TORONTO
Monday Jan 21, 7pm, Stuff That Matters, The Garrison, 1197 Dundas Street West, free
Stuff That Matters is a free social justice movie night held once a month, followed by a community discussion. This month’s installment features a screening of Prison Health Now and Where We Are Not, Part 1. There will also be cheap good eats! (For the Montreal event, scroll down.)
It’s the first get-together in 2013 for lovers of sexy, pervy fiction and prose. Whether you’re a writer or an appreciator, chances are there will be something here for you. Followed by an open mic at 9pm that will be broadcast here in case you can’t make it.
It’s the launch of rad literary mag Dragnet Issue 7! Featuring readings by Ben Ladouceur, Lizy Mostowski and Broken Pencil’s own associate fiction editor extraordinaire, the talented and ever-gregarious A.G. Pasquella! Plus DJs Math Rosen and Messy Elliot, who wins for my favorite DJ moniker of all time. Nice people, fun times, great readings, great mag. Do not miss.
Thursday Jan 24, 8:30pm, Some Great Idea book launch, Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor Street West, free
Featuring Some Great Idea author, legendary TO city/politics journo and The Grid senior editor Edward Keenan in conversation with former mayor David Crombie and a few Toronto storytellers, plus DJs Track Meet.
It’s the launch of the latest entry in Invisible Publishing’s wonderful Bibliophonic series on great Canadian acts – this time focusing on the greatest band Toronto has ever known, the Deadly Snakes. Featuring author J.B. Staniforth followed by a DJ set by Chris Trowbridge. Ship ahoy, pirate cowboy!
It is a fucking all-series Star Trek-themed dance party and trivia night, guys. What more convincing do you need? Oh, there are Trek-themed cocktails too, and space jams. BOOTY BORG.
This month’s slam is a biggie, featuirng Toronto’s poet laureate George Eliot Clarke. An open mic follows – signup begins at 7pm, with the show beginning at 8.
HALIFAX
Wed Jan 23, 7:30pm, Paranormal Lecture Series, Plan B, 2180 Gottingen, $10
Um, holy crap, paranormal lecture series?! The awesome collective of artists and curiosities that is Plan B is featuring a series of classes on the paranormal, $10 a class. Attend one or attend all, it matters not. This week features Alicia Polonsky, and I am going to paste the entire bio from the Facebook event because it’s AMAZING.
Alicia has travelled to explore the unknown for the last two years visiting such extraordinary locations as Moundsville WV State Penitentiary; the old Charleston jail in SC; New Orleans’s Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre and Voodoo Authentica; Gettysburg PA and the Annex district in Toronto, On. She’s attended lectures by demonologist Lorraine Warren; psychic & medium Michelle Belanger; author Nathan Robert Brown and more.
After studying with Paranormal State’s and The Paranormal Research Society’s Ryan Buell and his staff, Alicia is bringing some of her knowledge home to Halifax.
Friday Jan 25, 8pm, Ahead of the Now, Khyber Centre for the Arts, 1588 Barrington Street
Ahead of the Now is an art exhibition curated by Jared Leon and Johanna Heldebro, who also put out the beautiful LAURA magazine. It features video works by Željka Blakšić (Croatia), Laura Dutton (Victoria), Johanna Heldebro (Sweden/Halifax), Lissa Rivera (New York), Sarah Rara (LA), Minna Suoniemi (Finland), and Cajsa von Zeipel (Sweden).
MONTREAL
Against Equality: Prisons Will Not Protect You, the third and final book in the Against Equality Collective’s pocket-sized book series, takes a critical look at the celebrated passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 in the United States. Editor Ryan Conrad will be on hand for a reading and discussion.
Thursday Jan 24, 7pm, Stuff that Matters, 2075 Rue Plessis, Salle 130
A film and discussion evening featuring the short films Prison Health by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Where We Are Not: Part 1 by Jess MacCormack. A discussion with members of the Prisoner Correspondence Project will follow the screening. Discussion themes will include prison health, criminalization, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, as well as harm reduction strategies. (For the Toronto event, see above!)
VANCOUVER
Saturday Jan 26, 11am-5pm, Indie I Do, Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, $15
It’s year 5 of Vancouver’s alternative/DIY wedding show. DJs, handmade fashion, DIY makeup and more.
Saturday Jan 26, 8pm, EastVan Pillow Fight Club: Enter the Snake, The Astoria Pub, 769 East Hastings
We are normally not huge fans of pillow fight clubs as a rule, but the EastVan contingent look like a bunch of fucking badasses, with names like Butcher’s Daughter and Serbian Scrambler. Plus their posters look like old-school amateur wrestling posters. Plus their proceeds go to Vancouver Rape Relief and Shelter.