Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
SURVIVAL
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER/NOVEMBER ARTS + LifESTyLE
FREE
FALL
FOR ME
BRANDED SHOES AND ACCESSORIES FOR GUYS AND GIRLS
ContEnts
Editors Letter / 10 Contributors / 11 Guests / 13 Animal fostering 101 / 14 The Music That Gets you Through / 16 Alex Chinien reports on the E3 2009 Video Games Conference / 18 Sam Windholz explores Mortality in Gaming / 19 from Spider-Man to Scarface: A.J. Little looks at the heroes we worship in film / 20 Back to School Survival items / 22 Casualties and War: An interview by Julia Pyper / 23 Alex Nitsou visits the Mile End Legal Clinic / 26 At the Prison: The effects of art therapy on inmates / 27 Scarred for Life: Some of our friends show us their scars and share the stories behind them / 28 Landscapers: Surviving in the great outdoors by Colin Throness / 30 Trapped: A photo series by Alexi Hobbs / 32 Natural Remedies for your Health / 34 your Montral Survival Guide / 37 The citys best spots that stay open 24 hours / 38 Cheap Cheap Cheap: Where to save a dime around town / 39 Our picks for the best Halloween Costume Stores / 40 fall fashion / 43 The Voodoo you Do by Marilis Cardinal / 45 fashion and fatal Appeal: Jessica Goldfond explores death imagery in fashion / 49 Wild Heart by Maude Tremblay / 50 Desert Storm by MarquisMontes / 58 Africa: Essays and musings on the state of this scarred and majestic continent / 66 The End of The Mursi by Marcel Mueller / 68 Music Across Africa: An interview by Katie Kotler / 70 Paying for Our Respects: Reflections on a recent trip by Julia Pyper / 72 Global Apartheid: A story by Daniel Douek / 74 A Taste of Africa in Montral: Some African venues and events of note / 76 immigration and Cultural identity: A study by Laura Kneale / 78 The Shoestring Artist and How He Thrives in Montral / 81 Parenting and the Survival instinct / 82 East End Blues: A gay column by Roberto Cialdella / 83 forensic Art: The study of faces / 86
A LL CONTENT S Of THiS M AGA ziNE A RE COP y RiGHTED 2009 SNAP iNC. 1/4064 ST. L AuRENT, MONTRA L , QC , H2 W 1y8 OR T HiRD PA R T y-PA R T y CON T EN T PROV iDERS. SN A P iNC. A S SuME S NO RE SP ONSiBiLiT y fOR CONTENT Of ADVERTiSEMENT. REPRODuCTiON Of EDiTORiAL iS STRiCTLy PROHiBiTED WiTHOuT PRiOR PERMiSSiON Of SNAP iNC. SNAP iNC. WiLL NOT HOLD iTSELf RESPONSiBLE fOR uNSOLiCiTED CONTRiBuTiONS.
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OPEN CALL for submissions! Our winter issue due out in December will showcase the contributions of anyone and everyone who makes a quality pitch by FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH. Pick one from any number of THREE LETTER WORDS and then make it your own. Anything from Gin Tie Wig Car Sex Bug Bra Sea Fly Die Hot Age Ink Boy... the list can go as far as your imagination! All pitches are subject to our editors discretion. A page length will be allocated according to the nature of your story idea, visual concept or general proposal. With 94 pages up for grabs our THREE LETTER WORDS issue is set to be the most playful and eclectic one yet! We are all excited to see what you clever chickens come up with. So get your entries in now! Final deadline for all completed work is October 10th.
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EditoRs LEttER
There is a warped reality of death for those still living. Mortality and suffering are universal experiences but still remain surreal and incomprehensible to all of us. I realized something a few years back when a dead pigeon brought me to tears: maybe you can learn to overcome suffering, pain and loss by desensitizing yourself by learning to care a little less. This was my very crude version of a Buddhist philosophy. But over time Ive come to see a better way to deal to accept and live with how blunt and wrenching our world can be. To care more. It sounds antithetical and maybe even cheesy, but if you consider what gets you through the toughest times in life what helps you survive its the solidarity of those around you. Its the words, the thoughts and the actions of people who feel your pain and hold your hand. It reminds you that were all in it together. Over the course of this issue death kept tapping us on the shoulder. It was a difficult time. But this issue is about SURVIVAL and how we get through. From the simple day to day stuff to serious issues like conflict, war, prison and personal struggle. Sometimes life can be dark but we all have the SURVIVAL instinct that kicks in to see us through to a brighter day. Issue #8 is a salute to the warrior within that fights the good fight and knows that whatever doesnt kill you will only make you stronger. We hope you dig it. SP
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ContRibutoRs
indEpEndEnt pubLishER and EditoR SHAyL PRiSK FoundERs HANNAH ByRNE AND SHAyL PRiSK aRt diRECtoR VANDA DAfTARi Lay-out VANDA DAfTARi, HANNAH ByRNE, JEREMy DABROWSKi Fashion diRECtoR PASCALE GEORGiEV Copy Editing COLiN THRONESS, ELizABETH MciNTOSH intERns CATHERiNE CAMPAGNA, CARLA WARRiLOW, iMOGEN EVESON, JEREMy DABROWSKi, REBEKA PELAEz GAETz WRiting SHAyL PRiSK, BEN POBJOy, JEREMy DABROWSKi, JON NG, iMOGEN EVESON, EDMuND LAM, ROBiN HART HiLTz, HANNAH ByRNE, ALEx CHiNiEN, SAM WiNDHOLz, A.J. LiTTLE, PASCALE GEORGiEV, JuLiA PyPER, ALEx NiTSOu, NATASHA ViAu SKRESLET, COLiN THRONESS, SARA McDONALD, JESSiCA GOLDfOND, MARCEL MuELLER, KATiE KOTLER, DANiEL DOuEK, CARLA WARRiLOW, LAuRA KNEALE, LAuREN JANE HELLER, ROBERTO CiALDELLA photogRaphy MAuDE TREMBLAy, VANDA DAfTARi, SHAyL PRiSK, ROBiN HART HiLTz, ALEx CHiNiEN, MAxyME G DELiSLE, ANNALiE yOuNG, ALExi HOBBS, CARLA WARRiLOW, yANNiCK HAGMANN, MARiLiS CARDiNAL, MARQuiSMONTES, MARCEL MuELLER aRtWoRk ADRiEN BAuDET, AiME VAN DRiMMELEN, CORRi LyNN TETz, DAVE ARNOLD, iMOGEN EVESON MaRkEting and CoMMuniCations HANNAH ByRNE WEb EditoRs HANNAH ByRNE, KATE REDDiNGTON WEb photogRaphERs fAHAD ASVAT, CHiALi TSAi, CATHERiNE CAMPAGNA WEb diRECtoR JEff TRAyNOR SNAP! TV diRECtoR ALExANDRE LEBLANC, JuLiEN GREGOiRE gaLLERy ARiANE GREGOiRE, ARMANCE BRANDENBuRG advERtising inFoRMation 514 576 7867 oFFiCEs 4064 ST LAuRENT BLVD, SuiTE 1, MONTRAL QC H2W 1y8 WWW.SNAPME.CA iNfO@SNAPME.CA pRintERs MARQuiS BOOK PRiNTiNG
stoCkists
Aqua Skye Jewelry
aquaskyE.CoM
Arielle de Pinto
REboRn.Ws
aRiELLEdEpinto.CoM
boitEnoiRE.CoM
thEEMpoRiuMgaLLERy.CoM
The Emporium Gallery 3035 St. Antoine W #74 Coupe Bizarre 3770 St. Laurent 514-843-3433
Dane Gerus
CoupEbizaRRE.CoM
french Connection
dRaWnandquaRtERLy.CoM
Jet-Setter 66 Laurier St. West JEt-sEttER.Ca Mile End Legal Clinic 99 Bernard St. West Minnetonka
kaFEinMontRaL. bLogspot.CoM
OLAM Only
boutiquEoLaM.nEt onLy.CoM
LaikaMontRaL.CoM
TopShop
topshop.CoM
uRbanoutFittERs.CoM vERoModa.CoM
ON THE COVER: yANiyA WEARS A VERO MODA TuNiC AND uRBAN OuTfiTTERS NECKLACE (WORN AS HEADPiECE). PHOTOGRAPHy By MAuDE TREMBLAy ART DiRECTiON By VANDA DAfTARi STyLiNG By PASCALE GEORGiEV HAiR AND MAKE uP By BRAyDON NELSON fOR ORBiTE
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bEn pobjoy
The Mirror billed him as one of Montrals top Noisemakers for 2009 while their poll put his gallery The Emporium at fourth for best in the city: yes its clear that this guy is expert at making waves all over the place, from photographing big names like Peaches, A-Trak and Busy P, to being published in magazines like Vice and AP; penning his critically acclaimed book Land of America or starting a shady prison-style-tattoo practice hes kind of done it all. As Co-Creative & Operations Director for the company Switzerland he can be found traveling to far off places like Mexico, France and Australia that is if he isnt curating, hanging and managing a show at his gallery or shooting the shit with corporate big-wigs looking to get a little of the gold dust that seems to follow this dude wherever he goes. The best part: hes as unassuming as they come and is always the friendliest guy in the room. Long live Pobjoy!
jEssiCa goLdFond
Freelance editor, stylist, writer and contributor for magazines like Dujour, MANKIND, Design Milk and Pocketto, Brooklyn-based Jessica Goldfond also manages and curates online art gallery The Shiny Squirrel, started her own online travel magazine Truant and in her spare time DJs and organizes benefit events to raise money for local charities. We thought we worked hard! Hats off to this girl, who somehow got around to penning a piece for this issues fashion section titled Fashion and Fatal Appeal, which you can find on page 49. Check out thEshinysquiRREL.CoM to see some more of what this wonder kid is doing!
yaniya LEE
Montral-born Yaniya Lee has worked at some of this citys most-loved spots, but this Concordia English Lit student has also travelled and worked abroad quite a bit. After cegep, she spent monthes perfercting her Spanish while backpacking in Cental America. Most recently, she spent time living in Berlin, honing her writing and practising her German. Yaniya finally returned to Montral this January and after a chance encounter outside her old haunt, Casa, we were all but scrambling to have her killer cheekbones featured on our SNAP! pages. More into books than fashion, Yaniya later told us that she dreams of moving to Berlin by 2010 to continue her studies at the University of Bremen. Our loss is their gain!
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Cats
Animal Rescue Network aniMaLREsCuEnEtWoRk.oRg Steri Anima stERi-aniMaL.oRg Sphinx Project sphinxpRojEt.CoM
Sophies Dog Adoption sophiEsdogadoption.CoM Rosie Animal Adoption RosiEaniMaLadoption.oRg Animatch aniMatCh.Ca
dogs
Cats + dogs
suRvivaL stoRiEs
HuSKy Mix 5yRS
I rescued Lenny from a dysfunctional home where he lived until the age of three and a half. He was timid, needy, and scared. He pulled my shoulder out on-leash, hadnt been taught any of the basic commands, and couldnt even go up and down stairs. Nor could he be left on his own he ate through my vestibule, shutters, and favorite jeans. Today, he remains a pretty anxious loup (thats his nickname), and occasionally nibbles at doors and sweaters. But! He can sit, lie down, bound up staircases, and barely needs a leash at all. Plus, hes so damn cute with his piercing husky eyes and the massive crush he has on our cat, Kaya. ~J.A.
Lenny
Kisha
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JON NG Deltron3030
This album never fails me. I first heard it in 2000 when I was in my first year of animation at Sheridan College. My roommate Nishio was always bumpin that CD from his room. Its such a visual record. It has such an atmospheric quality thanks to the Automator, the geeked-out visual lyrics from Del, and of course the scratch
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magic from my man, Kid K. Theres just so much going on in every track that I never get bored, I can always find something new in there. It always gets my mind going if I need to get inspired. Still waitin on the sequel...
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vidEo gaMEs
WORDS By SAM WiNDHOLz What replaces death in a world where you cant really die? The words GAME OVER are now dclass, marched off to the dustbin of video game history. But in the hoary old days of yestergaming, those inevitable words were but a clarion call to action: the fuel for you to try again against the artificial challenges you found carefully laid out before you. Die, curse, throw controller at wall, chill out, pick up controller, and try again (repeat ad near-infinitum and make mental note to fix wall). With the increased complexity of most modern games and our current hive-minds collective ADHD, this kind of repeattil-you-triumph process is now perceived as a fatal weakness. To wit: man, hard game became meh, hard game. Still, without a real threat there is no challenge, and without challenge there is no game. So what replaces death in a world where you cant really die? The revamped Prince of Persia series from homegrown heroes Ubisoft Montral is a pitch-perfect example of this idea. In its classic 2-D iteration (Broderbund, 1989) it was soul-crushingly frustrating, designed to make you fall in every pit or spike trap at least once, until you memorized every step you took and measured every jump twice. When the series was relaunched in 3-D back in 2003, the first thing to be introduced was a system where you could roll back time to just before the inexorable fall into those pits and spikes and what have you. Death without the sting. In the popular Lego series of games (Lego Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, and the inevitable Lego Harry Potter) British games developer Travellers Tales merely penalizes the player by a loss of points for being killed. You have infinite lives, and simply reappear on the spot with little to no retreading necessary. But in order to get bonuses and fulfill special objectives, much like in real life, you are challenged to limit death to a reasonable minimum. Rockstars Grand Theft Auto series has always removed death from the equation entirely by having you reappear at a hospital or police station after dying or being arrested, respectively. But repeating the mission from that point often involved a long sequence of driving to actually get back to the plot. This was one of the larger complaints in the otherwise stellar GTA4 (2008). So, natch, in the downloadable expansion for the game, GTA4: The Lost & The Damned (2009), one of the new features answers that complaint directly, by allowing you to skip the travelling and go straight back to a checkpoint. Less wait, more killing. The flipside to revamping virtual mortality is that the game can then be perceived as being too easy or short; what once took hours retreading the same ground now sees those hours shaved off the total play time. The new creative tension lies in providing a value-length experience, within budget, and minimizing ye olde cloying reiteration trick. Without evolution, stagnation or as a wise man once said: Game over, man. Game over.
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little friend) long before I actually saw the movie. Likewise it seems I always knew about Spider-Man: the toys, the breakfast cereals and even my underwear; all were stamped with his insignia long before Peter Parker and I were formally introduced in film. These two characters are the archetypal heroes of our age. They may be diametric in their opposition, yet they remain kindred as standards for our generations popular culture.
Spider-Man stands as a monomyth, an antiquary idea of the universality of the hero. This idea is native to the comic book universe. Here, each hero has the same touchstones in their history. What makes Spider-Man different is his lack of apotheosis. He never quite reaches demigod status; he is decidedly human in spite of his fantastic abilities. Under the mask he is still Peter Parker. I think it is for this reason that he is so enduring. He is not an exulted hero; he is the nerdy teenager who though suddenly endowed with super powers still retains all the social awkwardness and bad breaks of adolescence. Spider-Man is a hero that endures for several reasons. First, the iconography: he is so easily recognizable and his colour scheme is memorable and classic. Second, Spider-Man continues to be adulated because he is familiar and ubiquitous. That makes him believable and beloved, a hero we will always root for and see ourselves in. Scarface is essentially the dramatic antithesis of Spider-Man he is the everyman, yes but the criminal everyman, and he doesnt function in any traditional emotional realm. Scarface the film is essentially thematic rather than character driven. The characters seem there only to spout quotables and oft-imitated accents. The American ideal has always deified the criminal element, from the F.B.I. public enemy program to tacky movies of the week about serial killers. The person operating outside of the realm of conventions and reason has always made good fodder for story telling in our post-modern age. Scarface, although he has some of the same touchstones as other characters within the context of the monomyth, seems to exist almost exclusively to show his surroundings, to be a reflection of a morbid obsession with wealth and recklessness. Before hip hop cultivated its brand to include Scarface it was simply kitschy violent fun. A movie so peppered with swear words you forget they sometimes dont fit into your polite conversations. The hip hop connection to Scarface has greatly affected the extent to which Pacinos character has come to be revered. I heard Incarcerated Scarfaces by Wu-Tang member Raekwon long before I was introduced to Al Pacinos Cuban accent. Raekwon created a genre of hip hop built around the narratives of coke kingpins and this model dominated the themes and lyrics for much of the rap produced in the following decade. By making this topic a musical norm the Scarface type became integrated into mainstream pop culture. In addition to this influence, the very specific iconography of the Scarface poster striking in its elemental black and white, with red letters elevates his character to some kind of timeless tragic hero. Maybe it will always be that way: the Scarface poster will continue to be the top choice for baby-fresh thuglets living in their first year dorms, adorning a brutal and brave Pacino mask.
TRAVEL SCRABBLE
PERSONAL ALARM
BANANA GuARD
uV-C SCANNER
COMPASS
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PORTABLE TOWELETTES
HiT JE T-S E AND GADG T TER BOuTiQu E f OR E TS TO HE PHOTO By L P yOu S u A f E W A C C E S S M OR RViVE ON ST yLiNG B A x yME G DELiSLE y PA SC ALE C AMPuS.iES GEORGiE V
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CLiniCaLLy just
Alex Nitsou visits the Mile End Legal Clinic, aiding through hard work and good will
WORDS By ALEx NiTSiOu PHOTO By ANNALiE yOuNG To have a just society people need to have access to the legal system, explained Geeta Narang, Founder and Executive Director of the Mile End Legal Clinic. Were so proud of our charters here in Quebec, she continued, but the laws are worth nothing if you cant exercise those rights. For that reason, Narang and her faithful crew of volunteers at the Mile End legal clinic have been helping Montralers keep their civil liberties fit. The clinic, which occupies the Mile End Mission every Wednesday evening, offers free legal support to anyone who cant otherwise afford an attorney. Through individual consultations on a drop-in basis, a team of lawyers and law students lend a hand at demystifying the legal system and aim to make justice accessible for all. Quebec is behind compared with other provinces in providing free legal aid, declared Colin Irving, President of the Board with some 50 years of legal practice under his belt. If individuals make more than $12,149 a year, they dont qualify for legal aid, explained Irving, remarking that lawyer fees are far from cheap these days. Even if theyve just started to practice, lawyers can charge at least $175 an hour. The unfortunate result is that few people actually have access to any type of legal help. Given such a sad state of civil affairs, Narang felt the need to give back to the community. A Mile End native herself, she made her way to the Mission fresh out of law school back in 2002. In addition to a private practice, Narang sat there once a week, offering free legal consultations. Taking time off during her pregnancies, she vowed to return with added support to deal with the overwhelming amount of cases. One major coup for Narang was joining forces with McGill Universitys Legal Clinic Course, which places students as interns at the Mile End Legal Clinic. Universit de Montral will also jump on board starting September 2009. Further assistance came when the team enlisted the help of Irving, whom Narang describes as invaluable to the success of the clinic. Today, the Mile End Legal Clinic is a non-profit organization. Still, Narang waits upon legal formalities to achieve charitable status, even though the team is armed with a network of experienced lawyers. Once granted, the clinic will be able to receive much needed funding from a variety of organizations. What people dont seem to realize is that were all volunteers, she pointed out, alluding to the fact that donations are always welcomed and currently their only means of financing. The state should be funding this, but the clinics success is mainly due to a lot of people with a lot of good will. By providing legal information and walking individuals through legal proceedings, the clinic aims to overcome the obstructions that exist between those practicing law and those who are subject to it. For the most part, Narang asserted, the people who come to see us are those who fall through the cracks, the ones who need legal help the most, but cant get any. Some fortunate citizens might know a lawyer or have one in the family, so its often just that point of entry that most people need, yet dont know where to go. Pondering the future of the clinic, Narang says she hopes the funds required to sustain such a venture continue to roll in. We seem to be the victims of our own success she mused, but the concept of working through a community center and getting to know the public intimately is such a great model that I hope every borough has one within twenty years.
THE MiLE END LEGAL CLiNiC iS SiTuATED AT 99 BERNARD WEST (WEDNESDAyS fROM 6 TO 7 PM) fOR MORE iNfORMATiON, PLEASE ViSiT justiCEMontRaL.oRg ON SEPTEMBER 16TH, THE CLiNiC HOLDS A 6 8 AT THE MiLE-END LiBRARy. A MEETiNG POiNT fOR JuRiSTS AND CiTizENS, THE OCCASiON WiLL iNCLuDE THE SCREENiNG Of LOCAL fiLMMAKER CHARLES LATOuRS DOCuMENTARy THAT HiGHLiGHTS SEVERAL LEGAL CASES THEyVE DEALT WiTH.
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nect with her sense of self, but also to explore the mythologies of imprisonment that exist outside the prison walls. Our interest is to work through creative means to explore what is possible. The project is not just a question of expression it is one of discovery, exploration, and fundamentally challenging the status quo, says co-director of the program Devora Neumark. Again, there is a need to look beyond what is immediately obvious. Despite the fact that Canadian crime rates reached a 25-year low in 2006, the number of women being imprisoned is increasing. It is due to the criminalization of poverty, mental illness and addiction, commented Neumark, and it is completely absurd. The continuing cuts to social welfare and the reduction of social supports are forcing women who already find themselves on the margins of society to support themselves in ways that fall outside the law. Of the women who are currently ensnared in the prison system, over 80 percent are being sentenced for crimes like theft, fraud, shoplifting, sex-work, and other non-violent offences they regard as necessary for their economic survival. The irony is that once in the system, the cost of imprisoning a woman in a federal prison ranges from a minimum of $175,000 to over $250,000 a year. One of the workshop facilitators put it succinctly when we spoke: We have an obligation to look at the bigger picture and ask what their life is like what responsibility does society have for putting them there? Interesting perspective.
The subject of the photograph is a solitary ballpoint pen. There is nothing the least bit distinctive about this particular pen you cant even discern what brand it is. The light suggests harsh overhead fluorescents, the kind that line hospital corridors. The object creates no shadows. Lying on its side, the pen is slightly askew within the frame. The piece is entitled: Jattends toujours ta lettre Im still waiting on your letter. On its own, the photograph evokes a stark loneliness, a kind of involuntary solitude. Its a powerful image, says Paul Litherland, the photographer who led the workshop in which the photograph was taken, it doesnt get much more direct than that. The photograph belongs to a small but growing body of artwork created by female inmates currently residing in one of five Quebec correctional facilities. These women have chosen to take action with their imaginations to change the way that society regards them. Agir par limaginaire, a collaboration between the Societe Elizabeth Fry du Quebec and Engrenage Noir LEVIER, aims to deconstruct the prejudices commonly held in our society about criminalized women and poverty. Since 2008, the initiative has selected and trained career artists to enter an environment where communication is severely restricted, and offer women the opportunity to convey their story, their way. All of the works completed over a two-year period will be displayed in a final exhibition, open to the public. An associated round-table discussion will celebrate the womens creativity, while focusing on the process by which women become impoverished within the prison system. The focus is not only to facilitate a self-reflective process by which each woman can re-con-
ADDiTiONAL iNfORMATiON THE SOCiT ELizABETH fRy Du QuBEC iS A NOT fOR PROfiT ORGANizATiON WHOSE MANDATE iS TO CREATE SERViCES fOR WOMEN iN CONfLiCT WiTH THE LAW iN ORDER TO fACiLiTATE THEiR REiNTEGRATiON iNTO SOCiETy. ELizabEthFRy.qC.Ca SiNCE 2002, ENGRENAGE NOiR / LEViER HAS SuPPORTED COMMuNiTy ART AND CREATiVE HuMANiST ACTiViSM PROJEC TS iN RESPONSE TO PROPOSAL S fROM iNDiViDuAL S AND GROuPS DEALiNG WiTH A WiDE ARRAy Of CONCERNS. EngREnagEnoiR.Ca
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Ive had this scar since I was 8 months old. Ive never known life without a scarred right arm. My parents tell me I did it to myself, but Ive always wondered!
My scar is a cleft lip that originated from a cleft palate. Because of this congenital disorder Ive had about a dozen surgeries from the time of birth until the age of 16. My cleft palate has taught me how to survive people continually asking me to repeat myself! VANESSA VELKOff-WOO
DAViD MARTEL
This scar reminds me of the fragility of the human body and a near-fatal South African motorcycle accident which I still today cannot remember. MARCEL MuELLER
I got this scar one night when my ex-girlfriend went a little crazy and stabbed me twice in the arm. But its all good, were still friends! DANDRO HEAT.
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LandsCapERs
WORDS By COLiN THRONESS iLLuSTRATiONS By CORRi-LyNN TETz Camille turns away from the house and takes a haul from his one-hit pipe disguised as a cigarette. He inhales deeply, squints his eyes. Offers it to me and I accept. One hit wont get me too messed up, although my tolerance since I moved to Montral from Vancouver has weakened considerably. Camille is back to work before Im finished. Hes built similar to me, a little shorter, more wiry. He walks slowly alongside the wall; holds his shoulders back, left one floating slightly higher than the right. He looks at the wall from different angles; tilts his head slightly, plotting his next move. Man, I love smoking pot with this kind of work, he looks at me and smiles. His French accent is subtle. It really helps me to get creative, he adds. I nod. I like it too, as long as I dont overdo it, I say, knowing Ive made that statement many times before. I follow it up with another verse: I think it helps me find an inner monologue. A small shift in perspective to absorb the work in different ways. Almost makes it more challenging more exciting in a way. What I dont say is the real reason I smoke pot at work is because Id rather be somewhere else. Camille looks at me, smiles again. Yeah, exactly, man. So true. His eyes return to the wall, scanning it slowly from one end to the other. I used to do a different kind of landscaping. Mowed lawns on and off for ten years. It was a good summer job; paid well. After my first seven seasons and a long degree in English Lit, I tried to put landscaping behind me. Found work serving and bartending. That industry wore on me too. Four years ago, around the time I started writing, I went back to being a lawnboy in the summers. It was more enjoyable than it had been before. It felt more like I was working towards something. The end of my career as a labourer was in sight. I would zip around the lawns, earplugs in, whipper snipper held effortlessly at my side, red socks pulled up to my knees; I was a superhero. Id let my mind wander into the stories I was working on. Line after line behind the mower, Id revel at the endless landscape of my imagination and the freedom I had to explore it. Eventually the appeal wore off. I had finished my second degree and was starting to feel trapped again. Smoking pot on the job became a prison and no longer a novelty. I had to quit the West Coast. Leave the lawnboy behind. Make my move. I guess I cant avoid this front section any longer, says Camille, reaching for the hammer and chisel. Hey look, this ones Africa. He picks up the long slab of stone; flips it around and starts hammering away. Rock chips fly in every direction. His fingers are dusty and grey with the work. Hes a part of the stone. Part of this wall. I join Camille beside the wall as he places the chiseled piece. Pick up the scraps, throw them towards the discard pile. We take a moment to look at the stone sitting there in its new home. We spend a lot of time staring, looking for the next shape, admiring our work. Or often in my case doubting it. The wall is made of long, heavy slabs that bleed an orangey rust colour. It slopes gently away from the house and then dives sharply near the front walkway, the part weve been avoiding. We use a long taut string as our guide and every
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stone laid is carefully leveled. We often talk about how beautifully straight the line of the wall is even though the individual pieces arent perfect. The thin gaps and fissures bend and bow betraying the walls integrity. You almost have to squint your eyes to see that its true. But it is true. At least for now. This is my first rock wall. I follow Camilles lead. He places the faade pieces. I fill in the empty spaces behind that wont be visible, but are nonetheless crucial to the structure. I secure the filler pieces with cement because they rarely sit perfectly. I take my time. Dont trust the cement yet. I imagine the wall a year from now, crumbling in sections, spilling out into the driveway. I look to the house again to see if I can catch a glimpse of our patrons watching us as we sneak tokes off the one-hitter, while we stand and stare at the wall for minutes on end, while we build the wall that I dont believe in yet. I have to learn to trust the cement. And to trust Camille. He knows and loves this work. Takes pride in his wall. Weve been taking pictures of it for his portfolio. This is his career landscape architecture. Hes nearly finished his degree. Like me, its his second undergrad. Camille goes to the palettes of rock and starts his search for the next piece of the puzzle. I leave him to it and wheel the wheelbarrow over to the bags of cement mix. Making cement is a lot like making dough. You need just the right consistency: not too
thick, not too soupy. Im getting better at eyeing it. I empty the bag into the wheelbarrow; turn the hose on; watch the water pool around the small mountain of dry powder. Take the shovel and turn it over and over again until its close to homogenous. Add more water and repeat. Its a good arm workout. I like the rhythm. Hard to find at first: I stabilize the wheelbarrow with my legs and then bend down close; hold the shovel wide for more control; then I turn and turn until my arms are too tired to continue. Ive gotten into the habit of saying the same thing over and over again in my mind while I mix it: a se mange, le beton? a se mange, le beton? Can you eat cement? Can you eat cement? Sweat pours down my cheeks and my shirt sticks to my chest and back. I feel tough. I feel hard. A labourer. Perhaps for life. Landscaping work seems to follow me around. This job found me. I was out of money, couldnt say no; unfortunately, writing work doesnt fall out of trees. At least I wont be humping a lawnmower all summer. Ill learn new things. How to build a lawn. How to plant a garden. How to make a rock wall. Stone by stone. I wheel the cement over to Camille and ask him if the stones hes laid are there to stay. He tells me they are. He looks at them as if to make sure, just a hint of doubt in his eyes. Or maybe just in mine.
tRappEd
When I made these photos, it was just because I felt sorry for the plants. I was at work on a Saturday and I thought about how sad it must be to be here all the time. ~ Alexi Hobbs
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'Trapped' photo series by Alexi Hobbs 1. 2. & 4. Monstera Deliciosa 3. Dracaena Cincta aLExihobbs.CoM
ROSEMARy
Helps improve memory and can stave off Alzheimers Good for upset stomachs, digestive disorders and headaches Boosts liver functions improves hair quality and can help ward off baldness Add rosemary to your cooking (great with lamb), throw some in the bath, and start washing your hair with rosemary-infused water.
natuRaL REMEdiEs
WORDS By HANNAH ByRNE PHOTO By CARLA WARRiLOW Day-to-day survival can be hard. Who has time to eat and sleep properly in these days of t he i nter net a nd time travel? Here are a few natural remedies to keep your little engine running. Get your health on!
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opEn 24 houRs
WORDS By SARA McCuLLOCH PHOTOS By SHAyL PRiSK The love-it-or-hate-it metro system in this city seems to have fronted a new trend: all-night hangouts in Montral are dwindling everywhere. First the small dpanneurs, then bowling alleys, and now diners only open until six. Apparently night-crawling is becoming limited to an almost 24-hour timeline. How sad. We did our best to get together a list of places open late if not all night, for the partiers and insomniacs among us. Here goes:
BATTLENET 24 VARiOuS LOCATiONS When your internet decides to stop working the night before your paper is due... CAf NOiR 440 MONT-ROyAL E & 3685 ST. LAuRENT Wi-fi, coffee, pizzas and a salad bar, this is the pit stop before your night bus back to suburbia. PHARMAPRix 5122 CTE-DES-NEiGES Even doctors and nurses will tell you that this is the only Pharmaprix open 24 hours so go pick up that much needed prescription! it is also the nearest to the main hospitals... fiT fOR LifE 7503 ST.-LAuRENT FitFoRLiFEgyM.Ca Midterm stress and eating literally weighing you down? Well fit for Life gym is open all day and all night long. Loads of space and equipment - no more excuses! Memberships available for all times of the day, including your more productive times, day or night.
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CHEz CLAuDETTE 351 LAuRiER E Out late and need a snack? Chez Claudette serves up many choices: burgers, hot dogs, poutine, clubs, and gudilles. Also serves many vegetarian options. SuPERMARCH QuATRE fRRES 3701 ST.-LAuRENT Stroll the isles for artichokes and melons at three in the morning. Really, the cashier isnt judging you at all... RAPiDO 4494 ST.-DENiS for some goshdarn swell times: a retro-styled setting for a late night feast. Gee golly! This italian-based eatery also serves up Greek food. BANQuiSE 994 RACHEL E if you are in need of a breakfast for champions, try the T-Rex: a poutine filled with various meats, on top of the usual gravy and cheese. fAiRMOuNT BAGELS 74 fAiRMOuNT W Pick up some oven-fresh bagels or matzah any hour of the day or night.
aLMost 24/7
BLANCHE NEiGE 5737 CTE-DES-NEiGES Sunday to Thursday: 6:30AM to 3 AM friday and Saturday: 24 hours RESTAuRANT SALONiCA 5261 ST. DENiS A quiet diner far away from the hoards of crowds you just danced with, but only open until six in the morning. DCARiE HOT DOG 953 DCARiE This stand stays open from 5:30am to 1am and boasts freshly peeled and cut potatoes for their $1.75 fries, $3 cheeseburgers, and $1.25 hotdogs. All prices have tax included.
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PTiSSERiE KOuiGN AMANN 322 MONT-ROyAL E Located in a fresh, colorful space, Aurore from the bakery explains, We make everything here with love. you can try their popular Kouign Amann or their spinach quiche ($2.45) and fresh juice ($1.95). Take your meal while everything bakes in full view before you. DRAGON BEARD CANDy 52 DE LA GAuCHETiRE W Spend four dollars, come back in exactly five to seven minutes and you will have a huge paper bag filled with fresh pressed waffles (they call them egg balls!). yEH! 3804 ST.-LAuRENT A self-serve yogurt stand that does not charge for toppings, but for how much your personalized concoction weighs: at 48 cents an ounce, mix some strawberry cheesecake with Captain Crunch. Owners Grace and JeanDaniel used their design backgrounds to model a concept easy on the tastebuds, eyes, and wallet. BuANDERiE ROyAL PLuS 946 DCARiE Come by foot, car, mtro, or bus - the price is right says the sign, and at one dollar for any laundry load, this has to be one of the cheapest spots in town! SACO 4895 ST.-LAuRENT A hairstyling academy originally based in London, Saco offers haircuts from diligent pupils for $11. A cut from graduate students (Coiffeur junior) starts at $35 and increases from then on until you are seated with the Matre coiffeur (prices vary). CLOTHiNG SWAPS A great way to not only refresh a wardrobe, but to meet people that is if you arent all wrestling over the same sweater. Shops and neighbours hold swap meets anywhere, and the rules are just as diverse: pay a small fee or donate a bag of your oldies. Keep an eye out for flyers and postings in universities, bookstores and cafes across the city to clue in to grass-roots swap-meets. DOLLAR CiNMA 6900 DCARiE doLLaRCinEMa.Ca Every movie comes here, repeats owner Bernie Gurberg. With quality projectors from the old Odion Cinema, the only difference is you pay $2, not $10. This is Gurbergs way of helping others especially families. if you prefer a different film era, step into the Living Room to relive The Blob.
BLANCHE NEiGE 5737 CTE-DES-NEiGES its no wonder customers must be reminded that refills and jam are not included: a $1.99 breakfast consists of two eggs, one meat side (bacon, ham, or sausage), toast, home fries, and one cup of coffee! Try the booth under the Snow White mural. Juke boxes at every table? Thats included. MALHi SWEETS 880 JARRy W for authentic indian cuisine with vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, Malhi Sweets is your destination. Owner Malhi could barely narrow down favorites from his extensive selection of treats. Here you can order starters, which include vegetable samosas ($1.50), vegetable pakora ($ 2.50) and lentil soup ($2.00) along with an indian draft. LE CLAfOuTi 2122 DRuMMOND Tucked underneath the green awning is a garden of fresh sandwiches and salads. your choice of a small egg salad sandwich ($3.20) or large version ($5.50), and a large salad for ($2.75). Taxes are included, you can mix/stack different salads within the same container, and everything is made fresh daily. BOfiNGER BARBEQuE SMOKEHOuSE 5667 SHERBROOKE W The meat is slow roasted over charcoal from 4 to 24 hours, then glazed in a house BBQ sauce over the grill. if this doesnt make you salivate then maybe your choice of sauce and side with the meat will? $7 for the lot and an endless supply of napkins for your saucy fingers. LE ziGOTO 5731 PARC LEzigotoCaFE.bLogspot.CoM With organic, free trade latts for $2.60, Le zigoto is also trying to infuse local, fresh ingredients into their menu: Any fresher, and youd have to hunt for them! says coowner Laurence. This young space is flourishing into a small venue hosting vernissages, poetry readings, and local shows.
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MOuLiN ROSE BOuTiQuE 1119 STE.-CATHERiNE E price starting at $70 Located next to Cabaret Mado and filled with bold masks and bright wigs, this store provides an endless supply of costuming inspiration! iMAGE iN 34 MONT-ROyAL E price $3 to $50 Every possible accessory stored under the same roof, you can navigate through temporary tattoos, Marie Antoinette wigs, or just goofy sunglasses. More is more is more. Quiz PLACE ALExiS-NiHON, 1500 ATWATER (MTRO LEVEL) price $50 to $150 (for full costume) This small store boasts big costumes selected from Halloween trade shows. Stop by the windows in October to view the slideshow of costumes and pick up your Rocky Horror tickets. JOHNNy BROWN / LA MAiSON Du COSTuME 7300 HuTCHiSON
rental $20 to $200 purchase $30 to $250 From fantastical costumes to delicate tutus from the dance section of this store the possibilities are endless. Introverts swing out of their shells, while grown men find themselves fitted into tiny dance ensembles. Good times!
fOLLES ALLiES 365 MONT-ROyAL E rental $40 to $100 Storeowner Isabelle has searched far and wide for her vintage pieces and the story also holds true for her costumes: from haute couture to theatre pieces collected over many years, with special interest in the small embellishments and details. Isabelle also stores a wide variety of accessories and Victorian ensembles. JOSEPH PONTON COSTuMES 480 ST-fRANOiS-xAViER
rental $35 to $200 purchase $70 to $3000 From as far back as 1865 this company has mastered the art of the thriller costume: with ghoulish masks hanging everywhere to hand-tailoring on your rental this is the destination for lost soulsin the costume department, that is...
EVA B 2013 ST.-LAuRENT rental starting at $35 A favourite for fripperie, Eva B also indulges an endless imagination when it comes to Halloween: you can mix and match from different costumes, add some vintage, and engage in some folly. Warning: customers usually return their creations after dominating costume contests the night before. LiNDA MORiSSET 2063 ST.-DENiS
rental or purchase: $65 to $85 An established costumier since 1905, this shop houses costumes old and new, a multitude of accessories, and a love for dressing up whatever the occasion.
Atelier prices vary While her clothing designs are reserved for corporate clients, higher budgets, and Cirque de Soleil, Linda Morissets creativity can inspire many who choose to construct their own costumes. Her specialty is air foam: she has built a wearable couch complete with ringing phone, and confectioned small motorcycle hats for babies.
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P45/ NECKLACE: ARiELLE DE PiNTO P46/ CLOCKWiSE fROM TOP LEfT/ CHARM NECKLACE: ARiELLE DE PiNTO; PERfuME BOTTLE PENDANT: ViNTAGE; NECKLACE: LES TOffES P47/ STAR Of DAViD NECKLACE: ViNTAGE P48/ NECKLACE: ARiELLE DE PiNTO; BELT: LES TOffES, ROSE PENDANT: STyLiSTS OWN, CHARM: ViNTAGE
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PHOTOS By MAuDE TREMBLAy CREATiVE DiRECTiON AND STyLiNG By PASCALE GEORGiEV HAiR + MAKE uP By BRAyDON NELSON fOR ORBiTE MODEL iRiS CAMPO
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P51/ CAMiSOLE AND WRAP: ViNTAGE; LEGGiNGS: TOPSHOP; NECKPiECE: STyLiSTS OWN P52/ DRESS: VERO MODA; NECKLACE: ViNTAGE; fEATHER CLiP: H&M; HEADPiECE: uRBAN OuTfiTTERS
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P54/ SKiRT (WORN AS DRESS): DANE GEROuS; BOOTS: MiNNETONKA; NECKLACE AND HEADPiECE: CuSTOMizED By STyLiST P55/ TSHiRT: uRBAN OuTfiTTERS; TuNiC: ONLy; BOOTS: MiNNETONKA; NECKLACES: ARiELLE DE PiNTO; HEADPiECE: CuSTOMizED By STyLiST P57/ CAMiSOLE: ViNTAGE; LEGGiNGS: ONLy; NECKLACE: ARiELLE DE PiNTO; BANGLE: H&M; BAG: LES ETOffES; HEADPiECE: STyLiSTS OWN
desert storm
PHOTOS By MARQuiSMONTES STyLiNG By JEANNE B. LEyMONERiE HAiR By JASON WiLLiAMS MAKE-uP By JENNifER DiONNE MODELS: VANESSA PiLON, NiCOLAS BLEC AND ORPHE THE DOG P59/ ON HER: DRESS AND LEGGiNGS: fRENCH CONNECTiON; JEWELRy: AQuA SKyE P60/ ON HER, DRESS: fRENCH CONNECTiON; BOOTS: MODELS OWN; JEWELRy: AQuA SKyE / ON HiM, COAT AND HOOD: SiMONS; T-SHiRT: uRBAN OuTfiTTERS; PANTS: uN MONDE; JEWELRy: AQuA SKyE P62/ ON HER, TOP: fRENCH CONNECTiON; VEST AND SHOES: OLAM; LEGGiNGS: BETSEy JOHNSON, JEWELRy: AQuA SKyE / ON HiM, T-SHiRT: uRBAN OuTfiTTERS; PANTS, uN MONDE; JEWELRy: AQuA SKyE
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AFRICA
In this issue we chose to explore the majestic and scarred continent that is Africa. As troubled and torn as she is, she remains striking, beautiful and rich with culture and history. Four of our contributors touch on Africa through travel essays, interviews, stories and photos and SNAP! intern Carla Warrilow helps us discover some African culture in Montral through a neighbourhood, restaurants, and event guide. 67/
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Katie Kotler interviews Frank Gossner, a music buff who lived for three years in a number of West African countries.
Frank Gossner, aka DJ Frank, is wearing a shirt from the Ivory Coast, showing me his tattoos and telling me how despite being German, he does not like soccer. He also doesnt really like New York, where he currently lives, finding it too over-regulated and boring. Frank prefers the New York of the nineties, when he hosted a French soft-porn themed night at Bar 16, which ran for four years. His wife, then, was one of his go-go dancers. Today, she works for the German Mission. Thats how Frank ended up spending 2005-2008 living in West Africa and collecting records. Right now he hosts the Voodoo Funk blog, many nights throughout New York and a radio show on WFMU. He is also the subject of the upcoming documentary, Take Me Away Fast.
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What are the kids listening to now in West Africa? Countries like Benin and Guinea listen to a lot of old music, while Ghana and Sierra Leone are more into new stuff. Do they sample it in hip-hop? Ghana does, Nigeria just started. Mostly modern pop music there is not sample-based, but cheap electronic, desktop music. Very horrible stuff. There are some really cool bands like H20, though, from Benin, who use real instruments. Hows the music industry in general? Do people use MySpace? There are a few, but only those who have some status in the West. There are no real local acts that I know of. Its very hard for young musicians. All the problems that the West has, such as piracy, are much worse there. What kind of clubs did you go to when you were in Africa? I mostly went to the bars where they had live bands. I went to a few discotheques, but its very tough. I was always traveling by myself. You attract so much unwanted attention and get harassed by girls. Nobody takes no for an answer. Ghana was the most aggressive. In Benin, you definitely can go out without being bothered. Ive seen some dark stuff, as far as the ex-pat community goes. You have lots of old and ugly guys picking up cute young girls there and it doesnt really constitute as prostitution because they engage in a relationship, but still its obvious that these girls are not with these guys because they have such a great character. What are the biggest differences between audiences in the West and those in Africa when you play this music? Here it is easier to get young people interested in this type of music and there its difficult. Everybody is so oriented to western culture. They also dont want to listen to what their parents and grandparents listened to. How do you think the political situations in each of these countries affects their music? Each country has their own government which is very different from every other country. Guinea was very much influenced by music from Mali, because it was part of the Malian empire. The president of Guinea, Sekou Toure, kicked out the French in 58 and started a government-run record label, Syliphone, which ran from the late sixties until the early eighties. Syliphone paid a lot of money for local bands to record, travel around and play. They even had bands from Ghana come and teach people how to play their instruments. Toure wanted people to feel proud of their own culture and get over the influence of colonial power. He started as a liberator and had support from all over the world. For example, (South African singer) Miriam Makeba went to Guinea to record because they had some of the best musicians. Later, Toure became a madman, completely paranoid. He ended up kill-
ing and torturing lots of intellectuals, artists, close friends and family members. Whats the music like in Liberia? I only have two records from there, because the Civil War was so devastating. It is the same with Sierra Leone. These records sound very high-lifey, with very little drumming, mostly guitar and singing. Theres something wrong with getting records from places that have been so destroyed. In Sierra Leone, they used to have a big radio station in Freetown, SLBS, Sierra Leone Broadcasting Services. I did radio shows there for awhile. They had this huge house, filled with records, which the rebels burnt down during Operation No Living Thing. There were hundreds of thousands of records, the largest in the entire African continent. What do you think is the future of African music? The bands who are really good dont have much of a chance. The stuff they play on the radio is usually commercial crap. There are countries, like the Ivory Coast, for example, where they have this horrendous kind of style of music Coup Dcal. It starts with young guys who have ties to the government or military. There is this one guy who hands out money at his gigs. The guys in the video clips pose with fancy champagne bottles, sports cars, green screens in the background... Did you feel like they were trying to take advantage of your money? Sometimes. Youre in a country thats really poor and everybody is trying to make a buck. Some people are clever, or friendly about it. If you go around and somebody invites you to their house and then it turns out that they dont have anything of interest, you still have to buy something. If you leave some money behind, then you can make them happy. Whenever I go to Benin, I always go across the villages and we have a voodoo ceremony and sacrifice chickens for good luck, so that we can buy many records. Its always a lot of fun. What do you think is the biggest misconception about Africa and African music? Most people cant believe that there were records made in Africa. Most people think that its just a desert, dry, unfertile, everyones starving and its super poor. It is poor, but its also very rich. There are lots of resources. Its very fertile. Everything grows there. This is not just an accidental misconception. Thats the way governments want us to think. If people would know how many resources there are in West Africa, they would start to wonder, Why do we have to put in so much money and yet it is still so poor? Its only poor because its being exploited by big corporations, who go there and buy the resources for less than ten percent of the market value and pay money under the table to some government official and take off with it. Its the same kind of model with how all of those other record dealers/collectors op-
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to us was, Youre the obrunis, youre supposed to pay for things, and if not, you should have stayed in Canada. There was nothing we could do so we left Emmanuelle in the care of the hospital workers. On the way home, the Pastor bought a drink and when he went to pay for it, we all caught a glimpse of the fat 50 cedi bills in his wallet. We returned from the hospital having found out that Megan didnt have malaria but that clearly Emmanuelle did. Then only five hours later the same fat and ugly pastor came jogging over to us claiming that Emmanuelle had taken a turn for the worse and that the Pastor needed 50 cedi (1 cedi is equivalent to $1 CAD but goes a lot further in Ghana) for Emmanuelles blood transfusion. He insisted that without it Emmanuelle might die that night. Shocked and a bit confused, we decided we would pay for the treatment, but also that six of us would go to the hospital to oversee the process. Then it was the Pastors turn to be shocked as a group of us jammed into the orphanage van and told him to step on it. He was disgruntled that we hadnt just given him the money, so he told us to pay for his oil change or he wasnt driving us anywhere. He also told us that he didnt have the contact information for the hospital that had apparently just called to let him know Emmanuelle had gotten worse. With the help of friends and family back home and an ingenious iPhone we finally found the hospital phone number, begged the staff to go ahead with Emmanuelles transfusion, and told them we would be there with the money shortly. Their reply was that they had no blood in reserve at the hospital. The rest of the hour-and-a-half ride was extremely tense; we psyched ourselves up in case we had to give blood in a rural African clinic. We thought that that would have been the worst of it. We were wrong. It was hard to tell that Emmanuelle was dead at first. I remember feeling a pulse when I touched his neck, but I soon realized it was my own heart-
beat thundering throughout my body. What made it clear was how cold Emmanuelle was. It was almost 40 degrees, and he was icy. He was also stiff although he looked almost relaxed and calm lying on his back with his hands clasped together in prayer. As I looked around the room I remember thinking that this was one of the loneliest, saddest and most painful ways for a young person to die. I thought about how scared I would have been and how helpless Emmanuelle must have felt. We were all crying and distraught, but the Pastor wasnt surprised and upset so much as impatient. He told us to hurry up and get back in the van then stormed up to Emmanuelles body, slapped it on the stomach three times and said, look, dead, lets go! The funeral was arranged for a week later. They asked us to pay for it. They also told us we were to pay for the embalming of the body, but we refused to do both. The way we view it, malaria didnt kill Emmanuelle, the Pastor did. He was communicating with the doctor, he knew the severity of Emmanuelles symptoms and he had the means to give him a transfusion when he needed one earlier that day. He is a disgusting man. He is also a liar. Emmanuelle was stiff, and it takes four to six hours for rigour mortis to set in. It is extremely unlikely that when the Pastor asked us for the 50 cedi that Emmanuelle was still alive. One life was snuffed out far too soon, one orphanage administration has blood on their hands and one group of obrunis were caught up in the middle of it. The lives that do go on, however, are those of the orphans. The little kids who scream and shout and jump up and down when they see us. The kids who braid our hair and make us bracelets. The kids who write us letters and say I love yous. So if my African experience has taught me anything, its that life is delicate but its also tenacious. And even after us whiteys have gone back to our air conditioning and public healthcare, Ghanaians will continue to survive and thrive in their environment.
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gLobaL apaRthEid
A story of one young familys struggle against the Canadian government.
WORDS By DANiEL DOuEK PHOTO By MAxyME G DELiSLE Canada can be so much less than a wonderful, progressive, multicultural society. My good friend Allen Stack is doing his PhD in political science here at McGill. He lives on the Plateau with his wife Alima and their adorable, rambunctious twoyear-old son, Amos. Alima is pregnant with a little girl, due any day now (theyve already decided on a name for her but are keeping it a secret until shes born). The couple met in Burkina Faso, Alimas homeland, where her family resides. Allen is from Pennsylvania. Since neither of them have any family in Montral and raising two little ones is hard, they applied to the Canadian embassy in Cote dIvoire, neighbouring Burkina Faso, for a twomonth visa that would enable Alimas younger sister Guiato to come join them. It would be so perfect: Alima and Guiato could spend time together, little Amos would have an auntie, and Allen could balance double fatherhood with the need to keep his work rolling. Except that the Canadian embassy in Cote dIvoire denied Guiato a visa. They said there wasnt enough proof that she wouldnt stay in Canada as an illegal immigrant. Allen got together letters from various members of the community, including a doctors testimony about how extended family can help to alleviate postpartum depression in new mothers, and did everything he could to appeal the decision. A few weeks later he got the embassys reply: no. Its disgusting. We discussed it. Global apartheid, said Allen. So true: the embassys decision has all the ugliness of a racial slur, but with an impersonal, bureaucratic face. Imagine if Alima (who also happens to be a naturalized U.S. citizen) hailed from Australia or Norway or Portugal, instead of West Africa. Can you picture the Canadian government denying her sister a visa to come help out the young family? Consider Allen, choosing to do his PhD at McGill over any number of American schools, and as such contributing to Canadas prestige and value. Now consider the Canadian government notifying him that he and his family are basically second-class people. Finally, consider the Canadian governments arrogance in assuming that a visitor from Burkina Faso would prefer to remain here putting up with the wintry bigotry of people like themselves instead of returning to live with her family and culture under African skies. Its an outrage. But when Allen graduates, he and Alima will have the last laugh: they plan to move to Burkina Faso permanently. And in the meantime, they may not have any family in Canada, but theyve got friends. And mark my words: we will babysit.
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A TASTE OF AFRICA
Carla Warrilow researches some African venues and events based in Montral.
WORDS CARLA WARRILOW PHOTO BY IMOGEN EVESON
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They arrived in the middle of the winter. All six of them packed into the small 3 1/2 apartment off Pie IX where the four little boys ran around all day (unfortunately for the downstairs neighbours).
Tuesday nights at Caf Campus are among her college memories. After all, its only a stones throw away from the pad she and her three sisters shared while getting their degrees in Canada. As they cruise the bars on St-Laurent, the colourful Haitian art on the walls guards their messy quarters. In Haiti, they had maids to clean up after them but here they have become responsible for all the tenants in their building. Sometimes money becomes an issue (pissing it away, it turns out, is easier than saving for groceries). Still when that happens its OK, they just stay in and watch movies lying all over the floor. They have so many cousins, its hard to keep track. You can meet a different one at their house every time you go over. They know all the Haitian bouncers along St-Laurent and that always guarantees a good spot at Gogos; however, when I tell Sandy that I went to Montral-Nord to meet with La Maison dHaiti, she looks at me weird. I would never go there, youre crazy. While there are thousands of Haitian immigrants in Montral, these girls are the Haitians of Square St-Louis. visa no. 00993340 CountRy oF oRigin Haiti aRRivaL datE 2001 addREss 3698 Laval MEtRo Sherbrooke visa no. 00234559 CountRy oF oRigin France aRRivaL datE 2003 addREss 1590 av. Mont-Royal Est apt. 401 MEtRo Mont-Royal She walks down lavenue listening to M on her iPod. She looks in the shop windows and thinks about the decoration of her new place. She really likes the store Saummon. They sell sea salt and when she cooks with it, she feels like shes back at home, on the north-west coast of France. Not that she particularly misses it, shes in Quebec because she wants to be. She came here on an internship exchange for one summer and lived right downtown near Berri-UQAM and Chez Mado. Eventually, she came back to pursue her studies at HEC and to get a good job. Why she likes living here: she doesnt give a straight answer but generally speaking, quality of life seems to stand out. Its just not the same in France in terms of the work and leading a nice, affordable lifestyle. Anyways, its really not that different from home with all the European people here on the Plateau and the language being the same. Its the best of two worlds!
Only a winter later, they moved to Little Italy where they and many other Latino families were becoming the majority. As Omar would say Latinos were having more kids than Italians. We were spreading like cockroaches. Indeed the changes were visible everywhere, from the typical Italian cafs sandwiched between taquerias and pupuserias to the Italian-Salvadorian teenage couples that roamed the streets at night holding hands. visa n0 00123459 CountRy oF oRigin El Salvador aRRivaL datE 1986 addREss 6630 Henri-Julien MEtRo Beaubien visa no. 00933405 CountRy oF oRigin Algeria aRRivaL datE 1998 addREss 3445 Place Decelles apt. 8 MEtRo Cte-des-Neiges His French is good but sometimes he cant quite remember the words he wants to say. All his friends are young, male and from Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia. They form part of a big extended family that lives, works and hangs out together all the time. Their place of choice is the corner caf. When this one bans smoking pre-emptively, they all switch to the next caf up Cte-des-Snow. Actually it doesnt really matter which caf they are in, you can still be sure to find them there at any moment of the day drinking espressos, allongs and smoking (or sometimes chain-smoking depending on the subject matter). More importantly, youll be sure to hear them talking, and I dont mean about the weather; almost any topic can turn into a matter of utmost importance and will be duly debated at great length and with thundering intensity. Many of these guys have been here for years and yet they seldom seem to leave the neighbourhood or even the caf. Quite a few of them are also waiting to get their papers soon and maybe marry. Its not always easy but this is not something to talk about openly. On the other hand, the grilled lamb that Farhat makes is still as good as it gets.
www.electronicsheep.com
rooms, silk screen set ups, etc.); to create the best fucking work I can, to be innovative and to harness the internet (free is the new capture point!). It is also very helpful to create viral content based on your own work so that it can become memes, penetrate the blogosphere and small press and win endorsement, align yourselves with local thoughtleaders, barter with others and leverage your skill set (trade your best artwork to a sympathetic designer in exchange for a banging website, for instance). You can even go so far as to organize cultural events that are progressive, experiential and inclusionary, to start a movement thats fresh and see the opportunity in every obstacle. Montral has its cons but with hard work and the right kind of spirit, the sky is the limit.
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Even if you dont think that youre really cut out for the whole parenting thing, there is something that kicks in when your baby is born that just makes you want to take care of her.
Ive never really been a baby person. Dont get me wrong, I smile at toddlers when theyre being all clumsy and cute, and I defy anyone to say that they dont feel a little gooey when looking at a picture of some chubby little munchkin grinning a toothless smile. But until I had my daughter, I had never actually spent more than a few minutes holding an infant. Id never changed a diaper. I had no idea how to hold a little person properly, never mind clean, feed and care for one. But then it happened. My little monkey popped out of me in a great burst of fluid and momentum. And that was it. At the same time as a baby is born, so is a parent. You dont need a manual (although the hospital does provide you with one in Quebec). You dont really need instructions at all. Like the whales and the penguins and the polar bears, we instinctually know what to do. Amazingly enough, its all pretty common sense. Thats not to say that this isnt the hardest work you will ever have done in your life. You will be on call 24 hours a day. For the first six weeks of my little monkeys life, she didnt particularly like being put down. This meant that unless she fell asleep on me, she would start making really pathetic mewling noises, reminiscent of tiny kittens that dont quite have their proper voices yet. That or she would cry so hard that no sound would come out for gasping. As a result, I would hold her, or feed her, or just hang out with her on the bed or the couch. I never imagined I would watch so much TV in my life. Then theres the sleep deprivation. If you think youve ever been more tired, think again. Exhausted from a long weekend of partying? I have zero sympathy for you. I had no idea that one could become jet lagged without flying. But the great part is, it doesnt matter. I think, in fact, that being a zombie helps keep you focused on the single task at hand. You dont need enough brain power to read when all of your time and energy needs to go into caring for a ten pound bundle. And despite exhaustion due to interrupted sleep, taking care of a baby is easier than you might think. Everything is incredibly basic. Eat, sleep, poop. If a baby isnt crying from hunger, chances are she needs a little help moving some gas bubbles through her intestines. Unfortunately she cant say Hey mom... need a little help here. Ive got some terrible gas, might you help me burp? But once you try feeding and burping her, and if she wont stop her wailing unless you cuddle her, then maybe she just wants to be held! And if she just wont stop crying? Get a thicker skin and accept the fact that her immature digestive system is giving her trouble; its not glamorous but its all part of life. Even if you dont think that youre really cut out for the whole parenting thing, there is something that kicks in when your baby is born that just makes you want to take care of her. And there are ways to avoid becoming one of those parents. You know? The ones who move to the suburbs and buy a minivan as soon as the baby bump appears. As hard as it may seem (and expensive) you really don't need a whole lot of stuff. Just patience, and lots of it. Oh right, and there is a little time for fun and games. I made up a new rule. When baby sleeps, mommy and daddy get sexy. It's a goodie I would recommend it to all new parents. Who cares about dishes when you haven't done it in three days? Since we instituted the rule, life has become significantly more enjoyable. Even exhaustion seems a little less well, exhausting, when you're getting the requisite endorphin rush.
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FoREnsiC aRt
WORDS AND iMAGE By iMOGEN EVESON
crowd in hope of finding their predestined lover. I used to flirt with such intentions too, but that was long before I started searching instead, for faces that steal dreams. Faces haunt me: every nuance, every angle, every shadow, every line. I slip through the world sizing up their shapes and colors and textures. At a glance I notice if eyes are wet or iced, if theyre squinty or withholding, if scars are new or smooth, if skin is oiled or abused. Jeanne Boylan wrote these lines in Portraits of Guilt, an account of her career as one of the worlds leading forensic artists. She would tackle each case with a psychological slant and create portraits drawn out
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of witnesses latent memories. Her projection of the so-called Unabomber was among her high profile composite sketches; and the art is still topical today, in all its traditional and digital manifestations. An official (and dubious looking) police efit of highwayman Dick Turpin has been unveiled in England, while a Scottish university that boasts the worlds only degree course in Forensic Art has eked out the features of Arsinoe, the sister of the last Egyptian Pharaoh. Meanwhile, on these shores, Montralbased forensic artist Victoria Lywood has produced a 3-D facial reconstruction of a Saskatchewan woman, killed over 90 years ago, in the hope she will be identified when a Discovery Channel documentary on the process is aired this fall. Talk about being good with faces.
SECRETS
POCKETBOOK
SNAP!
Editors NotE
Contributors Shayl PriSk Concept & Creative Direction Vanda daftari rebeka Pelaez Design karin demeyer Lead Photography adrien baudet Guest Photography Shayl PriSk dane Coogan Writing PaSCale georgieV Styling
For this issue local boutique brand Little Burgundy approached us and asked us to suggest some of our talented contributors to collaborate on their Fall arts publication. Adrien Baudet, Maxyme G. Delisle, Robby Reis, Maude Tremblay, Meredith Erickson and Katie Kotler are some of our talented friends who were chosen to submit content for the SECRET themed issue, now available in ALDO and Little Burgundy stores all across Canada. Thanks to Catherine, Andrea and all the crew at Little Burgundy! Weve put together this SNAP! Pocketbook with the same SECRET theme in mind. We hope you like it! SP
For the launch party of our Summer issue we baked a giant cake and then asked our guests: for a slice, tell us a juicy secret. Here are some of the responses we got that night!
I have daddy Issues I never pay for the bus I read my boss emaIls I lIke It rough I lIke to pIck my nose I crIed when I got my last haIrcut Ive cheated on my boyfrIend 3 tImes I dont have herpes but I gave It to someone else I masturbated at work In th e bath roo m I th o u g ht about kIllIng my mother today I cheated on the transcrIpt that got me Into my m.a. I have no haIr on my upper back calf I never flush when I pee I want to wIn the pulItzer prIze I slept wIth a manager of a gay club I had a threesome and It sucked I eat meat but say Im vegetarIan I lIke to kIss my cat on hIs lIps I tagged dIckchIcken on the way here everythIng I love wIll leave me In the end I got a nose job In mexIco I gave my cab drIver a blow job because I couldnt cover the fare I love meg ryan fIlms
from the beginning the nature and limitations of street and stencil art have created a particular aesthetic and directive. the subversive element of this kind of practice and the urban subculture attached to it means that the artist will operate underground and on the fringe of the creative world- usually with an alias to protect themselves from prosecution. however today the increasing popularity of the graphic style associated with street art and block stenciling means
DANE COOGAN looks at the evolution of street art pseudonyms in street art.
Peru pictured Here beFore tHe mural He recently completed For public art program mu. peru143.com
that brands from coca cola to mac cosmetics have been incorporating the visual characteristics (and, they hope, the urban edge) of graffiti art into their marketing concepts. likewise the divides that once existed between street art and gallery art are narrowing, with artists like banksy, alex hornest and hamilton yokota gathering acclaim and selling well in competitive markets like london and new york. and yet the pseudonyms stick, and the inherent political and provocative spirit of the art remains,
BRuCE and RAGE5, memberS oF graFFiti crew dHS flIckr.com/photos/ bruceIsaretard flIckr.com/photos/ rage5
blazened on streets, underpasses and all available surfaces. bruce, a local artist working in the crew dhs explains at first I was interested in the late night missions, sneaking about, the cloak and dagger of it all. over time it has become more about the creativity different styles all gelling together nicely on one wall. while the subversive might not play as much into the dynamics of street art now that there are permits, commissions and murals built into the citys visual identity, the practice remains embroiled in the politics. it is this more than anything that has allowed this style of creativity to flourish. had all of this been legal from the start there would never be big blocky characters appearing on the streets. the rapid in and out necessary in most situations has resulted in a low-fi simple form where complexity
is stripped away. you have a short amount of time to get your image up in a clear and concise manner. along with the process related to the subversive in street art, the use of an alias also allows an artist to develop a strategy for building a persona and a style. my pseudonym gives me artistic freedom. When someone sees a piece signed with my alias all they can judge is the artwork itself explains rage5, also a member of local crew dhs. another local, the wunderkind peru, is an example of a graffiti artist moving comfortably between underground and commercial work while maintaining a pseudonym and the style he established early in his career. recently completing a fresque commisioned by mu on st. denis south of sherbrooke, peru lives off the contracts he gets for public and mural art, has exhibited in galleries and
Zema and Frank lam, tHe duo beHind montreal Street art collective la paria zema-Ink.com franklam.net
had his illustration featured on the cover of print magazine for their design youth culture issue. peru is part of one of the largest street artrist collectives in Quebec, la paria. founded by zema and frank lam over five years ago, la paria is inspired by the social exclusion that underground movements such as skateboarders and graffiti artists have traditionally experienced. today street artists are inclined to celebrate their status on the periphery rather than to fight against it as insurgents. the struggles of artists in the past remain rooted in the ethos of the communities that still create on the street today. legal means to oper-
ate are now regularly sought for practical purposes and as an attempt to coexist with the values of their larger society. while contention will always be entangled within this world (indeed the majority of artists we met with for this story have had brushes with jail time), the continuation of the pseudonym as part of the code among artists may be less and less a legal caution and more a way to salute the culture of street art and the freedom alternate identities have given them in creating. as rage5 says my alias has no skin color, it is not tall or short and it certainly isnt male or female. It is just a name...or a symbol like batman.
Spill iT
photos by karIn demeyer stylIng by pascale gIorgIev bags by lIttle burgundy
UNSpOKEN
photos by adrIen baudet for lIttle burgundy