Now that you’ve got the bagels and smoked meat thing down, a new, more charismatic guide to Montreal’s lesser-known places and people is out in Montreal: The Unknown City, by Kristian Gravenor - whose pointed insights into all things Montreal grace these pages weekly - and his brother, John David Gravenor.

The former attributes his knack for getting the scoop to his multi-neighbourhood upbringing and eccentric father. “We were like the Beverly Hillbillies,” says Gravenor. “You know, the rusted out Datsun sitting out front, bailiffs at the door all the time, there was never a dull moment with us. And a lot of the book is generated by my father’s crazy antics. He knew a lot of the PR people in the ’50s and he would write for the tabloids. So we had a pretty deep tradition of not just writing but writing entertainingly - trying to catch readers’ eyes and interest.”

The catchiness is there. If the book lacks anything it’s the dry, canvas-capped tourist bent so common in others. “We wanted to write a guide to the city that can actually be gratifying to people who live here too,” Gravenor says. “Who won’t be just saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, I know where Place Ville-Marie is.’” Montreal: The Unknown City (Arsenal Pulp Press) is available at finer bookstores, $19.95. : » Matthew Woodley

That’s the question local clothing designer Jennifer Glasgow and visual artist Pascaline Knight want people to ask themselves with their latest collaboration and clothing line, Tout Est Bien.

Using text and imagery, Glasgow and Knight produce a range of articles from polar fleece sweaters to pillowcases (with fierce bunnies on them), to slips, hats and underwear (with bad babies on them). The look is colourful, playful and above all, subversive. “The crux of our line is a commentary on our society,” says Knight, a painter, bookmaker and installation artist. “The imagery is a loose commentary on the quality of our environment, how war is justified so that we can keep driving our cars and our economy, how we treat this greying green ball and how it seems that all is well.”

“But it’s ambiguous at the same time,” adds Glasgow, whose Soulo line garnered much-deserved attention last year. “It’s not like we’re trying to slap people in the face.” Find their stuff at the Rusty Plum Gift Sale, Dec. 21–22 (5490 St-Laurent). : » Raf Katigbak

For the next three nights from 4–10 p.m., film student Lionel Doe’s first foray into public art, Self-Portrait, will be projected in red, green and blue onto the three large gallery windows at the MAI (3680 Jeanne-Mance). Through skillful editing, Doe creates the illusion that the separate projections are interacting with one another. The video was shot on a Fisher Price Pixelvision toy camera, and the soundtrack was also created using amateur equipment. In an added twist, the work can only be viewed from the street. Doe explains, “It’s about taking a private video made with consumer technology and projecting it big and large in a public space.” Until Dec. 21. : » Christine Redfern

In 1999, performance artist Louise Dubrueil began inviting fellow artists to join her once a week in an improv workshop she called Playgroup. “It’s a really experimental space, to get feedback and to support each other,” Dubrueil explains.

After three years of exploring sound, movement, costume, found objects and food, the floating collective has been invited to perform this summer in Sardinia, as part of the annual InterAzioni Festival. To raise funds for the trip, Playgroup members, including Victoria Stanton, Vida Simon, Lou Nelson, Nicole Fournier, Karen Spencer, Marie-Andrée Rho, Taliesin McEnaney, Jessica MacCormack, Dagmara Stephan and Rachel Echenberg, will present an evening of collaborative and individual performances. “Expect the unexpected,” says Dubrueil. “Authenticity, risk and presence - being in the moment and sharing that with the audience.” Friday, Dec. 20, 7:30 p.m. (6845 St-Urbain, #301, corner Beaumont). Door: $5–$10 sliding scale. : » Vincent Tinguely

New-age rage: As usual, New Year’s resolutionists will soon fill health clubs to their rank capacity. For those seeking an airier alternative, Emilie Conrad’s Jungle Gym Workout™ is introducing itself to Montreal. The workout regime involves strapping weights to your ankles and “drawing on your fluid, sensual, playful and animal nature to build strength, resiliency and tone.” The exercise emerged from, you guessed it, northern California, and will be taught by Julliard-trained dancer Linda Rabin, who, as an added bonus, is a certified practitioner of Body-Mind Centering®. Seems there are better ways of tuning into your animal nature than making like a gerbil on a treadmill. Christmas workshop, Dec. 27–31, 9:30 a.m.–noon, $90, register by Dec. 20 by calling 279-3340. : » Matthew Woodley

The Montreal chapter of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan is fundraising through a sale of 10 cards by artist Cheryl Braganza, paintings that reflect the lives of Afghan women. They can be seen online at www.picturetrail.com/cherylbraganza and ordered by calling 346-3151. • Lens to canvas: “No tricks, no Photoshop,” is the rule of thumb for Allan Edgar, whose abstract photopaintings can be seen in his exhibition Nouvelles peintures en photographie at the Galerie d’art d’Outremont (41 St-Just) until Jan. 5. :

Artistat: Number of toys made by kids all over the world on display at the exhibition of international development org Club 2/3’s International Contest of Toys Made from Recycled Objects, at the Biodôme until March 9: 300 :

>> Arts Listings