I will start this post by aterrible cliché: this is the last day of January. A month that is often dreaded by people, often also disliked as one long, grey, dreary return to normal. I, for one, came to enjoy January. It is far from my favourite month, yet I came to enjoy it. Not sure when or how it happened exactly, but I made peace with it. It went really quickly, for one, partially because I took a lot of holidays this year. In fact, just like last year and the year before, I am currently on leave until, well, until tomorrow. It's another staycation and I enjoyed it doing nothing, or as little as possible. Maybe that's why I now love January more: I take more time off. Maybe also I am enjoying it because I feel less pressure when I do take holidays this month. Anyway, that was my January, what about yours?
Wednesday 31 January 2024
My January (and yours)
Tuesday 30 January 2024
Buckinghamshire Folk Tales (a quest)
Abatteuse
Monday 29 January 2024
Monopoly Junior
Grand-père à l'érable
Sunday 28 January 2024
The New Pelecanos
You may remember last year that I was wondering what had happened with US crime writer George Pelecanos. I was desperate to read more stuff from him, as last book I had read dated back from 2018, an eternity forme. Well, he will publish a new book, Owning Up, which is made of four novellas.A bit like the four gospels, perhaps? He must have kept it really close to his chest, because I really didn't see this one coming. It popped up in one of my Amazon notifications a few days ago. Be that as it may, it will be released next month and I already preordered it. I quickly read the summary(ies), it sounds like classic Pelecanos.
Pelle mécanique dans la neige
Saturday 27 January 2024
Mozart's Music and Chocolate
Stratego
Friday 26 January 2024
Cards of Marlow
Les Bouquinistes (détails de la vente)
Thursday 25 January 2024
The Book of Volcanoes
Les Bouquinistes: vente d'inventaire
Wednesday 24 January 2024
The Assassination of Caligula
For history buffs here, today is an important date: it is the anniversary of the assassination of Caligula. It also thus the day when Claudius became emperor. A page in history that has been fictionalised and immortalised in I, Claudius by Robert Graves,and its TV series adaptation. I know it is not how it happened, yet for me, this is how I always imagined it happening. Since I first saw it some more than 25 years ago. I was completely blown away. Anyway, here is events unfolding, with Derek Jacobi as Claudius and John Hurt as the mad Caligula. British acting at its finest.
Café Cambio
Tuesday 23 January 2024
James Bond for January (and a thrilling cover)
Souvenir des "Catacombes"
J'ai déjà blogué il y a plus de dix ans sur les "catacombes" du Cégep de Chicoutimi. Je me demande encore pourquoi on appelait ça les Catacombes, parce qu'à ce que je sache, ça n'a jamais été un sépulcre, même du temps de l'ancien Séminaire. Ca serait la base d'une belle histoire d'horreur, cela dit: un couloir dans le sous-sol du cégep rebâti sur des anciennes tombes de prêtres catholiques. Mais bon, je ne crois pas que ce soit le cas. Elles ont malgré tout un côté lugubre, comme le disait mon frère PJ. Pour tout le monde au cégep, ce sont les Catacombes. Enfant, j'y allais pour le restaurant. Étudiant au cégep, je les ai vraiment découvertes, comme un passage secret entre les ailes et les lieux de cours. Mes amis et moi, nous avons même filmé quelques scènes là, pour des projets d'étude comme pour des projets indépendants. Les Catacombes stimulaient notre imagination. J'aimerais bien les revisiter un de ces quatre, même si je me demande si elles ont gardé leur air de mystère. Peut-être que je serais déçu. Peut-être que je serais inspiré.
Monday 22 January 2024
Stormy Winds
Since yesterday, it has been ridiculously windy. It is Storm Isha's doing, apparently. BBC Weather even gave a yellow warning of wind, ending today at noon. So far, we've been all right, touch wood. I love windy days, so I am not complaining. As long as I can stay in the comfort of home, I actually enjoy stormy weather. For me, it's like Mother Nature is giving a free show and it is the best excuse to not go out without feeling guilty about it. Please feel free to give me your own take on it in the comments section. In any case, if it is windy where you are, or stormy, or both, stay home, stay safe and try to enjoy it. I know I will.
Le petit renard
Sunday 21 January 2024
The local Mountain Warehouse
It is a strange quirk of mine, but I love Mountain Warehouse, as you may already know. I say strange, because I am not into outdoors activities, or hiking, or sport. Yet now almost every weekend when I go downtown to run errands I end up stopping there and buying something. It's mostly clothes. Warm clothes, to be more specific. Socks, mainly, often gloves too, sometimes thermals. I did this yesterday too. It has become one of my go-to shops in town and a sort of ritual every weekend. In fact, after the bookshop, it might be my favourite shop here. I still don't completely understand why. The staff is nice and friendly, and more to the point always efficient, but I think there is something deeper than that. It seems that I always find what I am looking for there and I often find what I did not know I needed. I guess I find the whole place kind of comforting. And you, do you have shops like this you just love to go to?
Café Columbus (Chicoutimi)
Saturday 20 January 2024
The Orient Express (jigsaw)
Recréer Ciné-famille
J'ai eu une inspiration récemment: recréer une filmographie de Ciné-famille, pour moi et peut-être, si ça l'intéresse, pour petit loup. J'ai déjà blogué sur Ciné-famille, l'émission radio-canadienne qui passait le samedi après-midi et où on présentait des films pour enfants. C'est tombé dans l'oubli, même si on trouve l'intro sur YouTube. Pour ce qui est du reste, j'en trouve très peu sur le sujet dans les internets. Avec ma mémoire, j'ai malgré tout réussi à retrouver certains des films et les ai mis dans une liste sur YouTube. Enfin, les titres dont je me rappelle. Je compte en mettre d'autres, si vous vous rappelez de ce qui y passait, faites-le moi savoir.
Friday 19 January 2024
Hovercraft
I just read an article on the BBC about the potential return of the hovercraft. It never disappeared as a mean of transport, but let's face, it's far from the most popular. This apparently might change. It will make Wolfie very happy: he loves hovercrafts. He, like his mother and father, only used it twice: when we went to the Isle of Wight and then back from there. And it was a very short journey. But he loved it all the same, as if it was the coolest thing. Maybe hovercraft is the coolest vehicle ever, come to think of it. And I have to say, I was impressed by its speed. So I would love if it was a more widespread mean of transport. And you, ever been on an hovercraft? If so, what did you think of it?
L'hiver anglais
The Compleat Angler
Les vieux trains lents
J'ai lu en diagonale cet article de L'Actualité appelé Éloge des vieux trains lents. Article de Tara Grescoe, que j'ai mentionnée en juin 2023 à propos d'un autre article de L'Actualité sur les trains. Ce nouvel article porte sur des trains en Italie dans des trains vintage. Il faudrait vraiment que j'essaie lors de mon retour éventuel en Italie. Ca fait quasiment 25 ans que je n'y ai pas mis les pieds et je veux y retourner. Le voyage ferroviaire est souvent ce que j'aime le plus de mes vacances, ou à tout le moins un des éléments importants pour me faire apprécier un séjour quelque part. Si le trajet en train est plaisant, c'est comme la moitié du plaisir de pris déjà. Alors marier le train à l'Italie, ce serait vraiment génial...
Thursday 18 January 2024
A police chase near us
Here is a bit of local crime drama we nearly witnessed. It happened almost next door, or rather in front of our houses. Anyway, we live in a dead end and two days ago we were doing the back to school run. We first drove back Wolfie's classmate, who lives two streets way from ours. As we were nearby, I noticed a dodgy looking man being held by a police officer. I told my wife to be careful. Then, once Wolfie's friend was safe home with her parents (and the guy and the police officer gone), we drove back to our place. We saw at the end of our road a police car, parked behind another car that had hit the wooden fence. There were skid marks on the grass. We could reconstitute the scnee we had missed by a minute or two: they gave chase to the suspect I had seen, who may or may not have known he was driving to a dead end, he hit the bonnet of his car with the fence, then ran off.
A few minutes later, we saw a few more police cars coming to our street. Some were unidentified. It took about an hour for the whole thing to wrap up. We heard a knock on the door, a police officer asked us if we'd seen anything, we said no, we asked what had happened, he told us briefly that someone refused to stop his vehicle when they summoned him to do it and then made a run for it. Now after this, I think there is some source material for a crime story and I wish I could have paid more attention to what was happening. In fact, I wish I had seen the drama unfolding, although I am very glad we didn't drive home while the thuggish looking guy was on the run. So yes, we had a bit of local police drama in our street recently.
Salade niçoise
Wednesday 17 January 2024
Smoke Bellew (a memory)
Les pingouins du Dorset
Tuesday 16 January 2024
Brio Steam Train
La Théière à l'envers
Monday 15 January 2024
Blue Monday: some thoughts
In case you didn't know, or maybe didn't notice, or didn't care (which is almost my case), today is Blue Monday. The most depressing day of the year, according to, well, pseudoscience. But I don't find this Monday more depressing than any other and I find it less depressing than other Mondays in the year. Of course, the day is still young, so I might feel differently in the evening, therefore touch wood. So far, so good. I don't find Blue Mondays depressing for the reasons stated in 2023. To sum it up here: I don't hate my job, I don't have to commute to go to work, I find the months of June and July more depressing than January and I only got back at work last week. Also, I have a few more holidays this month. So yeah, while no working Monday is great, and while I understand why some people dislike it, I don't feel particularly blue today.
Une certaine fascination pour le grenier
J'en ferai peut-être une question existentielle, cela dit d'ici là quelqu'un peut m'expliquer la fascination des enfants pour le grenier? Quand j'ai dû ranger les décorations de Noël et ensuite d'autres cossins il y a quelques jours, Wolfie voulait absolument voir ce qu'il y avait là-haut. Ce n'est pas la première fois. J,ai même blogué sur le même sujet en 2020 et sa fascination pour notre grenier s'est développée depuis. J'avoue qu'enfant, j'étais aussi comme lui. Je n'ai jamais mis les pieds au grenier chez mes parents, mais j'ai toujours voulu. Ma femme m'a dit que c'était la même chose pour elle quand elle avait l'âge de petit loup. Je ne sais pas si c'est donc un trait de famille ou un truc générationnel. Tous les enfants aiment-ils les greniers, ou est-ce juste mon fils?
Sunday 14 January 2024
Blue Vinny Mac and Cheese
Un crabe
Saturday 13 January 2024
Weaponry
Pâté à la truite
Friday 12 January 2024
The cry of the red kite
Neige
Thursday 11 January 2024
The Snail Torch
La neige...
Des fois, mon père m'envoie des photos de la neige qui est de retour au Québec. Un peu tard, mais quand même, c'est l'hiver pour vrai là-bas. Sinon, ce billet est une excuse pour partager une photo hivernale. Mais ça en vaut la peine.
Wednesday 10 January 2024
Bookshops on holidays
Les poules de Pâques déjà?
An old railway signal box
Here is a piece of sad news for railway lovers like myself: Cornwall's oldest railway signal box is closing. Okay, to be honest, I was there were any signal box left in this country and it is a surprise there was still one in function, even in a small Cornish village. All the same, it is a symbol of a bygone era that is going to close down. And I always loved signal boxes. I hope they do something with it, like that one in Devon. A café, a pub, a museum perhaps? Something to give this box not so much a second life as a second career. And old things can still look good, especially old buildings, especially railway buildings.
Nouvelle lectrice du Saguenay
Petite nouvelle dans la publication de Vraie Fiction: j'ai une nouvelle lectrice. Oui monsieur.Ou oui madame, car c'est une femme. Et du Saguenay en plus, sans doute de Chicoutimi. Elle a répondu gentiment à ma question sur ce billet, quand je demandais des adresses de cafés où aller à Chicoutimi. Pas que j'irai bientôt. Mais au moins là j'en ai deux, grâce à ses suggestions: un café et une maison de thé. Des endroits que je compte bien visiter avec ma femme et mon fils lors de notre prochain séjour, qui ne sera pas demain. Espérons qu'ils ne fermeront pas d'ici là. Dans tous les cas, bienvenue à Maryse sur Vraie Fiction et au plaisir de lire tes commentaires.
Tuesday 9 January 2024
Another Clue/Cluedo?
Glaçons (et neige)
Monday 8 January 2024
Free cocktails to take away
This weekend, we went for a quick stop (that ended up being not so quick, but I digress) before dinner. It was in the pub where I used to go about 15 years ago, back when we were renting. It used to be a run-down pub full of old people, but it was the nearest pub from the flat and I came to like the variety of drinks there. I think the last time I went there must have been ten years, if not more. Well, since then it got new owners and it has been completely revamped and gentrified. It also has a Chinese take away/restaurant attached to it, but that is the topic of another post. Let's just say for now that it was one of the reasons why we stopped there.
The advantage true advantage of this pub it that the guy in charge of cocktails and one of managers is also the father of one of Wolfie's friends. We actually sometimes get the girl to and back from school with us. So when we were waiting for our Chinese meal to be ready, my wife was pondering if she should take a cocktail, but she was driving. So I suggested we asked if wecould buy a cocktail and take it away. Daddy manager and cocktail maker said not only it was possible, but he would give it to us for free. A Christmas martini (don't ask) worth I believe £10.50. It was served in a plastic pint, not full but almost, with all the forth and everything, covered with a big sandwich bag. By some miracles, we got it home intact and not a drop of it was lost on the way home. It took my wife three evenings to drink it all. Moral of the story, it's great to be connected.
Les enseignants le lundi
Back to work...
Well, today is a day I have been dreading: I am back at work. Not that I don't like my job, but I always dread getting back to work after a long holiday, and I have been away for three weeks. Thankfully I don't have to go to the office as I'm working from home. It makes the transition easier. I will probably still be socially jetlagged. And I am already longing for my next holidays, whenever they may be. Yesterday, my mum told me something one of her former employees (now retired) used to tell her every time she got back at work: "I need to work so I can afford my next holidays". I think this deserves to be a great unknown line. In any case, I will keep that in mind today and for the rest of the week.
Remise sous la neige
Sunday 7 January 2024
Brio Snow Plow Train
Neige
Saturday 6 January 2024
Polar Blast?
Apparently, winter is coming to the UK. And I mean proper winter: the one with snow. My wife told me so. I checked the news and apparently yes, in the coming weeks there might be a Polar blast hitting us. She is dreading it. I am torn between hope and dread, as I know this country does not cope well with snow. But I am mostly skeptical: snows have been forecast in the past and we got nothing. And from what I can see in the forecast of the upcoming days, it is weather as usual: rain and little else. In other words, I will believe it when I see it, but we will get ready should it come.
La galette des Rois digne d'un roi
Aujourd'hui c'est le douzième jour de Noël, le dernier. C'est donc l'Épiphanie, ou "les Rois" comme on l'appelait quand j'étais enfant. C'est aussi sans doute mon dernier billet qui porte sur Noël jusqu'à au moins novembre. Afin de souligner, je partage ici la vidéo d'hier du Chef Michel Dumas. Pas que j'aie l'intention ou capacité de cuisiner ça, mais si jamais ça vous tente d'essayer.
Friday 5 January 2024
Crime books to read
Galette des Rois décadente
Next Greggs' sandwich?
Feu et mélancolie
Thursday 4 January 2024
Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing (and Krav Maga?)
We got a leaflet through the door today, for a local business. It was advertising Brazilian jiu-jitsu (or jujutsu, or ju-jitsu) and kickboxing classes. One side for the martial art, the other for the contact sport. No, I'm not interested into doing either. Too old, too out of shape, too sendentary, not really into sports or martial art. But it reminded me that I have long stopped training in Krav Maga. And that's not good. Now, why would I still do Krav Maga and not kickboxing or a martial art? Because KM is completely a self defence and this is what I would need in a threatening situation. Maybe it should be a new year's resolution: go back into training.
L'hiver de retour?
Spies at The Compleat Angler
Quick post today, because I blogged on the very same topic yesterday. As you may know from John Le Carré's Call for the Dead, today is the day master spy George Smiley is supposed to meet (or was supposed to meet, as this was set in the early 60s) his colleague Samuel Fennan. As per the following letter:
"Dear George,
It is essential that I lunch with you tomorrow at The Compleat Angler at Marlow. Please do your best to meet me there at one o'clock. There is something I have to tell you.
Yours,
Samuel Fennan"
Of course, The Compleat Angler still exists, it is a beautiful and rather expensive hotel which I visited a few times. Any Marlowian reading this blog and visiting it today: anybody noticed anyone looking shady? Although I guess spies would look just like anybody else. Good spies would, that is. All the same, I wish I could be there today at one. Anyway, next time I go there, I will take pictures, just in case there are fans of John Le Carré among you...
Les cafés de Chicoutimi
Vous savez par mon billet du 2 janvier que j'ai appris avec tristesse la fermeture du Passion Café sur le très drabe Boulevard Talbot. Alors je me demandais si, parmi ceux qui me lisent et qui vivent à Chicoutimi ou le visitent, vous connaissiez d'autres cafés potables dans les environs? Bon, il y a Cambio sur la Racine, mais je veux dire dans le coin de l'ancien Passion Café. De préférence avec une sélection de thés et de menus végétariens. Ce n'est pas demain la veille que nous retournerons à Chicoutimi, mais quand même, j'aimerais trouver un endroit sympathique lorsque nous y serons.
Wednesday 3 January 2024
Spy Meeting Tomorrow
"Dear George,
It is essential that I lunch with you tomorrow at The Compleat Angler at Marlow. Please do your best to meet me there at one o'clock. There is something I have to tell you.
Yours,
Samuel Fennan"
I blogged about this before, back in 2019 and again last year. This quote is taken from John Le Carré's first novel Call for the Dead. The George mentioned in the letter is of course protagonist George Smiley and the letter being dated on the 3rd of January, tomorrow is, well, tomorrow. We don't live very far from Marlow or the Compleat Angler, but I doubt we will have the chance to go there at one o'clock. Besides, we are a few decades too late, the novel having been published in 1961. All the same, having been to that hotel, I get excited at the thought that I walked in the setting of a classic spy drama. Next time I go there, I take a few pictures.
Feu de foyer
Tuesday 2 January 2024
The search for AAA batteries
Here is a bit of trivial topic for you: I found out this evening that I need AAA batteries. The context: I bought some toys (will tell you what in another post) for Wolfie for Christmas and he thought he would try the toys tonight. But of course the batteries are not included. And to make matters worse, it needs AAA batteries. I thought I had bought some a few months ago, I either went through them already or I put the spare ones where I cannot find them anymore. Be that as it may, I cannot find AAA batteries in the house. So yeah, it is trivial, but very inconvenient.
Question existentielle (385)
Les Fêtes ne sont pas encore officiellement terminées, cela dit pour beaucoup c'est le retour au travail et petit loup recommence l'école bientôt. Je me pose donc la question existentielle suivante (qui est assez proche de la question 277, mais un peu différente):
-Après Noël et le Jour de l'An, quand est-ce que nous sommes bel et bien, de facto, dans le retour à la normale?
Torch/Tuque
Plus de Passion Café?
Triste nouvelle apprise par mes parents: le Passion Café de Chicoutimi est fermé de manière définitive. À chacun de nos séjours à Chicoutimi, on s'y rendait à pied ma femme et moi, puis petit loup aussi. Nous aimions l'atmosphère, le service, la sélection de cafés (pour elle) et de thés (pour moi), enfin tout. Le stationnement sur le Boulevard Talbot ne payait pas des mines, mais le café lui-même était très bien. Pour ma mère, c'était aussi un endroit où trouver des cadeaux pour Noël et pour les anniversaires. Enfin bref, c'est une bien triste nouvelle.
Monday 1 January 2024
Auld Lang Syne (as always)
Happy new year everyone! As it is a tradition on this blog, I am sharing again the classic Auld Lang Syne. Which also reminds me that I have Scottish blood, so there might be something of me in this song, in a way. You tell me.