Dressed in Drag

By: Jessica Williams

Every Halloween, Daniel Altenburg, a third semester Vanier student studying Pure and Applied Sciences, puts on his fishnet stockings, applies a little rouge to his cheeks and finally puts on his vibrant red go-go stiletto boots to strut his stuff at the one event he can feel like his true self; the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

On Halloween night, the Impérial Cinéma hosts the production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show where hundreds of Montrealers come to experience one of the most talked about and loved performances. Altenburg seizes this event to get in touch with his effeminate side dressing as a character he calls Kelli-Lyn Koch. 

“It’s the one time I can let my closeted homosexuality loose and reconnect with the emotions I supress for 12 months,” explains Altenburg, “Nothing makes me have more confidence than walking down the street in my red boots.”

Altenburg has a process of getting ready for the show which he describes to be almost “ritualistic”. He begins his night by lifting weights while listening to the 80’s cold-wave band Marquis de Sade. He then carefully selects his outfit trying on as many as 16 different combinations. “I can seldom walk out of my house dressed as a woman so it’s important I wear the right thing,” says Altenburg. Once he finally decides what he will wear he dances the Time Warp until it is time for him to meet up with his friends and attend the show.

 “I feel at home at the Rocky Horror Picture Show,” says Altenburg, “Even with the flying toast and water pistols something about the atmosphere makes me feel like it’s okay to be in tune with my sexuality. It’s the one setting where everyone accepts the unordinary, the odd balls, and men dressed as women.”

Altenburg is uncertain of his sexual orientation which is why he uses The Rocky Horror Picture Show to experiment. “I know I have gay tendencies but I can’t say I am gay,” Altenburg explains, “I am highly involved with my church and if I were to come out and say that I like men I’d probably be excommunicated. With The Rocky Horror, I can leave my house as Kelli-Lyn Koch and not have to worry.”

This Halloween, Altenburg says Kelli-Lyn will be the most flamboyant persona he has yet to unleash. “I’m not going to go into details,” Altenburg laughs, “but let’s just say there might be glitter and a lace collar involved this year.”

In class assignment Nov. 6th

New Home, New Lineup and a Fresh Result

What is the thesis/ main idea of the article?:

1. The main idea of the article is the new basketball team The Brooklyn Nets

What is effective about the article? Does it have a good hook? Pertinent details? Good open and close?:

2. The article is effective by emphasizing the support the team received by it's townspeople. There were good details such as having a sold out game that really let the reader see how important the game is. The hook was a little misleading mainly because it had a small reference to hurricane Sandy which made me assume the article would be about both topics. 

What didn’t work in the article in your opinion? Were all the details clear? Did you know what the subject was from the beginning? Were there any inconsistencies or things left out?:

3.  To be honest I didn't really like the article but that's mainly due to the fact that I don't like sports, especially basketball. I found the article to be bland. I did not know what the articles subject was from the beginning because of the mention of hurricane Sandy, I thought that both topics would coincide but they didn't. 

Hurricane Sandy

1.What kind of impact did Sandy have?

Sandy had a major impact on New York immobilizing it for many days. I have friends in        New York who's apartments and homes have been destroyed do to the flooding. 

2.Where effective measures put in place to effectively reduce the destruction?  

I don't think that effective measures were taken to reduce the destruction. It just seems like they suggested a mass evacuation and let the storm hit New York unprotected. 

3. How have people been coping with the aftermath?

 It seems like everyone is trying to pick up the pieces and reconstruct everything that broke. It's astonishing that the hurricane made 60 billion dollars worth of damage!

4. Will this storm have an impact on U.S politics? 

I think the storm will have an impact on U.S politics because the race is so tight between Obama and Romney and the storm can be the deciding factor for peoples votes. The storm can be seen as an opportunity for the politicians to stand up look 'presidential' by helping people recover from the storm. 

5. What rippling/global effects did the storm have?

The storm really made people realize the effects of global warming. New York never gets hurricanes but due to the planet warming up we have been going through odd weather related instances. 

6. Did Sandy personally affect you?

Sandy had absolutely no affect on my life. It's probably because there wasn't any direct problems in Montreal. Through out the whole storm all I was thinking was ... 

"Sandy just called, she's taking a rain check"