Sick of homophobic twats on Twitter?

The Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta has created a social mirror website titled No Homophobes that tracks the use of slurs on Twitter. 

The site strives to put an end to the casual use of homophobic language. Tolerance of racist and sexist language is on the decline, yet slams against queers continue to be prevalent, the site states. 

Visit the official site to see the counter and tweets that have recently used gay slurs. You can use #NoHomophobes on Twitter to show your support.

While a knitted uterus is nice, defeating motion 312 would be even better.

Today, feminist pro-choice group Radical Handmaids are staging a protest on Parliament Hill to coincide with the vote on Conservative backbencher Stephen Woodworth's anti-choice motion, which many see as an attempt to reopen the abortion debate.

"It's important for us to be there today, while the vote is happening, to symbolically demonstrate to Parliament that we are watching. Regardless of whether or not this motion goes through, we intend to follow up with everyone who has voted yes in support of the motion," Radical Handmaid co-founder Julie Lalonde says.

Pro-choice supporters across Canada have been knitting uteruses for quite some time yet didn't know what to do with their femme fabrications. Radical Handmaids will accept the handmade protest pieces and send them along to anti-choice supporters.

Lalonde says the group was formed because she and her pro-choice friends wanted to make their voices heard in an unconventional way.

"We thought, let's do something a little satirical, a little performance art to make fun of the ridiculousness of the whole thing. From there it turned into making fun of The Handmaid's Tale and making fun of what some of these MPs are saying."

If motion 312 is defeated, Lalonde says, it's not the end of the Handmaids.

"We absolutely want to stick around and do pro-choice organizing. This is not the end of us, even if it is the end of motion 312." 

Visit the Handmaids' official site, Facebook and Twitter.  

Canadian landscapes will be the focus of the Expeditions art installation, which opens today, Friday, Sept 21 at the Ottawa Art Gallery.

The group exhibition presents in a variety of mediums, from video to visual. Still, do not expect simple images of fields of forests. Nuit Blanche describes the landscapes you will see as alien and foreign, challenging the perception of classic art.

Artists displaying include Ottawa's Penny McCann, Stockholm's Cecilia Nygren and Toronto's Katie Bethune-Leaman.

Expeditions

Runs until Jan 13, 2013

The Ottawa Art Gallery

2 Daly Ave  

Tourist of memory from Penny McCann on Vimeo.

 

I Mother Earth front-man Brian Byrne is making a triumphant return to Ottawa after the newly reformed act tore up the Bluesfest stage in July. Byrne, whose voice you may recognize from the "There's No Place Like This" Ontario tourism ads, will play a solo acoustic set at Swizzles on Saturday, Sept 15.

Byrne talked to Xtrapolate in advance of his show about Ottawa being the best stop on I Mother Earth's recent tour and why Swizzles audiences are as amazing as the earth, the sky and everything in between. 

XTRAPOLATE: I detect a definite East Coast sound on your solo albums. Would you say being from Newfoundland has influenced your music?

BRIAN BYRNE: For sure. Growing up in a community where music is such a big part of the culture -- even storytelling is a massive part of the culture -- you can't grow up there without feeling connected to that in some way.

X: I Mother Earth reunited this past summer for a slew of concerts. When you were approached for the reunion, were you apprehensive or excited right away?

BB: Excited right away. It had been a very long time; it was eight years, and a lot of things can happen in eight years. Any of the negative things that had happened along the way, whether it was on the road or with the record label, any of that sort of stuff seemed to dissipate and all you can think about is being on the road with your friends and doing something that you love again. It becomes very pure, very organic.

X: In retrospect, were you satisfied with the shows you did this summer? Were there any highlights?

BB: I think Ottawa [Bluesfest] was one of the highlights, for sure. The crowd was really good, and all the crew who operated Bluesfest, as we were leaving the stage, they all clapped. I've never had a crew clap for us ever. It was pretty heavy and the review was quite nice. That was one of the better ones for us this summer.

X: Can fans expect a new I Mother Earth record?

BB: No, actually, I don't think we are going to do a record in the traditional sense. I think we'll keep recording and releasing music as we do it. We won't put together a physical album right now. With taking eight years off and coming back, if we were to take time off to do a full record again it would be another couple of years before we were up and running. I think we will stick with being able to go out and play shows and have some momentum. In the downtime between shows we will continue to write and record and put stuff out as it happens.

X: Your love of tattooing is apparent on the cover of your album Tailor Made. Would you say tattooing is your second passion after music?

BB: I think it's art in general for me, honestly. I love fashion, I love photography, I love drawing, I love tattooing, I love playing. Anything that sparks that artistic thing inside me is what I'm drawn to. I'm never going to be a banker. 

X: What can Ottawa fans expect at your Swizzles show?

BB: They are generally really loose and fun. I tell some stories and take my time with it. It's pretty much the antithesis of the I Mother Earth machine, where it's heavy and we go for it and jump around. There's not much talking. It's the complete other side of that. I couldn't be happier that a friend of mine connected me with Swizzles. At the last show I played there I thought the crowd was really attentive and open, which was really cool. Sometimes you play and people could care less. They're drinking and doing their thing; not that everybody has to hang on my every word. I don't want that since everybody is out having a good time, anyway. It's a social scene; it's a bar. But I found that crowd in particular to be very considerate and great listeners. I'm really happy to go back there. 

Brian Byrne at Swizzles

Sat, Sept 15, doors open at 7pm

246 Queen St

$5  

"Far from Good."

"Oscar Thomas Finn (Wish You Well)."

Queer audiophiles in Ottawa will be watching the outcome of this year's Live 88.5 FM Big Money Shot competition.

Two queer, or at least queer-friendly, bands have made it into the third round of the annual search for explosive local talent, which kicks off tonight at Ritual Nightclub.

Five-piece girl band Apocalypstic take to the stage tonight, Wednesday, Sept 12 at 10:30pm, while Xtra cover darlings The PepTides perform Saturday, Sept 15 at 9:45pm.

Both bands played Capital Pride last month. The winner will be awarded a substantial monetary prize, although the exact amount varies from year to year. Previous winner Amanda Rheaume was awarded $40,000. Six bands from the current group of 15 will move on to round four.

Live 88.5 FM Big Money Shot

Round three: Wed, Sept 12-Sat, Sept 15

Ritual Nightclub, 137 Besserer St  

$8 per night 

For the complete roster of round-three bands, visit the official site.

Apocalypstic, "Goodbye Girl."

The PepTides, "I'm in Love."

An event like Sept 11, 2001, could not take place without countless artists becoming inspired by the horror, the anger or the deaths of thousands. Eleven years after that sunny Tuesday in New York, 9/11 continues to be the subject of songs, novels and films.

The songs on this list are a mix of saccharine-laced odes (Melissa Etheridge, The Stills, Tori Amos, Beastie Boys) and provocative protest songs (Bloc Party, Sleater-Kinney, Ani DiFranco, Sheryl Crow). If there were a silver lining to the tragedy (although I'm certain victims' families would say there is not), it would be the art that is created in response to trauma.

Melissa Etheridge, "Tuesday Morning."

Leonard Cohen, "On That Day." 

 

Tori Amos, "I Can't See New York." 

 

Bloc Party, "Hunting for Witches." 

 

Gorillaz, featuring D12 & Terry Hall, "911."

 

Beastie Boys, "An Open Letter to NYC." 

 

The Stills, "Let's Roll."

 

Sleater-Kinney, "Far Away." 

 

Sheryl Crow, "Out of Our Heads."

 

Ani DiFranco, "Self-Evident." 

 

Most couch potatos subscribe to the opinion that SNL has never been as good as it was in its 1970s heyday, although the indespensable Kristen Wiig brought the show close.

Now, with Wiig, Abby Elliott and Andy Samburg departing, Canuck producer Lorne Michaels has added three new players to the cast. The newbies are set to debut on the season premiere, airing this Saturday, Sept 15. 

The three new hires include Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson and Cecily Strong. This trio of repertory players will be in good company, joining the show's first openly lesbian cast member, Kate McKinnon, who started on SNL late last season. McKinnon is the show's third gay cast member, after Terry Sweeny and Danitra Vance, who were both with the show during its 1985/86 season. However, Vance was not open about her sexuality.

Each of this new crop has made his or her mark in the Chicago improv scene, but will they fizzle on screen?

Watch clips of each new addition below.

Cecily Strong lampoons Quebec tour guides. 

Aidy Bryant as Gretl. 

Tim Robinson as an insecure man living in his parents' basement.   

 

From glitter bombings to accidental confrontations with gay activists, Mitt Romney's campaign for president has been marred by anti-gay sentiments.

Now comes another bump in his run, thanks to his wife, Ann.

While being interviewed by Iowa's KWQC, anchor David Nelson asked Mrs Romney if she believes a lesbian mother should be allowed to marry her partner. Ann had been touting herself as a champion for all women but refused to answer the question, instead saying, "You know, I'm not going to talk about the specific issues. I'm going to let my husband speak on issues . . . Those are hot-button issues that distract from what the real voting issue is going to be at this election . . . It's going to be about the economy and jobs."

Nelson then asked Ann about birth control, and she again claimed these were not real issues. Nelson informed her that a Pew Research poll found that same-sex marriage and birth control were ranked as being either "important" or "very important" to women.

Her response: "You know, and I personally believe, and this is what I'm hearing from women all across the country, that they are going to look for the guy that's going to pull them out of the weeds and get them job security and a brighter future for their children."

Her husband's Bain Capital actually took jobs away from Americans while turning a profit for himself. The future always looks bright when you are a billionaire. 

Read the full interview transcript. 

Indiana University has launched the Kinsey Reporter, a global mobile survey platform for reporting anonymous data about sexual encounters.

The free app is available through Apple iOS and Google Play stores and allows users to add their personal experiences in addition to sharing, exploring and visualizing the accumulated data. 

"People are natural observers; it's part of being social," Julia Heiman, director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, told The Advocate. "We expect to get new insights into sexuality and relationships today. What do people notice? What are they involved in? . . . What can they relate to us about their lives and their communities?"

For more info, visit the app's official site, Twitter and Facebook page.