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Review: 50 Shades of Grey

50 Shades of Grey
by E.L. James

Well, I could not resist all the hype surrounding this modern day bodice ripper-cum-page turner. Originally marketed as an e-book and print-on-demand in June 2011, 50 Shades of Grey is the creation of E.L. James, a British television producer who has apparently made herself wealthier than her entrepreneurial character Christian Grey.

In this first person narrative, Anastasia Steele, a soon-to-be graduate of Washington State University meets the object of her affection Christian Grey, a handsome young Seattle business tycoon, when she interviews him for the university newspaper as a favour to her over-achieving roommate. The predictable transpires, but the road is particularly bumpy for the inexperienced Steele who has just spent four years curled up in an armchair reading English classics and living vicariously through her roommate's love life. Christian Grey is a demanding, moody, charismatic man with particular sexual tastes that would frighten off the vast majority of women. Ana is warned by her friends to stay away, but she can't help herself. She is too easily disarmed (and disrobed) by the mercurial Grey.

The first installment of this three-part trilogy spans only a few weeks, but the relationship and by extension the reading are intense. Although I'm ill-versed in this genre, I must admit that if you are even slightly interested (and . . . you are) then this book is worth picking up for a number of reasons. The author creates sustained tension through very high stakes for the naive Anastasia, who is attracted to the brooding, winsome Grey. However, the more time she spends with him the more she risks falling in love. The author further ups the ante by endangering the protagonist's safety with Grey's sexual proclivity for BDSM, and of course, she has to face the inevitable: he will never be able to reciprocate her love.

All the ingredients of a bodice ripper you say, but...

Into the narrative, the author successfully weaves Ana's voice of reason (her subconscious) and her voice of desire (her "inner goddess"), which accurately reflect the seesaw of emotions that a woman might actually experience in her situation. The author also offers some inner monologue that complement the other two voices. This combination makes the characters and this unlikely story readily accessible and credible. What's more, the first installment focuses exclusively on the sexual experience of Anastasia: you know, the other side of the sexual equation that we rarely hear about or see in mainstream media.

Not everything is perfect in the book. For one, only a TV producer could dream up this much product placement. Steve Jobs will undoubtedly meet E.L. James at the pearly gates with the latest iPad. There was also some grating prose bordering on purple, in addition to some annoying repetition. For instance, I thought I'd scream if I heard, "My breathing hitched," or "Oh my" one more time...but maybe that was the point. Equally annoying was the repeated reference to Icarus flying too close to the sun. But other than that, the writing is tasteful.

50 Shades of Grey has caused quite a sensation. It hit number one on the New York Times' bestseller list at the beginning of March. It has been suggested that the book's popularity may be because it can be downloaded to an e-reader, away from prying eyes. The book has also elicited some hilarious knee-jerk reactions from the usual suspects. Here are a few headlines:

Racy, disturbing novel '50 Shades of Grey' gains cult followingFox 31 KDVR.com

'50 Shades of Grey': What is the appeal? Christian Science Monitor

Erotic novel '50 Shades of Grey' unites gals, unnerves some guysFox News
 
It's all porn to me: One man's review of '50 Shades of Grey'New York Daily News

Man Proclaims 50 Shades of Grey 'Deeply Unappealing to Men'Jezebel (Poking fun at the previous review.)

Other book reviews:
The Return by Dany Laferrière
Meet Revolutionary Mother
Review: Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter
Interview with Carmen Aguirre, Chilean Resistance Fighter
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
Going Down Swinging by Billie Livingston
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell 
The Girl Without Anyone by Kelli Deeth


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Montreal: 200,000 Students Demonstrate


I had my head down working on a rush text when my reviser came to me to tell me that everyone was lined up along the windows. "Everyone is watching the students," she said. On Thursday, March 22, some 200,000 students dressed in red had taken to the streets of downtown Montreal. They were protesting  university tuition hikes. The beautiful warm weather welcomed the protesters.

For weeks, I've been watching 20 somethings lined up along the Metro station walls all dressed in red, hands on hips and staring straight ahead. I only realized last week that this was part of their protest.

Although tuition fees in Quebec cost a fraction what they do in the rest of Canada and in the United States, as you can see from the picture above, students will be paying three to four times what the government leader and his education minister paid for a post-secondary education. While many people think the students should suck it up, many more see the protest as a sign that our corporate-owned governments have gone too far in the last decade, and it's the students who are finally standing up and saying, "Enough!"

The university students have been on strike for six weeks, and they were joined this week by high school students, who are the next in line to suffer tuition increases. The demonstrators chose red to symbolize their future indebtedness. Today, students leaving university with a degree are on average $35,000 in debt, hardly a way to start out your adult life, particularly when employment opportunities are so limited.

In Canada, education has long been seen as a vehicle for class mobility. But how can anyone hope for a better life saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. Many students have chosen to go part-time and work at the same time to stay out of debt. But now the race is on to finish university as fast as possible before tuition goes up even more.

There was no violence, looting or even littering on Thursday, but Charest's provincial government, which unveiled its budget this week, said nothing. Apparently, dialogue isn't even on the table.

 Is this democracy?

See a great time-lapse by Andy Riga of the demonstration below:






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Review: The Return by Dany Laferrière

The Return
Dany Laferrière
Translation: David Homel
D&M Publishers

Just a brief note about this book: Laferrière is a great writer, and I had no idea how big he was until I had to review one of his books for Rover, where this is also cross-posted. Although I have seen the author on TV here in Quebec a number of times, I`d never read any of his books. In the end, I read The Return three times and still felt like I was seeing some universal truth for the first time. This read is well worth your book-buying buck.

Winner of the 2009 Prix Médicis, Dany Laferrière’s eleventh novel is about his return to his native Haiti after living 33 years in exile. Half prose, half poetry, The Return is a finely crafted autobiographical account of the author’s voyage back to his place of birth. But his homecoming is bittersweet, as he bears the news of his father’s passing.

Windsor Laferrière, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the former Mayor of Port-au-Prince was driven out of Haiti by ruler Papa Doc, François Duvalier, and later settled in Brooklyn. His father had left when Dany was four or five years old, and before that, he had spent much of his time in hiding. As a result, although the son loved his father, he never really knew him. A generation after his father`s exile, the son too flees Haiti after a close friend and journalist is murdered. The stifling loneliness of exile took its toll on the mind of the elder Laferrière, but for the son it was the exile in time that was more pitiless. He missed his childhood more than his country. Going back to the Haiti of his youth and visiting his family is just one part of the Return. The final leg involves going back to Baradères, the village of his father`s birth.

Although returning from exile is difficult for many North Americans to grasp, Laferrière continually draws his readers into his story through common experience, which starts on the second line of the very first page, “The inevitable phone call that every middle-aged man one day will receive. My father has died.” As many can attest, the death of a parent is one of life’s milestones and a harsh reminder of our own mortality, but it is also a time of tremendous personal growth. In the author`s case, he is able to discover much about his father, and by extension himself, through the anecdotes of his father`s friends in Brooklyn, Port-au-Prince and later in the countryside on his way to Baradères.

The Return is replete with thought-provoking observations about the human condition, from the dynamics and cyclical nature of power in Haiti to the preoccupation with hunger and finding one’s next meal. Laferrière’s writing is poetic, profound and beautiful, and this was only the translation. Is it possible that the original was even more moving? The author eloquently reminisces about his country of birth only to discover that although he speaks Creole, he is no longer considered Haitian by the people he meets.

About life and death, the city and country, north and south, The Return is also a rumination about identity, time and space. A single reading of this novel will yield its beauty and thoughtfulness, but to fully appreciate it warrants a second reading. For anyone who has lost a parent, this is a must-read.

Other book reviews:

Meet Revolutionary Mother
Review: Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter
Interview with Carmen Aguirre, Chilean Resistance Fighter
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
Going Down Swinging by Billie Livingston
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell 
The Girl Without Anyone by Kelli Deeth


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Rialto: 19th Annual Images de Femmes

The 19th Images de Femmes held at the Rialto Theatre was the biggest ever. I arrived a few minutes late to find myself darting around to find a suitable perch to take pictures, but all the best places were taken. The downstairs appeared to be filled to capacity, so I headed up to the balcony. Unfortunately, it took a little time to find a decent vantage point and I had to rush around through Suzy Tremblay's performance, the opening act. She certainly had the crowd in her hands.

Leila Marshy, Marie Cornellier and Kathryn Harvey officially opened the show with Kathryn giving some particularly dire statistics about women and work, and women and power. Yes, it was a much needed reminder--women have always made up the 99%.

There were very two colourful dances by KOMACHI Montreal accompanied by Yuki Isami, who later gave a solo performance on the shinobue. It was followed by Linda Morrison, Robin Gorn, Alice Cantine and Louise Dessertine singing the haunting, I Give Thanks, an original composition by Louise Dessertine. Next, the incredibly photogenic Marie Cornellier paid tribute to local designer Katrin Leblond, as Marie had her clothes changed on stage.

There are many multi-talented women performers in the Mile End. In addition, to a hilarious and moving spoken word performance by Leila Marshy, the Mile End was treated to the beautiful sounds of the Choeur Maha, directed by Kathy Kennedy. Choeur Maha also accompanied some stunning performances by versatile performers Linda Morrison and Robin Gorn.

There were also some refreshing new performers: the beatbox and body percussion of IOA, and the beautiful sounds of Odaya, a native women's drumming group. As always, the fine acoustics of the Rialto offered the perfect venue. After I edited the following video, I had the pleasure of hearing Love Shakin the Fences (Robin Gorn) and Mile Marbhphaisg air a’Ghaol (Linda Morrison), all week in my head.

They were certainly more welcome than the AM radio hits that are usually rattling around in there. This was a highly entertaining evening, and I can only imagine what next year, the 20th Images de Femmes, has in store.

Special thanks to Marilyn Montblanch for all her hard work in putting this event together.






Other related links:
Images de Femmes 2010
Images de Femmes 2011
Images de Femmes at Rialto Theatre 2011
19th Images de Femmes 2012
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Attack of the Killer Video Book: Tips & Tricks for Young Directors

Review
Attack of the Killer Video Book: Tips & Tricks for Young Directors
Mark Shulman and Hazlitt Krog
Illustrations: Martha Newbigging
Annick Press 

I was thrilled to have the chance to review Attack of the Killer Video Book: Tips and Tricks for Young Directors. This is Take 2 of Mark Shulman and Hazlitt Krog's original book published in 2004. Since then, there have been huge technological advances, and now making movies is something anyone can do with just a smart phone or digital camera. Did you know that there are even film festivals for movies made with iphones? In addition, most computers now come with software to edit video: Mac (imovie) and PC (MovieMaker).

For the budding director, this is a fun easy book with colourful illustrations to get started in the world of film-making. There are excellent sections on planning, storyboarding, shooting, lighting, sound, post-production and promotion. The authors have also provided some great tips on creating special effects.

There are many books on the market about film-making, but I have found that authors often assume that the reader has some previous knowledge. This book does not make that assumption. In fact, it instructs the novice filmmaker to start by making a short film of an everyday process to get her/himself into the habit of using images to explain the step-by-step. It encourages the novice director to put together some nice looking shots and to assess the final result with a critical eye, asking the question: How would I do this differently next time? Having young people discover how to make their own media is a great way to address media literacy.

My favourite section in the book was on lighting. Believe me, even adults have some information to glean here.

Have you ever wondered why people in your pictures may look slightly yellow or blue? This has to do with the type of light. A regular tungsten light bulb is responsible for casting a yellowish hue on your husband's face, while fluorescent lights will make your subjects pale and slightly blue. Whatever light you end up using, the authors recommend that you keep your light consistent throughout. Shulman and Krog also give a great explanation of Hollywood 3-point lighting.

Overall, this is a great book to get both young and old started in making videos. It offers great solutions to the novice problems of shaky camera and poor lighting and sound. The authors also show how some everyday items can be used to give the same studio effect. Who needs a dolly to film someone running when you have a skateboard?

Check out some of the films at the iphone film festival by clicking here.


Other book reviews:
Dead Time by Christy Ann Conlin
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Trouble with Marlene by Billie Livingston
The Orphan Rescue by Anne Dublin
50 Poisonous Questions by Tanya Lloyd Kyi

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Experiment: Under the Volcano

I've been taking a digital-storytelling course at night for about 7 weeks. My original goal was to learn how to edit video, nothing too fancy. I just wanted to learn how to make a video with a steady hand sans jump cuts.

But making videos, as I discovered, involves a lot of advanced planning, a minimum knowledge of lighting and a very steady hand (Read: tripod). I quickly discovered that my first idea was a little too lofty and required a lot more time than just a few weeks. In addition, filming requires consistent lighting, so you have to film at exactly the same time of day. Since I work during the week, that left me only Fridays and possibly the weekends for filming. I also discovered that I needed a partner for some additional assistance. I could not ask my Significant Other because I would need his help using the movie software. My daughter was an option, but only if she found what I was doing interesting.

My ship came in yesterday. Both my kids were home with me, and my daughter wanted to do a volcano experiment. I decided to make a how-to science video. Not what I had hoped for, but the best I could do in the time I had.

Volcano experiment

For the volcano you will need a bottle. The volcano shape is made with salt dough, which takes about 10 minutes to make. Here's the recipe:

Salt dough
2 cups of white flour
1 cup of salt
2tbsp of vegetable oil
1/3 of a cup of water (mix a few drops of food colouring to give your volcano some colour. My kids chose blue...?) Mix this in a large bowl with your hands.

Add this to the outside of the bottle in the shape of a pyramid. We used a fork and knife to give the volcano a more textured look.

It was hard to make the volcano shell and film at the same time. We added a backdrop, a purple lizard, a bunch of plastic frogs and placed them all on a green plate to make it look more like a set. As you'll see in the video, we made up a little story incorporating a despotic red frog and a petulant purple lizard. It was fun.

Mixture for the volcanic reaction
 Take a glass and add
50ml of lukewarm water
50g of baking soda
3 or 4 drops of red food colouring
30ml of liquid dishwashing soap
Use a funnel and pour the mixture into the volcano bottle. Then rinse the funnel, and slowly add 100 ml of vinegar to the volcano's crater.

There is a rapid chemical reaction when the vinegar comes into contact with the baking soda.







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IWD: Boxgirls


Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures (as part of Gender Across Borders and CARE's blog for International Women's Day.) We can inspire girls' future through sports, letting them discover all of their strengths, teaching them strategy and making them active participants in their own lives.

Heather Cameron Teaching Boxing
In 2005, Heather Cameron, an educational science professor at Freie Universitat, founded Boxgirls in Berlin's inner-city of Kreuzberg. This British-Canadian and graduate of York University in Toronto went on to expand Boxgirls to Nairobi, Kenya, in 2007 and Cape Town, South Africa, in 2010.

Cameron uses boxing programs as a catalyst for social change. But why boxing and not another sport? In a recent interview, Cameron had this to say:

 "As for the special anti-violence aspect, combat sports and self-defense are particularly useful. If taught by competent coaches, they create a framework that is not limited to learning a few physical techniques. Power not only has to do with muscles. When you’re boxing, you have to learn to deal with your limits. It is not just about physical fitness, but also about mental strength. You have to trust yourself and act tactically. Through boxing, you become more self-reliant, self-confident and develop leadership qualities. It prepares the girls to participate in society and assume responsibility."

According to Cameron, preteens and teens are drawn to Boxgirls because they like the idea of learning how to defend themselves and being trained by other women. It's also a means for confronting their fears. Although parents reportedly do no initially take to the idea of their daughters learning to box, they usually come to accept it, and sometimes, even become the sport's greatest fans.

Heather Cameron has plans to possibly expand Boxgirls into Brazil and Vietnam. Not unsurprisingly, Cameron's organization has been the recipient of many awards.

In this short video (2:32), you will see Heather Cameron spar with one of the girls. Check out the map a teen draws of her neighbourhood to show the potentially violent area of her village.




Sources and further reading:

York U News
BMW Stiftung Herbert Quandt
Boxgirls
Women Win: The International Guide to Addressing Gender-Based Violence Through Sport .
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19th Images de Femmes

L`avenue du Mont-Royal, Nathalie Boivin
To celebrate International Women's Day in the Mile End, some fifty local women artists will be exhibiting their work at the Mile End Library, 5723 Avenue du Parc, and in neighbourhood shops as part of the 19th annual Images de Femmes. The annual event is to give further exposure to the artistic endeavours of area women. The organization now has some 80 members. Local filmmakers will also be screening their work throughout the area, so keep your eyes peeled.

At the vernissage this afternoon, there was quite a crowd on hand, which included City Councillor Alex Norris and Borough Councillor Richard Ryan. The exhibition is open to the public from March 3 to 18. The official 19th Images de Femmes celebration will be held at the Théâtre Rialto at 5723 Avenue du Parc on Sunday, March 4 at 7:00 pm. The Rythmes de Femmes with the Maha choir and many other singers and musicians will be performing. Admission to the event is $10.00; children are free. Organizers will also be taking donations for humanitarian aid to Japan.




Other related links:
Images de Femmes 2010
Images de Femmes 2011
Images de Femmes at Rialto Theatre 2011


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Review of Neverbloomers by Sharon Hyman

Neverbloomers: the Search for Grownuphood
59 minutes
by Sharon Hyman

Our media focuses its attention on early bloomers and sometimes late bloomers, but never has it ever given any attention to neverbloomers, or the concept of never blooming, as if being wildly successful was the only phenomenon worth covering.

Forty-something documentary filmmaker Sharon Hyman has lived in the same apartment for 20 years, has never married or had children and has never learned to drive (like many Montrealers d'ailleurs). Although she has made a few films with her friend Naomi Levine, Hyman considers herself a neverbloomer and is still waiting for adulthood.

In her search for her inner grown-up, Sharon asks her friends, mother, mentors, a neighbour, a rabbi, a complete stranger, fellow students and aunt Rhoda what it feels like to be an adult.Their answers are both thought-provoking and funny, and in the end, they are all different. Naomi Levine's 84-year-old father says that he still feels like a kid.

Hyman uses a purple flower-power generic and some sappy, yet memorable, hits from the early 70s to pull us back into our own childhoods when most of us were watching the Partridge Family and looking forward to being adults. Using the same actress in vintage footage playing a 60s gogo dancer and the traditional frazzled mother with a hyperactive brood, Hyman reminds us of the two options we seemingly had as girls growing up.

But for many Gen Xers and Ys, the marriage, family, mortgage hallmarks of adulthood no longer exist. So how does someone know when she's finally an adult? Although Hyman sets out to find an answer to her own personal question about neverbloomers and adulthood, she hits on a much larger phenomenon with this film. After graduation and landing a job, what are the new defining moments of our adult lives? Do we need any?

The strength in this film lies in the diversity of the subjects whom the director interviews, and sometimes it's what they say in passing that is the most enlightening. For instance, Hyman's neighbour of 15 years says that in her lifetime, the worst discrimination she has faced was not because she was gay or a woman, but because of her size.

There is also an interesting common thread about being nice. One subject says that she had to be nice to be tolerated, and when she stopped being nice and starting being herself, she felt like an adult. Being able to speak my mind was also when I began feeling like an adult. The film also has some wonderful scenes with those who are almost completely absent from both our big and small screens--older women. They speak frankly about the traditional paths in life. My favourite is Aunt Rhoda.

As you watch this film, you might find yourself asking the same question: Am I a neverbloomer? I certainly did.

Don't miss it! And make sure you watch it with a few friends.

Check out the trailer below:






Neverbloomers Opening from Sharon Hyman on Vimeo. .
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