Funeral For A Friend

I went about it pretty quickly a week ago when I mentioned the upcoming destruction of what is still considered the Heart of Montréal on The Main, and the ''funeral procession'' in its honour.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention those who did it better, longer, and more heartfelt than myself, as I turned my emotions ''off'' of late and attempted to coast through the remainder of the year trying not to notice it passing, faintly hoping I'd be left alive in not-too-decrepit a state when it's all said and done.

The Gazette kept it real, instilling a historical horizon on the piece of street our Mayor is attempting to nullify.

And to think merely a year ago, the mayor fooled us into thinking we had won - and the expropriation/demolition had been cancelled... after quite a few Save The Main fund-raising events.

But the most complete reference guide to the whole ordeal can be found here. Blogging at its informative best.

How To Kill The Soul Of A City

I totally forgot about the Funeral Procession in honour of what used to be La Main - Montréal's Red Light district, the heart and soul of North America for the first half of the 20th century, where Americans would stock up on alcohol during prohibition, where jazz greats (Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Muddy Watters, Charles Mingus and countless others) came to play and escape racism, where they made the best hot dogs (Montréal Pool Room, established in 1912), near the best smoked meat (Schwartz') in the world, and, of course, Café Cleopatra, one of the continent's first very openly drag-queen friendly venues (which also holds a regular female-dancer strip club on the first floor).

All housed in centuries-old buildings, set to be destroyed within the next few months after years of heritage groups, citizens, artists and tourism experts trying to get the madness stopped. And they still don't know what they'll erect in its place, all suitable tenants having elected to conduct their business elsewhere!

Luckily, photographer S. E. Amesse was there to take these pictures:

Costumes, a live orchestra - when artists grieve, they do it i style!

Look at how desolate the corner that made Montréal's reputation now looks:

Not only are our governments corrupt and crumbling, but our infrastructure, our buildings, nearly 400 years of history is going to the wayside for Disney-themed ''art'' neighbourhoods (Quartier Des Spectacles) and fucking condos. In the heart of fucking downtown. And our mayor is proud of himself.

It's as out of its place as pork sold in a mosque a fucking disgrace.

Video Of The Day: Wyclef Jean

In light of the earthquake in Haiti, a thought for those who were injured, who died, and those left standing.

A thought to the diaspora as well, as Haitians are spread just about everywhere on this planet, particularly in North America, shaping us as we are shaping them.

Wyclef Jean first burst onto the scene as the frontman of hip hop group The Fugees; from the get-go, he wore his heritage on his sleeve, and as soon as he came into money, he made sure to help spread it in his country of origin as well. Sure, some of it was lost to local corruption, but that just made his resolve stronger in bringing aid directly to those in the street.

We might lose track of this from some of his more recent contributions to modern music, cameos on songs that don't mean anything, collaborations with pop stars (Shakira), film stars (The Rock) or divas (Mary J. Blige) - but the guy is a heck of a humanitarian.

Shout out. Props.