One thing I have learned as Conservative politicians ignorant of the facts surrounding harm reduction scare up fear of drug users, overdose prevention sites, safer supply and people who need compassion and mental health support; some people want to learn more about what harm reduction means and how it can help their loved ones before they become another overdose statistic.
A road trip to Philadelphia on Presidents Weekend mixed historical exploration, delectable vegan cuisine, and a thrilling concert experience. The journey included visits to the Mütter Museum, Edgar Allan Poe’s house, Eastern State Penitentiary, indulging in vegan delights and attending an exhilarating concert featuring YDI, Flag of Democracy, and The Dead Milkmen. The trip encapsulated a rich blend of history, culture, and entertainment.
This episode features a conversation with Casey and Core, cofounders of Barrie, Ontario’s independent music label Tarantula Tapes. They talk about releasing music they love and some of the problems they have overcome regarding quality control working at a DIY level. They recommend some of their favourite releases from the label’s first three years and future releases they are hyped to bring to music lovers.
Revisiting a hot December night in a boggy Hamilton sweatbox with MVLL CRIMES, Fight on Sight, Lowheaven, Monk, and Single Mothers that capped off the action for Wood-stein.ca in 2023. It’s time to crawl out of the mire and prepare for a productive 2024.
This episode features a conversation with Jillian Clair about the movement to legalize magic mushrooms and her research into the benefits of Psilocybin, that ingredient some mushrooms have which adds that psychedelic touch to them that many of us have grown to love. The mood-stabilizing gift from nature that governments want to deny access to.
The stage of the Axis Club in Toronto was transformed into the landscape that ended up focusing the global eye on an artistic band of Russian activists. Although Pussy Riot has yet to topple Putin’s regime, the notoriety they achieved in 2012 has made them an activist force to be reckoned with.
Riot Days is a play based on the memoir of Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina. Although the performance maintained the original Russian language, the story of resistance, repression and revolution has been cleverly presented in a multi-media blitz that even allows those of us who are unfortunate monolinguists to follow along and feel a part of the concert, rally, theatre and political happening. After all, as they say, “anyone can be Pussy Riot.”
In this episode, Barrie Ontario musician Earl Wyvern discusses their history and involvement in the DIY Arts Collective, which progressed to a deep involvement in music, promoting shows through Gay Ass Productions and slamming eardrums on recording and stages for the past ten years. They are currently playing with Angry Spells and digging deeper into what they refer to as their “horrendous progressive politics” with Earl Wyvern and Spare Parts.
Essentially, their horrendous politics, which they describe as “queer” and “militant,” are just a wish for people to be treated fairly and not single out specific segments of society with excuses not to be kind to them. Wyvern describes this as “what-aboutism” and that when people set out to do good for people, they don’t discriminate about who deserves help in times of need.
Gay-Ass Productions is presenting Stonewall 2: Fundraiser Boogaloo at the Simcoe Hotel in Barrie on October 15. Money raised will support transgender youth through Trans Wellness Ontario. This organization provides counselling, resources and peer support for Trans Youth in Ontario at a time when anti-2SLGBTQIA rhetoric is on the rise.
Six bands are on the bill: Morel, Chachi On Acid, Earl Wyvern with Spare Parts, Mercy, Speed Humps, and Not So Gentle at the Simcoe Hotel, 31 Bayfield St. Barrie, On for $15. It’s 19+, and the doors open at 7 p.m. sharp. The bands will be playing shortly after, and it will run like clockwork.
On this episode, award-winning musician, writer, poet, activist, broadcaster and washing machine engineer Joe Solo speaks about spreading his message of social justice, anti-fascism, and socialism in his music and books from Scarborough. Not the Scarborough that will jump into the minds of people raised in southern Ontario, but the one across the Atlantic on England’s North Sea coast.
Solo began his musical journey in 1987 and has seen him leaping around with pop-punk upstarts Lithium Joe or his solo albums hammering out his unique brand of Folk, Punk and Blues. His songs bring to mind great lyrical thinkers like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joe Hill, and Billy Bragg.
This episode features a conversation with singer-songwriter Carol Hodge. She is a versatile musician living in Yorkshire, UK, who has been performing styles as diverse as the punk sounds of CRASS, which she has been touring with Steve Ignorant since 2011, to introspective pop songs full of intelligence, wit and poignancy delivered with a “cynical optimism.”
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