SIGNIFIPEDIA

Action/Ready, Cabaret, The Lifelong Learners Assocation, Puppetry, Zines

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

ZINE SUBMISSIONS

Dear Friends,

This fall, Signifipedia is compiling ideas, compositions, photos & art to make a zine for Montreal's largest small press fair, Expozine. Signifipedia is a subjective encyclopedia of meaning, we make it up as we go along.

So OK yeah there are all these things: books, swamps, tic tacs, etc. but what do they all mean? Everything has a meaning, but it is always changing as meaning is defined by the individual. Everything means something to someone at some time, the goal of Signifipedia is to provide publication of what something means to someone (i.e. you) now.

These zines are organized in themed volumes, for this issue the theme will be "memory" - to give an imaginary synthesis, a cohesion of meanings around this idea. We've already got some exciting content in development and would love to include your contributions.

All written submissions should be no more than 750 words, all visual art submissions should not exceed two pages. Signifipedia zines will be distributed through Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and beyond, and as thanks you will receive a free copy of the zine in the mail. You are welcome to pass this invitation along to any friends you feel might be interested. All entries should be sent to signifipedia at gmail dot com before Friday, October 29th.

Ideas to inspire:

the politics of memory (what is included/what is omitted)
nostalgia
forgetting
exaggeration through repetition
re-membering moments: photos/films/writings/drawings
photo/film/music/art reviews (can be something you saw long ago)
goldfish have two second memories/elephants never forget
how does lighting/setting/music affect your memory
how do emotions/adrenaline affect your memory
tips for increasing/decreasing memory
"stock memories" - memories you're supposed to have
your memories
interview someone for their memories
memories you would like to make
recipes/skills you know by memory
digital/electronic memory
memory foam
etc.


Many thanks,
Signifipedia

Sunday, September 26, 2010

THE DEATH AND DEBAUCHERY WALKING TOUR FIELD TRIP

On August 20th, seven Learners met at Old Market Square for the Death and Debauchery walking tour, with aspirations of learning the weight of history ingrained in the streets and buildings of an oft-frequented neighbourhood: Winnipeg's Exchange District. Unfortunately there was a problem with the advance on my camera and so none of the pictures turned out, but thanks to the internet and our good friend Ryan Trudeau, we will still be able to provide some visual stimulants to accompany a recollection of our tour.

At 3pm, our tour guide* promptly began an annotated escort down Albert St.

(*not our real tour guide)


The boom era of Winnipeg was illustrated with a story of the Roblin House on Adelaide, where two caged black bears were tied up in front of the establishment. Passersby fed the bears food and alcohol, which caused a raucous bear to escape! The bear climbed a downtown lamp post, where an RCMP officer finally shot it, and the nearby hotel served bear for dinner.

It must be said that during the course of our tour three police cars drove by, a reminder that suspicions of the Exchange District as a space of debauchery is not entirely a thing of the past. This was also my first time seeing the new black and white/zero-tolerance design for Winnipeg police cars, complete with the slogan "Building Relationships" written on the side. This is a great scapegoat slogan because they do not have to disclose the type of relationship they are building: a relationship really only conveys the connection between two or more things. That RCMP officer built a "relationship" with that bear, but that didn't go very well for the bear.


The walking grounds a few feet away from Old Market Square were once the site of Manitoba's first courthouse and jailhouse. Apparently, while doing construction on this area, they found entrances to old jail cells. Between 1874-1876 marked Western Canada's first executions. The first hanging was for a man convicted of stabbing someone 30 times, in his defense he claimed he was "maddened by liquor."

On Fridays at 8am, they would raise the black flag, bells would toll (although executions were not open to the public), a noose would be tied around the neck of one about to be executed, and the trap door would be pulled out beneath them so that the fall would break their neck. For one hanging, the regular executioner was unavailable, and so a call was put out for a volunteer to do the job. The volunteer executioner didn't tie the noose correctly and the man strangled to death.

Something to think about when you see live concerts here, on approximately the same site:

photo by Ryan Trudeau

The tour was advertised as ending at the Royal Albert Hotel, recounting the brutal murder in room 309. According to this Winnipeg Free Press article, the killer is trying to claim that his intoxication is to blame for the "disorganized thinking and impaired judgement" involved in the murder committed, a similar plea from the hanged man of 1874.

This segment has been removed from the tour, undoubtedly due to complaints that murder is not to be sensationalized for entertainment purposes. The tour is required to please their audience, such as the couple in khaki shorts and matching orange Guadalajara t-shirts. One thing that we have learned is that similar crimes can occur 200 years apart and people still don't want to talk about murder.

If you want to hear a story about room 309 at the Royal Albert with a little more firsthand weight, just ask rockabilly wildman Bloodshot Bill. I met up with Bloodshot Bill in Montreal to interview him for Signifipedia's upcoming zine publication for Expozine.

BLOODSHOT BILL
performing at The Royal Albert with Winnipeg's The Angry Dragons


BB: "The first time we played that summer, showing up at the Albert, it was front page news, it just happened. It happened two nights before. Body decapitated, dismembered, disemboweled, all this stuff, I heard about room 309 and everything. The next time I came up, they always give me a room at the Albert, and they gave me room 309, which was the murder room. They painted the walls a really light light green, and you could see lines of blood on the wall. And I took a bath in the bathtub, and that's where I found out that they found all the body parts, in the bathtub. I had all these horseshoe bolo ties on the wall for good luck."

There you have it, folks:
Horseshoes will save you from murder
Guided tours will always be biased

How would we learn if we didn't try?
xxxThe LLA

Monday, September 6, 2010

THE LLA: SLU (SPECIAL LEARNERS UNIT)

The Lifelong Learners Association makes its first splash in Montréal with the SLU edition (Special Learners Unit), a smaller focus group that will explore this peculiar "fishclub" which meets at a church in NDG: The Montréal Aquarium Society

THIS WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 8th, 8PM
The Church of St. Columba,
4020 Hingston Avenue (NDG)

Information on the Montréal Aquarium Society:

"A few people got together in 1933 to share their knowledge of keeping fish in the home aquarium. This small group met in each others homes and eventually had to expand to larger locales. Henceforth, monthly meetings were held which are still perpetuated today.

We are a non-profit organization and the goals are to promote the mutual interest of its members in acquiring, breeding and raising aquarium fish and plant life."

Thoughts/Questions for the meeting
-What did aquariums look like in 1933?!
-What kind of "fishclub" meets in a church? Is this also some kind of religious cult?
-Discuss the politics of aquariums/captivity and the importance of voyeurism
-What are your favourite fish?
-Is this whole fish thing a cover for a secret devotional fan group to Scandinavian pop band Aqua's 1997 prolific album, Aquarium?
-Recommended readings: The Breeders Award Program

We know that due to geographic restrictions many of our past keen Learners will be unable to make this field trip, we ask if you know anyone in the vicinity who might be interested in swimming with these ideas, to please extend an invitation! Hopefully we will all learn together again quite soon!

With love,
xxThe LLA