Remember that rectangular plastic red toy with the white knobs used for drawing black lines on a screen? While brainstorming for a title for their newest show, members of local female breakdancing crew Solid State joked about calling it Etchasketch because of the similarities between the abrupt direction changes in their movements and the sharp turns and lines created with the toy. Somehow it stuck. Etchasketch is part of Montreal's urban arts festival Définition non-applicable, which ends this weekend.

Solid State has been developing the piece since the fall. B-girl Danielle Rankin says the work explores the ideas of maps and grids. "It has a city feeling to it," she explains. "It's about the hustle and bustle of the city and then stopping." The group, with video and DJ accompaniment, strives to "find different ways to accommodate breaking into the theatre," says Rankin.

If you're sold on the show, yet don't want to be disappointed at the door, make sure to reserve tickets in advance; the 100 seats at Tangente (840 Cherrier) tend to go fast. March 27–30, 525-1500. » Marites Carino

In today's pop culture the pretties fight back. From Buffy to Barb Wire, gals tote guns, and getting physical could just as easily mean getting beat up as getting it on. This growing breed of female characters - whether witch, spy, mutant, warrior or superhero - are provocative because they're different from past role models. Still, more often than not, they conform to the sexy mainstream image of the ideal woman protagonist.

In reaction to this pop culture phenomenon, the collaborative and at-times humourous video project, Exploring the Bully Within, by Brigette Dajczer and Sandi Somers, opens tonight at La Centrale (460 Ste-Catherine W., #506). It's a punchy spoof that twists and tackles gender roles. "We produce and direct these four videos to explore female aggression," explains Dajczer, "to redefine it and to raise issues about the mass media." Until April 26, info: 871-0268. » Christine Redfern

Pharmaceutical sales reps share the stage with Aruvedic healers in the fourth installment of Projet Porte Parole's Santé!, opening tonight, March 27. Put on by Annabel Soutar and Alex Ivanovici, Santé is a billingual seven-part monthly series of documentary plays dealing with the Quebec health-care crisis. This month's show, Prevention vs. Cure tells the disheartening tale of Angelique, a woman who realizes her health is waning, and asks the question: is disease a sickness of the spirit or the result of societal excess? Often throughout, the "specialist" is portrayed as just another buffoon with an opinion.

Three other shows remain, each with a different theme and always followed by expert speakers and audience Q & A. 8 p.m. in the J. Armand Bombardier Theatre of the McCord Museum (690 Sherbrooke W.), 842-8883. » Janis Kirshner

This year, as decreed by the UN, is the year of the mountain. Going with the resolution is art collective Champs Libre, now staging C!ME, a three-day electronic art event that draws symbolic connections between Mount Royal and urban architecture.

The exhibition takes place in the main hall of aptly cross-shaped Place Ville-Marie, sometimes using elements of the building as props. Patrick Bérubé translates high-altitude vertigo into dizzying photos put on the floor of two revolving doors at the entrance. Virginie Lagagnière's video soundtrack incorporates both recorded wind from outside and wind from PVM's ample elevator shafts. [sic]'s video installation shows how people become equally disoriented on Mount Royal and inside the office building, even though both places provide visual bearings in the city. And for the ultimate in interactivity, take a ride in one of the building's 32 elevators and avail yourself to one of 33 symbolic postcards made by architechture workshop Oupropro. C!ME continues until March 28, 11 a.m.–11 p.m., free. » Matthew Woodley

LIQUID LOCO: No fan of the sadly defunct Gummi Bears series has escaped the fantasy of getting their paws on some of that juice they drink. Happily, a Quebec company has just launched an elixir that may come close. Pulse is a vodka-based energy shooter with added energy-bestowing ingredients, most prominently guarana, an Amazonian fruit that produces the caffeine-on-speed-like stimulant guaranine - the driving force in most energy drinks on the market. Ready-mixed Pulse comes in three flavours, at least one of which contains the word "Xtreme," and the 750 millilitre bottle lights up when you shake it, thanks to an electronic mechanism on the bottom. According to promoters, "Pulse is great for parties and receptions because it creates a 'pulsating' mood." Fair enough. $26.95 at your neighbourhood SAQ. » Matthew Woodley

ATTRACTING ALL ARTISTS: ARTraction, a contest that featured over 50 artists last year, is recruiting for its second season. Selected works are displayed at venues around town and voted upon by the public for a $2,500 prize and solo exhibition. Application deadline: April 30; click "Coming Events" at www.cheryart.com or call 525-5312 for more info. • BOOK ON HOOKED: High Culture, a new book that explores the place of addiction in modern art, philosophy and psychology, and its effects on thinkers like Nietzsche and Burroughs, will be launched tonight, March 27, 5–8 p.m., at Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent). • SPRING IS IN THE AIR: Green, Concordia's 2003 undergrad art exhibition features 24 artists and continues until April 5 at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery (1400 de Maisonneuve W.).

Artistat: Number of events on the bill for bigger-than-ever Blue Metropolis literary fest, with an impressive roster of writers, filmmakers, comic artists and more, April 2–6 at the Renaissance Montreal Hotel (3625 Parc), www.blue-met-bleu.com: 117

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