The Concordian Winter 2015 Issue 06

theconcordian

February 17, 2015 | Independent student newspaper at Concordia University. Since 1983.

Issue 19 | | Volume 32

Life p. 6

Underneath your clothes Miss Panti Bliss and Emer O’Toole undress gender norms

Photo by Sara Baron-Goodman

In this issue

NEWS

p. 5

Still marching, still unheard

ARTS

p. 12

Fifty shades of disappointment

MUSIC

p. 13

Dan Mangan’s new sound

SPORTS

p. 18

Men’s hockey lose playoffs

We tell your stories. Follow us on Twitter: @TheConcordian

OPINIONS

p. 21

Stupid cupid, it’s for everyone

theconcordian.com

news 2

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

write to the editor: news@theconcordian.com

CITY lAURA MARCHAnD opinions editor

>> COMMUTER

TRAINS BACK ON TRACK The AMT’s commuter train lines have resumed operation following a one-day strike by the Teamsters union, which represents employees of CP Rail. The St-Jerome, Vaudreuil-Hudson and Candiac lines had ceased operation Sunday after the two parties failed to negotiate a new contract Saturday night, after rail workers complained of extreme fatigue and long hours. CBC News reports that Labour Minister Kellie Leitch was criticized for nearly tabling a back-to-work legislation that would force the striking employees to return to their posts, with some claiming that it limits the right of the strikers to protest.

>> VIA TRAIN STALLS FOR HOURS NEAR POINTECLAIRE, DORVAL A Via train travelling from Toronto to Montreal was ten hours late arriving to its destination Sunday, after being stuck for over three hours in between the Pointe-Claire and Dorval stations. Passengers complained about the lack of information from the crew and lack of heat in the cars. According to CBC Montreal, commuters were shuffled into the few cars that had lights, and were not allowed to disembark to their nearby vehicles.

According to CBC, passengers remained stranded until the train began to move at 9:45 p.m.

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MOTHER CHARGED IN DEATH OF HER SEVEN-YEAROLD DAUGHTER A Vaudreuil-Dorion woman has been charged with first-degree murder over the death of her seven-year-old daughter, the Montreal Gazette reports. The woman, identified as 34-year-old Claudia Beatriz Florez Jimenez, allegedly attacked her daughter before turning the weapon on herself.

The daughter and mother were taken to hospital in critical condition, where the daughter was pronounced dead. The father was treated for shock. The Valleyfield court has ordered Jimenez to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to see if she is fit to stand trial. The trial resumes Feb. 20.

Campus // news

Board of Governors overview Discussion points included issues with new sis, harassment complaints MARillA sTeUTeR-MARTin production assistant

T

he Concordia Board of Governors convened for the first regularly-scheduled meeting of the new year on Feb. 11. During the two-hour open session, the Board heard a report about an increase in harassment complaints with the Office of Rights and Responsibilities, and discussed the highs and lows of the implementation of the new student information system.

Concordia President Alan Shepard gave a short statement on the success of the new system before opening the floor to comments.

History professor and faculty representative Norman Ingram

brought forth concerns about the new system, calling it “problematic at the ground level.” He went on to say that “courses are being renamed willy-nilly with course names from 20 or 30 years ago,” and that students within his department were frustrated with the new interface.

Ingram also referenced a specific case where one student in the program had his Master’s application “disappear into a black hole three times.”

Following this, other Board members brought concerns to the table, not only about the user-friendliness of the system, but with regard to institutional problems processing admissions.

Concordia’s VP Services Roger Côté, who was sitting in on the meeting, explained that there had been issues with processing letters of admissions and that it

was primarily CEGEP students who were being affected.

Shepard stated in the meeting that this was the first he’d heard of the problem, he was later able to tell The Concordian that international acceptances are being processed, but that Quebec students’ are being delayed.

He elaborated that Concordia is waiting on grades to be transferred from the CEGEPs directly and that, to his knowledge, “if you’re an applicant, and you go into the system to see whether your application has been received and so forth, if you’ve been admitted, it will say you’ve been admitted even if you don’t have a letter.”

During the second half of the meeting Louise Schiller, Director of the Concordia Office of Rights and Responsibilities, gave a presentation on the cases and com-

plaints reported in 2014.

Schiller told the Board that the subcategory of harassment cases handled by her office had risen compared with previous years.

There were a total of 37 harassment cases brought forward in 2014, 11 of which were listed as sexual harassment. This is the first year the office has collected data on sexual assault cases brought forward. Schiller said that of four sexual assault cases brought to the office, the majority of those four went on to become formal complaints.

Shepard attributed this rise to “a much greater awareness on issues of sexual harassment then there was,” and applauded the collaborative work of the Office of Rights and Responsibilities and the more recent Concordia Sexual Assault Resource Centre.

Campus // news

$1.5 million for CSU’s housing co-op student union’s project gets a welcome cash infusion from new donor FRéDéRiC T. MUCKle & Milos KovACeviC Assistant news editor & news editor

Concordia Student Union (CSU)’s cooperative student housing project has received a boost thanks to a $1.85-million partnership deal with the Chantier de L’Économie Sociale, a provincial collective promoting the social economy and affordable community housing initiatives.

Concretely, this could translate into a financial aid of up to $1,500,000 from the collective that would have been otherwise borrowed from banks at an interest rate. Once the CSU’s $1.85 million commitment, the project’s estimated cost of slightly above $6 million will mean only around half of the total amount will have to be borrowed from traditional financial institutions.

Getting involved with social and solidarity economy In a presentation that took place during last week’s CSU meeting, the Chantier’s Chief Executive Officer Nancy Neamtan presented what it meant to participate in the so-

cial and solidarity economy.

Described as an alternative to the traditional economic system mainly looking to create profits, this new approach to economic development is primarily focused on community participation and empowerment, and on individual and collective responsibility.

Neamtan stressed the fact that by participating in social and solidarity economy, investors and involved communities learn to “use money in a different way” so to effectively change the way the current economic structures work.

According to VP External and Advocacy Terry Wilkings, this project will operate under the idea of ‘patient capital’ that does not necessitate quick paybacks.

“We have a very unique service at the CSU, which is the off-campus Housing and Job Bank; other university student unions do not provide this level of service. However, repeatedly what we hear from the staff members and coordinators is that they’re servicing students when they’re already in crisis mode. Instead of lobbying the municipal government, what we would like to do is demonstrate feasible alternatives that replace the tenant-landlord relationship with cooperative

student ownership,” he said.

What it means for Concordia students At the next elections, the CSU will present to the student body a referendum question asking if they’re willing to approve the creation of a fund to be used in this above-mentioned housing project. It will also ask approval for a contribution of up to $1,850,000 to the project from the student space fund.

For now, no precise timeline was offered by the CSU concerning the actual housing project, most probably due to the fact that it is still in the early stages.

Once operational, it will take somewhere between 12 and 17 years to pay back, thanks to a unique and flexible payback schedule and depending on interest rate fluctuations which will see the banks being paid back first and the patient capital investors able to wait.

Since the building is an asset, once the loan is repaid it can be further leveraged to help fund for more student housing, thus perpetuating the cycle.

There are currently two examples of housing co-ops for Quebec students: in Sherbrooke and in Trois-Rivieres.

Concordia’s co-op housing rundown: Cost, per room: $425-$450/ room (80 per cent of median), including heating and electricity.

Where: Undetermined yet, but will be in a region with low median rent, but within a 20 minute radius from the downtown campus.

How big: 100-150 beds.

Structure: Self managing coop, which means lower management and staff costs, but no front desk, meal plans, or security (unless the co-op is willing to pay more for those services).

Support: Budget accounts for administrative personnel for collecting accounting, rent, insurance coverage, reparation and maintenance.

Leases: 12-month leases, can be sublet, and can be renewed each year (unlike current student housing which forces tenants to move out after the first year.)

Governance: Nine-person board made up of six tenantmember directors, and three support-members.

To find out more, attend Concordia’s first student housing fair on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at the LB Atrium from 11 to 4 p.m.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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City // news

Jewish Defense League in Montreal Group considered radical, allegedly threatened to bomb Concordia in 2001 nATHAlie lAFlAMMe & Milos KovACeviC editor-in-chief & news editor

the original article concerning death thratS uttered to memberS of the cSu PubliShed in THE CONCORDIAN in fall 2001. Photo by michelle gamage. tended to the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the now-defunct Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) group. He thinks the CEP was a made-up cover name and that Rubin attended council meetings and was known for ‘threatening students.’

According to a piece published in Volume 19, Issue 2 of The Concordian, which was published on Sept. 12, 2001, all those targeted had openly stated having pro-palestine human rights views in the past.

According to a press release published by the Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) and Palestinians and Jews United (PAJU), Rubin was later accused of planning to bomb Concordia University.

“It was a very scary time.

When the threats, and bomb

threats, and actual bomb plans, were being made ... terrorism was being plotted in Montreal against students,” Marouf recalled. “[People] should be worried that it’s active in Canada, period,” he said.

According to Concordia’s senior advisor of media relation, Cléa Desjardins, JDL appears to be a fringe group, and is no cause for concern. Desjardins could not confirm that death threats were made back in 2001.

Thus far, the group has yet to receive any support on campus.

“We categorically reject their sensational tactics,” said Ruben Perez, Outreach VP for Concordia’s Israel on Campus (IoC). … It’s a very violent group, and their message is

pretty violent. They pretend to be there to protect the Jewish community but in fact they contribute to a climate of fear.”

Perez went on to say that he is against them coming to the university’s campus, and said IoC will work with the school to do whatever it can in preventing them from doing so.

“In case it does happen, we’ll see what our options are.”

Perez added that Quebec’s Jewish community has always had the full support of the government and law enforcement when it comes to anti-semitism, and he expects the JDL’s message will remain on the extreme fringes. “We don’t need that here,” he said.

The Concordian reached out to the JDL and the Montreal Police but did not receive a response by press time.

Campus // news

Terms extended for student Senators new by-law will allow students sitting on senate to serve up to three years Milos KovACeviC news editor

S

tudent senators will now have the opportunity to stick around for an extra year after a by-law change was unanimously approved extending student senate terms from the current two year limit to three years.

“The case at Concordia is one where [things are] a lot more stringent than in many other universities, and this was just a way to ameliorate the situation,” said Terry Wilkings, who pushed through with

Milos KovACeviC news editor

>> TATTOOREMOVAL CREAM IN BETA TESTING

T

he Montreal chapter of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a group known for being controversial, ultra-nationalist, and sometimes violent, held their first meeting on Feb. 16.

According to the Montreal Gazette, the group’s reason for wanting to expand to Montreal was to change the political landscape of the province and combat rising anti-semitism and Islamism. JDL Director Meir Weinstein said the main goal in coming to Montreal was to combat the threat of radical Islam in the province.

The JDL has been very vocal in their support of the Conservative Party of Canada and sees the Liberals as showing insufficient loyalty to their Jewish constituents.

Back in 2001, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) received death threats from a group which identified itself as the Committee for the Elimination of Palestine (CEP). On Aug. 25, 2001, a message was left on the CSU office’s voicemail saying: “Everyone who is part of the CSU is now a target.” It was suspected by the CSU that Irv Ruben, the JDL’s director at the time and a Montreal native, was behind the threats. Ruben was eventually convicted of trying to bomb a mosque and government property in the United States and died while awaiting trial in prison due to an apparent suicide.

According to Laith Marouf, who was the CSU’s VP Internal at the time and the first Arab to be elected to the CSU’s executive team, the threats also ex-

NATION

the amendment. He said this was an effort to increase student participation and improve institutional memory by allowing for a longer and smoother transition between senate generations.

“In the long run it’s going to strengthen not only undergraduate but graduate student participation,” he said, adding that it took some time and effort but getting such a conclusion in under a year was, by normal standards, a quick success.

“There were some concerns from certain faculty members, but I think we were able to alleviate those concerns either

with some data we had or just from of the cogent arguments that were made.”

Though many of the universities Wilkings studied—such as York , Carleton, Guelph and Simon Fraser universities— don’t give any term limits at all, this was one line the CSU felt it did not have to cross.

“I think there’s a general consensus in the university that term limits are healthy for deliberative bodies such as Senate and the board,” he added. “It’s very rare to be able to modify university by-laws, period.”

Before the amendment— which still has to get final permission from the Board

of Governors to come into effect, which is slated to occur in March—Concordia’s student senators served one-year terms and a two-year limit.

This was a change itself from several years ago, when Concordia had no limits to begin with, and could remain in office until replaced by successors via elections. A significant portion of the universities outlined in the comparison document supplied by Wilkings had no term limits.

Senators wishing to continue their positions after the three-year period will have to wait at least a year before being eligible for reelection.

The CBC has reported a researcher at Dalhousie University as potentially having invented the world’s first tattoo removal cream. 27-year-old PhD student Alec Falkenham has worked on a topical cream to target the macrophage cells that ‘consume’ the ink embedded in the skin after a tattoo session, creating an allergic reaction that locks away some colour in the body’s lymph nodes. The cream works by attracting new macrophages that consume the inked ones, progressively fading the tattoo into oblivion without the need for expensive and painful laser surgery. While Falkenham can’t confirm how fast the treatment might work or how many layers it might take, individual applications could be as low as $5.

>> SUN NEWS SHUTS DOWN

As of Friday Canada’s controversial TV network, Sun News, has shut down. Supporters blamed the CRTC for not giving the channel equal treatment as the CBC and CTV, but data showed they were pulling in only about 8,000 viewers at any one time—far less than its competitors. It’s attempts to land on the basic cable package was denied in 2013, and Postmedia’s buy-out of Quebecor’s massive Sun Media Corp division did not include the channel. Sun News was considered a far-right and politically incorrect outlet for news, and featured the likes of Ezra Levant, who has been successfully sued for libel two times.

>> MAGNOTTA S 376K REPATRIATION

The Canadian Press has learned Canada viewed Luka Magnotta’s repatriation from Berlin to Canada as a matter of national interest worth sending a 194seat Airbus to that cost $15,505 an hour to operate. The action was considered legal under the National Defense Act, which allows for the Defense Minister to call upon the military to help the police in certain situations, as the traditional RCMP aircraft— specialized commercial aircraft— were unavailable at the time.

Magnotta was given a lifetime sentence for his murder and dismemberment of Jun Lin.

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Campus // news

WORLD sARA BARon-GooDMAn life editor

>> FORMER IMF

CHIEF MAY WALK FREE FROM PIMPING CHARGES Allegations against former French presidential candidate Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a large-scale pimping trial were largely dissipated yesterday as five out of six plaintiffs dropped their accusations. Strauss-Kahn had been accused of pimping during several sex parties and orgies in France, Washington D.C., and Brussels, as well as being involved in a prostitution ring at a hotel in Lille, France. At the time of the alleged incidents, Strauss-Kahn was the International Monetary Fund chief. He has admitted to partaking in orgies and engaging in rough and frequent sex at this time, though claims he was unaware that the women involved were prostitutes. If he is convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of €1.5.

>> YOUNG GIRL S MURDER SPARKS PROTESTS IN TURKEY

Women throughout Turkey donned black mourning garb yesterday in protest of violence against women, and to honor the most recent victim of that violence, Aslan Özgecan, who was fatally beaten and stabbed last Wednesday on a minibus. The tragedy sparked a feminist uprising on social media where Turkish women took to Twitter to tell stories of harassment they’ve experienced, using the hashtag #sendeanlat, translated to “you tell, too.” The incident was also met with a reaction in the form of rallies, memorials on local campuses, and has garnered international attention towards the still extremely hostile situation of violence against women in Turkey.

>> SHOOTING IN

COPENHAGEN LEAVES TWO DEAD A shooting in Copenhagen over the weekend left two dead: a Danish filmmaker who had been at an event promoting free speech, and a Jewish security guard outside a synagogue. The attack also left five policeman injured. The shooter, who was identified as Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, now dead, had been released from prison just over two weeks ago, after having been convicted for stabbing a man in the leg in November 2013.

Danish authorities ascertain that the choice of targets point to the fact that this was likely an act of terrorism, potentially inspired by the Islamic extremist attacks in Paris several weeks ago.

Amnesty Concordia is back Campus chapter returns after hiatus, presents conference Feb. 19

Milos KovACeviC news editor

Concordia’s chapter of Amnesty International is happy to be back on campus and planning a conference featuring the Canadian head of the francophone branch of the organization and a prominent human rights lawyer on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Started in 2011, the chapter went defunct several years later after the staff moved on and there were insufficient replacements.

Since restarting the group last semester, Edith G. Lebel, the president of Concordia’s chapter, has rebuilt it into an organization with some 50 volunteers and a full executive staff. The effort has paid off to the point that they’ll be heading a general assembly in March to vote in future g ove r n a n c e.

They’ll also be working on simplifying the constitution to make

it more flexible for members.

“There’s a lot of clubs in Concordia. It gets a bit difficult to be seen,” she said of the competition for student support. “It’s more about visibility [and] people are really interested in Amnesty—they know the name.”

Lebel calls the talk on Thursday the group’s main event of the year. It is meant to be an informal discussion with the audience featuring two prominent members of the organization: Dr. Francois Larocque, as-

sociate professor of Law at the University of Ottawa and the lawyer who appeared before the Supreme court in the trial of Zahra Kazemi, a photojournalist who is said to have died while incarcerated by Iranian authorities.

The second guest will be Béatrice Vaugrante, executive director of the francophone branch of Canada’s Amnesty International, who will be speakin on her career in the fields of corporate social responsibility, poverty, and human rights.

Another topic visited will be that of Amnesty International’s current campaign for Raif Badawi, the Saudi activist who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and ten years in prison on charges of apostasy for criticizing Islam.

Aside from that, the group is busy planning or advertising enough events in the city to make up for its down time.

“For me the purpose of amnesty has always been in terms of raising awareness and making a change,” said Lebel.

politics // news

Fostering dialogue on austerity simone de Beauvoir institute looks at impacts of government cuts on women TiFFAnY lAFleUR Contributor

O

n Thursday Feb. 12, the Simone de Beauvoir Institute invited the provincial government to have a public discussion on how austerity measures will affect women.

“We are simply raising the question of whether these cuts would have a particular impact on women, and we propose a forum to exchange ideas on this matter,” said Dr. Viviane Namaste by way of email. Namaste is a professor at the Institute and a research chair in HIV/AIDS and sexual health.

“The Simone de Beauvoir Institute has gone public with this invitation because we feel that government policies need to consider their potential impact

on women,” she said.

At the press conference Thursday, Namaste read a letter on behalf of the Institute, addressed to Stéphanie Vallée, Minister of the Status of Women. In the letter, the Institute extended a Valentine, declaring their love for the women of Quebec, as well as an invitation to have a discussion on how the Couillard government’s financial reforms will affect the province’s women.

“As a feminist institute, located in a university, our mandate includes encouraging reflection and consideration of an issue, based on empirical data,” said Namaste.

In the press release, she proposed having two representatives from the Ministry, and two from the Institute. They also proposed having it conducted by a credible, neutral professional

for a one to two-hour event that would be publicly broadcasted both on television and online.

“We think that many people would be interested in learning more about the potential impact of government reform on women. And we feel that a democracy includes a space of public dialogue committed to the reasoned exchange of ideas,” says Namaste.

In the letter, the Institute make it very clear that they are not going forward with this discussion in a confrontational manner. Instead, they want to discuss the impacts the cuts would have on all Quebec women: Aboriginal women, handicapped women, single mothers, and the elderly.

Quoted from the press release, and translated from French: “Love requires communication and exchange, even in difficult times.”

The discussion would revolve around three main points: the governmental cuts and their impact in the health sector, the consequences the cuts would have on education and on the condition of women, and the search for solutions, whether they are political, fiscal and administrative to ensure the wellbeing of Quebec women.

Although these are not the only sectors in which women would be affected by the governmental cuts, Namaste emphasizes that these points will provide a point of departure to discuss how women will be affected in particular ways by the current governmental reforms.

The Institute concluded their Valentine and invitation with a wish to hear back from Minister Vallée before Sunday, March 8, 2015–International Women’s Day.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

City // news

Valentine’s march honours missing women Annual event seeks to raise awareness on violence and abuse against aboriginal women Milos Kovacevic News editor

For 24 years, the march has been continuing across the country; with signs reading ‘Bring our Sisters Home’ and ‘No More Stolen Sisters,’ they proclaimed the continuing remembrance and determination to bring to light Canada’s epidemic of murdered and disappeared aboriginal women.

Originally started in 1991 in Vancouver, the march has since spread across Canada and highlighted the belief of activists that the government and police don’t afford it the necessary attention. The pressure for a government-run public inquiry has yielded nothing, with the Harper government so far refusing to budge. It was Montreal’s sixth annual event, which started off in Cabot Square and ended in Phillip’s Square near McGill.

According to official records, nearly 1,200 aboriginal women have gone missing or have been murdered since 1980 with 164 missing cases, and 1,017 murders. An RCMP report into the statistics said that while there were broad similarities to female homicide statistics nationwide, the rate of risk for First Nations women was much higher than the median. Other statistics show

that aboriginal women, who account for just four per cent of the female population, make up 60 per cent of all Canadian women who’ve been murdered since 1980.

Marching down the blocks on a frigid February day, the hope on everybody’s mind was that this wouldn’t begin and end as a mere moment in time, as one march amongst a sequence. This sentiment was summed up by one member of the Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women group, a grassroots organization working to educate the public and eliminate violence against aboriginal women.

“I can’t say for sure that we meet one another on a common ground of understanding, but it’s clear to me that there’s something that sustains us, there’s something that compels us to continue navigating these hurdles as a collective. I don’t know why any of you are here, I don’t know for whom you’re here, My hope is … we can walk together today, and we can support one another today, that we can turn towards one another and make a space for each of us in our grief and in our anger, and in our pain, and to allow all of that to co-exist as we walk together. I hope we can be forgiving of one another as we stumble forward and make mistakes and continue to learn.”

Saturday’s annual march in remembrance of Canada’s aboriginal missing and murdered women on Feb. 14. Photos by Keith Race.

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TUesDAY, FeBRUARY 17, 2015

life

write to the editor: life@theconcordian.com lecture // liFe

Playing dress up: gender and performance emer o’Toole and panti Bliss discuss subverting gender norms sARA BARon-GooDMAn life editor

“I love being the least-interesting or least out-there person in the room,” said Emer O’Toole, an assistant professor at Concordia’s School of Canadian Irish Studies, referring to the full-to-the-brim auditorium packed with people emblematic of Montreal’s liberal, artsy, vegan-granola-queerfringey sensibilities.

O’Toole, who holds a PhD from Royal Holloway University of London, sat down with Ireland’s Person of the Year, gay rights activist and drag queen performer, Panti Bliss, to strip down the notions of performance and gender as part of The Globe and Mail “Thinking out Loud” series Feb. 16.

Last year, O’Toole invited Bliss to Concordia to speak about the now-infamous “Pantigate” scenario, wherein Bliss became an “accidental activist” by publicly calling out Irish journalists for being homophobic, and spurring an international conversation about gay rights in Ireland.

This year, their dialogue turned towards what it means to be a gender nonconformist in today’s Western society.

“There are repercussions to acting outside the role of our assigned gender,” said O’Toole, stretching out one of her 100 per cent naturally hairy legs.

O’Toole has been playing with traditional gender norms for years, and earned a moment in the International spotlight for masquerading her unshaven armpits on T.V. Tonight, she is “pioneering stilettos and hairy legs.”

For O’Toole, rejecting the traditional female archetype was about making a firm choice to subvert expected gender norms. That choice isn’t about rejecting femininity, but rather creating her own definition of what it is to be a woman.

“I’m not saying that free choice isn’t a possibility [for girls and women who do employ traditional gender norms], but in a coercive capitalist society, it’s not a given.”

“It’s almost impossible to divorce yourself from the society around you,” said Bliss, asserting that more than just being “intellectual masturbation,” these sorts of discussions about the perception of gender nonconformity are inherent to one’s safety in society.

For Bliss, the label of drag queen and a caricaturesque costume have been a security blanket against harassment. The persona of Panti Bliss, bouffant blonde hair, false eyelashes, stilettos et al., is a performance, and is read by society as such. It is much easier, much safer for him to walk around like a giant cartoon

o’toole and miSS bliSS came to concordia to diScuSS what it meanS to be a woman, or a man, or identify with any gender. Photo

by Sara baron-goodman. woman, than it is for somebody who is for example, transgender to walk around in gender-bending garb. The difference being that one is read as performative, comical, or theatrical, while the other is seen as nonconforming and “otherized.”

Yet, for Rory O’Neill, dressing up as Panti isn’t “playing a character. This is who I am, I’m just expressing it slightly differently. Certain aspects of me are magnified by the makeup but it’s the same person, the same essence, but the power of that presentation is so much that people accuse you of being two different people.”

“People feel much more comfortable when they can pigeonhole you,” said O’Toole, citing examples of labels like “butch lesbian” or “drag queen.”

“If, though, you dress femme and have one or two masculine aspects, then people are nervous.” This rings true for her, as it does for anybody who chooses to step outside their prescribed gender

norm, she explains. In general, society doesn’t know where to put you and they assign you the freak label.

“You don’t have to fit into the patriarchal norm of beauty to be beautiful,” said O’Toole.

According to both O’Toole and Bliss, everybody should make conscious efforts to challenge traditional gender norms.

“There are many more than just two or even three genders,” said Bliss, saying that while it’s great for you if you do fit into one of these traditional archetypes, its “so much more fun and interesting” to fall somewhere else on that rainbow spectrum.

So how can straight-edge men tap into their feminine sides? “All the men should go home and bottom really hard,” Bliss recommends. Or, at minimum, everybody should crossdress—no holds barred—at least once in their lives, just to see how the other side feels. It’s a slightly more ambitious take on the old “walk a mile in

somebody else’s shoes” adage.

O’Toole’s recommendation requires a slightly less invasive approach. For her, stepping outside your preconceived notions of gender could be as simple as “wearing your towel differently.”

She councils everyone to go home and after their shower, to wrap their towel the way they wouldn’t normally; for women, wrap it around your waist and set the tatas free to air dry, and for men, try making that towel dress. She says you’d be surprised at how even such a small adjustment can make you evaluate your gendered habits a little differently.

For more insights into gender-bending and performance, be sure to check out Rory O’Neill’s best-selling book on how he became Panti Bliss, Woman in the Making, and keep an eye out for Emer O’Toole’s book, Girls Will be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently which will be released at the end of this month.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

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Explore MTL // LifE

MTL: Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

Saving grace: Food is a shining star along Sherbrooke Street

Béatrice Viens Côté Contributor

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imilar to its district partner Côtedes-Neiges, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is a veritable multicultural hub. It is also a neighbourhood where the long-established bourgeoisie and poorer families cohabitate, making it an area with one of the highest social and monetary disparities in Montreal.

Most of the action in NDG, as it is called by locals, takes place between Villa-Maria and Vendôme metro stations, and along Monkland Ave. and Sherbrooke St. West.

On one side is Monkland village, with its classy boutiques and trendy restaurants that flirt with the eternal red-brick and white balustrade houses; on the other is Sherbrooke St. W, where storeowners are caught between economical difficulties—causing the closing of many businesses—and a possible revitalization.

Before it is too late, I suggest we give a hand to Sherbrooke St. West, a very important Montreal street, by visiting some of its best stores and restaurants. That way, we will contribute to its revival and truly save Grâce.

A staple of Sherbrooke St. West, located right before Décarie Blvd. when heading east, is Rôtisserie Chalet Bar-B-Q, founded in 1944. The first visit is memorable. From the outside, with its red, yellow and blue sign, the restaurant is not very impressive. Yet once you walk in, you are pleasantly surprised. Frozen in time, the place wears its name well: it is indeed a chalet. Large wood planks the colour of maple syrup cover the walls and parts of the ceiling. Customers sit on red benches and read the menu on paper placemats.

How is the menu? Simple, yummy, and inexpensive. For the appetizer, coleslaw is recommended. Then comes chicken, in your chosen form: leg, breast, half or full. Served with fries, barbecue sauce and a toasted roll, the chicken is barbe-

cued on-point. As their website claims, it is “crispy and golden on the outside, tender and juicy in the inside.” I tried, although unsuccessfully, to save room for the delicious-looking desserts, a varied choice of pies and cakes. Finally, in terms of service it is very quick—sometimes maybe too quick—ideal for lunchtime.

Chalet Bar-B-Q might not be the healthiest, but I would not refuse it every once in a while.

Another favourite on the street is Soba Sushi, at 5227 Sherbrooke St. W. Reviewers on UrbanSpoon prefer it to its not-sofar neighbour, Mikado at 5515 Monkland Ave., by seven per cent. It is also much more affordable. Don’t be misled by the menu’s ‘90s look, which features, among other things, Lucida Calligraphy, flowers and butterflies. Anyone craving a taste of Asia can find satisfaction at Soba. The choice is varied: a selection of 21 sushi and 38 maki, General Tao chicken, sweetand-sour pork, orange beef, peanut sauce chicken, Szechuan shrimp, tempura, soups, salads, noodles… The list goes on.

Moreover, the restaurant is recognized for its $8.75 lunch deals, served with steamed rice and soup every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. That being said, take-out and (free!) delivery are winners here because the relatively small dining room is not the coziest in town. Why not eat in a park nearby when spring comes? Don’t forget to ask for some chopsticks!

A long-appreciated café is Shäika, at 5526 Sherbrooke St. W. Sitting in a room with a slightly vintage feel punctuated by sumptuous vegetation, customers enjoy their coffee as they eat one of the delicious pressed sandwiches. Whether it is to work or to unwind, this café is the perfect place for a relaxing moment. To add even more value, the café partly transforms into a stage most days of the week to welcome musicians, who entertain customers at no cost. In the summer, the terrace is also said to be quite beautiful.

If you’re feeling bitter about the winter, you might as well eat comfy food at incredibly low cost—and Edwina is there to help you out. Edwina, mother of the grilled cheese, has been reinventing the classic recipe in her beloved neighbourhood since April 2014, at 5205 Sherbrooke St. W. From the personalized traditional

Photos by Béatrice Viens Côté. Clockwise from left: a sample of some classic NDG architecture; one of many beautiful muriels in NDG; One of Montreal’s oldest restaurants, Rôtisserie Chalet Bar-B-Q still boasts a delicious yet simple menu.

sandwiches (served with chips and coleslaw at $4.95) to the gourmet ones (how amazing does the Leaning Tower of Cheesa sound?!), and from the $2.95 after-school specials to the fronuts (grilled cheese doughnuts), this place is not difficult to like. Some bands and stand-ups perform every now and then and, even more importantly, students get a 15 per cent discount—hello there! Why not like Edwinas Grilled Cheese on Facebook? If you don’t win a free fronut for being the 700th person to press the like button, you will at least have sexy hot cheese creations appearing on your newsfeed occasionally.

Mmm, tempting.

Apart from restaurants, you will find Coop La Maison Verte at 5785 Sherbrooke St. W., one of the most organic and community-oriented stores in NDG. The coop was started during the 1998 ice storm as a response to our dependence on energy and our unfortunate individualism.

Through their project, the co-founders of this alternative consumption model hope

to foster local trade and give more power to consumers, while enhancing the quality of the neighbourhood. The array of products is varied, from fruits, vegetables, chocolate, tea and seeds to personal and home care products, biodegradable utensils and plants. Although prices are not always student-friendly, this store is worth the visit for anyone who has the Earth at heart.

Finally, I must make honourable mention of multicultural stores that have served locals through the years: Akhavan, Iranian grocery store (6170 Sherbrooke St. W.), Pâtisserie Wawel, Polish bakery (5499 Sherbrooke St. W.), Épicerie Coréenne et Japonaise, Korean and Japanese grocery store (6151 Sherbrooke St. W.), and Fruits Rocky Montana, Sri-Lankan grocery store (5704 Sherbrooke St. W.).

That, my friends, is NDG’s Sherbrooke St. W. in a nutshell. Please enjoy and eat responsibly. Oh, and before it gets jealous, go say hello to Monkland Ave.—it’s not bad either!

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

Health // Life

Blend your way to a better body Are smoothie cleanses all they’re cracked up to be?

Kirsten Humbert Staff writer

V

alentine’s day just passed and spring break is fast approaching.

If you have a special someone, then they probably gifted you chocolates, of which you ate eight times the “recommended serving size”. If you spent everyone’s favourite corporately-sponsored holiday alone, then you probably drank too much and woke up face down in a heart-shaped box filled with empty wrappers and regret. Either way, you’ve got to clean up your act, lest even Instagram filters fail to hide your shame.

Cleanses and detoxes are all the rage.

Celebrities swear by them and food bloggers praise them. Rumours about the dangers of fat, salt, sugar, gluten, soy, dairy, and meat abound, with many (often selfproclaimed) health experts recommending the banishment of these substances from our diets. Detox cleanses promise improved energy, better digestion, better concentration, clearer skin and, most importantly: weight loss.

I decided to try out the Dr. Oz 3-Day Detox Cleanse. This one is doctor-recommended (and presumably Oprahapproved). It calls for four massive smoothies per day, so I won’t starve to death. It’s also pretty convenient: all the ingredients are readily available at local stores.

See you on the other side, vodka and falafel.

Day 1 The first smoothie of the detox is pretty tasty—but the redness of the raspberries isn’t enough to overpower the almond butter and spinach, resulting in an unattractive, sludgy-looking colour.

The second smoothie is a beautiful green colour, but is horrifying in taste. The flavour of the four stalks of celery, whole cucumber, and kale really cut through the tastier components. I sip the smoothie from about noon until 6 p.m., grimacing every time. I skip the “snack smoothie” (a repeat of the second drink). The dinner smoothie is delicious, despite the weird spiciness of the cayenne pepper. Evaluation: I don’t know if I can face the celery drink again. Maybe I can learn to love my acne and muffin-top.

Try out these smoothie recipes

Graphic by Marie-Pier LaRose Day 2

remained an important theme throughout the day.

The breakfast smoothie was excellent today. But disaster strikes when I’m too busy to drink the lunch smoothie (it still takes a lot of concentration to down). I go out to a social commitment around 9 p.m. with a headache, an empty stomach, and a now completely unappetizing, lukewarm kale/celery/cucumber smoothie in hand. I ceded defeat for the evening, going to bed hungry. Evaluation: eating essentially nothing all day except for the breakfast smoothie is terrible. Urination

I’m happy to be chewing food again.

I didn’t lose any weight, but I do feel full of energy and the persistent patch of acne on my cheek has disappeared. I’m calling this a win.

“I think that we value health, even though in many ways it doesn’t play out in our life, but it’s something we know is innately important,” said Gabriella Szabo, a nurse and health promotion specialist at Concordia Health Services.

However, Szabo is quick to warn me of the false promises a detox holds: “A lot of detox cleanses—if they’re not dangerous— are expensive and a waste of funds. Or they’re very imbalanced when it comes to nutrients.”

Indeed, Szabo examined the Dr. Oz 3-Day Detox Cleanse and, although it did very well on vegetable and fruit servings, it lacked fat and protein. Any weight loss experienced during this diet is just water weight because of its low sodium content,

Szabo explained. As for the notion that our bodies need to be “detoxed,” Szabo says that a well-functioning human body takes care of its own clean-up.

In reality, this detox probably made me feel so good because it forced me to consume foods that most of us don’t normally get enough of: fruits and vegetables. Szabo mentions that this is the first thing she suggests when students approach her for advice on eating a healthy balanced diet.

She noted that a balanced diet is a special challenge for students when a piece of fruit costs a few dollars on campus, while a few steps away are nearly equally priced hamburgers.

In sum, Dr. Oz taught me the value of eating a healthy serving of fruits and vegetables on the regular. Szabo’s recommendation for optimal health is to consistently eat a diet that meets the standards outlined

by Health Canada and to exercise regularly. Also, I had a revelation: the limiting factor to how many vegetables I can consume has been the amount I am willing to chew in a day. For this reason, I’ll continue blending veggies into smoothies, but I’ll stick to solid food the rest of the day.

Breakfast smoothie:

Lunch smoothie:

Dinner smoothie:

-1 cup water -1 tbsp. flax seed (ground, unless you have a very powerful blender) -1 cup raspberries -1 banana, frozen -¼ c spinach (stop lying to yourself and pack the spinach down) -1 tbsp. almond butter -2 tsp. lemon

-4 celery stalks -1 cucumber -1 cup kale leaves (pack it down, you pansy) -½ green apple -½ lime -1 tbsp. coconut oil -½ cup almond milk -1 cup pineapple

Got to pee. This is a constant theme throughout the day. The lunch drink goes down much easier today and my confidence is renewed. Alas, after the dinner drink I crack and make some kale chips.

That’s not cheating—there’s kale in this diet, right? Evaluation: I skipped the snack smoothie again because I was just too full from the lunch smoothie. I feel pity toward the less evolved humans who still depend on solid food.

Day 3

Final thoughts

-½ cup mango -1 cup blueberries -1 ½ cups coconut water -1 cup kale -1 tbsp. lemon -¼ avocado -¼ tsp. cayenne pepper -1 tbsp. flax seeds

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015 //

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Column // LIFE

Mim meets Montreal: this one’s for the laadiiiesss Episode 13: In which Mim celebrates the sacred Galentine’s Day Mim Kempson Staff writer

Y

ou know what’s better than Valentine’s Day? Galentine’s Day. Having said that, I would have honestly answered “anything” to that question, but hey—I found out this weekend that Galentine’s Day is actually a happening thing. While the name may derive from Parks and Recreation, I am sure that the idea has been around for decades.

I admit, when my friends told me about Galentine’s Day I was a little cynical. I thought, “Geez, that’s pretty sad: women getting together to celebrate being single with B-grade rom-coms, heart-shaped chocolates and cheap champagne.” In this hermit-inducing winter, however, it is through comfort food and trashy films that we can find solace. At least, I speak for myself. So, when my two non-single female friends invited me to spend Galentine’s Day doing exactly that, I didn’t pass on the opportunity.

Maybe our evening didn’t exactly follow the generic interpretation—the rom coms were A-grade/top quality, the dessert was chocolate lava cake (way better) and the alcohol was pink wine—but that’s beside the point. The event wasn’t created to provide women with an excuse to spend an evening getting fat on junk food and sulking over the non-existent men in their lives. It is about rejoicing in friendship (please excuse the corniness— it was the weekend of Valentine’s Day after all).

We made a fancy salmon dinner followed by baked whisky-and-maple syrup-infused brie. Bridget Jones made an appearance along with Sixteen Candles and Practical Magic. We had a productive

Mim treats herself to some Galentine’s Day flowers after a blueberry pancake breakfast. Photo by John Rodousakis. evening. Breakfast was blueberry heartshaped pancakes and candy.

To my surprise, Valentine’s Day isn’t celebrated any more widely or enthusiastically in Canada than it is in Australia.

And as for Galentine’s Day, I say there

should be equivalent for men too (if there isn’t already). Well, really, we should just celebrate friendship every day, full stop.

We could say the same about any of these over-commercialized, over-hyped events: Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and, of course,

National Feral Cat Day (I mean, we can’t forget the poor feral cats out there, right?

Totally is a thing by the way, celebrated Oct. 16).

Here’s to making every day Galentine’s day, amirite ladies?

Let’s talk about sex

Don’t peg me for a fool guys, just strap on and enjoy the ride Lindsay Richardson Arts editor

C

omedic and feminist trailblazers Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson solidify their stance against sexual norms in a recent episode of their show Broad City.

When Abbi finally gets the chance to hook up with her archetypal rugged male neighbour Jeremy, she suggests that they “switch” positions. An excited Jeremy presses an expensive “Shinjo” dildo into her hand and tells her where he wants in—“right in the butt.”

After some not-so-gentle chiding from the uninhibited Ilana, Abbi decides (wisely) to “carpe-dat ass and ride the hunky quarter-Latino all the way home.”

Women everywhere were riveted. I myself swallowed hard on a sip of wine, and felt the first rustlings of new sexual curiosity. It was so taboo, so seemingly empowering that it was hard to bypass the thought of bringing “pegging” into my own sexual repertoire.

Only problem is—and I don’t apologize for the pun—most men out there are being tight-assed about the idea.

The basis of the practice is the penetration of a man by a woman, normally using a sex toy or strap-on. Sexual pleasure is derived from the stimulation of the prostate, which can lead to ejaculation and orgasm. Some men enjoy manually stimulating themselves as they

Column // LifE

are being pegged. Sex columnist Dan Savage said that it’s an activity that “all men should try at least once.”

A former flame of mine accused me of being “all talk” after not submitting to his suggestions of anal play. When I had previously suggested to him the possibility of pegging, this guy (with considerable penile girth and a voracious sexual appetite) brought the proverbial guillotine down on the idea.

Apparently, fingers are a permissible “not-so-gay” form of male ass play, but full-on fucking a guy with a dildo is out of the question.

Men should—need—to acknowledge that we live in a sexually egalitarian society. As the pithy Ilana put it in an earlier episode of the show: it’s 2015, and “anal is on the menu.” What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If you want to lube up and explore the inti-

mate inner workings of my ass, at least consider letting me bend you over and return the favor.

In all honesty, where does this fear or hesitation stem from? Is it purely physical, with men afraid they’ll be shitting sideways for weeks or walking bowlegged into work? Or is it a more deeply rooted psycho-social barrier that keeps men at a six inch latex-coated distance?

The innate fear of being dominated or of compromising the concept of “masculinity” could be reason enough.

However, any kind of anal play calls trust (and adequate lubrication) to the fore. If anything, pegging is an activity that could strengthen the bond between partners, introducing a sense of empathy and understanding. I mean, my ass is not the location to act out a live rendition of a heavy metal guitar riff. If I don’t want to be anally drilled, do you?

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

write to the editor: arts@theconcordian.com Theatre // ARTs

A journey to heal, to grow and to forgive The Nisei and the Narnauks whimsically tackles difficult historical themes on stage lAURenT piTRe Contributor

I

trudge through the land of ice and snow: Montreal. I arrive at the point promised: the Maison des arts interculturels (MAI). I sit in the front row of a theatre full of people, eyes fixed on a scene which will unfold. As the lights fade we—the usher beside me, the actors on stage, the director in the back row— all fall into the dreamworld of this play.

In the dark, a pact is made. We suspend our disbelief. We believe. We dream.

We are introduced to a young girl on a quest to tell the story of her grandmother’s journey home from a World War II Japanese-Canadian internment camp. As Kimiko relives a time of great hardship, injustice and strife, we follow her hopeful young soul on a magical voyage through the mysterious Canadian woods to return to her sick grandmother.

Along the way, she meets a valiant and

funny sidekick, Raven: a “Narnauk” or for story-listeners of all ages and walks If you want to warm your hearts, magic spirit. Together they face impos- of life. It opens up the discussion of a minds, bodies and souls, head down sible odds, defeat misunderstood rab- long-forgotten dirty secret of Canadian to the MAI for The Nisei and the Narbit-eating villains and even make a few history and leaves hope for future for- nauks by Paul Van Dyck until Feb. 22. friends. The rest? You will have to go see giveness. for yourselves!

The show is impeccably presented, joining theatre, music, song, dance and puppetry. Altogether it weaves a story-telling tapestry that we, story-listeners, crave like a warm campfire in a winter storm.

Each puppeteer sacrifices body and soul (but mostly body, as the actors tell me) to breathe life into every moment of the beautifully crafted puppets’ roles in the play. Eventually, the line between puppet and actor is so blurred that we believe in talking ravens, wolves and magic spirits.

KimiKo (StePanie naKamura) traVelS from an internment camP acroSS britiSh columbia.

I recommend this show

photography // ARTs

‘Images are not innocent—they are tricks’ photographer Joan Fontcuberta lectures about revenge in postphotography linDsAY RiCHARDson Arts editor

A woman is walking on a beach when she discovers a corpse floating along its shore. She screams irrationally for a few seconds, then reaches into her pocket to take out her camera phone. She snaps a few shots, still screaming, throwing in some pieces of idling seaweed to heighten the photographic effect. She then turns the camera around to take a selfie with the corpse. The commercial concludes with a line in Korean: “There are always interesting things to be photographed.”

For Catalan photographer and curator Joan Fontcuberta, this commercial is a brief but unsettling glimpse of the larger function of photography in society. His lecture, “Postphotography: The Revenge of Images” was given on Feb. 10 as part of the “Speaking of Photography” series staged by Concordia’s faculty of fine arts.

Fontcuberta has built his four-decade career manipulating images to reflect stories and events that never happened.

His jarring lecture explored the uses and evolution of a medium that we inherently rely on to present the truth. He believes that photographs don’t merely represent life, but somehow become it. As a result, images can be used as propaganda, a visual weapon, and we as a society should learn to deactivate the power.

The commercial, he believes, outlines

Joan fontcuberta eXPloreS nature, technology and truth through PhotograPhy. he iS eSPecially intereSted in the Selfie. three important aspects of today’s “photographic process”: the documentary approach, the attempt to improve and make the image more subjective, and the selfie—the act of inscribing onself into a scene.

“Images are not innocent, they are tricks,” Fontcuberta said, outlining what he calls the “mastication” of photography—where the use of techniques like collage and distortion aggress the image and complicate the perception of reality.

Fontcuberta also touched on the evolution of the documentary urge. In modern society, people use photography as autobiography and a sharing of experience.

He states that society is becoming scopic, where we are interested in the gesture of photographing more than the result.

Using a number of inane selfies—which Fontcuberta claims are an anthropological fascination—taken at Auschwitz, he says that we are no longer interested in the past, but in the nostalgia of the pres-

ent.

“Images were treasures—now they’re banal,” he said. This inundation of images and proliferation of digital media has established us as a voyeuristic society: one with so many pictures available for viewing that no time to view them.

Fontcuberta believes that the examination of photography has unavoidably become an intersection between the aesthetics of excess and the aesthetics of access.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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Film // ARTs

Another year, another round of predictions He got them all right last year—how will elijah fare in 2015? eliJAH BUKReev Contributor

Well, folks, another year has gone by, and despite the Doomsday Clock being at its closest to midnight since 1984, we are still here. A lot has changed since Feb. 22, 2014, but some things remain the same. Isn’t that a reassurance, to know exactly what you’ll be doing at a given time, every year? I know what I’ll be doing on February 22nd 2015 – like millions of others around the globe, I will be tuning in to the 87th Academy Awards ceremony.

Last year, I wrote: “The truth is that the Academy is undergoing a period of serious transition. In only a few years, we’ve seen a woman win a Best Director award, more ethnical groups represented than ever before, and people seemingly destined for a life of anonimity pulled out of their ordinary lives by well-deserved nominations.”

I stand by that, but I may have spoken too fast. This year has been, some say, too male-centric. Too white. #OscarSoWhite became a popular trend on Twitter, in apparent payback for the omission of “Selma” in the Best Director and Best Actor categories. Yes, no woman was nominated for Best Director. Yes, all Acting nominees were white. Does that mean that racism or sexism is in play?

I wouldn’t be so sure. What if a snub is just that – what if Academy members genuinely prefer one movie, or one performance, to another? Should they nominate a person solely to appease a certain community? Vote for someone solely on the basis of their ethnicity or gender? Wouldn’t that be just as bad as not nominating them in the first place?

In both cases, that person would be given an unequal treatment.

The problem with art is that it is inherently subjective. Academy members found “Selma” worthy of a Best Picture and a Best Original Song nomination.

They chose to reward other films in other categories. They are entitled to an opinion, and we shouldn’t try to force their hand. If anything is to be learned from this controversy, it is that perhaps not enough African-American and female filmmakers are given an opportunity to make the films they really want to make. People rallied behind “Selma” precisely because it was perhaps the only film to have been given that opportunity in the last year.

But enough polemics. Let’s get down to Oscar predictions! Read no further if you wish to avoid spoilers! Last year, they all came true.

Best picture There are eight films competing for the award this year, all of them worthy of consideration. When you think of the kind of films that win Oscars, you typically think of heavy historical dramas – commonly known as Oscar bait.

But sometimes, you’re in for a surprise.

The two front-runners are unlikely candidates, notable for their bold artistic choices: Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Alejandro G. Iñarittu’s Birdman.

Boyhood is a tender look at the life of a young boy and his family. Admirably, it was filmed over 12 years – a first for a fiction film, and possibly a last. When it was first rumoured to be a major Oscar contestant, the idea seemed absurd – Oscar voters love big, important stories, but Boyhood is a collection of mostly passive and seemingly unimportant moments in a child’s life, as he grows up and his worldview is shaped. Yet, Boyhood was the best-reviewed film of 2014 and is the likeliest to become the next Best Picture winner.

Birdman is a very different beast. A carefully scripted and choreographed explosion of emotions, both repressed and expressed on screen. A jazzy, dreamy caricature of show business. A strange and deeply confounding film, it is made to look like a single, continuous shot, as we follow an aging movie star’s descent into hell and back. It is, in my humble opinion, the most deserving of the two, but it may prove too much for the Academy voters. I feel they might prefer the calm, contemplative Boyhood to such a relentless, furious rollercoaster.

stand more about her, but overall she remains a mystery. It is hard to say more without spoiling anything; if you haven’t seen Gone Girl yet, you absolutely should.

Best Director The show-down between Boyhood and Birdman continues in this category.

It could be the third consecutive year when the Best Director award doesn’t go to the Best Picture winner. It has become a trend to reward the most visually ambitious nominee for its visionary directing and this year, it is Iñarritu’s Birdman that fits the description. Filmed in very long, audaciously constructed shots that require uninterrupted acting and movement, it envelops you, and watching it, you feel like you’ve landed on the stage of a play. An exceptionally well-directed play, I might add.

Best Actress in a supporting Role

Best Actor in a leading Role Much like his character in Birdman, ex-superhero Michael Keaton has made a glorious comeback after a decade of near-oblivion. His character is seen battling family and career issues, as well as a perfidious alter ego who attempts to lead him astray, back on the path of commercial moviedom. There are several references to Keaton’s own life throughout the film, but he claims this is the character he could least identify with, out of any he has played. It is a challenging role, and Keaton gave it his all. He deserves to win.

Best Actress in a leading Role There is little doubt as to what name will come out of that particular envelope: Julianne Moore, sometimes called “the Meryl Streep of not winning Oscars.” Nominated four times before, hers is a classic case of overdue. Her performance in Still Alice as an Alzheimer’s-afflicted linguist is as stellar as you’d expect. She hits all the right notes, showing the changes her character goes through with subtlety and flair.

In a perfect world, however, it is Rosamund Pike who would get the gold for her sensational breakthrough performance in Gone Girl. Rivaling every great psycho in the history of film, her character is terrifying because she is deeply unknowable. What is she really thinking? How far can she go? The movie opens and closes with the same shot of her, and by the end we under-

Best Actor in a supporting Role There can be no doubt - J.K. Simmons will win. He has always been good, for example as Spider-Man’s scene-stealing editor in Sam Raimi’s franchise, but in Whiplash, he is simply too good to ignore. This is an award often given for villainous performances, and Simmons’ character is a masterclass in cruelty and emotional abuse. As a teacher in a prestigious music conservatory, he is a shapeshifter, sometimes deceivingly flattering, at other times a violent despot – all in the name of art.

Simmons is chilling and unforgettable as he commands the screen with an iron hand.

If this isn’t an Oscarworthy performance, I don’t know what is.

The first name that comes to mind is Patricia Arquette.

Unlikely that she would be considered an Oscar frontrunner in 2015, but she can thank Boyhood for that. She was still a popular star in 2002 when filming started, but soon after that she began to take years off in between films and eventually focused on television. Now, fast-forward to 2015, and she is once again on everyone’s lips. In many ways, watching Boyhood is like opening a time capsule – her performance is one of the many good things we found inside.

Well, another year in movies is now officially past us. As always, there were casualties – Robin Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and so many others. It seems impossible to imagine the movies without them, but somehow, things will go on.

Canadian talent Let’s not forget to congratulate our fellow Canadians and Montrealers nominated for Oscars this year! In animation, Dean DeBlois from Aylmer, Quebec, nominated for directing How to Train Your Dragon 2; Graham Annable from Ontario, nominated for codirecting The Boxtrolls; Torill

Kove, who was born in Norway but has lived in Montreal since 1982, a Concordia graduate, nominated for her short animated film Me and My Moulton; in visual effects, Cameron Waldbauer and Nicolas Aithadi from the Vancouver area, nominated for X-Men: Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy, respectively; in production design, Dennis Gassner from Vancouver, nominated for Into the Woods and presently hard at work on the new James Bond film; in sound mixing, Craig Mann from Ontario, nominated for his electrifying work on Whiplash.

Take a look back at the best of 2014 in film by tuning in to the 87th Oscars ceremony, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris!

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Film // ARTs

Fifty Shades of Grey was a painful experience How to get fifty shades of fucked up for Fifty Shades of Grey (which is really the only way to experience it): You will need: •An alcoholic beverage of your choice, perhaps Fifty Shades of Grey wine?

•A receptacle for said beverage •A liver of Steele (see what I did there?)

Rules: Take a sip when...

•There is a gratuitous shot of Dakota Johnson’s boobs •She bites her lip •Christian Grey appears topless •Anastasia is naked while Christian is clothed •There’s a shot of a full bush •There is phallic imagery (sky scrapers, pencils being sucked etc.)

•He buys her something •They stare into each other’s eyes •She rolls her eyes •He threatens to punish her •She appears innocent and virginal •She tries to assert herself by sassing him •He plays piano •She cooks •He alludes to being psychologically damaged •He recoils at her touch •She whines about their sleeping arrangements •Someone makes an astute observation (ex.: is that a car? Do you play piano?)

Chug throughout any sex scenes (these are fewer and farther between than you’d think)

Good luck. You’ll need it.

Maybe my tastes are too singular, but this fifty shades of sucked sARA BARon-GooDMAn life editor

F

ull of self-loathing and holding our heads low, my date and I sauntered into the AMC on Valentine’s night to join the throngs of bored vanilla couples and gaggles of barely-legal girls going to see Fifty Shades of Grey.

We were off to a bad start before the preview reels even began: the theatre, packed to the brim, had seats left in only the three front rows—not the ideal viewing spot for anybody, as you’re forced to crane your neck and stare into the distorted giant faces of the cast, but even less so for a farsighted individual like myself. I never thought I’d feel so intimately connected with every little bump on Dakota Johnson’s nipples.

Then the film started, with a long establishing shot showing Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, putzing around his millionaire’s walk-in-closet, going for a jog, and generally setting him up as a filthy-rich, put-together, virile-type person.

Then we see Johnson as Anastasia Steele, looking doe-eyed and waif-like as we would expect, in an ill-fitting cardigan and wispy bangs. Because, as everybody knows, all virgins must wear glorified sacks and gratuitous floral prints (and white underwear as we will soon see). Luckily, once she’s deflowered her wardrobe is no longer highly dependant on florals.

I came into the theatre with very low expectations. I’d read excerpts of the novel and enough reviews of both the books and the movie to know to keep an eye out for the psychological manipulation and emotionally abusive tendencies of Grey, the misrepresentation of BDSM practices, and the overall lack of chemistry between the two leads who have more than once openly admitted to despising each other.

I expected, however, despite my own reservations about the plotline and relationship between the characters, to be at least slightly tantalized if not semi-aroused throughout most of the film. This was being billed as softcore erotica, after all, and if nothing else I expected delivery on that front.

Sadly, even my most meagre of expectations were not met. Of the four or five sex scenes in the film, two were decently hot, and really only because it’s pretty hard not to get at least a quarter-arousal going when there’s an attractive woman writhing around, bound-up and suspended from ropes while the now-infamous slower, deeper, headier version of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” swells in the background. Unfortunately, that was about one minute of pleasure out of 122 minutes of cringeworthy pain.

Now, let’s just skip past the whole psychological abuse thing, Grey’s unhealthy

tendency to stalk Steele like she’s his prey, and his obsession with owning her and controlling her (see her confession of being a virgin, to which he responds “Where have you been?” as if this is the greatest gift he’s ever been given. Also buying her a new wardrobe, computer, and car; and setting up quarters in his home for her.

Strangely though, he does not replace her ‘90s throwback flip phone).

We can also look past the fact that Steele never did sign that contract agreeing to be his submissive, despite them engaging in

a dominant/submissive relationship throughout the film—a relationship that she was skeptical of, if not outright terrified to partake in (and was quite vocal about these reservations throughout the film). And hey, I guess it also isn’t a big deal that there were no instances of aftercare, even after Grey goes too far and leaves Steele crying on the floor as he whips her and, when she confronts him about it, responds that he’s “fifty shades of fucked up” so, I guess it’s not his fault.

Nobody understands him, poor baby.

All these things are fine though, because he’s like so intense and like so hot and she just loooves him so much. And how can he be blamed when she has the audacity to bite her lip like that in front of him because she knows what that does to him.

Yes, perhaps all these slight details could be ignored if the actors had even an ounce of chemistry between them, or said their lines with any sort of inflection or feeling. The script, which was no winner to begin with, completely flatlined under the monotone delivery of both Dornan and Johnson. It was like they were speaking at each other the whole time, and were bored doing it. The hatred between them was palpable, and not in a hot, tense, Ryan Gosling-and-Rachel McAdams-hatred-for-each-othercirca-The Notebook-type-way, -type-way, but rather in an “I’m completely bored and disgusted to have to be in the same room as you let alone have to simulate sex with you”-type way.

Moments that were presumably meant to be fraught with tension were so cringeworthy that the entire theatre alternately laughed and groaned out loud pretty much every time Grey revealed a new kink or made a new request, and likewise every time Johnson seemed to be climaxing before Grey even began to touch her.

The entire film came off like a bad spoof. It was so incredibly awful that I have to wonder if director Sam TaylorJohnson perhaps intended it to be that way. Maybe the film is actually meant to be a meta-experience of sadistic pain, masquerading as pleasure, for the audience itself. Maybe we’re all Steele, wanting so hard to feel something that we’ll accept any kind of horseshit that hits us first.

In the end, I cannot possibly do justice to this spectacle in words, and I urge you all to arm yourselves with a bottle or two your poison of choice, and illegally download (for the love of God don’t make the same mistake I did and actually pay for it) this shipwreck to see for yourselves.

And hey, maybe I do have more masochistic tendencies than I gave myself credit for, because a deep, dark part of me can’t wait for the sequel.

Moments that were presumably meant to be fraught with tension were so cringeworthy that the entire theatre alternately laughed and groaned out loud.

music

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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write to the editor: music@theconcordian.com

profile // MUsiC

Dan Mangan revived and reinvented The folk band’s sound has changed dramatically, but keeps the same catchiness throughout

DAnielle GAsHeR Contributor

“The days are no longer my own, to piss away the waking hours,” sings Dan Mangan in his hit song, “Robots.”

The talented and wonderfully bearded folk singer writes songs that’ll send a shiver down your spine—or conjure butterflies in your belly.

Fans will remember the singer’s husky voice in that beautiful song. It was a ballad that could transport you to summer sunsets, road trips, and first loves. This folk-rock song, “Robots,” although enchantingly nostalgic, differs completely from what Dan Mangan and his band are up to now.

On Jan. 13, the 31-year-old Vancouver native released his new album, Club Meds, with Blacksmith after a few years off from touring.

The new album has quite a different feel than the artist’s three previous LPs; Postcards and Daydreaming, Nice, Nice, Very Nice, and the Juno-award-winning album, Oh Fortune.

In his past albums, Mangan’s folk sound was dominant, and could easily make a person sway and smile. Club Meds has a darker, more psychedelic sound to it. Mangan explains that the change happened quite naturally. He took a few years off after Oh Fortune, and he feels as though his time off made him curious about trying new things.

“I think it’s just about getting older, and having a natural desire to try different things. After having some time off, I felt there was a new essence to what we were doing,” Mangan said.

Another change is the new name found for his beloved backing band. “It was something we talked about years ago; we were just looking for the right name to come along, and when they found Blacksmith, it just fit,” he said.

Mangan speaks very highly of his musicians, and isn’t afraid to share the fact that he has been in a serious relationship for many years. “I’ve been married to these guys for a long time. Going on tour, you are with the same people 24/7. We get on each other’s nerves, but we have a lot of fun. Blacksmith are seasoned, and schooled musicians,” he said.

Club Meds is a confident and assertive album because it offers-up an original sound; it mixes moody psychedelic music while keeping their indie-rock roots.

The first track, “Vessel,” is a perfect example of the band’s new sound. The rhythm is hard to follow—the drum and guitar beats seem to stretch out—and the intro to the song is very Radioheadesque. Mangan’s voice on “Vessels” perfectly portrays how his voice has evolved with every album released—his voice, now, finds itself at a register that’s lower and huskier.

“I think this is what this album is about; appreciating the darkness and the complexity and distracting yourself from it. There is a great postponing that we do where we push back having to deal with our problems,” he said.

One of Mangan’s biggest inspirations is the legendary author George Orwell.

“He is a remarkable man. He has this capability to see things in humanity, and has incredible creative instincts that are very admirable.”

One of the most admirable things about the singer is that he tells it like it is: “I am very happy at this point in my life. I believe happiness is a choice and I feel that anyone can rationalize reasons for self-pity. Some people are born into incredible privileges and some are born directly into poverty. Every day you kind of have to decide to be happy. You have to appreciate the little things. Life is hard and beautiful and sometimes fucked-up, but that’s just what it is.”

Mangan practices that same straightforward take on life in his career. He be-

dan mangan (aboVe) and VioliniSt JeSSe Zubot (left) Perfrom at corona theatre in 2012. PhotoS by andreJ iVanoV. lieves that in order to get to the top, you have to work hard.

“I started playing guitar when I was 10; I was in a band in high school and around those years. Of course, life happens, people move away. So I played in open mics, and took whatever gigs I could get. I started trying to scratch some money together to make some recordings and play wherever they would have me,” he said. There is no magic trick or shortcut to success—Mangan went with the flow and his popularity grew as he kept working.

Mangan seems to pick the coolest things to get involved with. During his time off, he was presented with a new project to test his talent. He was asked to write the score for Peter Chelsom’s quirky independent film, Hector and the

Search for Happiness.

“It was kind of magical. We decided to take a break from touring. Literally days after I told my manager about taking some time off, I got an email from one of the producers asking me if I was interested in doing some score work. It was totally serendipitous. I closed a window and another one was opening already,” he said.

There isn’t much Mangan doesn’t do; he’s a father, a husband, a writer from time to time, a two-time Juno award winner, a score composer—oh, and an incredible musician.

If you want to witness how cool these guys are first-hand, Mangan and Blacksmith are coming to Montreal Feb. 21 at the Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre.

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Quickspins // music

Lupe Fiasco – Tetsuo & Youth (Atlantic Record; 2015)

José González - Vestiges & Claws (Mute; 2015)

Fat Mike - Home Street Home (Fat Wreck Chords; 2015)

Bob Dylan – Shadows in the Night (Columbia Record; 2015)

Forget the ill-conceived electropop production of Lasers. Forget the laborious politically dense drivel of Food & Liquor 2. Tetsuo & Youth has arrived and with it, the Lupe Fiasco we once loved and cherished has seemingly returned, older, wiser and ruthlessly refuelled. While its sprawling length (a whopping 78 minutes) never quite justifies itself due to a few less than stellar poprap tracks that, while never as offensively bland, recall a more confused Lasers-era Fiasco, and its seasonal motif never quite comes to fruition. Lupe nonetheless showcases some of his most focused and ambitious songwriting yet. Take “Mural,” the album’s aptly-titled opener, for example; free of hooks, Lupe paints a vivid, densely packed canvas and effortlessly navigates a lush piano-driven sample from Cortex’ Troupeau Bleu for nearly nine whole minutes, devoid of breaks. It’s a stunning showcase of virtuosic flow and lyrical dexterity and a reminder that, when focused, Lupe Fiasco can rap with the best around today.

He’s almost there.

For his third studio album, José González drew inspiration from the world around him: nature, humanism and the solidarity of human existence. Self-produced in his home studio in Gothenburg, a clear focus was put on ensuring that the songs conserved a certain rawness and warmth to preserve the visceral quality of González’s songwriting. Vestiges & Claws features the Swedish singer-songwriter’s trademark soothing voice and fingerpicked acoustic guitar, but expands his musical palette with additional vocal and guitar overdubs, in addition to percussion. The album also channels new influences ranging from ‘70s Brazilian productions and American folk rock to West African desert blues music. With its philosophical lyrics, simple yet endearing melodies and undeniable focus and complexity, Vestiges & Claws is a notable evolution of an artist who never fails to charm.

As the name implies, Home Street Home: Original Songs from the Shit Musical, is the score from a musical starring street punks. The songs are mainly written by NOFX frontman, Fat Mike, and performed by a slew of punk artists, namely members of The Descendants, Lagwagon and the Dropkick Murphys among others. Musically, the album sounds similar to many NOFX tracks. The vocals are raw, but this fits the themes of the musical. The lyrics are the highlight of the album, as they comically explore drug use, prostitution and BDSM culture. The album’s biggest problem is that without having seen the show, the tracks do not tell a proper story on their own. While the album will probably bring a smile to your face, if you are interested it would probably be best to save the tunes shock value for the actual stage show.

There simply isn’t anybody like Bob Dylan.

The idiosyncratic singer-songwriter’s 36th studio album represents another odd detour, eschewing his greatest skill, his writing, in favour of his most polarizing trait; his signature, nasally wheeze. While that wheeze may now resemble a weary croak, Shadows in the Night is nowhere near as tangled or confused as Dylan’s last left turn, 2009’s Christmas in the Heart. A collection of traditional pop standards, Dylan is stripped of the over-zealous trimmings that have sometimes jeopardized his more recent works; sparse, intimately minimal arrangements provide a hauntingly moody backbone to the singer’s vulnerable vocals. Brittle and raw, Dylan’s voice feels surprisingly relaxed and at home, transforming traditional mid-tempo standards into drifting, melancholic ballads of downtrodden vulnerability. Despite encompassing no original material, Shadows in the Night never feels like a meager tribute album; Dylan turns these classics into an atmospheric noir tableau, infusing each song with experience and effectively making them his own.

Trial Track: “Mural”

Trial Track: “Let It Carry You”

Trial Track: “Safe Word”

Trial Track: “The Night We Called It A Day”

7/10

-Samuel Provost-Walker

9/10

-Paul Traunero

7/10

-Justinas Staskevicius

8/10

-Samuel Provost-Walker

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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DiY // MUsiC

Intro to mixing: perfecting home studio sound Mixing is an essential to adjusting reverb, equalization, compression, and other sound levels

CRisTinA sAnZA Contributor

N

CONCORDIA

owadays it seems like anyone can record music professionally at home. While it’s true that software and basic equipment is readily available for any amateur musician to get their songs recorded, there are usually noticeable differences between a studio-recorded track and a home recording. That’s no reason to get discouraged, though, as there are several mixing tips that can make your recordings sound as good as they can, given the software you have at hand.

First things first: you need a recording with crisp, clear sound to work with. In really basic terms, this usually means a recorded vocal track and an instrument track. The worst thing a musician can do is work with bad sound to start and think it can be “fixed” by layering dozens of effects. Starting with good sound will

maximize what your effects will add to the track (less is more!). Make sure you have good over-the-ear headphones, but you should switch between listening through speakers and headphones at low and medium volumes while editing.

Mixing varies for every recording, depending on genre, instruments used and sound of voice. Regardless, there are a few basic elements that I think will work well with any type of recording to help it get that ‘studio’ feel; it’s just a game of trial and error. Most of the effects I will mention are a simple drag-and-drop into your tracks. In every program their locations will be slightly different.

When it comes to mixing, reverb on vocals immediately comes to mind. While reverb can make vocals sound echo-y and smooth (the echo can rid of minor vocal flaws), it’s important not to go overboard with it. Too much reverb can cause the sound to appear hollow and fade into the background. So unless you’re working on a ghastly horror movie track, it’s best that reverb slightly enhances but doesn’t over-

power. Mess around with reverb levels and filters, but make sure to play back your changes. You can mute all other tracks except vocals to isolate them, but play it back with all the tracks once you think you’ve got it right to insure it’s at the right level, because at the end of the day, mixing is about all the tracks working together, and subtle changes can throw other elements of the recording off.

Lana Del Rey has a secret to her airy vocals: layering. This technique makes for a fuller, more perfected sound. The key is to duplicate your original vocal track, but instead of keeping it at full volume, decrease it by about half (roughly -6dB), to where it can be heard but not seem noticeably doubled. To create that extra-layered effect, instead of using a reverb filter, try a delay filter on this track.

Equalization and compression can make a huge difference in levelling sound.

Equalizers affect the level balances across the frequency spectrum of your sound.

They can help solve acoustic problems in non-studio rooms (perfect for those in

working in a home-studio space) and cut unwanted low frequencies that aren’t the actual instrument recorded, like ambient noises picked up during recording.

Compression, on the other hand, affects the level balances across time. The human voice does not project in a completely even level, and a compressor will bring down the highest peaks that are above the threshold level, restoring the level throughout the recording. This makes for an even, controlled vocal. Compression is by no means auto-tuning; it’s more finetuning audio levels. Many equalizer and compression effects are pre-made so you can just drop them into your tracks, but don’t be afraid to toy around with the settings to get the filter to suit your sound.

After working on a song let it be and come back to it the following day. A fresh mind will help bring unnoticed sound issues to the surface. It’s also good to compare your work to other similar pieces of music; this will help you envision your desired sound. Remember, there is no mixing formula; it’s all about being open to it all!

CONCORDIA PRESENTS

THE FUTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY AND THE FUTURE OF LEARNING What kind of university do we want to be in 10 years?

To help us answer these questions, Concordia is

Join us in thinking about our future – attend

How can we prepare students for the 21st century?

inviting a wide-ranging group of thought leaders

one of these sessions. Advance registration required.

What opportunities should we pursue?

from across Canada and the U.S. to Montreal.

Visit concordia.ca/directions to register.

What kinds of challenges do we need to be ready

Their insights and know-how will help us chart our

to face?

university’s strategic directions over the next decade.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4

TUESDAY, MARCH 10

MONDAY, MARCH 23

WHAT WILL FUTURE STUDENTS WANT AND NEED FROM UNIVERSITIES?

HOW CAN UNIVERSITIES GO FROM GOOD TO GREAT?

HOW CAN UNIVERSITIES HELP BUILD THRIVING, INNOVATIVE CITIES?

Noon to 1 p.m.

MB-10.121, John Molson School of Business Building, 1450 Guy St. Carl Amrhein Former provost, University of Alberta Diana MacKay Executive Director of Education, Skills and Immigration, Conference Board of Canada

#CUdirections

Noon to 1 p.m.

H-767, Henry F. Hall Building, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd, W. Elizabeth Cannon President, University of Calgary

Plus, more speakers are coming!

Advance registration is required. To register, visit:

concordia.ca/directions

Noon to 1 p.m.

MB-10.121, John Molson School of Business Building, 1450 Guy St. Stephen Huddart President, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Profile // MUSIC

The Lone Bellow: folk up-and-comers The band draws inspiration from the love they feel from fans on their new self-titled album Jessica Romera Staff writer

T

he Lone Bellow emerged in 2013 with their self-titled debut album, and have been steadily touring, writing and recording new music since. Now, Brian Elmquist (guitar and vocals), Zach Williams (lead vocals and guitar), and mandolinist Kanene Pipkin, have released their follow-up record, Then Came The Morning, that seamlessly combine their folk-rock twang with gospel-infused melodies.

These Southern-born but Brooklynbased musicians worked with The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner, allowing the album to feature interlaced melancholic moments between the electric guitar riffs and soulful vocal harmonies. The Concordian caught up with Brian Elmquist and Zach Williams to discuss the latest release, tour life and band dynamic, before their stop here in Montreal at Petit Campus on Feb. 26.

The Concordian: Let’s start off a bit more generally. What prompted you to take up music and to form The Lone Bellow?

years into a particular hood. We've all lived a couple blocks from each other for years and had the chance to get to know our neighbours well, so living in the city has that small town feel. But, obviously, there is still that beautiful overwhelming sense of mystery that NYC has always given me. And knowing that so much good work is being created around you has a way of pushing you to work on your craft.

C: Your sound has been described as a mix between multiple genres including southern gothic, blues-rock and folk rock. How would you describe the sound and overall atmosphere of this album?

BE: Well it starts with the song. If you can't sing it on an acoustic it's probably not worth recording. We don't approach the music we make from a genre we're trying to wall around us. We'd rather serve the song in the best way possible.

I feel like because we made this record in an abandoned-church-turned-studio, the room led us to a more gospel-infused rock record. I feel like the space on the record is the most powerful thing. It allows us to be as quiet as the music can be and find these big moments throughout.

ZW: We tried to be sensitive to whatever we felt like the song needed. Sometimes the answer was a French horn. Sometimes it was a strange electric guitar sound going through an old school projector. We didn't really have genres in mind while we were creating the music.

C: Where did you guys draw inspiration for your follow-up album?

BE: Our fans. We meet them every night after we play and take their feedback and stories were our songs have leaked in someway very seriously. It sounds cliche, you can find all the inspiration you need listening to your fans.

And... They're the ones paying our bills anyway.

ZW: I feel that there were a few different things going on. Some of the inspiration is from personal situations, others are from family lore, and others are from having this grand opportunity to be able to play music in all these beautiful cities and towns and meet all these wonderful souls. Hearing stories of folks who took our songs and made it their own. We definitely had that in mind as well.

C: You worked with Bryce and Aaron Dessner from The National who have

Brian Elmquist: I've always loved music since I was a kid. I bought my first guitar with money I made mowing lawns around the neighborhood I grew up in. I had been doing my own thing in Nashville and then New York. Zach and I were working through some songs and we sang a song from the first record called you can be all kinds of emotional.

Kanene [Pipkin] was there at the first practice. It was so powerful that we all decided to go all in. We were in the studio for our first record six months.

BE: I personally am a little too big of a fan of The National. Aaron also a very unique guitar player so I learned so much during the process. As a whole I think Aaron took a band member roll to this record. And we were all in. We had all these songs and ideas about sounds, but needed someone to filter it down so to speak. I think they both also want to serve songs more than just going for a particular sound. So in the end especially with their help they could get what was ambiguous in out head and there's recorded. So it was a beautiful process.

ZW: They showed us an entire new form of creating. Twins who have been in a band making honest music they are proud of for 20 years is a special thing.

The work ethic and ability to cut through the ideas was beautiful to be a part of.

They have strong convictions towards creating fresh sounds and beauty.

C: You guys have toured pretty extensively in the last few years. What is tour life like? Any particular stand-out moments or memories?

BE: A sprinter van and 6 friends with lots of emotions. It's a blast and we have to take good care of eachother. We have families and friends at home. It gets tough being away from them and we couldn't do it without their support.

One time I tried to climb a 15-foot fence in L.A. to swim in a reservoir. There might have been whiskey. I fell and ripped my only jeans somethin’ terrible.

I had to duct tape them back together to play Jay Leno the next day.

ZW: It's beautiful and terrible all at once. On one side I get to be with my best friends in a van and play music for a living. I get to run through cities and forest that I would never have had the chance to run through. On the other side I have to be away from my wife and children.

Zach Williams: I grew up around music in my family, but I didn't start writing and singing until I was in my 20s. It started out as just a cathartic thing. I'd go to the open mics close to where I lived.

I had my own thing for several years, and moved to New York City to pursue music about 10 years ago. We formed The Lone Bellow about four years ago and started out as eight friends getting together to play music. We started singing the first song at the first rehearsal which was called "You Can Be All Kinds Of Emotional." Singing it together was something else.

C: What are you listening to nowadays?

BE: Little Feat, The Band, Linda Ronstadt, Shakey Graves, Tallest Man on Earth.

ZW: I love the Blake Mills’ new record.

Also, the new Father John Misty, Sharon van Etton, and D’Angelo.

C: You are Southern-born musicians, but a Brooklyn-based band. How have both these cities influenced your style?

C: What feeling/idea do you want listeners to take away from this album?

BE: Well we all grew up with incredible story tellers all around us, so that's an important part of the way we write. I think being based in Brooklyn with a tight artist community just feeds the need to tell these stories as extraordinary or mundane as they might come.

ZW: Growing up in the south has probably influenced us a lot more than we are even aware of. We've gotten to know each other's extended families over the past few years of touring and I love meeting the people who helped raise my friends. Living in NYC has a small town feel to it after you've invested a few

previously worked with other groups like Local Natives. How did his presence influence the sound on Then Came The Morning?

BE: All the feelings. It's a beautiful life that we all get to live. It's hard and wonderful. It's heartbreaking and inspiring.

If everyone's in it together, no one's alone.

ZW: I think my highest hope would that it would be a part of all the other expressions of art. It helps a person stop. Just pause for a moment and take in something.

The Lone Bellow. From left: Brian Elmquist, Kanene Pipkin, Zach Williams. Press Photo.

The Lone Bellow play Petit Campus on Feb. 26.

Tuesday, january 17, 2015

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Profile // MUSIC

of Montreal’s modern aesthetic appeal The band’s image and performances are enhanced with their wild aesthetic creativity

of Montreal at The Mohawk on Oct. 24, 2014. The band’s 13th studio album, Aureate

Steven Nadeau Staff writer

If he’s not covered in shaving cream emerging from a coffin or rockin’ a cute frilly skirt and fishnets, then chances are that of Montreal’s frontman, Kevin Barnes, might just be performing in nothing but a ribbon seductively wrapped around his body (leaving all the good parts exposed).

Originating from the depths of Athens, Georgia, this paragon of an artistic orgy goes beyond the goal of auditory magnificence to bring its listeners complete corporeal and transcendental liberation through the multiple forms of art they create.

Yet, somehow, the band’s mastermind lives up to Lord Gunge’s (from hip-hop funk duo Grand Buffet) label of being “the kinkiest motherfucker I have ever seen in my life” as said in an interview for the documentary of the band called The Past is a Grotesque Animal. This emphasis on their visual appearance is in no way a distraction from lazy song writing, nor are they trying to sell a lifestyle as many contemporary musicians attempt, but rather, their optical artistry is simply one piece of the overall brilliance they ooze.

It’s moderately impossible to describe the aesthetic madness within of Montreal’s wacky theatrics, save for maybe a kaleidoscopic mind-fuck that incorporates gender-bending, morphsuits and horse riding in nothing but gold booty shorts (yes, they actually had a live horse on stage back in 2008 at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC). Even the mere words that describe it seem like a watered down version of what actually goes on inside the venue walls at one of their concerts. Being not nearly as insignificant or unheard

Gloom, will be released on March 3. Photos by Landry Edwards.

of as one might have presupposed, of Montreal has toured with artists such as Deerhoof and MGMT, borrowed a band member from Elf Power, collaborated with Foxygen, Solange Knowles, Janelle Monae, had a song featured in an episode of Weeds and even had Susan Sarandon perform at a few of their shows who explained, in the documentary, “the first time I met the band I was actually kind of [dressed up as] a teacher with a ruler and I sat on Kevin and spanked a man in a naked pig costume.”

The only thing weirder than their look might just be the music itself, ranging from Sesame Street-like echoes to glamfunk bursts of psychotic energy. Song titles that go from “Happy Yellow Bumblebee,” to “Big Tittied Sluts,” each album exploring a different universe of style without sacrificing their ‘authenticity,’ whatever that may be. What’s even more impressive is how they’ve manage to pull this all off without insane amounts of money and professional designers that modern pop artists have access to: it’s Barnes’ brother David who directs the skits and costume designs they feature at their concerts. Back in 2013 during an interview with WKDU Philadelphia 91.7FM, Kevin described that “of Montreal has sort of become its own collective within itself with all of these people contributing ideas, and working together, [it’s] my brother and my wife that do a lot of the album artwork and animation that we have live. Everyone is performing different roles within the group.” This renders of Montreal one of the few unique ensembles that radiate complete sensory titillation through extremely personal and genuine lyricism: they simply take ‘art’ to a whole different level.

The band is releasing their 13th studio album, Aureate Gloom, on March 3.

Kevin Barnes performing in Miami, on Jan. 18, 2015. Photo by Jonathan Manarang.

sports

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TUesDAY, FeBRUARY 17, 2015

write to the editor: sports@theconcordian.com women’s hockey // spoRTs

Goalies steal the spotlight stingers offence continues to sputter at the end of the regular season

Sports in the News peGGY KABeYA Assistant sports editor

>> THE FIRE SALE BEGINS

The dreadful Toronto Maple Leafs executed the opening act of their much-anticipated rebuild as they traded away a pair of expiring contracts in defenseman Cody Franson and forward Mike Santorelli. After registering only one win their last 10 games, the Leafs’ front office initiated the impending fire sale before the March 2 trade deadline.

In return for Franson and Santorelli, the Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired a 2015 first round pick, the rights to AHL forward prospect Brendan Leipsic and aging centre Olli Jokinen from the Nashville Predators.

>> GO FOR IT LAVINE New York City’s NBA All-Star weekend was in full affect Saturday night as the Sprite Slam Dunk contest had the Barclays Centre crowd on their feet. The NBA All-Star dunk contest, which has significantly regressed over the past couple years due to lack of star involvement, was resurrected by a young high-flyer that had fans reminiscing over Vince Carter’s 2000 All-Star theatrics. Minnesota Timberwolves rookie guard Zach LaVine stole the show when he effortlessly floated through the air throwing down awe-inspiring slams in front of a sold out crowd. By the end of the competition LaVine received two perfect scores on his way to defeating the Orlando Magic’s rising star Victor Oladipo to capture the 2015 NBA All-Star dunk contest.

>> BYE-BYE BEASTMODE? Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is considering retirement after news broke that he’s suffering from compressed cartilage in his back, which doctors have indicated will not heal over time and could worsen given the physical nature of his chosen profession. Lynch, who ranked fourth in the NFL in terms rushing yards, eclipsed 1000 rushing yards for the fourth consecutive season.

Hall of Fame running backs Walter Peyton, Jim Brown and more recently, Barry Sanders all had relatively short careers despite their all-time greatness. Despite the back issues, the Seahawks are still offering Lynch a reported $10 million per year if he so chooses to return to the gridiron.

alySSa Sherrard winS a draw in ottawa’S Zone during Sunday’S afternoon game. PhotoS by andreJ iVanoV.

TiM lAZieR sports editor

Playoffs are nearly upon Concordia’s women’s hockey team and the Stingers are stumbling towards the end of the regular season. Hosting the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Sunday, Feb. 15 at the Ed Meagher Arena, Concordia dropped its third straight regular season game losing 2-1 in shootouts.

Now sitting in third place of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division with a record of 6-7-5, the Stingers have just two games left in the regular season. As they continue to get stellar play from their rookie goaltender Katherine Purchase, the Stingers’ goal-scoring ability has been their biggest downfall as of late.

Concordia has only managed to score two goals in their last three defeats. If not for their defense and netminder, the outcomes could have looked a lot worse.

Both goalies were tested early in Sunday’s affair between the Stingers and the Gee-Gees. In the first period alone, the teams combined for 17 shots on goal. While Purchase turned aside all seven shots that she faced in the opening 20 minutes, Ottawa’s goaltender Maude Lévesque-Ryan was even more impressive. Spectators could sense that the Stingers were yearning for an early goal, a feat that Concordia has had trouble with during their current slump. Unfortunate for Concordia’s attackers, Lévesque-Ryan stopped all 10 shots to keep it 0-0 after the first period.

Three minutes into the second period, Gee-Gees forward Cindy Laurin was given a two-minute penalty for body checking and handed the Stingers a power play. Stingers centre Devon Thompson scored her sixth goal of the season on the advantage and gave her team the 1-0 edge.

The lead didn’t last long for Concordia though as less than two minutes later the Gee-Gees answered back. Forward Camille Pauck-Therrien tied the game with her sixth goal of the year, beating Purchase to make it 1-1.

The third period was an all-out attack on both fronts. The Stingers threw 13 shots on target at Lévesque-Ryan while the GeeGees bombarded Purchase with 10 of their own. With all the back-and-forth traffic, it seemed that it was only a matter of time before one team would break the tie. And yet, neither goalie flinched.

Lévesque-Ryan and Purchase were the

two brightest stars of the game. Both goalies gave their teams a chance to win and left shooters frustrated every time they returned to their bench.

After neither team could solve the opposition’s netminder in overtime, the game headed to a shootout. Two out of Ottawa’s five shooters beat Purchase and it was just enough to give the Gee-Gees the shootout victory.

If Concordia can find their scoring touch within the next week and into the playoffs, their solid goaltending and impenetrable defense can take them on an unexpected playoff run. Purchase just needs to make sure that the talent in front of her can hold up their end of the deal.

Concordia will visit the Carleton Ravens on Friday, Feb. 20, before playing their final game of the regular season at the Ed Meagher Arena on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. versus the Carabins of the UdeM.

Tuesday, February 17. 2015

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Men’s hockey // spoRTs

Stingers eliminated from the playoffs Men’s hockey team pushes cross-town rivals to the brink but can’t complete the upset sAM oBRAnD staff writer

Game 1 Playoff hockey began last Wednesday, Feb. 11, for the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team as they faced their local rivals the McGill Redmen in the first of a three-game series.

Hosted by McGill at McConnell Arena, the eighth-seeded Stingers exemplified that they were a resilient club, beating their first-placed counterparts 6-4 in what was a spirited opening tilt.

“We certainly followed the game plan to a tee and that got us a win,” said Stingers Head Coach Kevin Figsby on the team’s execution.

Highlighting the game was the combined effort from Stingers Captain Olivier Hinse and Forward Jessyko Bernard, who each recorded three points in the victory.

Hinse, who notched two power play goals, led the Stingers in scoring with 18 goals and 31 points in 26 regular season games.

Concordia took a 4-1 lead through the midway mark of the third before the Redmen responded, scoring two goals within six minutes of play and cutting Concordia’s lead to just one.

McGill marked their fourth goal of the evening with just 14 seconds left on the clock, but it was too little too late for any light of a comeback.

Game 2 Game two of the series took place at the Ed Meagher Arena where an electrified Concordia crowd presented a true playoff atmosphere.

The game itself did not meet the crowd’s expectations as McGill validated their first place standings and stung the Stingers with a 5-0 victory.

“It was symptomatic tonight, we‘ve had series in the season where we play great for a few games straight, then we have a mental letdown. Tonight I just don’t think our give-a-damn metre was high enough,” said Figsby.

The Redmen presented a style of play that was full of urgency, commanding a 4-0 lead after two.

Concordia’s lack of discipline plagued the team as they posted 31 penalty minutes on 10 infractions, costing the Stingers valuable even-strength hockey.

the

StingerS gaVe their riValS all they could handle in the Playoff SerieS. Photo by andreJ iVanoV.

The Redmen recorded their fifth goal midway through the third, keeping the game out of reach and sending the series to a winner-takes-all finale.

Game 3 The stage was set at the McConnell Arena for the third and final showdown between the two squads.

Both clubs presented will and grit once the rubber was dropped, but McGill prevailed on home ice, taking the deciding game 6-3.

“I think we scared the shit out of them with that first win in the first game and what it did was give our guys a lot of confidence to know that as we grow and develop as a team and as a program then we can compete with the top teams,” said Figsby.

Concordia struck first, scoring off a rebound that forward Ben Dubois found for the 1-0 early lead. It only took two minutes before McGill’s regular season point

leader Cedric McNicoll found a bouncing puck in front of Concordia’s goal and scored the equalizer.

On a Redmen possession at the 11:00 minute mark, an initial shot caused Stingers netminder Robin Billingham to be out of position, allowing forward Mathieu Pompei to tuck the puck in from the left side, putting McGill ahead 2-1 to end the first.

Concordia started the second with strong possession time, but a McGill clear took an awkward bounce in the corner that sent the puck right in front of the Stingers goal where Redmen David Rose capitalized, extending McGill’s lead by two.

With six minutes into the second period, a streaking Pietro Antonelli came out of the box, outskated Concordia’s defence, cut towards the crease and made a onehanded backhand move to notch McGill’s fourth unanswered goal.

With just less than 30 seconds left in the second period, Ben Dubois dropped a pass to Philippe Hudon who sent a clap-

Stingers

per into the mesh, cutting McGill’s lead to 4-2.

The third began with the highest emotional level of the series, but McGill’s defensive unit hardly gave Concordia any room to operate.

Just past the midway mark of the frame, a shot from the right corner deflected through backup Goalie Alexandre St-Arnaud and put the Redmen up 5-2.

Stingers forward Danny Potvin made a great effort to find the back of the net off a quick rush, putting Concordia back within two, but an empty net goal erased any hopes of a comeback.

“These guys persevered through. In 20 years from now when those guys all gather together no one is going to worry about tonight, they’re going to worry about the four or five years that they’ve spent together as friends and what it meant to have that opportunity given to them by Concordia University to play at one of the highest levels of amateur hockey in the world,” said Figsby.

Come check out the Concordia Stingers in action on home turf !

MEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Saturday, Feb. 21, at 4 P.M. VS McGill

Saturday, Feb. 21, at 2 P.M. VS McGill

Saturday, Feb. 21, at 2 P.M. VS McGill

at Loyola

at Loyola

at Loyola

MORE INFO AT STINGERS.CA

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

opinions write to the editor: opinions@theconcordian.com editorial // opinions

Twenty-four years of activism; little change Missing and murdered aboriginal women cause still prevalent issue in Canada

I

t’s been 24 years since feet first hit the pavement for missing and murdered Aboriginal women. In 1991, the first march took place in Vancouver, calling attention to the epidemic crime against women in Aboriginal communities. They denounced the government’s inaction; the police’s cold shoulder; the RCMP’s deaf ear.

They are familiar words.

It’s been 24 years. What has changed?

In a 2014 RCMP report, the agency conceded that “Aboriginal women are over-represented among Canada’s murdered and missing women” and “that

the total number of murdered and missing Aboriginal females exceeds previous public estimates”. The document goes so far as to look at probable cause: they estimate only one per cent of missing Aboriginal women are runaways. Comparatively, unknown circumstances and foul play represent a 37 and 27 per cent, respectively.

In cases officially deemed a homicide, Aboriginal women have been consistent and familiar victims for decades. Over a 32-year period, Aboriginal women represented 55 per cent of all female homicide victims in Saskatchewan. Fourty-nine per

cent in Manitoba. Nationally, 16 per cent of all female homicide victims are Aboriginal; but Aboriginal women only account for 4.3 per cent of the female population.

24 years. What has changed?

Not enough.

The fact that this is a topic still worthy of an editorial shows how much we have failed. Decades of marching has offered awareness, but not justice. Authorities offer kind words and inquiries, but not solutions. Aboriginal women continue to be over-represented in crime, and underrepresented in policy. They continue to vanish on our highways, in our streets

and in their homes.

Canada as a country has blocked its ears to Aboriginal plight since its inception. Today, we look back on colonization and residential schools as an evil of the past, as a transgression we have atoned for through kind words and public knowledge. But as long as the voices calling for justice remain marginalized, until our country raises its voice as one community seeking justice, we will be doomed to repeat past mistakes.

History repeats—has been repeating—for 24 long, long years: nothing’s changed.

society // opinions

Palliative care, not painful goodbyes Hasty decision and economic climate shift focus away from palliative care

MATTHew sHAnAHAn Contributor

O

n Feb. 6, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that doctors can assist Canadian adults who are suffering from incurable and severe medical diseases to die.

The current law, under section 241 of the Criminal Code, states that “every one who counsels a person to commit suicide, or aids or abets a person to commit suicide, whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.” The government now has one year to rewrite the law.

I have come to a point in my academic development where I can no longer take a black-and-white stand on these sorts of complex issues. Simply conforming to one perspective on the issue does not help educate the population beyond our political biases, which are rooted in ideologies that have been passed on from generation to generation.

The thing that struck me most about this decision is how quickly it was made.

There’s no doubt that people saw this decision coming sooner rather than later, especially with Quebec being the first province to adopt a right-to-die legislation in 2014, according to The Globe and Mail.

But it’s no secret that despite the fact that Canadians have free healthcare, the quality isn’t very good. The Canadian government is in a lot of debt and a lot of money is spent on healthcare. This is not

to say that they shouldn’t, because it is priority for us Canadians that every one of us gets their fair access to healthcare.

Part of the reasoning behind free healthcare is that one person should not be valued more than the other. Whether you’re rich or poor, young or old, we all share the same dignity and rights because we are all human beings that all come from the same root.

Given how quickly this decision was made, I can’t help but think that part of its motivation is financial. It may be a

way to cut debt from the large amounts that the Canadian government spends on healthcare.

However, I don’t wish to simplify this position to just that. At the core of the right-to-die position is the belief that each individual should have the choice to end their life when they are comfortable in doing so and feel life is no longer worth living.

The biggest issue that I take with this court decision is the absence of the role of palliative care. There’s no doubt in

the canadian SuPreme court haS ruled that medically aSSiSted Suicide Should be gal in SPecific caSeS, SParKing a nationwide debate. Photo by dan coX on flicKr.

le-

my mind that before a country can even consider euthanasia as a viable option for dealing with those in difficult medical conditions, the advancement of palliative care must play a pivotal role in caring for the sick and giving them the best possible end-of-life care.

Fundamentally, that is why I am angered by the most recent decision from our Supreme Court. For those who value life before choice, it’s clear that this bill rejects their values. But even for those who value choice over life in a political setting, it is a tricky issue. How can our Canadian government make an objective law on physician-assisted suicide when the very “pro-choice” ideology they are going forward with does not reflect reality?

How can a human being make a decision about the end of their life when the palliative care option is basically being shunned?

The end result will be problematic for Canadians in this vulnerable position.

Rather than making a choice about the end of their life, many Canadians will, naturally, be put in a position where physician-assisted suicide appears to be the best option because palliative care is unavailable.

My main concern is that this is what will result in the writing of this upcoming bill. In our current Canadian context, I feel that much of what would make up this bill fails to promote the “choice ideology” that initialized this debate.

Not improving palliative care diminishes the choice of the vulnerable individual while at the same time diminishes the value of life.

It’s a lose-lose situation.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

There is still more time to apply for Personal Credits of up to $3000 for educational, language or cultural programs.

Individuals who received a Common Experience Payment under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement are eligible for up to $3000 in Personal Credits for education programs and services.

These include courses at universities, colleges, trade or training schools or for programs and workshops provided by community-based groups or cultural centres for activities related to Aboriginal language and culture. Personal Credits can be used by a Common Experience Payment recipient, shared with up to two family members or pooled for group education services.

The deadline to apply has been extended to March 9, 2015. Help with completing the Personal Credits Acknowledgment Form is available.

Find out more at www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca or by phone: Scan with your mobile device

. " " #&! ( #" " 1-866-343-1858 . '' ! - # &'( ( #"' 1-866-869-6789 . )" *)( )"" * " #&$#& ( % ) ( 1-888-646-0006 . ")* ) ( #" #&$#& ( #" ")* 1-867-777-7092 . * #&$#& ( #" ) 1-418-522-2224

DÊlai prolongÊ pour prÊsenter une demande de crÊdits personnels d’une valeur pouvant atteindre 3 000 $ pour des programmes Êducationnels, linguistiques ou culturels.

CLIENT: Government Canada

DOCKET: 717-0064

VERSION: F

DATE: Feb 6/15

SAFETY: 0.125� x .125�

COLOUR SPECIFICATIONS: 4/0 CMYK

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BLEED: 0.00� x0.00�

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Steve Rust

ART DIRECTOR: Amanda Ryan

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ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Larie Mayer

Les bÊnÊficiaires du Paiement d’expÊrience commune en vertu de la Convention de règlement relative aux pensionnats indiens peuvent recevoir jusqu’à 3 000 $ sous forme de crÊdits personnels pour des programmes ou services d’Êducation.

Cela comprend des cours dans des universitÊs, des collèges ou des Êcoles de mÊtier ou de formation, ou des programmes ou ateliers fournis par des groupes communautaires ou des centres culturels qui offrent des activitÊs liÊes aux langues ou à la culture autochtones. Les crÊdits personnels peuvent être utilisÊs par les bÊnÊficiaires du Paiement d’expÊrience commune ou partagÊs avec un ou deux membres de leur famille, ou encore mis en commun dans le but d’obtenir des services d’Êducation collective.

La date limite pour prÊsenter une demande a ÊtÊ prolongÊe au 9 mars 2015. De l’aide pour remplir le formulaire d’attestation de crÊdits personnels est offerte.

Pour plus d’information, consultez le site Web www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca ou communiquez par tÊlÊphone avec les organisations suivantes : Balayez avec votre appareil mobile

+ ! ! "% ' "! #% ! # 1-866-343-1858 + && - & % /% & ' "!& 1-866-869-6789 + (! )(' (!! ) ! "%#"% ' $ ( ' 1-888-646-0006 + " -'- %- "! !() ( ' !() 1-867-777-7092 + " -'- ) (- 1-418-522-2224

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Want to see your name in print?

Consider joining the team as a staff writer!

Contributor’s become staff writers after having three articles published in the paper or online.

Our editors accept pitches of all kinds and new writers are welcome!

To get involved send an email to the section editor of your choice or come to a regular meeting Friday’s at 2:30 p.m.

Our offices are located on the fourth floor of the CC building (431) at Loyola.

Come brainstorm with us, get feedback on your ideas and meet our team of dedicated editors.

For all general inquiries, email editor@theconcordian.com

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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Relationships // opinions

The three arrows Cupid forgot single or smitten, there’s a lot of love to go around

MATTHew CiviCo staff writer

V

alentine’s Day has come and gone, along with the usual suspects: bitter haters and self-obsessed lovers.

What are you supposed to do if you don’t fall into either category? You could buy up boxes of discounted chocolate hearts and gorge yourself, but that’s what’s known as a bad decision. I’ve been there myself (don’t do it, even though it sounds like a great night).

I’ve got a better idea on what to do, and it starts with shifting our perspective on love. You’ve heard the calls for boycotting Valentine’s Day but I’m thinking bigger. Let’s burst the bounds of one day and spread all that love around, because there’s more of it than you may think.

When most people think of love they think of romance; the sexy, passionate love of HBO. Kisses, coitus, and cuddles (if you’re lucky) are what dominate the field of love today and that’s not bad in itself.

What’s bad though, is the inordinate focus on one type of love: “Eros”.

In order to explore this weighty topic we’ll defer to the founders of Western Civilization, those ineffable ancient Greeks. To begin, we’ll start with the hungry ache of Eros because it’s what we know best (and think we want most).

According to A Greek-English Lexicon, Eros is the erotic love of romance, with all its smoulder and breathless sighs—the love that is most often envied. Eros is the drug that Valentine’s Day is pushing and buyers line up for their chance at a hit. But I’m not here to tear down romantic love,

Graphic by Marie-Pier LaRose

just to tell you that it has been cheapened and to warn you not to waste your time on the knockoff. Eros is all about enjoying a person, but far too often we simply want to enjoy ourselves, and our lover becomes the means to an end.

Next up is “Storge” and, yes, it sounds funny (like a stork in storage) but it’s also the reason you didn’t get hit by a bus when you were two years-old. Storge is the affectionate love of parents and children, brothers, and sisters. Storge possesses a durability that isn’t always present in Eros because we don’t choose our family. Ours being a time when choice is supreme, this familial love is often ignored because it is unavoidable; an obligation.

“Philia” is the love that grows out of proximity and circumstance; this is the love of study dates, man-hugs, and long talks—love, between friends. Philia begins

with a common element like a prison cell, or stuffy lecture hall, and grows into friendships built around shared interests, cares, and concerns. Friendship is a wonderful thing, but what’s most interesting about Philia is its comparative uselessness.

Eros makes babies, Storge keeps them alive, but the Philia of a Starbucks heartto-heart isn’t biologically essential. C. S. Lewis, the British writer and philosopher said: “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” I’m inclined to agree.

The last of these Greek loves is “Agape”.

This is love that expects nothing in return.

Eros, Storge, and Philia can all reasonably expect a payoff, whether that be sex, gratitude, or simple companionship. Agape however, having never taken ECON 200, gives love away for free like a fool, with no

This is the face of change.

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conditions, priming itself for exploitation.

Agape, with very good reason to not show love, does it anyway.

This isn’t the love of a loonie in a crumpled coffee cup, it’s the love that takes the homeless man out for coffee, listens, and still gives him a few bucks. Agape is a love that hasn’t heard of selfies.

Ok, that was a nice little word study but maybe you’re wondering what this has to do with Valentine’s Day. Well, first of all I wanted to prove a point: there’s more to love than a dozen red roses.

Also, I wanted to remind you that love is essential to humanity. We need a quiver full of heart-tipped arrows to make life happen, and to make it happen beautifully.

This life demands a full-featured love.

Perhaps the oddest thing about Storge, Philia, and Agape are that they’re often unremarkable. No branding, no ensemblecast movies, and no billion dollar industry to strip them of all decency. Eros has sold out, but we can buy it back and set it straight if we’re willing to take a risk on the real thing.

Lewis again gives eloquent guidance: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

Love makes us vulnerable because of the price we must expect to pay; not in dollar bills or shots, but in sacrifice. Love is never only for you, it’s for another person or else it’s not love.

Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to spread love of all varieties, because Eros doesn’t have a monopoly on love.

So here’s a challenge for you: buy those chocolate hearts, but give them to someone you don’t expect to put out. Don’t want to be commercial? No worries, it’s my understanding that moms still love cardboard hearts.

Now that Valentine’s Day has come and gone, remember that love is more than bodies. There is a love that protects, a love that shares, and a love that gives too much.

That—no, those—are love.

ApoloGY // eTC

@karamazoo “THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE HERE RIGHT NOW don’t they know this is a library. #midtermsweek” @stephanieyelle “Back in my natural habitat.. Starbucks oh my Starbucks #midtermsweek” @MariamMMAbdou “Ok so I do still care about my grades but have no motivation or desire to do any type of work or put any effort???#midtermsweek” @PatriciaAngelli “Eye luggages: 50 shades darker #midtermsweek” @rebeccabutland “Attempted to study for 13 hours and I still know nothing #ScholarSunday #midtermcrisis #midtermsweek” @KellyNicole02 “I only come on twitter when I’m procrastinating... #MidtermsWeek”

Sincerely, Michelle Gamage, production manager

@_chrisrose “Hi, love me. Love me, paper. Let me love you. I might be going crazy. Ok, cool. #midtermsweek” @reginuuuuhh “When you’ve given it your all and it still wasn’t good enough #midtermsweek” @jjpfapp “If Simba can take back Pride Rock from Scar, I can get an A on this next exam #midtermsweek” @EarlDino “Cramming in 3... 2... 1. #MidtermsWeek” @magsbish “how to people have time to like watch the emmys or shower #midtermsweek” @dat_shit_KRAY4 “Another day, another day of not being productive #midtermsweek” @smastikh “I will be barely functioning for the rest of the week. #midtermsweek #sleepdepravation #makeitend”

Nathalie Laflamme Editor-in-Chief editor@theconcordian.com Michelle Gamage Production manager production@theconcordian.com Milos Kovacevic News editor news@theconcordian.com Frederic T. Muckle Assistant news editor Sara Baron-Goodman Life editor life@theconcordian.com Lindsay Richardson Arts editor arts@theconcordian.com Mia Pearson Music editor music@theconcordian.com Tim Lazier Sports editor sports@theconcordian.com

lAURA’s JoKe oF THe weeK // eTC

Laura Marchand Opinions editor opinions@theconcordian.com Keith Race Photo editor photo@theconcordian.com

Ney Nathalie,

Andrej Ivanov Assistant photo editor

Do you know why the Titanic can’t get a date?

Jocelyn Beaudet Online editor online@theconcordian.com Marie-Pier LaRose Graphics editor graphics@theconcordian.com

@FIDM_Johnae “Deadlines on top of deadlines on top of deadlines #midtermsweek” @aarondave “That 3 hours quality sleep, for the win. #midtermsweek”

Tuesday, February 17, 2015 Vol. 32 Issue 19

Gregory Todaro Emily Gaudet Marilla Steuter-Martin Copy editors copy@theconcordian.com

I don’t know. Because it sank?

Natasha Taggart Marilla Steuter-Martin Production assistants

No! Because it just can’t break the ice!

Editorial office 7141 Sherbrooke St. Building CC-Rm 431 Montreal, QC H4B 1R6 514-848-2424 ext. 7499 (Editor-in-Chief) Marc-Antoine Cardin Business manager business@theconcordian.com William Atsaidis Advertising manager advertising@theconcordian.com Tyson Lowrie Jacob Serebin Ruben Bastien Board of directors directors@theconcordian.com

Contributors Kirsten Humbert, Beatrice Viens Cote, Mim Kempson, Laurent Pitre, Elijah Burkeev, Rita Latif, Steven Nadeau, Christina Sanza, Jess Romera, Meghan Kelly, Danielle Gasher, Peggy Kabeya, Voldermort, Sam Obrand

theconcordian

Coffee coffee coffee.

Stress. Therapy dogs. Lots and lots of alcohol. Reading Week: so close, yet so far.

Take a five minute break, Concordians, and laugh in solidarity with your Twitter brethren -- after all, we re all just trying to survive #MidtermsWeek.

In our 17th issue, published on Feb. 3, 2015, I provided a recipe for some tasty risotto on our 23rd page, with the cooking instructions concluding with, “if you want to get into someone’s pants, make them risotto. Bitches love risotto.”

Since printing the recipe, we received negative feedback from an upset reader, who wanted an explanation for our “misogynistic” attitude and “dreadful words.”

So I would like to say I am sorry, and that I apologize if I have offended. My intent was not to offend, but to be humorous.

When my friend taught me how to make risotto some years ago, he jokingly added that risotto was a fancy-seeming, great-smelling, impressive dish to have simmering on the stove if I ever had company over.

Both my friend and myself willingly identify as feminists, and meant no derogatory connotations with this anecdote. When we refer to ‘bitches,’ we not referring solely to women or using the term degradingly.

The idea is to cook food for your significant other, which may or may not later lead to, “getting into someone’s pants.” I in no way meant to suggest that making someone risotto would mean they owed you sexual favours in any way. After all, someone’s right to give consent for sex, or to withhold that consent (and have it respected) is always theirs, regardless of if they have been bought a drink in a club, or had a homemade meal prepared for them.

As for the use of the word, “bitches,” it was used in reference to the common Internet trope of “Bitches love [insert word here].”

For those unfamiliar, I recommend googling said phrase. However, I also understand how that word could have offended some readers, and, again, apologize.

Concordia s weekly, independent student newspaper.

EVENTS

Have a good week !

Arts We are not alone, Segal Centre- Feb. 18 Beauty and the Beast, West Island Theatre Association - Feb. 19 to Feb. 22 Fathomless, FOFA Gallery - Until Feb. 20 88 days in Själsö, FOFA Gallery - Until Feb. 20 Political Poem / I Watch the News, FOFA Gallery - Until Feb. 20 CBC Montreal’s “And the Birds Rained Down”, Indigo - Feb. 25 Concordia Bitcoin and Crypto Society’s scavenger hunt - Feb. 17 The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Monument National - Feb. 24-28 LADYcab (Fundraiser for “Because I am a Girl”), Cafe Cleopatra - Feb. 22

Music Ariel Pink w/ Jack Name, Le National - Feb. 20 The Lone Bellow, Petit Campus - Feb. 26 Dan Mangan w/ Astral Swans, Corona Theatre - Feb. 21 Bent by Elephants, La Sala Rossa - Feb. 17 Hayden, Corona Theatre - Feb. 21 White Horse, L’Astral Feb - Feb. 21