Quote of the week:

"If I lost (credibility), it will be my job to win it back." - former mayor and ADQ candidate Pierre Bourque, who on Monday returned to his position as leader of the opposition at city hall after a disastrous foray into provincial politics.

Clubland compromise

Politics and fun make for unlikely bedfellows, but there was a festive feeling among some at last Tuesday's Ville-Marie borough council meeting - normally an unendurable, unrelentingly dull affair - when the city apparently watered down its plan to strangle the city's afterhours scene. The original proposal imposed restrictive limits on the number, size and area afterhours would be allowed to operate in, but the modified proposal doubles the number of clubs allowed (to four), extends their area of operations (from Papineau to Atwater along Ste-Catherine) and decreases the minimum distance between all venues (from one kilometre to 750 metres.)

And while these facts aren't in and of themselves enough to give all-night merrymakers reason to dance in the streets, it is indicative of the city's willingness to compromise with afterhours proponents, says Patrick Legendre, director of the pro-afterhours group Collectif Montréal la nuit.

"The changes proposed contain nothing of importance," Legendre says. "But in previous meetings we had with the city, they did say that new regulations will be drawn up with our proposals and recommendations. We'll know during the public consultations - which will take place in four to five weeks - whether or not our proposals will be accepted. If they aren't, we'll make sure the law doesn't pass."

In mid-June, proponents blamed city incompetence for their failure to attain the required number of signatures in a public registry - by one - to force a referendum on the law. » Patrick Lejtenyi

New date for rained-out rockers

An ambitious first-ever attempt to put 20 bands on stage last Sunday in NDG Park was rescheduled due to rain, leaving would-be revellers perplexed and bamboozled in a park that was both sunny and dry.

"We looked at the weather on Friday afternoon and all of the forecasts said 100 per cent chance of rain for Sunday," says Montreal Music Festival organizer Steve Laudi. "Even if we lost one hour to rain we'd have had a mess, because the bands were all supposed to play back to back. Plus we had about 20 individual visual artists bringing sculpture and paintings. It was going to be big."

The all-day music affair aims to fill the void left by the sudden disappearance of the 30-year tradition of Sunday in the Park, and is also intended as a united warble in favour of more venues for live music acts in the city. The gloom-and-doom types were ultimately vindicated as the rain, thunder and heavenly pyrotechnics started at 8 p.m., which would have forced the cancellation of such acts as Masters of the Universe, Rhythm Mercenaries and the Human Beans, featuring local guitar-slinging deity Jimmy James.

"When it finally rained the water made us look like we were smart," says Laudi, who says that all of the acts are on board for the rescheduled event on September 7 except for Fans, which will be replaced by Repentant. Laudi predicts balmy climes for the September Sunday. "The man upstairs told us everything would be fine," he says. » Kristian Gravenor

Hoopin' it up

Move over hockey, Montreal is finally getting a bit of b-ball cred under its belt. This Tuesday, August 12, sees the launch of the first-ever King of the Court (KOTC) five-on-five Black Top Tournament, a five-day basketball event held in association with the Trevor Williams All-Star Basketball Academy. Trevor Williams, a Montrealer who has played for the NCAA and Olympic Team Canada, has been running the All-Star Basketball Academy, a summer camp where players work on improving their skills on the court, for over 10 years.

"The KOTC is a way to give back to the community," says Leslie Woods, one of the tournament organizers, "and is less expensive than attending the camp."

Proceeds from the tournament will go to a fund that allows 50 players who cannot afford the cost of the Academy to attend for free, as well as to cover travel costs for certain teams to go compete in the States. "Support for raw-talent athletes is really lacking in Canada," says Wood.

The event will also include sponsored competitions, like the Slam Dunk contest and the Three Point contest, as well as music acts like Shades of Culture and DJ Groove, to name a few. If you're interested in signing up a team or have a few friends looking to join one, call 932-4340 or visit www.twkf.com for additional info. The tournament will be taking place at Campbell Park (1810 Coursol) in Little Burgundy. » Alexandra Spunt

Rear view

11 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
August 6-August 13, 1992

On the cover: An angry-looking Henry Rollins, in a story about one writer's "baptism, loss of faith and ultimate reconciliation with" the front man for the Rollins Band. The article is spliced with quotes, including this one: "I don't know if it's anger that's my problem, it's more like rage…. I don't want to firebomb Bush's house. I'm a fucked-up person, and it just seems to get more severe with age."

• The SQ pull over members of the Ligue anti-fasciste mondiale (and Mirror reporter Nantha Kumar) four times as the activists make their way to Aryan Fest 1992. "Your personal conviction about racism is not my concern," one officer told LAM. "But when you step into my territory, I can stop you 15 or 16 times."

• Spalding Gray, in a general state of pessimism as revealed in his new film Monster in a Box, reveals that he doesn't really like New York anymore. "I don't find it comfortable," he says. "When I come back from a quieter place, like Big Sur, San Francisco or Toronto, I feel assaulted."

Angel >> The Montreal Protocol One of the first international environmental treaties, established in 1987, the Montreal Protocol appears to be having the desired effect when it banned ozone-layer-damaging chemicals, notably chlorofluorocarbons. American researchers announced this week that the rate of depletion of the ozone layer has slowed (from eight per cent a decade in the '70s and '80s to four now), and could stop completely within the next few years. If all goes well, the layer will completely heal itself in about 50 years. The scientists give credit to the Protocol's wide-ranging ban, and hope that climate change can be tackled with the same successful mixture of political will and environmental responsibility.
Insect >> Mini-nukes This week the braintrust of America's nuclear arsenal are holding a secretive meeting in Nebraska to determine the future of their weapons of mass destruction. One idea on the table is to explore the development of what's being called "mini-nukes," low-yield, one-kiloton bunker-busting weapons designed to destroy nuclear, biological or chemical weapons buried underground. Moving away from traditional deterrents, such as intercontinental and sub-launched missiles and long-range bombers, the new posture is said to be designed to counter 21st-century threats. But this still gives the U.S. even less of a moral footing when it complains about nuclear proliferation. Coincidentally, this week marks the 58th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.