Wow, feels like the last time I was writing in this space it was a year ago. Actually, wait, it was over a year ago. I was talking about the upcoming 2010 Montreal Infringement Festival. That went very well and then I went to Buffalo, that was incredible. I wrote about my experiences at this colossally amazing event on Forget The Box shortly after I got back.

Now, after yet another Montreal Infringement success (I wasn’t as heavily involved this year, but I did manage to get out to almost all the events), there’s another Buffalo fest that just got underway. By all indications, it’s going to be even bigger, while still remaining “under the radar” if you can believe it. I previewed the 2011 Buffalo Infringement Festival on FTB yesterday. Here’s an excerpt:

“These aren’t heavily-funded corporate artists, or artists creating work where potential market revenue trumps creativity and message. We’re talking musicians, actors, visual artists, hula hoop artists and more, doing what they love to do and doing it together for eleven days. It seems that once an artist catches the Buffalo Infringement bug, it’s hard to stay away. This year’s lineup features performers who have been part of the event from the very beginning…”

I think I’ve finally found a way to balance everything and find some time to this my personal blog on a much more regular basis, even with the huge growth over at FTB (number 3 on the Mirror’s Best of Montreal, several thousand visits every month, etc) that has been keeping me real busy.

We’ll see if it works, till then, do yourself a favour and check out the Buffalo Infringement if you can.

The new poster’s done, here it is:

2010 Montreal infringement poster (concept and artwork by Marcelo César, Alexandra Cuellar and Donovan King)

The schedule should be online at infringementfestival.com/montreal by Thursday.

It’s also almost that time of year when I disappear from all things infringement as I’ll be busy organizing, attending shows and even performing.  This year I’m going to try and do some reporting, at least on Forget The Box and maybe here too.  If I don’t get the chance, at least I’ve added the festival’s Twitter feed to the sidebar.

I did manage to write a post about the festival both here and internationally for Art Threat.  You can read it here.  You really should check out the rest of their site (Art Threat, that is) as there’s quite a few interesting articles about art and politics and it updates rather regularly.

Right now, I’m preparing for the infringement press conference scheduled for this Thursday.  Fun times ahead!

]]> http://www.jasoncmclean.com/lets-infringe-again/feed/ 0 http://www.jasoncmclean.com/back-at-my-alma-mater/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=back-at-my-alma-mater http://www.jasoncmclean.com/back-at-my-alma-mater/#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:57:49 +0000 Jason http://www.jasoncmclean.com/?p=353

Sign of the times at Concordia

For those who don’t know, I went to Concordia University back in the day. I was a journalism student and not much of an activist at the time. My how times have changed…sort of.

You see, I still write for sites like Forget The Box and occasionally get a paying writing gig, but I’m considerably more of an activist these days. As you may know I do quite a few guerilla theatre culture jams and many of them have taken place at Concordia (against Chartwells, Starbucks, you name it).

Last fall, I returned to my alma mater to play Brandon You from Pub Partout, the fake CEO from the fake ad company I helped to create in order to do something about ad trucks by speaking out “in favour” of them. Brandon and company were for American-style tuition increases because that would allow his company to brand broke students.

The same group of student activists I worked with, now called Free Education Montreal (visit their site and sign the petition, please!), were putting on Angry Week to raise the issue of tuition increase during Concordia’s Congress, a major humanities and social sciences event. Last Thursday I participated in the culture jam portion of the event playing Concordia president Jack Woolworth (a play on the actual president Judith Woodsworth).

I’m really glad to have been able to support this cause once again and also happy I managed to incorporate that dolphin shirt I’ve had for years into a performance.

Here’s the video, enjoy!

A beard doesn't mean I've been in the woods

You see, Forget The Box, the site whose online magazine I edit and contribute to has undergone a major revamp in terms of its backend (what you don’t see). A new look is also coming very soon.

There are new columnists and writers, such as a correspondent from Salt Spring Island, BC and a playoff hockey blogger. I’m also writing a political column now. As more people are coming on board, I’ve been busy setting things up for them.

I’ve also been working on and acting in the last two episodes of season 3 of JC Sunshine’s Fireside Chat (also produced by the Forget The Box Media Collective) and preparing for this June’s Montreal infringement Festival.

While things haven’t quieted down by a longshot, I’m now finding (or force-finding) a bit of time to contribute here as well. So fear not, dear readers, I’m back!

The special guest, who also plays in some of the skits, is Emilie Laliberté from Stella whom I’ve also previously performed with. We also had the chance to shoot at Club Sin’s Malice in Wonderland evening. JC and Suzie were there and so was Rex, who had quite a bit of fun on his own.

Has Rex been a bad boy? Find out! (photo Chris Zacchia)

Basically, this episode delves into sexuality as only JC Sunshine can. There’s a good balance of the silly and the serious and I think it may turn out to be one of our better episodes so far.

As per usual, we have a trailer, shot in Café Cleopatre in the stairwell going up to the second floor performance space where Malice in Wonderland was taking place:

Not quite there yet, but close (photo by Alexander Somma creative commons liscence)

Since the last time I was outside for a long stretch of time (St-Patty’s parade day), conditions were less than A1 (it was rainy the whole time) I’m looking forward to pry myself away from my computer and get out into the wilds of near-spring daylight. In a little over an hour, I’ve got the chance to do just that.

No more post re-tagging, promo and writing for me (at least for a while), today is shooting day. Outdoor shooting day! I’m shooting a scene for Sunday’s JC Sunshine where I get harassed by a cop played by the episode’s special guest Emilie Laliberté from STELLA (who I’ve already performed in a video with).

I’m going to walk to the shoot. I know it’s not that far, but still, that will be fun. Afterwards, wherever else I may have to go, I’m going to try and walk there, too! Fun times!

Not quite Vancouver, not quite NYC: Ice Fishing scene from JC's Olympic special

That’s why tonight’s JC Sunshine is all about the Olympics, or rather JC’s own Olympics, live from New York. Basically, we had tickets to The Daily Show this coming Tuesday and thought we’d take the opportunity to shoot some scenes for upcoming episodes and do the live portions of this episode from the house we’re staying at in Brooklyn (thanks to Crawford from the band Sunshine). The rest of the show was filmed in and around Montreal.

It’s been almost five years since I’ve been to the Big Apple (the last time was to perform in Car Stories at the same time Hurricane Katrina was happening in New Orleans) and I’ve never been in NYC in the winter.

So after the show is done, I’m going to do my best to write some posts on my impressions of the city and in particular Brooklyn, which I’ve stayed in before but never had the chance to explore.

For now, though, enjoy this trailer (below) and tune in tonight, Sunday, February 28th, at 7:30pm eastern on Forget The Box TV for JC’s Olympics special

My first "music video": a scene from the duet in JC Sunshine's St-Valentine's Day Musical Massacre

Recently, though, it did, in the form of JC Sunshine’s St-Valentine’s Day Musical Massacre.  We turned the season 3 premier of the web-TV comedy show I host into a musical and my character got to sing in one original duet and an ensemble piece that is a parody of a song from RENT.

The episode’s quite funny (yes, I know I’m biased) and the show’s production values have increased significantly since last season, so I recommend/hope that you watch the whole thing.  There are new characters like Suzie (Suzie Soleil), JC’s number one fan and the special guest is Cupid (actress Mylène Robic).

If I’ve done my job, you should be convinced to watch the episode on demand which you can do here.  If not, here’s a sample of my singing:

It's the way business is done, unfortunately

For months now, the artists of Café Cleopatre and the rest of the Save the Main coalition have been fighting the good fight against the Angus Development Corporation and the Tremblay administration’s attempts to evict them in favor of a skyscraper office tower in the center of the Quartier des Spectacles.  I’ve supported the coalition from the get-go and now have a chance to help out with my acting and writing.

Following on the heels of Lapdance for Prince Charles, a comic appeal to the Prince, a noted heritage buff, on his recent visit to Montreal, comes Demolition in a Box.  This new video that will hopefully go viral (like the last one did) is a mock infomercial promoting a product that is essentially what Angus and the city want to do to the lower Main.

I play the pitchman in the English version (below) alongside Ėmilie Laliberté of STELLA, the sex workers’ rights organization who plays the prospective developper.  In the French version which premiered last Friday at Club Sin in Café Cleo, the roles are reversed.

Enjoy and please spread:

French version is here

JC Sunshine (played by me) gets ready to ride a bike

The theme was biking and in keeping with it, we filmed a segment (the show is live, but some of the segments are pre-recorded) where JC (my character) learns how to ride a bike.  Unlike JC I did learn how to ride a bike when I was younger, so his struggle with the bike was acting, but there was a bit of truth to it.

In recent years, I decided on a few occasions to try riding again, something I haven’t done in decades.  On every one of those occasions, I wasn’t able to do it, either due to the bike being too high off the ground or the rider being in the middle of a night of partying.  I thought it meant I couldn’t ride.

This isn’t good, considering my lifestyle and finances would be greatly improved by being able to ride a bike.  Also, I support bike culture and bikes as probably the best means of transport when feet aren’t an option.  I even attended the Bicycle Film Festival and wrote about it.

When we shot this scene, I was a bit nervous, but by the end of it, I discovered that you never do forget how to ride a bike.  You just need to have the confidence in the moment needed to do it.

Now, my lifestyle can actually jive with my politics better and it’s thanks to this scene: