Montreal Fashion Week 2004

Moving from the West Coast of Canada to the East Coast has now provided me with the opportunity to attend FashionWeek events that won't be recalled as pitiful, pathetic and shabby attempts by middle-aged nouveau-riche women or upper middle-class earthy types to toss their lot into the FAST PACED and EXCITING world of haute-couture. The three competing elements of Vancouver's Fashion Week were 1) designs with the De Marcos family in mind, 2) designs for people interested in yoga/the outdoors, 3) ghastly "Pacific Rim"-flavoured pieces (with a smaller population of young people attempting to rip off streetwear pieces they'd seen within the pages of Nylon magazine four months ago)...

Events take place between February 1st and February 4th. Unfortunately, both websites are skimpy on the details, but you could probably pick up one of the either French language or English language weeklies in Montreal to get the specifics about events, times and locations. I'll post as much here as I can.

MontrealFashionWeek
MontrealFashionWatch (requires registration)

Vancouver residents (or visitors) might be interested in checking out the Yasujiro Ozu screenings at the Pacific Cinematheque (on Howe)... Over thirty of his films will be shown until March 20, including "A Story of Floating Weeds" and "Late Spring". A cinematic master and a reputed drunk, too!

Cinametheque Website

Montreal blogger Ad Hoc posts "40 Mistakes Men Make While Having Sex With Women", and readers nod in silent, shameful recognition.


17) TAKING YOUR PANTS OFF FIRST. A man in socks and underpants is a man at his worst. Lose the socks fist.


Ad Hoc agency

The Found & The Familiar Show

The Art Gallery of Bishop's University is about halfway through the run of "The Found and the Familiar", featuring ten artists who "appropriate and modify photographic images taken from family albums or garbage bins to create new works that are inspired by the visual and cultural codes of snapshots, their rituals and the moments they capture." I'd recommend checking it out... It's curated by ex-ECIAD graduate Sophie Hackett and Jennifer Long and runs until February 21st.

Bishop'sUGallery site

The "Take My Picture" opening at the VAV Gallery last night was highly enjoyable, particularly the installation by Michael Doerksen and a manipulated children's book on an ornate golden pedestal (a piece by a student named Ivry).

I'm going to quickly accomodate myself with the apartment hunting process in Montreal. I'm curious as to whether or not there's some sort of patronage system here, similar to the one in Paris, where bureaucrats and highly-connected people are offered access to pristine 17th century apartments close to the centre of town and bitter spouses remain together for the sake of the apartment. Two friends of mine have recently split from each other, (opting not to stay together simply for the sake of the apartment, so I suppose that answers my question) and one of them is now planning to move with me to a new apartment. There are a couple of options - a beautiful 5 1/2 owned by a friend that rents for $490 but must be occupied immediately, moving in with him until his lease is up in July, or immediately looking for a place, perhaps subletting. Moving at this time of the year would be wretched (for him more than me), however.

I've just started reading a pamphlet I picked up in the VA department yesterday entitled "A Practical Description of The Munsell Color System With Suggestions For Its Use" (by T.M. Cleland)...

I've heard that the Grey Room will be hosting the Sick Lipstick, AIDS Wolf, and We Are Wolves show on Friday... The SL website lists Dr. Bikini and Fox The Boombox as also being on the bill.

There's a new photo show (feat. Michael Doerksen) at the Concordia VAV Gallery, (1395 Réné Lévesque Boulevard W) that I've been meaning to check out. Anybody seen it yet? I stopped by earlier this morning to pick up some books, but it wasn't open yet. From what I glimpsed, it seemed significantly better than the previous show...

I moved from Vancouver to Montreal on Wednesday, January 7th. I live in the Plateau neighbourhood, along with the 40,000 other layabouts/hipster brats/invading gentrifiers. The cold hasn't affected me that much, as of yet - the bus system and the Metro have well-thought-out routes across the city - but I'm desperately looking forward to spring and summer.

The night life is, well, well, well beyond anything that Vancouver had to offer, simply in terms of the number of available spots (and quality of them, as well) in which to order drink specials, make a fool of yourself dancing to songs that aren't two years out of date (in other words, not the "highlights of the DFA compilation back-to-back with the latest Beyonce single" DJ-styling that me and my Vancouver friends have heard at Shine time and time again), and head to the bathroom every 15 minutes to split a keybump of significantly cheaper cocaine with your dancing partner in the $400 jeans and $10 Converse all-stars. If you're not into that, there are 'dive' bars (Miami, Copacabana, etc.), or the "Pre-11pm Depanneur Run" across the street without a jacket to grab enough alcohol to keep you satisfied enough not to want to head out on a Tuesday night.

Metro stations are a particularly quotidian highlight for me... I feel as if I've got to purchase a digital camera simply to shoot some of the stuff I've been seeing, absorbing and experiencing in the past two and a half weeks. I'll write more as I have the time, and once I can find my way around this place. Salut!

P.S. Wolf Parade are currently the best band in Canada.

So sue me, I've been to busy since moving to Montreal to update this thing. That may just speak to how boring Vancouver is, though in fairness to that Yoga-loving wonder of the west coast, I am attending school here, and wasn't doing much else other than complaining about my friends out there...

As far as I'm privy to in Vancouver, Mark DeLong has a show coming up sometime very soon. I don't know where, but if you live in that city and can't find that out, it's probably happening at one of the two galleries there that don't specialize in "authentic" Haida works...