Wednesday 31 December 2014

Wassail, Wasail!

It is the New Year in a few minutes and as it is a Christmastime (end of Christmas season to be precise) tradition on this blog, I am uploading the Gloucestershire Wassail. I will welcome the new year and do an unofficial wassail with a glass of Griffon rousse.


10, 9, 8, 7, 6...

L'année 2014 se termine bientôt et donc par conséquent les vacances des Fêtes aussi. Je ne suis déjà plus dans l'ambiance de Noël lors la veille du Jour de l'An. Je célèbre considérablement moins, par conséquent. Mais donc, l'année achève et je me dois quand même le souligner sur ce blogue. Ce billet a le titre d'un compte à rebours, parce que le 31 décembre est toujours un compte à rebours: derniers achats avant un congé férié, revues de l'année à la télé, revue de l'année à la radio, partys, etc. Que faites-vous pour le compte à rebours cette année? Moi, je ne sais pas trop. J'ai toujours trouvé les partys du Jour de l'An plates, qu'ils soient en famille ou entre amis. Sortir est aussi pire. Alors d'habitude je fais l'ermite et je regarde la télévision.

Tuesday 30 December 2014

The St-Viateur Experience

Today, my wife and I went to St-Viateur Bagel on Mont-Royal Avenue for lunch. It was packed with people. And I do mean packed: there was a very large queue that ended at the entrance of the restaurant. And this was not counting the people coming to buy bagels at the counter. I don't remember ever being there when it was that busy, even though St-Viateur is one of the most popular café/restaurant on the Plateau. So we waited. I wouldn't have wanted to eat anywhere else. Not today, not any day. When I crave bagels, I cannot consider eating anything else. Anyway, we didn't have to wait long: it certainly rolls fast At St-Viateur. The service is both efficient and friendly, as they always are. So I had the usual: the traditional bagel with smoked salmon, capers and so on. With a soup on the side (beef and barley). Unfortunately I forgot to ask for the bagel to be toasted, but it was delicious nevertheless. The clientèle was mainly French speaking, among them French persons, with a few English speakers, including the odd Brit (brought there by me). This was, in sum, the St-Viateur experience.

C'est l'hiver à Chicoutimi

Je suis en ce moment et depuis hier à Montréal, où il n'y a pratiquement pas de neige. C'est la désolation complète. Lire: c'est gris comme le mois de novembre. À Chicoutimi, d'où je reviens, c'était différent: il a neigé assez pour dire qu'on a eu un Noël blanc. Ca avait plus l'air de mars et la neige était assez rare et dans un sale état, mais c'était tout de même blanc. Le redoux ne l'a pas achevée. Alors la veille de notre retour à Montréal, surprise: il s'est mis à reneiger pour vrai. À un point tel que la gratte a passé (voir photo). Morale de l'histoire: même de peines et de misères, c'est toujours l'hiver à Chicoutimi et au Saguenay.

Monday 29 December 2014

This season's D&Dr game

This picture was taken from Dragon magazine, number 208. I chose it to illustrate this post because it fits the season: a knight on a snowy lanscape followed by hungry wolves. Nothing this dramatic happened to me, but yesterday my brothers and I played Dungeons & Dragons. It is a Christmas tradition and one of my favourite. Yesterday was special: we finished the campaign we had started decades earlier. I mean by this that we didn't only finish a particular mission, but the whole story arch that kept us and our characters going for a long while has been done. It was dramatic, suspenseful, gripping even, now it is over. So that's it. There are a few lose ends that may need to be tied up, some things that we can explore further if we play our characters again, but overall, evil has been vanquished, at least for now, we won and so on. I am happy this is done and our quest is finally over, nevertheless I feel a bit of melancholia. As if I had just finished a novel I particularly loved. I know I can read it again, but I will never have the same excitement.

Sunday 28 December 2014

Question existentielle (249)

Une question existentielle qui a déjà son importance:

-Quand commence la mélancolie d'après Noël?

Friday 26 December 2014

Good King Wenceslas looked out...

As it is a tradition on Vraie Fiction to avoid this consumerist day that is Boxing Day, I am uploading Good King Wenceslas again. We are, after all, on the Feast of Stephen. One of my favorite Christmas carols, a tale in a song, as efficient as it is atmospheric. I also discovered last year another take on the story I really enjoyed, in a poem form by Carol Ann Duffy. You can read it here. Ladt year I bought the poem for myself, beautifully illustrated by Stuart Kolakovic. I could not find a version of the song I really loved, but this one will do.


Quoi faire près de l'Arbre de Noël


Je n'ai pas vraiment de raison de publier une nouvelle photo de l'arbre, sauf que j'en suis vraiment fier. Et que c'est l'une des joies de Noël ici. Je fais beaucoup de choses près de l'arbre: c'est un lieu de réunion pour la famille, c'est là où l'on fait marcher le train électrique et j'y passe des heures entières à lire. Et vous, que faites-vous près du sapin?

Wednesday 24 December 2014

Christmas Eve

As I am writing this, it is already Christmas in Europe, where I usually blog from. But here, there are a few hours to go still. To commemorate this moment and to wish an early Merry Christmas to all my readers, I thought I would addthis little piece of poetry from Calvin and Hobbes. I find it a beautiful evocation of the season and it perfectly captures the moment. I read many Christmas stories, I even read a few Christmas poems, but this single comic strip is maybe my favourite. So here it is.

Quelle est cette odeur agréable?

Il reste encore quelques heures au 24 décembre, dernier jour de l'Avent. Mais ici, sur ce blogue, qui est à l'heure anglaise, l'arrivée de Noël est imminente. Alors enfin bref, je souligne avec un nouveau billet, une photo de notre Crèche que nous avons quétainisé un peu avec des sapins de Noël (!). Et pour souligner encore plus, un autre cantique de Noël, l'une des meilleures interprétations que je connaisse de Quelle est cette odeur agréable? L'athée impénitent que je suis aime bien les vieux cantiques de Noël.

Troll the ancient Yuletide carol

I know I uploaded Deck the Halls before, and this very decoration we bought in Sweden.But I love the carol because of its Pagan imagery and this is one of my favourite Christmas tree decorations. I find the decoration and the song mixing well together, even though the carol is originally from Wales. For me, all I can see when I hear it is Vikings cutting wood and decoration their halls with mistletoe, and drinking and eating in excess. I tried to find a good version on YouTube, I don't think I was nearly as lucky as last time. But here it is anyway, because it is time to troll the ancient Yuletide carol.

L'Arbre de Noël


Bon ben c'est pas pour dire, mais on sait comment faire de vrais arbres de Noël dans la famille.

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Family traits and traditions

My parents were watching pictures of me taken recently in the UK and said that I looked very much "like an Archibald" (my mother's fmaily name). We kept talking about family resemblance and after a while, my mother asked me, in a vaguely suspicious tone: "Guillaume, do you use hair coloring?" I don't and wondered why she asked me such a thing. "Because when I was your age, my hair was already very white." Ouch! Just for the shock it created, remembering me of my age, it deserves to be a great unknown line. Little anecdote: my grandfather was secretly using hair coloring to hide his greying hair. We only learned about it years after his death, when my grandmother spilled the beans. I know my mother used some, with more moderation (thus hiding less), from her thirties onward. For the record, I never did and don't intend to ever do. But I find it strange that she thought I was following a secret family tradition.

Patapan

"Guillô, pran ton tamborin;
Toi, pran tai fleúte, Rôbin!
Au son de cé instruman,
Turelurelu, patapatapan,
Au son de cé instruman
Je diron Noei gaiman
"

C'est un cantique de Noël moins connu, mais que j'aime beaucoup. Il s'appelle Patapan, ou Guillô (Guillaume) prends ton tambourin. C'est donc une chanson qui mentionne mon nom. Quand j'étais enfant catholique vivant dans l'Âge des Ténèbres, j'en aurais été ému, bien que j'étais alors joueur de flûte, pas de tambourin. Mais bon, j'aime cette chanson parce qu'elle a du rythme.

Monday 22 December 2014

James Bond for Christmas

As Christmas is getting closer and closer, I am suggesting to my readership both a novel and a movie on your list of Christmas entertainments.I am talking about On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which is set during Christmastime. I already plugged the novel two years ago and recent developments regarding the next Bond movie made me revisit the novel. In other words, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond's nemesis and primary antagonist in both novel and movie may be featured in Spectre. Rereading parts of the novel, I am more and more convinced that this will be the case.

So why is the novel such a great Christmas read? Partially because of the setting, of course: snowy Switzerland. Because of its key element of violence, which illustrates the darker aspects of the holiday. Blofeld may seem like a benevolent aristocrat, a Santa Claus of sorts, he harvests in fact a very sinister plan. Christmastime is not only about the Nativity, it is also about the murder of the Innocents, triggered by the paranoia of King Herod, about troubled times bringing up an uncertain future. Traditionally, it is also a time of Pagan excesses and gluttony, something that is illustrated again in Blofeld's scheme: he wants to destroy livestocks through biological warfare (his first "victim" in the novels is the production of British turkeys). Through a very modern, even contemporary theme, you have in fact expression of centuries old symbols. Anyway, it is a great read, and if you don't have time to start it now, give yourself an evening to watch the movie adaptation. Here is a scene from it, when Blofeld reveals his plan to Bond.

Un Noël sous la flotte?

Photo prise à Montréal, en 2008, une fontaine dans un centre d'achat quelconque, je sais plus lequel, décoré pour les Fêtes. Ça illustre mon propos. Je viens de lire cette nouvelle. Je le savais un peu déjà, mais elle est assez déprimante, merci. Ironique: je viens au Québec notamment pour vivre un vrai Noël hivernal, et je me retrouve avec sans doute un Noël dans la sloshe. Au moins, j'aurai marché dans la neige. Et il me reste le vrai sapin, la famille, les amis, la dinde, enfin tout le reste.

The accents from home

A little bit of news from me: I am spending the Christmas at home in Chicoutimi, as you might know from my previous post. Within 48 hours, I travelled from the UK to the city where I grow up, in the Northern part of Québec. And it is funny, but as I was getting closer and closer to Québec, from the gate in Heathrow, I could hear Québec accents. It is one of the little pleasures of coming back home: familiar voices, then full on familiar environment. And from the morning in Montreal to the journey up North (although we don't say we go up to Chicoutimi or the Saguenay region, we say we go down the river, but I digress), I could hear more and more accents from the Saguenay region. It felt good. And I think even my own accent got stronger.

À l'heure chicoutimienne

Si vous avez remarqué qu'il y a eu un hiatus dans la tenue de Vraie Fiction, c'est parce que j'étais récemment en déplacement. J'ai voyagé depuis deux jours pour les vacances de Noël. J'écris donc à partir de la maison familiale à Chicoutimi. J'écris donc à l'heure chicoutimienne.

Thursday 18 December 2014

Frosty England

This picture was taken a few days by a local resident for the Facebook page of the town where I live. I saved it, as usual shamelessly, so I could share it on this blog. you see a frosty pathway by the Thames. The temperature was quite cold at the beginning of the week, for England anyway. I thought it was a beautiful picture, of a typical frosty English winter morning.

Du vin chaud pour Noël?

 Depuis que j'ai redécouvert le vin chaud cette année, je me demande si je ne devrais pas en faire moi même pour Noël cette année. Bon, c'est pas comme si on ne prenait pas beaucoup d'alcool et si on n'en avait pas déjà en masse, mais c'est une petite tradition de Noël qui est fort agréable, surtout pratiquée dans les pays froids.On en a déjà fait une fois durant les Fêtes, c'était je crois mon idée, mais je ne sais pas pourquoi, on ne l'a jamais répété. Peut-être que le résultat n'a pas été très convaincant. Il faudrait tout de même réessayer.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

"Touch not the cat bot a glove"

I took this picture in Derbyshire, in a wild animals sanctuary, mainly owls and otters, but also, as you can see, wildcats. The title I used for this post is the motto of the Clan Macpherson of Scotland. It truly means "Do not touch a cat without a glove". Here is what Wikipedia says: "The 'glove' of a wildcat is the pad. If the cat is 'ungloved', its claws are unsheathed. The motto serves as a warning that one should beware when the wildcat's claws are 'without a glove'. It is a reference to the historically violent nature of the clan and serves as a metaphorical warning to other clans that they should think twice before interfering with Macpherson business." So it was meant as a warning.

I feel strongly about this motto for many reasons, for one because it is sort of mine. I explain: on my mother's side, I belong to the Archibald family, which apparently, from the research I did on Google (for what it's worth) belongs to the Clan Macpherson. Maybe it is far fetched, but I find it very fitting for me, as I love cats of all sorts. Of course, my society with cats is less of the feral and more of the domestic type, but all the same, there is something feral and untamed about the whole species. All cats are, in a sense and at the core, wild. So this motto fits my fellow felines than my fellow primates.

St-Ambroise millésimée

J'ai déjà reçu ça comme cadeau de Noël: une Saint-Ambroise millésimée. Je ne l'ai pas demandée cette année pour une raison: les bières millésimées que j'ai reçues sont pour la plupart encore dans leur contenant. Enfin non, ce n'est pas vrai: j'en ai bu, mais étant expatrié je n'ai pas eu beaucoup l'occasion d'écumer mes réserves. Et quand je reviens chez nous, je bois plus des produits McAuslan réguliers. Cela dit, j'ai vu sur leur page Facebook cette photo promotionnelle parmi leurs idées de cadeaux et je me demande si je ne devrais pas/n'aurais pas dû l'inclure dans ma liste de cadeaux. Cela dit, je la suggère pour ceux qui ont à offrir quelque chose aux amateurs de bière.

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Jazzy Christmas music

I didn't upload enough music recently, so I thought that I would do this tonight. And, while I am old fashioned and traditionalist when it comes to Christmas, to the point of being antique, the song I want to share is a modern one. It is even jazzy. It is from A Charlie Brown Christmas, a timeless classic. The cartoon is a seasonal favorite of mine and it didn't take a wrinkle. It is a beautifully simple Christmas story with great character and perfect atmosphere, which of course the music is a central element. The album is often played at home during the season. So here is one song for you to enjoy.

Question existentielle (248)

C'est ma première question existentielle ce mois-ci, croyez-le ou non:

-Quoi ne pas acheter comme cadeau à Noël?

Monday 15 December 2014

An oak, a sword and a Norse god

As Christmas is coming, I am getting deep into its Pagan roots, and more precisely its Viking elements. So yes, yes, this is actually a post that is about Christmas, troll the ancient Yuletide carol everyone. I am reading this book about the Völsunga saga. And there is a particular episode of the saga that has some Christmas overtone. You see it illustrated by Alan Lee on your left. A beautiful, powerful image. You see Odin Allfather, in his usual disguise of an old wanderer, sliding a magical sword in the trunk of a tree. It is often said to be an oak tree, but the word used for oak is often a generic for tree, or so I read. The tree is named Branstock, and it was at the center of the house of the Volsungs. Odin offered the sword to anyone who could pull it off the tree. Prince Sigmund, the son of Volsüng, who was to become the father of the hero Sigurd, was the one who succeeded to pull it off.

Now, of course the first thing you can think of is King Arthur, but it has many Christmas elements. There is the tree in the center of the hall, for one. I always thought Christmas trees were descendent of Yggdrasil, and Branstock was meant to be a direct descendent of Yggdrasil. Odin himself is a possible ancestor of Santa Claus, who sees all, asserts the behavior of men and also is a gift bringer, like in this story. A gift he places under/in a tree. So there you have it. A Yule story to tell your children, grandchildren, godchildren and to read.

Décor de film (La photo du mois)



Le thème ce mois-ci était choisi par Alexinparis. Ca a été très simple et j'ai réglé ça en trois coups de cuillière à pot: la gare des trains à vapeur à Buckfastleigh, entre cette ville et la ville de Totnes dans le Devon. C'est indubitablement un décor de film. Un film d'époque bien entendu. Mais enfin bref, cette gare ferait l'affaire pour un whodunit, un film d'horreur, un western, que sais-je... On plonge vraiment dans un autre monde en y allant. Et on a même le figurant comme bonus, pour faire plus époque.

Allez voir les autres décors de film:

A'icha, Agnès, Agrippine, Akaieric, Alban, Alexinparis, Amy, Anne, Arwen, Aude, Autour de Cia, Ava, Bestofava, BiGBuGS, Blogoth67, Blue Edel, Brindille, Calamonique, Cara, Champagne, Chat bleu, Chloé, Christophe, Cocazzz, Crearine, Cricriyom from Paris, Cécile Atch'oum, Céline in Paris, Dame Skarlette, DelphineF, Destination Montréal, Dr. CaSo, E, El Padawan, Estelle, Eurydice, Eva INside-EXpat, Fanfan Raccoon, François le Niçois, Frédéric, Gilsoub, Giselle 43, Gizeh, Guillaume, Homeos-tasie, Isa de fromSide2Side, Isa ToutSimplement, Isaquarel, Josette, Julia, Kantu, Kenza, KK-huète En Bretannie, Krn, La Dum, La Fille de l'Air, La Nantaise à Paris, Lau* des montagnes, Laulinea, Laurent Nicolas, Laurie, Lavandine, Lavandine83, Les bonheurs d'Anne & Alex, Les Filles du Web, Loulou, Luckasetmoi, Lyonelk, magda627, Mahlyn, Mamysoren, Maria Graphia, Marie, Marion, Marmotte, MauriceMonAmour, Memories from anywhere, Milla la galerie, Mimireliton, MissCarole, Morgane Byloos Photography, MyLittleRoad, Nanouk, Nicky, Philae, Pilisi, Pixeline, princesse Emalia, Renepaulhenry, Rythme Indigo, Salon de Thé, Sandrine, Sylvie, Tambour Major, Tataflo, Testinaute, Thalie, Tofashionandbeyond, Tuxana, Utopique-Lily, Vanilla, Voyager en photo, Wolverine, Woocares, Xoliv', Yoppappop, Yvette la Chouette, Zaza.

Sunday 14 December 2014

Cream tea for brekafast

This was the first breakfast we had, my wife and I, during our time in Devon. Basically, we kept the scones, clotthed cream and jam we received in our welcome basket for our first afternoon tea (as we arrived late afternoon/early evening) for breakfast the next morning. My wife does not like tea (how un-English of her) so she had coffee instead. I had the real thing, albeit with no milk in my tea. I find tea better without milk. There is already dairy with the clotted cream, so the milk would be superfluous. Otherwise, I put the cream before the jam, as I have read this is what they do in Devon, so I respect cream tea orthodoxy.

Anyway, I was looking at the pictures this morning and thought it would have made for a nice Sunday breakfast today.

Emballage et calembour atroce

Je suis en train d'emballer les cadeaux de Noël et depuis j'ai un calembour atroce en tête, que je tiens à partager pour que vous ayez tous le même mal de tête que moi: "Emballer des cadeaux, ce n'est pas toujours très emballant." Tous en choeur: ayoye!

Saturday 13 December 2014

Reinbeer!

During Advent and the Christmas holidays, I often drink and try seasonal drinks. Mulled wine of course, but also Christmas beers, or Christmas themed beers. They show up in pubs everywhere here when Christmas is coming. I think they are more Christmas-themed beers than Christmas beers per se. In other words, they just put a Christmas label on a beer and voilà. The one I am about to plug, like many of the ones I drank, use the legendary Rudolph's red nose as a symbol for alcohol. I have seen many beers named Rudolph in the past. This one is named Reinbeer and it is from Ringwood Brewery. The beer is quite nice, easy enough to drink, maybe not dark enough for my taste and not really red like I would expect from its label. Not my first choice of real ale for the season, but it is from Ringwood Brewery and I often enjoy their products, so if only for this, I would encourage people to try it. And it does have a nice word play for a name.

La Légende du feu

Mon père a produit sur YouTube cette vidéo, une mise en images de La Légende du feu, dramatisée par Les petits violons du regretté Jean Cousineau, narré par Albert Millaire. Comme le dit mon père dans sa présentation: "Il se peut qu'il manque quelques lignes à la captation de l'histoire. Le disque de référence a servi plusieurs fois et a quelques accros." C'est peu dire qu'il a servi plusieurs fois: enfant j'obsédais sur cette légende et je l'écoutais sans cesse. Alors forcément, le disque a fini par prendre des rayuresJe veux retrouver le disque original en bon état, afin de pouvoir l'écouter sans qu'il y ait de coupures. Mais d'ici là, il y a cette vidéo.

Friday 12 December 2014

The Fish & Chips craving again

I took this picture near the sea in Paignton, during my time in Devon. It was the last time I had fish and chips. I had wanted to have fish and chips by the sea for ages and thought a town by the sea Devon was the ideal place for it. I was hungry so I enjoyed the food enough, as I always do when I eat fish and chips, that said it was overall a disappointing experience. The fish had a strange aftertaste of curry and Paignton may have been the most vulgar town I have ever seen. I guess this is what happens when you are looking forward too much for an experience: it ends up being underwhelming. And I had far better fish and chips, even though I had them far from the sea.

But anyway, it struck me tonight that this was the last time I had fish and chips. In the middle of August! And I am craving them again. It is Friday, so it would be a perfect evening for this kind of dinner, or at least customary. But I am trying to fight the craving. Soon it will be time for eating excesses, so I am trying to eat healthy, or at least not too much and too fatty food. All the same, I am craving fish and chips.

Les pommes sous la neige

Voici une autre photo des pommes d'un de nos pommiers (ceux de mes parents, veux-je dire). Je regrette un peu que mes parents ne les aient pas toutes cueillies avant, ça aurait fait de la compote pour les Fêtes, mais bon, fait tout de même une jolie nature morte et hivernale.

Wednesday 10 December 2014

A Literary Christmas

As my readership knows, I read seasonal. And that means during the Advent and Christmastime, I read books about Christmas, or set during Christmastime, or linked to the season in an apparently tenuous way. But I do also read books that talk of Christmas at length. Last year in Waterstone's, I bought A Literary Christmas, which I am reading at the moment (among many other things. It is an anthology, which means it has a flaw: I can find the same stories somewhere else. And this one has, apart from the usual poems, quite a lot of abstract of novels or short stories rather than full stories. And the cover is rather lame. But let's not judge a book by its cover. Even if this one is lame, the book is a rather fun read so far, full of Yuletide atmosphere. And with many classic authors, the book certainly has soul. Or should I say souls? In any case, it is proper literature, although sometimes truncated.

Le vice de la vice-reine

Je suis en retard un peu à bloguer sur la nouvelle deux jours après les faits, mais ça vaut la peine de bloguer à ce sujet: Lise Thibault a plaidé coupable à une partie des accusations de fraude. La vice-reine était escroc. Vous savez ce que je pense d'elle en tant que personne. La justice confirme maintenant que la lieutenant-gouverneure était d'abord et avant tout une escroc. Il y a quelque chose de profondément illégitime aux dépenses privées d'un monarque, quel qu'il ou elle soit, surtout quand il utilise les fonds publics. Quand le monarque n'en est pas un, ça en devient grotesque. "The queen can do no wrong", clamait la demeurée comme défense. Tu parles! Si la Reine n'avait rien à se reprocher, elle y renoncerait, à sa couronne. Mais la vice-reine, elle, portait une couronne imaginaire. Ce qui est le plus troublant, c'est que Lise Thibault se croit légitimement monarque. Lorsqu'on prononcera sa sentence, j'espère que l'on ne sera pas trop gentil parce qu'elle est en chaise roulante et qu'elle est âgée. Parce qu'une escroc demeure une escroc.

Monday 8 December 2014

Ice and salt

This morning at the train station, waiting for the train to go to work, I noticed another sign of winter, proving without the shadow of a doubt that the season was here: there was salt on the platform. Lots and lots of salt, to cover the ice or make sure there was no black ice. I saw it before, once I even got to work late because someone had to salt the platform (yes, sounds dumb written like this) before the train could leave. Now the salt had been there since before early morning. Before I was waiting for the train anyway, which I guess is not early morning, but it often feels like it, especially Monday. Anyway, it was the anecdote that made my day, it was the non-event of the beginning of this week. Ice and salt. Winter is here.

Les réserves de beignes

Je parlais récemment des réserves de pâtés à la viande, ce soir je blogue sur les réserves de beignes. vous voyez sur la photo de droite une photo de la production familiale, qui dure d'habitude pendant quelques semaines, pas beaucoup plus. Pour mon frère PJ, le beigne est LE dessert essentiel de Noël, enfin du Noël québécois, plus encore que la bûche de Noël. Bien que je préfère la bûche, tant parce qu'il y en a dans pleins de variétés que de par sa nature symbolique (j'en dirai plus là dessus un de ces quatre), je crois bien que mon frère a raison. Surtout dans le sucre en poudre, comme ça. C'est disons-le assez québécois, faits maison et tout. Et enfin bref, je me demande comment sont les réserves, si mes parents en ont fait durant cet Avent qui est déjà commencé.

Sunday 7 December 2014

The Monstrous Manual online

This is a great moment for the geek and nostalgic in me: I found online the complete Monstrous Manual of the 2nd edition of Dungeons & Dragons. I am not 100% certain of the website is 100% legal, but as this edition has been discontinued for some time, I don't think there is any harm in its existence. My brothers and I never had the full Monstrous Manual, not in one volume, as it used to be sold (see the left-hand side image). We had various volumes of the Monstrous Compendium. TSR made us spend a good bit of money on these ones. That was before the internet, when you now can find pretty much everything of the old stuff online. Going through the entries, it reminds me the good old days when we could play every weekend. And of the many stories we could invented with various monsters, sometimes on a whim. Now I play D&Dr once a year, at Christmas. But reading these entries, it allows me to revisit these old memories and daydream about what we could do with these monsters, many used, some never really exploited to their full potential.

Une mésange à travers la neige


Cette photo a été prise par ma cousine Amy, l'artiste-photographe talentueuse. J'ai décidé de la télécharger parce que... Ben parce que c'est une superbe photo hivernale. Petite anecdote sur les mésanges: j'en ai déjà eu qui ont mangé dans ma main. Ce ne sont pas des oiseaux farouches, enfin pas selon mon expérience. Et c'est un oiseau bien hivernal, doit le noir et le blanc se fondent bien avec la neige et les branches.

Saturday 6 December 2014

Nick's Trip (Christmas read)

Because this the season to be reading, I am giving you again a reading suggestion for Christmas. This one is from one of my favorite crime writers, George Pelecanos. It is Nick's Trip, which is related to Christmas not merely because its main character Nick Stefanos shares his first name with Santa Claus (as well as Greek origins). It is also set during Christmastime. Crime fiction set during Christmas time always has a soft spot in my heart. It means blood on snow, the ever ominous presence of death when life is celebrated, danger, you name it. It also means crime drama set in time of excesses, alcoholic or others. It is simply a brilliantly atmospheric time and setting for crime fiction.

The plot is in fact two stories wrapped in one: Nick Stefanos is asked by his old friend Bill Goodrich to find his wife April, while in the meantime trying to solve the murder of a friend. It is a modern take (it was published and is set in the early 90s) on the classic private eye genre, but Stefanos is stripped from the heroic stature of the archetype: he is a drunkard and a loser, although he does know how to write: the novel is written at the first person perspective. And yes, it is set during Christmastime.

Et père y colle au zoo ce porc Jerzy

Ce calembour obscur est tiré d'une des Rubriques-à-brac de Gotlib, le taume 2 je crois, mais je peux me tromper. Ce calembour est en fait la morale d'une histoire et gag en une planche que vous pouvez voir à votre gauche. Note: ce blogue prend parfois des allures de journal, avec les comiques qui y apparaissent. Enfin bref, ce calembour est un calembour tellement obscur, en fait, que je ne l'ai pas compris pendant des années, jusqu'à ce que mon frère PJ me donne la réponse après une longue (en)quête: "e pericoloso sporgersi", l'italien pour "il est dangereux de se pencher", qui est écrit sous les fenêtres de trains. La morale de cette histoire, enfin celle de trouver l'origine du jeu de mots, pas de l'histoire du porc Jerzy: j'aurais dû étudier l'italien depuis bien plus longtemps.

Thursday 4 December 2014

It will be SPECTRE

Breaking news today, something that got be very excited: the title for the 24th Bond movie has been revealed, at last. And it will be SPECTRE. As in SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. That means yes, Blofeld might finally be back. You can see how Sam Mendes presented it here. I say I am excited. In fact, it is a terrible understatement: I have been wanting to see SPECTRE and Blofeld back. I have been hoping for it for a while. Half expecting it more recently. Now, this is no more a rumor pr wishful thinking. I am very much looking forward to the new movie. You will find below the teaser title, which I uploaded just for kicks. And did I mention that I love the title? It echoes so much history of the Bond franchise and the novels too. And it is a great title in its own right: the menace a spy fights, in reality or fiction, is shadowy and spectral.

Et de 731... encore

Bon, ben, ça a l'air de rien, mais ceci est mon 731e billet de l'année. Ce qui veut dire que 1)j'ai écrit plus de billets en 2014 dans les deux langues que de jours de l'année et 2)je vais battre mon record de 2013 facilement. Il était de 732. Je ne comptais pas en écrire autant. L'année dernière, j'avais atteint 731 billets le 31 décembre. Mais je crois que le nombre sera plus modeste en 2015. Enfin je crois. Je ne sais pas trop quoi penser de ma prolificité (ça existe, comme mot?). Parfois je crois que je devrais écrire moins mais mieux. Enfin, j'écris quand je me sens d'humeur.

Wednesday 3 December 2014

An English winter

This picture was taken two weeks ago at a Christmas concert, in the restaurant facing the main street. I blogged about it here. And yes, it is very similar to the first picture: I took it seconds later. it is the picture of an English town in winter, in the weeks before Christmas. And you see the big absence: the snow. I am writing this, because now winter is very much here: it is cold and grey, I am wearing warm clothes for the first time in months, it even smells cold. However, it is an English winter. So the snow is optional.

That said, I am of two mind about snow in an English winter. I fear it, since that fateful winter in 2010. However beautiful, people simply don't deal with it very well. Since then, I made my peace with English winters, however grey and dreary they may look like. I feel the cold, there are the Christmas lights to give this town a bit of color and atmosphere.

Une anecdote sur les lutins du Père Noël

Cette photo a été prise par ma cousine Amy. Je ne sais pas où elle a trouvé cette décoration et si la photo a été prise chez elle ou dans un magasin quelque part. C'est bien entendu un petit lutin de Noël. Enfant, quand je croyais encore au Père Noël (on parle de première et deuxième année ici, avant que ma prof décide d'expliquer qu'il n'existait pas en inventant une histoire absurde pour expliquer la légende), j'étais fasciné par les lutins qui servaient le Père Noël. Ils étaient plus proches de moi, tant de taille que dans leur façon de vivre, du moins telle que je l'imaginais. Ils n'avaient pas l'autorité du Père Noël, ni ses responsabilités, ils avaient des airs espiègles et passaient leur temps dans les jouets et les cadeaux. Même si ce n'étaient pas les leurs, rien que les voir et les fabriquer, je trouvais ça intéressant (comme quoi je ne voyais pas qu'ils se faisaient exploiter). Ils étaient bien plus souvent que le vieux bonhomme à barbe blanche le sujet de mes dessins de Noël.

En deuxième année, j'avais même écrit une histoire de Noël avec un lutin comme personnage principal. Je ne me rappelle plus le nom que je lui avais trouvé, mais il s'était caché dans un sac de classe afin d'espionner les enfants d'une classe pour savoir qui était sage et qui ne l'était pas. Il se faisait surprendre et devait s'enfuir du sac (et de l'école), pour arriver au Pôle Nord quelques minutes plus tard (!), mais en retard sur son horaire. Je sais pas où j'avais pris l'inspiration pour tous les détails de cette histoire, sauf que je me rappelle vaguement avoir vu un livre en première année qui disait que les lutins se cachaient dans les sacs à dos afin de voir si on se comportait bien et ça m'avait marqué. Alors voilà, j'ai regardé cette photo ce soir et ça m'a rappelé cette anecdote, qui m'a inspiré ce billet de l'Avent.

Tuesday 2 December 2014

The Saga of the Volsungs

This the season to be reading, falala la la, etc. And read I do, and read I will. And like every year at Christmas, I will also give you some reading suggestions. As my readership knows, my reading list goes with the season. My brother PJ recently told me he reads medieval fantasy when winter and Christmas is coming. And as my readership knows, I associate Christmas with Viking mythology, because a lot of its imagery and symbols come from Norse mythology. Also, I associate Christmas with Dungeons & Dragons. Which means... Well, which means things inspired, at least partially, fron Norse mythology (especially our campaign, I may add). Nothing feels more like Christmas than reading a story from Viking mythology on a cold winter night.

So I have purchased in a certain independent bookshop, months ago, The Saga of the Volsungs. The Völsunga saga is also known as the story of Sigurd and the dragon. I blogged about it before. I know the story by heart, thanks to this book. But now I will read the real thing, not some modernized narrative. This has long been overdue. Christmas is a time of gods, heroes, light in the darkest, coldest time, of fire too... So this is very fitting. 

Calendrier de l'Avent Nostalgique

Voici le calendrier de l'Avent que j'ai acheté pour moi. Ma femme en a un plus moderne, avec les personnages de Frozen. Moi j'ai pris ce qu'il y a de plus baroque comme image, ce que je trouve plus charmant surtout. Une image au charme vieillot, avec un grand arbre de Noël, une branche de gui au dessus de la porte, des enfants Père Noël tout ce qu'il y a de plus classique, quoique mince un peu (une influence de son ancêtre Saint Nicolas), etc. Son nom est décliné en trois langues, l'anglais, le français et l'allemand. C'est, il semblerait, un "Calendrier de l'Avent Nostalgique". Je ne sais pas trop si ça veut dire que le calendrier est nostalgique, ou l'Avent. Sans doute les deux. Étant moi même un être nostalgique, ce calendrier m'a beaucoup plu. Alors je mange un chocolat à chaque soir en me sentant nostalgique des Avents anciens. Parce que c'était mieux avant... Et un calembour atroce pour conclure.

Monday 1 December 2014

Do you know how Christmas trees are grown?

I upload this song almost every year. It is to celebrate the coming Christmas season, it is also, believe it or not, a song from a James Bond movie set during Christmastime. By the way, the original novel is a great Christmas read too. A warning to those who have not listened to it before: it has some of the silliest lyrics a Christmas song ever has. About rain freezing in winter and killing the tree if it does not have love. Things like that. That said, maybe it is because of the movie, or the circumstances where it is played in the movie, which you can read about in one of my previous posts. I may blog more about On Her Majesty's Secret Service in the upcoming weeks. In any case, to kick start the Christmas season, I thought this silly song was good enough.

L'Avent


Nous sommes l'Avent (en fait, il semblerait que ça commence hier). C'est donc le compte à rebours officiel pour Noël. Afin de souligner le début de décembre, j'ai téléchargé ici cette photo du sapin de Noël de l'année dernière. Ca n'a l'air de rien, c'était un tout petit sapin, enfin il n'était pas très grand, mais il a une particularité importante, qui le rend unique: c'est le premier sapin de Noël naturel que j'aie personnellement acheté. Déjà, je me sentais plus chez moi. Et ça sent bon, un vrai sapin dans la maison. Enfin bref, c'est l'Avent aujourd'hui, alors ce blogue va prendre les couleurs de Noël et je vais bloguer sur les différents aspects de la fête.

Sunday 30 November 2014

The Detective Tales cover for November

I have skipped this tradition in October, but I thought I would respect it before the end of November: as I do (almost) every month, it is now time to upload on this blog a cover from Detective Tales and comment on it. This is the cover from the November 1939 issue. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is worth a million. Like the one I uploaded in November 2012, it is overly melodramatic, with three archetypal characters: the hero, the villain and the damsel in distress. The damsel in distress is about to be crushed between the wall bed and the wall, tied down to it, the villain, a somewhat thuggish yet soberly elegant looking man with a receding hairline, is being prevented from shooting (who?) by the hero, who is holding his wrist and about to punch him in the stomach. The elaborate method of execution for the blonde damsel in distress, tied down to the bed (Murphy bed, tells me Wikipedia), mixed with the ripped off red dress and the rather deep cleavage charge the scene with sadoerotic elements. Freud would have had a field day with this. I have to say, I am impressed. This is really edgy, in so many ways. I wonder if there is any plot going with it, or if this is just the artist's imagination responsible for this cover. If there is a story this image is based on, I want to read it.

La cuvée Ciné-cadeau 2014

C'est l'Avent demain, Noël arrive à grands pas, alors j'ai bien entendu regardé en détails l'horaire 2014 de Ciné-cadeau. Comme je le fais à chaque année, j'écris un billet éditorial à ce sujet. Je me demande souvent si ce n'est pas un exercice aussi futile que douloureux: la nostalgie brouille le jugement et qui regarde encore Ciné-cadeau une fois adulte? Il serait peut-être sage de laisser Ciné-cadeau aux enfants. Enfin bref, je trouve que la cuvée 2014 a un nombre important de films datant d'après 2000. Ca ne rajeunit personne. Si la filmographie s'est rajeunie, sa qualité semble avoir augmenté aussi. Parce que dans le Ciné-cadeau de mon enfance, s'il y avait des chef d'oeuvres, parmi eux beaucoup de méconnus, il y avait aussi pas mal de films au charme désuet, mais dont la qualité laissait à désirer.

Autre note aussi: s'il y a beaucoup de films français et belges, enfin francophones, il y a aussi de plus en plus de produits américains et britanniques. Où sont les films chinois, japonais, ou d'ailleurs en Europe? Je sais que je suis un nostalgique intempestif, mais c'est tout de même une des qualités du Ciné-cadeau de mon enfance (je suis dans la deuxième moitié de ma trentaine, ça vous donne une idée de l'époque): on nous ouvrait aussi sur une plus grande variété de cultures. Et, dans ses premiers temps, sur autre chose que des films d'animation (parfois) et également sur des trucs plus rock and roll, pas mal plus profonds et parfois plus traumatisants que ce à quoi l'on s'attendait de films pour enfants. Et vous, qu'en pensez-vous? Quelle est votre impression de la cuvée Ciné-cadeau 2014?

Saturday 29 November 2014

"Are you Italian?"

I was in the local Saturday market this morning and one of the stand owners asked me this. If I was Italian. I wonder why she thought I might be. She was selling beautiful children books, adaptations from old legends and fairy tales, books designed to encourage literacy ( will probably blog more about them). As I was looking for potential gifts for some children I know (my godson and his older sister, mainly) and I love these kinds of books, I spent a lot of time talking to her. In the middle of the conversation, as I was hesitating about which one to buy, she asked me that question, out of curiosity. I mean, I know people often wonder about my accent, but thinking it may be Italian is... unusual. So that was today's anecdote: I look and sound Italian to some people.

Les réserves de pâtés à la viande

Bon, je sais, je parle de bouffe deux fois de suite. Mais bon, ça fait presqu'un an que je n'ai pas blogué sur les pâtés à la viande. Et Noël approche, et plus ça approche plus c'est le temps des pâtés à la viande. Ca ne fait pas exclusivement  partie du repas de Noël, on peut en manger à l'année longue, mais c'est plus un met pour des températures froides. Et un repas de subsistance parfait quand on faim, facile à préparer, en autant qu'on ait des réserves. Au Québec, c'est le genre de met que l'on produit en masses, pour les Fêtes et après. Et enfin bref, ça me manque.

Friday 28 November 2014

The Black Forest cake of Pâtisserie Valérie

I blogged about Black Forest cakes before. Tonight, as it is Black Friday and as I survived it, I thought about plugging a particular Black Forest cake, the one from Pâtisserie Valérie. Or, as they call themselves, "Patisserie Valerie", without any accent. But I don't like it without accent, so I write it as it should be. This particular Black Forest cake is more a slice of cake. They say it on their website. All the same, when I want to have a quick sugar fix and I am in the mood for this particular dessert, this is where I go. I have tasted better ones, but it is nevertheless an honest Black Forest cake. And sometimes this is all that is needed. Anyway, as the weekend is here, it is a tradition on Vraie Fiction to plug something delicious. So tonight, it is this slice of Black Forest cake.

Question existentielle (247)

C'est le temps du vin nouveau. J'en ai acheté une bouteille. Du Beaujolais. Un ami sur Facebook m'a dit que c'était philistin d'en boire. Alors voici ma question:

-Est-ce que c'est philistin de boire du vin nouveau?

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Cuban rambling

A friend of mine texted me yesterday saying she was back from a holiday in Cuba. I replied back: "So how was your holiday in this communist paradise?" Not that I was jealous or anything, Cuba never really appealed to me, but I thought it was a funny line. Enough to be a great unknown line? I don't know for sure, but I have seen worse, so I decided it qualifies. So yes, she went to Cuba, where it is sunny, hot and communist.

I sent that text because I always found ironic that Cuba, one of the last few communist regimes in the world, at least in theory, has such an important touristic industry. And tourism that has the most capitalist, consumerist features. And sometimes its gloomiest, cynical aspects. But hey, if you want sea and sun (or the more cynical sort of tourist attractions) and are not American, you go to Cuba. I can't help it, I find it funny.

Compter les heures...

Bon, j'utilise sans gêne aucune une autre photo du Totnes Museum afin d'illustrer le propos de mon billet. Le pire, c'est que je ne parle même pas du Devon ou des horloges grand-pères. Mais les horloges ont été utilisées sur ce blogue depuis ben longtemps pour illustrer mon impatience lorsque j'attends l'arrivée de vacances. Et cette année, je devrais passer Noël au Québec. Je dis devrais, car depuis 2010, où j'ai dû passer les Fêtes ici de force, je me méfie de tout jusqu'à ce que je sois dans l'avion. Mais bon, je devrais y être. Et bien que Noël soit dans un mois (ou un peu moins), je compte déjà les heures...

Tuesday 25 November 2014

Missing trains


Well, no, I did not miss any train today. But I miss certain things about them: the atmosphere of an old train station, which I have not seen in a while, the family's LGB electric train, and old fashioned steamed train travels like we had in Devon. This picture, by the way, was taken in the Totnes Museum. Since trains exist, it seems that children think they are the quintessential toy, the perfect setting for make belief games and a thing of wonder and excitement. I never get bored of trains, even as an adult. I was thinking about all these trains this morning, waiting for the banal train that I take every day for my commute. The station in this town is only a platform, there is not even a ticket machine. But it used to be a proper train station, with many platforms and railways going to every town around, not only in one single track. I thought about it as there were workmen building something in the large vacant space next to the platform. I don't know what yet. I know it is not new tracks. I know this town will probably never regain its past railway glory. Still, I do hope they will turn the platform into something closer to a proper train station. With the atmosphere coming with it.

Un renard dans la neige

C'est la Sainte-Catherine, mais je n'ai pas envie de bloguer sur ce sujet. J'ai reçu de nouvelles photos de mon père, prises dans le lot de mes oncles par des caméras de surveillances infrarouge. Dont celle de ce renard. Je sais que Vraie Fiction pourrait s'appeler "vie animale" ces temps-ci, mais on voit vraiment bien le renard, alors j'ai décidé de la télécharger dès ce soir. Suis-je le seul à aimer le renards? Il fut un temps où c'était mon animal préféré.

Monday 24 November 2014

English fog

If this picture looks familiar to you, it is because I uploaded it before. I could not resist to use it again this year. I have been waiting a long while for it. Because November so far has been... foggy. Well, more often it was misty really, but we had a decent display of fog. In any case, the town and its surroundings gets blurry. There was a beautiful mist on my train journey to work this morning. It was not very thick, sadly not enough to make my commute longer, but it was nevertheless very atmospheric. English November is as its nicest when there is fog around. And no fog is as beautiful as English fog.

C'est arrivé près de chez nous

Des fois on se dit que rien ne se passe dans les villes perdues loin des grands centres. Genre: pas de drames, pas de grandes catastrophe, pas de crimes scabreux, pas de crimes du tout, en fait. Bien ma mère m'a raconté une histoire chicoutimienne qui est arrivée récemment: un vol à l'étalage d'un dopé aux métamphétamines, qui s'est enfui du lieu du larcin en prenant une voiture qu'il avait volée sous la menace (au couteau)... Un vol à l'étale au Canadian Tire de Place du Royaume. Qui ensuite a mené au stationnement d'Archambault. Lequel est, sans donner trop de détails, assez près de chez moi. Des voisins ont même été témoins d'une partie de la poursuite et de la capture manu militari de l'homme. À glacer le sang, à y penser. Mais qu'on ne vienne plus me dire qu'il ne se passe jamais rien au Saguenay.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Time for mulled wine

I took this picture last Thursday, in the local restaurant above the main street. It is a picture of the mulled wine I had. I truly discovered mulled wine last year, when I had this particular one, which was completely out of this world. This one was decent, but not outstanding. In the weeks coming to Christmas, I will make it one of my new poisons. Not to the point of replacing beer, especially not since wintery ales can be delicious, but there is just something about warming up with mulled wine on a cold winter night. If you have any recipe to suggest, please tell me.

Un cerf aux bois

Cette photo a été prise dans le Derbyshire. Elle a été prise dans le même sanctuaire où j'ai pris les récentes photos de hiboux téléchargées sur Vraie Fiction. J'y ai pensé en publiant ce billet. C'est une photo plus automnale qu'hivernale, et on n'était pas vraiment dans un bois, mais le chevreuil a des bois assez impressionnants (même si on les voit très mal), donc j'ai pensé la mettre ici. Surtout que l'automne et l'hiver se ressemblent en Angleterre. Et puis il y a le calembour atroce du titre, rien que pour ça, il fallait une photo pour aller avec.

Saturday 22 November 2014

Anthony Burgess, In Memoriam

Today, 21 years ago, Anthony Burgess died. Back in 1993, I discovered his writing when I first read A Clockwork Orange, after having discovered a few months before the movie. A few weeks before he died, actually. It was an epiphany for me, as I mentioned before. He quickly became my favorite writer. Some people remember what they were doing when they learned President Kennedy's death. I remember how I learned of his death: on my way to high school, picking up friends, as they were watching the midday news. I had only read one novel of him, and it already affected me deeply. Years later, I had the chance to meet his widow a few months before she died. But I digress. I often blogged about Burgess, but never commemorated his death until tonight. It was about time.

Les soirs d'hiver...

Je télécharge une chanson de Félix Leclerc ce soir, parce qu'elle gagne à être connue. Une des plus évocatrice, je crois. Les soirs d'hiver, parce que nous sommes déjà l'hiver, à tout le moins en esprit. Je crois que c'est une chanson qui porte sur la perpétuation des traditions. J'aime son petit côté subversif: le Diable y est vu comme un créateur. Enfin, j'aimerais bien en faire une analyse poussée, mais pour le moment je vous l'offre ici. Dites-moi ce que vous en pensez.

The Signal Box Cafe in Totnes

It is Saturday and I am carrying my weekend tradition of plugging a restaurant or a pub to celebrate the weekend. This one is a restaurant of another kind entirely. It is barely a restaurant, in fact: a mere cafe in a tiny, tiny room. That is not as small as a signal box of old, but nearly. It certainly feels like it. It is the Signal Box Cafe in Totnes train station. My wife and I stopped there for a quick breakfast before taking the train home. It was an honest breakfast, nothing more, but nothing less. Perfectly filling and delicious. In an original and atmospheric setting. I love traveling by train, I love the atmosphere of train stations. The Signal Box Cafe was the most fitting place for a hungry traveler to have a meal and it completed the experience of the journey.

Le Salon du livre de Montréal

Si jamais vous êtes à Montréal et que vous ne savez pas quoi faire en fin de semaine: le Salon du livre bat son plein. Ca a commencé le 19 novembre, j'aurais dû souligner. J'y suis allé une fois dans ma vie, ce qui est étrange, parce que j'adore Montréal (mon deuxième chez-moi) et sa vie littéraire. Bon, son Salon du livre, je ne l'aime pas autant que celui du Saguenay, mais quand même, faudrait pas bouder son plaisir. Parce que c'est toujours plaisant, un Salon du livre.

Friday 21 November 2014

Christmas lights

Christmas is more than a month away, yet I think it is time to start putting ourselves in a Christmas mood. And I am not the only one. It was yesterday that the good town's people of the little town where we live. I could not see the huge crowd that gathered then, because I was rushing home. I took this picture much, much later, in a local restaurant on the first floor of the large building facing the main street. My wife was playing flute in a local orchestra. It was the first Christmas concert of the Season, which has not even truly started yet. I enjoyed it drinking mulled wine.

So it was a lovely evening. It may have been a cool (sadly not cold or snowy) grey night, the streets were virtually deserted, but even though you see little of the lights, they do bring a festive atmosphere. The picture is far from great, but it is nevertheless a lovely view.

Un chevreuil et une pomme

Cette photo a été prise dans le lot de mes oncles par l'une des caméras infrarouge. Un chevreuil qui mange l'appât. Je vais faire un aveu tout de suite: je ne sais pas s'il a survécu. Mais le chevreuil est tout mignon, et d'un, et cette photo est joliment hivernale. Elle accompagne bien celle-ci, publiée par mois il y a peu de temps. Alors j'ai pensé la publier pour hivernaliser le blogue. Et parce qu'elle est mignonne.

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Odin, In Memoriam

I had to blog about it, even though it is very hard for me: a year ago tonight, my beloved cat Odin died, hit by a car. My wife and I were heartbroken. We are still grieving, if I am honest. I often blogged about my beautiful feline friend, before and after his death, and it struck me that while I have many memories of him, probably some I have not shared yet, I have less and less pictures of him. Anyway, he was our cat for a very short period of time, only a few months, but he was our cat nevertheless. You can read his eulogy here, if you do not know about him. Today is Wednesday, the day of his namesake. A fitting time for an anniversary, however sad it is.

Question existentielle (246)

C'est à nouveau le temps d'une question existentielle, encore une fois une question littéraire. Et en passant, la 245 n'a pas été répondue. Mais voici la 246:

-Quelle est la meilleure librairie indépendante de Montréal?

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Christoph Waltz as Blofeld?

I have blogged about a year ago about the possibility of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the nemesis of James Bond, to return haunting the British secret agent in future movies. Well, it seems that I may have my wish, at least according to the latest rumors about the production of Bond 24. Austrian actor Christoph Waltz has been apparently been cast in the movie, says the Daily Mail. And the role may be the villain of the movie and it may be Blofeld.

Now, Blofeld has been rumored to come back for a good while now, so it may be only that, the latest trend to an old non-story. But it would make sense to have Waltz in the role and I would love to see him in it. First, because like Blofeld, he is a bit of a chameleon: his face could look like the one of a wise, benevolent father figure (as in Django Unchained) or someone far more sinister, cold, efficient, lethal. He also has a face that could look a bit like Blofeld's in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, both aristocratic and malevolent even when amiable. While he is a bit older than Bond's nemesis, Christoph Ganz has about the same age and he is noticeably older than Daniel Craig, like Blofeld is older than Bond. While their respective nationalities are different: Waltz being Austrian and Blofeld Polish, Blofeld does have mixed blood and some of it is Germanic, at least this is what he claims in the novels. His name is Germanic.

So Christoph Waltz has the right look, the right background and more importantly the right acting skills. I am trying not to get too excited about the possibility, because there is truly very little evidence at this point, and far too much speculation. Still, if he plays the villain, it is a great casting choice. And he would be perfect for Blofeld.

Le pommier enneigé


Voici une photo du pommier familial sous la neige. Enfin, un des pommiers familiaux. Parce qu'il a neigé au Saguenay et partout sur le Québec. L'hiver là bas est bien arrivé. Première pensée qui m'est venue à l'esprit: les chanceux. Je veux de la neige. Ma seconde pensée: autant de pommes sont restées sur le pommier? À croire que mon père veut faire du cidre de glace. Ah oui, incidemment cette photo est une nature morte.

Sunday 16 November 2014

The owl of KANUK

Today, I am inspired about the changing seasons, as you can feel winter coming and autumn almost already gone. So I am shamelessly plugging a Quebec product, or rather its label.I have mentioned before, a couple of times, my KANUK coats. I have two: one for winter in Québec, a black one, the Coyote, and one lighter one, but which is perfect for mid-seasons and most of winter here in the UK, called the... Well, I have no idea: my father gave it to me as it didn't suit him.

What I love about Kanuk, apart from being quality clothes, is the label: the golden owl you can see on the picture. Kanuk has a bit of a bad reputation sometimes, partially because of its owl, which is very noticeable. So it has been accused to be a snobbish brand, too Montreal-centrist, too fashionable, too everything. But it keeps warm and it looks good, so I don't care. And I love the owl. Which is maybe a snowy owl. It looks like one anyway. In any case, it reminds me of home every time I wear it and makes me feel less homesick.

Message d'intérêt public

Tout d'abord, la photo du mois c'est par là. Mais ce n'est pas mon message d'intérêt public. Je voulais parler d'un récent billet du Pharmachien à propos de la vaccination. Il y dénonce de manière polie mais néanmoins mordante (c'est ce que j'aime das ses billets) le sensationnalisme de certains médias qui souvent essaient de donner une crédibilité à l'hostilité hystérique d'une partie de la population envers la vaccination. Il a écrit un autre excellent billet au sujet des vaccins par le passé. Je le recommande aussi.

Saturday 15 November 2014

How time flies

A terrible cliché for a title, but I could not find anything better. Yesterday, the daughter of one of my best friends and the big sister of my godson joined Facebook. At 13. I remember holding her in my arms when she was a newborn. It is partially because she was so fond of me that I became the godfather of her brother. The other reason is that I have known their parents since my time in cégep, when they started dating. And now their older daughter is on Facebook. This was my moment of Memento Mori recently. Nevertheless, I am glad I can get in touch with her more often.

Voir la vie en rose (la photo du mois)


C'est le moment de la photo du mois, le thème est "voir la vie en rose", choisie par Arwen. Ca a été d'une simplicité désarmante à trouver: cette photo d'Odin sur la couverture à pique-nique. Parce qu'Odin était un chat noir qui avait l'air d'une petite panthère, comme tous les chats noirs. Parce qu'il y a une panthère rose. Parce qu'il est sur cette photo sur quelque chose de rose. Et surtout parce que lorsqu'Odin était vivant, il nous faisait voir la vie en rose, tout noir qu'il était. C'est la seconde fois que j'utilise Odin pour la photo du mois. À chaque fois, il s'est imposé d'emblée.

Vous pouvez voir comment/quand les autres voient la vie en rose aux liens suivants:

A'icha, Agathe, Agnès, Agrippine, Akaieric, Alban, Alexinparis, Angélique, Ann, Anne, Arwen, Aude, Autour de Cia, Ava, Bestofava, BiGBuGS, Blogoth67, Blue Edel, Brindille, Calamonique, Cara, CetO, Champagne, Chat bleu, Chloé, Christophe, Cocazzz, Crearine, Cricriyom from Paris, Cécile - Une quadra, Cécile Atch'oum, Céline in Paris, Dame Skarlette, DelphineF, Destination Montréal, Dr. CaSo, E, El Padawan, Estelle, Eurydice, Eva INside-EXpat, Fanfan Raccoon, François le Niçois, Frédéric, Gilsoub, Giselle 43, Gizeh, Guillaume, hibiscus, Homeos-tasie, Isa de fromSide2Side, Isa ToutSimplement, Isaquarel, Josette, Josiane, Julia, Kenza, KK-huète En Bretannie, Krn, La Dum, La Fille de l'Air, La Nantaise à Paris, Lau* des montagnes, Laulinea, Laurent Nicolas, Laurie, Lavandine, Lavandine83, Les bonheurs d'Anne & Alex, Les Filles du Web, Louisianne, Loulou, Luckasetmoi, Lyonelk, magda627, Mahlyn, Mamysoren, Maria Graphia, Marie, Marion, Marmotte, MauriceMonAmour, Memories from anywhere, Milla la galerie, Mimireliton, MissCarole, Morgane Byloos Photography, Nanouk, Nicky, Philae, Photo Tuto, Pilisi, Pixeline, princesse Emalia, Renepaulhenry, Rythme Indigo, Sailortoshyo, Salon de Thé, Sandrine, Sylvie, Tambour Major, Tataflo, Testinaute, Thalie, Tuxana, Vanilla, Woocares, Xoliv', Yvette la Chouette.