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Women's activists plan campaign against driving ban in Saudi
Women's Rights activists in Saudi Arabia are turning to the web to express their frustration over a rejection from authorities to put driving in the back burner.
In a report by Al-Jazeera, the country's Shura Consultative Council rejected a move to discuss the issue.
Conservative bureaucrats in favor of the ban say that allowing women to drive "will encourage the sexes to mix freely in public, and thus threaten public morality."
Saudi Arabia is the only country that bans women from driving.
However this did not stop activists from backing down. They posted photos and videos expressing defiance.
One online clip showed a woman in Riyadh driving in a vehicle her veiled dress. Motorists passing by gave her a a thumbs-up sign in approval.
A female activist who remained anonymous spoke to Reuters. She says that the online movement is part of a two-stage campaign to bring exposure to the issue and illicit support.
The campaign includes a nationwide protest scheduled this month.
Lack of care for the transgendered
Transgendered persons are finding it difficult to seek help at the doctor’s office as they face insensitive and irrelevant questions about their sexuality, and are denied treatment.
According to CBC, Chase Ross, now legally a man, says he has routinely faced unnecessary questions that include his name change and genitals, as well as being refused psychiatric treatment.
Advocacy worker with Concordia University's Centre for Gender Advocacy, Gabrielle Bouchard says this is not uncommon. Many of the complaints she hears include medical professionals refusing to address a patient as the gender he or she identifies with.
Head of the Gender Variance Program at the Montreal Children's Hospital, Dr. Shuvo Ghosh agrees saying there is little sensitivity training for health care professionals when it comes to treating transgendered people.
He says this lack of care could lead to hospital emergency rooms overflowing with complaints that could have been prevented. And that medical professionals can help improve the situation by making their patients feel more comfortable and explaining the relevance behind their questions.
Ghosh adds that those who are denied service or made uncomfortable should send an official letter of complaint to the health care establishment.
The Walking Dead: My Day at the Montreal Zombie Walk
The Montreal Zombie Walk took place this year on October 19th. This annual event has been happening worldwide since 2005 from Toronto to Paris and even Buenos Aires! The whole point of the zombie walk is to meet up in the middle of the city in your best zombie costume and stay in character as you walk around and get your photo taken by hundreds of photographers.
The Montreal Zombie Walk this year was sponsored by Videotron and had its own make up booth for aspiring zombies. As an avid horror fan, I made my own flesh wounds using liquid latex and tissue paper that I slathered in fake blood for good measure. For the event, I dressed up as a zombie beauty pageant contestant and covered my shoulders with decaying, chewed up flesh and put a bullet wound on my chest. I then paraded myself around downtown Montreal for 40 minutes, getting blinded by the flash of the photographers as I posed for several pictures with mostly older men and hyperactive children!
My zombie walk costume
The most awkward part about the zombie walk is taking the metro to and from downtown. Most people in Montreal are unaware of the event and understandably tend to avoid sitting next to zombies on the metro. I managed to accidentally make a little boy on the metro cry and hide behind his mother. Most kids who went to the zombie walk loved it however, and were in full costume with their parents.
The Montreal Zombie Walk had several special events at the venue. There were zombie dance classes, where you could learn how to pop and lock it! There was also Le Musée du Rock 'n' Roll who brought their truck to the event and plenty of other cool organizations and people that barely noticed because of all of the cool zombie costumes. The thousands of people at the event made a giant rainbow of grey and red that distracted me from most things that day.
The zombie walk is really a showcase of zombie craftsmanship and creativity. Although the huge groups of people attending the event make it extremely overwhelming (to the point where it feels almost like a sort of claustrophobia simulator) the costumes and attitudes of the attendees are breathtaking! Costumes were very elaborate, to the point where some zombies had their own jaws ripped off, had saws embedded into their skulls or even had pieces of their own brains falling onto the side walk! Zombies would burst into the middle of crowds and scream hysterically to scare off photographers.
Apart from the wonderful costumes and entertainment, I was unfortunately disappointed with the Montreal Zombie Walk. I knew that the zombie walk consisted of walking, but the walking part itself was exceedingly long and overcrowded. Some zombies were in character, while others were talking on their cellphones. The crowd didn't seem to have any particular goal either. There weren't any humans for us to eat or chase after, and we didn't know what our destination was. We were essentially a group of costumed people walking around aimlessly for an hour!
The Montreal Zombie Walk is an event for people of all ages. People even dressed their dogs up as zombies to celebrate the event. In spite of the fact that walking is a bit of a dull way to spend your afternoon, the costumes at the event were fantastic and are making me look forward to next Halloween.
The pictures in this article were taken by the talented Yu Chen Hou.
--DJ Patricia hosts FunkShui! every Sunday from 2 to 3 pm.
CJLO News - October 10 2013
Hosted & Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Stories by: Hannah Besseau, Jordan Namur & Saturn De Los Angeles
Canada taking flak for spying on Brazil, reason unknown.
Canada is under scrutiny for spying on it southern neighbor, Brazil, for economic reasons, leaving experts figuring out why.
In a report by CBC News, the news comes after a TV report shown by Brazil's Globo TV network.
It explains how a Canadian agency used phone and email metadata to map the communications of Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry.
Former intelligence officer Michel Juneau-Katsuya thinks the country has to justify doing it for the sake of national security. - and that includes economic security.
But Professor Jean Daudelin is not convinced. He finds it odd for Canada to spy on a nation which only brings one percent of both imports and exports.
While intelligence expert Wesley Park believes that Canada may could have just been asked by other nations to do it, on the grounds of sharing intelligence info to other Western countries.
Ottawa has been quiet since the news report broke out, saying that Canadian intelligence officials are 'reaching out' to its Brazilian counterparts.
October 9th, 2013
Cross-country oil pipeline to undergo public hearings
Enbridge's Line 9 Pipeline will be going through a round of public hearings in Ontario and Quebec.
In a report by CBC News, the Alberta-based oil company is in the middle of upgrading their pipelines in order to reverse its crude oil distribution and increase its capacity.
However, this upgrade has residents and environmentalists concerned for their safety.
Dave Lawson is an executive in charge of the pipeline.
He argues there are too many bad rumors that's been misinforming the public.
Enbridge explains that if any leaks do happen, people from the control center in Edmonton can detect the problem, prompting staff on patrol to fix it immediately.
Despite the scrutiny, environmental experts are applauding the open discussion on the pipeline.
Queen's University faculty Warren Mabee says that the conversation that Line 9 has brought is something worth having in discussing how Canada will use its energy resources in the future.
Protestors disturb official visit to new World Cup stadium
About 50 protestors interrupted a visit by the Secretary General of FIFA to a new stadium in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.
According to BBC News, the protestors condemned the Brazilian government for spending so much money on the stadium and on other World Cup preparations. Critics said that the money would be better spent funding public education and health.
The government has also been under fire for building a stadium of more than forty thousand seats in a state which does not have a team in Brazil's top football division. In response, the Brazilian government claimed that hosting World Cup matches in this area will draw worldwide attention to the natural beauty of the site.
The completed stadium will cost about $230 million.
source: BBC News
Of Montreal - Lousy With Sylvianbriar
If you pop in Of Montreal’s Lousy With Sylvianbriar expecting to hear a cacophony of psychedelic sounds painting a vortex-like soundscape, which has come to characterize their last few releases then, be warned, you will be disappointed. This is a much more subdued, cleaner and rock infused album. While Lousy With Sylvianbriar still contains the whirling nuances that one identifies with Of Montreal, Barnes and company chose to step in different directions as they include sounds and textures more associated with the likes of the Grand Ole Opry than any psychedelic scene.
The musical elements of this LP have been pushed ever so slightly to the background, creating a space that allows for the vocals and lyrics to be highlighted.
“Fugitive Air” glides open the album doors offering up smooth notes of slide guitar that ring through before helping to sandwich the vocals between the bass and drums.
“Belle Glade Missionaries” struts along with a steady beat and an infectious guitar riff, which along with blasts of organ propels us to a spiral windy ending. The tranquil and beautiful “Sirens of Your Toxic Spirits” and “Amphibian” create a nice change of pace allowing for the vocals to be front and centre.
“Hegira migr” offers up a delicious plate of upbeat classic rock n’ roll and rhythm- and-blues, a guitar heavy track surrounded by a whooshing organ that would have Mick Jagger and Keith Richards salivating for seconds.
This album didn’t blow me away when I first hit play; to me at times it felt as if it dawdled along. I was almost inclined to dismiss it. However, I found the more I listened to it, the more it grew on me and the more fun I had with it. There are catchy melodies, an old time rock n’ roll feel as well as a sprinkling of that Nashville twang, all of which makes this album well worth a listen.
Montreal 2013 ComicCon
Montreal’s ComicCon is an annual convention held this year on September 13th to the 15th, and has been running since 2006. The Montreal ComicCon (short for comic convention) is a showcase of comic books, anime, sci-fi and horror related media. One can buy all sorts of books, toys, cards and even rare collectibles at the convention. Other amazing aspects of the convention are the celebrity panels and movie screenings, leading to a fun filled weekend of ComicCon madness!
Many people dress up for the Montreal ComicCon. While Otakuthon attendees also cosplay for the anime convention, Montreal ComicCon goers tend to come from an older crowd and have more experience with cosplay, leading to more intricate costume designs and better craftsmanship.
When I first went to the Montreal ComicCon I was 15 years old and had never gone to any sort of convention before. Noting that there would be some sort of cosplaying, I had sewn my own Harley Quinn costume with the help of my mother! Harley Quinn was always my favourite Batman villain and I wanted to recycle the costume for the following Halloween.
My first costumed metro ride was a bit embarrassing as everyone thought I was just a regular clown and kept taking random photos of me while avoiding my gaze! My first ComicCon was a blast, and I had even participated in the Masquerade costume and talent contest. I had no idea what I was doing though, so I asked the announcer to introduce me to the audience in the same way that a corny dating game show host would. My heart was pounding through my chest as I walked onto the stage for the very first time but once I had gotten over my stage-fright I had an amazing time! My story is one of many other ComicCon fanatics who also love to cosplay. Many spend half of the year preparing their costumes and performances for the 3-day event.
Me, at the age of 15, in my Harley Quinn Costume
The Montreal ComicCon and Otakuthon have many similarities. The biggest difference between the conventions is the attitude of the attendees. The ComicCon welcomes a much wider variety of ages than the Otakuthon as the ComicCon has a broader range of attractions. Instead of being just about anime, the Montreal ComicCon also features comic books and different television and movie series, attracting a larger (and sometimes older) audience. With that said, the majority of the ComicCon goers are less interested in physical contact, quite unlike those of the Otakuthon who have an entire area at their convention dedicated to hugging random strangers. The ComicCon also has better funding than the Otakuthon overall and can invite more celebrities to come sign autographs, take photos and do panels.
There are also little to no “furries” at the ComicCon. A furry is an anthropomorphic animal person. Many people cosplay as furries by dressing up in what can only be described as a sports mascot (and in some of the worst cases: a sexy , leather wearing sports mascot).
Krystal, from the Star Fox video games, is a perfect example of what my nightmares are made of.
The Montreal ComicCon’s Exhibition Hall is full of crazy things that you can’t find online and I needed more books to add to my art book collection. I already own several books by Don De Carlo and Gil Elvgren but I wanted to add Bruce Timm to my repertoire. The Exhibition Hall is everything that a fan can ever dream of. Toys, books, video games, board games, cards, clothes, make up, weapons and plenty of more things are sold there from a variety of businesses!
There’s this one specific stand that sells personal massagers (not the adult kind) and try to corner people when they are alone. My friend and I were forced into getting the most awkward massage last year because they backed us up into a wall!
There are also t-shirts for sale and what annoys me the most is that all of the nicest shirts only come in men’s sizes and that includes anything related to My Little Pony!
The PS4 was also on display for everyone to play it! I didn’t go see it because I was a bit paranoid about touching the controller and catching a cold!
At the hall, you can also get your photo taken professionally to capture your ComicCon memories forever! I got my portrait down by the talented Richard Dufault. Instead of waiting in line for an hour (like I had to at the Otakuthon) Mr. Dufault did a photo shoot with me immediately and gave me excellent advice on how to pose! I loved all the photos he took and I was extremely pleased with the quality of the shoot!
My cosplay of Lara Croft from her latest video game
There was also the Artist’s Alley which was full of talented people and I wanted to buy all of their posters! Instead I asked Oliver Castañeda to draw me! I was really happy with his work! At the Otakuthon I usually ask people to draw me in anime style which tends to have very little detail, but Oliver Castañeda drew me very accurately! Other artists there were the awesome David Finch and George Perez.
My ComicCon purchases
The best part of the exhibition hall is how all of the celebrities who sign autographs, do meet and greets and photoshoots with convention attendees! There were many other celebrities at the convention, including Christopher Lloyd, George Takei, Gillian Anderson, Lou Ferrigno and many other people who have been in Stark Trek and Battle Star Galactica! Five wrestlers also came to the ComicCon. I did a photoshoot last year with Patrick Stewart and William Shatner with one of my best friends! It was really awesome but I was too afraid to touch Patrick Stewart because he’s Patrick Stewart. My friend put his hand on William Shatner’s shoulder and I have been worshipping him since then. We didn’t go see any celebrities this year at the convention but I did see George Takei from really far away and I’m pretty sure we made eye contact. Shhh. Don’t judge me!
The greatest moment of me and Curtis’ lives (I was cosplaying Psylocke from X-Men)
Before I even begin to discuss the famous people who attended the Montreal ComicCon, I thought I’d start off by talking about the most important part of the convetion: THE FOOD. At any comic book convention, food is a necessity. Walking around all day wearing armour or a corset or even a fur suit (AHHHHHH) is exhausting for cosplayers. Sustenance is required in order to have the right amount of energy to pose for 500 photos without bursting into tears.
The Montreal ComicCon has a small restaurant on its first level, but unfortunately it has very little seating accommodation and unreasonable lines. What’s even more unfortunate is that it’s the only place you can buy food at when attending the convention (excluding one tinier stand that they have on the 5th floor). The food itself was delicious and plenty, but getting to it could take half an hour, which may not seem like a lot, but when celebrity panels are starting every 5 minutes, half an hour is the world! Some people sat on the floor. Some people went to Chinatown instead. I did not, and enjoyed a 45 minute lunch break in which I spent 40 minutes in line and 5 minutes inhaling my pasta so that I could go see Felicia Day’s Q&A panel!
Felicia Day’s panel was wonderful! It started off with screening of Felicia Day’s Flog, a weekly Youtube blog she no longer works on. Watching Felicia Day attempt parkour in her Flog was very amusing but also demonstrates how sweet and humble Felcia Day is! She’s always willing to laugh at herself, and she made the audience laugh with her responses to the Q&A. She told us that during her stay in Montreal, she went to the Jean Talon market to buy 120$ worth of jam for her family and friends because buying maple syrup from the airport was too lazy.
Felicia then discussed how she loves staying at home all day with her dog and her videogames as she considers herself to be an introvert. She went on to mention the possibility of The Guild becoming a comic book series and recommended her recent web series called “Co-Optitude” in which she plays videogames with her brother. Also addressing the concept of “geek girls” and how the word itself shouldn’t be used to describe only men and how people should be defined by their character instead of their interests! Because of this, Felicia Day turns down many different roles in which she would have been made to play a stereotypical and boring nerd girl! She also discussed how much she enjoyed working on the set of Supernatural and acting in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog.
Her favourite multiplayer video game Is World of Warcraft and single player games are Dragon Age and Skyrim because she wanted to date all of the characters and buy all of the houses in the video games. She enjoys the music of Erasure, Howard Jones and Men Without Hats. Teagan and Sara, Fun and Arctic Monkeys are also some of her all-time favourite musicians.
My favourite exchange throughout the entire panel was this:
Audience member: What did one volcano say to the other?
Felicia Day: … Blow me!
Audience member: Um… I… I lava you.
Felicia Day: That’s close to what I said!
After the panel, I went upstairs to watch the Horrorfest screenings. The Horrorfest has been at the ComicCon for two years now and have had past screenings of the 1981 original The Evil Dead followed by Q&A with the leading actors. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the screening so I watched “My Fair Zombie” and “Portrait of a Zombie”.
My Fair Zombie is a parody of the musical My Fair Lady and has a zombie instead of a lady, just like the title suggests. Directed by Brett Kelly, this musical comedy tells the tale of a professor of phonetics’ attempt to teach a zombie how to become an elegant lady. Mr. Kelly claims that the idea for the movie came to him before “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” existed. The movie is very light hearted and full of sweet, touching moments… but I can’t help but feel a bit frustrated while watching it. The trailer for the film has a much better soundtrack than the actual movie itself, which recycles the same old song throughout the entire film. The poster and teaser also promise a much more zombified Eliza Doolittle while in the film she has perfect skin. Another qualm I have would be the awkward camera positions, causing the shots to be unbalanced and somewhat distracting for viewers. The blood and gore effects were also unprofessional.
Although this is a comedy, the word “zombie” in the title of the film clearly warns the audience that the film will have some sort of violence. If a film is to be focussed mostly on zombies and violence, then more effort should be put into special effects. The film maker should also have avoided using cheesy stock footage of sunsets and sunrises in his movie. Apart from technical issues, the film itself was a delight! The acting was superb and the singing was fantastic! The film never takes itself too seriously, and if anything, the cheesy effects and music were extremely appropriate for the film as it was already a comedy to begin with!
The cast of My Fair Zombie
Portrait of a Zombie has won several awards from around the world for being an excellent film. Directed by Bing Bailey, the film takes place in Dublin and depicts the struggles of a working class family as they take care of their zombified son. An American documentary maker decides to make his next film about the family and ends up causing them more trouble than they ever had before. At first, I disliked the movie. It was too long for me, but I felt that if I left I would have made all the time I had spent watching it worthless. About 40 minutes in the film’s first twist happens, and it caught me off guard so badly that I was traumatized for the rest of the weekend! The film’s slow pacing at the beginning prepared the audience for a wave of anguish, terror and disgust to crash into them and leave them stranded in shock inside of the screening room.
My only complaint about the film is the changes in camera position. Sometimes there would be close-ups of objects or people and the lighting would change completely. The error is small and unnoticeable, but destroyed my immersion into the film’s dark world. Also I got really upset because at some point in the film they talk about how most people take a while to become zombies, starting off with a fever and then reanimating after death. Towards the end of the film many citizens become zombies almost immediately after being bitten, contradicting that last statement entirely. Apart from that, the film was fantastic! The actors were perfect for their roles and seemed as if they were really experiencing a zombie infestation! The blood effects were also extremely professional, and during the Q&A after the film, Ms. Bailey told me that most of the blood and guts eaten by the “zombies” consisted of oatmeal, corn syrup and sometimes even rubber.
The screening room
The last thing I went to was a screening of Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie. Unfortunately, I have never seen Clerks so I was completely lost and cannot provide a proper critique of the film. With that said, Tara Strong (an amazing voice actor who plays Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) is in it! Also Jason Meyes announced that he and Kevin Smith will be appearing in Clerks 3! Hooray!
I couldn’t stay for the Q&A because my mother was picking me up! Also the Montreal ComicCon got a bit creepy past 9PM and I felt the need to flee the premises as strange men in various super hero costumes kept trying to lift me up and kiss me on the cheek!
Apparently Kevin Smith ran into the same people as me.
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