Sherlock Holmes on the Moors

 I blogged back in February about the first edition I read of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I took this image from the book. You can see Sherlock Holmes in his iconographic if apocryphal clothes, with a deerstalker hat, but an ordinary coat and not an Inverness cape, for some reason. Still, the hat gives him away immediately. In this image, it makes some sense that he is wearing this, as he is on the Devon's moors. Some illustrators and movies have Holmes dressed like this in the middle London, which is patently absurd. Anyway, I think it would be nice to revisit Devon, but more inland this time. Follow the footsteps of Sherlock Homes, when he investigated an old legend who turned into a murder conspiracy.

Première Moisson en mode pascal

Photo trouvée sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson: la boulangerie/pâtisserie se met en mode pascal. Si j'étais à Montréal, j'y ferais un tour. Si seulement ils pouvaient ouvrir une succursale en Angleterre! On n'est pas aussi bien servi ici en desserts de Pâques, pas plus en chocolat qu'en gâteaux.

A Praise Of Our Neighbourhood

Yesterday, I went to my writing workshop. It was a great time, but this is not what I wanted to blog about. As it was in a different place as usual, I got a lift from some of my fellow writers. After the fairly short journey from my house to our host's house, my lift told me that he really liked my neighbourhood. At the end of a quiet road with lots of trees, surrounded by them in fact, he really thought it was a great place, just far enough from the centre. Oh, and from a walking distance of a country pub he likes. I knew of the pub, I had been there a few times, but didn't know it was from a walking distance from us. Good to know. I never thought someone would say this of our neighbourhood, which we always thought wa slower middle class at best, so it felt good to hear it.

Dimanche des Rameaux

Nous sommes aujourd'hui le Dimanche des Rameaux. La dernière ligne droite avant Pâques et une assez grosse affaire quand j'étais un petit enfant catholique. Maintenant, c'est plus un moment d'anticipation. Pâques, ce n'est pas Noël, il n'y a pas la même fébrilité, ce n'est pas la même ambiance non plus, mais j'ai quand même beaucoup de plaisir à attendre Pâques et à faire des plans. Sinon, que faites-vous aujourd'hui? Quelques chose de pascal? Ou c'est juste un dimanche comme un autre?

Tea Collections in a Bookshop?

During my last time at home, I went ao couple of time to the local Archambault. I used to love the bookstore chain, I am not really a fan anymore: it now sells too much of everything besides books. It used to feel like a proper bookshop, now it feels a bit tacky. So I was not surprised when I noticed they were also selling tea boxsets. One from an English company, of all things, the English Tea Shop. Very fancy. I live in England, so I thought it would be pointless to buy teas from England, even though my parents don't have much tea at home. So I didn't. And then, I thought I was being a grouch. Because buying tea and books together kind of makes sense: you get something to read and you have some tea with it. I mean drinking tea and reading a book are activities that go so well together. They are blissful, even. So yes, if there is anything else besides books, book bags and bookmarks that is suitable to buy in  a bookshop, it might actually be tea.

L'architecture de Salzbourg

 J'ai pris cette photo lors de nos vacances en Autriche l'an passé, à Salzbourg. Vous voyez un commerce, en tout cas un édifice, qui date de quelques siècles, R.F. Azwanger. Ce que j'aime dans l'architecture de Salzbourg, c'est justement qu'elle a l'air figée dans le temps, comme je le disais dans ce billet. Même avec l'apparition des stands et des réclames plus modernes, comme on voit ici. Et avec les couleurs parfois pastel, parfois vives, on dirait souvent des maisons de poupées géantes. Il y a quelque chose de délicat dans cette ville.

An Evening of Murder

A long, long time ago, I blogged about a murder party series we used to love, called An Evening of Murder. Back in the eighties and nineties, it was all the rage among adults, teenagers and, well, sometimes also "old" children. The first we ever played was Forever Friends, localised into (Qébec) French as Éternellement Vôtre, or Eternally Yours. A better title, IMO. I mention localisation, as the character names and the places were all adapted to québécois culture, but for simplicity I will refer to the original English. The setting was a hotel called "the Old Lodge", where a group of college friends reunited, to find one of them murdered. I got hooked. Everybody had something to hide, was guilty of something. A cassette gave you the sounds of the murder, pretty gruesome stuff, introduced by Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and a rather dark and sinister voice. You could also find in the box set invitation letters, characters sheets, also a booklet with suggestions of disguise, of décor, even a menu for the evening. Sure, the resolution owe nothing to anyone's deductive powers, but oh the atmosphere! And the role play! The fun we had. I will always treasure it.

Ale à l'érable (un conseil)

Photo prise de la page Facebook de McAuslan. Ils font grand cas de leur bière à l'érable. J'en profite pour revenir sur la critique qu'a faite mon frère PJ. Il m'a aussi donné un conseil, que je partage ici: "vu que ça se vend à l'unité, achètes-en une pour célébrer le printemps, tu la bois un peu déçu d'avoir manqué un autre hiver, pis tu remets ça à l'année prochaine." Bonne idée.

The Violin Thief

 I blogged last year about the theft of a 285-year-old violin worth £150,000 in a London pub. Well, there has been some development to the story since the man was arrested: he has been charged with theft. It was about time. As a music lover, the stealing of a rare and ancient musical instrument is to me both morally and aesthetically repellent. Hell, you could argue it is a crime against our civilisation's memory. That said, it could be the subject of a great crime story. Everything about it makes for a great drama. An atmospheric one too: he stole the violin in a London pub, after all. I'm sure there is a scriptweriter working on it at the moment. I'm kind of tempted to try my luck at it and write a short story on the subject.

Ours polaire viennois?

 Photo prise au Zoo de Vienne lors de nos vacances l'an dernier. Je ne tenais pas tant à y aller (au zoo je veux dire). Mais ce fût quand même agréable. Et puis c'est toujours plaisant de voir (notamment) des ours polaires, tant qu'ils ne puissent pas vous atteindre. Je trouve toujours ça un peu surréaliste de voir un animal polaire dans un zoo européen. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi.

Devious March

 Since the vernal equinox and even before (see this post for instance), this springtime had been rather idyllic. For those who love when it gets warmer during spring, that is. Because I am not one of them. I far prefer cold weather and when it gets warmer, I start dreading the hot days of summer to come. Thankfully, March is a treacherous month and he proved himself to be again: since yesterday, the temperature dropped, it's overcast and sometimes rainy, furthermore it gets quite windy. Oh I love when March gets cold and windy! I know it will not last, but I am feeling oh so comfy right now and I am making the most of it.

Le synopsis de Cendrillon

 Un rappel pour les amateurs: l'Opéra du Royaume présentera Cendrillon de Jules Massenet du 28 mars au 2 avril. Ils ont présenté le synopsis de l'opéra, si vous êtes curieux d'en savoir plus.

Mexican Train Dominoes

I am always on the lookout for new games to play, especially new board games, even though we don't have much room here to store them. Or play them. All the same, I go to the local toys shop sometimes and I get curious. I found one a few months ago, Mexican Train Dominoes. Now, I only played dominoes a few times. I do like the aesthetic of it, but that's not what I like here. It has trains in it. Trains. So... yeah. I might put it on my birthday list.

Ale à l'érable (nouvelle critique)

 Je reviens sur la bière/l'ale à l'érable de McAuslan, leur bière du printemps, parce que mon frère PJ l'a essayée. La photo est de lui. Voici sa critique: "C'est effectivement so-so, ça goûte pas grand-chose, avec un petit goût sucré." J'essaierais quand même.

The Hunter

Sometimes, there are dreams that I don't have that come true. So a few days ago, I learn in this Variety article that the crime novel The Last Hunt by South African writer Deon Meyer will be adapted into a TV series. But that's not all: Israeli scriptwriter Noah Stollman, who is also one of the scriptwriters of the spy thriller series Fauda, will do the adaptation. And you know how much I love Fauda. So for me, it is like the meeting of two great creative minds, from two cultures I love. Now Meyer has been adapted before and I have rarely been able to find these adaptations on streaming or on television, but it's good news all the same. The article says it is a spy thriller, which is true of this novel and many other works of Deon Meyer. Anyway, the adaptation is titled The Hunter (working title?) and I will be on the lookout for it. If you are interested, watch this space.

Les Bouquinistes en mode pascal

 J'ai pris cette photo sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes. Elle date du 11 mars, je ne l'avais pas remarquée. Tout ça pour dire que, comme je le mentionnais un peu le 21 mars, ma librairie régionale préférée. Pour ceux qui peuvent s'y rendre, je vous envie.

Kukri (word of the day)

As I blogged last Saturday, I am reading Fight Write, by Carla Hoch and it made me wonder about weapons in crime fiction and thrillers in general, particularly signature weapons, either for heroes or villains. There is a small entry about the kukri, an Indian knife that is sometimes seen as just a variant of the machete and not a distinct weapon itself. I am no expert, so I cannot comment too much about it, but I do find the kukri to have a very distinctive shape and look, so it is easily identifiable. All knives are lethal, however this one looks even more lethal than others. It is just very impressive, yet elegant in an exotic way, and I am wondering if it would suit more a hero or a villain. Be that as it may, kukri is the word of the day.

Mille/1000 Bornes

Une petite nouvelle sans vraie importance: j'ai retrouvé le jeu de Mille Bornes que ma femme m'avait acheté pour ma fête en 2022. C'est bien, je vais pouvoir jouer avec petit loup. Je crois qu'il comprendra mieux les règles et aura plus de plaisir à jouer qu'il y a quatre ans. Mille Bornes a été l'un des jeux de société de mon enfance. Bien que je n'aie pas autant joué avec que d'autres, notamment parce que l'on n'avait pas notre propre Mille Bornes, j'ai quand même de bons souvenirs. Lire ce billet pour plus de détails. Il serait temps de le revisiter, notamment lors des vacances de Pâques de petit loup.

Irish Breakfast Tea

 The thing one can find sometimes, away from England. During my last time in Québec, I found a box of Twinings' Irish Breakfast Tea. Twinings is everywhere here, but I cannot remember any Irish breakfast blend. It's all about English Breakfast (well, of course). As my parents don't have much tea, I bought a box. What I did not drink there, I brought back here, so I had my last teabag of Irish Breakfast tea on Saint-Patrick's Day. To be honest, my palate is not sophisticated enough to taste the difference, but apparently it is stronger than English Breakfast. Anyway, I'm just glad I could drink something Irish for breakfast, on that special day.

RIP les cretons Bilopage

 Triste nouvelle que j'ai apprise via mon frère PJ: les cretons Bilopage n'existent plus. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi, je ne trouve même pas de site (y en a-t-il eu un?) de la marque Bilopage. C'était antique à ce point-là. Je n'ai jamais été très porté sur les cretons, j'en mangeais parfois pour déjeuner, mais plus souvent pour le dîner quand je me sentais d'appétit pour des cretons. En fait, c'est mon frère PJ qui est le grand amateur de cretons dans la famille. Il n'est pas chanceux: dans le temps, il aimait les Quatre Étoiles (Quatrétoiles?), qui ont disparu, puis ce fût les Bilopage. Cette photo, c'est lui qui l'a prise, pour la postérité. Maintenant, je ne sais pas quelle marque il met sur ses toasts. J'espère seulement que la tradition ne se perde pas et que les cretons ne disparaîtront pas de l'univers gastronomique québécois.