Rating: NNNNN
to be honest, i’d prefer to enjoy your publication over my morning coffee without having to look at simulated blow jobs, strap-on dicks and balloon-sized breasts (outcalls only). But, being a fan of all three in different contexts, I can hardly criticize. Nonetheless, in regard to the urine-themed photograph offered with your profile of Will “You’re Not Bowie” Munro (NOW, June 26-July 2), let me be the first to say, “Chacun à son gàut.” Best wishes and… YEEEEEEECCCCCCH!
Dave Gibson, Toronto
rené biberstein’s suggestion that OCAP needs to tone down its “over-the-top rhetoric” to drum up “broad public pressure” against a second jury trial (NOW, June 26-July 2) misses the point. The facts are fairly simple to grasp. The province of Ontario wants to send an activist to jail for five years for making a political speech.
That some OCAP members take pride in the actions of demonstrators on June 15, 2000, does not excuse the brutality of police instructed by superiors to “clear the park.”
It’s one thing to throw a rock. It’s another to throw a rock at a cop who has just beaten and arrested the 100-pound woman next to you.
OCAP is an organization of poor people who find it necessary to fight a system that is increasingly brutal and a government that is increasingly regressive. By and large, this is done through casework.
There is no question that OCAP has radical politics and, yes, sometimes uses “over-energetic language,” but this has little to do with how the public should judge the facts in the case of John Clarke.
Lisa Kocsis, Toronto
john clarke’s rent-a mob, fuelled by the oxygen of their recent mistrial, tried to take on the Queen East Business and Residents Association (QEBRA) during a recent meeting at Queen and Sherbourne. It was obvious that someone in OCAP’s communications office was too high to get his facts right, as QEBRA was erroneously accused of trying to shut down both the local men’s shelter and a home being built for refugees. The venue was littered with flyers describing QEBRA as “a group of wealthy business owners and yuppies.” In fact, the assembled members, including the board, consist mostly of single moms, the working poor, the unemployed and people living in subsidized housing and on disability benefits. The chair, a gentle elderly man named Coady, was browbeaten by one loudmouth for allowing condos for “rich parasites” to be built locally instead of affordable housing. This neighbourhood has lost services, including banks and its only supermarket, as a direct result of the huge proliferation of drug-related crimes. This has left many people, especially the old and disabled, in isolation.
Ben Farley, Toronto
i really enjoyed your article about Steven Davey’s experience at the Hot Box (NOW, June 26-July 2). It’s good to know there’s hope. Living in the U.S. is a blessing as well as a curse. But the positive thing is that we know what the problem is and how we can solve the whole big earth mess with legalization of the flower with the most power. Peace.
Jonathan Gutstadt
Richmond, California
i just wanted to thank you for appointing Mike Holmes “TV’s newest sex symbol” (NOW, June 26-July 2). I think you read a whole lot more into things than were intended, but that’s what fantasies are all about, right? Mike and I are thrilled to have a dedicated and diverse following for Holmes On Homes, but I think I’d draw the line at “the gayest hour on TV.” Mike’s a big hit with the girls as well as the boys. At the heart of it all, he’s on a mission to help homeowners out of heartbreaking situations, and if he excites and entertains at the same time, well, then I’ve done my job. Having “pride” in his work will forever have new meaning for Toronto’s hunkiest contractor.
Scott Clark McNeil
Producer/Director, Holmes On Homes Toronto
on friday (june 27), i was out with my dog trying to enjoy a bit of peace and calm before the Pride Day madness. I’d found a quiet place under a tree to sip my coffee when I was aurally assaulted by the puerile traffic-stopping antics of Critical Mass. They had stopped right in front of my building at 484 Church. While the riders purport to have concern for the environment, their hatred of pollution doesn’t seem to extend to the noise pollution created by their protests. Would any of them want a mob with air horns and whistles right outside their window while they’re trying to eat dinner, or sleep before starting a midnight shift? I think not.
Not all of us who live downtown do so because we want to be in the thick of the action and so are unconcerned with noise. I, too, wish more people would ditch their cars and get bikes (hey, I’m a full-time pedestrian). I also wish more people would ditch their air horns, car horns and car alarms. A green world would be a lot nicer if it were a lot quieter.
Robert Barron, Toronto
my friend therm (who was visit ing from L.A.) and I hiked down the boardwalk in Toronto’s east Beaches recently. At the end of the boardwalk is a shining jewel of art deco architecture – the R.C. Harris Water Filtration Plant, one of my favourite haunts in Toronto and a place to which I often venture, seeking solace on my own and quality time with my friends. Whenever I have a guest from out of town, we make sure to visit the plant.
Imagine my horror, then, at seeing this beautiful edifice, a national historic site, defaced with hideous blue spray-paint tags.
The fools who decided it’d be fun to “mark their territory” obviously lack any sort of appreciation for aesthetics, not to mention any apparent skill at wielding a spray can, which just adds insult to injury.
Before they go off marking architectural treasures, I suggest they try practising on their bedroom walls. Better yet, they should sign up for some art classes and get themselves sketchbooks to contain their profane scrawls.
Lola Leo, Toronto
it used to be that people ven- tured north to escape the oppressive smog, noise and stench of Toronto summers. I write this smogbound afternoon, as the temperature exceeds 30 degrees, from my little house in the woods near Burk’s Falls, 50 kilometres east of Parry Sound.
I write to report that the noise and stench and litter are as prolific in the so-called pristine wilderness as in smogmopolis. The engine idlers are ubiquitous up here in both summer and winter. The whine of personal watercraft travels kilometres, not to mention the thump-thumping of 900-watt car stereos.
If you think Toronto streets are a garbage dump, you should take a walk in my neighbourhood.
Mendelson Joe, Emsdale
kudos to the barenaked ladies
for being one of the few bands at the Concert For T.O. to take time out from their set to mention the effects SARS has had on Toronto’s health and hospitality workers (NOW, June 26-July 2). And for telling the nearly 70,000 attendees what they could do to help (give to the Daily Bread Food Bank or the Hospitality Worker’s Emergency Relief Fund, account # 8063067, at the Metro Credit Union).
It would have been nice if the organizers, the sponsors or the other pseudo-celebrities had talked about what’s happening in the city, but they seemed too busy selling overpriced merchandise.
Mark Medland, Toronto
“when local country gag cuff the Duke left the Kool Haus stage to negligible applause…” (NOW, June 26-July 2). Well, it’s all subjective, and your reviewer Tim Perlich is obviously not a fan of the band, but let’s value the facts at the same time.
The band received a very good, if not excellent, response from a devoted Nick Cave audience who normally wouldn’t have given a shit about the opening acts. (Witness the less than negligible applause for Chris Bailey).
Now, you could accuse me of management prejudice here, but what about the 38 Cuff the Duke CDs sold after their set? Nick’s merch seller said he’d never seen anything like it for an opener. “Country gag?” Great writing, Tim, but also very mean-spirited and totally unnecessary.
William “Skinny” Tenn
William Tenn Management Toronto
i get so annoyed reading reviews like John Harkness’s of the DVD release of The Hours (NOW, June 26-July 2). In my humble opinion, it was subtle, profound and beautifully acted. But that’s my opinion.
Harkness gives it four Ns and then calls it “Charlie’s Angels for the literary set.” Have some balls. If you don’t like it or don’t get it, then say so. But don’t cover your ass and give it a high rating because you’re afraid of looking like a fool.
It should also be noted that the film was based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel in which the characters for the most part existed in different time periods. You can’t then complain that the filmmakers didn’t change things around so the actors could work in scenes together. Good lord.
Larry LaForet, Toronto
i find it very mysterious how Blaise Pascal just disappeared from the spotlight so abruptly, Web site and all. Curious that all of this took place shortly after she was on the brink of a Juno Award. I loved her music and songwriting, she seemed promising and then, poof, she disappeared. What happened?
Mary-Lou Corbierre, Aurora
