Un samedi soir tard, très tard dans le parc Jeanne-Mance

Photo prise par Linda.

Fired!

Getting fired is never pleasant, but when it's Woody Allen who shows you the door because "you look retarded," it can be quite traumatizing.

That's what happened to actress and humorist Annabelle Gurwitch, who describes what she calls her "Woody Allen experience" in her documentary Fired! Instead of hiding it from the famous friends to whom she had proudly announced she was working with Allen on an off-Broadway play, Gurwitch openly told them what happened.

She discovered she was not alone. Everybody seemed to have a story about being downsized, from summer jobs to important positions, and it proved to be quite entertaining.

Gurwitch therefore decided to produce a Fired! stories show on stage in Los Angeles and New York, with her friends performing.

Encouraged by its success, she put the stories in a book, Fired, Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized and Dismissed.

In the movie, Gurwitch travels across the United States to interview her friends (Tim Allen, Illeana Douglas, Jeff Garlin and Richard Kind are there among others) and goes one step further by talking to more ordinary people like GM workers from the Lansing plant.

She meets professionals of downsizing - how to fire someone without even making it sound bad - and attends a seminar on how to react after getting fired.

Fired! Could have been a thoughtful reflection on a society where massive lay-offs seem to have become a trend, and job security a legend.

Every time it seems to go in that direction, Gurwitch comes back to her actors friends.

She listens to their stories while sipping a drink in their private L.A. pools, when at the same moment millions of other downsized are simply trying to survive.

For Gurwitch, it was just a way to cope with the emotional implications of her having been "let go" and be reassured, but as one of her interviewees reminds her, many people would love to be fired by Woody Allen.


Fired! Will be shown at Cinéma du Parc from Feb. 16.

The Condordian, February 14

Arcade Fire line-ups

Last week was the coldest time of the year, but fans were ready to freeze to see Arcade Fire live. "At first I told myself it was just a show - I wasn't going to get up early in the morning for a show! But then I was filled with remorse, I was like 'you're going to have to live and have something to tell in your life,'" said Sébastien Charest, journalist for Bang Bang magazine.

He arrived at 7:30 in the morning last Tuesday, a few minutes too late. Fifty people were already lining up in front of l'Oblique, an indie record store located near Mont-Royal metro station, and that's the exact number of tickets that were going to be available at 10 a.m.

Because Arcade Fire's five shows were sold out within a few hours last December, the producers decided to keep 50 tickets to be sold each concert morning. They probably didn't expect fans to be ready to fight temperatures of 30 below for up to 11 hours. On Friday, the line-up was full by 3 a.m.

"They're a pretty good band. To be honest, they're not even one of my favourite bands, but I really thought it would be fun to stay out all night for the experience - it's a funny story to tell people. And it will probably be a good show too," said George Everett, a student at Concordia who lined up on Thursday.

He arrived with his friends around 1, and like most of the other people there, he spent the night going back and forth to the nearest caf�. From listening to them, one would think it wasn't so terrible to stay still outside for such a long time. But that night, three people quit because of the cold. "When you spend the night outside in the winter, the conditions are very difficult," explained Luc B�rard, owner of l'Oblique. "Physically, it can be very dangerous."

He had never seen such a craze for a band in the 20 years the store has been open. But it was well worth the wait: their shows were awesome. Although the sound quality was not the best - the Ukrainian Federation was a church before it became a concert hall and so wasn't designed to welcome amplified music - the band reached their goal, which was to test their new songs (the album "Neon Bible" will be released on March 6.)

On Thursday, the band opened with "Black Mirror," playing with a giant neon Bible in their backs. They continued with a few other new songs before switching to well-known material such as "No Cars Go" and the infuriated Neighborhood #3 (Power Out). They also presented a surprising cover of Gainsbourg's Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son and finished the show in the middle of the crowd, as they like to do, with Haiti and Tunnels.

Arcade Fire is now heading to New York for another series of shows. They'll be back in Montreal in May for the actual tour, but this time in a bigger venue.

The Concordian, February 14

Note: I would never write "awesome" in an article. This was edited.

Eewww, kinky...

Do you miss the time when you were a baby and had no responsibilities? When your mummy cleaned your poop and breastfed you? Do you miss the spanking, the scolding, the punishing, the napping, the playing?
And, most of all, are you slightly mentally deranged?
Then the ABDL (Adult Babies/Diaper Lovers) adult nursery is there for you!

P45 even has an article on it.

I wasn't tied to my bed or put into a straightjacket when I was a baby, though. Is that normal?

Julie's Arcade Fire

While I was writing my article for The Concordian, my roommate Julie prepared an audio creation on the Arcade Fire line-up for P45 magazine.
You can go here to listen to it online or right-click here to download it.

Repete after moi

Go on France 4's website and learn some English or French, as you wish, with Lily Allen.

Electrelane + The Blow live

Electrelane and The Blow will be playing at la Sala Rossa on May 17! I know, that's far away in time, far after the exams and all that, and even the day when my mum is coming to town (my mum is cooooomiiiiiing.) But let's bet she'll be jetlagged and will want to sleep while I'll go 50 meters away watch one of my favourite bands play.

Three months left

"Moi je m'adresse à tous les Français, et je trouve que les ouvriers, ce sont des résistants d'une certaine forme de civilisation. Comme les paysans, comme les artisans, et qu'il faut leur donner la parole et qu'il faut parler pour eux! Je vois pas pourquoi on ne viendrait pas dans les usines!"

"I speak to all French people, and I think factory workers are the resistants of a certain form of civilization. Like the farmers, like the artisans. You have to allow them to speak and you have to speak for them! I don't see why we couldn't go to factories!"

Nicolas Sarkozy

It's not even my favourite band!

6:45. My alarm-clock rings. The weather woman announces -29 for this morning. I hear my roommates Julie and Linda get up so I force myself out of bed. After a quick breakfast, we dress the most warm as possible. No shower. We leave.

7:40. We arrive at L'Oblique, rue Rivard. There's already a pretty big line-up, but certainly not 50 people. Several people are wrapped into thick blankets, some brought chairs to be more comfortable. We head to the end of the line. "Actually I think I'm the 5oth," says the guy in front of us. What? How do you know? Did you count? How is that possible? He says someone in the line had the good idea to give informal tickets with numbers to people so that they can go home and nobody can cheat. He shows us his piece of paper: 48-49-50.
I still want to interview people as was planned for an article, except that part of the idea was to write a review of the show. But people are not really talkative, they don't even know why they like Arcade Fire. And I have to get my right hand out of the glove to push the record button, after 2 minutes my hand hurts from being cold.
Most people arrived around 5 but the first ones are there since 3 in the morning. Worse, since 11 last night they've been checking the street regularly.

8:15. So we go back home, completely frozen. I'm not sure I could've stayed in line anyway, it's too cold. I won't come back tomorrow or the days after. I saved 25 bucks!

Update
15:30. I arrive at Concordia downtown to buy mini-discs. I have to hurry up cause I'm late for my class. In the computer store, I see my friend Lucia and tell her what happened this morning. "But I know the guy who organizes the show, maybe I can call him to get you some tickets!" she replies. We leave the store and she dials the guy's number. I don't say anything, but I want her to stop. He's going to laugh at her. The show has been sold out for months, I bet he wouldn't even let his girlfriend enter the venue. I feel bad, I'm gonna be the naive girl who thinks she can get tickets at the last moment.
Under my eyes, Lucia gets me a deal for Thursday night. She didn't even push it. Just a question and an answer. I have to give flyers to people at the end of the show and I'll be able to see it before.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

So Brett Dennen was really nice, the guy is good. But I must say I almost fell asleep. God it's Sunday night and he's playing such a quiet music! I know, this is a horrible review.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is coming to town. That means you have to go. They will be performing at Place-des-Arts on February 22, 23 and 24. If you're a student, you can have tickets for 25$, which is cheap for such a show.
I don't know much about dance but when I see reviews in the New York Times talking about them as one of the best companies in the world, I just tell myself I can't miss that.
I'll write a review of the show for The Concordian but I will post it here as well.

Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

At the center of this record is my voice. I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice, I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer…I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument.

The new Tom Waits album is out. With three albums and three hours of music I didn't have the time to listen to all of it yet.

Arcade Fire extra tickets

As you may not know it already, Arcade Fire will be playing from February 6 to 10 at the Ukrainian Federation. The shows are sold out, except for 50 tickets per day, which will be able at noon at a record store whose name I'm not gonna mention cause you don't deserve it. However I'm open to all propositions to give out this precious information if they involve money. Or you can look in the newspaper.

Julie @ Igloofest

Probably my best picture until now. This was taken at the Igloofest something like two weeks ago.

What's going on?

Sooooo why is the Big Lady back, you wonder? Because I'm booored and I'm lazy and I didn't have the courage to find something to write about this week-end. And it's been the same story for three weeks in a row. Not that I don't like to fill my time with books, actually the books I've been reading were so good that they plunged me into a state of social weirdiness and de-connection. Reading-fucked-upiness might be the right word. Fucked-upiness is a word I invented to describe my general psychological state and it made Matt laugh so I think it's pretty accurate.

So what's the plans for this week-end? Brett Dennen is at the Green Room on Sunday night. She, sorry, he plays a pretty laid-back folk music which quite suits a sunday evening mood. As for the lyrics, I don't listen to them. Which French person understands English anyway? But don't fall asleep.
Grizzly Bear will be playing at the same time a few meters away, at Main Hall, so you'll have to choose.

Josh Ritter is not coming to Montreal cause nobody booked him. WHAT HAPPENED? He comes here every year in February, it's not difficult to remember! He will be playing in Ottawa on February 13 an 14, so whoever wants to go there that night (and just that night cause I have classes the days after) tell me.

Hey, the new album of Norah Jones is CRAP. People, please stop listening to what people tell you to listen to. I think it's cool that she did "My Dear Country" though.

You missed me, didn't you?

Delete. Modify. Publish. The Big Lady is back (still with her good English.)