the poor, the abused, and the confused

The World Health Organization discovers the obvious: poverty and exclusionary policies are deadly.

More for the obvious file: mac & cheese is not a nutritionally balanced meal.

And, as David Suzuki points out, environmentalists and non-environmentalists may not be hard-wired differently, and they may even have some of the same concerns, but we're not going to be able to save the planet for future generations if we don't find a way to overcome our differences of priority and perspective.

I've been continuing my regular shifts at the Burlington Humane Society and while flipping through one of our information books I saw an interesting ad. Apparently the Ontario Veterinary Association has started up a program to offer short-term protection for the at-risk pets of women and children who are victims of abuse. The program is meant to save animals from danger and harm but also to help women and children get out of an abusive household sooner.

And one more heartwarming Humane Society-related note - a couple of times while I've been working at the shelter young kids have shown up with donations they've collected at their birthday parties instead of presents. Makes one feel a bit better about the young 'uns...

sf, horror, vegan food, and rock'n'roll

And now a belated post on this summer's fan expo...

This year marked my third time attending Toronto's Fan Expo, and my first time really getting involved. The comic book, anime and gaming sections aren't really my thing but the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear and SFX Science Fiction Expo offered enough to keep me entertained.

For me the weekend started off with a screening of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, perhaps most notable for what we were told was the first on-screen depiction of a woman killing a man with her bare hands. Actress Tura Satana was on hand, buxom and black-haired (wigged?) at 70. (I also recognized a couple of White Zombie samples from Satana's dialogue.)

Saturday, after a vegan brunch at Fressen, involved a full day of expo activities (including a little time standing in line). We got to see & hear a dramatically entertaining Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager and voiced the character of Titania on Gargoyles.

The Rue Morgue interview and Q & A with Wes Craven provided less to mull over, though Craven's assertion (if I'm remembering correctly) that horror provides a social outlet was interesting, if not novel.

The exhibition area, besides offering things to spend your money on, housed a few neat little corners. The Circus of Fiendish Curiosities was amazingly spooky considering the surrounding environment, all tented in and dimly lit with stuff chimeric animals, letters written by a serial killer, jars filled with pickled deformed pigs, and even a mummy. My ethics feel a little uneasy with the history and content of the freak show but I was fascinated with the display and the idea of it. Jon and I also made our way into the death photography exhibit - I was familiar with the historical practice of posing and photographing the dead, but it was neat to see some enlarged examples. The pre-death immortalization of Sarah Bernhardt in particular stuck out for its demonstration of human vanity. Aside from more eating at a couple of locations and occasions, the rest of our night entailed witnessing Sid Haig co-hosting the Rue Morgue costume c target=" "ontest and an on-fire performance by The Creepshow.

As for Sunday - more eating and not as much of the expo as I would've liked since I had to head back home early. Brent Spiner (Data) was a bit of a smart-ass disappointment, though I was glad someone mentioned his role on Gargoyles (playing Puck). Edward James Olmos (with Aaron Taylor) was more rousing and inspiring, and despite the Battlestar Galactica spoilers I was impressed by their dedication to the show and its engagement with contemporary issues. For me the weekend ended with a bit of Sean Astin, who seemed like a pretty nice guy.

I'm already wondering who they'll get to show up next year...

p.s. I forgot to mention how much I liked the Play Dead Cult artwork. I only bought a shirt, but I'd like one of those paintings...

music and technology to feed the tech junkie habit

I saw Nine Inch Nails for the second time last night, the first time in an arena setting. I wasn't especially pumped. I love a few NIN songs and appreciate many more, but I haven't really been following them lately and the Kool Haus show I saw a few years back (despite my relatively enthusiastic review) was nowhere near mindblowing. Not that I didn't want to go, but $80 seemed a bit expensive for a night out with a good friend. The openers from Georgia, whose name I failed to catch, didn't do much to increase my excitement.

Apparently it doesn't take that much to captivate me if you've got the right tools: a few synths and samplers, digital projection, computer graphics, fancy lights, good songs, and a strong performance. The integration of lights, graphics and music was beyond remarkable. It was also ultra-contemporary (and I'm sure, very expensive), making old school light and stage shows look just plain lame. At times the effects were subtle, creating space for the band to literally take the spotlight and rock out. Other songs pushed synthesized sound and digital image to the foreground, presenting Nine Inch Nails as an artistic entity rather than a man and his hired musical guns. Some of these pictures from the appropriately named Lights In the Sky: Over North America tour should give you an idea what this all looked like. If only you could see how well these visuals meshed with what I heard...
(I think I need to re-evaluate my knowledge of NIN. Reznor's recent activities in free music offerings only underline that even further.)

Since I'm talking about technology and music (and free music) it seems like a good time to bring up some recent D-Trash Records activities. [actually, it seems like a good opportunity to talk about Death to Music Productions as well, but I'll save that for another day] Keith Carman beat me to the punch reviewing Matamachete for exclaim!; while I take issue with his slur against Mindless Self Indulgence, I support his appreciation for Tanin No Kao. I also recommend checking out some D-Trash artist videos and investing in the label's first DVD compilation.