by RAF KATIGBAK

When I was a kid I used to get really excited about driving to Toronto for my cousin's birthday. Not because of the insane sugar rush I'd get from my aunt's double-double chocolate sugar pie with sprinkles, nor was it because of the surprise loot bags full of dangerously sharp toys, blaring birthday horns and stale peanuts. It was because I knew that "cousin's birthday" equals "going to Chuck E. Cheese" and that "Chuck E. Cheese" equals "cotton candy" and as every eight-year-old knows, "cotton candy" equals "crack."

For those of you who have never heard of this pubescent utopia, let me break it down for you. For a kid, Chuck E. Cheese had it all: video games, tube slides, skee ball, prizes, pizza and enough overstimulation in the form of blaring, bleeping sounds and flashing lights to make my later teenage acid trips feel like driving Miss Daisy. The only thing I hated was the animatronic show that featured man-sized singing rats. As a child, I feared these furry, jerky robots would suddenly wig out and attack the Osh-Koshed patrons in a Yul-Brynner-in-Westworld stylee. On the bright side, after I crawled out from under the bench and finished wiping the tears away, I would feel great that I had survived yet another imaginary robo-rat assault. My only question now is, why hasn't it hit here? Taco Bell I can almost forgive, but depriving Quebec's children of Chuck E. Cheese (we can call it Charles du Fromage) is like taking away violence on television. It's just wrong.

Actually, forget Chuck E. Cheese, the SAT is the new hotspot to host a birthday party! Following Lady Athesia's B-day bash earlier this month, Friday marks la fête d'Amazit, featuring DJs Christelle, Frigid, Kobal, Maüs, Prune and Patrick Watson from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.! Come one, come all!

Looks like I'm not the only one hungry for a good live set these days (how about that Anthony Rother at the closing night of Elektra! Yowza!). DJ Frigid's regular Thursday-night Kink! event at Unity II is hosting a special "Live, Loud & Kinky" edition tonight, Thursday, Nov. 27, featuring performances by Eva Stone, Plastik Patrik, Lesbians on Ecstasy and of course Frigid himself. This looks like the place to be tonight to catch some of the hottest punk/electro/rock/dance acts in town. Over at Parking's Overdose night, DJ Mini's live guest will be Alice & the Serial Numbers.

Anyone who missed the cinematic post-jazz-rock soundscapes of the Seven Sins night at this year's FCMM should check out a repeat performance happening this Friday, Nov. 28, at the Casa del Popolo. The group called Sevens Project features members of Parkside Jones, Bell Orchestre, Jason Badaja's band and should be a real treat. Also on the bill will be some ambient space improv by Tectonic Plates and some indie electro pop care of the Spins.

Also on Friday, drop by Stereobar where Remedy resident Noah Pred will be taking time out from his hectic touring schedule between Mexico and Spain to treat Montreal to a specially crafted, four-hour tech-house performance.

Rats live on no evil star… Diskoakimbo@sympatico.ca

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