Rating: NNNNN
despite the misleading propa ganda by police Chief Julian Fantino, half a million people thoroughly enjoyed the Stones/SARS concert in Toronto last week where thousands upon thousands of joints were burned. I attended sporting a Canadian cannabis leaf flag. I had a wonderful time meeting and posing for photos with hundreds of concert fans.
I’m a former fire and rescue worker myself, and I noticed that all the EMS people I came across were thumbs-up and beaming at the sight of the leaf. Not once did I get so much as a smile from a cop, and they were roaming everywhere.
With only 21 alcohol-related arrests and no reported medical incidents other than dehydration, I would conclude the obvious: that peace, love, music and marijuana always go hand and hand..
Steven Bacon, Federal Exemptee/MMAR
Milton,Ontario
most troubling about the sars concert in Downsview was the fact that not a single artist present took advantage of that oh-so-precious and even more obvious opportunity dangling in front of their noses to say something – anything – significant. It’s half a million people. Holy shit. Attempt to effect something. Anything! Vietnam memorial. Ping-pong. Whatever. Something huge and pure and collective.
The world would have listened, as our politik was praying for, if only we had said something worthy of the world. How shameful to feel uninspired in the face of such an historic opportunity.
Matthew MacFadzean, Toronto
why does now continually accept articles written by anti-corporate, self-absorbed activists who have nothing better to do than give every event in this city a negative spin? Susana Molinolo’s article bashing Nike (NOW, July 31-August 6) fails to mention that the RUNTO campaign was not directly targeted to “veterans of the Sporting Life 10K, the Pride and Remembrance Run or the Night Crawler 5 mile.” Quite the contrary. Have you seen the Running Guy spokesperson?
If Ms. Molinolo had paid attention to the campaign’s messaging, she would have realized the program was designed to inspire ordinary people to attempt the 10K feat. The same people who wouldn’t consider attending running events that are “grassroots celebrations of fitness and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.”
I give kudos to Nike for inspiring us non-runners to get off our asses and run as a recreational way to stay fit.
Ian Barr, Toronto
while the marilyn manson show at the Hummingbird Centre may have been lacklustre, your writer Elizabeth Bromstein’s comments regarding the manner in which the fans were dressed (NOW, July 31-August 6) were uninformed. How is wearing black at a goth show any different than showing up at an indie show in brown corduroy pants or a rock show in a black band T-shirt?
The comment that “many of his fans dress alike – you know, all black, bits of mesh, too much makeup, the goth thing – all the while staunchly proclaiming their disdain for conformity” is laughable. I don’t see Gap ads proclaiming the wonders of PVC.
Adam Durbin, Toronto
re fast food’s big choke (now, july 17-23). A number of years ago, a high cholesterol count led my doctor to pack me off on a trip to Halifax’s Queen Elizabeth Health Sciences Centre for counselling. At the time, the nutritionists were fuming about the new Tim Hortons franchise on the ground floor of the hospital. Why? Try looking at Tim’s own nutritional information.
Those healthy sandwiches? How about the Black Forest ham and Swiss, with 470 calories and 18 grams of fat? Or the Garden Vegetable, with 451 calories and 23 grams of fat? Combine it with a soup and you could be adding another 235 calories and 11 grams of fat if you happen to choose the cream of broccoli, or 243 calories and 9 grams of fat if you choose the clam chowder.
Maybe you’re thinking, “I’ll have a bagel instead.” Not a bad choice, unless, of course, you want to put something on it. A Tim’s plain bagel with cream cheese is 140 calories and 13 grams of fat. Yum!
One wonders what Max Valiquette, president of Youthography, really makes of this.
He says Tim’s and Subway have made McDonald’s sit up and take notice. He oughta know. One of Youthography’s major clients is Leo Burnett, who handles advertising for, you guessed it, McDonald’s..
Rick Janson, Oshawa
i can think of no more noble cause than that of easing poverty, but OCAP organizer John Clarke fights poverty in a vacuum. He condemns the Tories for ignoring poverty (NOW, July 31-August 6) yet lacks the vision to see that poverty has been with us for centuries.
Clarke attempts to create the image of himself and his followers as the few who desire to change the ills of the world. Sorry, John, but those individuals and organizations that make the loudest noise are not necessarily the most concerned about the issue. Often they are as self-interested as the organizations they condemn..
Douglas Helliker, Toronto
if they gave out awards for tired , mushy-headed Marxist rhetoric, John Clarke would be the all-time champ, bar none. I hear you disavow knowledge of the “action” incorrectly attributed to your “heroic” cadre, but come on, John. OCAP is all about being confrontational.
Politically speaking, it’s true that you continue to keep poverty issues on the front pages of the “corporate-owned” media. It’s also true that your disgraceful actions have resulted in a massive loss of credibility for activists of all stripes.
You polarize people every time you open your mouth to fire off some revolutionary witticism.
I reject your notion that the best way forward is with a ragtag army of the downtrodden armed with magic rocks and a few tired chants that even the Bolsheviks rejected as outrageous.
Weepy indignation won’t get rid of Oil-Can Ernie, it’s true. But neither will faux-revolutionary posturing and/or property damage..
Patrick Rawley, Toronto
the upfront section of now maga- zine directed a dart in the direction of Canadian Jewish Congress for publicizing the candidacy of “hate-mongering Nationalist Party candidates running for city council” (NOW, July 24-30). Frankly, we’re a little confused by your reaction. Considering that three of the four NPC candidates have served time for hate-related activities – one is running for public office on a old-fashioned segregation platform – we would have thought that NOW would share our view that voters have the right to know about the men and women who seek to represent them.
If the NPC stood for nothing else but elimination of speed-bumps and twinning with the city of Grozny, we would agree that the party should be consigned to the obscurity that it so richly deserves. But there’s something about candidate Donna Upson pining for separate drinking fountains for whites and blacks that makes exposure a necessity and a duty..
Len Rudner, Director of Community Relations
Canadian Jewish Congress
i’ve spent the better part of a morning wondering whether Kurt Krumme’s letter (NOW, July 31-August 6) was an attempt to spark debate or the earnest (if not moronic) opinion of those that grin ear to ear at Girls Gone Wild but flail their arms in horror at the thought of a woman breast-feeding in public. Krumme states that breasts are a “secondary sex organ.”
The following statement may shock many: breasts have a function other than toys for the boys.
No one expects everyone to immediately adopt a blasé attitude to topless women when it’s still a relatively rare sight, but the attitude that women should expect sexual harassment because, well, “boys will be boys” is patronizing to most men. I would like to formally invite Kurt Krumme to fuck off back to the frat house from whence he came..
Katherine Kilbank, Toronto
i have just read the letter of “outrage” from Gloria Lindsay Luby (NOW, July 24-30), Toronto city councillor from Etobicoke Centre, who would like to see expansion of the Island Airport. She cites a recent crash of a small airplane near the Island to justify her ludicrous notion that many more deaths would have been caused had the incident taken place inland near Pearson. No wonder the waterfront is such a mess..
Gary Ralph, Toronto
dean thatcher’s letter (now, july 17-23) troubles me because he suggests that when bears are not shot in the spring, they fail to live good lives due to population overcrowding. The human population is in the billions and continues to grow.
We are approaching the same kind of situation that is alleged to occur with bears when they are not decimated by gunfire.
Will Dean have similar violent suggestions for us when we need to resolve our own overcrowding problem?
Simon Luisi, Toronto
I thought you’d appreciate yet another tale about the charming folk who police Dundas Square. On July 21, at about 8:45 am, a gentleman (and I use that term very loosely) in a “Downtown Yonge” T-shirt approached me near Yonge and Dundas as I was about to poster the construction board at the corner.
He proceeded to inform me that this was “his area” and that I could be fined $5,000 for postering.
I mentioned that according to the bylaw, postering on utility poles and temporary hoardings is legal, and started walking north on Yonge.
Obviously getting off on the tiny bit of power assigned to him, he felt it was necessary to follow my every footstep, hassling me along the way. At one point I stumbled on the sidewalk. He laughed.
Being female and alone, I turned back toward Dundas to catch the streetcar home. He persisted in harassing me, threatening to follow me home. He actually was about to get on the streetcar with me, but I didn’t get on because it was full.
Luckily, I managed to flag a taxi. As we drove away, this beautiful human being blew kisses at me and made an obnoxious sexual gesture with his tongue.
I wrote to the Dundas Square people about this, but all I got was a “we’ll get back to you.” It’s been more than a week.
It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside to know that this city has no qualms about paying predatory ingrates a good $20 an hour to stalk and hound innocent civilians, in particular those who don’t fit the corporate mould of Dundas Square.
The longer I live in this city, the more inviting Vancouver becomes.
Name withheld by request, Toronto
