First Thunderstorm Today?

They are forecasting thunderstorms today on BBC Weather. An actual yellow warning of thunderstorms, from midday until 22:00. If it happens, we would have our first thunderstorm of the year. Recently, it has been feeling like the weather is getting ready to provide storms. It's been properly hot, and we've had no rain in a long while. So we are due to one. It feels like summertime, which I don't really care about. Thunderstorms are the one thing I still love about summer. So I am looking forward to this one.

Guille siempre!

 Je partage ce gag pris de la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda hier, le jour de la fête des Mères. Vous ai-je déjà dit que Guille est mon personnage préféré dans Mafalda?

Times with friends

We went to the local May Fayre yesterday as a family. We met some friends there, like we do every year, it is a sort of tradition, every year an impromptu one we follow. Wolfie also bumped into some friends from school, including his bestie, so we spent some time with them too. And then, leaving the fayre, I bumped into a friend of mine I hadn't seen in years. We had a short chat as we were both going somewhere, but it was nice seeing her. I might blog more about this specific encounter, actually, as I made some observations that warrant another post. Anyway, and today we are going to the birthday party of one of Wolfie's friends, so we will spend more time busy. Moral of the story (stories?): being a parent sometimes gives you a busy social life.

Fête des Mères

C'est aujourd'hui la Fête des Mères, au moins dans une partie du monde. Alors bonne Fête des Mères à toutes les mamans qui me lisent. Je sais qu'il y en a au moins trois: ma belle-mère, ma mère et ma femme. Peut-être deux de mes belles-soeurs aussi. J'oublie souvent la Fête des Mères parce qu'ici, on la célèbre en mars. Ce qui fait que je dois envoyer mes voeux à deux moments dans l'année.

National Train Day

I learned on the Facebook page of the National Railway Museum in York that today is National Train Day. I know I had to mention it on the blog and mark it with a picture taken at the museum itself during our last visit in April. National Train Day is on the Saturday closest to the 10th of May and it is to celebrate the history and heritate of railways. I honestly think this is the greatest mean of transport mankind has ever created. And trains are so very cool, so I had to mention it here.

Course de canards

Aujourd'hui, à la foire locale, petit loup et moi avons assisté à une course de canards de bain sur la Tamise. Il voulait y assister avec ses amis de l'école. Une course d'escargots plutôt, c'était très lent. Mais bon, c'était assez cute, dans le genre gentiment nono.

About Independent Bookshop Week

For those living in the UK, please mark your calendars: between the 14th and the 21st of June 2025, it will be Independent Bookshop Week . So identify your nearest independent bookshop, hopefully a local one, then go there and buy some books. I know I will. My wife would say that I don't need more books and that I buy them faster than I can read them, that said I think it's important to encourage independent businesses and promote culture and literacy. On a side note, I love their promotional picture.

Le Royal Cheeze d'Aux Vivres

 J'ai appris via la page Facebook d'Aux Vivres (le restaurant vegan préféré de ma femme) qu'ils ont fait un "Cheeze Royal", un presque cheeseburger, donc un hamburger au "fauxmage". Mettons que je me sens loin de Montréal quand je vois ça. Nous sommes fans d'Aux Vivres, parce que je n'ai jamais l'impression de manquer de la viande quand je mange chez eux. Les portions sont aussi très copieuses. Et ce burger a vraiment l'air bon. J'espère qu'il sera au menu lors de notre prochaine visite.

Bullet Train Explosion

If Netflix has its flaws, sometimes it allows us to find real gems. I discovered one recently, a Japanese action thriller, part survival action flick, part crime fiction. It's titled Bullet Train Explosion in English. A bit of a blunt title, but while it does what it says on the tin, it has way more soul and character than any Hollywood equivalent. In fact, there is no real Hollywood equivalent to it. Yes, the premisse is similar to Speed: a mysterious terrorist places bombs on the Shinkansen, bombs that will explode if the train goes below100KM/hour. The terrorist also demands a ridiculous amont of money to defuse the bomb. But instead of one cliché hero, you have an ensemble cast playing men and women of different walks of life, all doing their jobs in a time of crisis. It's an action movie with a soul, as I said above. And with all the cultural flavours and colours of Japan. In spite of its sometimes far fetched premisse and execution, it feels real. The film is a sequel to a more obscure film from the 1975, The Bullet Train, which from what I understand has a cult following in Japan. You don't need to have seen it to enjoy its sequel. Of course, I like every movie when a train is featured (extensively or not), but this one truly is something worth watching.

Calembour atroce avec Turandot

 Je n'ai vu Turandot qu'une fois, il y a des décennies. La production du Met était spectaculaire, mais quant à l'opéra lui même, c'est ce genre de truc sirupeux un brin mélodramatique de Puccini qui en général me laisse froid. Mais enfin bref, Mia de l'Opéra et ses Zouz a récemment mentionné Turandot dans une de ses vidéos et l'opéra en prend pour son rhume. Alors je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de commettre ce calembour atroce: "Turandot? Tu radotes." Je sais, je sais: ayoye! Je dis des horreurs sans nom. Je n'ai pas pu m'en empêcher.

I wish they had elected an Irish pope

Well, habemus papam. I don't know how you are feeling about this, but the former Catholic that I am, now atheist, still wishes they had elected an Irish pope instead. Because of this sketch from Irish comic group Foils Arms and Hog. They sure make a very compelling argument for it. Maybe the next one...

Habemus Papam

Bon, je devais le souligner: habemus papam. Je dis ça, même si je ne suis pas/plus catholique. J'ai tout regardé ça à la télévision, un peu par curiosité, un peu parce que les pompes, ça m'intéresse toujours un peu. Je trouve ça quand même ironique qu'à l'âge de Wolfie, j'étais un bon petit catholique qui aurait été ému par l'élection d'un pape. À son âge j'étais conscient de l'existence d'un seul pape, lui il en a déjà eu deux actifs et trois vivants. Enfin bref... Sinon, le nouveau pape, je me méfie toujours un peu des prêtres, surtout les Américains, étant de nature anticléricale. Cela dit, celui-ci semble détesté par la secte MAGA, alors cela me le rend presque sympathique. Je sais que ça aurait pu être pire.

Planning for autumn now (clothes)

 I don't like to go shopping, except for books. I certainly don't like to shop for clothes. Nobody could say I am a fashion victim. That said, I do like to have new clothes, sometimes. Sometimes I just need new clothes. Comfy, practical, plain clothes. And it struck me that now would be a good time for clothes shopping, but for the colder seasons. My rationale is simple: things are discounted everywhere. So I might stop one day at the local Mountain Warehouse, just to see if they have anything worth buying on the cheap. I love Mountain Warehouse, because there are always some practical items to buy there, or yummy stuff, so going there never feels like a complete chores, even if you need to buy clothes.

Les jeux de la comtesse Dolingen de Gratz

Après avoir écrit mon billet de dimanche dernier, j'ai appris grâce à mon frère PJ qu'il existe un film d'horreur français inspiré librement de la nouvelle de Stoker. Il s'appelle Les jeux de la comtesse Dolingen de Gratz. J'ai peu d'expérience sur les films d'horreur français, mais je crois me rappeler qu'il y en a d'excellents. Et puis comme je suis obsédé par les vieux vampires gothiques, ainsi que par l'oeuvre de Stoker, il faudrait bien que je le regarde un de ces quatre, alors que je me mets dans l'ambiance de l'Halloween. Ce sera une nouvelle quête cinématographique et macabre pour moi.

Coming Fayre

I just saw some great news on social media: our little town will have its local May Fayre this coming weekend in the local park. I had almost forgotten that we have a fayre in May. I love all fayres, obviously the autumn ones I love the most, but this month's fayre is always nice, a way to forget little worries and enjoy good food, good company, (sometimes) good music and the atmosphere of a lovely park. It's just a nice community event.

Fêter le Québec à Londres

 Vous vous rappellez peut-être que l'an dernier, nous avons fêté en famille la Fête nationale à Londres. C'était une initiative de la Délégation générale du Québec à Londres. Pas le 24 même, mais le samedi d'avant. Parce que nous avons vraiment aimé l'expérience et que ça a calmé mon mal du pays pour un temps, j'ai décidé de le refaire cette année. Ce qui est bien avec cerassemblement de Québécois expatriés, c'est que cela permet à Wolfie de connecter avec ses racines québécoises.

Autumnal May

 I know we are meant to be at the peak of springtime, and May is generally fairly warm, if not hot. But these days, surprisingly, after a really hot end of April, it has been a very cold month of May. As in I am wearing thick jumpers and I could even get my old winter coat out and I would be comfortable. These days, May feels like a cool September or October, or at least like these months used to be when I was younger. I do not complain, on the contrary: I love colder weather and I love autumn. So if I ignore the trees full of green leaves, I can almost imagine myself during my favourite season.

La semaine de quatre jours

Nous avons eu un congé férié lundi, alors nous n'avons qu'une semaine de quatre jours. Mais ce n'est pas comme si je profitais tant que ça des jours fériés et de la semaine de travail plus courte ensuite: je suis présentement au chômage. Alors tous les jours se ressemblent un peu. Il y a quand même une différence majeure: quand c'est un jour de semaine ordinaire, je travaille à me trouver un emploi. J'ai quelques entrevues cette semaine, ce qui est une bonne nouvelle, dont une qui pourrait théoriquement aboutir sur une offre assez tôt. Enfin, on est quand même loin de la coupe aux lèvres et j'ai été déçu dans le passé récent, mais mettons que ça bouge un peu côté emploi. Sauf que ça veut dire que je ne passe pas exactement mon chômage en vacances. J'imagine que ça arrivera entre le moment où j'aurai reçu une offre et mon premier jour au travail.

Bobotie

 During our last time in York, we stumbled on arestaurant called Karoo. A South African restaurant. As my wife is half South African from her father's side, we thought we had to try it. I also love to try new sorts of food. I ordered a bobotie and fell in love wiht it. It's a sort of pie with spiced mince meat as a base and an egg topping. You have it with rice on the side and chutney for seasoning. It tastes delicious, the kind of simple, hearty food that fills you up, but make you wish you had enough appetite for more. It is seriously good. Enough so I want to try baking a vegetarian verison that my wife can enjoy. I told my father-in-law that I discovered one of his national dishes. Surprisingly, he was not particularly impressed. His words: "I never liked bobotie much as a child." Oh well, I reckon he never washed it down with beer.

Des renards pour ma fête

Mon fils a trouv, quelques jours avant ma fête, une carte d'anniversaire qu'il a tenu à acheter pour moi. C'est celle-ci. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi il trouve qu'elle représente vraiment son père, à part que les renards figurent parmi mes animaux préférés. Ou alors il trouve que les guimauves sur le feu de camp, c'est vraiment une activité père-fils essentielle. Même si je n'ai fait ça avec lui qu'une suele fois. Dans tous les cas, c'est une image vraiment cute.

Ticket to Ride Europe

I have been wanting to play it and yesterday, it finally happened: I played Ticket to Ride Europe. It could have been any version of the board game, as long as it involved trains, which is the case here. Anyway, a bit of context: the friends who had invited us to play board games before know that I love everything railway and that I was curious about Ticket to Ride. So long story short, they invited us to play a game. Which we enjoyed tremedously. Even if, in my case, I was pretty terrible at it and lost humiliatingly. But I did not play to win, I played to build cool railway networks. Because that's what's fun about it: you make roads to these great cities. And I was reckless in my strategy, taking high risks early on just for fun. I was the first to play, as the player who starts is the one that has visited the most European countries. In spite of my defeat, I would rather play Ticket to Ride than Monopoly.

Frittata

Mon père a fait une frittata et il m'a envoyé une photo. Je la partage parce que, ben, parce que je fais ça parfois. J'ai parfois mangé de la frittata, ma femme en a cuisiné parfois, mais j'ai une confession à faire sur le sujet: je ne savais pas que c'était italien. Sérieusement. Je suis honteux de l'avouer pour la postérité ici. Mais qu'à cela ne tienne, j'ai pensé qu'un repas bien méditerranéen, ça se présente bien ces temps-ci de l'année.

Countess Dolingen of Gratz

To celebrate Walpurgis Night, I reread, as I do every year, Dracula's Guest. One of my favourite vampire short stories, set on the fateful night. If you want to read my theory about its relationship to the novel, read my comments on this post. I thought about blogging about today's topic during the official Halloween countdown, but I have this in mind now, so why not do it now. I am already in a spooky mood in any case. So yeah, it struck me (again) reading it that there is actually one named vampire in it: Countess Dolingen of Gratz in Styria, who "sought and found death in 1801", according to her tombstone. I find it interesting for many reasons. First, because she is named, unlike the Weird Sisters/the Brides of Dracula. Then, because it is implied that the Countess Dolingen did not become a vampire after being bitten by one, but because she committed suicide. Although this may only be to hide the true cause of her death. And finally, because if Gratz means Graz in Austria, well, I have been there once. Another reason to visit it again one day. Otherwise, although we know barely anything of Countess Dolingen from her cameo in the short story, of course the fanbase and continuators invented a full biography of her. I don't care about Bram Stoker's continuators, but I might try myself on a bit of fan fiction featuring her one day, if something good comes to my mind. In any case, I hope to blog about her again come October.

Vin blanc

 J'ai pris en photo (ça m'arrive) le poison d'hier, rien que parce que. Et parce que des fois je bois du vin, même si je ne suis vraiment pas un connnaisseur et que c'est rare que je boive du vin plutôt que de la bière. Plus souvent qu'autrement, c'est du vin blanc. Je préfère le rouge, en général, mais deux raisons me font choisir du vin blanc, quand je bois du vin. 1)Ma femme préfère le vin blanc et je ne veux pas boire seul. 2)Le vin rouge me fait souvent éternuer (sulfites, sulfites). Alors donc, quand je bois du vin maintenant, je favorise le blanc.

The Birthday Steam Train

 My parents-in-law know me well. Like really, really, really well. So for my birthday, they always send me a very perfect birthday card. Or at least, the coolest birthday card. That is what they did this year. They sent me this gorgeous card, with a steam train on a viaduct. I love it, it's so perfectly atmospheric. And it is all the more fitting that my birthday is often train themed in some ways. So with cards like this, I don't mind too much getting a year older.

L'escoufle dans les branches

J'ai pris cette photo à la fin du mois de mars, je voulais la partager ici depuis, mais je n'ai pas eu l'occasion. C'est un escoufle, ou "milan royal". Mais je préfère le vieux nom, peu usité maintenant. Enfin bref, les escoufles se perchent souvent dans les branches des arbres avoisinants. Nois avons un petit boisé près de la maison, en fait une petite bande de verdure entre le pâté de maisons où nous restons et la route. On regarde cette photo et pour un instant, on a l'impression d'être loin de tout.

Looking for maypoles

Now we are two days into the month of may, and I haven't seen any maypole yet anywhere. You may remember (you may, ha, ha, ha, that is one bad pun) that I have been looking for them since at least 2016. Because I am interested in folklore and I love when old traditions are still in practice. But sadly, they are nowhere to be seen, except in books about folklore and traditions. So like every year, I will keep looking for maypoles, hopefully I can find one nearby, take afew snapshots and share it on the this blog. If you live in England and know of a place where they display maypoles, especially if it is in the South, round Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, please let me know in the comments section.

Mafalda et l'enfance

Voici une excellente nouvelle apprise via la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda: ils rééditent ses gags dans un nouvel album, Mafalda et l'enfance. Mafalda, quant à moi, c'est justement une bonne partie de mon enfance. J'ai aussi plus appris grâce à elle qu'à l'école.

Benny Griessel will be back

For the crime fiction afficionados among you, I received some good news from South African crime writer Deon Meyer's Newsletter: he is writing another Benny novel. The tenth one featuring Griessel and the ninth one festuring his partner, Cape Coloured detective Vaugh Cupido. It should be released in Afrikaans in November 2025 and in English at some point in 2026. I don't know much more about it, but check or subscribe to his Newsletter. The working title is Scorpio. So scorpions might be featured in one way or another. I hope they keep this title, or at least the word scorpion in the title. It sounds both devious and menacing.

Mai

Nous sommes le premier mai. Un mois que j'aime moyennement, surtout s'il devient chaud, ce qui semble être le cas en ce moment. (Cela dit, ça devrait refroidir dans la semaine qui vient.) Et puis je suis toujours sans emploi, alors je vais le passer à faire de la recherche d'emploi. Ce qui fait aussi que les deux jours fériés que nous avons ici en Angleterre au mois de mai auront un peu moins l'air de congés pour moi cette année. Et vous, que pensez-vous du mois de mai? Comment le vivez-vous, d'habitude?

Beware (and enjoy) Walpurgisnacht!

Tonight is Walpurgis Night, as you may know (especially if you have been following this blog). Walpurgis Night is like Halloween, but set at the tale end of April. It is maybe not as atmospheric (partially because it's not autumnal), but it Walpurgis Night is a reminder that you can be spooky any time of year. In my situation and I suspect more spooky minded people, it is also an important step in the long countdown to Halloween. So I will try to read some scary stories before the end of the evening. Otherwise, please beware if you go out: there's going to be ghosts, goblins, devils, witches and other scary creatures roaming around.

Un ballet endiablé

Ce soir, c'est la Nuit de Walpurgis. Je partage donc un ballet tiré du Faust de Charles Gounod. Où la Nuit de Walpurgis est mise en scène au commencement du cinquième acte. Une musique à la fois joyeuse et terrifiante.

Lawnmowing

 I did some lawnmowing today. Okay, so nothing worth mentioning you might say, except that it is a rare occurence in my case. Mowing the lawn bores me to death and the grass always grows back anyway. But sometimes, even I find the state of our back garden embarrassing. Usually, I do it when my wife begs me to do it, but this time, I did it out of my own initiative. This is how dire the situation was. And, well, it doesn't look great, but it does look better. And I did it right before No Mow May. So I can wait for a month until I get the lawnmower out again.

La base

Au retour de l'école, notre fils nous a parlé de ce qu'il a fait lors de la récréation. Il nous parle assez souvent de ses jeux d'enfants. Et une chose m'a frappée: un élément de ses jeux qui revient constamment c'est l'existence d'une base. Ce qui me rappelle que l'on avait exactement la même chose lorsque j'étais enfant: une base, LA base, souvent notre galerie ou la galerie d'un voisin. C'était parfois "un camp," beaucoup plus rarement un QG, mais dans le fond c'était la même chose: une base dans lequel nos personnages opéraient. Et cette base, elle revient souvent dans ses conversations. Elle est l'élément central de ses jeux à l'école avec ses amis. Je suis fasciné de voir à quel point son enfance ressemble parfois à la mienne.

April Heat (argh!)

 I guess it was bound to happen: the temperature has gone increasingly milder and we now have our first hot days. Just at the end of April, we are above 20 degrees Celcius. On the last day of the month, they are forecasting temperatures as high as 25. It's at 25 that I start getting uncomfortable. I now have to wear light clothes. I hate it. I cannot stress how much I hate when temperatures get hot. It should go back down in a week or so, but the worst has already happened and I am all gloom and doom for the months to come. Yes, I am not a fan of heat.

Le figuier a des feuilles

 J'ai blogué au début du mois sur le figuier dont les branches couvent la petite allée que j'aime bien. La photo était récente et les branches du figuier étaient encore nues. J'y suis retourné il y a quelques jours et ça a bien changé: voyez vous-même sur cette photo. C'est un signe parmi d'autres que le printemps est bien avancé. Dans quelques semaines, les feuilles devraient être gigantesques. Et je n'ai pas encore vu de figues.

Criminally Good Books

 I am blogging again about our last trip to York. The more time I spend there, the more I love it. So I found out a bookshop called Criminally Good Books, which sells almost exclusively crime fiction and true crime books. When I got in there, I tried very hard to behave. My wife got very worried. But I only bought two books for myself and one for Wolfie. So I was mostly good. But yeah, I could have spent an hour more there and bought a lot more. Especially since the staff is really friendly and helpful. Anyway, this is one reason why I want to move to York.

Boréals/Boréaux

Je reviens sur le billet d'hier sur le jaseur boréal. Mon père m'a appris depuis que l'adjectif boréal peut s'écrire au pluriel boréals comme boréaux. Il a deux épellations. Plus de détails ici. Et l'adjectif boréal est notre mot du jour.

Train watching from the balcony

We discovered something we hadn't seen before at the National Railway Museum in York: they have a special balcony where we can watch trains coming and going to and from the train station. I don't think it was there ten years ago, maybe I am wrong. But it's an amazing experience. It gives a more direct, modern, dynamic aspect to the museum. I know it may sound silly, because train travel is an everyday reality here, it's mundane, but seeing the trains up close, like this, moving, it feels so much different. Like you see them for the first time, in the wild.

Jaseurs boréaux

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de jaseurs boréaux. J'ai cru un instant que c'était des gros-becs, hélas non. Mais c'est quand même joli et et ça vaut la peine de partager.

Railway Bear

During our last visit to the National Railway Museum of York, we bought a new teddy bear for Wolfie's menagerie. A teddy bear designed for the 100th anniversary of the Flying Scotsman. His cap says he is the engine driver. Cool. Wolfie and I found him very cute, but my wife hesitated to buy it, because the price was rather high (£18.00). But our son used this Wolfism to end the debate: "I already gave him a kiss and a name, so it's too late mummy." So yeah, we have a new teddy bear. His name is Scotty, bu the way.

Écureuil roux

J'ai pris cette photo à l'Ulster Museum de Belfast. Un peu parce que j'ai toujours aimé la taxidermie, mais aussi parce que j'aime les écureuils roux et qu'ils se font rares dans la vraie vie. Maintenant, on ne voit que des écureuils gris. En fait, je ne me rappelle pas en avoir vu des roux à l'état sauvage depuis mon enfance. Il y en avait un qui venait faire des tours chez nous parfois. Mais c'est peut-être une fausse mémoire: peut-être que c'était aussi un écureuil gris. Je demanderai à mon père, il a peut-être une photo de la bête.

Cate Blanchett VS leaf blowers

 Just when I thought I could not love Cate Blanchett more, she says something that makes me positively adore her. She recently said that leaf blowers should be eradicated. Yes, yes, yes, YES! I hate them, hate them, hate them! They are loud, polluting and useless. Nobody needs leaf blowers, a good old rake does the job, if a job needs to be done, and the rake does it quietly. And, it allows you to exercise. That said, I think dead leaves should stay on the ground, where they belong. But anyway, since Cate Blanchett might be retiring from acting, I think she should enter politics and promise to make leaf blowers illegal. I'd vote for her.

Cornegidouille (mot du jour)

Je partage aujourd'hui un mot du jour amusant, cordegidouille. Adverbe assez peu usité, qui exprime l'étonnement, la surprise et la stupeur. Il aurait été inventé par Alfred Jarry. Que j'ai par ailleurs très peu lu. Quant à cornegidouille, je l'ai peu lu, jamais entendu et, jusqu'ici, jamais prononcé, sauf en le lisant à voix haute.

A sort of limbo

 Well, Easter is over, we are back from our holidays, Wolfie is back at school, I am currently unemployed. I have a few interviews lined up, so far it has been a fairly busy period of unemployment, even though the job market is not great. Still, as I have no job offer at the moment and it is still early stage for all the interview processes I am in, I feel a bit like I'm in limbo. My mother's advice when I am unemployed is always the same: take it as a holiday. I try to and generally I succeed, however these days I find it a bit more difficult. Mostly because we have been on holidays, so this feels like a staycation interrupted by phone calls and house chores. So yeah, in other words, limbo.

Le temps de l'érable (et du cidre?)

Ceci n'est pas exactement un billet sur le Joli Rouge, mais je partage cette photo rien que parce que c'est une très belle étiquette et que ça fait temps des sucres. Parce que le Joli Rouge, en plus d'être un cidre du Saguenay, est un cidre à l'érable. Une idée inspirée, mais un résultat peut-être pas inspirant, en tout cas selon ma mère. Dans tous les cas, c'est le temps des sucres au Québec. Ah oui, si la température était plus clémente, ce serait peut-être le temps du cidre ici. Qu'en pensez-vous?

Saint George's Day

I almost forgot: it is Saint George's Day today. So happy Saint George's Day everyone. Nobody notices it or cares about it in England, ironically enough, not even my son, who is a proud Englishman. I used to celebrate it a bit more, at least on this blog. But I have come to neglect it too. Which is sad: we talk about a patron saint who is associated with a fight and a victory against a dragon. It always appealed to me, because I love folklore, myths and legends and, well, dragons. I should really make something about it on Vraie Fiction, a real blogging event.

Le principe de l'oignon

 Ceci est un nouvel épisode sur le proverbe "En avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil". Parce que le temps est un tantinent schizo ces jours-ci. Et ce, dans une même journée. C'était encore pire à York et encore pire lorsque nous avons dû voyager de chez nous (où il faisait doux) à York (où c'était froid), puis de York (où il faisait toujours froid) à chez nous (où il faisait encore doux). Et puis aujourd'hui, on dirait octobre, soudainement. Pas que je m'en plaigne: j'aime le temps froid. Mais je dois donc appliquer le principe de l'oignon: je me mets plusieurs couches de vêtements que j'enlève dans la journée, pour les remettre quand le soir tombe.

Crime Routes

 The articles I read on my news feed. So I recently found this BBC article about the routes of cocaine smugggling from Ecuador into Europe. Smuggling which is growing, by the way. Oh and the Albanian mafia is heavily involved. I have a macabre fascination for these kinds of stories and find them interesting for many reasons. First, it shows that organised crime is not merely an Italian thing. Second, because it gives insight to how the drug trade works at an international level. As you probably have guessed, when I read this, I think there's a couple of crime fiction stories to write from such source material. I will check if something has been written about it already, otherwise I just might have to write something myself.

Tempête dans un bénitier

Je crois que c'est de circonstances...

 

Gigantic Hot Cross Buns

 Okay, so this should be my last Easter post for a while. I took this picture at the shop of Bettys in York. Bettys is a legendary tea room there, one so famous that you need to queue to get in. It's worth the wait. For Easter, they were selling these gigantic hot cross buns. A single one feeds a family of three for breakfast. I know because we bought one for Easter morning. We had enough to spare the next day. Some days I think we should move to Yorkshire. We would never go hungry.

La légion romaine

 Je sais que Pâques est terminé (terminée?), mais je n'ai pas eu l'occasion de bloguer beaucoup sur le sujet, alors je continue. Cette année, si le dimanche de Pâques a été tranquille, c'est toute la Semaine sainte qui a été active, puisque noussommes allés à York. Notre voyage a eu une certaine connotation pascale. J'associe Pâques à la Rome antique, notamment, et York avait parfois des airs de peplum. Nous sommes allés aux Roman Baths, lesquels sont situés dans un pub. Expérience assez unique, on se croyait parfois dans un camp retranché romain. Dans tous les cas, ce fût une très belle expérience.

Is Cate Blanchett retiring?

 I wanted to commented on some recent news (although they might not be so recent now) that got me sad, or at least worried: Cate Blanchett is considering retiring from acting. I don't know if it is a serious and permanent decision or merely bad moment (everybody can get tired and fed up from their job from time to time), but I hope we will see her again. She does not need to work, she has nothing to prove anymore, she's been snubbed every time she was nominated for a price she didn't win (no but seriously, I am still angry that she lost the Oscar for Best Actress in 1999), yet it would be a great loss for us all if this was her final decision. SoI am potentially devastated.

Le sinistre papabile

 Je le craignais un peu en apprenant la mort du pape. Je le craignais, mais je m'y attendais: le cardinal marc Ouellet est papabile. Je n'ai pas blogué sur lui depuis plus d'une décennie, moins je pense à lui, mieux je me porte (et moins il pense aux Québécois, mieux nous nous portons tous), je pensais qu'il allait finir par s'étouffer dans sa propre insignifiance. Mais non: il est encore là, malgré les allégations qui pèsent sur lui, il est encore influent dans l'Église, il pourrait encore devenir pape. Le premier Québécois,  et il n'y aurait pas à être fier. En plus d'être une très mauvaise nouvelle pour le Québec, pour les raisons que j'énumérais déjà en 2013. Je nommais Ouellet un sinistre ensoutané, je devrais maintenir un sinistre papabile.

48 today

 Well, as the title says, it is my birthday today. I am 48. It seems that my forties are going so quickly. Each birthday feels like coming faster than the previous one. Only two years, and I am in another decade. On the plus side, I am a father, I will have a nice birthday with my close family, especially Wolfie, who always make it fun. Getting older has its perks, as long as you don't celebrate alone.

"Marquise, si mon visage," etc.

Bon ben j'ai 48 ans aujourd'hui. Tradition oblige:

Mozart for Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I will celebrate quietly, as I am back from York, but that doesn't mean that there will be no rejoicing in this household. As it is a tradition for me, I do Easter in music, specifically Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Christ of music. I always listen to some of the Great Mass in C Minor . Here's a bit of it, sung by Lisette Oropesa, one of my favourite.

Joyeuses Pâques!

 Joyeuses Pâques à tous! Afin de commencer la journée, une photo d'un chocolat des Pères trappistes acheté par mon père en 2022. En espérant que vous n'aurez pas besoin de vous réveiller au chant du coq. Moi, j'ai un jeune enfant, alors ça risque d'arriver.

To York and Back Again by Train

So in case you were wondering, I was not blogging much recently because we went to York. A first for Wolfie, for me it was the first time in ten years. I had missed it. I will write more about our holidays, suffice to say for now that we spent a day at the National Railway Museum, where I spent a lot on lots of nice things for Wolfie and me. My wife not being into trains, I didn't really buy her anything there, but we all had fun. Among the useful and/or cool things, The Big Book of Train Activities. It kept Wolfie entertained on the journey back. So we had a sot of train themed holiday. Anyway, stay tuned for more posts and pictures.

Pâques au Québec: ouverts ou fermés

Demain c'est Pâques. Tout sera fermé ici, ou à peu près. Et comme on revient de voyage,  il n'y a pas grand-chose à manger dans la maison, à part du chocolat. Enfin, on peut se consoler, ça pourrait être pire et on pourra se sucrer le bec. Au Québec, vous pouvex consulter ce bref article de la grosse Presse, un entrefilet, qui vous dira ce qui est ouvert (ou pas) demain et lundi. Ne me remerciez pas.

Fish & Chips for Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. I always loved Good Friday: it's a holiday, it's generally a relaxing day and it means that I can, ahem, fast. By fasting, I mean stuffing my face with fish and chips. Since I live in England, it's not Good Friday without fish and chips. I often enjoy more the Good Friday meal than what we have at Easter. I had these ones last year in Belfast, at the hotel restaurant.

Monnaie-du-pape

 Nous sommes allés dans une église protestante il y a deux semaines, pour un mariage. Il y avait un bouquet de lunaires annuelles, aussi appelée monnaie-du-pape, à côté d'une prière pour le carême. Je connais la lunaria annua depuis mon primaire, on avait lu un texte sur le sujet en sixième année. Mais je ne me rappelais plus de son vrai nom, seulement de son appelation de monnaie-du-pape, ce qui fait que je l'associe au catholicisme. Alors ça m'a étonné d'en voir dans une église protestante. Je me demande donc bien ce que ça faisait là. Est-ce que c'est vraiment associé au carême et/ou à Pâques, ou c'est juste un adon?

"Sting operation"

My wife, Wolfie and me were walking a few days ago and we crossed two police officers in uniform discussing. One was explaining something to the other and was saying: "So we are about to execute a sting operation..." We were surprised at hearing like this a police officer discussion strategy in the street. Although we didn't hear more details about it. As you may know sting operation is a deceptive operation using undercover police officers to lure suspects into incriminating themselves. It's often used in crime fiction, and I hope that this brief and accidental eavesdropping will inspire my own writing. In any case, this is the word of the day.

Les promenades pascales

Une redécouverte ces temps-ci, avec les vacances de Pâques de petit loup: les longues promenades. Nous en faisons tous les jours (je vous donnerai plus de détails sur le lieu). Marcher pendant des heures est un plaisir que je veux pratiquer une fois les vacances terminées. 

Wearing layers

 We're in that difficult time of year for the cold weather lover that I am: it gets cold then hot then cold within a day. I prefer when it's cold, or at least cool, round the clock. It also means I must learn to wear layers of clothes, which I can shed as the day goes on. It's not great, but at least it's not always hot. Am I normal for longing for cold days?

Question existentielle (394)

Parce que Pâques arrive, une question existentielle:

-Quand devraient commencer les vacances de Pâques?

Crime and Cognac

One of the things I like about reading Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, is that I end up learning a lot of trivial things. McBain is really good at giving inocuous details that may not be relevant to the plot, but just give layers to the characters and their life. So in The Mugger, the protagonist's (who in this novel is Bert Kling) romantic interest is fond of cognac. So she gives him a crash course that is short but enthusiastic and I am now more knowledgeable thanks to it. I don't think I ever drank cognac, except maybe in cocktails, but even then that's a big maybe. I am now curious about it.

(La)pain de Pâques

 Photo  trouvée sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson: ils font une miche campagnarde de Pâques. Autant dire un lapain de Pâques. Et oui, je partage la photo rien que pour commettre ce calembour atroce. Je ne pouvais pas m'en empêcher.

Train Adventures

 We are going on a fairly long train journey soon, for a short holiday. Which made Wolfie enthusiastic. He seems to be just as much a railway enthusiast as I am. Like me, he seems to have understood that the journey is as much as holiday as the time spent away. That's my impression anyway. I would even say that he is planning the journey as a sort of game: he already told me what he wants to eat, what he wants to wear, oh and he added that he wants the time spent there to be part of our War Game. I'm actually amazed: I used to do the exact same thing at his age.

Dimanche des Rameaux

 Nous sommes aujourd'hui le Dimanche des Rameaux. Même si je ne suis plus catholique (pas que j'aie été très pratiquant du temps que je l'étais), il n'en est pas moins que ça représente pour moi la dernière ligne droite avant Pâques. C'est un dimanche qui peut parfois me paraître interminable, encore aujourd'hui.

Roman Empire

 As I mentioned not long ago, I associate Easter with Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, both their myths and their history. So when Easter comes, I watch and read a lot of sword and sandal stuff. I recently finished the Roman Empire docu-drama series on Netflix, narrated by Sean Bean. It's often rigged with inaccuracies (Claudius is depicted as rather handsome and with no stutter or physical ailment whatsoever for instance) and it gets ridiculously melodramatic at a time, but no more than your usual peplum. And there are historians commenting and giving some proper perspective. But I'd enjoy it just for Sean Bean's voice. In any case, watching it has been great fun and it's perfect for Easter.

Lorenzo da Ponte (une biographie)

Je reviens sur la production de Don Giovanni de Mozart  par Opéra du Royaume, qui bat son plein en ce moment. Dernière représentation demain, piur ceux qui peuvent. Je voulais aussi dire quue vous pouvez lire sur le site d'Opéra du Royaume une courte biographie de Lorenzo da Ponte, le librettiste de l'opéra. Je savais pas mal tout ça, à part un détail ou deux. Mais dans tous les cas, c'est un bon résumé de la vie du plus grand librettistes (à mon humble avis) de l'histoire de l'opéra. En fait, da Ponte est un grand dramaturge, point.

Bookmark Shortage

It happens from time to time (read this post from 2022), a strange and, frankly, baffling phenomenon: I always appear short of bookmarks. Ironic, since I kind of collect them. Every time I stop at the local bookshop and buy a book, I receive a free one. I buy bookmarks whenever I see them in libraries, or in in souvenirs shops when I travel. Or indeed wherever I can find one. I receive them as presents sometimes. I should therefore have more bookmarks than books. Apparently not. Apart from the favourite ones I have which are already assigned to specific books, the others seem to disappear. Or the same monster who eats socks is eating bookmarks too. Who knows. But whatever the reason, every time I need one, I cannot find any. Am I the only one with the same problem?

"Pro tanto quid retribuamus"

 Photo prise lors de nos vacances à Belfast il y a un an. C'est le blason de Belfast avec la devise latine de la ville: "Pro tanto quid retribuamus". Traduite en français par moi même et de mon mieux (je suis un piètre latiniste), cela veut dire: "En retour de tant, que pouvons-nous redonner?" Connaissant l'histoire trouble de la ville et de l'Irlande du Nord en général, c'est une devise assez ironique. Comme c'est le cas de bien des devises latines, à bien y penser.

Isola in Autumn

 I am currently The Mugger, the second novel of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. It's great to be back to it and I cannot stress how much I missed the 87th Precinct and Isola. There is another reason why reading this specific novel is particularly pleasant: it's set in autumn. I generally read seasonal, or at least try to, so I tend to read novels set during the time of year where I am reading them. That said, because I read horror stories from August until October inclusively, for obvious reasons, and because autumn is my favourite time of year, I vary things by reading "autumnal" novels that are not horror ones. It makes me get into the seasonal atmosphere by proxy. And McBain sure knows how to bring the seasonal atmosphere: he romanticises it without making it soppy. I'm also glad that he knows autumn starts with September and not the equinox.

Quais du polar (2025)

Bon, comme à chaque année, j'ai appris via Deon Meyer que Quais du Polar avait eu lieu. Comme à chaque année, je l'ai appris après coup. Bon, c'est à Lyon, pas la porte à côtée, et nous étions occupés de toutes façons. Mais sinon, parmi mes lecteurs, y a-t-il quelqu'un qui y a assisté? Et c'était comment? Sinon, ils ont vraiment de superbes images promotionnelles.

Tim Hortons in Belfast

Okay, so you might be interested to know (or not), but we found out that there is a Tim Hortons in Belfast. We saw it last year during our holiday there. The question I asked myself seeing it is: haven't they suffered enough already? For my wife, it was a no brainer: we had to stop there. For some reason, probably because she is British and an Anglo, she finds Tim Hortons very appealing, as if it is both familiar and exotic. For me, it's a chain that gives rubbish adverts (the Québec ones are notoriously abysmal) and is grossly overrated.

Don Giovanni au Saguenay

Annonce pour les gens du Saguenay ou ceux qui peuvent s'y rendre: la production de Don Giovanni de Mozart  par Opéra du Royaume, ben c'est maintenant que ça commence. Alors donc, pa première est aujourd'hui et c'est jusqu'au 13 avril.

So I played CATAN

 I blogged back in February about CATAN, a board game I was curious about. As fate had it, some of our friends, who read this blog from time to time, have the game and offered us to to have a get together (as it was long overdue anyway) where we would play it. I turned out to be great fun. Not only because it was nice catching up with friends over a game, but also because CATAN is a fun game in itself. Like I said in my previous post, it's a sort of Monopoly for the Bronze Age. It'sfairly simple to play and understand and it's the kind of game that almost has a plot. It's not a RPG, but it has elements of it. So we enjoyed it. We will do such gathering again, although we will play another board game. I won't tell you which one, but I am even more excited about this one...

En avril (prochain épisode)

J'ai mentionné vendredi dernier le proverbe "en avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil". Je ne croyais pas si bien dire: le lendemain, nous sommes allés à un mariage. Première journée chaude de l'année, dans les plus 20 et quelques, j'ai même utilisé de la crème solaire. Puis le soir tombé, il s'est mis à faire froid. Et plus froid encore durant la nuit. Le lendemain, c'était frais, comme toute journée de printemps qui se respecte. Et ça devrait être le cas pour encore une semaine. Le proverbe tient toujours.

First Jobless Monday

 As you know if you follow this blog, I was made redundant at work. Today is not my first official day of unemployment, that was last Friday, but it is the very first Monday of official unemployment I've had since 2020 or so. That said, I don't have nothing to do, not exactly: there's a lot of house chores to be done and Wolfie is on holiday, so I will need to keep him (and myself) entertained. I will take today and this week as a sort of holiday.

Le Joli Rouge

Nouveau billet sur le Joli Rouge, le cidre du SagLac au sirop d'érable. Parce que des fois, lire les cannettes de cidre et de bière nous apprend des choses. Enfin bref, le nom du cidre vient du vocabulaire de piraterie et serait le nom donné au drapeau rouge de l'abordage. Le terme a bien entendu donné l'équivalent anglais du "Jolly Roger", lequel est en fait le pavillon noir. Mais bref, Joli Rouge est donc le mot du jour.

Cate Blanchett in a spy thriller(!)

Sometimes I wish I could go to the cinema more often. I was discussing with a friend over WhatsApp recently (my Italian friend from my years at uni) and she reminded me that there was a spy film released recently, Black Bag. I have read very little about it, I read none of the reviews, in fact I only saw the trailer. But I know Cate Blanchett is in it. And I always wanted to see my favourite actress in a spy thriller. I think she was born to play in one. Well, she was born to play in all genres, she's an actress after all, but I love spy fiction as a genre and it's one genre I haven't seen her in yet. I doubt I will find time to watch it while it is still in cinema, but who knows. In any case, it is on my to watch list.

Cidre à l'érable: une critique

J'ai blogué récemment sur le Joli Rouge, le tout premier cidre fait au Saglac. J'aime bien le cidre et c'en est un que j'aimerais essayer, par pur fierté régionale. Et aussi parce que je suis curieux d'essayer un cidre à l'érable, un cidre de printemps. Ma mère m'en a fait une brève critique: elle a été déçue. Je vais quand même en juger par moi même, quand ce sera possible.

D&Dr Planning

 As Wolfie is on a two weeks and a half holiday and I have plenty of free time, I can spend some quality time with him. I want him to have fun, however I don't want him to spend too much time just playing video games. So we will spend a few afternoonsplaying Dungeons & Dragons in the next few weeks. The next game should be fairly easy to be prepared; Wolfie actually gave me a special request. He wants his player characterto go on a quest in a tower, with villains "a bit like the Pillagers in Minecraft." All right, not exactly the Arthurian legend, but I'd rather him gets inspiration from a videogame for a RPG than the other way round. And I already have some ideas on how to integrate this special request (order?) into the game. So I have some planning to do.

Le figuier

Dans la ville où je vis,il y a une allée d'où l'on peut voir un figuier. Il est dans le jardin d'une demeure adjacente, mais ses branches dépassent le mur et font une sorte de toit sur le trottoir. J'ai souvent blogué sur le sujet: c'est mon coin préféré en ville et j'essaie de marcher par le figuier chaque fois que je descends pour faire des courses. Je suis passé par là il y a quelques semaines, j'ai pris cette photo, quand les branches étaient encore nues. Je vais essayer de voir de quoi il a l'air au cours de cette semaine.

Return to Isola

I mentioned it back in February: I had not read a book from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct serie for a while. And that was a shame, given that it's a great crime fiction series which made me discover the police procedural subgenre. And it's also almost a family tradition on my wife's side. So I decided to buy be The Mugger, the second novel. I will try to read the books in order of publication. Everytime I read the foreword, which you can see here, I have a shiver of pleasure. I'm glad to return to Isola. It's been a long time.

En avril...

 Vous connaissez le proverbe: "en avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil". Ma mère me le répétait ad nauseam quand j'étais enfant, ce qui m'irritait fortement. Bref, il fait du temps doux ces temps-ci, sauf quand il se met à soudainement faire froid. Mais ça ne dure pas. Et ça devrait refroidir au cours de la semaine prochaine. Bref, je ne sais plus comment m'habiller. Je ne suis plus un enfant qui a hâte de voir arriver l'été et les températures estivales, alors je vais le dire tout de suite: je préfère les jours froids aux jours chauds, même et surtout en avril, alors j'espère que ma mère avait raison de me répéter ce proverbe et que je pourrai porter des chandails chauds pendant plusieurs semaines encore.

Last day at work

Today is my last day at work, as I am being made redundant. I could say it sucks, but since I was getting fed up working there, even though it's a good employer, I don't feel too sad. I am a little bit disappointed that I haven't found anything to replace it yet, but I have been talking to a few recruiters already and there are some options for me. In any case, I am not in any financial stress. So I will take it as holidays. Today will be bittersweet as I liked my colleagues, but I had simply stopped liking the job.

Cidre à l'érable

 Mes parents m'ont envoyé des photos du Joli Rouge, un cidre produit au Saguenay, le tout premier cidre produit dans la région. C'est aussi un cidre à l'érable. J'associe le cidre à l'automne, parce que les pommes, mais avec l'érable, ça lui donne un côté printannier.

Reading Past my Bedtime

 Sometimes, a friend post a meme on social and it speaks to me. This was the case of this one, which I saw a couple of days ago. The meme pretty much shows a big part of my youth.  This is very much how I spent a long part of my childhood nights: getting in trouble for reading too late. I used to hide a torch underneath the blankets and was often told off by my parents for doing so. Even now, my wife thinks I tend to read way too late.

Patates au porc

J'ai blogué il y a peu de temps sur les patates brunes que mes parents ont cuisiné. En fait, ce sont des patates jaunes. Dans ma jeunesse, elles étaient brunes. Voici le plat complet tel que je le mangeais lorsque j'étais enfant. Je préférais les patates au porc et de loin. Je ne suis oujours pas fan de porc, sous la plupart de ses formes. En fait, je le salais et le pouvrait beaucoup pour lui donner du goût. Enfin bref, même si ce n'était pas mon repas préféré quand j'étais enfant, ça me replonge quand même dans mon enfance de regarder cette photo.

Blood for Baal!

Today is April Fool's Day, which means, well, that I quote The Simpsons' episode So It Comes to This: A Simpsons Clip Show. Since then, I cannot take Baal, or Bael, or Ba'al, seriously. But anyway, we're the first of April, it's a good excuse as any to have a laugh:

Boisson d'Avril (encore)

Tradition sur ce blogue lors du premier avril: je Boisson d'avril de Groovy Aardvark. Un jour, il faudra bien parler du poisson d'avril, mais d'ici là, je suis la tradition du blogue. La boisson et non pas le poisson, pour ainsi dire.

About this last day of March

 Today is the last day of March, in case you haven't noticed. It is also a Monday, which generally makes it all the more frantic at work, at least when you work directly or indirectly in sales, which is my case. I never liked the last day of the month if it is a working day, especially when it falls on a Monday. But as I am being made redundant, it should be quieter. And I have interviews to keep me busy today and fairly upbeat about my situation. That's on the positive side of things. Unfortunately, today is not my last day of work: I still have to show up until Thursday. Then I will be on a sort of enforced holiday, until I find a new job. So it is a bittersweet end of the month for me.

Patates brunes

Mes parents ont cuisiné des patates brunes en fin de semaine. Des patates au porc, en fait. Mon père m'a envoyé des photos. Quand j'étais enfant, je n'aimais pas beaucoup le porc (c'est d'ailleurs toujours le cas), alors je mangeais surtout les patates, que j'aimais d'ailleurs beaucoup, juste parce qu'elles étaient très salées. Mais dans mon souvenir, elles étaient beaucoup plus brunes que celles-ci. Pour être honnête, elles sont un peu pâlottes. Mes parents m'ont dit qu'ils mettent moins de graisse dedans, donc elles sont plus jaunes que brunes.

Mother's Day

 Today is Mother's Day here in the UK' so happy Mother's Day to all mothers reading this (there are at least three). Two days ago, I was telling my wife I had to go to the shop and buy something for Mother's Day, she told me I should not worry: it's later in the year in Québec and in any case, my mother is on the other side of the Atlantic, so I cannot send her anything on time. And I said: "Well, yes, you're right, and anyway what other mother do I know here? I'll ask Wolfie if he'd like to give a Mother`s Day present to someone." And then my wife laughed because she knew she had said something silly. But all jokes and new great unknown lines aside, it kind of shows how motherly she is: she thinks about others before she thinks about herself.

Changement d'heure (misère!)

Je déteste ce moment dans l'année: à partir d'aujourd'hui, nous sommes à l'heure avancée. Au moins, ça arrive plus tard qu'en Amérique. On dit souvent "l'heure d'été", pour lui donner un nom plus positif, même si le changement vient au printemps. Pour moi, ça veut dire qu'il fait soleil trop tard et que je perds une heure de sommeil. En plus, ça me pousse à souffrir d'insomnie pour quelques semaines, le temps de m'ajuster. Mais dans les faits, je commence à me réajuster au mois de septembre, quand l'automne arrive et que l'on se rapproche de l'heure normale. Alors oui, en résumé je déteste cordialement l'heure avancée.

Gladiators

As it is getting closer to Easter, I tend to get into a Mediterranean mood and read and watch stuff about Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, for some reason. Maybe because I associate Easter to old swords and sandals films that were often featured on television next to the Biblical ones when i was a child, I don't know. Anyway, I once received, either at my birthday or at Christmas, a book about Ancient Greek and Roman history(ies). I often read it during the Easter holidays. It had a few very impressive images, including this one, of gladiators fighting animals in the Coliseum. It's just intensely dramatic and, well, absolutely gorgeous, so I remember it to this day. My father took this picture, at my request.