the newspaperSeptember 24, 2009University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly Vol. XXXII N0. 4

ueaT caters to studentsTEjAs pArAsHEr

wavelength leaves sneaky dee’sdAn CrAig

This Ain’t The rosedale library turns 30 This is cause for celebration

miki sATo

Hacking talks Holberg, Harleys and shotgunsU of T philosopher unleashed on page 4

The shorts

word on the street is...Atwood’s a cyborg, page 7

Continued on page 3

Continued on page 7

the newspaperHacking talks Holberg, Harleys and shotgunsU of T philosopher unleashed on page 4

the newspaper

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UofT Food and Beverage Services has undertaken some major changes across all three campuses, following the re-sults of a student satisfaction survey conducted by the ASSU last year.

These include new, environ-mentally-friendly initiatives, as well as outreach services designed to communicate dir-ectly with a larger percentage of the student body. Although Food Services has undergone changes before, these new programs—collectively called UeaT—are singular in their nature and extent.

The new UeaT Blog is the cornerstone of all these

changes. Mr. Jaco Lokker, executive chef at the Univer-sity of Toronto, felt that there needed to be a single place where students could come for information about on-campus food. Previously, information on the internet was somewhat haphazardly scattered over various student-life websites, and the Food and Beverage Services homepage was too limited in its reach. The UeaT Blog has been designed with comprehensive information about eateries and cafeterias across campus. It provides details on the sort of food provided at each location, and whether or not it will accom-

Come October 4th, Wavelength, the indie and infl uential weekly music showcase, will no longer be showing at Sneaky Dee’s. Having helped to launch the careers of such artists as Feist and Broken Social Scene, fans of the series will now have to see it at The Garrison, a new pub that has popped up in the sketchy-come-trendy Dundas and Ossington area.

A psychedelic, or some-times drunken, playground for musical talent that features all sorts of acts from loud to weird, from soloists to 14-member ensembles, Wavelength origin-ally began in February 2000 in a now-closed club called Ted’s Wrecking Yard. In October 2001, Wavelength moved to Lee’s Palace.

However, co-organizer Jonny Dovercourt says that Lee’s was

too big a venue to capture the intimate vibe that they wanted. So at the end of May 2002, they moved to Sneaky Dee’s and have called it home for the last seven years.

“Our relationship with Sneaky Dee’s has been a long one and a healthy one,” says Dovercourt. “But Wavelength has always been more about people than a place.” Founded as an artist-run collective made up of local musicians in the fall of 1999, Wavelength published a zine from 2000 through to 2005 along with their weekly concerts. The mandate of the collective was to encourage collaborations and increase awareness of the underground local community. Dovercourt says, “That remains our man-date to this day.”

The former booker at Sneaky

On September 16th, a diverse crowd of former-beatniks, book-lovers, and young art-ists, gathered at Harbourfront Centre’s Brigantine Room to celebrate the 30th birthday of a place that The Guardian has named Canada’s best in-dependent bookstore, and one of the ten best bookstores in the world. Writer and poet friends of This Ain’t paid tribute with readings from some of their new and older works.

Marking the longevity of Toronto’s most popular in-dependent bookstore is a pleasant occasion, especially in light of fellow non-commercial bookstore Pages’s recent closure. Founded by Charles Huisken in the same year as Pages, This Ain’t opened on Queen St. E in 1979, before moving to its long-time residence at Church and

the campus New UofT and University of California research shows that parents regularly lie to their children to control their behaviour and emotions.

the local Ali Dirie, a member of the Toronto 18, admitted in court that he did belong to a terror cell. Dirie pleaded guilty to one count of participating in a terrorist group.

the world World leaders are meeting at the UN HQ to revitalize talks on climate change. Chinese President Hu Jintao is expected to unveil some steps that are going to be taken to tackle the country’s emissions.

the weird On Sunday, police offi cers had to capture an emu running loose on I-20 in Missisipi. Deputies were able to surround the animal, resorting to a taser and handcuffs to get it off the road.

- Amina Stella

Wellesley in 1986. It called the heart of The Village home until July 2008, when it moved to its present location in Kensington Market.

The bookstore is well-known

for its involvement with Can-adian underground culture, encouraging and stimulating the works of local talent. It

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Politics buffs will agree that the last few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster ride. Not that long ago, a fall federal elec-tion seemed a virtual certainty. In a campaign-style speech in Sudbury on September 1, Lib-eral leader Michael Ignatieff told the prime minister: “Mr. Harper, your time is up.” He vowed to bring down the gov-ernment at the first available opportunity.

In the days following Ignati-eff’s challenge, the NDP’s Jack Layton, who had previously boasted about voting against every confidence motion since the last election, started using phrases like “reaching out” and “working together” when talking about the Tories. In an interview with CBC radio’s The House on September 5, Layton suggested areas where his party would be willing to work with the Conservatives, including retirement security for seniors, job creation, and employment insurance (EI) reform.

According to U of T polit-ical science professor Nelson Wiseman, those words smacked of desperation. “Jack Layton sounded like he was begging for a bone,” he said. “The polls I have seen show NDP support has dropped from where it was during the last election; if they force a vote, they could lose some key seats in Ontario.”

In the end, none of those three issues made it into the confidence

motion tabled by the Conserva-tives last Friday. Instead, the “ways-and-means” motion focused on implementing the popular tax credit for home renovations. Nevertheless, the NDP decided to vote for it, stating that they didn’t want to stop future progress on EI reform by forcing an election. The motion was also supported by the Bloc Quebecois.

Reaction to the move among political groups on campus has been predictably mixed. Gabe de Roche, president of the U of T Liberals, said he was sur-prised by the decision. “The NDP have been saying for a long time now that they will vote against the government at every opportunity; I was pretty shocked to see that Jack Layton backed down on that.”

The move was derided by the NDP Socialist Caucus, which

held a recruitment meeting on campus last Tuesday. “This is not going to endear the NDP to its base or earn any applause from the right,” said the group’s leader, Barry Weisleder. “The party needs to get back to its roots.”

Conservatives, however, were pleased with the motion’s pas-sage. “Another election would have meant the loss of millions of tax dollars,” said Brittany D’arcy, Director of Communications for the Campus Conservatives. “Pol-iticians should be concentrating on continuing to keep our country on top of the economic situa-tion, not their own personal campaigns.”

Both de Roche and Weisleder said they worried that the move would raise cynicism among stu-dents. But Professor Wiseman isn’t so sure that students are affected by the machinations of

party politics. “The federal government has

very little influence in student issues,” he said. “The provinces make the decisions, all the fed-eral government can do is to crank the amount of money they provide up or down. For most students, politics is about being involved in Greenpeace or Am-nesty International, or whatever their particular issue is.”

If that is the case, the latest shifts of power on Parliament Hill will likely go unnoticed here on campus, especially now that the immediate threat of an elec-tion has passed. Nevertheless, week is a long time in politics, and campus leaders say their strategies haven’t changed.

“We’ve been in pre-election mode, and we’re going to stay there,” said de Roche. “It could still happen any time.”

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Toronto’s first man-made natural parkAndrEw gyorkos

Humanities in inhumane Times

UeaT caters to studentscont’d from page 1

3September 24, 2009 the news

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Lewis speaks of the corporatization of education at U of T.

The pressure to “go green” has finally evolved beyond the choice between biodegradable bags and hybrid cars. Now toddlers can make sustainable choices about where they play, thanks to the revitalization of McLeary Park, Toronto’s first natural playground. The park is deliberately designed to re-connect children with nature during their playtimes.

The Leslieville park is cur-rently in the process of being finalized for public use. “Sev-eral sites were considered, but Leslieville was chosen as the playground that was in need of an upgrade,” said Bruce Sudds, Vice-President of Development at Bienenstock Natural Play-grounds, the company supervising the playground’s construction, in an email to the newspaper. “There are a high number of children in the neighbourhood, and the city had slated funds to

upgrade the park.”The park was made possible

by a $300,000 donation from ING Direct Canada. On Sep-tember 17, around 500 ING employees completed the bulk of the labour. They were re-sponsible for creating paths, planting shrubbery, and in-stalling musical instruments. At the end of the day, ING Direct employees laid down 300 cubic yards of material - quite an im-pressive feat for office workers with no formal training in con-struction.

Sixty percent of the ma-terials involved in the park’s construction came from nat-ural resources available in the area. A colossal elm tree that had succumbed to disease was cut down and re-purposed for the commanding upside-down tree structure that dominates the central park. The rest of the tree is being used to build tables, chairs, benches, and forts around the playground.

The climbing boulders, an-other key element of the park, were imported from Perry Sound. Jeff Cowan, Vice-President in charge of operation and health & safety, explored the possibility of using boulders from Toronto, but explained that, due to weathering, they were not of ideal quality and had to be found elsewhere.

Cowan and a small team from Gardens for Living, the designers and builders of Bien-enstock’s Natural Playgrounds, are currently in the process of applying final touches and ser-vicing to the park in the hopes of opening it to the public by the weekend.

The formal opening cere-monies will be held on October 7. Previously, natural playgrounds had only been constructed at daycares and other similar fa-cilities in Toronto. The hope is that more public parks similar to the one in Leslieville will pop up all over the city.

TomAsz BugAjski

When you tell people that you study History, they always seem to always ask, “And what are you going to do with that?”

The perception that the liberal arts are impractical and a waste of time is fairly common. When the University of Toronto was first founded, one of its main goals was to produce good cit-izens, not necessarily graduates trained for high-paying jobs. Over the years, many people feel that this emphasis has changed to “business schools and shiny office buildings,” in the words of Avi Lewis, one of the panelists at a September 21 roundtable discussion on the role of humanities in our society, hosted by the Jackman Humanities Institute.

In addition to Lewis, who is the host of Why Democracy? on Al Jazeera, the guests included Chad Gaffield, President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Jill Matus,

Professor of English at the Uni-versity of Toronto, and John Ralston Saul, author of A Fair Country: Telling Truths about Canada.

Panelists discussed the problems facing the human-ities: how to promote them and public prejudices against them. A reoccurring theme throughout the discussion was the lack of understanding among the public about what constitutes “humanities.” Jill Matus complained that many people only associate the disci-pline with the performing arts and leisure. Avi Lewis empha-sized the corporatization of education and its disregard for the liberal arts. Chad Gaffield pointed to the great Canadian contribution to the humanities and praised private initiatives for their investments, but said there is plenty of room for us to improve. John Ralston Saul explained how valuable the humanities can be when ad-dressing important problems

like global warming.The conversation evolved into

a debate on the role of universi-ties in promoting humanistic education and the place for federal government funding. The guests were equally con-cerned that the liberal arts do not receive enough money from public or private sources. Their explanation was that the field is too misunderstood and organ-izations have no incentive to invest in its research.

One of the most interesting question of the evening was how to get the public to value the humanities and to realize the importance of investing their tax dollars in its research. Unfortunately, the panel could offer no concrete answers. It’s hard to blame them; the liberal arts benefit us in no concretely measurable way. In a suffering economy, refining our minds with literature and history can sometimes feel pointless. Many of us, as suggested by the panelists, just do not have the

time to pursue the humanities. Time is money, and money, whether we like it or not, is vital in our world. One solution might be a major injection of federal cash into the liberal arts to make it more affordable and practical for students to study. Once again, however, we are faced with the problem of how

to get the public to see this as worthwhile.

Unlike the sciences that can produce practical solutions to daily problems, the humanities benefit us in a more abstract way. Getting people to under-stand this and to see the benefits in an English or History degree is a very steep hill to climb.

modate specific diets. Lokker wanted to make sure

that the blog was about “edu-cating, not merely informing” people, and that “it would read more like a food magazine than anything else”. There are also various special-interest sections on Farmers’ Markets, sustainable local ingredients, and the role that on-campus food might play in social justice, as well as quick, ac-cessible recipes for occasions like Ramadan and Nutrition Week.

The ASSU survey has also had a major impact on the popular Sid’s Southside Café in Sidney Smith. The building’s Spartan interior has been renovated into a more relaxed, bistro-like surrounding, as per student de-mands. Seating is more spacious and comfortable, and personal booths have been installed to create quiet study areas. There are new food stations, such as Sultan’s Middle Eastern Cui-sine, and pasta and baguette stalls. ASSU representatives say that “it is still much too early to gauge student response, but it seems generally positive”.

In addition, UeaT has made environmental sustainability one of its guiding principles. The Lug-a-Mug campaign, which has been running for a few years now, is being imple-mented with renewed vigour. Students will save $0.25 on any hot beverage at a campus eatery when they use their own mug rather than a dis-posable container. Last year,

the campaign saved 76,561 cups from ending up in the dump. This year, UeaT hopes to double that number.

A new Public Water Initia-tive has also been started to cut down on the use of plastic bottles on campus. Aside from the obvious problem of litter, many students and staff felt that bottled water involves the unregulated manufacture of harmful PET chemicals, and condones the commercial-ization of a natural resource which should be a given right.

On the St. George campus, there are now four stations offering free, filtered water. In association with Canteen Canada, EnviroPURE Vending Machines have also been in-stalled on all three campuses. Students can fill reusable con-tainers with 500ml of water for $0.50, or 500ml of any fla-voured drink for $1.00.

Lokker considers this an opportune time for such pro-grams to be implemented. “People are more aware of what they eat now; they want to know and understand where their food comes from, how it affects the world around them. UeaT is, to a large ex-tent, just about making sure that students have access to all the information and ser-vices they need for this—we want to underline that we are always there to listen to their concerns.”

The UeaT blog can be reached at http://blogs.studentlife.uto-ronto.ca/Ueat/.

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4 September 24, 2009the inside

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Earlier this week, a col-laborative effort by research groups out of Switzerland and the United States published a paper in Nature Neuroscience, in which they describe how they recovered function in the limbs of mice after severe spinal cord injury resulting in full paralysis in the legs.

It has been known in some form, for all of time, that se-vere spinal cord injury which prohibits all supraspinal inputs generated in the brain from reaching our lum-bosacral (leg) spinal circuits, leads to permanent paralysis in rodents and humans. Further, paralysis stemming from an in-jury around the neck can lead to the loss of unassisted breathing and can shorten one’s lifespan (see Christopher Reeve).

After a complete severing of the spinal cord, the networks of neurons in the spine below the split retain the intrinsic ability to oscillate and generate rhythmic motor outputs. The circuits that underlie these out-puts are called central pattern generators (CPGs) and while they can’t produce muscle movement on their own, it is the CPGs that are accessed, activated and manipulated to allow the recovery of loco-motive function after severe

spinal cord injury.The research group, headed by

Gregoire Courtine, tested com-binations of pharmacological and electrical stimulations in concert with locomotive training to judge whether they could acti-vate and functionally remodel the spinal cord locomotive circuits. They found that two molecules which act as sero-tonin agonists (serotonin is a neurotransmitter that acts during muscle contraction, its agonists are molecules

that are similar to serotonin, and be-have and generate the same effect), and electrical stimula-tion close

to the severing point of the spinal cord improved leg contractile function in approximately one week. In doing this, the group was able to demonstrate for the first time the ability of these rats to engage in full weight-bearing locomotion on a treadmill.

This is a big step in the initia-tive to restore some quality of life in humans who have suf-fered severe spinal cord injuries and are paralyzed. With the development of effective spinal cord repair therapies such as this, there is real progress in counteracting the debilitating loss of function and the opti-mization of the use of CPGs in regaining function.

“This is a big step in the initiative to restore some quality of life in humans who have suffered severe spinal cord injuries and are

paralyzed.”

Appointed a U of T professor in the Department of Philosophy in 1991, Ian Hacking has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships for his contribution to the humanities. Most recently, he was awarded the Holberg Prize. This prize, annually awarded by the Norse government, is for outstanding academic achieve-ment in the fields of the arts and humanities, social sciences, law and theology. Total cash at-tached to the prize is approximately $700,000CAD.

Prof. Hacking has published over 220 peer-reviewed articles, and 13 books. He excels not only at ex-pressing himself in technical detail to other scholars, but also communi-cating to a general audience in such publications as The Globe and Mail, The New York Review of Books, and The New Republic, among others.

the newspaper caught up with him via email while he was in transit between speaking engagements.

You were born and grew up in Vancouver, and received your first degree at the University of British Columbia. What was it like to grow up on the west coast?

It was quite provincial and still quite British. As an adolescent I lived in North Vancouver, very different from prosperous West Vancouver. It had been a boom town during the War, with the shipyards going full swing. You can imagine social consequences when the troops came home and the shipyards pretty much closed.

UBC was also pretty provincial but by chance there were a handful of exceptional undergrads doing mathematics. It should be remem-bered that in those days in BC it was very easy for a boy to work summers and completely support himself for four years of college.

Your first degree was a Bachelor’s in Physics and Mathematics. When did your interest in philosophy and his-tory develop?

I had no thought of being a phil-osopher and certainly never took a philosophy course. I was a pill, to use a term of abuse of the day, until in my third year I began to hang out with people who waffled about exis-tentialism. I also went around with several older and highly disreput-able European students. I decided without knowing anything to apply to Cambridge University to read for a second BA in moral sciences. By a real fluke I got accepted at Trinity College which changed my life. Plan B was to spend my college savings on a Harley: my most disreput-able European friend and I were planning to ride South to Tierra del Fuego. That was in 1956.

In your work, Representing and Intervening, you argue that scientists cannot only

represent the world, but also must by necessity intervene in the world. Is this an inevitable handicap? Is it a handicap at all?

Quite the contrary. Until let us say the time of Robert Boyle, when people started seriously messing with the world in order to system-atically produce new phenomena, the scientific mind was terribly handicapped. Of course we may end up doing irreparable harm, as in Margaret Atwood’s nasty dystopias Oryx and Crake (2003) and the just-out Year of the Flood.

Do you think there is an ob-jective reality out there? If so, are we getting any closer to re-vealing (or intervening in) it?

If I have to give yes or no an-swers to the specific questions, then: yes, yes. But the questions stink. For example, the second one suggests that there could be ultimate “revelation” of “reality” -- which is nonsense.

These days, medical research is published almost daily in mainstream publications in the form of statistics and probabil-ities. Do you think knowledge published like this is valid, or even useful to the average person?

You ask if knowledge of this kind is “valid”. Lots of it is, but it is very difficult for even the most assiduous citizen to sort out the probability overload. As you know, we are inun-dated with health statistics which get revised all the time. Last year sugar was the great evil, this year salt, a little bit of fat is deadly, is good for you, etc.. Some of this is just journalism, but the scientific com-munity is not innocent: publicity for statistical statements is good for getting funded. Think of the daily announcements of “the gene for schizophrenia” or whatever – at best a risk factor has been de-tected for a very small population. Still, it is surely important to know that people who talk on cell phones while driving tend to drive badly. Please, readers, do not talk on your

dAn CrAig

cell when you are at the wheel!You have won many awards

and fellowships throughout your career. What does an award like the Holberg mean to you?

It has to be taken with a lot of hu-mility. I probably have 100 people on my bookshelves who are equally worthy, and there will be another 2000 whom I have never read. The Norwegian parliament wanted to give awards in subjects not cov-ered by the Nobel prizes, and so it established the Abel prize in math-ematics, and the Holberg prize in humanities and social sciences, to emphasize that these too are integral to human aspiration and achieve-ment. The Norwegians were sharing a little bit of the happy accident that they have a lot of premium quality offshore oil. I feel that winners of such prizes should take the hint and share their good fortune, but not in ostentatious ways.

What does a philosopher of science like to do with his free time, that is assuming he has any?

I am answering your questions on a flight back from Lethbridge. I gave a couple of talks there and then my wife and I had a great long weekend walking in the Rockies (Waterton park). By the way, I do not like being identified as a philosopher of science. I am a philosopher.

Do you have any advice for young philosophers? Anything you would do differ-ently?

Any thing I would do differently? Once long ago when I was driving across the Southern United States in my $90 Dodge I stopped at a service station in the middle of the desert to do some duct-tape type repairs. The mechanic owner was so impressed he offered me a job on the spot. “I will teach you all I know,” he said. I wish I had stayed to learn. (“Don’t worry that it’s kinda lonely out here,” he also said, “of course I’ll give you a handgun, and we always have a loaded shotgun under the counter.”)

5September 24, 2009 the inside

noAH gATAvECkAs And miki sATo

The Bloor Cinema: A Historic landmark in the Annex6 September 24, 2009the inside

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“Community Centre for the Arts,” says Carmelo Bordonaro, owner of Bloor Cinema. “If it were up to me, that’s what I’d call it. That’s the way I see it. A little bit of every-thing, for everyone.”And he’s not joking. Over the 100-plus years The Bloor has been in business, it has played host to a cornucopia of artistic and cultural events. The theatre has lent its stage and 800-odd seats for comedy, burlesque, live music shows, and in more recent years, its popular end-of-month celebration of cult classic, The Rocky Horror Pic-ture Show.

When the theatre debuted in 1905, the building was originally known as The Madison, hosting vaudeville acts. It underwent a major renovation from 1940-41, transferring into a moving-pic-ture theatre called The Midtown. Undergoing several name changes throughout the years, it was for some time in the 70’s known as The Eden - owned by multiplex chain Famous Players - functioning as a profit-able porno theatre. Finally, in 1979, the theatre was renamed The Bloor Cinema, adopting the name after the original Bloor

Theatre, which is now known as Lee’s Palace.

Mr. Bordonaro’s eyes light up at the mention of the theatre’s regular showings of 50s and 60s classic films. “Yeah, that’s one of my favourite parts” he says. Recent classics that have hit the big screen include Annie Hall, Psycho, and The African Queen. “As long as people con-tinue to come, we’ll be happy to continue to play them.”

But this highlights a current issue for the theatre’s manage-ment. Since the rise of laptop movie-watching, audiences have dwindled at the single-screened repertory cinema. Though num-erous festivals, such as Hot Docs and Toronto After Dark, bring in dedicated film-goers, regular attendance remains a cause for concern. Because of the dom-inance of first-run megaplex theatres, rise of DVD rentals, and personal downloading, the fu-ture of this vintage movie house may be at risk.

In 2006, four of the major rep cinemas in Toronto closed its doors after the late Peter Mc-Quillan’s family was unable to support the costs of running the Festival Cinemas. The Bloor, un-like its not-so-lucky counterparts, has persevered. Now employed

by a majority new staff, the the-atre has no immediate plans for changes, but Theatre Programmer Peter Kupowski, tells viewers to “expect a lot more cult classics” in the near future.

“We try to have programming that everyone can enjoy. Espe-cially young people. If it wasn’t

for the University of Toronto, we might go out of business,” Bor-donaro says. Located on the north side of Bloor Street near Bathurst, the theatre is a mere stone’s throw away from St. George campus.

“We couldn’t do this without the community,” says Bordonaro, “which makes sense. After all,

that’s who we do this all for.”Upcoming events include

the second half of Classic Tar-antino, September 28, and the Toronto-Palestine Film Festival, September 26-27. For more information, go to www.bloor-cinema.com.

rom, Ago team up for Art & glamourAmy sTupAvsky

noAH gATAvECkAs

danger: fiction and robo-arms aheadword on the street celebrates 20 years of celebrating Can lit

This Ain’t the Rosedalecont’d from page 1

7September 24, 2009 the arts

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Edward Streichen’s Self-Portrait

holds an impressive history of visits and readings by authors such as Hunter S. Thomson, William S. Burroughs, and Alison Bechdel, to name a few. This Ain’t continues to play host to an array of readings and literary happenings, so it’s easy to find yourself spending several hours there each week.

In a dimly-lit Brigantine Room, bill bissett takes a sip from his bottle of water be-fore bestowing the crowd with an impromptu poetic treat: “Standing, sitting, breathing, in the universe. With all the candlelight, you’re all stars.” Captivating the room with his unique musical, trance-inducing poetry performance, bissett pauses to remark, “I love Charlie. When I got eye surgery, he put eye-drops in my eye three times a day. When I got Hep C, he visited me in the hospital.”

The bookstore, as well being the best place to find small-press publications, graphic

Visitors to the ROM and AGO will receive a double-dose of photographic heaven on Sep-tember 26 with the opening of two shows, the Vanity Fair Por-traits and Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Years: 1927-1937. In an affir-mation of enthusiasm for pho-tography, the joint exhibits rep-resent the ROM and the AGO’s first collaborative effort.

As one of the most influen-tial photographers of the last century, Steichen captured the visual culture of his age. The show covers his years as chief photographer at Vanity Fair and Vogue, when he was at the height of his ability.

“We are an institution that celebrates the art of looking and engaging visitors in the contem-plation of objects,” said Mat-thew Teitelbaum, AGO Director and CEO. “The Steichen exhibit invites you to slow down and think about issues of composi-tion and scale. It encourages you to develop a visual vocabulary.”

The exhibit is overwhelming in its scope and volume, dis-playing the range of Steichen’s achievement and amaz;ing in-ventiveness. He offered fashion lovers a stunning array of cou-ture snaps from every major de-signer, from Lanvin to Chanel. His expert manipulation of arti-ficial light highlights the sump-tuous tactility of the clothes.

Equally adept at portraiture, his 1932 photo of Noel Cow-ard arrests the viewer. Coward sits staring penetratively at the camera, insouciantly puffing a cigarette. “You don’t even have

to see his face, you know it’s him,” this reporter overheard a visitor say of Steichen’s talent at revealing Coward’s persona through the composition.

The ROM’s Vanity Fair Por-traits delves into society’s pre-occupation with the cult of ce-lebrity. The exhibit showcases an exuberant collection of Van-ity Fair’s portrait photography, which formed the cornerstone of the magazine’s vintage and modern periods. The iconic im-ages encompass a who’s who

of film, theatre, music, politics, sport, journalism, and litera-ture. The real stars of the show, however, are the people behind the lens: Mario Testino, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, and An-nie Leibovitz, all celebrities in their own right.

“It’s an interesting intellec-tual analysis of the nature of ce-lebrity, its burdens and oppor-tunities,” said William Thorsell, ROM Director and CEO.

Both exhibits run until Jan. 3, 2010.

This Sunday the 27th, Queen’s Park will be invaded by a bunch of professional liars. You’ve been warned. Don’t trust any-thing they say. This is how they make a living - they tell stories, most of which are not true, then sell them to people who don’t know any better.

If you happen to walk by the Park as it goes on, be sure to cover your ears. Especially if you’re of a more scientific mindset, or used to thinking in terms of fact and reason. Other-wise, you might find yourself elbow-deep in concrete poetry. The horror!

But for those of you who are thrill-seekers, the Word on the Street festival might be just the ticket you’re looking for. There will be a wide variety of venues and events to test your rational perspicacity. Some of these on-

goings include a Comics and Graphic Novels Tent - featuring interviews with Toronto-based writers and illustrators; Proud Voices - celebrating queer com-munity and LGBT writing; and the Eye Weekly Music Stage - focusing on new music-related books.

“The celebration of litera-ture and reading is a wonderful event for people of all ages, and reaffirms Toronto’s commit-ment to arts and culture as vital characteristics of a livable city,” says Mayor David Miller. “The beautiful grounds at Queen’s Park offer a spacious setting and a great place for residents and visitors to relax, read a book or magazine, and participate in fun activities.”

Now in its 20th year, the na-tional festival has an eventful day planned, including a huge exhibitor marketplace and amazing lineup of authors.

Some notable writers attending Sunday’s event include Kenneth Oppel, Nino Ricci, and Stuart McLean. Margaret Atwood will also be on hand with her signa-ture LongPen at the ScotiaBank Bestsellers Stage, signing copies of her highly-anticipated new novel, “The Year of the Flood”.

The festival will also have its share of non-fiction fun. For an expert take on the personal fi-nance, visit the Money Matters Tent. Or, if you think you might need some tips for the kitchen, check out the Cooks ‘n’ Books Stage.

Bookworms, delight! But be weary; you can never trust an author. Except me, of course - I always tell the truth.

Word on the Street will take place on Sept. 27, from 11am to 6pm. For more information, go to www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/toronto.

novels, counter-cultural nonfic-tion, and an extensive collection of poetry, is also a place where both authors and customers as-sociate personal memories and a kind familiarity. Canadian fiction writer and poet, Stuart Ross, expresses the fondness he had, and still has, for the “inclusive” and “alternative” bookstore, whose staff sup-ported his small publication in its early days.

Charles Huisken’s genuine love for good reading and all things art rubbed off on his son, Jesse, who began helping his dad run the store in 2008. New fans and loyal customers alike look forward to seeing This Ain’t around for another thirty years, continuing to be, as CBC Radio’s Jowi Taylor puts it, “a safe, comfortable place to explore so many crazy writers.”

This Ain’t the Rosedale Li-brary is located at 86 Nassau St.

Wavelength leaves Sneaky Dee’scont’d from page 1

8 September 24, 2009the backpage

Saw what you had to offer at the Munk Centre basement

bathroom. You peeked back. Meet you same place, Fri 5pm.

to respond or send your missed connections, email thenewspaper@gmail.com

missed connections - on campus -

Dee’s, Shaun Bowring, who became an in-tegral part of the Wavelength series over the last five years, had long spoke about opening his own club one day. His dream now realized in The Garrison, he invited Wavelength to join him at the new space. Dovercourt said they jumped at the oppor-tunity.

Getting in on the ground floor was a large draw for Dovercourt and his colleagues. “Literally,” said Dovercourt. “That is a big advantage of the new space, it is on the first floor with no stairs to load gear up! And it’s also in an exciting, burgeoning neighbour-hood: Dundas and Ossington.”

Wavelength is making the change of venue in time for their 500th show next February. A recent press release from the Wavelength crew states that they will “con-clude the weekly Wavelength series on its 10th anniversary.” Jonny Dovercourt as-sures me, however, that they will not be disappearing. “We are planning on transi-tioning from a weekly Sunday night series

into a new, yet-to-be-determined format.”

The Dundas and Ossington area has recently seen a noticeable explosion of cafes, bars and art galleries. The Gar-rison will be opening around the corner from the already wildly popular artsy-country-hipster Dakota Tavern.

The Garrison is located at 1197 Dundas St. W, and the October 4th Wavelength will feature Home Video (Brooklyn, NY), SherpaFeast, Wet Dirt, and Sean Ward. If you want to see Wavelength at Sneaky Dee’s (431 Col-lege St.) one final time, your chance will be this Sunday, Sept. 27 and will feature Sandman Viper Command (Strokes-meets-Television jumpy guitar pop), The Sales Department (“music made with a computer by a human”), Let There Be Light (post-gazer balladry), and Debbie Suede (twangy atmospheric pop). Bands start to play at 9:30.