----- Air Canada Vacations insert for enRoute Magazine, September 2008. Click to read. Full pdf of the insert here. © Air Canada Vacations, 2008

----- Air Canada Vacations insert for enRoute Magazine, September 2008. Click to read. Full pdf of the insert here. © Air Canada Vacations, 2008

----- Air Canada Vacations insert for enRoute Magazine, September 2008. Click to read. Full pdf of the insert here. © Air Canada Vacations, 2008

----- Air Canada Vacations insert for enRoute Magazine, August 2008. Click to read. Full pdf of the insert here. © Air Canada Vacations, 2008

----- Air Canada Vacations insert for enRoute Magazine, August 2008. Click to read. Full pdf of the insert here. © Air Canada Vacations, 2008

----- Air Canada Vacations insert for enRoute Magazine, August 2008. Click to read. Full pdf of the insert here. © Air Canada Vacations, 2008

China, the incumbent super-power The Bottom Line November, 1999 In signing a bilateral trade agreement this November 15th with the U.S., China moves one step closer to joining the World Trade Organization and asserting its position as a world power. President Jian Zemin’s main goal in accepting to reduce tariffs from an average 23% to 17% is to open China to the world and eventually turn it from a market into a producer. Once membership in the WTO is achieved, China will be in the advantageous position of possessing bilateral low-tariff accords with many WTO countries, a huge labour force, new technologies and production methods, and the drive to be the leading power in global economics. The hope is that this deal, the terms of which come into effect when China joins the WTO, will boost and eventually stabilize China’s failing economy. Chinese economic hard-liners complain this deal will cause massive unemployment as inefficient state-subsidized industries will fail. Premier Zhu Rongii counters that although state-industries will fail and unemployment will rise, new jobs will be created in the ever-expanding private sector and eventually the economy will stabilize. Allowing 49% investment by foreign telecommunications companies at the time of accession and 50% two years thereafter, China’s telecommunication network, technology and telecom potential will flourish. In this field, China might be seen as yielding to economic pressure from U.S. companies seeking access to 1.2 billion new customers. Foreign interests, however, must first build the telecom network. Even if half-owned by foreign interests, the technology thus introduced will allow China to leap forward and quickly be on par with the West. What’s more, telecom companies will use Chinese labour. Heretofore, much of the state’s funds were tied up in state-industries. With these industries disappearing, further moneys will become ----- The Bottom Line is the newspaper for McGill's Department of Economics.

available to the private sector. Foreign and government funds will thus be readily available to reinvigorate China’s capitalist economy, introduced two decades ago by the late Deng Xiaoping. WTO director-general, Mike Moore, sees the deal as a huge step towards China’s joining the global economy. Indeed, he said, as he has said before, that “we are not the World Trade Organization until China has joined.’ With such glib wit from the man-in-charge, China’s eventual membership in the WTO seems assured. Canada will shortly be signing a similar bilateral agreement with the incumbent super-power as will the European Union – although the latter is not expected for quite some time. U.S. labourers are not so keen on the bilateral U.S. - China accord. China has a large and inexpensive labour force, and for years, many goods have been produced in China and imported. U.S. labour now fears that with lower U.S. import tariffs on goods produced in China and that country's increased output capacities, U.S. manufacturers will be unable to compete. This concern, persistent concerns regarding China’s human rights record and the treatment of Taiwan are some of the Congressional points raised in opposition to this deal. Even after thirteen years of halting talks, the U.S. Congress can scuttle the deal. Economic analyst, Robert Litan argues that Congressional mood will depend greatly on the success of the WTO summit in Seattle. If all goes well, freer global trading will be seen positively and the U.S. - China deal will most likely pass. If not, China will be forced a few steps back from its WTO membership. China’s economic manoeuvres do not come without a cultural price tag. China will loose the ability to block the import of such consumer goods as cars and Hollywood films. Automobile tariffs will be cut from 80-100% to 25% and China must import at least 20 Hollywood films a year.

Activists claim that human rights stand to benefit from China’s WTO membership. Economic co-dependence as well as general openness will allow for greater pressure and influence from human rights groups and the United Nations. China thus sacrifices its legendary economic and cultural sovereignty in order to win out in the end. The accord at a glance Average tariff levels drop from 23% to 17% China will allow 49% foreign-ownership of telecom providers, rising to 50% two years after U.S. companies will be allowed to invest in Chinese Internet content providers, heretofore prohibited. Chinese import tariffs on automobiles will be cut from 80-100% to 25% Auto companies will be allowed to provide financing. Foreign banks will be able to conduct business in local currency. China will cut import tariffs on agricultural products to 15%. China will also phase out state trading of soy oil. Measures will be adopted to prevent unfair dumping of textile products.

She Was Asking For It Socialife.ca July, 2007 Matthew Saliba’s “She Was Asking For It,” showing July 12th as part of the Fantasia Film Festival, is a self-titled sado-erotic giallo. For those of you who don’t know (and I didn’t either) a giallo is sort of like a novel-noir -- a mystery/crime/violence/pulp novel that comes from Italy of the 20’s. Gialli, so called for the yellow of their original covers, grew to include movies with extended murder scenes and excessive bloodletting but with stylish camera work and music. Saliba’s third film pretty much fits the giallo bill; twelve minutes of stylish, well-composed stills set to at times whimsical, at times disturbing tracks. “She Was Asking For It” tells the story of one man’s revenge on two women who seduced, beat and raped him. Of course he hunts them down and kills them in excruciating and savage ways seeking a kind of twisted poetic justice by raping the first with a dildo and nailing the other to a wall with the same dildo. But what threw me off was the tonal difference between the rape of the man and the murder of the women. Perhaps it was the challenge of the gender-reversal or the choice to keep the beginning rape scene pristine, devoid of body fluids or blood, divorcing it from the realities of such a situation, but the kidnapping and rape felt more like a fantasy sequence or an extended masturbation scenario in which the man, although passive and abused, was none the less a willing participant to these two dominatrix. The murder of the women, full of blood, spit and even vomit, had an intensity and a sincerity that seemed to come from a far deeper and darker place than the wounds of a victim of rape. Both scenes are quite successful but watch for the difference when you go and see its world premier when it opens for another Canadian premiere, “Silent Screams” at this the 11th edition of Fantasia, North America’s Premiere Genre Film Festival. Other films that sound like fun at the Fest: “Wonder Woman, Balance of Power” part of the Square Jaw Theatre; “Escalator to ----- Strangely enough, I ran into Mr. Saliba at a wedding a few months later. He said he really enjoyed the article.

Heaven” and “2 minutes” two Korean films part of the Beyond Genres of Korean Short Films. I’m also going to check out “Caress” by  Mendel Hardeman from the Netherlands. And to make sure your Karma is well aligned, you should check out some of the 80 short films from Quebec artists. Fantasia runs from July 5th to 23rd, has over 100 feature films from 25 countries and last year attracted more than 77 000 guests. www.fantasiafestival.com for more info. “She Was Asking For It” July 12th, 9:40pm at the DB Clarke Theatre.

The Latest Madonna Thing The Bottom Line March, 2000 The Next Best Thing is an apt title for this mediocre collage of clichéd characters, boring cinematography, tedious dialogue and sledgehammer moralizing; The Next Best Thing truly is the next best thing to driving nails into my skull. Madonna plays a vegetarian yoga instructor (Abbey) whose boyfriend, Kevin, leaves her at the beginning of the movie. Rupert Everret plays the gay-gardener-best-friend- who-under-the-jaded-queen-exterior-has-a-heart-of-gold. His name is Robert, what a stretch. After a night of drinking, the two have sex. Madonna gets pregnant with what they think is Rupert’s child. It turns out it’s Kevin’s. Flash forward six years. Rupert, Madonna and the son, Sam, are living happily. Madonna affiances a buff and rugged banker from New York. They plan to move to New York and take Sam. Rupert sues for custody. Kevin reappears to claim his rights as father. The message of this film -- what is the nature of fatherhood? -- is delivered in a laborious court sequence. Is Rupert a father because of emotional and time commitments to Sam, or is he not because of biology? A valid concern of the day. But mix in the conspicuously female, black judge, Rupert’s overly-understanding mother, his austere father and his gay community and I think we have the most hackneyed, obnoxiously socially responsible movie of the year. The main problem with this movie is that it’s more of a vehicle for the stars than a movie. Abbey and Robert aren’t people; they’re on-screen caricatures of the stars’ public personae. This movie was produced for Madonna and Rupert to promote Hollywood’s newest sensation, the gay-brit and Madonna, the diva of pop-culture. It’s shameless self-advertising.

Hindering the uninspired plot and cast is the dialogue that includes gems like Madonna saying to her new buff bo: “Feel muscles you never knew you had.” And Rupert’s father after giving his son money to pay for the custody battle, “This is not a gift. Perhaps you could come by and do some work in the yard.” Remove your hands from the keys and step away from the computer you boiled turnip of a writer. Certainly don’t spend ten bucks on this one folks. Rent it if you must see Everett with his shirt off, but is he really worth the rest of the time you’ll waste?

Page and Stage Introductions Montreal Entertainment Magazine March 2003 Page brings you the latest Montreal printed works in English, their writers and all the people, organizations and events that surround them. Stage brings you the best experiments in English theatre in Montreal: from re-interpreted classics to daring original works by local talents. ----- I was, for a time, the Lit and Theatre editor of the now defunct ME Mag.

Pouèt-cafëe Montreal Entertainment Magazine March 2003 Somebody’s playing a guitar. The rest of you are sitting around the table set out on the balcony. A warm summer night up on the plateau. Dinner is over. Candles. Some wine. A joint. Somebody starts to read their poetry.

Vallum Poetry Montreal Entertainment Magazine December, 2003 Vallum is a Montreal based publication featuring “poetry, essays, interviews, visual art and reviews.” The latest Vallum, contemporary poetry 2:1, appeared in late 2003. This issue is an intriguing collection of some wonderful pieces and some rather uninteresting ones. The poetry seems divided into two groups. The first follows a more traditional path of style in function of message. These convey clear images or narratives through well crafted – for the most part – free verse. The second group is a rather unfortunate collection of rhetorical post-modern works whose authors seem more interested in the mechanics of poetry than of expression. There is one exception in the latter group of uninspirings; Rick Taylor’s “robot: view source” is a playful manipulation of online symbols and words. There is also a very intelligent essay by Todd Swift on “The Place of the Poet in the 21st century,” which was somehow reminiscent of Harold Bloom in its fluid thought and contextualization. Overall, Vallum is an interesting collection of modern works and is well worth a read. Vallum Contemporary Poetry 2:1 Blue Phoenix Press J. Auerbach and E. Auerbach, Eds 78 pages, $7

Enigma of the Second Coming Inhousepress From her sanctuary in the Canadian Science Centre high in the Yukon, Heidi is faced with two apparently separate mysteries. The world is in upheaval, tectonic plates are shifting, planets are realigning. And then there is the Enigma that holds the key to the higher affinity of the universe. A love story, visionary fiction, mysticism, theology and a personal journey, Stan Law's Enigma of the Second Coming offers a world in which the reality of the moon, a remote planet or even a star system light years away is no further distant than the beautiful girl next door. Both are seemingly unattainable, yet both assume reality behind closed eyes. ----- For a few years I've worked as a freelance editor for Inhousepress. This is the back cover description.

The Gate Inhousepress An intimate novel of an eighty-year old women spending the last years of her life at an Old People’s Home.  The problems she must face are as different as they are unexpected from anything one can imagine in the ‘outside’ world, not the least of which is her husband's gradual deterioration under the unforgiving progression of Alzheimer’s disease.  As we follow the inevitable loss of her own faculties, we discover what unexpected compensations nature offers to those whom no one else can help.  Surprisingly, the book is spiced with abundant humour....

Human Potential The Avatar Syndrome Stan I.S. Law INHOUSEPRESS, 310 pages, $24.95 ISBN 0-9731872-5-5 It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. In Hinduism, an avatar is an incarnation of an immortal being. "The Avatar Syndrome," Stan Law's latest book, is an exploration of the limitless human potential when we connect to the divine within. We follow Anne from her troubled youth through her prodigal violin career and on into her awesome maturity. A vivacious and opinionated child, Anne always had trouble relating to others. She simply couldn't understand why we do the things we do. When an MRI scan reveals that her brain has overcompensated after the removal of a benign tumour, she is torn between her desire for seclusion and her undeniable instinct to connect. As a man who has lived his life as an architect and a sculptor, Law shapes rich and convincing silhouettes of Anne's world, parents, mentors and friends. As a dreamer steeped in history and philosophy, he creates an illusive and ephemeral reality bursting with possibilities. "The Avatar Syndrome" is Law's 16th novel and, here again, he offers his readers wisdom touched with sparkling wit, unfolding a spellbinding story of personal discovery and reconciliation. Through Anne, messiah of a higher truth and beauty, Law gets right to our essential humanity. As Marianne Williamson said, "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us." ----- Part of the Press Release package for this book.

This book is also by a Montrealer. For those of you who love art, philosophy and science, you will rediscover our beautiful vibrant city with its parks, streets, concert halls and institutions through the charming prose of someone who loves life and this town. Visit www.inhousepress.ca for an excerpt of "The Avatar Syndrome" and more on Stan Law.

The Avatar Syndrome Inhousepress The Avatar Syndrome follows Anne from childhood, to womanhood; from a troubled, taciturn youth, to a world-renowned violinist; from misunderstood recluse, to messiah of a higher truth and beauty. A product of the expansive cultural landscape of our times, Law, an architect, sculptor and a consummate student of ancient myths, fuses the teachings of Lao Tzu, Jesus, St Thomas Aquinas and Indian mysticism with contemporary issues of family, youth, feminism, fame and power to deliver a singular vision of what it could mean to be human. ----- The back cover description.

Grant Application Concordia Fine Arts Student Association David “Remounted” is a re-crafting of the show “David” that was first developed and presented for the GLBT Theatre Festival in September, 2006. “David” is a one-man show about sex. But not just sex in terms of who’s having it and with whom. But sex as in: what is sex? What does it mean? Why do we have sex? Sex as lust. Sex as love. Sex as power. Sex as self-worth. Sex as self-destruction. Sex as status. Sex as failure. Nick, the one man of this one-man-show, doesn’t know it, but on this Friday night he’s working his way through all these positions. His past and future are coming together in the present: David, a random shag in a back-alley in Montreal’s Gay Village. Over the last two years we, Joseph Bembridge (the performer and Concordia Theatre Performance Student, Minor in Sexuality) and Bryn Symonds (a Montreal writer), have worked closely developing theme and character, setting and style, crafting a voice and story.  Inspired by the work of Marie Brassard and other contemporary theatre artists, we two Montrealers are doing away with traditional set and props, preferring to use music and projected video art to give context and texture to the story being told on stage. But neither the music nor the video work are incidental soundtracks reacting to the story being told; they are themselves plot elements in part driving the story forward as Nick embarks on "a Friday night tour in the labyrinth of a gay club and potential sexual playground...an overly observant loner armed with a vodka tonic or two" (Adam Robinson, The Concordian, 09/27/06). From April 25th to 28th, David will return to Theatre Ste-Catherine and both the script and audio/visuals have been improved. Following input from Kent Stetson, Govern General’s Award Winning playwright, and feedback from some of the 73 students and 102 members of the general public who attended the first run, the opening sequence has been changed and certain themes that were revealed ----- Happily this grant application was successful and we were able to remount the show.

have been more deeply woven throughout the performance. The video and sound art work are also in the process of been modified by Marc Beaulieu, a Computation Arts student at Concordia, who is exploring new possibilities of interactive video work and graphic design potentials. The impact of this remount is unknown. Sex in general and gay sex in particular have always been good topics for theatre, but not many people actually put sex on stage. From the first run we know that the piece was a success and generated interest, curiosity, some anger but mainly a lot of questions from the members of the audience, both students and general public alike. Gay men recognized themselves. Straight women identified with sex as power and control and straight men, at first alienated by the subject matter, understood sex as status and self-worth. Hopefully this run will attract even more people and inspire even more questions as to the role of sex in our society, in our lives and in our own personal sense of identity.

The Coco Café Anthology 10 Years of Tales from the Montreal Griot A Proposal to Conundrum Press In ten years, the inobe productions’ Coco Café stage has featured and produced what will be and have become some of the best known and most respected spoken word artists in Canada. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Coco Café will release an anthology, Coco Café; 10 Years of Tales from the Montreal Griot. Featuring works by such artists as Jason “Steel” Joseph, John Apkata, Shauntay, Izrael, Yassin “The Narcycist” Alsalman, Bertrand “Blu” Klein, Odessa “Queen” Thornhill, Blu Riva, and more, the anthology will chronicle the history of the Coco Café, its place in the Canadian Art World and will paint a lyrical landscape of the distinctively urban art form that is spoken word. History The Coco seed was planted in May, 1997 at Jake Brown’s spoken word series YAWP with a very simple question from Tania C. Best: where are all the black people? Six months later the inobe productions' crew – a bunch of “punk assess” that got together to piss off their parents by not being doctors – inobe, Tania C. Best, Mahalia "Miss Thang" Verna, Selena "Buttaphly" Isles, David Anderson and Ugo Gitau held the first ever Coco Café, a show, a venue, a stage for black artists to speak their minds. And have they! With themes like Brotha?!! Please!; Sistah?!! Please!; Heritage; Rejuvenation; Drama! A night of complicated stories; Back in Time; Heat; Pride and the annual Black History month show as well as a number of Smackdown contests, the over 600 performers that have appeared on the monthly Coco Café stage have always entertained, often educated and definitely enlightened the crowd. In ten years, Coco Café has grown to delight a diverse and ever-expanding audience attracting talent and guests from Ottawa, Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Chicago and California. ----- This proposal is still under negotiation.

Inobe productions actually started its career on Saturday March 2, 1996. ¿que es diva? exploded on the scene at the ISART Gallery with over 400 people in attendance and varied impressions on the theme of "What is diva?" from over 60 artists, performers and designers. Prose, poetry, photography, painting and even a fashion show were presented all by some of the hottest creative talents in Montreal. Selection Selection of the work to be included in the 10th anniversary anthology will be a mix of highlights, loved pieces and a blind-jury selection. Inobe and his crew will select works that they think best show the history of the Coco Café and spoken word in Montreal. As well, all artists who have performed at Coco will be invited to submit work. A blind jury of 3 or 4 non-performing Coco Café supporters will make the final selection.   Box-Set Potential Not all artists stood alone at the Coco Café mic. For those performers whose work is best presented with music or in song, we would like to produce an accompanying music CD, a dozen or so tracks of funky soul beats and deep soulful rhythms. A documentary style DVD of inter-cutting stage performances and interviews with performers, crew and supporters would round off the package and truly show the role Coco Café has played in supporting and promoting spoken word in Montreal and Canada over the last ten years.