WHITE NIGHT: Bal en blanc partygoers leave the Palais des Congrès Monday morning, following the 13th annual Easter weekend debauch. Organizers apparently over-sold the event, and had to turn 400 people away, with promises of refunds. Photo by Rachel Granofsky

Quote of the week

“Half of Greece is made up of islands. The Greeks practically invented navigation.” —Vince Di Clemente, venting his anger at the crew of the Sea Diamond, a cruise ship carrying a number of Montreal students that struck a reef and sank off Santorini last week.

Fighting beaver-think

As International Earth Day approaches, a coalition of environmental groups is trying to draw attention to the plight of Cree communities affected by Hydro-Québec’s planned diversion of the Rupert River with a fundraising concert at Café Campus on April 18.

“Hydro-Québec has a ‘beaver syndrome,’” says Mikaël Rioux, vice-president of Échofête, one of the groups organizing the concert. “There are alternatives [to building more dams], like wind power and increased energy efficiency.”

Despite the fact that work has already begun, Rioux is optimistic, citing his own successful last-minute campaign to block a hydro dam project near his home in Trois-Pistoles in 2002. “We’re trying to send a message to the Cree people that if they want to stop it, we’re behind them,” he says.

“Cabaret Rupert” kicks off with “pre-cabaret” activities and speakers from the Cree communities involved, followed by the main event featuring performances by Cree artists as well as Vander, Roy Dupuis, Taïma, les Zapartistes, Claude Lamothe, Alexis O’Hara and many more.

Cabaret Rupert takes place Wednesday, April 18, at Café Campus (57 Prince Arthur E.). The pre-cabaret begins at 7 p.m., the cabaret at 9 p.m. Tickets $20. For info, call (514) 602-7310, or visit www.echofete.ca/cabaret/.

by CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

Angélique’s fire

In 1734, Portuguese-born Marie-Joseph Angélique, a black slave owned by a wealthy Montreal family, was accused of torching her owner’s house, causing a fire that spread throughout the city and burned most of it to the ground. Angélique initially maintained her innocence, but after being tortured, she confessed to the crime and was hanged.

No, this isn’t the subject of another installment in the A Part Of Our Heritage PSA series that airs on CBC (although the re-enactment would be interesting); it’s the focus of “Angélique: Rebel or Victim?”, a panel discussion taking place Thursday, April 19, from 6–7:30 p.m. at McGill University’s Leacock Building (855 Sherbrooke W., Room 232) as part of the International Conference on Sex, Power And Slavery.

Recently, fresh evidence surrounding the case has emerged, creating uncertainty about her guilt. During the debate, hosted by writer Marianne Ackerman, historians Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne and Afua Cooper will argue whether Angélique was an innocent scapegoat or if her crime was an act of rebellion against her oppressors.

“We’ll see how people can read history very differently,” says Ackerman. “The same information can lead to two different conclusions.”

For more information, see www.indianoceanworldcentre.com.

by STEVE ZYLBERGOLD

Long Hall celebrates life

“We want people to see that we have survived,” says John Tinholt of Park Ex’s Long Hall artist collective, which a year ago feared for its continued existence. Landlords William and Simon Berman seemed ready to evict the group from its 6,000-sqare-foot studio space and turn the building into a mini-storage site.

The collective amassed 1,000 signatures on a petition to save the space and met regularly with the Bermans. In early July, they finalized a verbal agreement allowing the artists to stay. Mini-storage units will be built, but so will another 1,500 square feet of studio space.

“Our landlords deserve credit for subscribing to other values than strictly business values,” Tinholt enthuses. “They’re being exceptionally nice.”

The Long Hall’s sixth annual thematic art party, Echo, is in part a celebration of their survival. “The works are from 29 local artists who are bubbling under the surface of the arts scene,” says Tinholt.

The vernissage takes place Thursday, April 19 at 450 Beaumont, 2nd floor (metro Parc/corner Durocher), 7 p.m.–12 a.m. Exhibit runs through April 29, Thursday to Sunday from 2–6 p.m.

by ANDREA ZANIN

Junk to go

Tech geeks like everything as up to date as possible, so when something brand spanking new hits the market, a lot of equipment that was brand spanking new a year or two before ends up in the trash heap. That’s why the three Éco-quartiers in the downtown Ville-Marie boroughs, in partnership with local organizers for Earth Day (which is Sunday, April 22, by the way) are getting together next Friday to collect old office material from merchants and small businesses. “We want to give these materials a new life,” says Huguette Trudel, who’s organizing the event.

They’ll accept all manner of unused office and electrical junk: “Computers, cell phones, photocopiers, televisions, monitors, printers, wires,” says Trudel. “And alkaline batteries, old paint, oils, acids…”

The material will be collected on-site by two private recycling firms who will either safely dispose of, or give a new life to the unwanted equipment. Computers will be rebuilt; batteries will have the lead extracted.

“Private citizens already have the Écocentres,” says Trudel. “This project is to respond to a need in the business community.”

The drop-off is Friday, April 20, at the corner of Jeanne-Mance and de Maisonneuve. Visit www.jourdelaterre.org, e-mail danger@jourdelaterre.org or call (514) 522-4053 for more information.

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Rear-view mirror

17 years ago - APRIL 12–19, 1990

Angel >> St-Laurent and Ste-Catherine With expropriation bulldozing ahead, it looks like the sleazy bit left of the lower Main is heading down the same path as countless other urban renewal projects in North America: one that’s clean, safe, shiny and boring. Instead of the familiar and tawdry, Montrealers and, more importantly, its festival-going tourist masses, can look upwards at a brand new, allglass $20-million cultural centre, probably by the spring of 2009. While urban-renewal-minded politicians and the cultural hoity-toity rejoice at top-down, bureaucratized culture, the rest of us will be stuck with the Times-Square-ification of our red light district.

Insect >> Fat Watch your waistlines, because if it tops 37 inches (for a man) or 32 inches (for a woman), you’re at risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. According to new obesity management guidelines published this week by the Canadian Medical Association Journal, doctors should be measuring patients’ bellies, and trimming even a few inches off waist size can significantly improve overall health—which is food for thought for the 59 per cent of Canadian adults and 26 per cent of children who are overweight or obese. But perhaps they shouldn’t try dieting: the world’s largest ever study of weight loss has just reported that two-thirds of people who lose weight through dieting eventually put it back on and more, causing additional health risks. But a balanced diet and regular exercise would, say researchers, do the trick.