September 13, 2006

• . . . . so hard to contemplate, the end of a life in mid-stride. my heart goes out to all of you up there.
• I just heard about this briefly on the radio. How sad.
• Geez. I guess I'll be the first: why Montreal again?
• This happened about ten minutes from my parents and next to a metro station that I used almost daily for years. The memories of the Polytechnique massacre and the Concordia shootings are still very fresh in Montreal and for ex-Montrealers like myself. Fortunately the press seems to have backed off early reports of four dead and multiple gunmen.
• I should have linked that last line: cbc story.
• .
• . fuck.
• *sadness*
• no words.
• . I was in Montréal just last week.
• I study a few blocks from Dawson -- I was there just a week ago, and know a few alumni. My school's paper, The Link, has some coverage It was chaos pretty much all day here (classes were cancelled at UdeM but not Concordia) but it seems now that: 1) there was one suspect, canadian of canadian origin, who was shot by the police 2) one victim is dead, 6 are in critical condition, others severe or under observation. 3) the media are already starting to be jackasses (asking the minister if there should be armed guards in schools AS WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IF EVERYONE WAS SAFE YET). Seriously $journalist, fuck you.
• I'm a little annoyed by the linking of this to the Montreal Massacre - we have no idea what this one was about, why it happened, and the only connection is that it was at a school of young people (different stages, however). I don't know. It's of course very sad news, but the media coverage is frustratingly sensational. CNN is milking it for all it's worth, with big photos of students crying. Especially because it turns out that it wasn't quite as horrific as first reported, with the number of deaths. (I will also admit to some amusement at watching CNN flail in trying to describe CEGEPs. "In Canada, students as young as 16 attend college, which generally serves as a bridge between high schools and universities.": nice try, no cigar. And it further underscores that it's not as CNN says - "not the first shooting at a Montreal college" - because this is a CEGEP and the other was a university. Small difference, maybe, but. It doesn't help anybody to turn this into a Breaking! News! Tragedy! OMG Montreal is turning into a terror zone! All their schools are unsafe!) (All this as an ex-Montrealer, by the way, who is not trying to be insensitive, just so horribly frustrated by what is basically hijacking of a tragedy into a news event. I know it happens all the time, but maybe it's because that's my old city that it hurts so much this time, and the fact that they can't even get it right).
• Yeah, I avoided the american stuff all day -- CBC and my own paper are good enough for me, thank you very much. They've seemed pretty reasonable in their coverage all day, except for the jackass question.
• Oh my goodness. And not so many hours ago I was chatting to Richer on the #firc abut violent incidents in schools in Canada. This may not be the time - but I'm sure there will be a huge reaction in levels of security at schools now. And I'm not sure that such a response is the best.
• Well there was a reason we were chatting about that gomi -- Concordia had a whole lotta security on the downtown campus -- big dudes in suits everywhere you looked. It was (I think it still is) pretty sinister. Makes you feel like you're not very trustworthy, all them guys in uniform.
• (oh, the security was for 9/11, I think (it started on the evening of 9/10 AFAIK). But I have not asked the school why, and with the events, it may stay that way for a while.
• .
• . It would be easier to explain CEGEPs to British people - they have 6th form colleges that fufil the same function. We don't have anything like CEGEPs in Ontario, though our old OACs used to feel similar (same school, but slightly different program). I have to admit that both I and my husband had the same black thoughts on hearing the shooter described as wearing black, and that was "Why is it always black? Now they are just going to pick on the nerdy kids in black again. Why can't for once the shooter wear fashionable hip-hop clothes, or a sports uniform?" We need to start a group - People in Black against Shooting Other People, except in the context of a video game and then not for real.
• Are they really going to pick on nerdy black wearing kids if they are afraid of nerdy black wearer having a machine gun? Just heard about this on the news. I hope all lurkers, posters and commenters were nowhere near the bullets. It's sad to see someone fall out of that gossamer hold of humanity and even sadder to see one pull others down into those depths alongside.
• I thought the same thing, jb. I immediately connected it to US high schools banning black trench coats after Columbine, which was just about the least effective thing they could have done. I'm hoping those connections between black coats = evil kid (or young adult... I don't know how old the shooter was) are made again. I'm relying on the general good sense of Canadians, here.
• If anybody's interested, here's a Google cache of his page at vampirefreaks.com. Chilling: Your Most Missed Memory: Being young ... How do you want to Die: Like Romeo and Juliet -or- In a hail of gunfire. His list of dislikes (bottom of page in green) is, to say the least, extensive.
• .
• I saw this news story about the shooter, and my fears about the persecution of goth kids got worse. I hope the media will be able to separate him out from regular goth kids, but I really doubt they will. Reminds me of the Eddie Izzard routine about executive transvestites and crazy f*cking weirdo transvestites. Whereas he was executive, and normal, the guy living in the cave wearing women's shoes is obviously weird, and the two shouldn't be equated with each other. Obviously, this guy is the crazy freaking weirdo, and shouldn't be equated with the goth subculture as a whole.