Olivia’s life

In December 2007, Katherine Peacock, a local musician, heard that a woman she’d befriended had died. Maria Olivia Ramirez Rabiela was a Mexican domestic worker who’d been in Canada for 30 years, living alone in lower Westmount. She’d been ill for some time. The last time they’d met, she’d given Peacock some documents to hold onto as she prepared to travel home to Mexico. She died alone shortly afterwards, although her body wasn’t discovered until five weeks had passed.

Peacock had been planning to do something about Olivia’s life before she died, and the idea gathered steam afterwards. Next week, she and the Coal Choir, a collective of about two dozen artists and musicians, will perform Olivia, with all proceeds going to the Immigrant Workers’ Centre and the Montreal City Mission.

PR man Cameron Stiff calls the play, “a musical elegy. The closest comparison I can make is to a Greek tragedy.” Stiff notes that it is intended to raise awareness about social isolation, with special attention to the marginalized.

Olivia runs Nov. 25, 26 and 28 at the St. James United Church (463 Ste-Catherine W.), 8 p.m., $12 in advance (see popmontreal.com oroliviasoundings.com), $15 at the door.

PATRICK LEJTENYI

Adil’s party

It’s been a long, hard slog for the folks at Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui, but now that the former security certificate detainee has been freed once and for all, his supporters want to party. Next Thursday, Nov. 26, the Coalition will host a celebration dinner and party to bring together all the people who worked so tirelessly to free the Moroccan-born terror suspect from his seemingly arbitrary 2003 detention. Last month, a federal court judge dismissed all charges, without allowing the federal government to file an appeal.

“It’s a bit of a strange feeling,” says Coalition member Anna Malla. “Because there was a process towards the dismissal, it seems almost like an anti-climax.” She does say, however, that the Coalition will continue its work. “The fact is, Guantanamo North [a high security detention facility in Kingston, ON] is still open and security certificates still exist. Our view now is to have a wider campaign against security certificates and shut them down for good.”

The party, taking place at 1710 Beaudry and beginning at 6 p.m., will feature music, poetry, spoken word, a slideshow of photos from the past six-and-a-half years, and food (but no alcohol). E-mail justiceforadil@riseup.net for more info.

PATRICK LEJTENYI

Peace on the march

Should you hold the radical belief that conflict is perhaps best resolved through peaceful means rather than violence, then it’s time to get out your marching shoes and join the World March for Peace and Non-Violence that will be hitting Montreal on Tuesday, Dec. 1. The march, which got underway in Wellington, New Zealand on Oct. 2, is expected to pass through 90 countries before culminating Jan. 2 at the foot of Mount Aconcagua in Punta de Vacas, Argentina, with Montreal and Ottawa being the only stops on the Canadian leg of the operation.

“The purpose is to create the consensus that we live in a violent world,” says local coordinator Anne Farrell. “It’s not only war—violence is in our daily lives, it’s in our schools, our families, on our streets. The World March is a statement to say that there are better ways to address conflict. Gandhi, Martin Luther King—they changed their situations through peaceful means, and this is what we believe in.”

Marchers will be assembling outside the downtown YMCA at 1435 Drummond at 2 p.m. and heading to Place du Canada where organizers are planning to form a giant human peace sign to mark the occasion. For more information, go to worldmarch.ca.

CHRIS BARRY

Anti-cancer growth

If you fancy a hairy upper-lip appendage, thank Prostate Cancer Canada (PCC) for legitimizing the pencil, horseshoe and handlebar looks with the launch of its annual ‘‘Movember’’ campaign, a charity event that challenges men to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer by growing a moustache every November.

Among the campaign’s numerous supporters are the team at Montreal’s Three Monkeys (1455 Peel) clothing store. ‘‘When I first heard about Movember,’’ says the store’s co-owner Mike Casali, ‘‘I thought, wow! We have so many resources available to us at the shop, why don’t we use them for something relevant and worthwhile for a change, instead of just for shopping?’’

Since Sunday, Nov. 1, the store has already raised over $3,000 for PCC thanks to a clever online campaign that includes daily photo and blog updates of the participating men and their ’staches, as well as celebrity endorsements. The store throws a Mo Party tonight, Thursday, Nov. 19, from 6–10 p.m., with local designer Travis Taddeo auctioning off a few one-of-a-kind pieces, as well as gift certificate raffles and beer sales going directly to PCC. The party continues at Blue Dog Motel (3958 S-Laurent) with the Moustache Men DJs behind the decks (see p.16 for the story). See threemonkeys.ca for more info.

MICHAEL-OLIVER HARDING

Rear-view mirror

12 YEARS AGO - NOV. 20–27, 1997

On the cover: Twenty-nine-year-old film producer and former lawn care company owner and pizza delivery guy Bill Mariani, discussing his craft. As an independent, Montreal-based English-language producer, he says, “I either have nerves of steel or I’m the stupidest man alive.”
•Accompanying the Mirror on a stroll through St-Henri, John Ralston Saul “sneered a bit at the Ville-Marie, an example, he said, of the interests of people moving in and out of a city predominating over those of the people in it. ‘Typical urban landscape,’ he said. ‘Empty train tracks and full expressways.’”
•Atari Teenage Riot’s Alec Empire calls comparisons between ATR and Prodigy “stupid. They sing about nothing, they are pitiful… this silly ‘punk’ stance of theirs.”
•Starring in Brouhaha Danse’s upcoming “goth opera” Giselle la maudite amour sale, B.A.R.F.’s Marc Vaillancourt says, “It’s kind of a weird, fucked up love story on the edge of insanity. And we’re blasting it to kingdom come.”
•Under the logo: “Home of the 14-hour cinq à sept.”

Angel >> Better, greener waste management The province introduced a sparkly, $700-million plan to get us slobs to improve the way we throw our crap out this week, hoping to cut down the amount of trash we toss off to landfills to forever rot, seep and emit. There is some interesting stuff in it, including emphasizing the separation of organic waste, better recycling, building composting centres and even having garbage inspectors poke through our shit to make sure it’s being disposed of correctly. Ambitious stuff, and who knows, maybe even long-run effective—although fining people for non-regulation trash is arguably excessive, not to mention difficult to enforce and perhaps creepy.

Insect >> Jacques Parizeau’s senile ramblings Stumbling out of a hoary fog long enough to pen and pimp yet another unwanted book about the now-more-than-ever need for Quebec sovereignty, the former premier and race-baiter hasn’t managed to shake the image of the drunk uncle who won’t shut up and leave. His book, La souveraineté du Québec hier, aujourd’hui et demain, calls for yet another referendum, with independence as the final and most effective bulwark against the vicissitudes of globalization. He can make his case if he wants to, but, at age 79, Parizeau’s musings can be dismissed as the senile ramblings of an old man, doomed to failure and irrelevance. Nappy time, now.