And I stop by a gateway
To smoke a cigarette
And stares across the fields and remember
The gypsy fairs of August
And early evening haze
The dirty golden mustard of September
Martin Newell, Black Shuck
As it is today the first day of September, which I consider the first day of autumn (see my post from earlier on, and in the meantime enjoy a gorgeous seasonal picture), I made a point of going out today after work for a quick walk. I finish work early, so it allow me to have more fun and more active end of afternoons. Wolfie went out with me. We did not walk very far, just to the nearest corner shop and back, but it was a long enough walk to last fifteen minutes and back. Enough to get a feel of the atmosphere. It was not cold, but we put on light coats to be comfortable. It was a really lovely moment.
J'ai lu aujourd'hui la chronique de Régis Labeaume dans la grosse Presse. Je la lis parfois, mais pas très souvent. Je n'avais jamais pensé avoir beaucoup d'affinités avec l'ancien maire de Québec, mais ô surprise, il aime l'automne comme moi. Avec un titre qui dit "L'été est fini, enfin!", je constate qu'il a les mêmes sensibilités par rapport à la chaleur, mais aussi qu'il considère que l'automne commence avec le mois de septembre. Enfin bref, j'ai bien aimé ma lecture.
Today is my wife and I are celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary. From what I read online, it means we are celebrating our porcelaine anniversary. Although, according to Wikipedia, the 20th year of marriage is marked by the porcelaine anniversary and there's nothing between the 15th (crystal) and the 20th. So I am quite confused. Its gemstone is the chrysoberyl, commonly known as cat's eye. But in the end, what matters is that we will celebrate today with our little boy and that we built a family together.
You might think I'm obsessed about autumn, and you would be entirely right. I'm very obsessed about it. But these days, we have been blessed with signs of the autumn to come. August is not always a very nice month for people like me: it can be too hot, too summery, and it often is. Indeed, it has been this year, until fairly recently. But now, it is much cooler, it does not get any higher than lower 20s in the middle of the day, so from the evening (which comes way earlier) until morning, I can actually wear a light jacket, pure blissful joy. It often has that autumn breeze as well. It is like we are in a full on autumnal rehearsal. I even saw some leaves changing colour, although they are hard to spot.
I don't know how I could miss this one a few weeks ago: Overly Sarcastic Productions made a video about Quebec City's architecture. I must confess, I learned a few things. Here it is for you.
Des fois je me désole du Saguenay et ma fierté de Bleuet en prend pour son rhume. On a eu pndant des années un maire ultra catholique enfant de choeur attardé, la nouvelle mairesse se fait condamner au criminel pour fraude électorale. Bon, je sais, elle porte sa cause en appel, mais ça regarde mal quand même. Si elle avait un peu d'honneur, elle démissionnerait afin de préparer son appel. Mais elle s'accroche. Épaisse. Vraiment, les politiciens locaux, au municipal, c'est vraiment pas riche.
I blogged a few days ago about the imminent opening of Caffè Nero, which I was quite looking forward to. My wife and my son don't share my interest in this coffee chain. And Wolfie reminded me why: last time we went to a Caffè Nero, we had a rather lacklustre experience. Bad enough for him to remember it. Too many people, barely anything to eat or drink behind the counter, dirty place, it truly was a terrible experience. As he explained himself in an hilarious Wolfism: "It was like: "Welcome to the King of Rubbishness!" So we might not go there any time soon, come to think of it.
L'école recommence dans une semaine environ. Un peu plus d'une semaine en fait. Même si je ne suis plus aux études, il reste que depuis que Wolfie va à l'école, c'est redevenu une étape importante de nos vies de parents. Et j'ai toujours en tête les rituels de mon enfance, devenus nos rituels de famille, lors qu'arrive ce temps de l'année. C'est le temps des achats de fourniture scolaire: les cahiers, le papier, les crayons, les effaces, la colle etc. Ce temps-ci de l'année, la vie a des parfums de papier, de crayons, de colle, etc.
So as the title of this podt states, I am back to work today, after a long holiday break. As it was a bank holiday yesterday, I am starting on a Tuesday and the working week will only have four days. And thankfully, I work from home. So I should not complain, things should go fairly smoothly (touch wood), especially since I had a very long holiday break. As always, I am kind of anxious about what happened in the office while I was gone, I always feel like this. It was the very first holiday I took since I started in my new job and so it is my very first return from leave. Otherwise, I don't go back to work with a feeling of gloom and doom like I was with my previous job, not for now anyway. Which is always in itself a positive sign.
You may remember that I blogged last October about the rediscovery of Gibbet Hill, a ghost story of Bram Stoker that had long been forgotten. Well, I did not waste time and bought it a few months ago. As this is now my officious countdown to Halloween, since we are after all in Augtober, I read it already, along other scary or supernatural stories. It was first on my to be read list this year for the spooky season. And I loved it. I will blog about it in more details in the future, but to all the horror fans among those following this blog, I heartily recommend it. There is a lot to love about it: it's set in October, it's beautifully eerie and atmospheric, there is plenty of horror and a fair deal of gore too. Some of the ideas he placed in there, he deveoped them later in Dracula (but I guess all his writing ultimatey leads to his most famous novel). Oh and, bonus point for those living in England: Stoker used real places for the story's settings, so you can visit them if you are so enclined. I will mention more about it in a future posts, but one in particular isn't so far away from where I live. So yes, read it if you can.
I don't want to sound like I am repeating myself, but I know I am. But I need to keep in mind that autumn is on its way, because tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it is meant to be hot. Well, by hot I mean around 25 degree Celsius, the temperature that gets me uncomfortable. One last blast of that dreadful summer. But I do know autumn is coming. Because in the middle of the week, it should cool down considerably, in the lower twenties. Then there is he cool breeze we feel. Just enough to give a shiver. Even watching it in the trees, it makes you feellike autumn is near. And finally, there is the sun going down earlier and earlier. Sometimes August just feels like autumn, like it's the case now. Sometimes.
Parce que le vin rouge me fait éternuer, j'ai décidé petit à petit de l'éliminer de mon régime et de privilégier la bière et le vin blanc, même si je n'ai jamais été un grand fan de ce dernier. Mais au fil des années, j'ai appris à apprécier le vin blanc et à accompagner mes repas avec, puisque je ne pouvais plus autant apprécier le rouge. Jusqu'à ce soir: je viens d'avoir une bonne crise d'éternuements comme si j'avais le rhume. Ce fût pénible, pour moi comme pour ma femme, qui déteste quand j'éternue comme un éléphant enrhumé. Enfin bref, je ne veux pas devenir (entièrement) sobre, mais ça commence à bien faire. On dirait que le vin ne veut plus de moi.
This post is another autumnal chronicle or, rather, a pre-autumnal chronicle. Because for the last few days, I have seen the signs of the upcoming autumn. I have made a list here, because I am in an autumnal mood already (being my favourite season and all that) and because I want to savour each moment, each manifestation heralding its arrival:
-After weeks of heatwave, the temperatures have finally gone down. Oh, it's still in the lower twenties and it's not auutmnal yet, but it's a welcome change from the year. And you can feel a coolness in the air, especially in the evening, that really feels autumnal.
-The breeze. It gives you a slight shiver when you feel it, and it smells moist and ever so slightly not quite summery.
-Dusk. The sung goes down way earlier and you can finally see it. Even my wife noticed it yesterday.
-The leaves have already started changing colours on some trees.
So there you have it. We are not there yet, but I am starting to feel the season coming. And that makes me very happy.
Well, home sweet home, we are back from our holidays. If you were wondering why I was blogging more sporadically, it is because I was busy being away: we spent about two weeks in Salzburg and Vienna. I'm glad to be back, but the holidays were in a way too short. We really enjoyed it there. Anyway, I will blog more about it these coming days, so watch this space, as there is a lot to tell. I will try not to turn this blog into a travelogue or a tourism blog, but I think I will speak about Austria fairly often.
I spoke to the mother of my godson recently, via messenger. I hadn't taken news from her in a long, long while and I thought it was about time. I learned that my godson, who turned 20 this year, is going to study engineering in another city, a few hours away from his mother. I know I'm not his dad and I'm already living an ocean away from him, but it shocked me all the same. On the one hand, I'm really proud of him. Nevertheless, it's hard to know he grew up so fast.
I blogged back in February about the Caffè Nero that was going to open soon in our town's high street. Well, in six months or so, it hasn't opened yet, which is kind of baffling. That said, word of mouth said the opening is now imminent. It's official enough that there's posters announcing it. Some residents are cynical, because we already have plenty of coffee shops. It's not like we needed another. That said, I'm welcoming it, because I quite like the atmosphere in their shops. Also, the building it is going to be in has been empty for at least a year, so it's going to fill an empty space that looked pretty depressing. Anyway, I'll probably blog about my first visit there, so I'll keep you posted...
Je reviens sur mon billet du 16. J'avais alors commis un calembour atroce: "mi-août, miaou". En fait, c'était pas le mien, mais le calembour involontaire (mais quand même atroce) de bien des connaissances quand j'étais enfant. Or, j'ai vu que Stéphane Laporte l'a commis dans une chronique, La nostalgie du présent. Et en plus, il l'a commis volontairement. Je ne sais pas quoi en penser, sauf ayoye. Outre cela, je ne suis pas vraiment d'accord avec ce qu'il pense de ce mois-ci ou du suivant, mais ce sera (peut-être) pour un prochain billet.
Nous étions hier la mi-août. Que je prononce mi-ou. Mais quand l'étais jeune, il y avait des camarades de classe qui disaient "mi-aou". Comme miaou. Je trouvais la prononciation un peu colonne et le calembour, bien qu'involontaire, partièrement atroce.
I noticed it recently when I was walking through the business estate: we have a new police station there. Well, I say new, maybe that's not quite right, but it's the first time I noticed it. A bit less than a decade ago, we used to live near the "old" police station, which was a rather quaint and old fashioned building. It looked really nice, but not exactly the kind of place I would expect to have a professional constabulatory force, working against crime in a small English town that can surprisingly... I'm not sure of the word. Criminalised? If you read this blog, you know what I'm talking about. It can be a dark place and the ideal setting for a crime novel or two. But anyway, this new (somewhat new) local police station looks suitably modern, from what I could see from the outside. Which is kind of reassuring. I think it's also at a more strategic place, giving a police presence where there was none before. So yes, good news. And if I need to find inspiration for my stories, I know where to walk by.
I learned some very exciting news from the newsletter of South African crime writer Deon Meyer: there will be a TV series adaptation of his novel Blood Safari. Incidentally one of my favourite novels of his, with maybe my favourite character, Martin Lemmer. Except that he will not be named Lemmer. I don't know much about it, except some of the confirmed casting (promising) and that it will be called The Invisible, as per the original title of the novel in Afrikaans. I must confess, I prefer the English title, which ismore violent, nasty and well, bloody, but hey. Now I just hope when it will be released, I can find a it streaming somewhere here. In any case, it is something to look forward to, crime fiction wise.
As you probably know, if you read this blog for long enough, I love the stories of E. Nesbit, especially her ghost stories, and most of all Man-Size in Marble, one of the very first horror stories ever set on Halloween. It is the perfect scary story for the spooky season. Well, I discovered last year, during the official countdown to Halloween, that the village of Brenzett was not invented by Nesbit, but really exists, in Kent. So it's now on my list of places to visit in the UK. From the pictures Ihave seen, it looks beautifully eerie. I will blog again about the story in the following weeks (well of course), but until then, if some of my readers have visited Brenzett, or even live there (you never know), please let me know in the comments.
I came across this neologism, Auctober, on various social media recently. From what I read, it means when temperatures in August feel more like October. It is the case now. It might not last, but it does feel cooler and very autumnal for August. In extension, it also means the state of mind and the way autumn and Halloween lovers deal with the month of August, like a big, long countdown to Halloween. I was embracing it before I knew the term existed, unconsciously. But now, I have decided that Augtober will be part of my vocabulary and my official state of mind this month. I am now reading horror stories. And Augtober is also, as you have guessed, the word of the day.
Petite nouvelle brassicole québécoise et saguenéenne: mon père m'a appris l'existence de la Brasserie Port-Alfred. Port-Alfred étant bien entendu l'ancien nom (plus ou moins) de La Baie. Mon père l'appelle d'ailleurs encore Port-Alfred. Mais enfin bref, je suis toujours heureux d'essayer de nouvelles bières de microbrasseries (parfois de nouvelles bières tout court), alors je suis heureux de découvrir qu'il y a une nouvelle bière en région. Ou en rérion.
And as the daylight's fading
When Lammas has come in
And gleamers go to work among the stubble
There comes an autumn sickle
To cut the summer's throat
Before the season knows it is in trouble
Martin Newell, Black Shuck
We are Lammas Day, and as it is a tradition here, I quote this poem. The first day of August and this lovely evocative quote about it are a reminder of two things: 1)autumn is on its way, closer than before, 2)so is Halloween. So I am getting in an autumnal mood, and I have already started reading horror stories.
There's something I noticed recently when we were walking home from our last family gathering in London: we have a new "secret passage" nearby. Let me explain: there's an alleyway nearby, there's a wooden fence on one side separating it from the road and on the other side some trees. Now the branches have reached the wooden fence, so it's like there is a natural, live roof over our head when we walk there. It looks kind of mysterious. So yeah, it's a new secret passage. I did not have the opportunity to take a picture of it yet, but I will try to do it soon.
Je sais que je suis en retard pour commenter la nouvelle, mais qu'importe: j'écris mes billets de blogue parfois quelques jours d'avance. Tout ça pour dire que j'ai appris avec tristesse le décès du chroniqueur de la grosse Presse Pierre Foglia. Il a pas mal été mon chroniqueur préféré quand il travaillait et je n'ai jamais trouvé quelqu'un pour le remplacer. Le dossier complet de sa vie et de son décès dans son journal se trouve ici. Il est le premier chroniqueur que mes parents m'ont fait lire, quand j'avais je crois douze ans, je me rappelle encore la chronique, sur les parents trop permissifs. Je le mentionnais parfois sur le blogue, par exemple ici sur la spiritualité du poulet et là sur les librairies indépendantes. Ou encore là, sur l'évolutionnisme. Il avait le don de montrer l'absurde de bien des choses (la spiritualité d'un poulet, par exemple) et j'aimais sa sincérité dénuée de fausse gentillesse. Bon, je ne veux pas m'épivarder dans les lieux communs, mais je vais relire ses chroniques et je vous encourage à faire de même.
Oh the algorithms of the internet really make me discover things. So I recently stumbled upon this article on Politico, saying that London now is booming with private security firms, with former secret agents (and ex military, and former police officers) now working in the private sector. In other words, there are now such things as spy companies. This is not entirely surprising to me, I kinda knew it existed since I read this novel. Still, I didn't suspect there were so many of them. Apparently, the aura London has thanks to a certain fictitious British spy did play a role in the developement of this new intelligence industry. I'm not sure I like it: I find it worrying that former secret agents switch their loyalty from a nation and a country to a company, or their own bank account. Eespecially since the industry is at the moment irregulated. That does not bode well for democracy. Nevertheless, I can see the dramatic potential for the witing of spy thrillers. Because sometimes I think like a writer.
Nous sommes le dernier jour de juillet (je sais, je dis une lapalissade). L'été va commencer à tirer à sa fin à partir de demain, du moins je l'espère. Enfant, je n'étais pas un grand fan de la fin de juillet, parce que ça sonnait le début de la fin des vacances. Plus pantoute maintenant: juillet est le mois que je déteste le plus dans l'année. Surtout qu'ici, ce n'est guère un mois de vacances, alors c'est pire qu'ailleurs. Juillet, c'est l'été à son pire. Heureusement, il a été endorable cette année et il est passé relativement vite. Il faut dire que j'ai été occupé: travail, préparer les vacances, etc. J'ai à peine eu le temps de me plaindre du mois. Et vous?
Tout d'abord, je me permets d'utiliser cebillet pour proférer une nouvelle fois un calembour atroce: "il y a rage dans orage." Voilà c'est dit. Je sais que ça vous fait mal rien que de le lire. Donc, aujourd'hui, on annonce de l'orage. J'espère que ça se produira. Cette année, il y a eu beaucoup, beaucoup, beaucoup d'annonces d'orages, il y a même eu des avertiseements d'orages violents, mais ils nous sont pour la plupart passés par dessus la tête. Comme à chaque année. On ne les a pas tous manqués, mais c'est décevant, pour ceux qui comme moi aiment les orages d'été. Justement parce que c'est un des seuls aspects de la saison que j'aime. Alors voilà, j'espère me réveiller ce matin avec un orage tonitruant.
I mentioned recently that I won a bottle of wine in a tombola at Wolfie's school. A red wine, a Merlot from New Zealand. The one from Oyster Bay. I rarely drink red wine anymore, because it makes me sneeze as if I had a severe cold. And it gives me headaches. And also, it makes me thirsty. Well, I had the bottle pretty much all by myself, drank it in a few days, and I survived. I sneezed a bit the first night, then I was okay. So moral of the story: I can drink red wine again. I'm glad, because I always loved red wine, in spite of all the pain and suffering it gave me.
Enfin bref, une année, afin de nous remercier de les avoir hébergées (sans doute à l'initiative de leurs parents), les deux filles nous ont donné deux albums de Mafalda. Il y avait sans doute un autre livre pour Andrew, qui était bien jeune, mais je me rappelle qu'il y avait deux albums pour PJ et moi. J'ai hérité du Club de Mafalda. Je crois avoir été poli, mais je ne peux pas dire que sur le coup je trouvais le cadeau bien emballant. Je sais que j'avais déjà vu des dessins animés courts lors de Ciné-cadeau, mais je ne savais alors même pas qu'elle était d'abord et avant tout un personnage de bandes dessinées. À mes yeux, je venais de recevoir une bédé de fille, sur une fille, par deux filles qui n'avait pas les mêmes goûts et intérêts que moi. Je l'ai lu avec un intérêt au mieux mitigé. Je me rappelle que les gags sur l'école, lus pendants les vacances d'été me foutaient un peu le cafard. Puis les commentaires socio-politiques, je ne les saisissais pas. Alors cet été-là, j'ai lu l'album une fois et j'ai passé à autre chose.
Je ne sais pas quand exactement tout a changé, si c'était les vacances de l'été d'après ou une autre année, toujours est-il qu'un soir alors que les vacances commençaient à toucher à leur fin, sans être sur le point de terminer, je me sentais mélancolique comme je me sentais souvent alors, j'ai pris le Club de Mafalda et je l'ai relu. Et j'ai cliqué. Sur les angoisses de Felipe à l'idée de l'année scolaire qui s'en venait, sur les amis qui sont parfois aussi des plaies, sur le questionnement de Mafalda concernant le monde des adultes, sur tout. Et particulièrement sur Mafalda elle même, une fille tomboy, curieuse et intelligente, qui jouait à des jeux de garçons et qui avait des opinions sur tout. Et depuis, je suis un fan. Je n'ai pas revu les deux filles depuis une quarantaine d'années, je sais que leurs parents se sont séparés, sinon je n'ai aucune idée de ce qui est arrivé d'elles. Mais je leur dois des excuses pour mon ingratitude et j'espère pouvoir un jour les remercier pour m'avoir fait découvrir Mafalda.
Last Saturday, we went to a special day out in Oxford with one of Wolfie's friends and her family. I think I did blog about her before: she is a girl of Chinese origins who adores our son (well, of course she does) and considers him her best boy friend, if not her boyfriend. So Wolfie put on for the special day green camo trousers, a green t-shirt and a green camo hoodie. My wife was aghast: she thought this was a terrible choice of clothes for a special day out with a sweet little girl, far too boisterous. But I said that, since the day involved water play, it would be fitting: he needed comfy and practical clothes, not elegant ones. And Wolfie loves wearing camo clothes, for some reason. So anyway, the funny thing is, Wolfie's friend was wearing pink, including... pink camo trousers. So yeah, they matched, and I could not help but tease my wife.
Alors qu'on prépare nos vacances, petit loup me demande pleins de questions sur mes vacances passées. Il est obsédé par les hôtels de luxe et il m'a demandé hier quel était l'hôtel le plus luxueux ou j'avais séjourné. Je ne sais pas trop si c'est exact, mais l'Auberge Saint-Antoine de Québec. J'y ai mis les pieds trois ou quatre fois, à l'initiative de mes parents. C'est, en tout cas c'était, là où notre clan s'installe lors de nos réunions familiales à Québec. Mais ça fait quinze ans depuis notre dernière visite. Quelqu'un parmi mes lecteurs y est retourné depuis? Si oui, c'est comment? Parce que j'ai presque promis à Wolfie d'y aller un jour.
I blogged last month about my interest for shark, particularly this time of year. Like I said, I tend to watch sea related stories and shark documentaries. So I watched the Netflix documentary series Shark Whisperer with fascination. I know featured conservationist and shark lover Ocean Ramsey is controversial, but I really enjoyed it all the same. For two reasons. One, I think it's great that sharks have an advocate, given that many shark species are now endangered. Two, because the images were simply, absolutely, utterly, breathtakingly gorgeous. Even if you find sharks scary, I think Shark Whisperer could make you see them in a compeltely different light. Anyway, that's my viewing recommendation today.
Menaud maître-draveur, Félix-Antoine Savard
Chaque année le 26 juillet, je partage cette citation de Félix-Antoine Savard. Parce que je suis du Saguenay, alors ça me parle beaucoup.
Maybe it is wishful thinking, probably it is. But since the end of the heatwave and the return to more bearable temperatures, I have been feeling like something in the air, especially in the morning and evening. A certain coolness when the wind blows, it feels like an autumnal breeze, or very close to it. Sometimes just enough to have a slight shiver, when you go out or open the windows. I love it. I don't dare to hope, but sometimes think this might be our first sign of the autumn to come. Or maybe I am just in an autumnal mood. It could also be it. be that as it may, my personal countdown to my favourite season has officially started.
Well, I got some cool news that I wanted to share. You know how much I love the Israeli thriller series Fauda, for the drama, for the characters, forthe cool use of Krav Maga. And things are moving forward nicely for the next season, which I have been wanting for impatiently. After a funny teaser video from lead actor and show creator Lior Raz, they have released the very first trailer. Sadly, there is no English subtitles, but it's quite intriguing all the same. Here it is:
