Last week on Forget The Box I wrote about how the mainstream media was ignoring the Occupy Wall Street protest pretty much across the board, just like how the state-controlled media in places like Egypt and Bahrain ignored the Arab Spring.

Now it seems they are reporting on it, now that 80 people have been arrested and others abused by the police for no good reason. Take this report from CNBC, for example. The commentary is bang-on and it should be spread around and seen by as many people as possible:

Now that you’ve digested some of that brilliance, ask yourself: why did it take a thug NYPD for major media to shine the spotlight on such an important subject?

I guess social movements are one thing that can be mentioned or ignored depending on how well connected and financed they or their opponents are, but violence sells regardless so if it bleeds, it leads.

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!

Now don’t get me wrong, while I’m not much of a sports fan in general, I do watch hockey, or at least Habs games in the playoffs, I am a Montrealer after all. But to date, it’s only been in one of two situations: either game’s on TV and there’s nothing else on (or I’m at someone else’s house) or I’m out at a bar.

Quite a good evening for him: Halak

I’ll go out to a bar specifically to watch the game, but only if I’m invited. I do enjoy the competition and cheer for the home team, but I never think of going out to catch the game myself. I’ve also watched a bunch of games this season because Forget The Box was involved with the Joe Two-Four show, but again, that was with a reason.

Last night, things changed and I actually found myself searching for the Habs/Capitals game (I don’t have cable and it’s not on CBC). I found it and was glad that I did.

There’s something about the underdog coming back and last night they did. It’s also nice that I decided to tune in for goalie Jaroslav Halak’s best performance and what is now the Habs’ franchise record for blocked shots.

While I’m not usually a bandwagon jumper, this particular bandwagon feels real comfy.

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 system remains profit-driven...is this really what change looks like? (photo AP)

Yes, more Americans are covered and in a few years insurance companies won’t be able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions (something that is the very definition of wrong). Unfortunately, people in the states now have to sign up and pay an insurance company whether they want to or not and health insurance companies still exist, which is an abomination.

Health care is a community service and should be treated as such. In the states, people are treated like we treat our pets here. How much of a logical leap does it take to realize that healthcare is not a luxury like a cellphone or a car, but a need like water or

True, I did endorse passing this bill, but asked lawmakers in the US to take out anything that helps the insurance companies. I’m not the only one, Michael Moore and others urged the bill’s passing, while remaining against it in its current form.

Now, he’s come out very publicly talking about what’s wrong with the bill and I guess, with this post, I have, too. He can explain it better than me, though…

So, for coming one step closer to being in step with the rest of the civilized world, congrats to the USA, but since it’s half-assed and doesn’t change the fundamental flaw in the system, it’s gonna have to be congrats, sort of…

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:

It came from the web! Dr Horrible

It’s an original musical by Joss Whedon starring Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day and Nathan Filion. I won’t go too much into the plot, but I will say that the super villain is actually the hero in this one.

It’s both funny and touching, the songs are catchy and it started on the internet (thanks in large part to the writer’s strike) and has gone on to win an Emmy. That something of this quality can start viral is quite an inspiration for those of us involved in web video.

This song (not even the best number in my opinion) inspired the duet in JC Sunshine that was part of our musical episode:

While I would have gladly embedded the official video on Hulu, that site is not available in Canada where I live. If you like what you heard and saw, though, please visit their site and support them by either ordering the DVD (available in some stores, too) or download it through iTunes.

While admitting that drinking was a factor in the death, police spokesperson Paul Chablo told the media that officers would still be asked to use their discretion when dealing with people drinking at the parade. This is a good thing, because the St-Patrick’s parade is one of the few permitted (though technically not) street parties in Montreal. However, arguments against motorized floats did catch my attention.

This is not during the St-Patty's Parade (photo La Presse)

Around the time that the SPVM was taking a relaxed approach to St-Patty’s celebration, they were also preparing to go hardcore on protesters marching against police brutality. They even sent infiltrators and possibly agent provocateurs into the crowd.

I wrote about this on Forget the Box, but I mainly focused on bias in media coverage of the event (seeing as I wasn’t able to make it down to the march myself). I can only hope (in vain, I’m sure) that they adopt a St-Pattty’s-style approach in years to come.

That means removing agent provocateurs and infiltrators from the crowd and let the march progress, only using “discretion” if things organically get out of hand instead of through being provoked.

What’s good for Irish and wannabe-Irish revelers should be good for people exercising their democratic right to speak out against abuses by the police as well.