that Pina would visit her in her dreams.

Overall, the 3D "Pina" was a beautiful new experience, which leads to the next question: what other performing arts might be better experienced in 3D?

The following is the trailer for "Pina:"

Fab Art in the Vicinidad

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:34:00 +0000

"André the Giant has a Posse," later aka "OBEY Giant"

Last Tuesday as we were driving home through Little Italy, I asked my husband to stop in front of a large, brightly lit art gallery. For what seemed like weeks, we had been driving past a print of what I believed to be a copy of "André the Giant has a Posse (1989)," by Shepard Fairey, the famous graffiti street artist best known for his pop art portrait of Obama, entitled HOPE. A graduate of the renowned Rhode Island School of Design, Fairey creates works with strong political overtones and has apparently been arrested no less than 15 times for vandalism. Obviously, this is no longer the case. He now has a team he directs to put up his murals. The artist has been criticized for copyright infringement, which Fairey defends citing fair use. I'm referring to controversy surrounding the original photo of Obama taken by an AP photographer.

As I walked in the Yves Laroche art gallery at 6355 St-Laurent, I saw many Shepard Fairey silkscreens, and then learned that last June, Curator Justin Giarla had held Looking East, an exhibition featuring work by Shepard Fairey, Clayton Brother and Rob English. Guess, I missed it. That happens when you're a mother and in the midst of moving house.

"Wolf Noir" by Jon Todd

Anyway, I "attempted" to do a quick tour of the Laroche gallery, as our 4-year-old slept in the car with his father and sister patiently waiting. Unfortunately, I had to stop a number of times to get a closer look and experienced that excruciatingly painful pull between family responsibilities and blatant selfishness, otherwise known as guilt. In other words, I really wasn't expecting the gallery to be this good.

Not only did the gallery carry a lot of local artists, but it also had a significant number of work by women (Kathie Olivas, Lola and Cathie Bleck), which we all know is rare.

I was struck by the work of Jon Todd, a Canadian painter and graduate of Sheridan College. I particularly liked "Wolf Noir" (above.) But then of course, my daughter came in to get me. She told me it was time to go, but then she too got sucked into the gallery's creative vortex. She walked around with me wide-eyed and mouth agape pointing at the various works.

Anyway, you get the picture. This is a well-lit, spacious gallery that you will not want to miss. I've signed up to receive invitations to upcoming vernissages, which apparently can attract up to 500 people.

Click here for a list of Fairey's silk screen posters on sale at the gallery, ranging in price from $725 to $3,800.

Drop by and see for yourself.

Galerie d'Art Yves Laroche
6355 Saint-Laurent,
Montréal QC H2S 3C3
CANADA
info(at)yveslaroche.com 514.393.1999

Other hood-related posts:
Review: Blue Dragon by Robert Lepage and Marie Michaud
Cent motifs, un passage by Annie Hamel
The Art of Mosaic

Buttons, Ribbon, Theatre

Expozine 2011
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
The Haitian Barber

My Date With Cash

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:08:00 +0000

This is the first time that I've written about personal finances, which makes everyone a little uncomfortable. We are all painfully aware of the shortcomings of our spending habits and we fear the judgement of others. But maybe our fear to disclose, like that of the abuse victim, lets someone else off the hook, ie the banks.

I try to hold off on my New Year's resolutions until my birthday, which is today, because this is usually when I have a better idea of where I stand (read: the bills have come in). I have a decent job, my husband works and we live relatively modestly. Because we have young children, we don't go out that often. Instead, we tend to stay in and read or work on our computers. In other words, we're not big consumers because we have everything we need. Yet, come bill time everything seems tight like when I was a student.

Unlike most of my fellow educatees at university, no parent was footing the bill. I paid for everything through summer employment and a part-time job during the school year. I applied for grants and loans and I lived a very simple existence, buying bulk food and used text books, and only splashing out on a daily cup of coffee. I watched my finances closely and kept a running tab on my desk of everything I spent. Clothes were bought either on sale or with small imperfections so that I would get a discount. And let's not even talk about some of the living arrangements I endured for the sake of cheap rent. I also discovered the joy of haggling, which is not a common practice in Canada, but you'd be surprised how often people are willing to go down in price. Besides, the worst a retailer could say was no.

I was really proud of completing university with only a small amount of student debt, which I paid off two years into the repayment schedule. But what has happened since then?

I spent a considerable amount of time poring over my finances this month. I discovered that I pay at least $5.00 a month in interest on my credit card, and in those few ridiculous months when I've taken a small cash advance, I've paid in excess of $20 a month in interest. And this was just one of the problems. The other was using a debit card too often. I'd always worked on the premise that if I carried cash I'd spend it, so I opted for debit. But here lies the problem. Every time, I go into my overdraft I pay interest effective the day this transaction is posted. But I usually don't know that I've gone into my overdraft until after I receive my bank statement at the beginning of the next month.

I spoke to my husband about this, and he too had noticed something similar. We decided to stick to just using cash and writing the odd cheque for the next eight weeks to see how we fare. Will this forced use of cash make us more conscious of our spending habits or will we rack up ATM fees because we're never close to a bank machine at our bank branch? We'll be keeping tabs. At any rate, this will certainly be a test of strength. January is after-Christmas sale season. . . .

I'll report back.

Other posts you might like:
Death of World Music Star Lhasa de Sela
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Bixi: 2012 Recap
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
New Digs and Swedish Thrillers
The Haitian Barber
Good Morning Villeray
Creole Cuisine

New Year's Chocolate Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:47:00 +0000

Nothing like starting the New Year with a little decadent comfort food.

It's a mild Montreal morning. From my window, I see the snow reflected in the puddles in the street. And then there's silence, the absolute best part. It couldn't be a finer day to make chocolate pudding from scratch and eat it while it's still warm. This recipe brings back some childhood memories and is a huge hit with my kids.

Don't worry, there are only 194 calories in the quarter cup of sugar required, and it will be split among four servings, six servings if you're going to be a goodie goodie.

The entire recipe takes 10 minutes. Exact calorie count - if you divide it into four servings 157 calories, and if you divide it into six servings, 97 calories.

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Utensils
You'll need a saucepan and a whisk.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons of cocoa, 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 3/4 cups of milk,
1 tsp vanilla and 1 tbsp of butter.

Instructions
1. Mix the cocoa, cornstarch and sugar in the saucepan.
2. Put saucepan on medium heat and add the milk to the mixture while continuously stirring.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil so that it thickens. Then remove from heat.
4. Stir in the butter and vanilla.

Serve it hot or cold. I prefer it hot in the winter. You'll see why.

Happy New Year! I have so many plans for 2012, and obviously, dieting isn't one of them.

Occupy the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Accumulation of Useless Crap

Occupy Christmas: International Day of Action has been a welcome initiative for many of us. The holiday season is a hectic, stressful time for working families who end up spending well beyond their means on gifts, meals and entertainment. This spending spree now extends beyond the holiday season and into the New Year, as lining up outside big box stores for big ticket items has become a popular new tradition in the past decade. The real winners in all this are the corporations, credit card companies and banks, otherwise known as the 1%.

Most of us are painfully aware of this fact and have already adopted the holiday measures the Occupy Movement has advocated:

Supporting the local economy by making purchases from local merchants. This even involves filling our gas tanks at locally-owned gas stations. Buying gifts from local artisans and produce from farmers' markets.

Leaving our credit cards at home because banks make their money from interest and late payments.

Using strictly cash and withdrawing only the amount of money we need. Remember that ATM or debit cards charge merchants 2% to 5%.

If North Americans adopted these few measures, we might actually succeed in cutting into the profits and power of the 1%, but unfortunately the Occupy Movement does not have the means to get this message out. Media in the US is concentrated in the hands of a wealthy few who also own many of the corporations that profit from holiday spending and year-round consumerism. Concentration of media ownership is also the case here in Quebec, where Québecor is king, taking in $4 billion in revenues last year. This corporation alone prints 37 dailies, 7 free commuter papers, 200 community weeklies and its media holdings include the TVA 24-hour news network and the canoe.ca news portal. Together, Québecor media reaches 90% of French-speaking households in this province.It`s no coincidence that Occupy Montreal camped outside the front door of the corporate headquarters.

The likelihood of Canada's media titans Québecor, Shaw, Rogers and Bell carrying the Occupy Movement's media message of buying locally and using strictly cash year-round are pretty slim. That's why the Occupy Movement should be advocating the following fourth and fifth measures:

Read, support and make donations to independent media and share the information via Twitter, Facebook and other social media.

Continue to expand your social media contacts and use targeted hashtags to help get important information out.

For instance you might want to tweet something along these lines:
Kai Nagata writes 3-part series for indy Tyee on Quebecor's hold on Quebec
http://bit.ly/o64hTa #occupy #indymedia

If you don`t have time to comb through left-leaning media, Toronto Star writer and social media maven Antonia Zerbisias or Montrealer Neath Turcot are people worth friending on Facebook.

Here`s a list of indy media outlets. If I`ve forgot one please leave a comment below with the name or link.

Indy Media

Canada
Adbusters: Where the Occupy Movement started.
Rabble
Tyee

US
Truth Dig (My favourite!)
Truthout
Common Dreams
Democracy Now!
Alternet
The Nation
ZNet

General news with a different frame but not independent: Al Jazeera and the Guardian (Great Occupy Wall Street coverage to date.)

A portion of this has been cross-posted at Rover Arts.

Related posts:
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Peaceful Tactic: Keep Wall Street Busy
Interview with Carmen Aguirre, Chilean Resistance Fighter

Cycling in Style

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:04:00 +0000

Models at the Couvreselle Shop

I've written about Vivianne Myette's creations before, but this time around I visited her Couvreselle shop at her home to pick my very own bicycle seat cover--a belated Christmas gift. As you can see from the picture on the left, there is quite a selection. I had such a hard time deciding that I left with two before I chose a third. . .

Vivianne teams up with her sister to make these one-of-a-kind objects. Her sister, who sews drapery by day, uses an industrial sewing machine to make the covers, while Vivianne picks the materials and comes up with the designs. She got her idea from the bicycle seat covers she saw in Egypt.

The covers are meant to fit snugly and will stretch slightly to take the shape of your bicycle seat. But they`re still easy to remove, which is recommended, or they might walk away on their own. . .

Here`s one. Click to enlarge.

The seat covers are made to last. Durable materials are used and each seam is sewn twice. What`s more Vivianne is very conscientious and told me to come back if ever I had a problem with wear or design.

My friend Lucie bought one for herself and two for gifts, and they were apparently a big hit.

If you would like one for yourself, you can contact Viviane through her couvreselle website, where she also lists some cycling shops that carry her covers. Or you can visit her booth at the 10th Annual Salon du Vélo at Place Bonaventure, from February 17 to 19, in Montreal.

Other hood-related posts:
The Art of Mosaic

Buttons, Ribbon, Theatre
Cafe Cuzcatlan: Roasting Local Coffee

This is what 77,000 books looks like
Expozine 2011
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Bixi: 2012 Recap
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
New Digs and Swedish Thrillers
The Haitian Barber

4th Year: Blowing up the Basement, the App

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:13:00 +0000

My Dad an I Taking Pictures in the Old Port

We are around the date of my third blogiversary, and what an eventful three years it has been. Of all the hobbies I've had in my life, blogging has been the most enjoyable. I'm always learning something new.

This was a big year in our lives. We sold our condo, which took seven weeks of staging and cleaning up. A week before our big move, my husband got his dream job leaving me with the packing during a heatwave, at which time our air conditioner broke down, only after our car died.

But I still kept blogging, even tackling "the interview." In fact, the post that received the most hits this year was my Interview With Author Billie Livingston, who has a new book, One Good Hustle, coming out in the spring. Billie is one of my favourite authors because of her iconoclastic women characters. They can be sweet and kind and then mean and petulant just a page away.

A close second in terms of number of hits was a review I did for Elevate Difference on the Girls' History and Cultural Reader: The Twentieth Century. This was a collection of scholarly essays written about girls and the changes in their lives in the 20th century. Although this was a fascinating book, it was vast, and I found writing a fair, critical review very difficult.

The third most popular post was the eyewitness demise of Montreal's Georges Marciano. My friend Lucie was at Marciano's hotel bar when his priceless art collection was being seized by men in white uniforms. The jean titan's legal woes had finally caught up with him.

So in three years, I've added photos, videos and the odd survey. I have posted reviews, interviews, rants, how-tos, fluff and some discoveries. That's why I've decided to move on to special effects. (Please rub your palms in anticipation.)

In this short video, instead of cleaning up the basement with its mix of cat hair, wrapping paper, gifts and general mess, I've decided to simply blow it up. Just like Vegas! Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

The Art of Mosaic

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:38:00 +0000

Work in Progress at Mosaikashop

If you can't part with broken cups or smashed plates and spend more time than most looking at bathroom and kitchen tile then you may be a born mosaicist. Before my children were born, I collected different colours of glass, porcelain, broken kitchen tile and beads, and I decorated counter tops, plant pots and tables. Making a mosaic is a great way to hang on to your favourite cup and all of its memories after someone has broken it. You can then use the pieces of the broken cup to create a border on a mirror, a picture frame or decorate a plant pot. I`ve even done mosaics in the molding around a room to great effect.

A Tray Exhibited in the Mosaikashop Gallery

Unfortunately, I gave this hobby up about 7 years ago because of the hazards associated with working with bits of broken glass and sharp edges around small children. And although I`d done a fair number of mosaics, I still needed some instruction on how to use tile cutters (effectively!) and how to grout evenly. Much to my surprise after I`d moved to Villeray this summer, I discovered Mosaikashop at the corner of Villeray and Henri-Julien streets. If you enjoy the feeling of highly creative and colourful spaces then I suggest you come see this place for yourself.

A Project from the Mosaikashop Beginner Course

The Mosaikashop concept was originally developed at Mosaïka Art & Design (MAD for short), a world-renowned mosaic studio that specializes in large-scale mosaics. MAD is responsible for several mosaics in the New York subway. Mosaikashop is in fact first and foremost a mosaic school. Owner Suzanne Spahi runs the store and gallery and offers 3 workshop classes, and luckily one of those classes gives instruction on the basics, exactly what I was looking for (an early Christmas present from my husband). Spahi`s own mosaic specialty is to reproduce and reinterpret tribal rugs with mosaics. (To see her fabulous work, click here.)

If you would like to try a mosaic on your own at home here`s what you will need:
(Hint: you may want to start with something small like a dollar store mirror frame or a plant pot.)

Materials
1. Some small pieces of broken china, beads, ceramic.
2. Tile adhesive (hardware store)
3. Grout (hardware store)

Instructions
1. Apply a small amount of tile adhesive to the clean, dry surface.
2. Add your pieces of broken china in your desired design.
3. Wait at least a day for the adhesive to dry completely.
4. Add the grout, ensuring that there is an equal amount of grout in between each tile.
5. Wipe off the excess grout with a damp cloth.

Voila! You have made your first mosaic.

Mosaikashop

300 rue Villeray
Montreal, Quebec
H2R 1G7 Canada

Buttons, Ribbon and Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:14:00 +0000

Treasure Chest Full of Buttons

Calling all sewers, crafters and hobbyists! I was working on a snowflake craft with my children and needed a variety of white buttons to make Christmas gifts for grandparents, and I came across this fabulous store. There are many shops selling sewing and decorating supplies on St-Hubert, but none quite like Rubans Boutons.The owner collects antique buttons and has some of the most beautiful collections I have ever seen. He even has a wooden chest full of odd buttons that you can scoop into bags for $1, $2 and $4. This is exactly what I was looking for. I was even lucky to scoop some beautiful retro buttons from the 50s.

Effet V's Stage

As I wandered further to the back of the store I realized that there was a stage. Rubans Boutons' owner, Richard Letendre, informed me that he and his partner have their own theatre company, Effet V, and they just finished their latest show in October. They will be starting a new stage production in the spring. And of course, I'll be sure to drop by.

If you`re a sewer, crafter or just curious, this store is a must-see, and don`t be fooled by the modest store front, as is often the case on St-Hubert. There is an entire wall of silk ribbons, which of course must compete with the opposite wall that has possibly the most beautiful buttons you will ever lay eyes on.

Drop in if only to have a chat with the friendly actor/button store owner Richard Letendre.

Rubans boutons
7363 St-Hubert
Mtl (Qc)
Canada H2R 2N4
514 847-3535

Other related posts
Café Cuzcatlan: Roasting Coffee Beans
This is what 77,000 books looks like
Expozine 2011
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Bixi: 2012 Recap
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
New Digs and Swedish Thrillers
The Haitian Barber

Café Cuzcatlan: Roasting Coffee Beans

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:21:00 +0000

Cuzcatlan Coffee $25,000 Turkish Roaster

Yesterday, I dropped by a café on St-Hubert where the owner roasts his own Arabica beans, which come directly to Canada from El Salvador. Owner Erick de la O was kind enough to show me the Cuzcatlan coffee roaster and talk to me a little about the art of roasting coffee beans. By the way, Cuzcatlan is the indigenous name for El Salvador before the Spanish conquest.

In the picture below you`ll see the three distinct colours of beans. Erick showed me the light, medium and dark beans he uses to make Colombian, French espresso, Italian espresso and the house special, Cuzcatlan espresso. The ratio of light to dark beans in these blends (apart from the Cuzcatlan espresso) is apparently an industry standard. Good to know. Obviously, espresso requires a higher concentration of dark beans. However, here`s a little fact that you probably didn`t know. The lightest beans have the highest caffeine content. (To read more about coffee roasting click here.)

Dark, Medium and Light Roasted Beans

I was offered a cup of the light roast coffee, to which I added a little milk. It tasted like a weak cup of coffee that you might have at the office. Then the owner told me to try it without milk, and it made a world of difference. It was a very smooth cup of coffee.

Café Cuzcatlan serves filtered coffee and cappuccino and espresso on the premises, or you can purchase the Colombian, French espresso, Italian espresso or Cuzcatlan espresso ground blends or just the beans. Erick supplies coffee to many neighbourhood restaurants, and it can also be found in a number of the smaller Villeray grocery stores.

Either way, it`s nice to know that you can buy coffee that is roasted just a few streets away and handled by just one person.

Café Cuzcatlan
7585 St-Hubert
Tel: 514-807-3754

Other hood-related posts:
This is what 77,000 books looks like
Expozine 2011
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Bixi: 2012 Recap
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
New Digs and Swedish Thrillers
The Haitian Barber

This is what 77,000 books looks like

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:07:00 +0000

Joseph's hat next to the centre aisle of his store on St-Hubert.

St-Hubert between Jean-Talon and Villeray never ceases to amaze me. I'm continually coming across stores that I never noticed before. Joseph A.M.I. des livres is one such store. The reason I've probably never seen this one is because, for starters, it appears nearly impossible to get in the door. It would be no exaggeration to say that it is wall-to-wall books.

Last weekend on our way home from the library, my kids and I ran into the owner, Joseph himself, bringing in his sidewalk display. I stuck my head in the door to look around.

"I don't think that I've ever seen so many books in one place before," I said.
"I have 77,000 books in the store, in at least 12 languages," he said proudly. "I even have some books that I'm not even sure what the language is."
"Funny," I said, "I've never seen you open before."
"I'm only open on the weekends," said Joseph.
"And sometimes only on Sundays from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm if my grandchildren come over on Saturday."

I brought my head back outside for some fresh air. As you can imagine, the air was pretty stuffy in Joseph's store. But I had to ask the obvious question, "Why so many books?" I asked.
"It was for my retirement," he said. "I wanted to open a bookstore."

I could see that on the shelves, the books appeared to be in some order. It was the stacks on the floor that seemed to be haphazardly arranged, almost like they'd been put there in a hurry.
"So what does your wife think of your store?" I joked.
"Ah . . ." he said then sticking out his bottom lip, "she thinks it's a waste of money, but she puts up with it because it's my hobby," he said.

I thanked him and headed down the street with my kids. I smiled. His wife is probably just relieved that all those books were not in her basement.

Joseph A.M.I. des livres
7461 St-Hubert
Montreal, QC
514-277-6917

Other hood-related posts:
Expozine 2011
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Bixi: 2012 Recap
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
New Digs and Swedish Thrillers
The Haitian Barber

Expozine 2011

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:13:00 +0000

Richard Suicide and Iris's last show

On Saturday afternoon, I stopped by Expozine, Montreal's 10th annual small press, comic and zine fair. It was a balmy grey November afternoon, and the St-Enfant Jésus church basement was just as hot as it was last year. Le déo était de rigueur. There was the usual wide assortment of zines and comics, from the basic, hand-drawn, hand-stapled zines to some of the more spiffy, slick digital editions. The place was packed, and it was hard at times to make my way through the crowd.

The Expozine is a place where I often get carried away and spend a lot of dough. With that in mind, I went with just $15 cash, which meant I had to wander off to the bank machine to get more money. This had it's disadvantages. I'd found the perfect gift for my father, the Stephen Harper colouring and activity book, mocking our somewhat . . . unpopular prime minister. Montreal Mirror cartoonist Dave Rosen was selling his oeuvre for a mere $15, but when I returned with the cash, he'd already gone home. Rats!

Iris's Collection of Posters and Zines

I also discovered Iris and Richard Suicide, who were sitting side by side. Their style was brimming with humour. I picked up the above poster from their recent opening at the Cheval Blanc and The Best of Iris: One Nighters and Felix and Rocky vs. Tante Mario, which I read as soon as I got home.

I also happened upon a very amusing display of simple house cats. Author Sherwin Tija has created a Pick-A-Plot book, You Are a Cat. In this very creative narrative, you, the reader, become the cat, Holden Catfield, and you live one of his nine lives. On page two, Holden Catfield is chasing a squirrel up a tree. At the end of the page the reader is given the choice of 1) continuing to chase the squirrel or 2) deciding to turn around and jump down from the tree. I chose the second option and was instructed to continue the story on page 4. On that page, I, Holden Catfield, was stuck in a tree, but then I wake up and I am at home next to Girl. I then go to eat some stale cat food and look out the flap in the door to go out. Again I, the reader, have a choice of what to do: 1) I can go outside, in which case I must turn back to page 3, or 2) I can stay inside and nap in a sunbeam and continue the story on page 17. The reader`s life as Holden continues in this way until Holden dies / or is killed, using up one of his nine lives. I loved this book and had a lot of fun going to the bookstore (in the story), scratching the bejezus out of a mean stranger and sadly, getting hit by a car.

Sherwin Tija was also handing out flyers for a Strip Spelling Bee on December 21. A strip spelling bee is like strip poker only multi-syllable words are used instead of a deck of cards. In other words, bad spellers should dress warmly.

The Expozine seems to get more popular every year. The only disappointment this time around was that Microcosm Press was not there. The Portland-based zine publisher had some shipping problems because of U.S. Thanksgiving. I guess I'll just have to go and buy all my favourite zines online.

Other things in the hood:
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Bixi: 2012 Recap
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
New Digs and Swedish Thrillers
The Haitian Barber
Good Morning Villeray
Creole Cuisine

.

Review: The Blue Dragon by Robert Lepage and Marie Michaud

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:47:00 +0000

The Blue Dragon
by Robert Lepage and Marie Michaud
Illustrations by Fred Jourdain
House of Anansi Press

It will come as no surprise that world-renowned multimedia artist Robert Lepage has branched out into the realm of the graphic novel. But of course, not wanting to be hemmed in by a strict number of frames and pages, Lepage gave Quebec illustrator Fred Jourdain the opportunity not to simply make a graphic novel, but to create a graphic representation of Lepage and Marie Michaud’s The Blue Dragon.

Jourdain’s graphic version is intended to be a snapshot in time of the stage play, which even includes last minute dialogue updates to reflect the most recent performance (at the time in London). Jourdain’s only ground rule for this two-year project was that it had to reflect the stage production 100%. The result is a stunning 176-page work, combining pen and ink drawings, Chinese calligraphy, digital colour and a few innovative twists to the traditional graphic novel layout.

In The Blue Dragon, the reader meets art dealer Pierre Lamontagne, the central character in the Dragon’s Trilogy, twenty years later in Shanghai. At the airport in the opening scene, Lamontagne greets Claire Laforêt, a former lover from art school. A 46-year-old ad agency owner, Claire has come to China for a specific purpose, which she hopes will bring greater meaning to her life. A romance is briefly rekindled between the two, but unresolved conflicts surface, leading to confrontation over their respective life choices. Claire’s re-emergence also impacts Lamontagne’s current relationship with the much younger Xiao Ling, a young Chinese artist exhibiting her work at Pierre’s gallery. Xiao Ling has to face an important life choice, which fills Claire with hope. The intersection of the three characters leads to irrevocable change in their lives. All of this takes place in the rapidly changing landscape of modern China.

Best-known for his illustrations of jazz, rock and film stars, Fred Jourdain had never completed a full-length bande dessinée before. Lepage and his theatre company, Ex-Machina, selected the 26-year-old mainly for his highly cinematographic style, his sense of mood, treatment of ambiance and his focus on the feelings and expressions of his characters.

A major challenge for Jourdain was dealing with large chunks of dialogue. In many instances, the artist opted for detailed double-page scenes with the dialogue entered unobtrusively in the margins, a great solution for what would have otherwise been heavy speech balloons. Jourdain also did a fabulous job of creating ambiance through colour and establishing pace and mood with double-page metaphorical illustrations without any dialogue. Perhaps the most appealing aspect in this adaptation was page layout. Unlike some graphic novelists who use the same number of panels throughout their work, Jourdain’s layout changed with every page, offering the reader an element of surprise and making The Blue Dragon more art than graphic novel.

And like all good art, it is possible to go through Jourdain’s interpretation many times, finding something new with each reading. Although some of the illustrations of the characters are a little too static at times, overall it’s a superb piece of art by an emerging artist whom we’re bound to hear more of in the future.

The more-art-than-comic approach to The Blue Dragon may be the stroke of genius to win over the reluctant adult who still sees the graphic novel as strictly for kids. What’s more, because Lepage has reportedly no immediate plans to make any other graphic representations of his work, my guess is that this little gem may soon become a collector’s item.

This review has been cross-posted at Rover Arts.

Other Reviews:
Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
Going Down Swinging by Billie Livingston
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
The Girl Without Anyone by Kelli Deeth
Drive-By Saviours by Chris Benjamin

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Bixi: 2012 Recap

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:41:00 +0000

My New Bike

As you may recall, last spring I said that I would not renew my Bixi membership because of the hideous advertising the company chose to add to the bikes. Well, with two children to pick up at various day camps around the city and getting to work through the traffic, I had to eat crow and continue to use our public bike system. It was just too convenient. But how did it compare with the previous two seasons?

This was another stellar year for Bixi, Montreal's public bike system, with 4,174,917 trips, a 25% increase over 2010. Other good news: there are some 40,000 yearly subscribers, which is up 24% from last year, and the operating deficit shrunk from $7.2 million to $3.2 million. Sales on the international front were fair, but not as good as expected. But never mind the sales. What was 2012 like for users? This being my third year, I have a few comments to make, both good and bad. Let`s start with the positive.

The Good
Bixi was the fastest way to get around our construction-ridden city last summer.

Our public bike was also available until November 15 this year. Next year, December 1 would be even better.

Bixi was far too convenient for me to give up, even after the cheesy advertising was added.

Compared to owning a bike, Bixi is almost hassle-free. It`s a pain to have to find a place to lock up my new bike every time I go to the store for milk.

Theft with Bixi is a non-issue. I`d also forgotten about New Bike Angst (NBA) or being too afraid to take my new bike anywhere for fear it will be stolen.

I found that motorists were more considerate or just more aware of cyclists this year; however, many cyclists travel far too fast on the Claire Morissette bike path, making it dangerous for everyone.

The novelty of Bixi has not worn off. It's still the cheapest, healthiest and most pleasant way to get around Montreal.

The Bad
Depending on the time of the year (last June being the worst), the only bikes left were broken or not roadworthy. The company still needs to inform users of the little wrench icon on the dock to report a bike in need of repair.

Expanding service to more city boroughs sounds great in theory, except that everyone is going downtown to work between 8:00 and 9:00 am. In June and July, it was very difficult to find a place to park downtown; all the stations were full. I had to either leave earlier than in the previous two years or drop the Bixi off at the first station with a free space and walk the rest of the way.

I called to report a malfunctioning station twice last summer, and it was never repaired. I know because I used it regularly. When I returned a bike, there was never a ring indicating that the bike had been properly returned. Once I was fined $30 because I had apparently not returned a bike to that very station.

The above three disadvantages are all signs of an organization that grew too fast before ironing out all of its kinks. Bixi still continued to thrive this year because of the enthusiasm of Montrealers and the people working at Bixi. But I doubt other cities will be as enthusiastic. I think they're looking for a turnkey solution with all the logistical and technical problems worked out.

Conclusion
As you can see my feelings are mixed. I still think that Bixi is a great idea, and we may only see the health benefits of the public bike system in a decade's time. But I must confess that I'm still confused about our municipal tax dollars being used to finance/fund/bail out Bixi last spring. From what I've read, it's very difficult to determine who reaps the financial benefits or even who is financially accountable for the entire public bike system. I fear that our beloved Bixi may become a boondoggle for Montreal taxpayers. We must demand clear, transparent reporting and settle for nothing less, or this may become our new Olympic stadium.

Related posts:

The Path of a Cycling Activist
Dear Bixi Chairman Roger Plamondon
Montreal Bixi v. Denver B-Cycle
Bixi: Success For All?
A Review of Montreal's Bixi

Meet Revolutionary Mother

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:52:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, Three O'Clock Press contacted me to meet with an author who had just published her first novel. In addition to being a poet, translator, educator and a political and social activist, this writer had also worked in the Chilean underground movement from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. This new novelist was Carmen Rodriguez, the revolutionary mother of Carmen Aguirre, author of Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter, which is one of the top 10 books selected for this year's CBC Canada Reads competition.

As you will remember, Something Fierce played over in my mind well after I`d turned the last page (For a full review click here). So needless to say, I was more than a little intimidated to meet Carmen Aguirre's revolutionary mother. But I was also intrigued. I wanted to meet the woman who had cleared paths alone through the Andes, from Argentina to Chile, for four days at a time.

Carmen Rodriguez's book, Retribution, arrived a few days before I met the author. I found this book a highly satisfying and moving read, and like Something Fierce, I was unable to put it down. I met Carmen a half-hour before her reading at the Paragraphe Bookstore on McGill College, here in Montreal. Rodriguez is a petite woman with a broad smile and vibrant personality. One thing I knew after meeting her--no one would ever suspect her of running safe houses in Bolivia and Argentina.

Retribution is a story of three generations of Chilean women, spanning 70 years. The narrative opens in Vancouver with granddaughter Tania receiving a letter through the Chilean Consulate informing her that her father may be a man who tortured and raped women during the Chilean coup in 1973. Sol, her mother, is a teacher and left-wing activist, while Soledad, Tania's grandmother, is someone caught in the crossfire between Chile's political extremes. At the time of the coup, the military ransack Soledad's home and beat her severely for the political activities of her two children. The family eventually flees Chile to live in Canada. But unlike many books about the 1973 coup, the book goes well beyond the high drama of this pivotal moment in Chilean history and sheds some light on the devastating emotional trauma that political refugees experience later in their host countries.

When I started to ask Carmen some questions about Retribution, she immediately told me that it was not autobiographical. But as we all know, fiction always has a part of the writer's life in the story. I learned that Retribution had taken 14 years to write. It started with two short stories that eventually fused together to become one. I was interested in some specific details in the book. I learned from the author that 38 Londres Street, Villa Grimaldi, Cuarto Alamos, Tres Alamos, the centres where left-wing activists were tortured, had indeed existed.

But sometimes, it's the less dramatic events in a book that give the narrative its flesh and blood--its realism. In the story, just before the coup in 1973, Sol and her friends are eating in a restaurant when a handful of young men all dressed in black with white swastikas on their shirts and bearing truncheons begin a military demonstration in front of the bewildered restaurant patrons. At the end, the leader reads a speech denouncing international communism and praising the fatherland. The author told me that this event had actually happened to her in 1973.

The complete review of this book and interview with Carmen Rodriguez will be posted at Rover: Montreal Arts Uncovered and on my blog in a month or so.

In the meantime, I`ll be crossing my fingers that Something Fierce makes it to the finals of 2012 Canada Reads.

Related posts:
Review: Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter
Interview with Carmen Aguirre, Chilean Resistance Fighter
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
Going Down Swinging by Billie Livingston
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
The Girl Without Anyone by Kelli Deeth

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Review: Munsch at Play, Act Two

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:45:00 +0000

Munsch at Play, Act Two: Eight More Stage Adaptations
by Irene N. Watts and Robert Munsch
illustrated by Michael Martchenko

Any primary school teacher will tell you that children cannot get enough of Robert Munsch, whose stories have sold 30 million copies around the world, in over a dozen languages. If only some Munsch could be integrated into Math or another subject, then kids would be so much more enthusiastic about learning. Well, his stories can now be offered as part of Dramatic Arts. Yes, Irene N. Watts, an award-winning writer/playwright and theatre director, has adapted eight of Munsch's stories so that they can be performed as plays.

Munsch at Play, Act Two includes some old favourites, such as I Have To Go, David's Father, From Far Away and my personal favourite, Jonathan Cleaned Up--Then He Heard a Sound. Watt's stage adaptations are thorough and set out in simple enough terms so that even a beginner teacher, camp counsellor or parent will be able to stage one of the eight plays. Each adaptation covers the casting, staging, set design, props and costumes. Each performance takes about 10 minutes, depending on the cast size, space and the amount of audience participation. Although the performance may seem short, the play will obviously take much longer to prepare.

In the book's intro, Watts gives some wonderful tips for the person in charge. The plays may serve as something as simple as a reading exercise, but may also be expanded to incorporate some fun acting and miming work in small groups, right up to a full stage performance. And not to worry, Watts obviously realizes that not every child is dramatically inclined and includes some fun hints for non-acting activities, such as creating sound effects. In addition, she knows that not every school, community centre or backyard has a stage, so she makes some innovative suggestions for performance spaces and inexpensive props.

Over all, Munsch at Play is a great way to get kids aged 6 to 9 actively involved in a Munsch story rather than being just passive listeners.

Just a word of advice: you might want to teach your class the basics of acting, staging, set design, props and costumes by starting with I Have to Go rather than The Fire Station or Jonathan Cleaned Up--Then He Heard a Sound, which are more technically demanding.

Other reviews of children and YA books
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Books for Preschoolers
More Girl Spies Please
50 Poisonous Questions by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
The Trouble with Marlene by Billie Livingston
The Orphan Rescue by Anne Dublin
Dead Time by Christy Ann Conlin

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Peaceful Tactic: Keep Wall Street (Busy) Occupied

noreply@blogger.com (AKAmamma) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:34:00 +0000

I realize that not everyone is keen on taking part in winter camping to occupy our business districts and protest our society's corporate greed. However, many people may still want to protest in their own peaceful way. My husband sent me the video below (4:29 min) that shows people how to make their feelings known to corporations. As some of you may not view the video, I will summarize this brilliant ploy to get the banks' attention and keep them occupied, or just plain busy.

In the picture on your left you will see a business reply envelope. Through contracts with the post office, companies pay the postage on only the envelopes that are sent back. If you're receiving unsolicited credit card applications, you may want to use this "opportunity" to have a dialogue with this bank, credit card company, etc.

The following are some of the ways the video suggests that you use your business reply envelopes as a means of protest.

For those who think that silence speaks volumes
1. Send the business reply envelope back empty (the bank/corporation will be charged the going postal rate for a letter.)
2. You can send the business reply envelope and the application, plus anything else you might want to slip in, and the bank/corporation will be charged for the weight accordingly.

For those who think that dialogue is important
1. Send a note. "Dear Big Bank Clerk: Join a union."
2. Send a wood shim, which can be purchased inexpensively at a hardware store, and put it in your business reply envelope along with a word or two, such as #greed #OWS #how does it feel?

For those who just can't find the words to express the weight of their feelings
1. Send something extremely dense like a roofing shingle.

When the corporation/bank starts to receive thousands of wood shims, roofing shingles, notes and empty envelopes, the corporation/bank will hold meetings, change old plans and implement new procedures, thus, wasting their time when they could be otherwise making money. You would be creating a means for keeping banks/corporations/government OCCUPIED.

Personally, I like the first two examples because a large part of our recycling seems to come from this type of mail .

Other related posts
Occupons Montréal in Photos Occupons Montréal
Response to the press
Anti-Wall Street March
Unions and Community groups that took part
Anti-WallStreet: News and Resources

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