To revisit Isola

 "The city in these pages is imaginary. The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory technique."

 No, no, this post's title is not referring to our next holiday destination. I'm referring to the setting of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. Isola is imaginary, but it's a stand-in for Manhattan, the imaginary city being a thinly disguised New York. In August last year, I was lamenting that I hadn't read McBain since 2021. It hasn't changed, in fact I didn't even buy a new book from the crime fiction series. I want 2025 to be different, but I have a lot of books on my TBR list and I am reading very slowly. That said, I still hope to find time to slip one title or two from the 87th somewhere in the coming months, after I finish the next two or three unread  books on my shelves. I mostly read crime fiction until August anyway, so I think I can find the opportunity.

Le raton enragé

 Bon, je blogue beaucoup sur les bêtes ces temps-ci, mais c'est un hasard. J'ai appris qu'un premier cas de raton laveur enragé a été signalé au Québec. Bon, ce n'est pas la peste, mais c'est pas jojo non plus. Notre expérience avec les ratons laveurs lors de notre promenade sur le Mont-Royal (où j'ai d'ailleurs pris cette photo) aurait pu prendre un tour plus angoissant. Ils sont tellement mignons, c'est difficile de les imaginer enragés.

Adopting a Pound Puppy?

I went to the local toy shop this weekend. I was happy to find the Pound Puppies. I hadn't spotted them before. I blogged about Pound Puppies twice already. We have plenty of plush toys here, but I would not mind adding one of these pups or two to our family's menagerie. Because I wouldn't adopt a real dog. But so far, Wolfie has been lukewarm at best about the idea. I'm not sure why, because he loves cuddly toys. I might buy one just for myself, for nostalgia's sake. He'll take it anyway. So yeah, I am pondering about adopting a Pound Puppy.

Amaryllis

 Mon père m'a envoyé des photos des amaryllis. Je partage parce que ça donne des couleurs au blogue. C'est aussi le mot du jour.

Lynx in the Scottish Highlands

I just learned that four lynx have been illegally released in the Scottish Highlands. Of them, two have been recaptured. Releasing them was of coursea terrible idea, as the article explains. That said, I hope they release legally and responsibly lynx in Scotland in the future. Because it struck me that the land and the animal go well together. And this bit of news made me think of something else: I wonder if the many tales and sighting of cryptid wildcats that abound in the UK are not caused by such illegal release, accidental or intentional, of wild animals like these lynx.

Coriandre

 Ma femme cuisine du Hello Fresh et elle ne trouve pas la coriandre fraîche pour la recette. Tragédie. Non, je plaisante, mais je suis devenu amateur de coriandre depuis qu'ils en mettaient (de la coriandre sèche) dans les falafels du défunt Folie en vrac. À chaque fois que je goûte de la coriandre dans un repas, c'est comme ma madeleine de Proust, je me rappelle de Folie en Vrac. C'est vraiment triste que ça n'existe plus. Y a-t-il un comptoir sandwich semblable à Montréal? Des magasins en vrac, oui, il y en a pleins. Mais pas avec un comptoir sandwich qui fait des falafels assaisonnés de coriandre.

The Night Agent Returns

 I blogged before about The Night Agent, a Netflix spy thriller series which I quite enjoyed. It was not a masterpiece, but it was fun to watch, if a bit derivative. Well, there is a season 2 of the series coming in a week. I wonder what it will look like. Since the first season was based on a novel, which I haven't read, I think this time the story will be new and only the characters will be the same, which would make the title a placeholder one. Unless the book has a sequel, which is also possible. Somebody in the known tell me about. I think it was freely adapted from the source material in any case. Anyway, I am looking forward to season 2.

Parlons du Cinéma de 17 heures

 Bon, l'année étant entamée depuis un petit bout maintenant, faisons un retour nostalgique dans ce qui me divertissait durant mon enfance les jours de semaine ordinaires. J'ai déjà blogué et re-blogué sur le Cinéma de 17 heures à Radio-Canada, sur lequel il n'y a pratiquement rien en ligne. Alors je songe à chercher dans mes souvenirs et les vôtres (si vous vous en rappelez) et faire une liste des films qui y passaient. Je la partagerai ici et bloguerai plus en détails. Certains lecteurs (pas des réguliers) ont commenté sur le sujet au fil de mes billets, alors je crois qu'on a un peu de matière.

Redbush Tea/Rooibos

Last time I went downtown to run errands, I stopped by one of the local cafés, in fact the café of a church (I kid you not). Not that I want to convert, but they serve really cheap food and drinks and service is just as good as in the big chains. I ordered rooibos, which baffled the young person at the till. They have it as redbush on the menu. I prefer the South African term. I hadn't had rooibos in ages and I had forgotten how nice and relaxing it was. I think I will make it a regular thing, when I want a hot drink in the afternoon but cannot have black tea. And you, dear readers, do you drink rooibos? How do you call it?

L'ancien logo des Bouquinistes

J'ai pensé à quelque chose depuis que la librairie Les Bouquinistes est devenue une coopérative: je préférais l'ancien logo, que vous voyez ici. Le nouveau est peut-être plus moderne et dynamique, mais justement, je crois que l'on s'attache plus à l'image d'une marque que l'on connaît depuis des décennies. L'ancien est plus traditionnel, plus simple, plus relaxant. C'est aussi et surtout celui de mon enfance et de celle de pleins d'autres lecteurs au Saglac. Qu'en pensez-vous?

Ronja, the Robber's Daughter

The things you find on Netflix sometimes. As I was browsing through it last week, I discovered that they had made a live action series adaptation of Astrid Lindgren's Ronja, The Robber's Daughter. Or Ronia, or Ronya, it depends of the translation and/or adaptations. I haven't read much Swedish literature, but I did read some of Lindgren's works, including Ronja. Not when I was a child, but when I was a teenager, the year a Swedish foreign student (my "Swedish sister" as I call her) lived with us. She had bought us a few classic novels from her country, translated into French, including this one. I enjoyed it enough and it was an easy read, but I had found it a bit kid friendly for my tastes. I had already started reading horror classics, as well as "proper" literature, so the kind of fairy tale medieval fantasy Lindgren had written didn't really connect with me as much as it would have had say, six or seven years earlier. 

And this is what I wanted to get at. I started watching the TV series with Wolfie. I wasn't sure it was proper for him, but he insisted that he wanted to watch it too. I had started watching in original Swedish, with subtitles, but I had to switch to the English dubbing. And then... then I didn't want Wolfie to watch it, because it turned out dark and scary. It has monsters, some level of violence I haven't seen very often in a children story and a very eerie atmosphere. I don't know how faithful the series is, maybe it was the translation I read that had been sanitized, but I know I did not expect it to be like this. Like what I had been wanting to read years ago, ironically enough. We watched until the end of the first episode. I will watch the rest by myself. Thankfully, Wolfie does not want to watch more. Oh, and one day I will revisit the novel, but in a different translation.

Les Catacombes: l'enseigne officielle

 Je blogue encore une fois sur les "Catacombes" du Cégep de Chicoutimi, lesquelles ne sont pas des catacombes (hélas!) et datent de l'ancien séminaire. Je dis ne sont pas des catacombes au sens propre, mais en regardant de plus près une photo envoyée par une amie et que j'ai déjà partagée ici, j'ai observé une chose: il y a une enseigne dessus nommant les Catacombes... Catacombes. Donc, même si ce ne sont pas de vraies catacombes, leur nom de baptême officiel est bien Catacombes. Et belle devanture de local, qui n'existait pas à mon époque, soit dit en passant. Sans dire que c'est un lieu touristique, ça leur donne plus de cachet et je les revisiterais bien un jour. Je crois qu'il y aurait bien une histoire ou deux à écrire sur elles.

Mountain Warehouse for the cold days

Yesterday, as I had to go downtown to get my glasses fixed because of a loose screw, I decided that I would stop at the Mountain Warehouse. First, to see if there was anything interesting in the January sale, second, because we had a few very cold days and nights recently and I thought we needed a few warm socks. I almost always buy socks when I stop at the local Mountain Warehouse. Mostly because I lvoe warm socks, also because they get used very quickly (or they simply disappear). So I bought thermals and socks for Wolfie and an extra pair of socks for me. I keep finding it ironic: I don't really do outdoor, camping and hiking, the sort of activities Mountain Warehouse is there for, yet I am a very loyal customers. And I even enjoy going there! It was the highlight of my day yesterday. But in any case, I feel better knowing my son will be able to keep his feet warm.

Automne Boulangerie

 J'ai découvert par hasard, en écrivant ce billet, qu'il existe dans Rosemont une Automne Boulangerie. (Et en passant, ça devrait s'appeler Boulangerie Automne, non?) Je crois qu'elle a ce nom car elle a ouvert ses portes en octobre 2016. Un nom de baptême à la fois logique et original. Je ne vais guère dans Rosemont lors de mes séjours à Montréal, mais rien que parce que ce commerce a le nom de ma saison préférée, je veux le visiter. Je crois que c'est un nom prometteur. Sinon, quelqu'un ici a déjà fait l'expérience d'Automne Boulangerie? Et si oui, c'était comment? Des recommendations?

Cryptidcurrency

 I found this meme a few days ago and it made me laugh, so I am sharing it here. I don't understand or care about cryptocurrency either. But, although I don't believe in any of these cryptids, I used to believe bigfoot and Nessie were real as a kid, and I have been fascinated by these modern mythical monsters ever since. So yeah, I would love to have coins like these in my wallet. And I will learn more about the chupacabra and Mothman. I don't know all that much about them.

Pot de confiture inouvrable

Il y a quelques semaines, j'ai acheté un pot de confiture aux mûres, faite maison. C'était lors d'une fête de l'école de petit loup et j'ai pensé que ça serait bien d'avoir autre chose que des confitures d'épicerie. Mal m'en pris: je n'arrive pas à l'ouvrir. Il est scellé ben dur. Je songeais à en faire une question existentielle, mais je vais le demander ici: comment on fait pour ouvrir ça? J'ai essayé l'huile de bras, l'eau bouillante, taper dessus avec une cuillère, jusqu'ici sans succès.

Steam Train Candle?

 Facebook and other social media know me too much and it is scary. I was scrolling my Facebook feed recently and I came up on an advert for a Yorkshire local business, the Yorkshire Scent. They sell, among other things, candles. Including one, which they were advertising on Facebook: the Steam train jar candle. A candle that smell of steam train. What a strange idea. Who in the world would buy such a thing? Okay, Well me, that's who. Guilty as charged. Probably not online, I'm not that pathetic, and I'm not that uch into candles, but if I was to find one in a shop, yes. Like right away.

Il a neigé (un peu)

 Bon, c'est arrivé deux semaines trop tard, juste le jour du retour à l'école pour nous rendre les choses plus difficiles, mais il a neigé cette seaine et on annonce encore de la neige dans les prochains jours. Bon, je dis neige... Ce n'est pas les neiges d'antan, mettons. Mais ici, dans le sud de l'Angleterre, c'est vraiment un gros évènement, en tout cas une bonne bordée. Je ne bouderai pas mon plaisir, sauf que j'espère qu'une fin de semaine on en aura plus que ça.

January as an ice cream flavour...

I saw this meme recently and it made me laugh, so I am sharing it here. I must say, I don't mind January as much as I used to, but yeah, this January pretty much tastes like this.

Murale vandalisée

Triste nouvelle: j'apprends que la muralede la Bouquinerie du Plateau faite par Michel Rabagliati a été vandalisée. J'ai eu la présence d'esprit de la prendre en photo lors de notre dernier séjour. La murale a une ambiance des Fêtes et je pensais la partager Noël dernier ou le Noël prochain, mais qu'importe. Et j'espère qu'ils vont identifier et punir l'enfant de salaud qui a fait ça.