Quote of the week

“It is the end of the road for McDonald’s. McCurry can use the prefix.” —Lawyer Sri Dev Nair, representing the Malaysian family restaurant that won an eight-year legal fight with the fast food giant over its use of “MC” (short for “Malaysian chicken”) in its name.

Just Tweet it

A commonly held stereotype of the Twitter user is the self-obsessed narcissist who can’t wait to Tweet about what they ate for breakfast or brag about which celebrities they have as followers. But with great social networking power comes great responsibilities, and there are micro-bloggers interested in helping others, 140 characters at a time.

Twestival Local Montreal 2009 is one of over 200 Twitter charity events worldwide this weekend, a chance to put a face and voice to the username and avatar, share a beer with that guy who always re-tweets Onion articles and raise money for a good cause. All ticket sales for the Montreal event go directly to Head & Hands, a non-profit group that specializes in improving physical and mental well-being among local youths.

“There are people who just Tweet about themselves the entire day,” says co-organizer Laura Carmosino. “But if you use it properly as a way to build relations, you’ll meet so many great people you wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Twestival Local Montreal 2009 will be held at le Social (1445 Bishop) tonight, Sept. 10, at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $13 at the door. For info about prizes, guests and more ways to donate, check out montreal.twestival.com.

ERIK LEIJON

Return to gender

The 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy is hoping their “Too Cool for School!” fall programming lures scholarly freshmen from their studies for a taste of real-life gender discrimination and social struggle.

Through September, the Centre hosts an open house and workshops on trans issues, sexual assault, the status of reproductive rights in Quebec and an initiative that highlights the narrow options for gender identification offered by official ID cards. On Sept. 15, they’ll hold a discussion on grassroots organizing with Wade Rathke, who founded ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) in Arkansas in 1970. Lighter-hearted events include an introduction to producing and distributing your own radical cartoons.

“We’d like people to become aware that issues like access to abortion, gendered and racialized violence, a lack of rights and inclusive spaces for trans and queer folk, are not obsolete by any stretch of the imagination,” says 2110’s Maya Rolbin-Ghanie.

The series culminates in the annual Sisters in Spirit march and vigil on Oct. 4, a cross-country event intended to raise awareness about the hundreds of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

Most events take place at 2110 Mackay. For more info, see centre2110.org.

MARTIN LUKACS

Some like it slow

Get in an early night of swaying and dance-hugging this Sunday, complete with live crooners and dance cards to be filled out. The Queer Slowdance Meow Mix will also be a fundraiser for CKUT radio’s QueerCorps, Montreal’s longest-running queer radio program.

Host and producer (and Mirror contributor) John Custodio says Queer Slowdance is a way to raise funds for a much-needed technological upgrade—setting up a Web site and podcast. But getting the radio show out to a bigger audience is really about including diverse voices, says Custodio. “We are going to be expanding our contributor base—and we want to hear from teens and seniors.”

It’s also about time they catch up with that other CKUT gay radio show, Dykes on Mykes, who Meow Mix organizer Miriam Ginestier helped raise funds for a few years back. “The girls are totally kicking our asses,” says Custodio.

Comedian DeAnne Smith will start things off, dividing the night into four sets of slowdancing. Designated dancers will ensure no wallflower is left behind.

At la Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), on Sunday, Sept. 13, from 7 p.m.–midnight. More info at mimproductions.org.

LINA HARPER

Political picnic

With the end of summer rapidly approaching, the folks at the Immigrant Workers Centre are throwing a potluck picnic for their friends and allies this Saturday, Sept. 12, from 1–5 p.m. at Jarry Park.

“It’s a way of bringing together all of the people that we’ve worked with over the past year to get to know each other and socialize before we get back to organizing pickets and demos and all the different campaigns that we’ve been engaged in,” says Mostafa Henaway, an organizer with the IWC, adding that they also hope to draw attention to the plight of laid-off immigrant textile workers, many of whom reside in the Park Ex/Villeray neighborhood.

In addition to the potluck BBQ, there’ll also be a pick-up soccer game, entertainment and activities for the kids. “We hope to have music from some of the communities that we work with,” says Henaway. “Everyone is invited. Even if people can’t bring anything, they’re more than welcome.”

In case of rain, the whole shebang will be cancelled. For more info, visit iwc-cti.ca or call (514) 342-2111.

CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

Rear-view mirror

10 YEARS AGO - SEPT. 9–16, 1999

On the cover: Brixton DJ duo Basement Jaxx. Simon Ratcliffe explains their “punk garage” sound: “It combines the silliness of British music with the seriousness of U.S. house, and it started with the club night we were doing, ’cause we were playing house with just about anything, like hip hop and ragga and even Hendrix.”
•In the music section of the Fall Arts Preview, bands coming to a venue near you include Fantastic Plastic Machine, Adam X, Tricky Woo, Clan of Xymox and the Backstreet Boys.
•Upside/Downside celebrates “Film Fest exodus,” in reference to the World Film Festival. “The cell phone cavalry is now safely back home in Toronto.”
•To a woman whose insatiable sex drive has driven her to cheat on her boyfriend with women and her dog, Sasha says, “The Holy Roman Emperors at their most gloriously depraved barely got up to the chicanery that’s afoot in your boudoir. For heavens sake, you’re fucking a dog!” She also suggests contacting Penthouse Forum.

Angel >> Monster Long beloved by Montrealers for its behemoth size and dangerous aura (something that those who were stranded at its summit last May can attest to), La Ronde’s 23-year-old wooden roller coaster has won the Six Flags Tournament of Thrills, easily beating its rival X2 (located on California’s so-called Magic Mountain). In multiple rounds of voting, 10,565 thrill-seekers, amusement park trollers and Facebook addicts voted for the Monster, compared with X2’s paltry 4,322. And this despite the endorsement of former Quebec premier and porcine bureaucrat Bernard Landry, who came out of the woodwork—almost literally—to praise the Monster on YouTube during the semi-finals.

Insect >> Mystique loses The last vestige of Montreal’s old gay village, right in the downtown core, will close this fall. Despite faithful regulars and recent efforts to attract more students, le Mystique (est. 1972) has been sold to fold. The bar was one of the gay haunts targeted by police during the infamous, galvanizing Truxx raids of 1977—within two years, sexual orientation was added to Quebec’s charter of human rights, and Montreal had its first pride parade. There’s no set date for le Mystique’s final curtain or farewell party, but you may want to grab a drink at 1424 Stanley while you can.