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VICEGRIP
a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Improv Montreal’s VICEGRIP is a fresh take on a played-out trope

by Saif Cheval on

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The lobby of Improv Montreal resonates 'cool.' It’s immediately clear that it’s designed for audiences to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. There’s a sense of calm that almost feels anachronistic, something that’s far too difficult to find in the most classically cool venues. It definitely sets the scene for the show, and perhaps even elevates the mood as audience members take their seats on fold-up chairs in the theatre. Entertainment is the goal, encouraging people to leave their minds at the door for an hour and a half of what can only be described as unfiltered fun.

The show opened with a duo called Nephews, who took the stage to play a variety of roles in a series of sketches, flashing back and forward as appropriate. The fact that the two actors did not crack up any more than they did was in itself an achievement: Their performance bordered on ridiculous. Featuring several gender switch-ups, 'political intrigue,' and a plotline based on Russian mail order wives, Nephews was entertaining and kept the energy high as the main act prepared to come on stage.

Following Nephews' departure, the show began with the entrance of protagonist Michael Bertucci (Travis Reason) clad in a tracksuit over a wife-beater. His appearance provided the show with a second of sobriety.

“This is VICEGRIP,” he announced.

The show is a three-part episodic series performed over three different days, meaning that as an audience member you had the chance to see all three episodes, and follow the drama, or just stop by for one performance and enjoy the intrigue wherever it had last left off. In character, Bertucci provided the update for those who hadn’t seen the earlier episodes as he recounted the deaths of his mother and brother, setting up a serious tale of revenge and retribution à la The Godfather. But after declaring once again that viewers are watching VICEGRIP, it was clear that Michael Bertucci’s story was not going to get much more serious than that.

The tale played out, spinning conventional crime drama characters into amusing parodies of themselves. Kyle (Jess Fildes), the ambitious, cutthroat, hired gun turns into a bumbling fool who just wants to do the right thing. Bill O’Brien (Alex Gauthier), a grizzled police captain returning from a severe injury is now a shell of himself whose sole desire is to shoot a gun—an increasingly desperate attempt to reestablish his authority. The only serious character is the female detective, Lindsay Hardman (also played by Jess Fildes), who can hardly keep a straight face at the sheer absurdity that surrounds her.

After Kyle kills the head of the Russian mob at the orders of Michael, O’Brien, and Hardman are back on the case, heading to the Bertucci household for a round of questioning. Meanwhile, Michael attempts to win the affections of his brother’s widow, Cassie (Eve Majzels). When the cast convenes at the Bertucci’s, it’s clear that there are some absurd plot twists waiting to come into play.

And so begins the second act. Gunshots play with slight delays, throwing the performers into improv mode (“These Russian guns, they never work!”). A plot twist reveals Cassie to be the mastermind behind the Russian mob’s incursion into Bertucci’s territory. A shootout at the Russian’s fortress is scored by an instrumental “Speak Softly Love,” its second appearance in the show. VICEGRIP, bolstered by a very enthusiastic audience, maintained audible laughter throughout much of its runtime, and made sure things didn’t get too heavy.

Overall, the performance was entertaining, and the choice to stray away from serious subjects was welcomed. Clocking in at an hour and a half total, there was never a dull moment thanks to the perfect pacing of the seasoned cast. VICEGRIP is yet another example of the high standard set by Improv Montreal.

What's the problem?
a, Art, Arts & Entertainment

Asking a generation: What’s the problem?

by Emma Whitehall on

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Located in the Latin quarter of downtown, Théâtre Sainte-Catherine Café-Bar hosts What’s the problem?, an impressive photography exhibit by Ana Jovmir. The collection centres on a group of physically beautiful young adults and issues they feel themselves facing in capitalist society. The images capture their expressions and reactions to life.

The message the exhibit arrives at is one of taking inspiration from your frustration with your surroundings. It is a conception that would undoubtedly be taken to heart by the more creative crowds that are drawn to the venue the exhibit was presented in. Théâtre Sainte-Catherine Café-Bar is certainly not traditional in the sense of a gallery exhibit: The photographs and accompanying statements are displayed throughout the front café area as well as into the actual theatre performance area. A small space overall, it is difficult to get a sense of the whole project without feeling slightly intrusive to patrons at the café or theatre crew members prepping for the evening show.

The photographer’s subjects feel constrained, whether by inequality, violence, imbalance of political power, loss of true communication, or a simple lack of enthusiasm about life itself. Each model brings focus to an issue in their lives by providing the photographer with a quote to be displayed beneath their portrait. The photographs are unabashed, effortless, and spontaneous. The collection feels timeless due to Jovmir’s decision to set all of the images in black and white. The power of the photos are only intensified by the incorporation of text quotes taken from each subject and displayed below each image.

Italian photojournalist Paolo Pellegrin famously stated, “the abstraction of black and white allows photography to speak in more symbolic term- colour, sometimes is all too real.” By removing colour from our interpretation, Jovmir brought the images down to their bare bones and allowed for the humanity underlying each subject’s experience to project with greater focus.

Self-discovery was a focus of the photographer as she conceptualized this project and selected friends and acquaintances in her life to photograph. As the project evolved it came to be an ever important illustration for creative individuals, and Jovmir stated in the exhibits description: “The inevitable destination: the place where shackles, struggles, dilemma and grief reconfigure into action.”

These individuals, who appear to be at different stages of life, illustrate the variety of challenges along the way. Along with their individual photographs, Jovmir included a quote from each of her subjects to further illuminate their humanness. One of the models, a young man named Brian, hid his face while displaying a tattoo along his bicep that reads ‘what a life.’ His quote was one of confusion and despair, as he stated to the photographer that, “What bothers me most is how little I give a fuck about anything.”

Just a few feet away, this image was contrasted to the portrait of an unimaginably free and unguarded image of a woman named Tessa with arms raised, eyes closed, and head titled up. She looked incredibly at peace with herself, and her quote was one of greater optimism and inclination towards taking action and reads: “We’re just as responsible for the consequences of our inaction as for the consequences of our actions. There is no difference: Either way you’ve made a choice, and the longer you refuse to act the more things turn to shit.”

Unless you are already visiting the theatre for a show, do not expect to easily explore the whole exhibit. Visiting the café-bar earlier in the evening would likely be the best chance to peek inside the theatre and glimpse the entire exhibit. Whether you want to take in a theatre performance, or simply sip on the espresso or alcoholic drink of your choice surrounded by art, What’s the Problem is certainly an exhibit worth visiting.

What’s the problem? is running until March 13 at the Théâtre Sainte-Catherine Café-Bar (264 Rue Sainte-Catherine E). There is no entry fee.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Players’ Theatre’s production of “Dinner!” offers a feast of life and death

by Anna St. Clair on

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The ideal audience member of Players’ Theatre production of Dinner! is someone who played with their food as a child, and sat in on philosophy lectures as a first year wondering how the hell this applies to real life.

Dinner!, written by Moira Buffini and first premiering in 2002, follows an out-of-the-ordinary dinner party of upper class London suburbanites. While the action takes place in the present, the posh accents and sharp class barriers feel as though they’ve been taken out of an episode of Downton Abbey. The dialogue features countless discussions of philosophy, the meaning of life and death, and microbes. While the lengthier discussions of philosophy can be head-spinning, the driving force is the characters and their obsession with verbally dissecting every experience, event, and conversation. While early on a philosopher declares that nothing in life has meaning, the characters spend the rest of the dinner finding meaning in everything.

The play begins with Paige (Georgia Pearson) and Lars (Alastair Pitts), a married couple awaiting the arrival of their guests for a dinner party celebrating the successful publication of Lars’ new philosophy book. The first guest is Wynne (Eleónore Lamothe), Lars’ old college friend with whom he has reconnected, much to Paige’s dismay. Wynne initially appears as the creative and passionate free spirit, who greets new acquaintances with a full kiss on the lips, paints pictures of her ex-lovers’ genitals, and couldn’t bare the thought of eating an animal, a perfect juxtaposition to the shrewish and controlling Paige. Then there is Hal (Guillaume Doussin) a dorky, but hot-tempered microbiologist with his new girlfriend Sian (Sarah Foulkes), the cold and silent journalist, who serves as the most likeable character for the first act. The upper crust-y dinner guests must change their perspectives a bit after the arrival of Mike (Victor Prive), a working class truck driver who has crashed his van nearby.

Director Sophie van Bastelaer highlights the drama and emotional chaos of the characters, which sometimes means the comedy is overshadowed. There are clear moments that are set up for dark humour, like Sian’s verbal catalogue of murder weapons, but these scenes can feel tedious when the comedy doesn’t reach it’s full potential. It’s hard for these moments not to feel like intermissions between philosophical talks. As with any play that deals with such dense subjects there is a risk of feeling like you’re sitting in on a lecture.

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While performances from much of the cast sometimes verge on over-acting, Pearson plays Paige with a balance of subtlety and grandeur. When presenting her culinary creations, she is the spiteful wife who greedily demands her husband’s attention as she humiliates him in front of his friends. Yet she also manages to invoke pity, and we see her character almost like a child. In the gruelling scene where Lars shares a romantic moment with Wynne while Paige watches in stoic silence, making us aware of the destruction of her spirit.

On the black box stage is a large and heavy table, designed to look like marble and set for a classy dinner party. With actors sitting on one side of the table, as well as either end, there is a sense that the audience is looking in on the last supper. In this painting Jesus and his disciples are selfish narcissists, comfortably insulated from the real world by their money. And like a passover seder, the meal is more metaphorical than nourishing or enjoyable. Paige is on a mission to prove just what Lars philosophy is worth by applying each one of his nihilistic concepts to the meal itself. The dinner starts off with a literal primordial soup in order to make the guest contemplate their evolutionary lineage, while the main course makes them choose between life or death.

Paige repeats the line, “Waiter, we need drinks,” whenever the conversation gets tense, which leads to the table slowly filling up with empty wine glasses. The wine glasses on the table act as a clock, letting the audience know both how much time has gone by, and how inebriated the guests are. So the more drunk the guests get, the more the truth comes to the forefront. The unexpected ending forces both characters and audience to stop dealing in abstract thought and face what is real, and what has been right in front of viewers the entire time.

Exercise for Mood
a, Sports

Exercise for Mood works out for mental health

by Nicole Spadotto on

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It’s no secret that exercise releases endorphins and that endorphins make us happy—this has been known to be true since 1974, when hormones were scientifically discovered. Exercise for Mood, however—a program in its fifth semester at McGill—is built on an often disregarded concept: The human element of exercise. Created by two McGill faculty members, Nurse Louise Lockhart, and Medical Faculty Wellness Consultant Stella Miller, Exercise for Mood originated as a study about the ways in which exercise can ease depression, sleep deprivation, and anxiety. It has since evolved into a program integral to the McGill Mental Health Services.

“McGill is a great place to do [a program like] this,” Lockhart said. “We’ve got the space, we’ve got the professionals, so it’s easier to pull something off like this.”

The main goal of Exercise for Mood is to encourage students to integrate regular exercise into their lives on a long-term basis. The program encourages participants to focus on the immediate benefits of exercise, including just feeling good, as opposed to future goals, such as losing weight, which can seem far off and unattainable, and thus discouraging. Exercise for Mood isn’t solely about getting stronger, faster, or even happier; it rather aims to use exercise as a frame for goal-setting and community-building in order to combat mental illness.

“The program is good because it gives people a space to actually talk about self-care,” Lockhart said. “We exercise together, but we also talk about nutrition, and sleep, and goal setting, and positive self-talk. We get together every week and we work on it.”

The program isn’t just about releasing those endorphins either. There are many health benefits to exercising that aren’t just limited to the instant gratification that hormones give participants.

“[Exercise] increases blood flow to the brain,” Lockhart explained. “It helps the brain […] rebalance.”

People who exercise are known to feel calmer: Exercise reduces muscle tension, which in turn eliminates signals of stress sent to the brain. Physical activity also breaks down the growth and development of adrenaline and thyroxine, which then increase oxygen flow to the cells, as well as the use of fatty acids and protein within an individual cell. This process relaxes the body, and a healthy body is a precursor to a healthy mind. Exercise also tends to strengthen posture, which is shown to lead to a more psychologically positive outlook.

“It’s actually so multifaceted,” Lockhart said.

Understanding the science behind the benefits of exercise encourages participants to continue exercise after completing the program.

“We teach [participants] a bit about the science in the sense that it has to be moderate intensity aerobic exercise in order to get the mental health benefits,” Lockhart said.

“We’re wanting a paradigm shift in the way we look at exercise,” Miller added. “We’re focusing on exercise and how it makes you feel in the moment […] all the physiological factors that flow into our bodies right after actually make us feel better.”

Though initiatives such as #BellLetsTalk have helped mitigate the stigmatization of mental illness, one cannot help but to imagine that participants would enjoy the atmosphere of an exercise class—an activity that is well-regarded in society–in conjunction with weekly, supportive meetings and a team-oriented, unstigmatized setting.

“We’ve noticed with some of the participants [in] our program [that] there’s been a huge shift in their engagement even within the sessions,” Miller said. “They are building community and they’re talking more, so they’re coming out of their shells. They tell us how much better they feel.”

Exercise also has wider mental health benefits. Lockhart explained that studies from the University of Toronto have demonstrated that exercise can prevent mental illness in certain people. A study by University of Toronto PhD Candidate George Mammen and Professor Guy Faulkner analyzed over 26 years’ worth of research to find that even modest levels of physical activity, such as walking for roughly half an hour per day, has the capacity to limit the likelihood of depression later in life.

“[Exercise for mentally healthy people] helps increase concentration, increase focus,” Miller said. “It has so many physiological and mental benefits that every one of us can benefit from.”

The benefits of these findings are especially pertinent now, at a time when efforts to combat the stigmatization of mental illness in society are taking place. Exercise is a fairly simple and cost-effective way to prime people for better mental health. The key is for people to make a habit of being physically active. Especially at universities, students don’t want to sacrifice study time for exercise. The time spent exercising, however, has been shown to alleviate stress, increase concentration, and make students more productive.

“This isn’t [only] for people who have mental health issues,” Miller said. “This is for everybody. This is for anyone who lives a high-paced life, who has the regular stresses and anxieties of day-to-day life, who is in a rigorous program at a rigorous school.”

Another reason why mental health professionals are focused on prevention is because it allows for the high medical costs of treatment to shift to other demographics, like the aging baby-boomer generation.

“We need a prevention strategy now more than ever,” Mammen said in an interview with the University of Toronto Media Room. “We need to shift focus and look for ways to fend off depression from the start.”

While Exercise for Mood encourages everyone to exercise to achieve optimal mental health, the program predominantly exists for those suffering from mental health issues. Quantitative results have not yet been analyzed, but qualitatively, the effects on participants have been incredibly beneficial.

“The people who actually feel the greatest improvements [in their] mood from exercise are those who are struggling a bit more,” Lockhart said. “But exercise is often much harder to attain for those folks. We need to give them a hand.”

Based on the improvements that Miller and Lockhart see in the participants, both within the program and during frequent post-program check-ins, Exercise for Mood extends beyond being a helping hand; for many, it’s also a lifeline. 

“People are getting better, they’re getting well in terms of their overall wellness,” Lockhart concluded. “I know we’re doing the right thing.”

McGill Redpath Museum
a, Student Life

McGill in hindsight: Thoughts from soon-to-be graduates

by Rachel Summers on

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While it is important to remember that hindsight is 20/20 and people who don’t dwell on the past are happier overall, fourth-year students’ reflections of their undergraduate experiences highlight some valuable information for current students.

Overwhelmingly, students in their last semester stressed the importance of taking advantage of the resources available at McGill. They highlighted how their approach over the past four years has changed in terms of meeting with professors, seeking peer help, and attending advising.

“What I never took advantage of was going to see [the professors],” Daniel Chetner, U3 Economics, said. “I think there’s a lot to be said [for that], especially in a larger class. If you make that effort to go and see them, it might be the difference between you getting a couple more questions right on the final, or you really understanding a concept. It takes 20 minutes. If you’re stuck on something, don’t just blow by it.”

Chetner’s advice is especially important for third and fourth-year students who are considering graduate school in the future. Academic reference letters for graduate school, and some jobs as well, are an important part of the application process. Developing genuine relationships with professors is pertinent to ensuring that the letters are personalized and serve as a strong element of the application. While some professors may seem intimidating in class, it is worth overcoming the anxiety to go and talk to them. They are usually happy to help and appreciate students’ interest in their research.

Taking advantage of the surrounding network of peers is also important. Josh Schulman, U3 Finance, explained how students should be skeptical of the stereotypes attributed to different faculties.

“Even though there’s a stigma that [in Management] we’re all sharks and really bad people, when you actually break down the facade, most people are a lot nicer than they seem,” Schulman said. “If you can get past the hurdle of asking for help, most people are willing to give it.”

The advantages of asking fellow peers for help and studying in groups are twofold. Discussing course material instead of just reading it makes it easier to determine whether or not one actually knows the material. It is also beneficial in terms of easing exam season blues, as studying with others is less isolating and breaks the monotony of studying by oneself.

For Tori Sung, U3 Economics, picking the right courses was a struggle at the beginning of her university career. She noted, however, that McGill’s academic resources are valuable tools that can ease difficult decisions.

 

 

 

“Go to advising. When I was in first year I thought I had time and I didn’t see my advisor. I think it would have taken a lot of pressure off of picking courses later and then feeling like I constantly didn’t know if I was doing the right thing [….] Whether it’s networking or physical resources, you should use [McGill’s services]. I finally gained a respect for that in my last year.”

“Go to advising,” Sung said. “When I was in first year I thought I had time and I didn’t see my advisor. I think it would have taken a lot of pressure off of picking courses later and then feeling like I constantly didn’t know if I was doing the right thing [….] Whether it’s networking or physical resources, you should use [McGill’s services]. I finally gained a respect for that in my last year.”

As students know all too well, going to see an advisor can be quite the hassle, especially if it is during the first couple weeks of each semester; however, being proactive and making the time to see an advisor in person is important. No one wants to have graduation delayed because their degree requirements haven’t been met.

Although university is a time of individual growth and discovery, the students remarked that the highlights of their undergraduate careers have revolved around the experiences they shared with their peers.

Being part of a committee that works hard to put on successful events can be one of the most rewarding experiences at McGill. For Sung, her role as Vice President (VP) communications for McGill Women in Leadership (MWIL) is one of her favourite McGill experiences.

“[MWIL] was a relatively new organization when I started working with them, so we were able to put a lot of input in and decide what we wanted to do with it,” Sung said. “For our Trailblazers conference we got all these really cool speakers to talk and it turned into this big event [that] was bigger than we thought it would be. That was really cool because you felt like your input actually mattered. People respect you from outside of McGill now that you’re older, so if you reach out to them, you would be [surprised] how many want to get involved.”

Along similar lines, Schulman points to his role as co-chair of the Management Frosh planning committee as a standout experience during his McGill career.

“I was really happy with how Frosh went this summer,” Schulman said. “We broke all the records for attendance and satisfaction rates [….] In fourth year, you may take the initiative to run the entire event [….] I would say, if you have any interest, apply for something, you never know what could happen.”

The experiences shared with other McGill students extend beyond specific committee achievements. More generally, students highlighted the friendships they’ve made as their favourite aspect of McGill. Jake Kantorowitz, U3 Honours Pharmacology, stressed this when reflecting on what would be most helpful to share with younger students.

“With such a large school in such an enormous city, find a way to make a small community of supportive friends,” Kantorwitz said.

Chetner’s thoughts reflect the same sentiment—he was quick to point to his friends.

“It’s been a short four years, but I can easily say the people that are in my network now, I will be friends with for a very long time,” Chetner said. “I feel privileged and really lucky.”

Even though there is an overall sentiment of ‘I can’t believe how fast these four years have gone by,’ these students serve as a model for the benefits that younger students may reap if they too take advantage of every resource available to them, and take the time to develop meaningful relationships.

 

 

 

 

a, McGill, News

Proposing the future of the Royal Victoria Hospital site

by Calvin Trottier-Chi on

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This past week, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) passed a motion supporting the use of the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) site for the establishment of an Indigenous Leadership Academy.

Of McGill’s undergraduate population of approximately 23,000 students, 170 identify as indigenous, with even fewer indigenous faculty and staff members. A 2014 study conducted at McGill reported that Indigenous students regularly face racial microagressions, cited as often the unintentional result of ignorance. Improved indigenous representation was recently celebrated with the new Indigenous Studies minor in Winter 2015. Now, the indigenous community may become further involved through one of many new proposals for the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) site.

The motion states that it’s goal is to increase the accessibility and inclusiveness of McGill, and outlines the broad scope of the project.

“The Indigenous Leadership Academy would serve as a hub for Indigenous students and their advancement at McGill,” the motion reads. “SSMU is confident that the mission, vision and values of the Indigenous Leadership Academy not only align perfectly with those of our University, but also that we would be creating something truly innovative and forward-thinking.”

Promising to ensure communication between students and McGill, as well as to provide human capital, the motion states that SSMU will work with several other organizations are to develop this proposal.

“In brief, it is a collaboration between the Office of the Dean of Students, SSMU, First Peoples’ House and Student Life and Learning,” SSMU President Kareem Ibrahim said. “The hope is for it to be a great space for increased support for and recruitment of Indigenous students, in addition to providing experiential learning opportunities for Indigenous students.” 

Aboriginal Outreach Administrator of First Peoples’ House Kakwiranó:ron Cook acknowledged the collaborative efforts of the Student Life and Learning (SLL) unit in drafting proposals, and outlined his perspective as a representative of McGill’s Indigenous community.

“The Indigenous Affairs Work Group discussed this, which also includes members who are not within the SLL unit,” Cook said. “The academy is just one aspect of the proposal. The overall goal is to position an Office of Indigenous Affairs there and build out our presence on campus.”

The various SLL proposals were due on Jan. 29 to Deputy Provost Ollivier Dyens, who in turn will submit a single proposal representing the collective interests by Feb. 12. Director of McGill Communications and External Relations Doug Sweet emphasized the large quantity of proposals to be considered.

“We are a long way from any decision on if or how the RVH might be used,” Sweet said. “At the moment, there are a number of studies under way to see if it would be feasible for the University to even take on the RVH. While the idea of an Indigenous leadership academy is an interesting one, according to Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens, it is still far too early to talk about the proposal in detail or what the implications might be.”

In a statement to McGill’s Media Relations Office, Robert Poëti, Minister of Transport and Minister responsible for Montreal, attested to the importance for general improvements to be made to the RVH site.

“This is good news for Montrealers, especially in light of the value of this landmark building in terms of heritage, architecture and identity in the heart of the city,” Poëti said.

This proposal intends to foster the inclusion of a strong Indigenous presence, for both McGill and the wider Montreal community.

a, Features

The streets of Milton-Parc

by Shrinkhala Dawadi on

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The Milton-Parc neighbourhood, colloquially known as the McGill ghetto, is home to many McGill students. It’s an area with a rich history: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was the east end of the Golden Square Mile, an upscale residential community that was primarily home to Montreal’s anglophone elite. By the end of the Second World War, these houses had stood for almost a century, and families started moving out of the neighbourhood in pursuit of more modern accommodations. 

Martin Croteau, manager of le Syndicat de la Copropriété (a union of Montreal building owners), and a resident of the Milton-Parc neighbourhood, spoke to the post-war history of the area.

“In the ’60’s, promoters bought a lot of buildings in the Milton-Parc [area] for Project Concordia, the towers on [Avenue du Parc],” Croteau said. “The citizens mobilized for a fight against this project.”

The most prominent of these property developers was a company known as Concordia Estates Ltd.,  who sought to rebuild the neighbourhood by constructing several high-rise apartment and commercial buildings. The residents of Milton-Parc—now a lower-middle class neighbourhood consisting of students and families—banded together to prevent the destruction of the historic buildings in the area. 

Over the next few decades the activism of Milton-Parc Citizen’s committee and Quebec’s political climate—the [PQ] were a part of the provincial fabric—led to the property developers’ withdrawal.

“[After] the election of the [PQ] in ’76, the English financers feared the independence of Quebec and wouldn’t put [in the] money for building a big project,” Croteau said.

Today, the streets of Milton-Parc are mostly home to McGill students and working professionals. In fact, Croteau lives in the neighbourhood with his family.

“It’s a marvelous neighbourhood,” he said. “My girls go to school at [Fine Arts Core Education School] FACE, on University, and I work on Parc Avenue [….] We can walk every day—we choose [not to] have a car. My wife is a teacher [at a] CEGEP; she takes the metro and the bus. In the neighbourhood, we have the mountain, the Parc Jeanne-Mance, two supermarkets, which both close at midnight each day […] restaurants, [and] Place des Arts.”

a, Science & Technology

Vert Montreal: Creating a greener future for Montreal

by Clare Lyle on

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On Jan. 29, 120 developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and experts gathered in downtown Montreal to look for sustainable solutions to address Montreal’s energy problems. The event, Start-Up Weekend: Sustainable Cities, was part of a creative marathon set up by the city of Montreal to tackle the city’s fossil fuel dependency. Sparked by citizen efforts to raise awareness about fossil fuel consumption, the city has pledged to reduce fossil fuel consumption to pre-1990s levels.

Compared to traditional startup competitions and hackathons, the participants came from a wide range of backgrounds, and diversity was encouraged in team formation.

“It’s definitely a different model,” Diana Cheptene, one of the event’s head organizers, said. “The goal is to bring groups that never get together, and see what kind of innovation comes out of it.”

In the past, Cheptene has helped organize two other similar startup weekends. The appeal of startups is generally oriented towards individuals, like Cheptene, who look towards grassroot initiatives and social businesses to meet certain needs. It was this creative atmosphere that drew community members like Laura Vurpillot, a McGill master’s student with ties to Montreal’s startup ecosystem.

“I think it’s a great chance to meet really interesting people,” Vurpillot said. “We have great mentors to help us build our project, and I’m really into innovative ideas. I think it’s really cool to work in a team, like we have two days to build a project, and show it in front of a jury at the end. It’s a very stimulating environment.”

The event’s organisers took the theme of sustainability to heart, hoping to create long-lasting effects. One of the biggest sources of waste at events like startup weekends, explained Monika Potocki, one of the organizers, comes from disposable plates and other unsustainable catering practices. The event aimed to be zero-waste, a lofty goal considering the quantity of food and beverages required to sustain 120 people over a weekend.

“It’s very challenging because when you want to grasp sustainability you can scratch the surface or really delve down deep into where you’re getting the food from, where your suppliers are getting their food,” Potocki said. “It takes a lot of research, and sometimes due to budget we have to compromise on some sides. Definitely a challenge but worth it. And since the advertisement was ‘zero waste’ we wanted to keep our word.”

A startup weekend, she explained, is an opportunity to encourage people to think about sustainability in their daily lives, and not just in the fifty four hours of the competition.

“It’s important because just the context of startup weekend, people come for different reasons but this is an opportunity to change people’s behaviours,” Potocki explained. “It’s an opportunity to change people’s behaviour after this event. But we get the chance for the 54 hours to enforce a different way of approaching sustainability.”

Beyond just encouraging participants to lead more sustainable lives after the competition, the event has other long-reaching effects—about 12 per cent of participants usually go on to lead more sustainable lives.

“We’ve got some pretty cool success stories out there,” Potocki said. “But most people come to these event for the experience. For the people they meet, or learning a new skill, or practicing, or having time with the mentors.”

The event has 15 mentors who are experts in their field to guide the participants. Their skills usually range from business and development to sustainability. The ideas at the competition tackled problems in vastly different areas. One project, which featured McGill Urban Studies student Jordan Bowden as a team member, focused on helping the visually impaired way find in unfamiliar locations. To do this, the team created tactile maps that allows users to ‘feel’ their way around.

“We’re making use of 3-D printing to produce a map that an individual can feel,” Bowden stated. “We’re also making use of an iPad, which will enable the user to get audio feedback as well as tactile feedback. This is really needed, there’s a lot of research showing that tactile maps can create really good outcomes for people.”

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The team’s project helps those with any kind of vision loss in a number of ways.

“People with visual impairments can feel a lot of social isolation,” Bowden said. “This project really aims to reduce that by enabling people to feel more comfortable in the world and wayfind through spaces they may not be familiar with.”

Vurpillot’s team, on the other hand, worked on developing sustainability-themed education programs.

“I’m working on a project called ecosphere, and it’s basically to encourage people to be more aware of sustainable development and adapt their way of life to be more sustainable,” Vurpillot explained.

One of the participants, Stephanie Pataracchia worked with two other McGill alumni to develop a strategy to incentivize reducing energy consumption. The project ended up winning the first place prize for the competition.

“We’re working on an application that integrates with people’s smart meters, and we want to incentivize them as a community to reduce their energy consumption and reward them with perks,” Pataracchia said.

The ideas that come out of startup weekend are just some of many in Vert Montreal’s creative marathon. Other events include ProtoHack, a walkathon/prototyping, and an ideathon, along with a hackathon to end the month-long series of events.

Where the creative marathon differs from other start-up and idea-generating events is in both its accessibility to those of non-technical backgrounds, and also its connectedness with the big-picture problem of reducing fossil-fuel dependencies. Although having a technical background helps, it’s by no means a prerequisite.

“Just do it,” Cheptene said. “I think startup weekends are the best place to start. it’s really beginner friendly. We walk you through the process. People are very open, you see people with lots of different backgrounds, and [it’s] happening all over the world”

a, Science & Technology

Bob McDonald’s big ideas at SUS Academia Week

by Lydia Kaprelian on

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Bob McDonald, host of CBC’s weekly podcast Quirks and Quarks, kicked off the Science Undergraduate Society’s (SUS) Academia week with a special presentation about Canadian spacewalkers.

Growing up at the height of the space age, McDonald’s fascination with space exploration was clearly apparent. He’s chronicled the lives of three Canadian astronauts in his book, Canadian Spacewalkers, and at the presentation, spoke about space with infectious enthusiasm.

“We need flexibility [in space suits] because there’s good skiing on Mars,” McDonald explained. “Both the North and South poles of Mars are covered in snow. It’s dry ice snow, made from carbon dioxide, so when you fall and get covered in it you don’t get wet. It just evaporates away.”

McDonald, a skilled storyteller, makes science relatable and entertaining. He can easily be described as one of the preeminent Canadian science journalists. After all, more than 500,000 listeners tune into Quirks and Quarks, where he has been the host for nearly 25 years. Though he has experienced great success in his career, McDonald explains that it hasn’t always been a smooth ride.

“I actually failed second year university,” he said. “I worked construction and drove a truck and I thought that was going to be my future.”

McDonald’s bracing authenticity is an important characteristic of his likable persona. More than once, he explained that the key to success is finding and taking advantage of opportunities. As a young adult, working at the Ontario Science Centre, McDonald talked his way into getting a media pass so that he could watch the Mars rover land at Mission Control in California. 

“It’s been my exquisite pleasure to be a journalist during the time that we did go up there,” McDonald explained. “I took it upon myself to be [in California] when we went to the planets.”

Upon his return, Canada AM, CTV’s morning television news show asked him to come speak about his experiences watching the Mars landing firsthand in Mission Control.

“That’s the story of my life,” McDonald revealed. “Opportunities have come along and I took advantage of them and that’s why I’m here now.”

Despite McDonald’s unplanned career trajectory, there is considerable planning before every Quirks and Quarks show. While nearly all of his questions may have been prepared ahead of time, he maintains an organic and conversational tone in his interviews.

“We need good stories and good storytellers,” McDonald said. “We do a lot of massaging, so there’s work ahead of time in preparation for me to absolutely understand the story before I begin and then afterwards in the editing to make sure that it’s just really clear, [that] all of the information is there and you can understand it when you listen to it.”

McDonald also recruits scientists to Quirks and Quarks with the help of his three producers. As notoriously bad communicators, scientists are first screened and filtered by the team to make sure that they are able to effectively convey their research. In order to best represent the scientists’ story, McDonald needs to know all of the background information.

“By the time I get to the interview, I actually know all of the answers to the questions I’m asking,” he explained. “So my job is to listen, and make sure that I’m hearing the story that I already know.”

This formula, refined by McDonald and his producers, helps explain the award-winning success of Quirks and Quarks. Without visual aid from pictures, McDonald is able to conjure clear story arcs thanks to his, and his team’s, thorough preparation.

“There are no sharp corners,” McDonald stated. “You want to make the transition from one idea to the next as smooth as you possiblly can and bring the audience along with you and that’s what we do.”

Clarity is a concept that comes up often when talking to McDonald. His unlikely, and seemingly, contradictory coupling of enthusiasm and clarity have become his winning trademark. He offers some advice for future science journalists.

“If you want to host the show, you’ll have to crawl over my dead body,” he joked. “However, having said that, one of the things that I’ve found out in my work is that ideas are everything. Figure it out and get it done, it really works.”

Hail, Caesar!
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Religiosity of a new ilk: The Coen brothers praise 1950s Hollywood in Hail, Caesar!

by Julia Dick on

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It makes sense for directors to pay homage to their industry as a whole. An entertaining romp through the Hollywood of the 1950s, Hail, Caesar! is the Coen brothers’ latest triumph, an in depth study of a single man, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a studio fixer, who works tirelessly to keep the massive machinery of Capitol Productions in motion. 

Though it is clear that Mannix’s life is anything but calm, the plot is  truly set in motion when studio star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped by a group that elusively calls itself ‘The Future.’ The film accompanies Mannix as he attempts to fulfill the requirements of Whitlock’s ransom, determine whether to take an offer at a more lucrative and ordinary job, and quit smoking for the sake of his wife, Mrs. Mannix (Alison Pill). 

The film is a testament to the Hollywood of the past, but works quite differently than a film like Hugo (2011). It highlights the artistic aspects of Hollywood, but is based more on the business side of showbiz. Although the 1950s was a period of uncertainty for the film industry, owing to the rise of television, in Hail, Caesar! many of the tropes of glamorous old Hollywood appear to be intact. Gossip columnists lie in wait for the newest scandal, and stars push against their public images.

At the beginning of the film, Mr. Mannix assembles various religious men to discuss the script for the film-within-a-film Hail, Ceasar!, starring Whitlock, a vice-driven and innocuous Hollywood superstar. In this meeting the Coen brothers display their penchant for awkward humour as men of different faiths debate the importance of Jesus. This scene lays the essential foundation for the film’s thematic focus on religion. It also serves to lull the audience into believing that ‘religion’ will be understood in the most traditional sense of the word; however, as the parallel experiences of film weave together, it is clear that the real ‘religion’ is not Mannix’s Catholicism, but the unifying experience of movies themselves. 

The conflict between cramped and epic spaces reflects Mannix’s experience of his faith(s). In his rapid, sure-footed movement between the cramped quarters of a confessional, the coziness of a Chinese restaurant, to the grandeur of Capitol studios, he transitions between his own inner conflicts. Rather than being consumed by the largeness of Hollywood, Mannix’s presence expands to fill this space. In contrast to Mannix’s constant race against time, the Coen Brothers are leisurely in their pace. The flow from one location to the next is marked by seamless camera movement from intimate close-ups to wide displays of the inner-workings of the studios themselves. In such a way, the direction takes the time to savour the various aspects of 1950s Hollywood in ways that Mannix rarely pauses to do so himself.  

The effect of the almost laborious attention to setting the scene,  however, is to diminish the sense of urgency for the fate of Whitlock. The various ambitions of the film—an spoof of/homage to old Hollywood, a comment on one man, his faith, and free will, an ode to the power of cinema—at times feels forced and so reduces the storytelling strength of the film. In the various themes that are addressed, the plot is at risk of becoming secondary to the stories within the story. 

Perhaps in a gesture to their own role in creating the film, the most interesting characters are the directors. While DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson) and Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich)—two of the stars under Mannix’s charge—are respectively glamourous and humble, they seem more interested in enjoying their time off screen than on it. By contrast, Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), an English director, claims that his film, Merrily We Dance, will be the next piece in his great legacy. Garbed in an ascot and three-piece suit, he comes not only from another country (he is above all else English) but from another period. 

The audience is reminded of their own role in watching the film. The multiplicity of screens, from Mr. Mannix’s private viewing room to the debut of major motion pictures, brings the screen itself into focus. The curtains are drawn, the opening credits roll, and the enthrallment begins. Though one is never entirely drawn into the films-within-the-film, as the scenes often cut to the reactions of Mr. Mannix and his secretary, Natalie (Heather Goldenhersh), it is clear that the art lies not in the film itself but in the experience it elicits.

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