THIS MAGAZINE: BECAUSE EVERTHING IS POLITICAL

Search for:

• FEATURES
• THIS & THAT
• ARTS & IDEAS
• FICTION & POETRY
• LETTERS
• BLOG THIS
•  
• SUBSCRIBE
• BACK ISSUES
• SUPPORT THIS
•  
• ABOUT THIS
• CONTRIBUTORS
• CONTACT THIS
• ADVERTISE
• SITE MAP

Home

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Postcard from: TOKYO Surprise of the Machines
Buying into vending-machine culture in Japan By David Hayes

In Profile: Worth a thousand words?
Jillian Tamaki found that literary juries are still learning how to read graphic novels By Drew Nelles

Spotlight: Reading Michael Ignatieff
He's famous for his non-fiction, but his novels tell a different story By Daniel Tencer

Listen: Please feed the birds
Calgary band is big in Europe, but home is where their hearts are By Tabassum Siddiqui

Web: Found in translation
The web allows immigrants to straddle two worlds like never before By Navneet Alang

Screen: The message is the medium
Are emerging cut-and-paste art forms ruining narrative storytelling? By Dorothy Woodend

ONLINE ARCHIVE

Profile: Hollywood Indian
Terrance Houle finds subversive comedy in bannock, bingo, and buckskin By Lia Grainger

Campaign: A book club built for two
Just what is Stephen Harper reading? By Dominique Jarry-Shore

Read This: So Orwell, Tesla, and Atwood walk into a bar...
Kate Beaton's hilarious histories By Alex Redgrave

Books: Real dirty laundry
Two ripped-from-the-headlines novels surpass biography By Kerry Clare

Film: Bon cop, bad times
Too many Canadian filmgoers overlook their own backyard By Jason Anderson

Web: Blogging is so 2008
Users are finding other ways to overshare as the medium grows up and sells out By Chandler Levack

Then & now: Net benefits
The social safety net as we know it took decades to evolve By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: Straight outta' Limoilou
Quebec City rapper Webster is a hip hop historian By Sandra Jackson-Opoku

Manifesto: Not-so-quiet revolution
By Jordan Himelfarb

Documentary: Painting the town
By Sarah Colgrove

Read This: Dora Borealis
by Daccia Bloomfield
Review by Andre Bovee-Begun

Film: Graphic, but not so novel
Not all comic-book adaptations are created equal By Dorothy Woodend

Books: Canadian books under attack
Sometimes by their authors By John Degen

Web: Sins of Jezebel.com
This sensational blog is addictive. But is it feminist? By Chandler Levack

Then & now: Drawn and quartered
Political cartoonists prove that sometimes the pen really is mightier By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: As seen on TV
Toronto video artist changes the channel By Melissa Wilson

Web comic: Hard truths in “A Softer World”
By Sarah Colgrove

Hide and seek: Where’s Waldo?
By Liivi Sandy

Read This: Jeremiah, Ohio
by Adam Sol
Review by Nicholas Bradley

Books: Little lessons
Cory Doctorow’s Nineteen Eighty-Four homage is too cool for school By John Degen

Television: Changing places
Character development, American style By Jason Anderson

Web: E-bama
Why Barack is the kids’ new bicycle By Chandler Levack

Then & now: Are we poor yet?
Reading the signs of economic downturn By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: This land is his land
One man's art trumps the oil that lies beneath it By Amy Fung

Comics: DIY strip show
By Jordan Himelfarb

Writing: A never-ending short story
By Jeff Nield

Read This: TeaTime
by stef lenk
Review by Tara Quinn

Books: Kill your babies beautifully
On Michael Ondaatje's fetish for suffering By John Degen

Film: Notes from the underground
In defence of fantasy and horror cinema By Dorothy Woodend

Web: A stereotype of one's own
Why it's safe for white folks to laugh at themselves By Chandler Levack

Then & now: Kicking it old school
Time travels on the wagon By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: Live from the North
Isuma.tv takes indigenous film online By Stephanie Silliker

Play: Street theatre
By Jessica Duffin Wolfe

Press: Basement sweet
By Ilana Stanger-Ross

Art: Shopdrop and roll By Kalli Anderson

Read This: A Week of This
by Nathan Whitlock
Review by J. Graham Lee

Books: Sex and the fortysomething
Stacey May Fowles’ free-love story puts things in perspective By John Degen

Television: How low can it go?
Reality TV turns 20 By Lisa Whittington-Hill

Web: One-blog wonder
How the internet has redefined the musical playing field By Chandler Levack

Then & now: Till death do they part
Weddings through the ages By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: Shake ’n’ quake
Art that’s a disaster waiting to happen By Nadja Sayej

Film: Braving it by bike
By Ron Nurwisah

Clothes: Facing the facts
By Tania Tabar

Painting: Art for war’s sake By Derek Rosin

Disaster reads: Disaster-themed books reviewed
Your Secrets Sleep with Me, by Darren O’Donnell
Review by Ron Nurwisah
Falsework, by Gary Geddes
Review by Sarah Greene
Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? by Anita Rau Badami
Review by Tania Tabar

Web: You have one new death notification
Social networking: it’s not just for the living anymore By Chandler Levack

Film: Watch and learn
When it comes to green cinema, action beats aesthetics By Dorothy Woodend

Books: True confessions
Günter Grass and Jan Wong spill their beans By John Degen

Then & now: Was the grass always greener?
Lawn care through the ages By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: Speaking out
A Muslim poet gets political By Misha Warbanski

Poems: Street stanzas
By Kathy Sinclair

Photography: All you can eat
By Jesse Kinos-Goodin

Comics: Found in translation By Aimée van Drimmelen

Read this: Soucouyant, by David Chariandy
Review by Nora Tennessen

Books: We’re richer than we think
Canada’s lit has arrived—you can bank on it By John Degen

Television: Quality, meet quantity
TV’s queers are better than ever—now it’s time for the numbers to catch up By Lisa Whittington-Hill

Web: Stop the presses
The transition from paper to pixels will bring good news By Max Fawcett

Then & now: Bottoms up
The bells have changed, but they’re here to stay By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: Confronting class
Renaissance activist takes it to the streets By Jeff Nield

Music: Up in Arms
By Jo Snyder

Multimedia: Press “1” to confess
By Pike Krpan

Theatre: All the world’s a stage By Alex Molotokow

Read this: Forsaken, by Lana Slezic
Review by Wendy Glauser

Web: War, web style
Evolution of a cyber-battlefield By Terence Dick

Film: Get your weep on
Social-issue drama sells in Oscar season By Chris Eng

Books: A tale of two realities
Americans take a page from the book of role reversal By John Degen

Then & now: Labour laws and protections
A not-so-illustrious history results in one question: how far have we come? By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: Capturing conflict
Montreal photographer brings the Middle East home By Misha Warbanski

Media: Make no mistake... By Tracey Lindeman

Learning: Too cool for school
By Chandler Levack

Music: Girl superpower
By Liivi Sandy

Read this: I, Tania, by Brian Joseph Davis
Review by Mark Medley

Television: Have mosque, will travel
Can Saskatchewan Muslims make it south of the border? By Lisa Whittington-Hill

Books: Pick me! Pick me!
Is a little first-novel recognition too much to ask? By John Degen

Then & now: You should have said so before we left the house
Bathrooms through the ages By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: The great video game experiment
You won’t find Kokoromi on your Xbox By Kevin Gillich

Film: Torch the Olympics
By Krisztina Kun

Art: Beer, barbecue and … portraits
By Lauren McKeon

Media: Is it pornography? By Jesse McLean

Read this: 28 stories of AIDS in Africa, by Stephanie Nolen
Review by Wendy Glauser

Film: Read between the frames
Why CanLit seldom goes to Hollywood By Chris Eng

Books: Writing under the influence
Clive Doucet builds on greatness By Ron Nurwisah

Web: Baby’s first Facebook
Social networks teach kids the value of a Zbuck By Terence Dick

Then & now: Pedalling’s past
From emancipation to ecology, bikes have changed our gears By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: A gallery falls in the forest
Storm closes George Sawchuck's 30-year show By Grant Shilling

Music: Almost famous By Jo Snyder

Fun: Kidding around By Stacy Lee Kong

Read this: Dead Centre: Hope, Possibility and Unity for Canadian Progressives, by Jamey Heath
Review by Chris Chambers

Live music: Rockin’ rural roadhouses By Christine Davidson

Television: TV nation
The idiot box: not just for idiots By Lisa Whittington-Hill

Books: Give new a chance
Three first-time novelists worth skipping Ondaatje for By Ron Nurwisah BOOKS DISCUSSED: Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx, Missing the Ark by Catherine Kidd, and The Milk Chicken Bomb by Andrew Wedderburn

Web: It’s in the vault
Is privacy possible in the digital age? By Terence Dick

Then & Now: Campus confidential
It’s time to study up on your university history before the pop quiz By Lynn Cunningham

Profile: Plotting an escape route
Greg Greene goes back to Suburbia By Tara Irwin

Read This: Emergency Contact
Review of Tara-Michelle Ziniuk’s Emergency Contact By Karen Darricades

Film: A history in the making up
As long as it looks cool, who cares if it’s accurate? By Chris Eng

Books: Flirting with disaster
Doom and gloom keep books jumping off the shelves By Ron Nurwisah BOOKS DISCUSSED: Pandemonium by Andrew Nikiforuk, The Upside of Down by Thomas Homer-Dixon, and Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning by George Monbiot

Web: Socialism, internet style
How the web will transform the world — again By Brian Joseph Davis

Plus: Arts & Ideas roundup
Audio books from the Rock, fashion forward and good-hearted knitters

Then & Now: Born again Bolshevik?
Rafe Mair’s journey from free-enterpriser to 21st-century socialist By Mason Wright

Capturing the sensesWhat happens when documentary meets travel research?By Ron Nurwisah

Pac-Man it ain’tHomeless game gives insight into life on the streetBy Jeff Nield

Putting the “art” in apartmentBuzz 312 for Mark Prier’s home moviesBy Sean Flinn

“Got it. Got it. Want it.”Artist trading cards are one of a kindBy Alexis Dobranowski

Read This Poetic Justice: Satirical Verse from The Globe and Mail, by John Allemang. Review by Chris Chambers
This Will End in Tears, by Joe Ollman. Review by Mark Medley
The Ethical Imagination: Journeys of the Human Spirit, by Margaret Somerville. Review by Nicholas Bradley

The Cape May rises againCalgary trio leaves behind the curse and the cult with its new releaseBy Colin Smith

Essay of Borat and Sarah Silverman for make benefit of cultural learnings about racismTo get the joke we have to comprehend the contextBy Pike Wright

Then & NowCan you hear me now?Before everyone and their dog owned a mobile, phones had to be transported in cars, bags and bricksBy Sarah Ferguson

The idea machine that never sleepsTyler Clark Burke gets the party startedBy Julia De Laurentiis Johnson

Playing GodCoupland characters take Vancouver stageBy Carrie-May Siggins

If at first you don’t succeed…Set your Ouija boards on failBy Brian Grison [Online soon]

Read This Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Sweet, by Carol Off. Review by Peter McCamus
The Fearsome Particles, by Trevor Cole. Review by Bonnie Bowman
Suburban Pornography & other stories, by Matthew Firth. Review by Holland Gidney Every Inadequate Name, by Nick Thran. Review by Kathy Sinclair
[Online soon]

How long must we sing this song?We compile the 40 essential resistance songsBy Mason Wright

Hear This: Off the Beaten Track Reviews by Christine Davidson
Subhumans, New Dark Age Parade (G7 Welcoming Committee)
Neon Tetra, Home (Noise Factory)
Two Hours Traffic, Isolator (Independent)
[Online soon]

Back StoryStaple thesis still holdsA special Innis Memorial ColumnBy Mel Watkins

Making AirwavesRadio artist redefines the mediumBy Saara Liinamaa

It Takes A Hip-hop VillageMontreal collective goes globalBy Julia De Laurentiis Johnson [Online soon]

Print For PrisonersZine targets jailed activistsBy Liz Worth [Online soon]

Google Never ForgetsA cautionary taleBy Max Fawcett

Read This The Fighter, by Craig Davidson. Review by Holland Gidney
Social Acupuncture: A Guide to Suicide, Performance and Utopia, by Darren O’Donnell. Review by Peter McCamus
Types of Canadian Women, Volume II, by K.I Press. Review by Nicholas Bradley

Hear This: Off the Beaten Track Reviews by Christine Davidson
the beige, 01 (Independent)
Andre Ethier, Secondathallam (Paper Bag Records)
The Dears, Gang of Losers (Arts & Crafts)

Punk Begins At 50Nomeansno takes the show on the roadBy Allan MacInnis [Online soon]

Back StoryFlunking Out The SchoolsWeb watchdogs target university brandsBy David Tough

Natural SelectionsComposer R. Murray Schafer enchants the forestBy Kelly McCarthy-Maine

The Dangers of Playing It SafeHow kindness is killing Canadian political theatreBy J. Kelly Nestruck

Live Poets’ SocietyWriters take their rhymes on the roadBy Ron Nurwisah [Online soon]

Read This No One Makes You Shop At Wal-Mart: The Surprising Deceptions of Individual Choice, by Tom Slee. Review by Vladi Ivanov
Greener Than Eden, by Michael Kohn. Review by Holland Gidney
Anatomy of Keys, by Steven Price. Review by Nicholas Bradley

Hear This: Off the Beaten Track Reviews by Christine Davidson
The Land, See and Hear (Independent)
Shapes and Sizes, Shapes and Sizes (Asthmatic Kitty)
Amy Millan, Honey From the Tombs (Arts & Crafts)

Back StoryMuch Ado About NothingStyle versus substance at MuchMusicBy Max Fawcett

Small VictoriesPedlar Press publishes indie for 10 years and lives to tell about itBy Wendy Banks

Suffering For One’s Art is Romantic, But It’s Still SufferingBy John Degen

Blim Bounces BackVancouver arts space finds a new homeBy Ron Nurwisah [Online soon]

Read This Me Funny, edited by Drew Hayden Taylor. Review by Adrienne Weiss
Iran Awakening, by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni. Review by Vladi Ivanov
Strike/Slip, by Don McKay. Review by Chris Chambers

Hear This: Off the Beaten Track Reviews by Matthew Elliot
Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Mint)
Various Artists, See You On The Moon! Songs for Kids of All Ages (Paper Bag)

Back StoryBald as I Wanna BeWhy we still won’t let our hair down when it comes to bald womenBy Lisa Whittington-Hill

The Garden of Eden & IvanLong an inspiration for local writers, East Van isn’t what it used to beBy Ron Nurwisah

Fatter, Hairier, Uglier, ScarierWhat happens when artist Allyson Mitchell wields her glue gun?By Wendy Banks

Read This Against the New Authoritarianism: Politics After Abu Ghraib, by Henry Giroux. Review by Charles Demers
A Good War Is Hard to Find, by David Griffith. Review by Brian Joseph Davis
PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, Compiled by Frank Warren. Review by Tara-Michelle Ziniuk
Sooner, by Margaret Christakos. Review by Trish Salah

Hear This: Off the Beaten Track Reviews by Christine Davidson
Sarah Harmer, I’m a Mountain (Universal)
Near the Parenthesis, Go Out and See (Music Made By People)
Mecca Normal, The Observer (Kill Rock Stars)

Back StoryBody CommodificationExploring how women are always cordoned off from medical scienceBy Karen Darricades

The Great InfiltratorJeff Chapman’s work authorized others to open doors in their citiesBy Cameron Gordon

Independently YoursPaul Jay has a plan to make TV news what it was meant to be. But is bias so easily banished?By Diane Peters

Read This Kill the Robot, by Maggie MacDonald. Review by Tara-Michelle Ziniuk
Growing Up Degrassi, edited by Michele Byers. Review by Jodi-Ann Smith
Iron-on Constellations, by Emily Pohl-Weary. Review by Tara-Michelle Ziniuk
Showbiz, by Jason Anderson. Review by Terence Dick

Hear This: The New Queens of NoiseFor Calgary’s Kilbourne, it’s all about the soundBy Liz Worth

Hear This: Dirty DebuntantesFor Montreal’s Ladies Luncheon, it’s all about the funBy Nathaniel G. Moore

Back StoryLoving the AlienThere’s more to sci-fi than meets the eyeBy Maggie Helwig

Unite the Write?Are freelance writers due for a union?By Julie Crysler

Art Attack #8Montreal duo attacks with their confrontational public art installationsBy Ron Nurwisah

The Antiques WordshowDarren Weshler-Henry takes up typewriters’ place in time in his book The Iron WhimBy Suzanne Alyssa Andrew

Don’t Fear the RipperNothing is sacred in Velcrow Ripper’s apolitical SacredSacredBy Charles Demers

Back StoryThe Smackdown!The lowdown on pro wrestling and race in the current political climateBy Michael Holmes

Off the MapAntonia Hirsch challenges the politics of cartographyBy Alex Aylett

Read This: The Latest in Canadian Small Press The Empire of Mind: Digital Piracy and the Anti-Capitalist, by Michael Strangelove, review by Kelly McCarthy-Maine
American Standard/Canada Dry, by Stephen Cain, review by Jennifer LoveGrove

Dyke TypeAnne Fleming ponders the Ins of Out writingBy Zoe Whittall

Hear This: True North Beats and Rhymes Sweatshop Union, United We Fall (Battleaxe/EMI)
The Quartertones, Hidden In Plain Sight (URBNet Records)
Reviews by Matt Semansky

It’s A Rap!Sixtoo’s Ninja star is on the riseBy Mason Wright

Question AuthorityFear and Self-Loathing in Manitobal’Atelier national du Manitoba founders rescue Winnipeg culture from the cinematic scrap heapInterview by Paul Corupe

Universal SoldierBob Topping is on the vanguard of a design frontier—making products and environments accessible to everyoneBy Suzanne Alyssa Andrew

Copy ThatCory Doctorow knows the future. And he is itBy Alex Aylett

An Honest WomanVelma Demerson’s sadly compelling book uncovers the dark side of Canada’s human-rights recordBy Scott Piatkowski

Art As ActivismIt’s brushes vs. bombs for Artists Against WarBy Dafna Izenberg

The Beat Goes OnRe-issues put funk back on topBy Paul Corupe

Man OverboardRex Wyler on Greenpeace’s legacy and modern environmentalismInterview by Micah Toub

Culture ShockHow a former Ontario Hydro mail clerk got the jolt she needed to make feature filmsBy Omar Odeh

Fear and Loathing In ToontownDon’t be fooled by those fuzzy little faces—animated entertainment is filled with filth. It’s time to bring morality back to Saturday morningBy Richard Poplak

Montreal GazetteerThe city is the most dynamic character in John Lavery’s linked collection of storiesBy Adam Lewis Schroeder

Monsters from the IdBy Paul Corupe

Building BlocksBy Alex Mlynek

Fang FictionBy Suzanne Alyssa Andrew

Poison PenKlank recalls the real-life transfer of women to a federal prison for menBy Marilyn Carpenter

Boys Don’t TryThe way books are marketed is one reason people think fiction is for girls. The other reason? Many men just hate reading novelsBy Tim Falconer

Words Are Not EnoughStan Rogal and Mark Truscott value words differently. One writer is fast, the other takes his timeBy Chris Chambers

Paint By Numbers By Chandra Bulucon

Hear This: Off the beaten track Death from Above 1979, You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine (Last Gang)
Gentleman Reg, Darby & Joan (Three Gut)
Damon & Naomi, The Earth is Blue (Sonic Unyon)
Reviews by Lisa Whittington-Hill

Watch and learn By Dawn Calleja

What women wantIn Chatelaine, Canadian women are getting the message they asked for. But it feels like something is missing from the mixBy Lisa Rundle

Note to self By Sue McCluskey

Read This: The best of Canadian small press Secret Trial: Brian Mulroney, Stevie Cameron and the Public Trust, by William Kaplan, review by Andrew Potter
Summat Else, by Royson Tester, review by Adam Lewis Schroeder
Rue du Regard, by Todd Swift, review by Chris Chambers

Chipping away By Patricia D’Souza

Hear This: Off the beaten track Neko Case, The Tigers have Spoken (Mint Records)
The Telepathic Butterflies, Songs From a Second Wave (Rainbow Quartz)
Stars, Set Yourself on Fire (Arts & Crafts)
Reviews by Lisa Whittington-Hill

Moving target By Audrey Gagnon

Let’s rant and roll Now, more than ever, we need music with a message By Lisa Whittington-Hill

Oil and vinegar By Sue McCluskey

Read This: The best of Canadian small press Venous Hum, by Suzette Mayr, review by Adam Lewis Schroeder
Hello, I’m Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity, by Hal Niedzviecki, review by Andrew Potter
Cities, Culture and Granite, by Edmund P. Fowler, review by Christopher Sorenson

Get the ball rolling By Arianne Robinson

Hear This: off the beaten track Apostle of Hustle, Folkloric Feel (Arts & Crafts)
Royal City, Little Heart’s Ease (Three Gut) A. C. Newman, The Slow Wonder (Blue Curtain)
Reviews by Lisa Whittington-Hill

Public art therapy How Dyan Marie uses creativity to awaken community pride Interview by Andre Mayer

Oral pleasure By Marisa Iacobucci

Moore is better Why must the left apologize for its own propaganda? By John Degen

Read This: The best of the Canadian small press Girls who bite back, edited by Emily Pohl-Weary, Review by Lisa Whittington-Hill
LD: Mayor Lewis Taylor and the rise of Vancouver, by Daniel Francis, Review by Adam Lewis Schroeder
Borders Matter: Homeland Security and the Search For North America, by Daniel Drache, Review by Mel Watkins
Catch and Release: Trout Fishing and the Meaning of Life by Mark Kingwell, Review by Andrew Potter

Big bank theory By Nathaniel G. Moore

Hear This: off the beaten track Reviews by Lisa Whittington-Hill
The Hidden Cameras, Mississauga Goddam
Stirling, Northern Light
CBC Radio 3 Sessions Vol. 1

Question Authority Persian Persuasion
Hossein Derakhshan on how the internet has changed Iran By Andre Mayer

Red Vinyl Diaries By Tash Fryzuk

War photography is hell A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but a snapshot rarely tells the whole story By Brian Joseph Davis

Read This: The best of the Canadian small press
Idea man, by Jack Layton, Review by Sue McCluskey
I know you are but what am I? by Heather Birrell, Review by Adam Lewis Schroeder
Free culture: How big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity, by Lawrence Lessig, Review by Andrew Potter
Viral Suite, by Mari-Lou Rowley, Review by Rajinderpal S. Pal

Lie Detector Dr. Paul Ekman, North America����������������s foremost authority on deception, gives the real facts on fibbing. By Buffy Childerhose