Looking for an office desk...

This weekend, we went to John Lewis for the first time in two years. It was a pleasant visit overall. As muchas I hate shopping, it felt nice doing something we had taken for granted before the pandemic. And our nearest John Lewis is actually a pleasant place to go to. Wolfie got quite excited anyway. But we went there for a reason: the lockdown may be a thing of the past, but I am still going to work from home pretty much in permanence now, so I need a proper office space, with proper office furniture: a chair and a real desk. This is no longer time for guerilla working. So I looked for a desk and a chair and so far bought nothing. There is one desk I liked, the one pictured above, it looks like an old fashioned desk, with leather and dark wood. I was very tempted for a moment. But I thought the price was a bit steep for what it was and for its size. So I will keep on looking.

Le baiser maléfique

Demain c'est Mardi gras, la veille du carême. J'en profite donc pour refaire une suggestion de lecture à ceux qui aiment les contes québécois: essayez de vous trouver Le baiser maléfique, inspiré de la légende de Rose Latulipe. J'ai blogué plus d'une fois sur le sujet. De tous les contes de la collection Ovale, c'est celui qui était le plus effrayant et le mieux illustré. je compte partager d'autres images dans les prochains jours. Prenons un moment pour admirer la page couverture: on n'a pas besoin de savoir que l'étranger bien habillé qui arrive est le diable pour savoir qu'il représente une menace.

Badass Baritone

I found this video online recently and I wished to share it. It is Ukranian opera singer Yuriy Yurchuk singing his country's national anthem. Nothing left to say, except that the Badass Baritone is not only a trope in fiction, it's a reality.

La neige, toujours la neige

Je partage une photo envoyée par mes parents, parce que c'est toujours l'hiver.

Snakes and Ladders

We haven't had any occasion to play board games in years, or we haven't made the effort, but I have decided to make an effort and rediscover this activity. So I am considering buying our own version of Snakes and Ladders. Its simplicity makes it ideal to play as a family. Wolfie already has one, a freebie received in one of his friends' birthday party (picture here), but it's very small, something you'd use for travelling, and I think we need a decent size one. It's maybe the first board game I ever played. I remember my grandmother had a huge wooden board with a few classic games on it, each one taking one quarter of the board. One of the games was of course Snakes and Ladders. So I will either put it on my list of birthday presents or I will buy it myself. There is that wooden one I found on Amazon, which kind of reminds me of my grandmother's (and it looks really good), but there are so many versions, my choice isn't set yet.

Gâteau rubis (!)

Il y a quelques semaines, j'ai fait un gâteau pour petit loup, avec les restes d'ingrédients que j'avais: oeufs que je devais passer au plus sacrant, farine, sucre, etc. Wolfie m'avait fait une demande spéciale: il voulait un glaçage vert. Je n'en avais pas, alors j'ai essayé de mélanger ce que j'avais comme colorant: du bleu et de l'orange. Ce qui a donnéun glaçage gris charcoal assez dégueulasse. En panique, j'ai rajouté du rouge, ce qui a donné une couleur violet ou mauve au gâteau. La gâtastrophe a été évitée de peu. Ma femme l'a appelé le "ruby cake". Pas mal comme nom.

Rebellion Beer's Rocket

My stocks of beer were running short, so I recently ordered some from the Marlow Brewery, or  Rebellion Beer. Yesterday, I had for the night's poison the beer of the month (I managed to buy it in the nick of time before February ended): the Rocket. Named after Stephenson's Rocket. It is not a very dark ale, but it is not a light one either, just dark enough for me. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the name: Rocket, named after the very first train. Trains and beer, two things I love.

Encore la gratte

 Je partage encore une fois une photo de la gratte qui a passé et que mon père a pris en photo rien que pour Wolfie, parce que: 1)c'est encore l'hiver et 2)mon fils adore les grattes.

Reading Damages Ignorance

I try not to share too many memes I find online on this blog. Because I try as much as I can to find original content and original photos, things you will not find anywhere else. But sometimes, just sometimes, I find one I feel compelled, if not obliged, to share on this blog. This is the case with this one. Even though what it says might be a tad cliché, it is nevertheless true. And it reminds me that I must read more than I do at the moment.

"Conduire bourré" (1000 Bornes)

J'ai blogué il y a peu de temps sur le jeu de cartes Mille Bornes, que je veux redécouvrir. J'ai aussi trouvé par hasard sur les internets qu'il y a des parodies des cartes du jeu. Dont celle-ci. Inspirée du modèle "As du volant" (ma préférée quand j'étais jeune, allez savoir pourquoi), sauf qu'une main gantée tient une bouteille de vin. Il y avait un article qui allait avec et qui expliquait ce que cette fausse carte apporterait, mais je ne le trouve plus. Dans tous les cas, j'ai beaucoup ri quand j'ai vu ça.

One word about Ukraine

So Putin and Russia are at war with Ukraine. I am not a specialist of international relations, war or geopolitics anywhere, let alone in that oart of the world. And I try to keep this blog cheerful and positive as much as I can. But yes, I try to follow the news, although it depresses me. And it can strike pretty close to home, in a way: one of my colleagues is Polish and now living in Poland and I know they are very worried that the conflict may end up touching them. As in: they might have to make a run for it. She already packed one suitcase of essentials. Absolutely chilling.

Une gratte pour petit loup

Mon père m'a encore envoyé des photos de la neige au Québec, mais cette fois-ci c'était pour son petit-fils: une grosse, grosse gratte a passé dans la rue, alors il s'est dépêché de prendre une photo. Mon fils adore les grosses machines, voyez-vous.

Dead at Daybreak

As I am waiting to receive the next Deon Meyer novel, which will not be available yet in this country for a few weeks (argh!), I was wondering if I should not revisit his other novels. I haven't read enough crime fiction this year (heck, I haven't read enough, period) and it is always nice to rediscover a book you loved. The first Meyer novel I read was Dead at Daybreak. My mother had bought it(in its French translation)  as a birthday present and had chosen this novel because I had started dating my future wife, who is half South African. I was completely blown away. Dead a Daybreak had the exact kind of stuff I wanted to find in a crime novel, but haven't yet: a slowburn thriller with lots of character, characterisation, atmosphere and, well, brutality. Like many of Meyer's early novels, it is a lot about the ghosts of Apartheid and the evils that it spawned in the country afterwards. I'm surprised it took me that long to read his other books.

"Envahis par la neige"

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos, dans des emails intitulés "Envahis la neige". Parce que c'est encore l'hiver au Québec.

Wolfie in the garden

Two days ago, all of a sudden, Wolfie asked me to go play in the garden with him after work. I don't know why, but he suddenly got in the mood to play in the garden. Or, rather, to do gardening. Which means getting rid of weeds growing on the back fence, or cutting whatever plants he thinks needs trimming. He brings his toy rake and his toy shovel and he gets rid of moss on the patio. We also got rid of branches that fell in the alleyway during Storm Eunice. It was quite fun actually. He told me a new Wolfism: "Daddy, daddy, when you grow up, you can become a gardener." Very cute.

Mafalda et le peigne

Je partage aujourd'hui un gag de Mafalda. Cette fois-ci ce n'est pas un propos social profond, juste une blague sur une situation de tous les jours. Ca me rejoins beaucoup, enfin c'est pas mal moi quand j'ai la mauvaise idée de me laisser pousser les cheveux.

Cute Cute the cuddly toy

We went out to a nearby town last Saturday. At some point, we decided on a whim to stop in a charity shop. I was thinking that maybe I could find some interesting books (I have an eye for hidden gems when I'm in a shop), but to our surprise it is Wolfie who found something. He saw this cat (or leopard, guepard perhaps?) and decided that he wanted it. Now this is strange, as he is rarely interested about cuddly toys, at least the ones in shops, but he really fell in love with this one. I tried to dissuaded him as I thought he has enough toys and teddies, but he really wanted it. The cat was his favourite colours (green and blue), it was very cute and so on... My wife thought that buying something for a good cause was worth it and in the end, I granted my son his wish. As I explained to my mother-in-law later: "Well, he had already kissed it, snuggled it, so I didn't want anyone else to catch his germs." I think it deserves to be a great unknown line. In any case, this made Wolfie very happy. He christened the cat Cute Cute. Cute is his first name and Cute is also his surname.

Arsène Lupin

Je suis en train de me taper Lupin sur Netflix. Je m'attendais à peu et je dois dire que je suis agréablement surpris. Mais ça m'a surtout donné le goût de relire les histoires originales. C'est mon père qui m'a fait découvrir Arsène Lupin. Je n'ai jamais été autant fan du gentleman-cambrioleur que je l'ai été disons de Sherlock Holmes, mais pendant un temps j'ai dévoré ses aventures avec entrain. Il faudrait que je relise avec un oeil plus mature.

More weather warnings

So Storm Eunice came and went last Friday. From an amber warning of wind the night before, we went up to a full on red alert on the day. The wind was blowing hard and we remained safe inside. When it left, our garden fence had gone down, as if it had been a sheet of paper. I'm not too sad about it: it had always been a bit iffy and we suspected it would not survive a storm of this magnitude. So we'll have to change it. In the meantime, there is a yellow warning of wind this morning for our area, so we will stay inside again. I like windy days when I can stay inside.

Petit loup en relâche

Mon fils est dans sa semaine de relâche cette semaine, donc il sera à la maison pendant que je travaille. À la relâche d'automne,nous avions tous les deux été malades, donc nous n'en avions pas vraiment profité. Je n'ai pas pris de vacances, les réservant pour plus tard dans l'année (j'ai relativement peu de vacances), mais peut-être que j'aurais dû. Au moins si c'est tranquille au travail je pourrai passer plus de temps avec lui.

Wimpy

Yesterday, for the first time in years, we went to Wimpy, the fast food restaurant chain which is like a fancier, posher McDonald's. You may remember that the local Wimpy had shut down back in 2017, which saddened me quite a lot. But a new one opened in a nearby town, so we went there forlunch, the first time in years and the first time since Wolfie was born. I had a double cheeseburger and chips,with lots of ketchup and I regret nothing. Even though I'm no longer used to such portions.

L'intro des Beaux Dimanches

Je suis tombé dessus sur YouTube. L'introduction des Beaux Dimanches dont je me rappelle le plus. Dans ma jeunesse, le signe que la fin de semaine touchait à sa fin. Mais il y avait parfois de très bonnes choses qui apssaient aux Beaux Dimanches: du théâtre, de la musique, des films de répertoire, que sais-je. Parfois je me dis qu'on a perdu au change.

Visit Bergamo

My brother PJ has a friend, or at least an acquaintance, who will visit Italy soon and will be in and around the city of Bergamo. As this is where I spent most of my time when I was in Italy, he asked me if I had any suggestions of interesting places to see that were not too much of a tourist trap. And hinking about it, it struck me that I have a very vague memory of what I saw there. I thought the place looked absolutely gorgeous, but I don't remember the names. I asked my Italian friend who lives there, she gave me a list of places and things to do and suggested that the website Visit Bergamo. It seems quite useful and it got me in the mood to go and see Italy again. I've been there only once and it was more than twenty years ago. Way too long. There is a lot of the country to see, but I would to see my old friend again and her family, and revisit Bergamo.

Dindons

 Je suis retombé sur des photos prises l'année dernière dans la ferme que petit loup aime visiter. On y trouvait, y trouve encore, des dindes. Cette photo date d'avril 2021. Notre dernière visite date d'il y a deux semaines, mais nous n'avons pas vu de dindes. Ca me fait toujours un peu drôle de les voir vivantes dans un enclos et pas... sur la table, rôties, prêtes à être découpées. J'espère que je ne donne à personne mauvaise conscience, je crois que si je fais l'association d'idées c'est que ma femme végétarienne déteint sur moi un peu.

Stormy Wind

I mentioned on Wednesday night that the wind was blowing like crazy. We saw the results of it the next morning, when we saw an uprooted tree on our way to school, lying on a van. Because of Storm Eunice, there is an amber alert for today in our region, which is very serious. Some parts of England are actually on red alert. I took this picture during my lunch break. Unfortunately, it had already been cut to pieces, but it is still impressive.We will remain extremely careful today. Seeing this can be quite scary, yet I cannot help but be in awe.

1000 Bornes

 J'ai blogué en 2019 sur le jeu de cartes Mille Bornes, que je n'ai jamais possédé, mais auquel j'aimais bien jouer lorsque j'étais enfant. Je le jouais assez mal, mais quand même, j'ai eu bien du plaisir avecle jeu. J'ai découvert qu'il y a aussi un version en jeu de plateau. Ma fête s'en vient, pas bientôt, mais dans quelques semaines, alors je songe à le mettre sur la liste de cadeaux. Traditionnel ou en version de plateau. J'essaie de redécouvrir les jeux de société et ça me dirait de réessayer Mille Bornes. L'ennuie, c'est que petit loup est encore jeune.

Whatever happened to the minibar?

I quickly read this article from the Washington Post, about the death of the hotel minibar. I can easily understand why: it was costly and now it is pretty much obsolete. All the same, I can't help but feel a bit sad about this. I know, I'm terribly nostalgic and this is pushing it, even for me. I rarely if ever used the hotel minibar, nevertheless I found their presence reassuring: you knew there was a safe supply of food and drinks. I am happy to learn that some hotels are trying to reinvent it and to make it survive.

Il neige encore...

Mes parents craignaient qu'il pleuve aujourd'hui, mais apparemment ça s'est transformé en neige. Tant mieux. L'hiver est encore vivace au Québec.

Jade Owl

I found this picture in the Facebook page of the British Museum. It is a pendant, probably reprensint an owl, made of jade. You can read more about it here. As I child, for some reason, I always thought jade was both exotic and mysterious, even though I never learned all that much about it. Be that as it may, this pendant caught my eyes: I love owls and I love jade. So I find it quite classy.

Question existentielle (377)

 J'ai une question existentielle à la fois abstraite et onirique:

-Qui a peur du Grand Méchant Loup?

Wuthering Night

 As I am typing this, the wind is blowing heavily outside, enough to make the windows shake. I love it. It started late in the afternoon, now it is in full power. Apparently, it will carry on like this all day tomorrow. I lvoe windy days and windy nights, as long as you can stay in. I find them very soothing.

Métafort

Mon frère Andrew a commisun calembour atroce aujourd'hui et je me devais de le partager: "Je suis fort en métaphores. Métafort." Avouez que c'est épouvantable.

Computer Screen Weather

 Yesterday at work (which means at home), I was in a meeting when I started feeling bored. (I hope I can confess it here, sometimes I do get bored at work. Not that I don't like my work, but there are a few moments in a day when I am bored.). So I quickly glanced at the window and saw that it was pouring outside. I then looked at my screen and discreetly looked at the weather function in the bottom right corner of my screen. It told me that... There was heavy rain at the moment. It even had an umbrella icon, wide open to signify that it was raining a lot. Then another icon came up, a shut umbrella, telling me that the rain was meant to stop at any time from then. And it did. I was both impressed by its accuracy and a bit depressed by the silliness of it all. Because why use the weather function of a computer when you can just look at the window?

Le poids de la neige

Je partage une autre photo envoyée par mon père, parce que c'est encore l'hiver et que la neige, ça n'a l'air de rien, mais ça peut être lourd que le diable. Elle fait littéralement plier les cèdres.

Say it with a hammer (and chocolates)

Yesterday for Valentine's Day, I offered chocolates to both my wife and Wolfie. For my wife, I gave her a box from M&S with a twist: not only did he had a chocolate heart filled with truffles, it also had a hammer with it, so you could smash the chocolate heart. I thought I'd get something that would keep Wolfie interested, not just "boring" chocolate. So he had lots of fun smashing this heart with the hammer. You could even say that he broke his mother's heart. Of course, my wife had to share the heart and its content with her son. I guess boring chocolate would have been enough, just not quite as funny before. Moral of the story: once you're a parent, it's always about the children. And I'm glad it is.

Jaseur boréal

Je cherchais de nouvelles photos à partager et j'en ai retrouvé du jaseur boréal que mon père avait sauvé en 2020. Je voulais partager autre chose qu'une photo de neige. Enfin avec juste de la neige. Je m'ennuie des oiseaux de chez mes parents, de la variété d'oiseaux qu'on y avait.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! This year, I thought I would celebrate it with a bit of video from The Simpsons, from the episode I Love Lisa. Back in the days when they were still hilarious, with just enough cruelty to be acidic but remaining pleasant. Every joke hits the mark and they are many of them. And is it only me, or does it look like many Valentine's Days we experience, as a child or an adult?

Question existentielle (376)

Aujourd'hui c'est la Saint-Valentin, alors je me permets de poser une question existentielle sur le sujet:

-Comme cadeau de la Saint-Valentin, vaut-il mieux offrir des chocolats ou des fleurs?

A Library in a Box

I blogged before about these sort of mini-libraries that seem to be popping up around here. You know, one box, full of books, you take one, you leave one. Last week, when we weregoing to a children party (again!), we found another one. I took this picture, which is pretty bad. At first I thought it was a birds' manger or a mailbox. Bot no. It was a library. I didn't take anything out, I am too busy with the books I own already, but I'm glad they exist.

Serpents et échelles

Nous sommes allés à une fête d'enfants encore une fois aujourd'hui, un party de fête en fait. Comme de raison, il y avait pour chaque enfant un sac-cadeau avec des bébelles, dont... ce jeu de serpents et échelles miniature. Une feuillepliée en quatre, des jetons comme pions et un dé minuscule. Quand même, j'étais content: serpents et échelles est le premier jeu de société auquel j'ai joué et je l'ai toujours beaucoup aimé. C'est simple, facile à apprendre et expliquer et c'est éducatif. Alors voilà, j'ai hâte de pouvoir y jouer avec Wolfie.

Spilled red wine

Here is a completely trivial anecdote that I have witnessed yesterday. I am not sure why I am sharing it, maybe because it is trivial and a bit silly and it is one of these little nothings that make life. So anyway, yesterday I went to Marks and Spencer to buy some Valentine's Day presents. There was an old lady among the customers, with a rather large purse. Walking down the aisles, she swung her purse a bit too much and it hit a bottle of red wine, which fell down and broke. Everytime I see this happening, I just hope it was a cheap bottle. I guess it is just a bottle of wine, but I can't help thinking it's a wasteof a good drink, even if it was most likely cheap. The staff was very efficient getting rid of the broken glass and the spilled wine. Almost a shame: it gave the shop a lovely fragrance.

L'aube

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo hier, de l'aube qui se lève dans le lot de mes oncles. Ils se dirigeaient versun gazoduc, m'a-t-il dit.

Clue Master Detective

You know how much I love board games and Clue (or Cluedo as it is also called) one of my favourite. Nowadays, there are many versions and variants of the original game: a Simpsons edition, a Harry Potter edition, a Game of Thrones edition (we have this one), not to mention the revamped versions of the original one and the children edition. I have never been into them much, I prefer the classic version. That said, I am curious about one or two variants of the original game. It is Clue Master Detective, which is basically an extended edition with more suspects, more room and more weaons, as the box says. I have seen it once in a shopdecades ago and I regret to this day not buying it. What I like about it is that it does not try to reinvent the wheel, or revamp the original, but simply gives more of the same. Which means more of what we already love.

La Saint-Valentin imminente

Photo prise sur la page Facebook de la Chocolaterie Lulu. Il semblerait que la Saint-Valentin soit leur plus grosse fête après Pâques. Toujours est-il qu'ils offrent des roses avec leurs paniers cadeaux. Ici, je me rends compte, avec un brin de panique, que je n'ai encore rien acheté et que je n'ai plus que deux jours. Misère... Si seulement j'étais au Saguenay. J'achèterais du Lulu et tout irait bien.

Quaterstaff or walking stick?

During one of our school runs with Wolfie, I noticed that one of the mothers had a walking stick with her. I say walking stick, but it was as tall as she was and truly looked more like a quaterstaff. It looked like it was made of a branch, although quite straight, with the base cut a bit like a pry bar. I wonder why she used it. She was not old, neither did she seem to have a liability. I guess walking sticks can be quite useful for trekking, but we were not exactly in the wilderness.Maybe she just had it for style. Or, another hypothesis that came to my mind, she had it for self-defence. A quaterstaff can of course make for an excellent weapon, when one knows how to use it. I thought it looked quite cool in any case. I'd like to have one for our next walk on the countryside, whenever that will happen.

Observation linguistique France/Québec

Court billet linguistique aujourd'hui, portant sur les anglicismes et les rapports France/Québec. C'est une observation que j'ai lue il y a quelques temps et je ne sais pas trop pourquoi j'y ai pensé récemment. Alors donc, voici l'observation: en France, on se stationne au parking tandis qu'au Québec, on se parque au stationnement. Voilà, c'est tout.

When's the next train?

I blogged yesterday that I was going to go to the office in a few weeks for an gathering of the whole company. Well, I learned yesterday morning that the even had been cancelled. So I will not be taking the train, going through London to go to work for the first time in month. I'm glad I won't have to stress about the journey, but I'm sad I won't be travelling by train. Maybe my next journey will be for a holiday with my family. That would be more exciting and far more pleasant. (On a side note, I took this picture at Paddington Station during my last train journey in October 2021.)

Positivithé

J'ai trouvé ce dessin en ligne, sur la page Facebook d'une amie. J'ai trouvé ça... pas très drôle, mais assez cute. Comme calembour, c'est atroce comme albatros, et ça pue les bons sentiments. Cela dit, le thé me rend justement d'assez bonne humeur en général, ou en tout cas me rend de meilleure humeur, alors je partage.

#NationalBagelandLoxDay

I learned from the Facebook page of St-Viateur Bagel that today is National Bagel and Lox Day. So a special day to celebrate the traditional way of making a bagel, with smoked salmon. There are many, many delicious ways to eat a bagel, but this one remains my favourite. Sadly, I am not in Montreal so I cannot have my traditional smoked salmon bagel, but I thought I would mention it here. Oh how I miss proper bagels!

La remise enneigée

Je partage encore une fois une photo de neige, rien que parce que. C'est la remise chez mes parents. C'est étrange comme quelque chose de banal devient élégant avec de la neige fraîche.

My next train journey

Working from home has many advantages, one of them being, well, that you don't have to commute. But in a few weeks, I will be summoned to the office for a special day with everyone. I am not too keen on going, but it cannot be avoided. On the plus side, I will be travelling by train for the first time in six months, so at least I will enjoy the journey, if nothing else. I love train journeys, as you probably know if you have been following this blog for a while. I took this (bad) pic last time I travelled by train, also for work reasons. I wish it could be for holidays with my family, but there you go. Maybe next time.

La neige qui a neigé

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo ainsi que d'autres de la neige qui est tombée récemment, en citant Nelligan. Ici on n'a toujours pas eu de bordée digne de ce nom.

BLT Treats

Our family has a treat we now have fairly often for lunch: the BLTs. Except the bacon is either veggie or vegan, my wife being vegetarian, and we do away with the lettuce. After all, it's not the taste of the lettuce that makes the BLT. Anyway, I have been making them recently every other weekend or so, when I gave good bread, and we don't get bored with it.

Langoustes au four

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo de leur repas de la fin de semaine dernière: des langoustes au four. Je connaissais les langoustines, que j'aimais bien enfant, mais je n'ai jamais essayé de langoustes. Me mère a trouvé ça moyen, si je comprends bien c'est un peu fade. J'essaierais quand même rien qu'une fois, parce qu'en général j'aime les fruits de mer.

Tea with barbaric milk

This weekend, we went to a child's birthday party. The parents offered us adults a cuppa tea, being in England and all. My wife did not want any, since she does not like tea, but I do, so I was happy to oblige. But I stupidly forgot to specify that I wanted mine black. Adding milk to tea is the default serving protocol in this country, a remnant of this island's barbaric past. Still, I drank it without complaining. But it's very much against my principles. I have created a bit of a stir with my British friends on Facebook sharing this picture. It's a very controversial topic it seems, but for me, adding milk to tea is as primitive and uncivilised as killing a horse to appease the gods and bathing yourself in its blood. It should belong to the past.

Travail de menuiserie

Ma cousine Amy a un père (mon oncle) et un oncle (pas mon père mais un autre de mes oncles, je ne sais pas lequel) qui sont bons de leurs mains. Il lui ont donc fabriqué une commode en bois pour mettre sa porcelaine (elle aime les trucs en porcelaine). Elle a partagé cette photo, je la partage également. Pas que je sois amateur de porcelaine, mais j'aime bien les meubles en bois. J'aimerais être capable de faire de la menuiserie.

New Socks

I don't know if it is because of Covid and the fact that I spent a lot the last two years inside, but many of my socks have holes in them. I had to get rid of many and I am on the lookout for new pairs. Especially warm socks, as these days are quite cold and I must keep my feet warm to feel comfortable. When we went to the petting zoo last weekend, I stumbled upon this pair of socks in the souvenirs shop. Men's Socks (or Mens Socks?), probably local products, price was cheap(ish), so I bought them. I'll wear them today. If they are as warm as they look, it's a good investment.

Cossin gluant

Nous sommes allés à un party d'enfants hier, pour la fête d'une camarade de classe de notre petit loup. La troisième depuis le début de l'année, je crois. La famille de la jubilaire donnait, comme c'est souvent le cas, un sac de bébelles et de bonbons à chaque enfant. Dont cette jarre en forme de poubelle remplie de "slime", ce cossin gluant qui peut coller partout et qui souvent pue. Je déteste. Dans les années 80, voire 90, je crois que c'était tristement populaire chez les enfants et même à l'époque je n'aimais pas trop. Petit loup s'y est intéressé un bon cinq minutes, puis il a décidé de faire dela pâte à modeler. J'espère qu'il aura déjà oublié la slime aujourd'hui.

Dragon Dojo and City Pizza

Last Christmas, Wolfie got quite a few presents, including lots and lots of Legos. His favourite might be a Lego City Town Center set, which was huge. I'm of two minds about Lego: I had lots of fond memories playing with them and building things, but now that I am an adult, I often find them messy. And painful, as the pieces seem attracted to the floor beneath my feet. But there is one part of Lego City which I love: it's a dojo set above a pizza place. The dojo is called Dragon Dojo and, accoring to the box, is owned by a sensei named Madison. The pizza place is called City Pizza and I have no idea who the owner is. But anyway, we spent ages building this particular set, Wolfie and I, which proved quite challenging. There were so many small pieces and so many details to get right, including plants on the roof (Madison has a garden I believe). But the result is, well, pretty impressive. Of course, the set didn't held for very long and it is now shattered. But Wolfie has decided that he wants to rebuild it this weekend. I'm not sure why I love Dragon Dojo and City Pizza so much. Maybe because it channels old memories, watching cheap martial art action movies and eating cheap greasy pizza back in the 80s. This looks like a childhood's dream building.

Passions livresques

L'une de mes anciennes profs a partagé ce meme sur sa page Facebook. Je l'ai volée sans remords, parce que c'est vraiment "moi" ça. Et ça paraît au moins un peu sur ce blogue, du moins je l'espère.

Matcha Matsu and Me

Many businesses celebrated the Chinese New Year recently on social, including David's Tea. They associated each sign of the Chinese Zodiac, so I learned on their Facebook page that as a serpent, I should celebrate with Matcha Matsu. And... Well, I don't know. I generally drink black tea, but I do enjoy some green tea from time to time. It's meant to be very healthy. It looks and sounds very exotic, according to its description.

"Le 12"

Je suis l'actualité policière québécoise et également les vidéos de la Sûreté du Québec sur YouTube. Récemment, ils ont publié sur leur vlogue une vidéo sur une pièce d'équipement qui a disparu des auto-patrouilles en 2003, le fusil de calibre 12. Communément appelé dans mon enfance, "le 12". Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais on avait l'impression que c'était le nec plus ultra en matière d'arme à feu. Et que c'était extrêmement puissant. Enfin bref, je sais maintenant d'où l'image et l'expression nous vient.

The local bookshop is hiring

 I learned this little piece of news on social media recently: the local bookshop is hiring. They are looking for a new bookseller. No, no, I don't have the intention to work there, although I would have loved to back when I was struggling to find work. Why didn't we have a bookshop in this town fifteen years ago or so? I would have loved to work there, just to keep myself busy and get an income when I had none. On another note, I find this news encouraging: it means that the business is doing fairly well if they need new staff.

Libertad siempre

Pour rire avec intelligence, voici un petit gag de Mafalda en espagnol, mettant en scène son amie Libertad (ou Liberté comme elle était appelée en français), la dernière de la bande et la plus radicale. Je crois que c'est ma préférée après Guille (et Mafalda, bien entendu). Il faudrait bien que je relise les albums quand j'aurai l'occasion.

The Year of the Tiger

I found this picture in the Facebook page of the British Museum. It was shared to celebrate online the Chinese New Year. It's a tiger shaped bronze and thus fitting for this Year of the Tiger. More details about it here. I really want to go back to the British Museum. And I love tigers, so maybe this Chinese year will be good for me.

Souffleuse à neige

 Des fois mon père prend des photos rien que pour son petit-fils. Qui a bien apprécié celle-ci.

Rainbow Cake

Last weekend, we went to a petting zoo for the afternoon. Wolfie quite like this place. We had lunch there, then by the end of our stay we had a little snack with a school friend of his and his friend's family (met by chance), who were having an early dinner. I had noticed a rainbow cake and I was curious about it, so I bought one piece for my son and one piece for my wife and I. It was delicious and filling: there is a layer for every colour, and between each layer a bit of icing. Wolfie could not finish his piece, so we brought it home so he could have it for dessert. They were selling a box of rainbow cake making kit, which I might buy next time we go there, even though it's probably a pain to bake and assemble. Anyway, we had lots of fun there, but the cake really made the day.

Les médailles de mon enfance

J'ai trouvé cette photo dans les internets. Vous rappelez-vous de ces médailles? Des écussons en fait, mais on les appelait médailles. Si vous vous en rappelez, vous vous faites vieux, comme moi. Ce sont des médailles données lors de nos cours d'éducation physique au primaire. À la fin d'épreuves qui évaluaient par rapport à la moyenne canadienne nos capacités motrices, notre endurance, notre force, etc. Il y avait, de la plus basse à la plus haute: la médaille de participation, la bronze, l'argent, l'or et l'excellence. L'argent c'était la moyenne canadienne. Je m'en rappelle car notre prof d'éducation physique, assez grincheux, nous le rappelait: "L'argent, c'est la moyenne canadienne. Si vous ne avez plus bas, posez-vous des questions." Je n'ai jamais eu que l'argent, mais j'aimais bien la couleur. Même si je n'étais pas très porté sur l'éducation physique, au fur et à mesure que je grandissais, j'ai quand même conservé mes médailles précieusement dans un coffre à souvenirs pendant quelques années, allez savoir pourquoi. Je me demande si elles ont été jetées.

NIHL Hockey?

I have learned recently, by chance, of a number of ice hockey teams playing in England, all members of the NIHL, the National Ice Hockey League. Like the NHL at home, except the English must specify it is ice hockey to distinguish it from, well, the other sort of hockey that is not truly hockey and is played on a lawn. English are weird like this sometimes, they just don't know what is proper hockey. So yes, some of these teams have arenas not so far. And I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, since the Habs are being absolutely terrible this year and I have a son to raise following proper Québec traditions, I should start getting interested about local hockey teams. Maybe follow what's happening here, maybe even support a local team. It's not the same as hockey back home, but it's still the sport I enjoy the most. I could even do some evangelising. I know some relatives of my wife enjoy a game from time to time. So anyway, it could be an interesting project for this year.

Février

Bon ben, commençons par les clichés et lieux communs habituels: février est arrivé, c'est le mois le plus court, etc. Je suis de retour à l'ouvrage après une semaine et un jour de vacances. Comment trouvez-vous le mois de février d'habitude? C'est l'un des mois que j'aime le moins, personnellement. L'objection habituelle quand on dit ça, c'est qu'il ne dure pas longtemps. Ce qui n'arrange pas vraiment les choses, puisqu'il faudra subir février malgré tout. Qu'espérez-vous de février cette année? Ou que craignez-vous?