Jason Najum's Blog, page 2

Quarantined in Mexico

And so, like the countless others now potentially stranded on foreign soil, this chronically nomadic Canadian writer was forced to make a decision: heed the advice of government officials and imploring relatives and make my way “home”, or stay the course, hunker down, and try to make this thing work.

Coronavirus, Mariachis, and Mexico City

Having so far avoided the worst of the pandemic, Mexico is bracing for its own reckoning with the Coronavirus. Stricter measures are being implemented, businesses are closing, and tourism is all but shut down. All of this with millions of citizens floating along the edges of an already fragile economy.

Envision Costa Rica: The world’s most sustainable festival

Envision has earned a reputation as one of the world’s greenest festivals, a gathering for music, yoga, and a variety of wellness and socially-conscious activities. Built on ideals of sustainability, art, and personal and spiritual enlightenment, the festival is more than a party in paradise.

Changing the World, One Jungle Party at a Time

An entire temporary society running on how things should be. Not yearned for in some theoretical haze but built and bought and paid for. Swiped with a credit card and issued by e-ticket. Made real. Dreams starting to live in the world they wish to change.

JOKER Forces Us to Witness and Rethink Mental Health

This film made me both witness the ravages of mental illness and recognize my own experiences in them, melting the walls between definitions. If that’s not an example of what art is supposed to do for us, I don’t know what is.

Like a Local: An Autumn Tour of Montréal

Autumn in Montréal is a two-act play. The first scenes are set to a multi-colored backdrop of burnt amber and willowing orange, the Quebecois characters linking arms and popping their collars.

Osheaga 2019: Montréal Honors its History in EDM

Osheaga is continuing Montréal’s commitment to electronic music. Here are some highlights from Osheaga 2019.

Fancy Animal

My first question is often “What the fuck?”

Other times it’s “Really?” as in “Really, this is what you’re thinking about?”

It’s too bad. Because the creations of my mind could be remarkable, if they weren’t so simple in purpose. The complexity of the imagery, the clever delivery, the subtle yet persistent messaging. But all these wonders of the human brain get ruined when you realize the motivation, the plain and purely wicked objective – which is simply to mess with myself.

The beauty of the ar...

A Successful Debacle

The situation in Syria seems to be one perfectly constructed for a course in International Politics. This unfolding example has all the classic players and circumstances: a dangerous conflict in a volatile region, rational actors making assumptions, potential adversaries waiting to be influenced, superpowers positioning themselves for future leverage.

Will Assad follow the trend of tumbling dictators and finally fall? Who will govern Syria once he is gone? Will the final result embolden or det...

Space, just another frontier

An epic battle of good versus evil. A madman on the loose. Caskets covered in the flags. A familiar name is mentioned. Citizens look up to the sky as a looming menace approaches. A beautiful blonde woman standing almost completely naked, wearing nothing but a bra and panties…

Wait a second.

Full-stop, Mr. Sulu.

I bang on my tricorder. That can’t be right. Spock, is there a problem with the viewscreen?

Negative. Sensors confirm your readings, Captain. Female humanoid. Caucasian. Telemetry shows sh...