Gary Kinsman and Patrizia Gentile’s The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation discusses the under-the-radar – and sometimes officially sanctioned – targeting of gays and lesbians as security threats from the 1950s to the 1990s. Written from – and told through – a series of first-hand accounts combined with documents obtained under the Access to Information Act, Kinsman and Gentile discuss the history of queer Canadians in a way that is passionate and personal.
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CD REVIEWS: Aidan Knight: Versicolour
Until now, if the name Aidan Knight sounded familiar, it’s likely because of his numerous backing contributions to bands in the Victoria/Vancouver music scene. But take a few listens to his debut Versicolour and it’s hard to imagine Knight backing up any musician other than himself.
Not even a transplant could save this half-hearted action film
Getting your car or house repossessed is one thing, but getting your new liver repossessed is quite another. In the dark, not-so-distant future of Repo Men, medical advances have led to a manufactured organs market – which is great news, but only if you omit the price tag, of course.
McGill holds stand-up auditions
Montreal is Canada’s home for comedy. Over the years, the Just For Laughs comedy festival has featured some of the world’s greatest comic icons, while also providing an outlet for local talent to perform. Within that home-grown talent is Jeff Schouela, a six-year stand-up comedy veteran who is holding auditions for McGill students to compete in a series of amateur stand-up competitions.
CD REVIEWS: Scott Lanaway: Mergers and Acquisitions
I’m not one to judge a book by it’s cover, but I will decide what to read based on what the back cover says; a song called “Oprah, God Wants You To Have A Private Jet” was more than enough to entice me to listen to Scott Lanaway’s Mergers and Acquistions. The album is full of spacey electro-folk, one of those new, hard-to-classify sounds your iTunes gives up on and calls “alternative and punk.
CD REVIEWS: Gorillaz: Plastic Beach
Gorillaz’s highly anticipated third album Plastic Beach definitely sounds like a Gorillaz album, but it lacks the flare of their sophomore release, Demon Days. Plastic Beach feels like a concept album, but it’s difficult to tell what the concept is (but it’s certainly not a pinball wizard).
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Spring Basil Salad
A few weeks ago, I ran a workshop at Nuit Blanche. We talked about a great assortment of food facts, including a demonstration of a brilliant tool: foodpairing.be, which generates incredible (and often unexpected) flavour matches. This can be useful for writing new recipes and coming up with innovative dishes.
The recession’s gaming revolution
As midterms finish up and with finals looming on the horizon, it’s your last chance to procrastinate. Many college students are hooked on video games, but most games aren’t friendly to a student budget. With the recession, however, the market is changing, and there are hundreds of high quality games available free of charge.
Three-ingredient peanut butter cookies
My peanut butter cookie repertoire used to consist of delicious, crispy cookies made from a recipe handed down from my grandmother. But they had nine ingredients in them, and who has that kind of time? These cookies have only three ingredients in them, and while they come with a little less childhood nostalgia, they are unbelievably delicious.
Custom cold-brewed coffee
There are two ways to make cold coffee: normal coffee that’s been cooled, and cold-brewed coffee. The second is far more delicious and satisfying. There is a notable difference between letting hot coffee cool off and cold brewing it specifically. Cold-brewed coffee is less acidic and bitter, and a lot more flavourful-particularly if you’ve been using ice cubes to cool down regular coffee instead.