HIDDEN ART: A tour deep in the bowels of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday allowed visitors a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the institution’s restoration and storage areas. According to the Museum, only six per cent of its collection is on display; the rest—some 35,000 works—is carefully stored in the temperature-controlled basement, where unglamorous but necessary restoration work is carried out. PHOTO BY RACHEL GRANOFSKY

Quote of the week

“Whether Grindelwald returned his affections, Rowling did not explicitly state.” —From the Albus Dumbledore Wikipedia entry, days after Harry Potter creator JK Rowling revealed the Hogwarts headmaster was gay, and in love with his former nemesis Gellert Grindelwald.

Leaving Afghanistan

With Parliament back in session in Ottawa, peace activists across the country take to the streets this Saturday, Oct. 27 to send the government a message with a “Pan-Canadian Day of Action” against the war in Afghanistan.

“This invasion was not based on overthrowing a terrorist regime,” says Échec à la guerre spokesperson Raymond Legault. “We’re there for the interests of the Western powers, for oil and gas in the Caspian Sea region.”

In the recent Throne Speech, the Harper government said that Canada’s military mission should be extended until at least 2011. As for Afghans themselves, a CBC-sponsored poll released last week indicates that 43 per cent of those surveyed think that foreign troops should stay as long as necessary to stabilize the country, with only about 15 per cent wanting them to leave immediately.

Questioning the poll’s accuracy, Legault says that Afghans will have to deal with their own problems—including a possible return of the Taliban to power—sooner or later. “Whether we pull out now, or two or three years from now, that’s what will happen anyway.”

In Montreal, demonstrators will rally at Dorchester Square (corner Peel and René-Lévesque W.) at 12:30 p.m. The march begins at 1 p.m. More info at www.echecalaguerre.org.

by Christopher Hazou

Tutoring can pay

An evening of art, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails at the Parisian Laundry—for an admittance fee of $100—may seem a bit rich, but Batshaw Youth and Family Centres Foundation hopes its upcoming fundraiser would help cover its essential tutoring services for an increasing number of students who’ve come to rely on the foundation for getting by in school.

In the past year, the non-profit foundation covered tutoring expenses for 34 students, almost double the number of students from the year before. Many of the students come from single-parent and lower-income households, says the foundation’s executive director Michael Udy.

“The families don’t have the financial means for tutors when schools recommend them,” he says. Although the Quebec government offers funding to many of Batshaw’s services, money for tutoring—which may help alleviate drop-out rates in high schools—is raised solely by the foundation’s fundraising.

The Batshaw Foundation will hold its fundraiser on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the Parisian Laundry (3550 St-Antoine W.), 6:30–9 p.m. Paintings by Montreal artist Jennifer Lefort will be on display, and there will be a silent auction. Five hundred tickets are up for grabs; for more information, call (514) 989-1885 ext. 20.

by Samer Elatrash

Anti-addiction cabaret

If you’re one of those people who feel your existence just can’t be all that important unless it’s reported on television, well, here’s your chance to both get on TV and do your bit to encourage kids that drug addiction isn’t quite as cool as Lindsay Lohan makes out.

Come Halloween night, André-Léonard Nantel’s Next Star Productions will be transforming Le Parking Nightclub (1296 Amherst) into Sexy Night Cabaret, shooting a closed circuit TV talk show that Nantel is hoping will make its way into the public school circuit.

According to event spokesperson Kat Coric, “André is doing this because he wants to help kids focus on the importance of friendship in order to get them away from the temptation of addiction. He’s actually self-financing this TV documentary, and together with Mado Lamotte, they’ll be moderating the three hour show, inviting people from the audience to come share their stories, all interspersed with singing and dancing and performances. They’re going to make it fun and interesting to talk about difficult subjects.”

Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door with all proceeds going directly into financing the doc. The event runs from 7:30–10 p.m. For more info call (514)586-1564.

by Chris Barry

Undead on parade

Still waiting for that elusive zombie apocalypse? You’re in luck, then—this weekend, the undead shall inherit the earth (or more specifically, Mount Royal) as Montreal gets its own Zombie Walk. You may not be able to (legally) feast on the flesh of the living, but you can at least lurch around in scabs made of oatmeal and shredded garb splattered with red food colouring and corn syrup.

“Who doesn’t love a group of undead flesh eaters roaming the streets of Montreal?” asks Montreal rollergirl and Zombie Walk enthusiast Alyssa Kwasny. “The Zombie Walk is also about the personal style of each individual zombie. You can be a zombie doctor, zombie cheerleader, pregnant zombie lady, zombie Montreal Canadien.”

Nearly 900 undead descended upon Pittsburgh last year, and this month, zombies in more than 20 North American cities rose or will rise from the grave to seek the brains of puzzled locals.

Montreal’s undead will congregate in a writhing mass at the Sir Georges-Étienne Cartier Monument this Saturday, Oct. 27 at 2:30 p.m. Visit www.zombiewalk.com (under “Canadian zombie walks”) for more info.

by Tracey Lindeman

Rear-view mirror

15 YEARS AGO - OCT. 29–NOV. 30, 1992

On the cover:Jeremy Irons, starring in Steve Gyllenhall’s Waterland, who says the most important thing about working is the challenge. “Making a film is at worst quite tedious if you’re not really interested in what you’re doing, and for me it’s not worth the time; I don’t like money that much.”
•Maria Barile, a deaf woman and a member of Action des femmes handicapées, says job prospects for people with disabilities are grim. “Society doesn’t see disability from a political perspective,” she says. “We are seen as a medical problem.”
•Reviewing the recent Black Sabbath concert, Jenny Ross writes they “thrilled the crowd…. The audience roars worship; the metal boys flip their hair, scream, sing along. One must give the Devil their due.”
• Gaëtan Charlebois compares Quebec comic Michel Courtemanche to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote and the “poor schlemiel” from One Froggy Evening. “To watch Courtemanche for 90 minutes or so is like watching all the best of the Warner Bros. cartoons. It is a joy.”

Angel >> Louise Arbour The Montreal-born UN High Commissioner for Human Rights blasted the Canadian government this week for voting against a UN declaration on aboriginal rights at a Canadian Human Rights Commission conference. The Harper government joined those of the U.S., Australia and New Zealand in opposing a non-binding UN declaration to uphold the human, land and resource rights of the world’s indigenous peoples, saying the wording of the agreement conflicted with the Canadian constitution. While it’s heartening to see Arbour, a former prosecutor of Yugoslav and Rwandan war criminals and Supreme Court justice, call out Harper for being increasingly parochial and callous, it’s still depressing that that call has to be made at all.

Insect >> Quebec “citizenship” Freshly elected to the National Assembly as head of the Parti Québécois, Pauline Marois introduced Bill 195, aimed at creating a distinct Quebec citizenship. To become a Quebec citizen, any and all new immigrants must display a working knowledge of French; failure to do so would prevent them from running for political office at any level, from school boards to the provincial government, raise money for political parties or petition the National Assembly for grievances. Marois insists the legislation wouldn’t create a second class of citizens, but many jurists in the province say such legislation would be unconstitutional—not to mention primitive, tribal or xenophobic.