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a, Opinion

SNAX Wars Episode VI: Return of the Sandwich

by Emma Avery on

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There are a lot of ongoing complaints at McGill: Construction, winter, nights at McLennan, and the SNAX sandwich saga. McGill students might remember November 2014, when the administration prohibited SNAX from selling sandwiches because the service was not technically included in the Memorandum of Agreement SNAX was operating under. At last, the great battle of our times is over. As of Jan. 27, a temporary agreement was reached between McGill and the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) for the return of the sandwiches until December 2016, at which point the situation will be re-evaluated.

In March 2015, continued delays to the return of the sandwiches prompted a sit-in from aggrieved McGill students. Tens of students protested the administration’s tyranny against SNAX. Sit-ins and protests—though usually associated with activist groups on campus, such as Divest or Demilitarize McGill—were here used to great effect. The loss of a few sandwiches shouldn’t normally elicit such a strong reaction, but in the face of previous disappointment, it brings hungry students one straw closer to the breaking point. It took approximately one year for order to be restored. The sandwiches will soon return.

The prolonged situation undoubtedly seems ridiculous to an outsider. Said outsider would, however, overlook two fundamental aspects of the McGill experience: Shared resentment towards the price of food on campus, and consequent passion for our beloved, if idiosyncratic, eating habits. The struggle for sandwiches has been one part in a larger war against McGill’s failure to ensure the availability of affordable, sustainable food operations on campus. That negotiations have taken so long and remain only tentatively resolved demonstrates the difficulties student-run operations face. While the Great Battle of SNAX has been won (at least for now), students must continue their struggle to provide their own affordable food on campus.

 

While the Great Battle of SNAX has been won (at least for now), students must continue their struggle to provide their own affordable food on campus.

Resentment first sparked following the replacement of the Tim Hortons in the McLennan-Redpath basement with Première Moisson. Student-run food stands—which represent the many fronts of this war—have since become fundamental to the daily routines of McGill students. The samosa culture has exploded such that we now have not one, but two Facebook pages, created solely to help one another locate the nearest samosa sale. Midnight Kitchen, a free vegan lunch operation in the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Building was founded as a reaction against the corporatization and prices of McGill’s on-campus food services. The popularity of Midnight Kitchen, SNAX, and samosa sales demonstrate students’ commitment to providing that which McGill Food & Dining Services will not.

Prohibiting SNAX from selling sandwiches had wider implications than McGill might have initially realized—interference led to absolute outrage. While SSMU has explored ways to make its building a hub for diet-sensitive, student-run initiatives, starting with Organic Campus and the Student-Run Café, the administration has failed to match such initiatives.

Over a year later, the sandwich situation remains subject to speculation. Indeed, the struggle has not simply been to restore sandwiches to their rightful place. It has been against the drawn-out, convoluted, bureaucratic decision-making processes inherent to dealings with McGill. Often, the administration’s rationale is utterly opaque: The latest agreement includes the additional requirement that SNAX is under no circumstances allowed to display a banner—no doubt the sight of such an atrocity would be displeasing to sandwich-deprived, stressed out McGill students navigating their way through Leacock rush hour. But given the seemingly endless negotiations between McGill and the AUS, the plethora of articles from campus newspapers, and even a segment on CBC about the sit-in last March, there is more at stake than just the fate of a few sandwiches. The war is for the return of food and dining services to the students.

Student representation in administrative decisions is the root of this frustration. The culmination of the removal of SNAX’s sandwiches in a sit-in demonstrates the common bond among McGill students over food: We appreciate the smaller things in life. We will trek to McIntyre Medical in the dead of winter for our samosas; we will endure small talk at SNAX for a one-dollar coffee; and we once upon a time waited in a 15-minute line at Tim Hortons for a double-double and cream cheese bagel. These bare necessities are no less important today. The fight for cost-effective, sustainable, diet-sensitive food options on campus continues.

 

 

Emma Avery is a second year anthropology and urban systems student at McGill. Her favourite television show is (still) The Office. She is passionate about soccer, dogs, and St-Viateur bagels.

 

@McGillTribOp | [email protected]

 

 

 
a, Off the Board, Opinion

Social media normalizes misinformation in US presidential primaries

by Jenna Stanwood on

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“This is a rigged economy, designed by the wealthiest people in this country at the expense of everyone else.” A picture of US Senator Bernie Sanders with these words emblazoned above his head currently has over 14,000 shares on Facebook. The continual stream of such photos from Sanders’ official page are accompanied by thousands of similar images and memes created and spread by the candidate’s supporters. These viral images are a symptom of the problems of the changing face of US presidential elections. Today, social media provides more space for voters to become influenced by potentially unreliable and biased information. An educated electorate, the foundation of a democratic society is, more than ever, at risk of being misled.

Voters, especially first-time voters who have been immersed in online culture for much of their lives, need to learn to sift through the muck of viral opinion to find substantive policy information. Presidential candidates craft their images in order to show themselves as the most competent leaders. While personality is certainly a factor in voter evaluations of candidates, social media often proliferates incorrect or fluffy information to the detriment of hard policy positions. In 2008, President Barack Obama successfully ran the first ‘Facebook campaign’ by using social media to build record support among youth voters. Capitalizing on the nature of social media communication, Obama’s campaign staff used his “Yes we can” and “Change you can believe in” slogans to build momentum and mobilize vast numbers through meme-worthy one-liners. Unfortunately, most significant policies cannot be reduced to three word catchphrases or 25 second canned responses. Moreover, attempting to do so gives constituents the wrong impression.

 

Voters are not basing their opinions on substantive policy, but on their perception of policies.

Social media is not entirely detrimental to elections. A study released in 2012 found that social media peer pressure played a critical role in voting behaviour during the 2010 Congressional elections. When Facebook users were given the opportunity to check in at their polling places and broadcast an “I Voted Today” message to their friends, their followers were more likely to vote as well. Although social media is getting more people to the ballot box, conversations regarding policy are too easily distorted in an online climate. A 2015 poll conducted in the UK showed that 34 per cent of voters aged 18-34 believed that something they read on social media would impact their election decision. Misinformation spreads and reaches voters easily online. For example, in a segment from Jimmy Kimmel Live, Americans spoke ill of Obamacare but praised the Affordable Care Act. The differing reaction to the same bill under different names clearly shows that voters are not basing their opinions on substantive policy, but on their perception of policies.

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Rather than taking place over a dinner table, political conversations easily escalate and then disseminate across the internet. The result is a downward spiral that further divorces opinion from reality, replacing fact with fiction. As such, Americans must make a conscious effort to be self-reflective in their online activity during elections to ensure they do not perpetuate a disrespectful election culture. In response to the Sanders campaign, online discourse has become dangerously hostile and disrespectful. Sanders supporters recently received negative media attention for aggressive campaigning on dating apps, like Tinder. Sanders himself criticized some of his followers for inappropriate sexism through memes towards Hillary Clinton. This issue is compounded by stratification in age groups, with many young voters gravitating toward certain candidates and labeling those of their peers who don’t as being against young Americans and therefore open to hostility and ridicule. This aggressive behaviour is common in online interactions, such as on forums like Reddit, but new to presidential campaigns. Ultimately, elections should be respectful competitions between candidates and parties, but informal social media campaigning intensifies the discourse. Thus, the line between candidate and anonymous commentator becomes blurred in the mind of the voter.

Choosing a presidential candidate is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly by voters, but is currently coming down to peer pressure from sites such as Facebook. It is important to do independent research into election issues you care about to determine which candidate might represent you best, rather than allowing yourself to be swayed by catchy information on the internet.

 

 

 

 

 

Jenna Stanwood is in U3 Joint Honours Political Science and International Development Studies. She is a news editor at the McGill Tribune and bakes muffins in her free time. She also enjoys petting dogs.

 

@Stanwooj | [email protected]

 

 

 
a, Out on the Town, Student Life

Montreal’s first arcade bar, North Star, opens on Boulevard Saint-Laurent

by Emma Whitehall on

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A familiar location for many McGill students—the former home to the infamous Korova—is ringing in a new era with the opening of an arcade bar called North Star. Gone are the days (or nights) of artist-themed sets at Korova—a venue where the floor is said to have literally fell through. Ironically, Mondays are now the one night of the week that North Star is not open.

Walking into the restored bar, to the right is a simplistic seating area with five wooden tables and one more intimate booth. The seating area is accentuated with a large disco ball on one side of the room, and a silent projection of scenes from old movies that somehow incorporate pinball on the other side. The place inspire a sense that you have travelled back in time to your neighbourhood arcade, which now happens to serve beer.

To the left of the entrance, the bar occupies one wall and directly across from it is an impressive lineup of vintage pinball machines maintained to have an almost new feel. Playing pinball on such well-made machines is truly a blast from the past for those who haven’t sought out places to enjoy the game since they went out of popularity, likely around the rise of home video games. 

As everything that was once in fashion has its return to the forefront, pinball is also having its comeback. This comes at a time when only one company in all of North America, Stern Pinball, still makes new machines. The ones found at North Star are therefore becoming increasingly valuable and hard to come by. 

The various pinball games, Jukebox and photo booth all operate on a coin system. Naturally, the coins sell on an enticing model of “the more you buy the more you save.” To experience all North Star had to offer, it is best to go for the big deal—purchasing 25 coins for $20. 

Twenty-five coins comes out to exactly enough for two people to play each game once (except for one machine that was being monopolized by someone taking their pinball game very seriously). With coins, patrons can also go home with a printed strip of four photo booth pictures, and engage in the hard-fought decision for a single record request on the jukebox. 

Each game requires one North Star coin to begin, and games are designed with engaging themes apt to given names such as Harlem Globetrotters, Pin-Bot, Dragon, or Black Hole. Every game allows five chances to save the ball from plummeting into a cavernous black hole of no return. 

Following from the venue’s nostalgic feel for the past, the wall behind the bar exhibits an impressive collection of vinyl records that the bartenders can choose songs from when patrons are not occupying the sound system with record selections from the jukebox. 

As fun as the entertainment is, North Star is still a bar, and one that seems to encourage a sit-down vibe between your gaming; however, the drink selection could certainly be expanded if the owners hope to encourage longer periods of play and drink purchasing from each visitor. 

Although the drink menu does offer a humourous distinction between the ‘cheap shit’ and the ‘expensive shit,’ the content remains focused on beer or wine. Apart from a few options of wine or beer under each heading, there is one price option for ‘simple mix drinks’ at $7. A must for students enjoying a night out—the pitcher—is evidently missing. One would assume that such a distinctly themed bar would parallel the drink menu with fun, themed mix drinks. Thus far, however, North Star has kept to a plain-and-simple approach to its drink options. 

The lacking drink menu was truly the only imperfect part of an evening at North Star. At every moment, as at any good arcade, interactive elements present themselves. Having visited the bar on a Wednesday, it was a quieter evening playing host to a predominantly male crowd seeming particularly well practiced in the sport. The weekend would likely welcome a rowdier, more diverse crowd. It was a refreshing break from the traditional bar experience and certainly worth heading there to work on your pinball skills or relax any day of the week.

Whether you are a self-identified pinball fanatic, or you are just looking for a novel break from the traditional Montreal club scene, North Star promises to provide an experience you are set to enjoy. But keep in mind; pinball is harder than it looks!

Swimming
a, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

Youthful Redmen and Martlets teams claim third at RSEQ swimming champs

by Nicholas Jasinski on

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Thirty-eight McGill athletes–20 Redmen and 18 Martlets–competed last weekend at the RSEQ Swimming Championship at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). The Montreal Carabins went home with the women’s title and finished as runners-up for the men’s trophy and the Laval Rouge et Or filled in the blanks with a first place men’s finish and second place in the women’s division. McGill rounded out the top three on both sides with 23 total medals to Montreal’s 44 and Laval’s 42. McGill’s eight gold medals are an improvement over last year’s three at the same meet, brought about by an injection of new swimmers to the team. Twenty-one swimmers are in their first year at McGill, either as rookies or transfer students.

“It’s a very young team and we’re only losing three swimmers to graduation this year,” said sixth-year Head Coach Peter Carpenter. “It’ll be a huge boost to the team that we’ll be able to build off of the experience that we’ll carry through to next year.”

Martlet team captain and 2013 CIS Rookie-of-the-Year Katie Caldwell of White Rock, British Columbia found herself on the podium an astounding six times. She earned individual gold, silver and bronze medals in the 200m medley, 400m medley and 200m backstroke, respectively, with 2:17.06, 4:49.65, and 2:16.75 performances. Caldwell has qualified in all three events for the CIS National Championships at the end of the month. Caldwell also swam in the gold-medal-winning 4x100m freestyle, silver-winning 4x50m freestyle, and bronze-winning  4x200m freestyle.

“[Caldwell has] been a part of the team for four years,” Carpenter said. “She’s someone who has been winning medals consistently every year at provincials and at CIS [championships]. We’re going to lose her after this year and it’s going to leave quite a void. It’s going to be difficult to replace her.”

Junior Simone Cseplo of Toronto, Ontario was another standout performer on the women’s team, earning two individual gold medals with a 29.10 in the 50m backstroke and a 2:00.97 in the 200m freestyle, a relay gold as anchor of the 4x100m freestyle and a silver as third leg on the 4x50m freestyle relay. That Martlet relay finished .09 seconds faster than the previous RSEQ record of 1:45.50, but half a second behind new RSEQ record-holder Laval’s 1:44.49 race.

On the men’s side, 17-year-old freshman Kade Wist of Calgary, Alberta took gold in both the 100m and 200m Butterfly and silver as second leg of the 4x200m Freestyle. Wist made the CIS nationals qualifying standard in the 200m Butterfly with a 2:02.78 ,but missed the 100m time by less than a second at 56.71 seconds. 

Other McGill gold medals came in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, the men’s 4x50m medley and the 200m backstroke, with 18-year-old rookie Jason Niness swimming a 2:03.73, only a tenth of a second shy of the CIS standard.

“[Niness] came to us as someone who I would characterize as needing to build experience and I think that just in the past six months he’s gained so much already and stands to improve a great deal,” Carpenter said.

Sixteen McGill swimmers–eight Redmen and eight Martlets–will be competing at CIS nationals at Laval from Feb. 26-28. 

Quotable

“I’d say that winning eight gold medals is an improvement over last year when we only won three. I think a big part of that is that we have some individual performers who came on the team, namely [Wist and Niness], who are both rookies and them coming on the team and winning gold medals in their first year makes a big difference.”

–Carpenter on last weekend’s improved performance over the 2015 RSEQ Championship

Stat Corner

The Redmen and Martlets earned a combined eight gold medals, seven silver medals and eight bronze medals.

Moment of the Meet

Physiology Junior Rhys Johnson received this year’s RSEQ Leadership and Citizenship award for exemplifying academics and athletics alongside citizenship. Johnson, a Calgary-native, has been involved at multiple organizations as a volunteer and fundraiser including Camp Kindle, the Rotary Flames House, the Calgary Humane Society, the Cerebral Palsy Association of Alberta, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Alberta.

a, Opinion

Is Donald Trump polling away from the field?

by Norman Yallen on

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The leader in the polls to be the Republican Presidential nominee was Donald Trump, previously most famous for his role hosting The Apprentice. Trump mentions or tweets his polling statistics approximately every five minutes; it is like he has a chip in his brain constantly feeding him the latest results. His high poll numbers did not translate to a victory in Iowa, which will likely prove disastrous for Trump because his campaign has emphasized polls and results over policy. Though his campaign is also based on fear-mongering and exploiting his appeal as a party outsider, much of his ‘presidential’ image is based on his self-portrayal as a winner. Without this, he barely stands out from the pack.

The premise of the Trump campaign is that America is losing, and that Trump is a winner. The issue Trump will face is that focusing his campaign on his own popularity will only work if he remains popular. His campaign is therefore more dependent on polls than that of someone like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who emphasizes specific policy issues such as income inequality. Someone passionate about income inequality may be compelled to vote for Sanders even if he is second in the polls. Trump supporters may be less likely to vote for Trump if he slips in the polls, as they will have a plethora of other right-wing candidates to choose from.

Every day Trump tweets the results of several polls done by different news organizations. He leads his speeches with them, even going so far as to say, “I think I made polls famous.” A typical Trump interview begins with him showing off his poll numbers, perhaps most notoriously for his interview with GQ.   

He has done a masterful job of deflecting criticism by publicizing his poll numbers, with the goal of showing that his attitude and positions are winning among voters. When Jeb Bush said that Trump was a bully, Trump responded that he was polling at 42 per cent while Jeb was at three per cent. By Trump’s logic, it didn’t matter if he was a  bully because he was polling well. When criticized for his immigration plans, Trump simply responded that he polls very well amongst Hispanics and Muslims—a claim that has been disputed, to put it generously. In justifying his behaviour by claiming that people like it, Trump and his campaign team fail to do more than curry favour.

When contenders claim that they are the best one for the job because they stand the greatest chance of winning, red flags should go up in voters’ minds. The logic of his technique is highly circular. He is selling himself as qualified for the presidency because he is a winner who is doing well in the polls. Trump can only be a good candidate as long as he is a winner. He tells voters, “vote for me, because I will make the country win again, because I’m a winner. Why am I a winner? Because so many of you are voting for me!” By making his numbers and personality the bedrock of his campaign, Trump has distorted what it means to be a competent leader. After his loss in Iowa, Trump chose to complain about how the voting was unfair instead of focusing on his case for the presidency.

Trump is reliant on poll numbers, and they have certainly helped his chances.  If the polls are right, Trump will be able to further his image as a winner; however, Trump will struggle to present himself as a winner now that he underperformed the polls in Iowa. Trump’s campaign has made winning a main theme, so losing even on a small level is unsustainable. Now that Trump has lost in Iowa, he will have to show voters he has something deeper to offer than simply winning polls. He has yet to do so.

Hekabe
a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Exploring other worlds: The McGill Classics department reimagines 2500-year-old play Hekabe

by April Barrett on

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The Ancient Greek tragedy Hekabe, also known as Hecuba, takes place on the sandy shores of Thrace after the fall of Troy. The Trojan queen Hekabe has been captured as a slave and kept at a camp, destined for a life of unending despair. Eerie in the most fascinating way, the McGill Classics department’s Hekabe, invites its audience to a warehouse, almost hidden away. Inside, the enormous space is pitch black, save for the glow of flashlights guiding the way across the floor of sand. There, the audience sits on blankets; when the stage lights go up, masked performers move slowly across the sand barefoot.

This peculiar production design, arranged by Lynn Kozak, serves to heighten the fantasy of Euripides’ play and allows audience members to be mentally transported to the time and place of the play. The location is a simulated beach normally used for indoor beach volleyball, but in the dark, dotted with masked figures, it begins to feel otherworldly. The set is minimal, consisting only of the flaps of a tent from which actors emerge, which leaves the cavernous space open to the imagination.

In the play, the bent and broken Hekabe (Delphine Khoury) first suffers the loss of Troy. Next, she loses her daughter Polyxena (Charlotte Raoutenfeld) who is killed as a sacrifice to Achilles. Her final loss is her son Polydorus (Alex Martalogu) who is killed and thrown into the sea by the King Polymestor (Charlotte Raoutenfeld), who had promised to keep him safe. The tone of eternal misery, conveyed by Hekabe and her moaning chorus, at first feels tedious. Hekabe insists over and over that she is weak and wishes for nothing but death. This initial exhaustion of pathos is remedied however, as the play progresses. Hekabe begins to transform from a self-deprecating, mournful old woman to a ruler with vengeance on her mind. Khoury does a skillful job of portraying Hekabe’s gradual buildup of bitterness.

The chorus members are dressed in dark, drooping rags (designed by Stephanie Normand) with their faces exaggerated into perpetual frowns from their white masks. They strike tableaus, echo Hekabe and follow her across the sand like ghosts. These characters’ moans do grow to be tiring, but in special asides they are given a voice to tell their own stories, elevating the mood of despair to anger to match their queen. Both Raoutenfeld and Martalogu play multiple characters. Raoutenfeld, in particular, demonstrates deftness in her ability to switch from the passionate, effeminate Polyxena to the devious King Polymestor; however skilled the actors might be in articulating the play’s flowery language and extensive monologues, nevertheless the characters lack movement. The play could have been staged in a more exciting way given the space it had at its disposal. Since it is lacking in this way, it takes some effort to concentrate and fully appreciate to the story.

Impressively, Hekabe was translated and directed by Classics student Courtney Ewan. In the program, Ewan asserts that the themes of Hekabe—futility, war, grief, and greed—are still very relevant today. The McGill Classics Play, a yearly tradition of the department, exists perhaps for this exact purpose. Hekabe demonstrates the potential that reinterpretation of classics offers. These kinds of productions are important, not only for historic and cultural learning, but as an opportunity to exercise the imagination.

a, McGill, News

Sandwiches to return to SNAX

by Aislinn Kalob and Justine Monty on

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Sandwiches will return to SNAX, following the Jan. 27 Arts Undergraduate Society of McGill University (AUS) council vote to accept the McGill administration’s letter of permission concerning the sale of sandwiches at SNAX, and the proposed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). Council also approved a motion to restructure the hire of a vice-president (VP) Finance to involve a screening committee.

Sandwiches and SNAX

AUS President Jacob Greenspon and VP Finance Mirza Ali Shakir completed negotiations for a new MoA with McGill, and SNAX will be allowed to sell sandwiches, beginning in one to two weeks.  The agreement allowing their immediate sale was articulated in a letter of permission from McGill.

“The letter of permission […] allows SNAX to sell, on a trial basis, certain products,” Greenspon stated. “Section one says that SNAX can only sell prepackaged sandwiches, pastries, salads, vegetables […] approved by Student Housing and Hospitality Services.”

The letter of permission is a temporary document, expiring in Dec. 2016. VP External Becky Goldberg questioned whether AUS might have to renegotiate its terms of sale at a later date.

“It sounds to me that it’s not definite that if we comply with these conditions, it will be [incorporated],” Goldberg said. “It sounds like it’s at the university’s discretion.”

Greenspon expressed confidence that McGill will, in the future, respect their negotiation efforts, stating that it would be in McGill’s best interest to amend the MoA according to these conditions.

“Legally, it is at the university’s discretion,” Greenspon said.  “But politically […] I think it would be extremely difficult for them to restrict SNAX sandwiches’ sale again, especially given the demonstrations last year.”

Following debate, the motion to accept the MoA and letter of permission passed.

“I know it’s far from optimal,” Arts Senator Erin Sobat said. “But from experience, this is what McGill forces us to do: jump through a lot of hoops.”

VP Finance restructuring

Council also voted in support of a constitutional amendment to the AUS electoral bylaws which would establish a VP Finance screening committee.  The committee would vet candidates for the position prior to the end of the election’s nomination period.  

“Candidates must receive a passing grade in each of the three categories of questions, from at least a two-thirds majority of the Screening Committee, in order to be eligible for election for Vice-President Finance,” reads section 8.3.4 of the bylaws.

The three categories of questions, to be conducted in identical interviews by the committee, will assess the candidates on their relative experience, their accounting ability, and their availability to work during parts of May and August to complete the audit and plan Frosh.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly offers an immersive experience

by Alex Bankier on

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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly opens with the beeping of life support, and a comatose figure; right away the audience knows that what follows will be as hard-hitting as it is intimate. Like the novel and film version of the same name, Tuesday Night Café (TNC)’s stage adaptation of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (1997) depicts the real-life story of Jean-Dominique Bauby (Chris Naccache and Gabe Meacher), a 43-year-old magazine editor-in-chief, who awakes in a hospital bed to discover a stroke paralyzed him from head to toe.

With the help of his good friend Laurence (Ella Storey) and speech therapist Sandrine (Rebecca Bauer), Jean-Dominique weathers revelations both depressing and joyous to write a book chronicling the experience of being “locked-in” his own body, his “Diving Bell.” Somewhat short in length, the play is comprised of interconnected vignettes featuring everything from a hedonistic dream sequence to a wheelchair-bound beach visit, with most of the action taking place within the confines of a cheery hospital room.

Diving Bell’s set thusly consists of a simplistic hospital room backdrop rendered both convincing and unobtrusive, and augmented with tactfully nuanced stage lighting—the silhouette of a window pane on the back wall is an excellent touch of realism. The overall sum of the technicians’ handiwork allows for an unmitigated focus on the characters, with seamless transitioning from scene to scene, and from interaction to interaction. Therefore, character movement through the stage’s space is made to look natural, and like the overall staging, executed with a sharp eye for detail by Director Rachel Stone.

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In an interesting turn, Bauby is portrayed by two people, who share the stage while alternating between the flesh-and-blood human and “the Butterfly”—a personification of Bauby’s consciousness who narrates verbally what he physically cannot. As such, the interplay between Bauby’s “Diving Bell” and his “Butterfly” often gives the intriguing impression of ventriloquism, though it is sometimes made unclear where the audience is intended to give focus. Nevertheless, the duo is surprisingly adept at packing a plethora of emotional subtext into a literal blink of the eye.

Performances by the rest of the cast are well rounded and, thankfully, avoid overly dramatic flourishes that might cheapen the performance. Appearances by Jean-Dominique’s brash, uppity father (Nic Turcotte) provide a believable humanity and comic relief to balance out the play’s harsher moments, while Bauer’s presence as Sandrine is noteworthy in its infectiously genuine optimism. In Bauby’s interactions with these characters, one finds the palpable tension of a yearning towards mutual understanding that is painstakingly developed letter by letter, word by word, tear by tear. It is unfortunate that the play’s shorter length makes Bauby’s journey feel a bit rushed, and the aforementioned interactions seem to lack the necessary time to develop fully.

There is really nothing quite like a quadriplegia-centric story to make an audience members realize how easy their own lives are in comparison. Thanks to competent technicians, solid directorship, and a stellar cast, TNC’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly does not quite stop at such compulsory self-appreciation. Instead, it succeeds in serving as a sort of poignant love letter to the healing grace of human connection. People are social beings;  the human mind, as demonstrated in the play, seems to produce its most beautiful machinations when it wants to be heard and, most importantly, understood.

TNC’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly runs from Feb. 3 to Feb. 6 and Feb. 10–13 at 8:00 p.m. in Morris Hall (3485 Rue McTavish). Tickets are $10 for adults, and $6 for students and seniors.

a, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: The Catastrophist – Tortoise

by Donovan Burton on

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Musical progress is a bus usually driven by the young. Generally speaking, young people are more accepting of progressive artistic directions and their familiarity with technology allows them to make greater strides in musical creation. There is something to be said about an aging veteran playing a heartfelt show for an older audience; however, there is also a very clear difference between nostalgic haze and musical advancement. These differences are made compatible by Tortoise on its new album The Catastrophist. A seasoned group of talented electronic musicians, Tortoise has managed to maintain a contemporary approach to sound throughout their 20-year-long career, and although this album may not be remembered as their most important work, their desire for progress remains prominent.

According to the liner notes of the album, the inspiration behind The Catastrophist came “when the group was commissioned by the City of Chicago to compose a suite of music rooted in its ties to the area’s noted jazz” community. Those unfamiliar with the modern jazz idiom might be thrown off by the lack of horns and swing rhythm, but the jazz inspiration comes through much clearer in the way the music is structured. Rather than using the elements of post-rock characteristic of Tortoise’s roots, the band now establishes grooves within each song and brings them to new heights through improvisation. The fully composed musical themes, strange bass-guitar centerpiece, and quirky guitar production have been swapped out for synthesizers and keyboards that model the phrasing of a large jazz ensemble.

The song “Gesceap” is particularly indicative of the band’s jazz conception. Building from a simple melodic counterpoint with a spacey guitar part over the top of a simple keyboard arpeggio, “Gesceap” slowly approaches its climax with the addition of percussion and melodic variations. As more instruments are added to the sound, the volume and intensity evolves into an improvisational texture with melodies weaving in and out of each other from every corner of the ensemble. The drummer provides rhythmic tension on the snare drum as the synthesizer sequencing speeds up and the bass rhythm speeds up and crackles with distortion culminating in a heavy climactic moment all the while maintaining the original melody underneath the growing wall of sound.

The jazz inspiration of The Catastrophist somewhat helps Tortoise dismiss the avenues they have previously explored, but there are certain qualities of this album that differentiate Tortoise from the top fusion bands in the world right now. The most significant being the shock factor. Although the band hits a bit harder with heavy electronic guitar playing on songs like “Hot Coffee” and “Shake Hands With Danger”, there is a clear difference between their intensity and the intensity brought forth on the electronic experimentations of Los Angeles-based producer Flying Lotus. Similar to Tortoise, Flying Lotus takes the jazz conception to new heights with modern production, but his music is clearly more progressive. Lotus brings brighter synthesizer sounds, erratic beats, and faster sound evolution into his work, which makes the sequencing synthesizers, bass distortion, and instrumental electronic approach of The Catastrophist seem more predictable and less rule-breaking. If Tortoise had been willing to use riskier synthesizer sounds and more drastic dynamic contrast they may have pulled off a more exciting example of fusion.

The Catastrophist is a good album from a fantastic band. With its history left aside, the listener is left with a relatively interesting contemporary release with a cool jazz-rooted compositional style. The album falls short of greatness due to the band’s disappearing claim to rebellious greatness and lack of shocking risk taking.

Sounds like:

Jaga Jazzist, Kneebody, a minimalist version of Flying Lotus

Standout tracks:

“Shake Hands With Danger” and “Gesceap”

Tortoise will be performing at the Fairmount Theatre on March 13. The show is 18+. Tickets are $22 and can be purchased online http://theatrefairmount.tunestub.com/event.cfm?cart&id=223496./

a, Opinion

The case for Canadian content on Netflix

by Alexandrine Royer on

More in a:

Netflix’s recent decision to crack down on the use of virtual private networks (VPN)—location maskers that permit international subscribers to access content reserved for other countries—should ultimately result in greater viewership of Canadian productions. While VPN providers—including Faraz Ali, the digital marketing manager for PureVPN—have expressed their skepticism towards Netflix’s ability to cut off their service, the streaming service has asserted that it will be taking relentless measures to uphold its licensing agreements. Admittedly, there will always be a way to get around blocks, but the possibility of doing so will either be a higher cost for a VPN or running the risk of using those available for free; however, there is a silver lining. If Netflix succeeds, it will face an increase in demand for more varied content. In Canada, it should pursue a strategy of adapting its content selection to include more domestically-produced content. Hopefully, this will cause growth in both the availability and creation of Canadian-made content.

Currently, the problem with Canadian content—at least of the sort that is available to stream—is not strictly the quality. While it is not uncommon for independent French Canadian films to outrank American blockbusters in Quebec’s box office, it is a different story online. Ironically, Netflix UK offers more French Canadian films that are unavailable on Netflix Canada. For Canadian content to be consumed online, it first has to be there.

Great Canadian content is to be found on Netflix, buried behind mainly American-produced original series and newly released American blockbusters. For instance, in 2014 Netflix adopted the Canadian mockumentary, Trailer Park Boys, and later produced the series Between in collaboration with Shomi—Rogers' streaming service. While a boost to Canadian content online, there is still a significant imbalance in the amount of American versus Canadian content on the Netflix homepage.  The website does not yet stream critically-acclaimed shows such as Being Erica, 19-2, Unité 9, Série Noire, and Schitt’s Creek.

Great Canadian content is to be found on Netflix, buried behind mainly American-produced original series and newly released American blockbusters.

Netflix must expand its provision of Canadian television while also showcasing it to Canadian audiences. Although Sean Carey, Netflix’s Vice President of Content Acquisition, revealed in an interview with the Huffington Post that the streaming service is currently funding the production of original and local series, the service must also commit to the marketing of these programs. Netflix is so far being outflanked in this regard. Bell’s CraveTv and Roger’s Shomi have moved to acquire the licensing rights of both French and English productions. CraveTV has already begun catering shows specifically for a Canadian audience (titled the All-Canadian Collection), such as Saving Hope, Flashpoint, and Motive and ventured into the production of Canadian TV series—it will launch its new comedy, Letterkenny, this Sunday, Feb. 7.

At $6 per month, CraveTV rivals the price of Netflix, yet has much more to offer in terms of national media. Shomi, a joint venture with Shaw TV, equally lures subscribers through the provision of a wider Canadian selection and sets the example for its American counterpart, boosting the Quebec comedy classic Bon Cop Bad Cop and indie dramas such as Take this Waltz.

Without the constraint of time slots, commercial breaks, and television ratings, Netflix, unlike Radio Canada and CBC, has the possibility of creating niche and high-quality artistic productions. The rise of threats to Netflix’s monopoly—however weak Shomi and CraveTV may seem in comparison—must push the streaming service to deliver content that will both appeal to Canadian consumers and promote Canadian streaming and film industries. By competing with Shomi and CraveTV, it must necessarily finance the young directors and screenwriters of Canada. It may also be worth considering a subscription in CraveTV in order to stimulate this competition and improve the development and marketing of Canadian creative content.

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