Givin'er at the theatre

Destined to become a Montreal institution - if not for the quality of the performance that will take place within its walls, then for its prime position directly across the street from established venue Pussy Corps - Theatre Ste-Catherine officially opens its doors this weekend (264 Ste-Catherine E.). The place is the brainchild of Eric Amber, a performer himself, having spent years training in his father's Calgary furniture store, the famous Loose Moose Theatre and the streets of Australia, in that order, before inheriting a fire-gutted building that once housed a 99-cent pizza joint.

With the paint barely dry, Amber hosts the Remembrance Day Cabaret: A Night to Remember, tonight, Nov. 11, at 9 p.m., with Paul Spence, featuring a handful of other jokesters, $7. On Friday, the party rages on when Spence and Dave Lawrence (aka Dean and Terry from FUBAR) launch their book Just Give'r, a practical guide to being piss-friggered all the time and still coping with the day in, day out, at an open house from 8-10 p.m., free. On Saturday, Bob Wiseman, Sook Yin Lee and others break out more comedy and music, 9 p.m., $10. And Sunday kicks off what could be a regular Sunday Night Improv series with Eric, Dave and Paul at 8 p.m. Technically, all this action makes the weekend a theatre bender. » Matthew Woodley

Frippin' out

Montreal artists can often be spotted doing some shopping down at the Salvation Army Store in Griffintown (1620 Notre-Dame W.) - though I've never run into any of the city's art collectors there. The location is apt for the current exhibition USED/GOODS, as this art event revolves around a philosophy of sharing and community, the antithesis of the precious objet d'art.

USED/GOODS brings together 13 amusing in-situ installations by local artists Lorraine Oades, Jo-Anne Balcaen, Christopher Flower and more. There's also a small television studio environment on the second floor called TALK SHOW, modelled after daytime TV's home decorating, cooking and household repair shows. Here, performance events, workshops and presentations will be hosted most afternoons by Kelly Lynne Wood, including How to Make Something From Nothing with Léopold Foulem (Nov. 12), Barbara Todd's Sewing Bee (Nov. 17) and Singing Lessons from Kathy Kennedy (Nov. 18). The exhibition runs until November 25, for the full schedule or more info, visit www.cam.org/~articule/ or call 284-USED. » Christine Redfern

Anarchists rant!

The University of Victoria-based anarchist academic Allan Antliff delivers a presentation and slide show at this Saturday's benefit for the 2005 Anarchist Bookfair. He's editor of Only a Beginning: An Anarchist Anthology, which documents Canadian anarchist communities' activities over the past quarter century, drawing on the Antliff-curated Anarchist Archive. "Anarchism is open-ended," Antliff enthuses, "in the sense that its egalitarian ethos encourages inclusion, constant learning and revision, not a closing down into dogmatic sectarian politics - this or that variation of exclusionary ‘identity' politics, for example."

Antliff is joined by Direct Action revolutionary Ann Hansen, rebel ranter Norman Nawrocki and Montreal activist Alexandre Popovic, who'll talk about the French-language publication Démanarchie. Nov. 13, 7 p.m., at Café La Petite Gaule (2525 Centre, metro Charlevoix), $5. » Vincent Tinguely

He likes the wind

Alas, if only someone could build a machine that could capture the wind and reproduce it in four-dimensional real time using 2,880 light-emitting diodes in a 64-channel installation... Surprise! Someone already has! Prairie-raised, Montreal-based artist Steve Heimbecker's POD installation, which does what it says above, is on display at Oboro (4001 Berri) from Nov. 13-Dec. 11, interpreting info from the Wind Array Cascade Machine, currently taking in the breeze on the Ex-Centris roof

The telematic environmental mapping and network diffusion system can be seen right after Oboro's open house, from noon-5 p.m., this Saturday, Nov. 13, when the gallery shows off its brand-new New Media Lab. The facility offers a 1,000-square-foot studio, two independently isolated recording studios on three floating floors and more gear than you could shake a Schoeps CCM8 figure-8 microphone at. » Matthew Woodley

Is it Art?

DON'T STRESS, SQWIGGLE: Studies have indicated that stress is prevalent in North America, a result of long working hours, politics and the media. Eastern thinking has long connected emotional stress with human physiology, developing practices such as meditation and yoga as a means to connect the body and the mind. Even though one quarter of the world lives in China and the Japanese sleep in cramped pull-out drawers in airports, they seem composed for the most part. Spiritual practices are taking hold in North America, but many still prefer buying products that help alleviate stress. One such promising item is The Sqwiggler™, a handheld gadget that looks like a spider, with 10 protruding copper rods that massage your head to stimulate nerve endings. $29.95, http://www.everythingforlove.com/Public/TheSqwiggler/index.cfm to order.

ArtsHole

YOU ARE NOT ALONE: Being caught masturbating, soiling one's trousers, smoking behind the school, fantasizing about weird stuff and other awkward moments of childhood and adolescence play out in Shary Boyle's new graphic novel, Witness My Shame, a fusion of 16 mini books and more created in the past seven years. Witness the launch on Saturday, Nov. 13, 8 p.m., at F-52 (4826 St-Denis), free. The gallery/bookstore will also host a temporary exhibition of Boyle's drawings through Nov. 14. • CLOTHES FOR CAUSE: Quebec AIDS fundraising force the Farha Foundation hosts a one-day only Fashion Sale this Sunday, Nov. 14, bringing together manufacturers, retailers, importers and designers with mega discounts of at least 50 per cent. It runs from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Palais des Congrès (1001 Bleury), $3 donation.

ARTISTAT: Number of book stands at the French literary utopia that is the 27th annual Salon du livre de Montréal, Nov. 18-22, at Place Bonaventure, www.salondulivredemontreal.com: 800

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