Queer n There	Queer n There Archive

Montreal-- Your extremities: imagine life without toes to wiggle in the water at ocean's edge, fingers with which to pick flowers and tickle assholes! Extremists: how colorless the news would be without rabble-rousing, slogan-shouting, raison-free diehards! Extreme weather-- the excitement and drama of powerful winds and driving rains....

You get the idea. With extreme so hot, how could organizers resist "X-treme" as the theme of this year's supercalifragilisté 15th anniversary edition of Black & Blue?

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The big bang takes place in Montreal, from October 5th to October 11th, in different venues throughout the city. The culmination? The extrème de la extrème? Why, it's the mega "Black & Blue Party and Show" on the Olympic Stadium center field on Sunday, October 9th, from 9pm to 12 noon the next day.

"When we look around us, we realize how everything that is extreme has become popular," says artistic director of the event, Jean-Pierre Pérusse. "We can think of television shows such as 'Jackass' or even 'Extreme Makeover,' or the increase in number and in popularity of extreme sports festivals, to name only a few elements of this culture of extremes that is omnipresent in our society today. We thought that drawing from this young, urban culture could be a great idea, with key visual impact, for an event such as the Black & Blue, particularly at the Olympic Stadium, which offers us a big surface that allows the infrastructure necessary for this type of project. A stimulating environment will be created for this grand event," he continues, with a warning to any nattering nabobs of negativism out there, "but the term extreme obviously is to be taken in the positive sense of the word."

The organizers expect a crowd of about 15,000 people for this event, an extreme number in its own right.

They will throng to, among other events, the very famous Military Ball on Saturday October 8th at Metropolis, the Jock Ball on Thursday October 6th at Stereo, the Leather Ball on Friday October 7th at Medley and the Recovery Parties on Monday October 10th at Club Soda and at Stereo. Not to forget the "Eau Vive" swimathon, organized by the gay aquatics team of "A Contre Courant," the "Big Jump" gay volleyball tournament organized by Volley Boreal, and also the annual conference on health presented by Dr. Pierre Tellier from McGill University, and an expo on gay tourism, shows, brunches, the VIP dinner, special art exhibitions, and other events.

For tickets or special VIP passes, browse to www.bbcm.org, and for more info, call 514-875-7026 ext. 201 e-mail philippe@bbcm.org. Did we mention that it all promises to be extremely fun?