Quote of the week

“The letter says that we’re all illegal right now, but the city didn’t inform us of anything.” —Jean-Talon market butcher Mathieu Robert, on a letter from the city saying their outdoor grills are illegal and subject to a $200 fine. The letters were sent after nearby residents complained about the smell.

Village gives AIDS E-wake

Some 25 to 30 years after first being terrified by the news that HIV/AIDS was out there just waiting to find its way into your bloodstream and kill you in the most horrible of ways, you don’t hear people talking about the disease much anymore. And it’s certainly not because science has found a practical cure for it.

To keep the disease in the public eye, as of Friday, July 18, an art exhibit/AIDS vigil called the Electronic Wake will be taking place at 6 p.m. at Parc de l’Espoir (Ste-Catherine E. at Panet). The vigil will run every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through late September.

“The Electronic Wake is an art installation allowing people to explore the reality of AIDS as it affects their lives today, in 2008,” states Louis Dionne, coordinator of the event.

“Every time you have sexual relations with another person you have to consider the reality of this virus. For example, would you resist what could be a positive relationship with someone who you suspect might be HIV positive?”

Dionne says the ultimate goal of the Electronic Wake “is to serve as a place where people can go to share a collective intimacy on the subject of AIDS.”

Parlas Esperanton!

Nearly a century ago, Polish ophthalmologist Dr. Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof, aka Doktoro Esperanto, developped a simple, flexible language to serve as a universal second tongue, whereby people the world over could communicate as linguistic equals, thus helping foster peace and greater international understanding.

As part of the ongoing effort to build upon the good Doktoro’s work, Espéranto-UQÀM and the Quebec Esperanto Society will host the seventh Tut Amerika Kongreso de Esperanto (TAKE 7), or Esperanto Congress of the Americas from July 11–18 at the J.A. de Sève building (320 Ste-Catherine E., 9 a.m.–5 p.m., free), a week of lectures, debates (mostly in Esperanto), beginner workshops and free evening entertainment on Monday, July 14 and Tuesday, July 15 at the CEGEP du Vieux-Montréal (255 Ontario E., room 4-82A, 7 p.m.). This year’s theme is “Ecosystems, languages, cultures: diversity for a sustainable development in the Americas.”

“According to UNESCO, within 50 years, 3,000 languages will disappear,” says Canadian Esperanto Association president Normand Fleury. “Esperanto does not aim to replace individual languages, but to protect them.”

For registration and ticket reservation, contact info@take7.ca or call (514) 296-9762.

by Steve Zylbergold

Ecumenical visitations

While many of their brethren elsewhere in the world are busy trying to kill one another in the name of God, a coalition of local religious groups is trying to foster inter-faith dialogue and understanding with a Caravan for Peace, this Saturday, July 12, in Parc-Extension.

“One of the objectives we have is simply to be with people of other faith groups and to experience something as simple as a picnic in a park,” says Friar Pierre Charland, of the Franciscan Family, which is organizing the caravan along with the Quebec chapter of Religions for Peace.

The day begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Sri Durkai Amman Koyil Hindu Temple (271 Jean-Talon W.), before moving on to the Noor-e-Madinah mosque (692 Jean-Talon W.) at 10:30 a.m., followed by a visit to the Greek Orthodox church La Dormition de la Théotokos (7700 de l’Épée) at 11:15 a.m. and the Sikh temple Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar (430 St-Roch) at noon. Things finish up with a picnic hosted by city councillor Mary Deros at Howard Park starting at 12:45 p.m.

Free food and entertainment will be provided. More info at (514) 278-3160.

by Christopher Hazou

Humanity fashion

Surely the chicest way to donate to African AIDS charities this week is to attend Fashion for Humanity, happening Wednesday, July 16 in the über-trendy Suco Lounge of the Opus Hotel (10 Sherbrooke W.).

Now in its second installment, Fashion for Humanity brings together live music, visual art, spoken word and “Urban Safari” fashion and serves it up over tapas and martinis, all for a good cause.

“It’s not a commercial fashion show, so people from the industry like it because they have room to be a little more creative,” says the show’s producer Marie-Ève Pigeon. “We use high fashion models and spice it up with an ethnic twist.”

Expect an African theme, reflecting the beneficiaries of this month’s show. Proceeds will go to the Society for Women and AIDS in Kenya (SWAK), a group that gives assistance to people living with AIDS and their families in the Piave region of Kenya.

The catwalk strutting will be accompanied by a live performance from hip hop outfit Nomadic Massive as well as sets by DJs Ghislain Poirier and Fernando Baldeon.

Tickets are $25–$35 and can be ordered through admission.com. For more details on the event, see www.fashionforhumanity.ca.

by Matt Jones

Rear-view mirror

12 YEARS AGO - JULY 11–19, 1996

On the cover: Comedienne Andrea Martin, who talks about her mother. “Sure, she could be controlling and suffocating and critical, and I wanted those edges to be there, but also her elegance and sense of humour too.”
•Also at Just for Laughs: Dame Edna Everage, Weird Al Yankovic, Penn and Teller, Dave Chappelle.
•The Montreal Jewish General’s Dr. Paul Druzin launches a petition against West-End weekly The Suburban, following an article criticizing Jewish groups that defend gay and lesbian rights. “It’s very insulting to have a paper that attacks a minority in a hospital that prides itself on accepting minorities,” says Dr. Druzin.
•Commenting on Jonathan Cummins’ departure from the Doughboys, singer John Kastner says, “Jonathan was so cynical and sarcastic about everything that it made it really hard for us to be excited about anything.” To which Cummins replies: “I am cynical and sarcastic, but I played ‘Shine’ with a straight face.”
•Highlights from Fant-Asia: Once a Thief, Memories, From Beijing With Love, Destroy All Monsters.

>> The Order of Canada It’s the country’s highest civilian honour, and now, the shiny piece of metal and ribbon is being returned to sender by upset religious types, specifically Father Lucien Larré in B.C. and the representatives of Madonna House, a Catholic lay community in Ontario. They’re miffed that Henry Morgentaler, Canada’s most famous abortionist, was honoured with the Order last week, seeing as how access to safe and legal abortions is so upsetting. Why, everyone from the Prime Minister to the National Post’s pundit board is riled up. Which in and of itself is usually good news.

Insect >>Canadian phone companies We’re all getting screwed, whether it’s by one company or another. This week, Bell and Telus announced they’d be slapping a 15-cent surcharge onto all incoming text messages, using the excuse that the recent surge in Canadian texting is overloading their network. The charges will come into effect next month. This after bloggers and would-be (legal) iPhone users went into spasms of fury over Rogers’ lame wireless data rates and the three-year contract users had to sign. Google, meanwhile, no threat to controversy itself, urged the CRTC to go after Bell over throttling p2p file-sharing. A pox on them all!