THE FRONT

Gays don’t mind Straits—Peeking inside the Empress theatre—Synesth parades fashion against poverty—Asia Jewish Earth Day.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “He’s got a good reputation as a mediator and a calming influence. He’s one of the only few presidents in recent memory that’s actually lasted his whole term.” —Concordia student union councilor Joel Suss, on former rector Frederick Lowy, who is being asked by the university’s board to assume the post of interim president.

Queers for Straits

When the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council banned the 25-year-old Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing” from radio play because it contained the word “faggot,” it was met, initial­ly at least, more with bemusement than outrage. But that may be changing.

On Monday, Jan. 17, the Conseil québécois des gais et lesbiennes (CQGL) issued a statement condemning the judgement, correctly pointing out that the song is a satirical take on celebrity as seen from the point of view of a blue collar worker. But more disturbing to the organization is the CBSC’s attitude towards homophobia.

Steve Foster, the CQGL’s president, says the decision by the council’s Quebec branch last month to throw out their complaint against Claude Mailhot and Alain Goldberg, two RDS broad­casters who made disparaging remarks about American figure skater Johnny Weir’s masculinity (or lack thereof) during the Olympics, sends a confusing message as to what is permissible and what is not. Foster claims that since the broadcasters did not openly use slurs, they don’t deserve punishment.

“The judgement is extremely problematic for all the work we do,” says Foster. “We’ll be ridiculed for it.” He says his organization is planning an appeal to the CRTC in the coming weeks.

—PATRICK LEJTENYI

Inside the Empress

A new music video is offering viewers a rare glimpse inside NDG’s long-decaying Empress Theatre. “Empress Blue,” by musician Scott MacLeod, chronicles the storied history of the the­atre’s golden age, up to the 1992 fire that ravaged its interior.

“I’ve always dreamt of going into the theatre,” says filmmaker Emmanuel Hessler, who shot the video. Hessler approached MacLeod last year to compose a song about the Empress as part of a documentary project on the Empress (an earlier video featuring animation by MacLeod was released this summer). The two say going inside the theatre was a trip.

“You feel the ghosts of the Empress,” says MacLeod, adding, “it’s in pretty poor condition now.”

The crew wore surgical masks due to mould and dust, and lack of lighting presented technical challenges. Another problem? The theatre isn’t heated. “We shot the video in November, so that was pretty intense,” recalls Hessler.

In advance of the documentary launch this spring, the video is on the blog for Hessler’s production company, Bis Films (bisfilms.com/blog/?p=846).

The duo hope the video promotes ongoing efforts to save and restore the theatre as a cultural centre. “It deserves preservation—there’s such a rich history there,” says MacLeod.

—ELISABETH FAURE

Hot threads for good

Since their first fashion event three years ago, SynesthAsia have successfully generated over $20,000 for their beneficiaries. On Friday, Jan. 28, the Montreal-based charity organization devoted to raising funds for poverty alleviation projects in Asia will be presenting their third annual fashion extravaganza featuring, among others, local designers Anomal Couture, Anastasia Lomonova, Valérie Dumaine and Preloved, all in the effort to raise enough money to construct an environmentally sustainable school for underprivileged, handicapped children in Rajnandgaon, India.

“Every year, we pick a different program or project in Asia that we feel is sustainable and fits our criteria, donating 100 per cent of the money we raise from our fashion shows to the endeavour,” says spokesperson Sophie Tremblay.

She promises this year’s spectacle will have more to offer than most fashion shows. “This isn’t just models showing off clothes while walking down a runway,” she insists. “We also have lots of music and dancers and every scene has been choreographed. It’s a real performance, a cross-blending of the different senses.”

The show takes place at the Telus Theatre (1280 St-Denis), at 9 p.m. Admission is $15 in advance, $18 at the door, with tickets for the front row VIP section going for $40. For more information, go to synesthasia.ca.

—CHRIS BARRY

Jews for Earth

Jew, Gentile, it doesn’t matter. On Thursday, Jan. 20, consider yourself invited to come celebrate Tu Bishvat, aka Jewish Earth Day, between noon and 2 p.m. at the Concordia Greenhouse (1455 de Maisonneuve W., 12th floor). Tu Bishvat is a minor Jewish holiday marking the New Year of the Trees, celebrated on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shevat, which usually falls sometime in late January/early February.

“I know it seems funny celebrating this in cold January, but that’s because the date falls according to the weather cycle in Israel, not North America, which is why we’ll be doing this in a greenhouse, trying to bring life to our wintry existence in Montreal right now,” says organizer Emily Litvack. “Tu Bishvat is used as a day to raise environmental aware­ness in both the Jewish community and the community at large.”

In addition to the traditional consumption of symbolic foods, such as olives, dates, figs and pomegranates, representatives of Al Gore’s Climate Project Canada will be on hand to deliver a presentation followed by a discussion on how the principles related in Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth relate to Jewish ethics and environmental responsibilities. Admission is free.

—CHRIS BARRY

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

11 YEARS AGO – JAN. 20–27, 2000

On the cover: Long-time Trivial Pursuit writer (and Mirror contributor) Juan Rodriguez. Having written over 50,000 questions for the game, he reminisces about working on the Millennium Edition during Ice Storm ’98. “Work-drink round the clock on days when time is frozen; once drunk enough, curl up for naps. Radio reports dosed with dire warnings about ‘hypothermia,’ dizzy spells and disorientation. Am I dizzy? No. Am I sure? No. Do I know what condition my condition is in, or am I drinking too much vino to tell? Dunno.”

•                 “‘Hello, hello!’” begins Johnson Cummins’s article on Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy. “Due to my interviewee’s shitty cell phone, I am down on my knees screaming like a banshee into my speaker phone,” he writes. Admitting defeat to a recurring “wall of static,” he eventually hangs up.

•                Elvis Presley: A Canadian Tribute gets a 6.5/10.

•                 “I have been particularly appalled and angered by what appears to be a new addition to the Mirror, Motion Picture Purgatory,” letter-writer Johanna Paradis exclaims. ■

ANGEL: Money, finally, for Norbourg victims Five-plus years and several criminal trials and lawsuits later, the 9,200 victims of Vincent Lacroix’s Norbourg fraud will be getting their compensation. In an agreement reached this week, the Autorité des marchés financiers, the provincial securities regulator, agreed to shell out $115 million to investors who lost their shirts and blamed the AMF for lax oversight. The settlement puts an end to all class action suits, but don’t expect it to be the final word on the whole sordid saga: Lacroix, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison last October, is already up for parole soon, and the trials of five alleged co-conspirators is ongoing.


INSECT: Flying blind on shale gas The Quebec government’s love affair with shale gas is getting ugly. Of the 31 wells operating in the province, government inspectors found that almost a dozen had leaks in November and December, leaks that could have poisoned ground water and caused explosions. And while gas is certainly cleaner and safer than coal, the Charest administration’s passionate embrace of the fossil fuel cash cow is worrying: A review by the provincial’s public health institute found that next to no consideration was given to long-term health and environmental problems caused by shale gas exploration and extraction, mostly because no solid studies on long-term health and environmental risks exist, anywhere. But then, this is the energy industry—they certainly wouldn’t short-change safety, would they?

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