McSweeney’s List (15 March, 2023)
By the time you read this, we've already sprung forward. As such, I'm effectively writing this in a different timezone than you're reading this in, which is weird. We rarely really stop to think about how we're time and space travelers…
But I digress. This is about spring. However you feel about the time change (seriously, just pick a time and stick to it…my cat's happy now, but come fall she knows when dinner is supposed to be served), it's our secular seasonal rite.
The Hindu holiday of Holi just passed; the famous festival of Eternal Love and the arrival of spring in India, symbolized by a spectrum of coloured powders.
Wednesday, as you read this, is the international day against police brutality, (started in Montreal, by the by). It's the first real protest of every year, which is a start to spring in its own way.
This weekend is St. Paddy's Day, traditionally the first time Montrealers party outdoors with open jackets and booze fueled confidence. Both Passover and Easter are around the corner, hand in hand as always, conjuring images of green grass, cueing the arrival of pastels and spring palettes.
For the secular and the clique-less, there is the time change.
In the days leading up, it's a topic of conversation. When someone complains about the weather, the length of winter, the tiresome bundling, you can say "we're springing forward; we're almost there", and people light up a bit.
And maybe it's dumb (it's dumb. The sun is barely up when I leave in the morning right now, and as you read this, it is darker), but it's what we've got. It's what we, as a scattered group of humans on this spot in the weird, wide world can use as a marker, celebrate together. Yes, I would much prefer feasts, sweets, a rainbow of colours in the streets, and music in the air, but we're not likely to agree on anything that unifying anytime soon.
All that to say, Happy Time Change. May it spring you forward, and boost you higher. May all your grounds be fertile, and all your feasts festive.
I was there, and it was weird.
Written by Rahul Varma in the mid 90s, Counter Offence uses the 1995 referendum as a backdrop, and then Premier Lucien Bouchard's infamous "ethnic vote" statement as motivation.
(History lesson y'all: Dude legit came on TV after Quebec barely managed to stay in Canada, and blamed "money, and the ethnic vote" for his loss. It was late. We'd been through so much. He said the quiet part out loud on live national television. It was shocking.)
The themes are not for the faint of heart: domestic abuse, race, bias, activism, immigration. If that isn't enough, when a dead body turns up, everyone is a suspect, and all the clearly drawn lines begin to blur. Segal Centre's writeup says it "explores multiple realities existing simultaneously, and asks the question: how can one discover truth through conflicting narratives?"
Could there be a more timely question?
Sign me up, I wanna see.
WHERE: The Segal Centre, 5170 Chem. de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, MTL, H3W 1M7
WHEN: Wednesday, March 15 through Sunday, April 2, 2023
TICKETS: Available Now
Playing Favourites
This Friday Turbo Haüs will be rockin' with Ian Blurton's Future Now from T.O., Montreal's own Fangus!, and Dead Messenger (which, not gonna lie, is why I'm telling you about this).
Remember Andrew Jamieson's interview with Roger White? Well, this is Roger's band. It's got punky vibes, but none of the noisy parts. Let's say it's punk for adults, in that it's slicker and smoother than it would be if you still had to use duct tape to fix your boots, ya feel?
Anyway, catch Dead Messenger opening, stay for these other folks, I'm certain it’ll be a great time.
WHERE: Turbo Haus, 2040 Saint Denis St, MTL, H2X 1E7
WHEN: Friday, March 17, 2023 @ 8 PM
INFO: Facebook
I will not be wearing a "Kiss Me" shirt. Maybe green, though.
I'd be a bad Mick if I missed the Irish content this week. Listen, if you're hell bent on green beer and street puking, you do you Boo. It's a rite of passage, but not my pot of gold, so lemme tell you about something else.
Ar Ais Arís (Back Again) is a virtual reality experience at Concordia's School of Irish Studies. It's short and sweet at 16 minutes, but it promises to pack a wallop: literature, music, landscapes, "visual poetry" *swoon*. The experience itself has been done all over Ireland, and while it's definitely a contemporary spin on traditional Irish writing, it also marks a super cool shift in movie making.
WHERE: Henry F. Hall Building, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Room 1001.01 (McEntee Reading Room), 10th floor, MTL, H3G 1M8
WHEN: Friday, March 17 through Wednesday, March 22, 2023 @ 130 PM - 630 PM
TICKETS: Available Now
Can I buy a vowel?
Every Monday at The Diving Bell Social Club, Queen Bambi Dextrous hosts a free trivia night! Honestly, this is heavy on my to do list, as I've never done one, but I think I'm bright. Not Jeopardy smart, but maybe Trivia Night smart. Maybe I'll start going and like it so much that I keep going, developing friendly rivalries with other smartasses. Might need a team outfit. The winning team gets a $40 bar tab, so bring your ringers and win the damn thing.
WHERE: The Diving Bell Social Club, 3956 St. Laurent Blvd. (3rd floor), Montreal, H2W 1Y3
WHEN: Every Monday @ 8 PM
INFO: Facebook
Good Night, Good Laughs
Presented by It Was A Bonne Nuit Podcast, this show promises the best English comedians that Montreal (and the world!) has to offer. Come for the laughs, stay for the vibes, and party with people from all over the globe!
Bonus: Subscribe to their podcast and let them know to get a secret discount code for your next visit!
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