Quote of the week:

“You get the feeling the Bush administration is basically anti-intellectual. They are skeptical of all those Ph.Ds.” —U.S.-born Concordia communications prof Robert Danisch, on why he and other American academics moved north after Bush’s re-election, in Tuesday’s Gazette.

Big bucks for Black Theatre

It costs somewhere between $80,000 to $150,000 for the Black Theatre Workshop to present such hits as A Common Man’s Guide to Loving Women, Wade in the Water (such a smash that it’s soon being redone at the Centaur) and last fall’s poetic Tightrope Time, so you know they’ve got to pass the hat around sooner or later. This year’s BTW gala features the usual fancy eats, plus a song or three from world famous jazz songstress Jeri Brown.

Organizer Dejha Carrington is almost over-exuberant in her enthusiasm for other local talents who will be present, such as actress Véronique Pierre (“head of her own production company called ‘Ouch!’”), poet DeCarla Clarke, (“only 13, an academic achiever and valedictorian of her school”), singer Khai Lewis-Welsh (“the voice of an angel”) and stage star Tristan D. Lalla (“he’s made a big splash”).

The event’s $125 entrance fee is less of a no-riff-raff-please thing than a help-us-raise-$10,000-to-fund-our-many-good-undertakings-thing. The gala starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29 at The Omni, 1050 Sherbrooke W. Call 932-1104 ext. 223 for further info. » Kristian Gravenor

Underground revisited

Former nightlife impresario Patrick Legendre, the man responsible for the Playground and Groove Society clubs, as well as the Black and Blue, Bal en Blanc and countless raves, is hoping to bring back the glory days of Montreal’s warehouse party culture. This weekend, Legendre will be throwing Underground Legacy, an all-nighter retracing the sounds and images of the house music scene since the mid-1980s. Miguel Graça, Robert de la Gauthier, Tiga, Rob di Stefano and Stéfane Lippé will spin music from different eras in house music, evoking the spirit and sounds of parties past. The event is a warm-up to the launch of a retrospective, coffee-table-style book on Montreal’s underground culture sometime this summer.

“There is a nostalgic aspect to it,” Legendre says. “But it’s also a way for people to see where house music started, and to give credit to the people who worked so hard in the scene for the sheer joy of it.”

Underground Legacy starts at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Darling Foundry (745 Ottawa, Square Victoria metro)—the former heart of Montreal’s warehouse party scene. Tix are $60 in advance, $70 at the door. For more info visit www.undergroundlegacy.com. » Patrick Lejtenyi

Postcards against racism

So if you’re standing on the sidewalk and a cop or mall security guard gives you an order, do you have to obey? If you’re not sure, the Centre for Research Action on Race Relations has printed up 7,000 nifty postcards that you can consult in such moments.

“For example, if you get stopped by police requiring you to show your ID or tell your name or where you’re going, the card will explain that you only have to tell them if they explain why they need the information,” says Fo Niemi, who runs the anti-discrimination organization. “The cards also give other tips, such as not to raise your voice or get into an argument while talking to an officer—they can give you a ticket for talking loud on the street. Never touch an officer, because they can consider that assault.” Also included are strategies for fighting tickets that may have been racially motivated.

Niemi and his group are distributing the cards at hip hop shows and other youth events where visible minorities tend to congregate. Call 939-3342 for your postcard. » Kristian Gravenor

Praising Stella

Local transgendered artist and photographer Elle Ryker is hoping to send a few bucks to sex workers’ rights group Stella in time for their 10th anniversary bash this spring. To that end, Ryker will be hosting a fundraising soirée next week at the ever-classy Cabaret Cléopatre. Expect art, videos and live music.

“So much of Montreal is based on the sex industry, and not enough people give the strippers, the escorts and the porn stars enough credit,” says Ryker, who also praises Stella for the services and programs they offer industry workers.

Stella coordinator Jenn Clamen says the money raised from the event will be spent on bringing in sex worker activists from around the globe for the three-day Forum XXX in May. “It’s going to be a real sex-workers powwow,” she says.

The fundraiser takes place at Cabaret Cléopatre (1230 St-Laurent, 2nd floor) on Wednesday, Feb. 2, from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Entry is free although voluntary donations are welcome. Art will be sold, with a percentage of the proceeds going to Stella.

» Patrick Lejtenyi

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

13 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Jan. 30–Feb. 6, 1992

On the cover: Vancouver band Sons of Freedom, who named their latest album, Gump, after legendary Canadiens goaltender and Lachine native Gump Worsley. “I don’t really follow hockey, but you gotta figure that someone that’s got the nickname ‘Gump’ has gotta have something going on,” singer James Jerome Kingston tells Brendan Kelly.

• Local Islamic fundamentalists are outraged at the screening of De Hollywood à Tamanrasset, an Algerian comedy. Distributor Louis Dussault tells Steve Kokker that he received phone calls “denounc[ing] me as Satanic” but vows to continue screening the film, saying that “Intellectual terrorism doesn’t work here.”

• “[The characters] have become more of a caricature of adults, I guess it’s just the things I happen to think of,” Charles M. Schulz tells Ava Chisling, as Snoopy the Masterpiece opens at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. “I mean, how many kids do you know sit around and talk about The Great Gatsby?”

Angel >> Sprinkles Researchers at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children have developed an easy-to-use but effective way of fighting iron deficiency in kids around the world. It’s called Sprinkles, and it’s a powder supplement that can be added to food or drink. Best of all, especially for developing countries, it’s cheap—one dose, used every two days, costs about three cents. It can also be mixed with other vital micronutrients, to meet any local needs. It’s estimated that over 750-million children suffer from iron deficiency, a condition that leads to anaemia, impaired mental development and learning disabilities.
Insect >> Holocaust ignorance Keeping in mind the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz this week and Prince Harry’s particularly stupid costume fiasco, it’s worth remembering that Canadians aren’t terribly knowledgeable about the Holocaust. A recent poll by Environics reveal disturbing results: only 40 per cent of Canadians correctly answered six million or more as the number of Jews killed during the Holocaust; 16 per cent said the number was a million or less. In Quebec, 35 per cent of respondents believed that nationalities other than Jews were the principal victims of the Nazi death camps.