Well, I will start by spouting a cliché: we are the last day of the year 2023 and the last day of December. The time during the Christmas holidays I like least, because while it is still technically Christmastime, the celebrations I love are pretty much gone, done and dusted. And I don't like the new year, never did since I was a child. So anyway, I thought I would write this post with a cultural twist: the 31st of December is also called Saint Sylvester's Day. I was reminded of that on Facebook by some friends (cultural Catholics) who still call it like that. I know nothing about Saint Sylvester. But I know today is his day, if nothing else. Anyway, anybody else call today Saint Sylvester's Day?
Sunday 31 December 2023
Saint Sylvester's Day
Le casse-tête chez mes parents
Mes parents ont terminé le casse-tête de Noël. Un tableau hivernal nostalgique. Ici nous n'avons pas terminé le nôtre.
Saturday 30 December 2023
The December-January Blur
Vente d'après Noël des Bouquinistes
Friday 29 December 2023
Solastalgia
So we have a word of the day today: solastalgia. I learned about it in this article from Vox. It is the nostalgia from the snows of yesteryear and snowy Christmases. Because of global warming, it has become increasingly a thing of the past. Even in the Saguenay region where I am from, they did not have a proper white Christmas this year, the first time since... Well, since I was born I think. This is bordelrine tragic. Herein the UK, I can still count on the fingers of one hand the years we had snow round Christmastime. So yes, it is really depressing. And I have a big case of solastalgia. Maybe that's why the post-Christmas blues isn't so hard this year. But it still sucks all the same. Maybe it sucks even more.
La nostalgie de Ciné Cadeau
Bon, j'ai failli le manquer, mais j'ai trouvé cette vidéo sur YouTube à propos de Ciné-Cadeau et qui explique pourquoi ce n'est pas et ne sera jamais comme avant. À mon grand regret, d'ailleurs. Comme quoi même la nostalgie n'est plus ce qu'elle était.
Wednesday 27 December 2023
Train Bottle Opener (the coolest)
Les bleus (ou pas) d'après Noël
Bon, ben, pour le moment, je n'ai pas de mélancolie d'après Noël. Touchons du bois. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi: d'habitude, ça arrive assez tôt et ça me prend le 27 comme une claque au visage, ou comme un grand vite d'air. Peut-être que c'est parce que nous sommes plutôt casaniers cette année, dans notre petite faille. Casaniers et assez vegge: on mange, on regarde la télé, on lit et c'est tout. Les Fêtes s'étirent plus que d'habitude et se terminent en douceur. Et vous, comment se passent l'après-Noël?
Tuesday 26 December 2023
Because it's the Feast of Stephen
It is Saint Stephen's Day today, the first Christian martyr, although I don't care about it, because I'm an atheist. No, for me the Feast of Stephen means the day after Christmas and definitely not Boxing Day. It also and especially means I am listening to Good King Wencesla. I always loved this carol. Anyway, here it is for you to enjoy.
Avent Macabre (post mortem)
Monday 25 December 2023
A Ukrainian Christmas
La dinde du Réveillon
Saturday 23 December 2023
Jólabókaflóð
"23 décembre, Joyeux Noël..."
Parce que nous sommes le 23 décembre, je dois bien entendu partager 23 Décembre de Beau Dommage. C'est une tradition annuelle non seulement sur ce blogue, mais sans doute (je le soupçonne) dans bien des foyers québécois.
Friday 22 December 2023
More Mulled Wine
Le sapin 2023
Thursday 21 December 2023
Christmas Eve at the Moon Under Water
'Tis the season to be reading. Today's reading suggestion (and the very first this Season): Christmas Eve at the Moon Under Water. Poem by Carol Ann Duffy, illustrations by Margaux Carpentier. Reading her poetry is now a personal Christmas literary tradition. It's a dreamlike and surreal narrative poem where animals and humans mix during a singing contest. In an English pub. Time and space converge to the Moon Under Water. Sacred and profane elements of the season too, with the Nativity story and its characters making an improbable appearance. Carol Ann Duffy's writing is so genuinely seasonal.
Beignes de Noël classiques
Tuesday 19 December 2023
A Brio's Christmas Tree
Les beignes de Noël (encore)
Sunday 17 December 2023
A Brio's Christmas
Notre casse-tête de Noël
Friday 15 December 2023
Christmas at the bookshop
La pièce de Noël
Thursday 14 December 2023
Condor and Christmas
'Tis the season to be watching, and listening. If, like me, you like watching movies during Christmastime that are seasonal but not too soppy or sugaree, I have a suggestion for you. I pretty much go for the same thing I would go all year long, but with a Christmas twist. And there is one film that could be considered a Christmas movie, because it is set during Christmastime. I am talking about Three Days of the Condor. For those who never watched it, stop reading now and do not watch the video in this post. Anyway, while the original novel, which differs significantly from its more famous adaptation, is set in a different time of year, Yuletide is definitely in the background of the film. And moreso in its last scene, which I am sharing today. It gives a definitely darker yet very realistic edge to the Season.
Parlons Ciné-cadeau
Tuesday 12 December 2023
'Tis the season to be watching!
Gâteau aux fruits
Monday 11 December 2023
An Italian Christmas
La crèche chez mes parents
Sunday 10 December 2023
Christmas Anthologies at the Bookshop
L'Avent chez les Bouquinistes
Saturday 9 December 2023
Christmas Wreath
Les beignes (encore)
Friday 8 December 2023
Christmas Gnomes
Le Plateau et l'hiver
Wednesday 6 December 2023
I missed Krampus Night
La Légende de Saint Nicolas
Nous sommes la Saint-Nicolas , donc je partage l'une des légendes associées au saint, celle qui est si délicieusement sinistre. D'habitude, je partage la verison chantée, cette fois-ci, c'est une pièce de théâtre avec des marionnettes trouvée sur YouTube. Et, comme je viens de me rendre compte qu'on ne peut pas la partager directement sur les autres sites, vous trouverez le lien ici. Dites-moi ce que vous en pensez.
Tuesday 5 December 2023
Mozart: Requiem Aeternam
Here is a sad anniversary that I have to commemorate. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on that date. As it is a tradition around the world, his Requiem is played. We commemorate his death, we are still in grief, even centuries after his departure, but we celebrate his work. Mozart is eternal.
Le Plateau sous la neige
Sunday 3 December 2023
First Mulled Wine
Les marchés de Noël
Saturday 2 December 2023
The Christmas Connection
You probably know my love for The French Connection. What you might not know is that it is one of the movies I like to watch for Christmas. I consider it a Christmas movie, or to be more precise a Christmascrime film. I think I need to hashtag that term and make it a thing on social media. But I digress. The French Connection is a Christmas film because a good portion of it, from the beginning to its middle at least, is set around Christmastime. And main character Popeye Doyle is introduced wearing a Santa Claus costume, which is in itself an excellent reason. It happens in a scene that is both comical and yet genuinely immersive. Doyle comes off not as a joke, but like a driven cop ready to do what it takes to get his man. The chase and the subsequent interrogation scene are a piece of anthology and I am sharing it here for you to appreciate. For some people, Christmas is about Hans Gruber falling from Nakatomi Tower. For me, it's about Popeye Doyle dressed as Santa running after a drug dealer and not caring one bit about what he's wearing.