Drawn and Quartered* Montreal’s plan to turn a square kilometre of downtown real estate into a “republic of culture” has left smaller arts communities afraid for their survival – Sept. 9 2009
*Nominee for Canada’s National Magazine Award (Arts and Entertainment)
Illustration by Tania Howells
IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT, and Café Cleopatra is on red alert. While the striptease show continues downstairs, upstairs—a hotspot for Montreal’s resurgent cabaret culture—is a party aimed at saving the landmark strip bar from destruction. Patrons crowd the three-quarter stage to watch a local skateboarder deliver a PowerPoint presentation. Cleopatra’s soft-spoken proprietor, Johnny Zoumboulakis, paces the room with his hands folded. An older man in white paint, fake blue lashes and a paper tutu hands out blinking Dora the Explorer pins. …
online addendum to “Drawn and Quartered”:
Mile End versus Morality Squad Montreal is spending millions to brand itself a “republic of culture.” So why are police cracking down on the city’s best creative hotspots? - Sept. 26 2009
MOST BAR OWNERS don’t wake up at six in the morning to pore over municipal zoning regulations. Mauro Pezzente is an exception. …
Parental Espionage Domestic spying is coming to a living room near you. - Oct. 21 2009
Mike and Tia Baye began spying on their son, Adam, seven months after his best friend committed suicide. As their 16-year-old quit his hockey team, broke curfew and holed up in his bedroom to surf the Internet, the couple tried everything to break him out of his rut. …
What You Doing Girl? – Sept. 25 2009
Hello; my name is Kelly. I’m from New Jersey and from Canada at the same time. I studied history and political science at McGill University in Montreal and, not too long ago, finally graduated. I recently moved from Montreal back to my parents’ house outside NYC. And now I am bored. …
