87th Precinct, 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."

 Amateurs of crime fiction identified this quote easily: it is the disclaimer placed before the start of every novel from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. I first discovered them translated in French, before switching to original English. Heat was the last one I read translated, suring the summer of 2006. Fittingly enough, I read it all during a heatwave, just like in the book. Before I go any further, I recommend it for a summer read, especially when it's hot outside. I still have my copy, this copy. And you can find on it a glaring mistake: the promotional paper slip says: "N.Y.P.D 87e District". I mean... what? It says in the book that the unnamed city is imaginary. Yes, it is a thinly disguised New York, Isola being Manhattan, but it's sitll not New York. I don't want to be pedantic, but surely every fan of the series worth his salt knows that by now.

"C'est le raisin de chez-nous, fils du feu..."

 "À la Sainte-Anne les bleuets sont mûrs. C'est le raisin de chez-nous, fils du feu; du sol humble et pierreux c'est l'offrande; c'est le miel des crans sauvages, le frère des éricales dans le royaume infini des sphaignes et des tourbières."

Menaud maître-draveur, Félix-Antoine Savard

Je cite Menaud à chaque année le 26 juillet, car c'est la Sainte-Anne, que c'est le temps des bleuets et que c'est le raisin de chez-nous. Je sais de quoi je parle, je viens du Saguenay, je suis donc un Bleuet.

Emerald Hunters?

 Oh the things you sometimes learn thanks to random online researches. Like a few days ago, when I stumbled on this article from the Guardian. Well, an article, more like a pictorama. It's about a yearly emerald hunt in Colombia. it looks muddy, messy and far less glamorous than sounds. And I learned that Colombia is the main producer of emeralds. Like I said, the things you learn randomly online. I only Colombia for another natural resource (you know the one), far more sinister. But this emerald hunt would make for a great backdrop for an epic crime fiction story. Emeralds make for great MacGuffins to begin with. In And what an array of characters these emerald hunters would make: some like the gold diggers of old, trying their luck, some obsessive, some maybe more prone to gain the precious green stones through any means necessary. It might have been written before, who knows. I will look into it.

Bleuets, framboises, crème, etc.

 Mon père a fait le dessert qu'il fait souvent ces temps-ci de l'année: bleuets, framboises, crème et flocons de sucre d'érable. Je songe à lui donner un nom. Salade de fruits augmentée? Salade de baies sauvages gentrifiées à la québécoise? Crème douce aux bleuets et franboises assaisonnée d'érable? Salade de baies noyée dans la crème ensevelie de sucre d'érable? Donnez-moi vos suggestions dans les commentaires.

Shirley Temple

No, no, I'm not talking about the actress. I mean the drink. Last Sunday, we took a family walk just for fun and stopped at one of the local hotels, where we had some drinks. Again, just for fun. They had a few cocktails and mocktails, Wolfie wanted a mocktail to be fancy and it struck me... They didn't offer any Shirley Temple. Whatever happened to this classic kids' cocktail? My brothers and I loved it when we were children, mostly because we thought the grenadine was cool and exotic. And we felt so posh drinking it. Not grownups, but like fancy. Maybe glamorous would be the right word. I think Wolfie would like it, but sadly there was no Shirley Temple on the menu. I wonder when was the last time I saw Shirley Temple available, on any drink menu. I will keep my eyes out for it.

Premier jour de vacances

 Je dis dans mon titre que c'est le premier jour des vacances, mais pas pour moi: petit loup est en vacances depuis hier après-midi. C'est beaucoup, beaucoup, beaucoup trop tard dans l'été, je trouve. Pas que je sache trop faire de lui: ma femme et moi ne sommes pas en vacances. C'est un des aspects les plus difficiles de la vie adulte: nous ne sommes pas en vacances automatiquement durant l'été. Sauf que, même enfant, parfois je trouvais le temps long, quand j'étais en vacances et que mes parents ne l'étaient pas. Je me sentais souvent désoeuvré. J'espère que ce ne sera pas trop le cas de petit loup, faudra que je le tienne occupé. Il y a un avantage à travailler de la maison: je n'ai pas à payer de gardienne. Et puis avec Wolfie aux alentours, je me sens toujours un peu moins au travail que je devrais l'être. Alors son premier jour de vacances, c'est pour moi un peu un début de vacances aussi, des vacances officieuses, presque clandestines. Pas assez pour me réconcilier avec l'été, mais disons-le franchement: les vacances, c'est depuis longtemps la seule bonne chose à l'été, en tout cas pour moi.

More Ghost Stories?

I saw this book during one of my trips to the local bookshop a few months ago. I came this close to buy it, just because of the really nice spooky cover (and yes, I know about the haunting it refers to) but thankfully I did not. Not because I don't like of E.F. Benson, but because it struck me that I have his complete works somewhere. Worse: I have started reading the book. So I was about to foolishly buy a book for its cover. Silly me. All the same, as time goes, I am getting in a spooky Halloween mood and will start soon to read ghost and horror stories. But it's not like I have nothing scary in my TBR list. What about you?

Question existentielle (389)

 J'ai cherché et je ne trouve nulle part cette question existentielle jusqu'ici:

-Quels sont vos sentiments et opinions par rapport au mois de juillet?

Vous connaissez sans doutes les miens, mais j'aimerais vraiment connaître les vôtres. 

"Welcome to Year 3"

Last week, we received a letter when Wolfie came back to school. Nothing bad, just a introductory letter welcoming him to year three. Written on top of it, just beneath the expected (but still dreaded) "Back to SCHOOL!" (ouch!) was "Welcome to Year 3". Now, it was a very sweet letter, with useful instructions and info about what to expect for this coming school year. The problem is, school is not over yet. Wolfie will be on holiday tomorrow in the afternoon. he is welcoming this break as much as I do. So this letter, however kind and useful it is, comes way too early for my taste. I will repeat what I said before: school ends way too late in the year in this country, holidays are too short and it times goes way too fast. Wolfie already in year 3 this September! I did not want to be reminded of that.

Une promenade en forêt...

Peut-être que mon titre est un peu une exagération: ce n'était pas dans une forêt que nous avons marché hier, mais dans un boisé pas loin de chez nous. Qu'à cela ne tienne: C'est quand même plaisant de savoir que nous avons accès à un brin de nature rien qu'à côté de chez nous, ou presque.

Railway Socks

 As I often say it, I'm far from a fashion victim. I love old clothes and I rarely if ever go clothes shopping. I do for my son, but not for me. Except for shoes and, well, socks, because socks get worn out so easily. And I am a socker, sorry, I mean a sucker for socks or indeed anything that hastrains on it. Mugs, keyrings, what have you. And, of course, socks. So yes, recently, I bought a new pair of socks with trains on them. Just because I can never have too many socks with trains on them. And because, let's face it... they look really, but really cool.

Se stocker en cidre?

 J'ai pris cette photo dans un cendre de jardinage. Ils vendent toujours pleins de trucs dans un centre de jardinage qui n'ont rien ou en tout cas peu à voir avec le jardinage. C'est un peu pourquoi j'aime y aller: je suis un mauvais jardinier, mais il y a toujours quelque chose que j'aime trouver. Des vêtements, des livres, de la bière, que sais-je. Et aussi du cidre. Je me stocke trop peu souvent en cidre, parce que je suis plus bière, d'abord. J'en buvais plus souvent quand mes beaux-parents étaient expatriés en Bretagne: je passais mes séjours chez eux à boire du cidre et de la bière bretonne. Mais alors que mes stocks d'alcool diminuent, ce ne serait pas une mauvaise idée de me stocker en cidre.

Eyes Wide Shut: a summer blockbuster

 I read yesterday this article from digitaltrends, about Eyes Wide Shut,which has been released 25 years ago. The article made me discover one thing I had kind of forgotten about it: it was technically a summer blockbuster. I know it had been released during summertime of 1999, but since I discovered months later and I have always associated it with Christmastime due to its setting (not unlike another summer blockbuster, come to think of it), I never thought about it this way. I didn't know it was so successful at the box office. It's kind of a posthumous sweet revenge for Stanley Kubrick, given that the initial reviews were mixed at best when it was released. I personally consider it a masterpiece and I think it is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Anyway, I found some of the interpretations of the article questionable, but overall interesting, so I recommend you read it. Otherwise, I would generally find watching Eyes Wide Shut this time of year kind of out of season, but I might give it a shot. I might see the film in a new light.

Biblio-tech mobile

 Photo trouvée sur la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du SagLac il y a quelques jours. Tout ça pour dire que j'apprends l'existence d'une Biblio-tech mobile. Laquelle est aussi, en plus d'une bibliothèque sur roues,une "unité de création techno et numérique". Bon, ils m'ont eu avec l'idée d'une bibliothèque mobile, mais bref. On en avait dans le temps et j'adorais. Vous trouverez l'horaire ici. Pour mes compatriotes.

Greggs: bring back the Friday treat

Remember when, back in the days, I paid myself a special Friday treat for lunch, usually a big bad sandwich, to celebrate the coming weekend? Well, it struck me that I haven't done that in a long while. Like for months. And it is no longer a tradition I follow. I used to observe it religiously: Friday means something bad but oh so good. And we have a local Greggs and it's not so far from our house. I had a sandwich from there fairly recently, a couple of weeks ago, but not on a Friday and because I was feeling too lazy to make myself one. Also, I'm a sucker for a chicken baguette sandwich full of mayonnaise. But I should really make it a weekly ritual.

Le Tourdion

Je voulais la partager depuis quelques temps, une interprétation du Tourdion que mon frère PJ a trouvée. petite anecdote: je la chante parfois comme berceuse. Bon, allons, tous ensemble: "Quand je bois du vin clairet..."

Almost a heatwave

 So far this summer, we've been lucky: we didn't have many hot days, the temperatures weremostly in the lower 20s and it has been overall cool. Well, today in the South East it is meant to be reaching 30 in some places. Here, the maximum will be 28 degrees. Almost a heatwave. I get uncomfortable when it reaches 25 and above. Therefore, I am bracing myself. Thankfully, it should not last very long and the temperatures should drop by tomorrow. I hope it will be over soon, in any case.

La paella

C'est une tradition familiale quand vient l'été chez mes parents. Une tradition familiale qui n'est pas la mienne, hélas, parce que j'ai quitté le nid... familial, justement, il y a quelques années, bien avant que mes parents ne s'y mettent et en fassent justement une tradition. Enfin bref, mon cousin et ma tante sont en visite chez eux et mes parents ont donc décidé de faire une paella. Mon cousin m'a gentiment envoyé une photo, à la demande de mon père qui sait que j'aime partager des photos gastronomiques sur le blogue. Avec du vin blanc (pas du rouge?) pour accompagner. Avouez que c'est dommage de ne pas pouvoir essayer ça. Un jour peut-être. D'ici là, j'ai droit à des photos. Et vous aussi...

Poker and Blackjack

I found this box in the local toy shop. Because it does not only have kids' toys and games. Don't worry, I did not buy it. For two reasons: at £16.99 the price was steep and wel, I'm not a gambler anyway. I did, however, play both blackjack and poker, but never for real money. Blackjack with a friend, and barely any, but I grew a fascination for poker after watching The Sting. My brothers and I used to play for hours with some friends, while listening to the movie's score. I don't think we played very well, or following the rules much if at all. I don't think we ever played Texas hold'em. But we had fun all the same. I'd love to play it like this again, just for fun, with music in the background. Anyway, I saw this box and it gave me a solid trip down nostalgia lane.

Pierre et le Loup

Enfant, j'aimais beaucoup Pierre et le Loup. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi, enfin si, parce que même si j'aime les loups, j'aime quand dans les contes ils sont présentés comme des antagonistes, des bêtes affamées et dangereuses. Enfin bref, le Petit Ménestrel en a fait un livre-disque absolument magnifique. J'ai essayé de trouver cette version sur YouTube afin de la partager, jusqu'ici je n'ai pas eu de succès. Mais d'ici là, voici une image tirée du livre-disque.