November is one of my least favourite months, and not only because many men think it acceptable to sport half-formed facial hair in support of a good cause. November marks the end of fall and the onset of winter, and as soon at the temperature starts to hover around 0°C, like a squirrel storing nuts, I search for nuggets of cultural goodness that'll keep me warm and toasty away from the cold.

My first find this year was Persephone Productions' staging of Shakespeare's Henry V, running from now until November 13 at Monument National. With a talented troupe and under the skilled direction of Gabrielle Soskin, Persephone's founder, Henry V offers up a thoughtful and timely war story.

British-born Rob Gee brings a decade of experience as a psychiatric nurse to the stage in Fruitcake: Ten Commandments from the Psych Ward. Narrated by a Jamaican-accented woman as the voice of God, Rob recalls his most harrowing tales in his award-winning spoken word style.

Shavirez, gypsy of the sea

June in Montreal is synonymous with many things, among them, the St. Ambroise Fringe Festival. Now in its twentieth incarnation, the Fringe is packing in an extra week of music, theatre and bizarre combinations of the two as part of its Fringe After Dark series. The fest runs from today to June 20, launching with the Strip Spelling Bee tonight at Mainline Theatre.

The boys of Uncalled For

I don't care what you say, weather forecast, I refuse to believe your call for rain all weekend. I don't want to hear it--la la la la la la--everyone knows you're always wrong anyway. Perhaps if we all gather our collective processing power (mental or computer, whatever works), we can perform a rain dance strong enough to ward off this wet weather pattern from washing out all the awesome events we've got going on.

For one, most of St. Laurent Blvd. is supposed to be transformed to Club "Main," not Club "Rain" and my rain slicker clashes with my tankini. But if I need to drag out the galoshes, then I'm going to make the most of it and Fringe till I can Fringe no more (Sunday night). There's still a good number of shows left to see, and here's a selection that look the most promising.

A few days ago my little cousin showed me some homework for her Sex Ed class. One of the questions was "What are some disadvantages of using the female condom?" One of the possible answers was: it squeaks.

In my day, Sex Ed did not consist of noisy contraceptives. At best, we girls were segregated from the boys, shuttled into a separate room, and asked, "So, is there anything you want to know?" So I felt it necessary to bolster my high school education, in case there was anything that I hadn't learned in nearly a quarter century. Thankfully, there's a quick and dirty crash course at the Fringe: S.C.R.E.W., the Sexual Curriculum Remedial Education Workshop.

There are a few contenders for feel-good song of the summer, and one of them is Lisztomania by Phoenix. In fact, nearly every song from their recent release, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is a sunny, toe-tappy, head-boppy gem. I caught these French rockers playing to a hometown crowd in Paris last week, and was doused with enough feel-good energy to last me quite a few rainy Montreal days.

Midnight Poutine has a pair of tickets to give away for their show next week. To participate in this contest, simply comment with a classically infused modern band, à la Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. For example, Johann Sebastian Backstreet Boys. Points will be awarded for creativity and one lucky winner will be chosen. Contest closes on June 14 at 11:59 p.m.

Edit: The show has been moved to La Tulipe--not Les Saints, as was previously stated.
Photo from Phoenix's Myspace