The Ontarion - News
October 27, 2005
OUT ON THE SHELF
Written by Meghan Moloney
A new resource library and centre for the queer community, called Out On The Shelf, had its official opening on Thursday, October 20th.
Located in downtown Guelph, the centre includes fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, comics, newspapers, and other resources geared towards the queer community. The two-dollar membership fee covers book borrowing; access to the centre itself is free.
In addition to resource materials, the centre is also a welcoming space for queer people and their allies who wish to meet with friends, ask questions, participate in events run by volunteer organizers, or just to hang out.
The volunteers who have worked over the last two years to create this space all agree on one thing: the need for a queer-positive location in Guelph, accessible to the general public. Dave Vervoort is a therapist who works with the queer community and has been one of the main organizers of Out On The Shelf.
“Guelph on the whole has been a fairly open-minded city to the queer community," he said at the opening. "We knew on the whole that things were supportive here, yet we had no place to congregate. People don’t want to meet in the bars... certainly some people do, but not everybody.”
Echoing Vervoort, Bruce Buchanan – a Hamilton community member – explained that bars shouldn’t be the only spaces available to people.
“Being a gay person, most resources we have are bars, and they’re open on the weekend, and they’re not necessarily the place you want to go and meet somebody, or visit,” he said. As a representative of smaller queer communities in southern Ontario, he described Toronto as a “Mecca” for gay people; however, according to Buchanan, “For people within the small communities, the rural communities that live outside of Guelph or Hamilton, it’s a lot easier for people to drive into our locations to get that information about what’s going on.”
Buchanan, in collaboration with the Centenary United Church, is planning to open a library similar to Guelph’s Out On The Shelf centre. He currently runs a restaurant in Hamilton called the Comfortable Pew – “a place where you can go have lunch, and visit with friends and meet up with people, in a very safe environment.”
As well as being a safe and positive meeting space, Out On The Shelf is also an important way to dispense information to the queer community. Vervoort, along with the SpeakOut program, has produced a pamphlet called the Guelph Queer Resource Guide, which lists local services, businesses and entertainment spots that are queer-positive or provide important resources to the community.
Vervoort stressed the importance of having a physical space like Out On The Shelf to dispense this kind of information, in addition to networks of activist groups and support systems. He also emphasized the collective effort that has gone into this opening: instead of focusing on the original six volunteers, he says, “We’d rather people know that it’s a community effort – it’s a lot of volunteers that came together to pull this off.”
The centre is the result of more than two years of collaboration between groups of activists involved in the queer community, including PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays), Ally organizations, Change Now, and University of Guelph organizations such as Guelph Queer Equality (GQE), OutLine, and the Women’s Resource Centre.
Out On The Shelf has also benefited from numerous donations: Vervoort mentioned Pink Triangle Services, a non-profit charity and social service agency based in Ottawa, and the Dr. Kelly McGinnis library, as having donated “well over half the books”; the Wellness Centre donated 1000 dollars of seed money, to help with production costs like photocopying. The Canadian Mental Health Association was an essential supporter of the centre: volunteer Tahira Dosani said, “They let us use the space, don’t charge us rent, have given us a phone line and they were really supportive in creating the initiative.”
One of the key goals of the centre is to bring together various parts of the Guelph community and its members. “The best thing about this project from my perspective,” said Vervoort, “is that it’s brought together a diverse group of people within the queer community, and a diverse group of Straight Allies, to come together – and we all have our differences, but we’re able to come together and work collaboratively.” Vervoort also points out that much of the financial support being given to queer resource centres in Canada goes to “the metropolitan cities – Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal.” The hope of many volunteers is that people from rural areas who come to Out On The Shelf – including university students – will be inspired to create similar spaces and start similar initiatives, outside of larger cities and without extensive financial support.
The centre hopes to run many events in the coming months, including readings from authors and collaborations with the Bookshelf. Rob Gartner, another volunteer, also plans to run promotional events with the university: “There’s a large pool of people [on campus] who have questions about life, and that we wanted to approach, and to be able to promote and also let them know that this exists.”
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Thursday, October 6, 2005
NO CRABS IN THIS BUCKET: K-Os brings joyful rebellion to Homecoming weekend
*************
The Ontarion
Arts & Culture
October 6, 2005
NO CRABS IN THIS BUCKET: K-Os brings joyful rebellion to Homecoming weekend.
Written by Meghan Moloney
The first time I saw Kevin Brereton perform in concert, it was April, 2002. My friends and I had been waiting outside Ottawa's Congress Centre for eight hours, in the freezing wind, to see Swollen Members open for Nelly Furtado. But when the first opening act came on stage, all we saw was a guy sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar. At 17, I knew next to nothing about the indie hip-hop scene that was slowly emerging from Toronto. But by the end of that short opening set, I was a huge fan of the man now known as k-os.
A lot has changed since then. The success of his 2002 album, Exit, garnered widespread media attention, and his follow-up--Joyful Rebellion, released last year--has brought k-os even more acclaim from fans and music critics nationwide. This is an accomplishment that many artists never experience with their second album. Even if you don't own Joyful Rebellion, you've almost certainly heard a couple of the singles. k-os is rising, and fast.
With this in mind, the excitement in the air on Saturday night came as no surprise. Peter Clark Hall was full of fans of all ages, dressed funky and ready to dance. The concert billing had us all expecting to see Kyle Riabko as the opening act, but due to some unexplained mishap, he was replaced by newcomers Shawn Hewitt and Aidan Campbell--two of the three members of Shawn Hewitt and the National Strikes.
Hewitt is from Toronto and has been performing for the last two and a half years. Their set clearly impressed the audience, and got a great response despite being relatively unknown. Hewitt went back and forth between the keyboard and electric guitar. His vocals defied categorization, a trait he shares with k-os. His voice was sweet and musical, but flexible and even raspy at times. He could switch range or tonality several times in one song and not miss a beat, while dancing so hard his entire face shook.
Campbell, as only a truly talented drummer could, knew when to take it down a notch, and when to let all hell break loose in a frantic Dave Grohl style. They also knew exactly how to work the crowd. It was hard to say which moment inspired louder cheering--when Hewitt changed a lyric in one of his songs to "down with George Bush," or when he referred to k-os as "the saviour of Canadian hip-hop."
Iconic comparisons aside, that's exactly the kind of reaction k-os got from the crowd that night. The anticipation was high by 9:45, when guitarist Russ Klyne, bongo player Santosh Naidu, drummer Ray Garraway, DJ Jasper Gahunia, and bassist Toby Peter finally took the stage. A loud robotic voice started a countdown and k-os hit the stage, wearing a hooded windbreaker and sunglasses.
The band launched into B-Boy Stance, a quintessential k-os song mixing hip-hop beats, special sound effects from the DJ, guitar riffs, electric piano, and fast-flowing lyrics. The lyrics were hard to follow at times because of their complexity, especially with that pure wall of sound. k-os often let the crown take over on vocals, resulting in songs that were less polished than the album versions, but more of an interactive experience.
k-os's politics came through loud and clear. The first line of B-Boy proclaimed, "It's so hard to remain authentic"--a testament to his choice to remain true to his creative vision and to his commitment to social awareness. Emcee Murdah was another song that referred to the corruption of musicians for the sake of mainstream success, and the disappearance of old-school MCs within hip-hop's recent focus on money, sex, and macho competition.
At several points, k-os showcased his bandmates by asking to have the lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on each one while they performed unbelievable solos. Klyne's guitar solo and Naidu's bongo rendition were particularly crowd-pleasing,
inspiring break-dancing around the hall.
When k-os took the mic again, he told the audience that this would be his last show in Canada until 2008, which gave the night a special meaning. Each song got a better response tahn the last, from his classic Superstarr, combining swing music with a hip-hop beat, to Crabbukkit and Man I Used To Be. He also performed an homage to Michael Jackson and covers of Pink Floyd, Sting, and Wheatus.
After crowd-surfing for several minutes, k-os returned to the stage to wrap up the show. He re-introduced and thanked each member of the band and road crew. Then came the highlight of the show for me--the first verse of the Beatles' classic Yesterday, which segued into his own philosophical Heaven Only Knows. k-os closed it down with the reggae beats of Crucial, which encourages Canadians to open their eyes to social issues.
The band then left the stage to the sound of deafening screams and applause. The crowd started chanting "encore," but sadly there was none. It was a memorable night of Canadian music. I can't wait to see how it changes between now and 2008.
The Ontarion
Arts & Culture
October 6, 2005
NO CRABS IN THIS BUCKET: K-Os brings joyful rebellion to Homecoming weekend.
Written by Meghan Moloney
The first time I saw Kevin Brereton perform in concert, it was April, 2002. My friends and I had been waiting outside Ottawa's Congress Centre for eight hours, in the freezing wind, to see Swollen Members open for Nelly Furtado. But when the first opening act came on stage, all we saw was a guy sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar. At 17, I knew next to nothing about the indie hip-hop scene that was slowly emerging from Toronto. But by the end of that short opening set, I was a huge fan of the man now known as k-os.
A lot has changed since then. The success of his 2002 album, Exit, garnered widespread media attention, and his follow-up--Joyful Rebellion, released last year--has brought k-os even more acclaim from fans and music critics nationwide. This is an accomplishment that many artists never experience with their second album. Even if you don't own Joyful Rebellion, you've almost certainly heard a couple of the singles. k-os is rising, and fast.
With this in mind, the excitement in the air on Saturday night came as no surprise. Peter Clark Hall was full of fans of all ages, dressed funky and ready to dance. The concert billing had us all expecting to see Kyle Riabko as the opening act, but due to some unexplained mishap, he was replaced by newcomers Shawn Hewitt and Aidan Campbell--two of the three members of Shawn Hewitt and the National Strikes.
Hewitt is from Toronto and has been performing for the last two and a half years. Their set clearly impressed the audience, and got a great response despite being relatively unknown. Hewitt went back and forth between the keyboard and electric guitar. His vocals defied categorization, a trait he shares with k-os. His voice was sweet and musical, but flexible and even raspy at times. He could switch range or tonality several times in one song and not miss a beat, while dancing so hard his entire face shook.
Campbell, as only a truly talented drummer could, knew when to take it down a notch, and when to let all hell break loose in a frantic Dave Grohl style. They also knew exactly how to work the crowd. It was hard to say which moment inspired louder cheering--when Hewitt changed a lyric in one of his songs to "down with George Bush," or when he referred to k-os as "the saviour of Canadian hip-hop."
Iconic comparisons aside, that's exactly the kind of reaction k-os got from the crowd that night. The anticipation was high by 9:45, when guitarist Russ Klyne, bongo player Santosh Naidu, drummer Ray Garraway, DJ Jasper Gahunia, and bassist Toby Peter finally took the stage. A loud robotic voice started a countdown and k-os hit the stage, wearing a hooded windbreaker and sunglasses.
The band launched into B-Boy Stance, a quintessential k-os song mixing hip-hop beats, special sound effects from the DJ, guitar riffs, electric piano, and fast-flowing lyrics. The lyrics were hard to follow at times because of their complexity, especially with that pure wall of sound. k-os often let the crown take over on vocals, resulting in songs that were less polished than the album versions, but more of an interactive experience.
k-os's politics came through loud and clear. The first line of B-Boy proclaimed, "It's so hard to remain authentic"--a testament to his choice to remain true to his creative vision and to his commitment to social awareness. Emcee Murdah was another song that referred to the corruption of musicians for the sake of mainstream success, and the disappearance of old-school MCs within hip-hop's recent focus on money, sex, and macho competition.
At several points, k-os showcased his bandmates by asking to have the lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on each one while they performed unbelievable solos. Klyne's guitar solo and Naidu's bongo rendition were particularly crowd-pleasing,
inspiring break-dancing around the hall.
When k-os took the mic again, he told the audience that this would be his last show in Canada until 2008, which gave the night a special meaning. Each song got a better response tahn the last, from his classic Superstarr, combining swing music with a hip-hop beat, to Crabbukkit and Man I Used To Be. He also performed an homage to Michael Jackson and covers of Pink Floyd, Sting, and Wheatus.
After crowd-surfing for several minutes, k-os returned to the stage to wrap up the show. He re-introduced and thanked each member of the band and road crew. Then came the highlight of the show for me--the first verse of the Beatles' classic Yesterday, which segued into his own philosophical Heaven Only Knows. k-os closed it down with the reggae beats of Crucial, which encourages Canadians to open their eyes to social issues.
The band then left the stage to the sound of deafening screams and applause. The crowd started chanting "encore," but sadly there was none. It was a memorable night of Canadian music. I can't wait to see how it changes between now and 2008.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
RSD CALL FOR WAL-MART PETITION
The Ontarion - News
September 29, 2005
RSD CALL FOR WAL-MART PETITION
Written by Meghan Moloney
The activist group Residents for Sustainable Development (RSD) has made an offer to Mario Pilozzi, the CEO of Wal-Mart Canada, stating that they will accept the proposed location of the store at Woodlawn and Woolwich, if the company successfully petitions the community for support. They are specifically asking for the signatures of over half the adults in Guelph and suggest that Wal-Mart entertain alternate locations if they cannot produce the petition.
The offer is just one more development in a long campaign against the retail giant. Since 1995, RSD (formerly known as the Big Box Action Group or BBAG) has been opposing Wal-Mart's proposal to build a 350,000-square-foot mega-store at the intersection of Woodlawn and Woolwich.
The City Council of Guelph originally voted against Wal-Mart's application in 1997, in order to protect its Official Plan for municipal development, which led to an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). However, throughout the next few years, the city changed its stance on the Wal-Mart issue several times.
In 2004, the city approved a revised application for a 135,000-square-foot store, and a few months later the OMB approved it. Almost immediately, the decision was protested. RSD launched an appeal beginning in early 2005, which is currently still being reviewed in court.
"We could avoid any further action if they accept the petition offer," said Ben Bennett, a spokesperson for RSD. "But it looks like they're not going to accept it.
"The court action will work its way through, and we should have some news on that in November," he said.
Bennett emphasized that their campaign is focusing on the proposed Woodlawn/Woolwich location in the north end of the city, rather than on the question of whether Guelph needs more "big box" stories in the community.
"The main demographic that Wal-Mart serves is young families in new homes," Bennett said last week. He points out that the neighbourhood surrounding Wal-Mart's proposed location consists mostly of cemeteries, religious centres, retirement homes, and factories. The west, south, and east parts of the city, on the other hand, are full of new growth and housing developments for younger families, and are in need of a wider range of shopping centres.
"We haven't been able to engage them in any discussion of why they wouldn't put it somewhere else," he said, describing the fight as a "David and Goliath struggle."
"This is literally the only site for Wal-Mart in Guelph," said Wal-Mart spokesperson Kevin Groh. "We've looked at size, we've looked at traffic, we've looked at community converns and this is the site that works."
Groh says Wal-Mart has always been committed to finding store locations that benefit communities.
Aside from the issue of the demand for a large-scale shopping development, Bennett and RSD also cite environmental concerns as part of the motivation for the current campaign. They claim that developing the north end would create more traffic congestion and, by extension, more noise and pollution with residents from the south and other parts of town driving to and from Wal-Mart.
September 29, 2005
RSD CALL FOR WAL-MART PETITION
Written by Meghan Moloney
The activist group Residents for Sustainable Development (RSD) has made an offer to Mario Pilozzi, the CEO of Wal-Mart Canada, stating that they will accept the proposed location of the store at Woodlawn and Woolwich, if the company successfully petitions the community for support. They are specifically asking for the signatures of over half the adults in Guelph and suggest that Wal-Mart entertain alternate locations if they cannot produce the petition.
The offer is just one more development in a long campaign against the retail giant. Since 1995, RSD (formerly known as the Big Box Action Group or BBAG) has been opposing Wal-Mart's proposal to build a 350,000-square-foot mega-store at the intersection of Woodlawn and Woolwich.
The City Council of Guelph originally voted against Wal-Mart's application in 1997, in order to protect its Official Plan for municipal development, which led to an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). However, throughout the next few years, the city changed its stance on the Wal-Mart issue several times.
In 2004, the city approved a revised application for a 135,000-square-foot store, and a few months later the OMB approved it. Almost immediately, the decision was protested. RSD launched an appeal beginning in early 2005, which is currently still being reviewed in court.
"We could avoid any further action if they accept the petition offer," said Ben Bennett, a spokesperson for RSD. "But it looks like they're not going to accept it.
"The court action will work its way through, and we should have some news on that in November," he said.
Bennett emphasized that their campaign is focusing on the proposed Woodlawn/Woolwich location in the north end of the city, rather than on the question of whether Guelph needs more "big box" stories in the community.
"The main demographic that Wal-Mart serves is young families in new homes," Bennett said last week. He points out that the neighbourhood surrounding Wal-Mart's proposed location consists mostly of cemeteries, religious centres, retirement homes, and factories. The west, south, and east parts of the city, on the other hand, are full of new growth and housing developments for younger families, and are in need of a wider range of shopping centres.
"We haven't been able to engage them in any discussion of why they wouldn't put it somewhere else," he said, describing the fight as a "David and Goliath struggle."
"This is literally the only site for Wal-Mart in Guelph," said Wal-Mart spokesperson Kevin Groh. "We've looked at size, we've looked at traffic, we've looked at community converns and this is the site that works."
Groh says Wal-Mart has always been committed to finding store locations that benefit communities.
Aside from the issue of the demand for a large-scale shopping development, Bennett and RSD also cite environmental concerns as part of the motivation for the current campaign. They claim that developing the north end would create more traffic congestion and, by extension, more noise and pollution with residents from the south and other parts of town driving to and from Wal-Mart.
THE BARD IS BACK: Future festival will make Guelph Shakespeare central
The Ontarion
Arts & Culture
Thursday, September 29, 2005
THE BARD IS BACK: Future festival will make Guelph Shakespeare central.
Written by Meghan Moloney
A public meeting was held at the River Run Centre last Thursday night to discuss a new Shakespeare festival being planned for January to May 2007. The festival will be a joint effort between the University of Guelph, the city's Arts Council, and the Stratford Festival. Rob McKay, the Director of Culture in Guelph, is part of the group responsible for developing a proposal for the festival in conjunction with the university.
"The project is just in its infancy," McKay said in an interview on Friday. "We had an open meeting for representatives from various art groups--we had excellent representation, a lot of enthusiasm, the mayor attended and gave her support, so it all looks great."
The festival will incorporate multiple areas of the community, from the university to local arts groups, and cultural centres, as well as elementary and high schools. It will also include many different types of events and opportunities. According to McKay, the festival "really has a number of facets, it's not strictly the performing arts ... there'll be a gallery exhibit, education programs, we're hoping, for children and even for adults, and then of course the performances." Instead of being a "centrally planned" series of events, McKay is hoping that each participating arts group will "choose a Shakespeare theme" during the specified time period, creating a loose collective of events and performances based around the city of Guelph.
The choice of Guelph as the site for the upcoming festival was an obvious one for the organizers. Not only is the regional arts community influenced by nearly Stratford, Ontario, but as McKay said, "The University of Guelph has a real connection to Shakespeare, in that they run a website which is probably the best and most comprehensive website dedicated to Shakespeare in the world."
The website was created by the Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project (CASP), and is directed by Professor Daniel Fischlin of the School of English and Theatre Studies at the U of G. It includes an online anthology of rare material, focusing on scripts, literary works and other multimedia sources from Canada's cultural history that are related to, or adaptations of, Shakespeare's work. The CASP website was launched over a year ago and has since been hugely successful.
"The background for the idea around the festival originated in the website and the kind of international and national attention it drew when we launched it," said Dr. Fischlin. "The benefits of undertaking such a festival involve creating unexpected convergences of ideas that in turn generate new art, new ways of thinking, and new ways of building the artistic infrastructure in the city."
"Dr. Fischlin also highlights the ways in which the cultural phenomenon known as "the Shakespeare effect" is helping to bring forward different perspectives, including "aboriginal communities and French-Canadian communities, gay, lesbian, and queer communities," and other so-called marginalized groups of society.
The project plans are far from being finalized at this point. McKay said, "We have got some preliminary work done on the business plan and we are in the process of costing it, but nothing's complete in that area yet."
Arts & Culture
Thursday, September 29, 2005
THE BARD IS BACK: Future festival will make Guelph Shakespeare central.
Written by Meghan Moloney
A public meeting was held at the River Run Centre last Thursday night to discuss a new Shakespeare festival being planned for January to May 2007. The festival will be a joint effort between the University of Guelph, the city's Arts Council, and the Stratford Festival. Rob McKay, the Director of Culture in Guelph, is part of the group responsible for developing a proposal for the festival in conjunction with the university.
"The project is just in its infancy," McKay said in an interview on Friday. "We had an open meeting for representatives from various art groups--we had excellent representation, a lot of enthusiasm, the mayor attended and gave her support, so it all looks great."
The festival will incorporate multiple areas of the community, from the university to local arts groups, and cultural centres, as well as elementary and high schools. It will also include many different types of events and opportunities. According to McKay, the festival "really has a number of facets, it's not strictly the performing arts ... there'll be a gallery exhibit, education programs, we're hoping, for children and even for adults, and then of course the performances." Instead of being a "centrally planned" series of events, McKay is hoping that each participating arts group will "choose a Shakespeare theme" during the specified time period, creating a loose collective of events and performances based around the city of Guelph.
The choice of Guelph as the site for the upcoming festival was an obvious one for the organizers. Not only is the regional arts community influenced by nearly Stratford, Ontario, but as McKay said, "The University of Guelph has a real connection to Shakespeare, in that they run a website which is probably the best and most comprehensive website dedicated to Shakespeare in the world."
The website was created by the Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project (CASP), and is directed by Professor Daniel Fischlin of the School of English and Theatre Studies at the U of G. It includes an online anthology of rare material, focusing on scripts, literary works and other multimedia sources from Canada's cultural history that are related to, or adaptations of, Shakespeare's work. The CASP website was launched over a year ago and has since been hugely successful.
"The background for the idea around the festival originated in the website and the kind of international and national attention it drew when we launched it," said Dr. Fischlin. "The benefits of undertaking such a festival involve creating unexpected convergences of ideas that in turn generate new art, new ways of thinking, and new ways of building the artistic infrastructure in the city."
"Dr. Fischlin also highlights the ways in which the cultural phenomenon known as "the Shakespeare effect" is helping to bring forward different perspectives, including "aboriginal communities and French-Canadian communities, gay, lesbian, and queer communities," and other so-called marginalized groups of society.
The project plans are far from being finalized at this point. McKay said, "We have got some preliminary work done on the business plan and we are in the process of costing it, but nothing's complete in that area yet."
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