I may be a an eight hour flight away from home and in a foreign atmosphere, but the wind was nonetheless knocked out of me this evening (afternoon for you) when I read that the Montréal Mirror has published its final edition after 27 years in publication. This is tragic for Montreal's anglophone community, and for the arts and culture of the city regardless of language. It may not have catered to every segment of the population, but it has been the most reliable and readable free weekly, with a great guide of music, film, theatre and art show listings. Now it's gone. And there really is no backup for the Mirror. Voir, while now the next best available option, is dry in comparison.

The void left by the Mirror's exit is left to the various blogs, Midnight Poutine included, that have also been an indirect cause to the death of the publication. It is indeed a sad day for Montreal's cultural community, but it's also an opportunity for the rest of us to step up our game and to bring a voice as unique and a service as complete as we've expected from the Mirror these last few decades. We may not have an awesome sex column (editors?), but we will continue to deliver a top quality (and also highly rated) podcast every week of upcoming shows, band interviews and other Montréal news.

It's also time for you, the readers, to step up and become more involved in the Montreal arts and culture community, and to make sure that lack of coverage does not equate to lack of participation.

Ciao.