The day after

November 3, next American president determined, Massive Riot ensues, Kops responsible. Only it's not the kind of mêlée the name implies. Massive Riot, see, is the Crew's new temporary gallery (5392 St-Laurent), and they mean riot in the fun sense. These, after all, are the people who bring bright colour to drab walls and throw parties where you dance in your underwear.

"It's not directly about politics," explains Crew member Ill_relevance, "but it is a way of reacting to the whole build-up." As such, Kops, unlike many North American artists, have held back from officially endorsing any one candidate, rather choosing to focus on what they do best: street art. Works from Comos, Produkt, Giver, Specter, Ill_relevance and Kathleen Weldon will grace the white walls at the opening throwdown, running from 7–11 p.m., pants optional, beer and roties served, and the space will see a constantly changing display until its run ends on Feb. 28, assumingly 39 days after the presidential inauguration. » Matthew Woodley

Madame Smith parle
et danse

If you've ever taken a second-language course, no doubt you've encountered the empty, repetitive dialogues in textbooks created to drill in verb tenses and the days of the week. About a year ago, choreographer Karina Iraola fell in love with Eugene Ionesco's first work, La Cantatrice Chauve, which the playwright wrote while learning English. The play pokes fun at these dialogues through characters having banal conversations. One of the characters, Madame Smith, caught Iraola's attention.

"She is bourgeois, very funny and nervous," Iraola explains. "But I started to wonder what she was really like on the inside." With this in mind, Iraola, a LADMMI graduate concocted Madame Smith, a theatrical piece for three that goes beyond simple textbook text and appearances.

Iraola knows about second languages, she was born here, but to Spanish-speaking parents. Now her work is part of Tangente's Dança Danza: nouvelle danse latine series that runs from Oct. 28–30, at 8:30 p.m., with a Halloween matinée at 4 p.m., (840 Cherrier, 525-1500). » Marites Carino

Polysexual poetics

Shapeshifter supreme Atif Siddiqi's latest incarnation is Trannie Tronic, a girl on a mission to liberate transsexuality. "Trannie is all about expressing how we as a society could go beyond having trannies be a sexual fetish," Siddiqi explains. "She wants to dress up and claim her space in all the different milieus - walk on the Main holding hands with her man, for instance." Siddiqi performs "Good Girl," "Love Gun," "My Man," "Dirty Little Secret" and more, with music by Steve Orton (Sunbreaker), this Saturday, Oct. 30, as part of the inaugural Montreal GLBT International Theatre Festival. It's at Station C (1450 Ste-Catherine E.) at midnight, $10–$12. The dress theme is satyricon/masked chic. For more GLBT info, call Village Scene Productions at 526-9842. » Vincent Tinguely

Disposable keepsakes

If you're one of those people who never wins anything, your luck can change tonight, Thursday, Oct. 28. Local artist-run centre Optica is throwing a fundraising bash to support its publications at O Patro Vys, (356 Mont-Royal E). General admittance tickets are $10, and, according to Optica director Marie-Josée Lafortune, everyone who attends is pretty well guaranteed one of the excellent door prizes (cinema and concert tickets, publications, memberships to museums, gift certificates etc.).

If you're feeling a bit more flush, for $250 you can buy a ticket that entitles you to bring home the contents of one of 30 disposable panoramic cameras containing up to 15 images snapped by art luminaries like AA Bronson, Carolee Schneemann and François Morelli. Wow. The multi-media good time is hosted by performance artist Pierre Beaudoin and Lesbians on Ecstasy's Jackie "the Jackhammer" Gallant. The party starts at 7 p.m., more info at www.optica.ca or 874-1666. » Christine Redfern

Is it Art?

KILLING SOFTLY: Making a death threat has got to be at least 10 times more awkward than asking someone out on a date. Plain and simple, "I'm going to kill you," is a hard subject to broach. Or it was, anyway. The Godfather Horse Head Pillow is a replica of the well-known symbolic stallion noggin from the classic mobster movie, only it's made of high-quality synthetic fur with a super-soft yet fairly realistic felt tongue. Before you send someone off to sleep with the fishes, give them one of these as a gentle reminder of what's to come. They can be ordered at www.kropserkel.com/godfather.htm, $70 (U.S.) for a stuffed one or $60 (U.S.) if you'd rather stuff it yourself.

ArtsHole

TAKING A STANZA IN THE STREETS: Twenty-one acclaimed Canadian poets across the country are currently spending their days wandering the streets of their respective cities in search of strangers to read their poems to as part of the inaugural Random Acts of Poetry Week. Be warned: three such scribes are on the loose in Montreal until Oct. 30. • CALCULATION CULTURE: Experimental video meets live audiovisual performance and good old mathematics at Algorythm[e]s, a night of modern multimedia madness that brings together 13 avant-garde artists at la Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent) tonight, Thursday, Oct. 28, 8 p.m., free. Sample can be seen at http://algorythmes.perte-de-signal.org.

ARTISTAT: Number of traditional stone sculptures carved by members of Zimbabwe's largest tribe the Shona, on display at the Galerie d'art Richelieu's exhibition Romancing the Stone until Nov. 7: 300

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