An embarrassing spectacle

[Re; “Spectacular fail,” Riff-Raff, Sept. 10] I enjoyed last week’s column by Raf Katigbak. I have to agree the inauguration of the Place des Festivals was one of my least favourite spectacles I have seen in the three years I have been in Montreal.

With the exception of the two high wire performers doing the tango, the show was poorly put together, and the video displays and audio did not sync together.

As a student experiment, it could pass, but a showcase of world-class performers and entertainment it was not. I’m embarrassed to know that there were lots of tourists in the crowd.

But I did want to comment about the people of Montreal: good or bad, the people of Montreal embrace the arts and culture. And even though the show lagged big time, everyone was supportive and cheered as they endured the spectacle.

There is always excitement in the air when the people of Montreal come together.

>>Greg

Hooray for
clown pants!

[Re; “Spectacular fail,” Riff-Raff, Sept. 10] I was very enthusiastic at the start of Raf Katigbak’s column about Place des Festivals. I had been there, and in front of my eyes was a vibrant message of positivity about the city I adopted four years ago. Yes, it was nice on a Friday morning to read the beginning of the column, but after a couple of lines, I got disappointed.

Perhaps Raf should have gone down among all the other people that were outside, and then he would have felt the magic of this presentation, which was done with great care.

From his perspective, it was “bad.” What’s bad about a couple dancing tango in the air, and another dancer with some clown pants (oh la la la, a clown, so “bad”) held by 500 balloons in the sky? It was magical.

And what about the fantastic visual art in the background of DJ Champion, which made the most beautiful picture ever?

I have a small piece of advice for you, Raf Katigbak. Why don’t you go to Montreal Nord and live there a little while, so that when you come and walk as an ordinary person in the centre of the city, you can be amazed by what makes a beautiful creation, by the people making an effort to gather, by the colour, and by the hundreds of young people showing what they had in simple costume.

That’s life, man, and perhaps you are a little bit disconnected from it.

>>Anne-Marie Veilleux

Protect immature
minds

[Re: “Rated mature,” News, Cover, Sept. 3] I am flabbergasted! While I do not have anything in particular against Montreal’s own Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M), I simply shudder at the very thought of how their game, Wet, will impact on immature minds, who may apparently be even adult!

After going through the Wet game, these immature minds may be brainwashed into committing violent acts of the most blatant kind!

Instead of games, which may promote “bloody action, oral allusions and grindhouse aesthetics,” could we not have constructive and peace-loving characters in such games, whose sole aim could be to make this chaotic planet of ours a more sustainable and progressive place to live in?

>>Jalaluddin S. Hussai

Good company

[Re: “Debate not done yet!” Letters, Sept. 10] Thank you, Peter MacRaild, for referring to my letter of Aug. 13 as “cogent and level-headed.” Usually those who disagree with my letters go out of their way to be offensive and insulting. It is refreshing, for once, to have a civilized opponent who can disagree without being disagreeable.

As for Aaron Levy, I appreciate your placing me in the same category as Irwin Cotler and Alan Dershowitz. That is the greatest compliment I have ever received, even if it was not intended as such.

>>Barry Merson

Blowing the whistle

I am telling g-d how you collaborate with the Nazis of Montreal.

>> Anonymous

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