Ash Wednesday 2025

 For those who don't know, it is Ash Wednesday today, the beginning of Lent. Back when I was a good little Catholic boy, it was a big deal. Now, it just means that Easter is slowly getting closer, yet is so very far away. I like waiting for holidays and celebrations, waiting for them is part of the fun, sometimes more fun than the actual day. So I kind of like Ash Wednesday just for that. But this year, I feel like Ash Wednesday is kind of dreary and gloomy, even more than when I was a young Catholic boy and it was meant to be a dark day, feeling as grey as ashes. Because it's been difficult at my job and Wednesday is often the worst day in my week.

Question existentielle (393)

 Nous sommes le mercredi des Cendres aujourd'hui. Dans pas si longtemps, mais le temps pour s'y rendre sera long, ce sera Pâques. Mais bon, je vais poser une question existentielle:

-Que représente le mercredi des Cendres pour vous? 

J'ai souvent blogué sur le sujet, mais je suis curieux de vos réponses.

Starbucks' Matcha Green Tea Latte

This post is a warning for those who might have the bright idea to try something new at Starbucks. Because yes, against my better judgment, we went to the local Starbucks this weekend. My wife suggested that I go for something seasonal, instead of keeping it safe and just having tea. I don't like tea with milk, something they always add in their special menu teas. I don't like Starbucks much in general in fact, I find some items on their menu tolerable, that's it. But I followed my wife's advice, again, against my better judgment. And I ordered a Matcha Green Tea Latte. The horror, the horror. Never drank anything so vile. As I explained to her when she asked for a review: "I can brew the same thing at home. I just need to mow the lawn, then throw the grass in boiling water." Wolfie found it so funny that he could not dirnk his hot chocolate without spitting it. So I think it deserves to be a new great unknown line. And keep away from Starbucks and their Matcha Green Tea Latte.

Mardi gras

Nous sommes aujourd'hui le Mardi gras. Ce que j'associe à la légende de Rose Latulipe. Ou Rose Latulippe, j'ai vu les deux épellationsJe partage donc pour l'occasion et une fois de nouveau la couverture du Baiser maléfique. Dois-je préciser quel personnage arrive sur son cheval? Dans tous les cas, lisez mes Conseils du Mardi gras, juste au cas où. On n'est jamais trop prudent.

87th Precinct: a new generation?

No, no, I'm not saying there will be continuations novels of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series written by other writers. Although I'm sure there's fanfics somewhere. You may remember that back in 2020, I said that reading McBain was almost a sort of family tradition, as both my wife's parents liked to read him. Well, a few days ago, Wolfie, who likes to check my bookshelves from time to time, stumbled upon The Heckler. It's the novel that introduces the Deaf Man, mastermind criminal and the 87th Precinct nemesis. He got curious about it for some reason and asked me a few questions. So reading McBain might become an official family tradition after all, if one day we can have a new generation who enjoys it.

Le Mardi gras chez les Latulipe

Demain, c'est le Mardi gras, ce qui veut dire... ben, ce qui veut dire pour bien des Québécois comme moi que c'est le temps de se rappeler la légende de Rose Latulipe. Ma version préférée de l'histoire, vous la trouverez dans Le baiser maléfique. D'où j'ai pris cette image. Pour Rose Latulipe, aujourd'hui est sa dernière vraie journée heureuse, avant la tragédie. Alors si vous vous faites inviter par un monsieur Latulipe pour une soirée dansante du mardi gras afin de célébrer les fiançailles de sa fille, je vous conseille de ne pas y aller.

Face to face with Carmilla

Is it too early to think of Halloween and get in a spooky mood? Is it? Because if it is, I can't help it: fate makes me think of my favourite holiday. I was going to the local bookshop yesterday when I suddenly stumbled upon... Carmilla! Not the vampire, but the novel about the famous vampire. So yes, I was stopping by the bookshop,minding my own business, when I saw this. Okay, so I own already at least two versions of Carmilla, including the full anthology : In A Glass Darkly. So I behaved and did not buy this one. However tempted I was. And even though I am not so sure Le Fanu's most famous work can be classified as a "dark sapphic romance". Surely, it is first and foremost a solid, classic gothic horror story! I know it has a lesbian vampire in it, but that doesn't make it a romance. Be that as it may, I did not buy it, but what a cool cover! And suitably orange, which makes it perfect for Halloween. I almost regret not buying it. Almost.

Mélusine

J'ai une confession à faire: même si je suis médiéviste de formation, je connais très peu de choses sur la fée Mélusine, à part son nom et quelques grandes lignes de sa légende. Elle est une créature associée à l'eau et qu'elle a des pieds en queue de serpent quand elle prend son bain, grosso modo. Et j'y pensais récemment et je me suis dit qu'il fallait remédier à ça: je compte donc y remédier prochainement. Pas seulement en googlant son nom et en cherchant sur YouTube, ce serait trop facile. Je compte chercher des bouquins sur le sujet. Si vous en avez à me conseiller, faites-moi vos suggestions dans les commentaires.

Feeling (almost) Welsh

 Today is the first of March, which you are most likely aware of. It is the Feast of Saint David, which you may or may not know about. Saint David is, as you may or may not know, the patron saint of Wales. So this is Wales' national day. It's a special day for me, as I truly discovered Welsh culture during my first year in the UK and I have very fond memories of the first of March. See see this post for more details. So yeah, although I don't think I have an ounce of Welsh blood in my veins, on this day I often feel a tad Welsh, or at least (and most certainly) Celtic.

Un dodo

Mon fils est allé il y a une semaine au Musée de l'histoire naturelle de l'Université d'Oxford. J'étais au travail, alors il est allé avec sa mère et sa grand-mère, pour y rencontrer son cousin (le fils de ma belle-soeur). Je n'ai pas pu y être, donc, mais Wolfie a été généreux: il m'a acheté un petit dodo en toutou. Et il a même insisté pour que le dodo soit à moi et pas à lui ou à sa mère (au grand dam de celle-ci). Mais bon, il est pas mal mignon et il se porte bien, surtout pour un animal disparu depuis le XVIIe siècle.

Friday, Gloomy Friday

 Okay, so we are the very end of the month and it's Friday. February is a difficult month in my line of work, end of months are always difficult, when they come on a Friday they re generally worse. Accursed, accursed 28th of February. I never liked the month all that much, because it seems that every rubbish that happens at work always fall in late February, or thereabout. So two years ago I was at risk of being made redundant. In the end, I managed to get my job back at the last minute. I have been doing well since then, except in the last few months, where it has become more difficult, for various reasons. And now I am again at risk of redundancy. It's not as dire as before, because my wife has a job as well, so we don't depend of my salary. And I have learned to be prepared for the worst, since I got made redundant by the employer I hated during the Covid year. I know how to job hunt in difficult times and I am generally good at interviews. But it makes things a little bit more stressful all the same. I'd rather skip February sometimes.

Goldorak U

J'ai appris il y a quelques jours une bonne ouvelle pour les animateurs de dessins animés japonais nostalgiques. Et désolé si je suis en retard dans les nouvelles et si vous le savez déjà. Mais enfin bref: il y a une nouvelle série de Goldorak. Ca s'appelle Goldorak U. Au Québec, elle est disponible sur ICI Tou.tv Extra et elle pourra être visionnée à la télévision de Radio Can en automne. Goldorak n'a jamais été mon héros préféré, mais j'ai quand même passé des heures de plaisir à le regarder se battre contre des monstres robotiques abominables.

Two Spoons Tea

I recently learned the existence of a new tea company, or at least one I didn't know existed until, well, now: Two Spoons Tea. I love to try new teas and see what's on the offer. Because tea is, as you know, my favourite non-alcoholic drink. I will need to check where I can buy their products. I could of course do it online, if needs be. Or just suggests to my wife that she buys me some of their brews for my birthday. In any case, I will keep my eyes out for Two Spoons Tea.

Renard sur fond hivernal

 Je partage encore une fois une photo prise sur le lot de mes oncles. Rien que parce que c'est beau, un renard dans la neige.

Carmen Sandiego

 Oh the thing I rediscover since I am the father of a young boy. I am kind of late in the news, but Netflix made a TV series called Carmen Sandiego, based on the character at the core of the old educational video game series. I played the game in the 90s, when I was a teenager, mostly at a friend's place, on his computer, but also at school, when it was used so we would learn English. It hadn't really made a big impression on me. Maybe because I was not keen on games with blatant educational purposes? I remember the gameshow as well, which I thought was kind of nice, but a bit young for me. It was more something my little brothers watched. But anyway, out of curiosity, I checked the animated series on Netflix last Saturday, with Wolfie, and we got hooked right away. Now Carmen Sandiego switched from antagonist to protagonist and even hero, but she still operates outside the law and it's a neat little caper with a nice old fashioned aesthetic and a few surprisingly dark moments. The villains are true villains, not mere pantomimes. The educational aspect is still there, but it's been integrated to the plot and characters seamlessly. So Wolfie and I are enjoying it a lot. I'm also glad I can make him discover crime fiction.

Don Giovanni (plogue)

 J'ai fait l'annonce il y a environ un mois. Je la refais en rappel, parce que je reçois des notifications  à ce propos sur les réseaux sociaux: : Opéra du Royaume va présenter Don Giovanni de Mozart en avril. Mon opéra préféré, de mon compositeur préféré. Un retour dans ma région en avril n'est pas dans mes boîtes, hélas, mais allez le voir si vous pouvez. Opéra du Royaume fait de l'excellent travail d'habitude et ce sera une grande première régionale. Alors osez.

AB's B'day

 Today is the birthday of Anthony Burgess, my favourite writer. I try to commemorate every year. The big anniversary was in 2017, when he would have turned a hundred. be that as it may, I will try to do something special about him, like read passages of some of his best novels. One day, I hope to do another pilgrimage in Manchester, where he was born, and visit the Anthony Burgess Foundation there. It's been long overdue. Otherwise, it's also Vraie Fiction's blogging anniversary, which is entireyl accidental, yet very fitting.

"Un deux, test": un anniversaire

C'est un anniversaire d'une certaine importance aujourd'hui: le tapais "Un deux, test" le 25 février 2008, commençant ainsi Vraie Fiction. Il était 21:41 quand mon tout premier billet a été publié. Je sais que bloguer est un art assez oublié de nos jours, c'est un peu perdu dans tous les réseaux sociaux, mais je ne m'en lasse pas, même quand je manque un peu d'inspiration.

A Gothic Castle Library

 I found this meme a year ago or so, in one of the many Halloween pages I have been following on social media. I thought I shared it tonight. That is my idea of heaven. And is it too early to think of Halloween? Because reading this meme, I have Halloween vibes about reading horror stories.

Le long-di

Bon, calembour atroce qui m'est venu en tête récemment. Le lundi, c'est vraiment un long-di. Il faudrait l'écrire comme ça. C'est long au travail, c'est long partout j'imagine, mais c'est vraiment long au travail. En tout cas, c'était long aujourd'hui.

New weapon for the artillery drawer?

 You may remember that Wolfie and I have a special "War Game". We play kind of spies or special operativesor cops fighting villains. Wolfie comes up with most of the characters, plots and storyline. We even have an artillery drawer for our toy guns, things I bought for Wolfie over the years. We don't play the War Game much these days, but I am on the lookout for new toys for it. I found this one recently in the local toy shop. I didn't buy it, but I think could be a nice one to add to the weaponry.

Les orchidées

Bon, je partage encore une fois des photos des orchidées de mon père. Ces temps-ci, je suis peu inspiré, alors je partage des photos d'orchidées et d'autres choses. Mais vous toruverez des photos des orchidées de mon père sur Vraie Fiction dans les archives aux alentours de ces temps-ci de l'année.

Camel Trophy Jeep

 I took this picture last year, during a fayre in the local park (a sort of autumn festival, but I digress). There were lots of army vehicles on display. I know nothing about Camel Trophy, but I find jeeps and army vehicles kind of cool. I mean jeeps look cool, but from the few trips I had in them, they are utterly uncomfortable. So it's kind of fitting to label one a camel: they both go in difficult terrains, they both are tough, they both are uncomfy. Well, I can only assume camels are not comfortable, I must confess I have never traveled on one. Tell me if you experienced either this particular Land Rover or a camel.

Les sucres s'en viennent

J'apprends sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson (où j'ai piqué cette photo) qu'ils ont toute une gamme de produits à l'érable déjà. Le temps des Sucres s'en vient déjà. Une des bonnes choses de ce temps-ci de l'année, en tout cas quand tu es au Québec.

CATAN: anyone knows it?

 Anyone ever played CATAN? If you did, how is it? Any good? I stumbled upon this board game in a toy shop a few months ago. I did not buy, mostly because I have a few board games here already and I barely play at any of them. I love board games, I love finding new ones, however I lack time, and, well, the social circle to play it. But I got curious about CATAN. From what I read, it looks like a sort of Monopoly for the Bronze Age, or something like that, where you must build cities and trade. It just sounds quite cool at atmospheric, with an emphasis on strategy (not always my forte). And the box looks really beautiful. So I am considering putting it on my birthday list. But first I want to know your opinion on it, if you know this board game at all.

Le chemin de fer

Mon père a monté les rails du train LGB au sous-sol il y a quelques jours. Malheureusement, il ne m'a pas envoyé des photos des rails avec le train, enfin pas encore. Qu'importe: c'est un travail impressionnant. et encore, ce n'est rien: quand nous étions enfants, les rails passaient partout dans le sous-sol: le couloir, les chambres, partout. J'aimerais bien pouvoir y rejouer un jour.

Dr Strangelove on stage

 You may know that I'm a fan of Stanley Kubrick. He is my favourite director. I recently found out, to my delight, that the National Theatre has made a stage adaptation of the Cold War dark comedy Dr. Strangelove. Maybe my favourite film comedy. generally, I am not keen on these kinds of remakes and re-adaptations and re-imagining, or whatever the name they give them. But I have seen the trailers and some videos and it looks promising. I also think that Kubrick's direction was often very theatric and stagy, in all his movies and this one in particular, so it makes sense to have the story adapted for the stage. So yeah, I will try to go and watch it.

Bordée de neige (d'antan)

Okay, promis, c'est la dernière fois que je partage une photo que mon père m'a envoyé des neiges qui sont tombées. Les neiges d'antan, pour ainsi dire. On n'a pas eu ça depuis des années, alors c'est vraiment la bonne expression.

The Student ("How it works")

 Sometimes I stop at the local bookshop and I don't buy much, but I do buy something to stimulate local economy. And also because I find it wrong not to buy a book when you stop in a bookshop. So I went there a few weeks ago and bought a Ladybird Book, The Student. Which tells you everything you need to know about, well, uni students. As one who spent a decade in universities, I can relate and found it surprisingly accurate. Reading this, reminiscing about my time there, I cringed and laughed at the same time.

Tempête de neige (2)

 Autre photo de la tempête de neige...

Oat Milk in Tea?

For a few months now, my wife has switched from milk to, well, oat milk and various vegan alternatives. But it is mostly oat milk. Not so much for ethical reasons as because it's meant to be healthier. Now, she does not drink milk by itself anyway, but she pours oat milk in her coffee and in her cereals. You know how I feel about milk substitutes. Read this post for more details. Well anyway, I noticed something on one of the oat milk bottles sh bought. The brand is Oatly, if you are curious. Something that shocked me and left me speechless. On one of its sides, it says: "It works in tea". And no. Just no. Hell no. This is a lie. Oat milk does NOT work in tea. Real, proper milk does not work in tea. Tea and milk don't work together. Tea stands on its own. Milk, or any milk substitute, poured in tea, is barbaric.

Tempête de neige

Il a neigé sur le Québec récemment et mon père m'a envoyé des photos... Ici, il tombe un centimètre de neige et tout ferme. Mais ça, c'est un blizzard en bonne et dûe forme.

The Sad Ghost Club

Sometimes, I find useful books in the local library, books I wouldn't buy otherwise, but they come in handy at a certian point. So yeah, during our last visit, I stumbled upon The Sad Ghost Club (subtitled: A Hopeful Guide to Getting Through Bad Days) and I had to borrow it. Don' worry about me: I'm not depressed or anything like that. It's just that my job has been rough as of recently, I have been going through a lot of bad days, I know there will be more, and I thought I needed something to help me keep my head above water and focus on the good things that I have. I have been in worse situations, job wise, but I don't want to have the feeling of dread I used to have a few years ago, so I am using this guide. It's quite cute, full of of good, simple advices to follow. And sad ghosts. I'm good with melancholy, I even thrive through it. However, I don't like gloom and doom.

Gâteau

Samedi dernier, ma femme était allée voir une amie dans la journée, alors petit loup et moi on a décidé de faire un gâteau avec les restants de sucre, de farine et d'oeufs qui étaient sur le bord de passer date. Des fois, rien que pour le plaisir et rien que pour manger un dessert maison, je fais du gâteau, que j'improvise tout le temps un peu. Avec petit loup, l'impondérable c'est souvent le sucre: il y met tout ce qui reste. Il n'y a que le glaçage qui est préfait (Betty Crocker, je crois). Sinon le gâteau lui même est à la vanille. Enfin bref, je suis assez fier du résultat.

A Railway Themed Birthday?

My birthday is only in April, but I know for a fact that my wife and Wolfie are already preparing for it and have already bought at least one present. So I thought it is not too early to start planning for it and giving some presents suggestions. Which should not be too difficult. I learned on the Facebook page  of the National Railway Museum in York that they have lots of new (and old) nice things in their the online shop. Last Christmas, I got spoiled by my wife who got loads of cool things from there, I think this might be the case this time too. This First-Class Seat Retro Cushion would be quite handy. But maybe we could be even more daring and take a quick holiday to York and make a day trip to the NRM to celebrate. Okay, so anything train related is not Veggie Carrie's idea of a good time, but she is outnumbered and she would love to get out of the house in any case. Or I can just stick to railway memorabilia for presents.

Presque la Relâche

C'est la semaine de Relâche cette semaine pour petit loup. Mais pas pour moi. Il est avec ses grand-parents maternels et je m'ennuie déjà. Je n'ai pas eu de vraie semaine de Relâche depuis que je ne travaille plus dans le merveilleux monde de l'éducation. Cela dit, comme je n'ai pas besoin de préparer mon fils pour aller à l'école, j'ai presque une semaine de congé. Je dis presque: je peux me lever plus tard le matin avant de travailler. Les avantages d'avoir une job qui me permet encore de travailler de la maison. J'ai pas mal eu toute ma vie adulte des presque Relâches: à l'université je devais souvent terminer mes travaux, au cégep ma semaine de Relâche ne tombait jamais en même temps que les autres. C'est encore un peu le cas aujourd'hui, j'imagine.

Two guys and a gal

You may remember, a month ago or so I blogged about Five Guys. I have been curious about the one we have nearby and last time we went to the cinema we pondered about going there for lunch. In the end we didn't, mostly because there is little if anything that is vegetarian, so my wife cannot really eat anything there. Not that she like fastfood all that much to begin with. But Wolfie was quite curious about it. My wife explained the conundrum in these terms: "The problem with Five Guys and us is that this family is made of two guys and a gal and the gal is vegetarian." Which I found very funny and deserving to be a new great unknown line. Wolfie and I share a lot of things, but he got his wits from his mother's side.

Cymbidium (2)

 Encore une photo des orchidées de mon père...

The 87th Precinct, in order

I blogged about a month ago about my wish to continue reading Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, which I haven't done in a long while. Even though my TBR list is quite long. Be that as it may, I thought it would be nice to read more McBain, especially since it has been a long time and the books tend to be quick reads anyway. And it struck me: I should read them (as much as possible) in chronological order. Something I haven't really done so far. So it means my next entry would be The Mugger, the second novel of the series, as I already read the first one. So I am very tempted to buy it. And if my wife thinks it's too many books, I can give it to her mother once I am done with it, as it is a sort of family tradition to read McBain.

Cymbidium

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de son cymbidium en fleurs. Il cultive les orchidées et il en est très fier.

Amadeus for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. As it is sometimes a tradition on Vraie Fiction, I celebrate by sharing some love songs and I usually go for classical with Mozart. Because nothing ever put love in music as well as he did, whether it was its ideal and idealised aspects or its more problematic ones. So yeah, here is one love duet that is also a duet of deceit and unrequited infatuation, with Miah Persson and Gerald Finley. This is taken from Le Nozze di Figaro. For those who do not understand Italian, there are subtitles.

Dites-le avec un chocolat chaud

Tout d'abord: joyeuse Saint-Valentin à tous. Cette photo a été prise de la page Facebook de Première Moisson: un chocolat chaud choco-framboises. Vendu bien entendu pour la St-Valentin. Ils offrent vraiment des belles affaires pour la journée. Ma femme est une chocolique avouée et je trouve qu'ici le choix pour la Saint-Valentin n'est pas vargeux. Il faudrait vraiment que je célèbre à Montréal un jour.

Preparing Saint Patrick's Day

 I took this picture last time we went to Marlow. One of their high street's pubs, the Duke of Clarence, was already advertising for Saint Patrick's Day. Now that's a pub after my own heart! Preparing for Saint Paddy's more than a month in advance. And it looks like they are starting the celebrations with a brunch, so they will start drinking before noon. How perfectly Irish. I am not sure if I will be around there come the time, but short of a typical Irish pub (how I miss the one we used to have), this might be the next best thing. Time to start planning, anyway.

Se pourvoir en cidre

J'ai pris cette photo l'an dernier dans un centre de jardinage. Il y avait pleins de trucs intéressants, franchement je préfère aller dans les "gardens centres" anglais que dans des centres d'achat pour me pourvoir en quoi que ce soit. En alcools aussi, bien entendu. Toujours est-il que mon bar est pas mal aride ces temps-ci, pour ne pas dire à sec (ou presque). Je corrige ça dans les plus brefs délais: j'ai déjà commandé de la bière et je compte m'acheter du vin en fin de semaine. Mais j'y pensais et je me suis dit que ce serait bien de m'acheter quelques bouteilles de cidre quand j'en aurai l'occasion, histoire de varier un peu. Et puis le cidre est un des rares alcools que ma femme aime bien.

Arctic Explorer Ship (Lego)

There is one of Wolfie's Christmas presents he received last year which I have been wanting to blog about for a while: this Lego Arctic Explorer Ship.  We didn't get nice toys like these when I was a child, not even Lego toys. I mean it has everything in it: action figures of various professions, a Viking sunken ship, a helicopter, a crane, a little robotic submarine and a killer whale. It can even float on water, like a real ship. It's maybe the best Lego set we ever had (well, as a family, I mean, I know it's not mine) and it really stimulates imagination. But what got me happy about it, more than anything else, is that Wolfie finished it in two days, all by himself. Except for the string on the crane, which mummy helped setting up (because you have to put the string in a tiny hole). But otherwise, it is all my son's natural engineering skills and patience. Two things I am utterly devoided of. I am a very proud father.

Guille siempre!

 Je ne crois pas avoir partagé ce gag, pris de la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda. Son petit frère est mon personnage préféré de toute la série. Enfin, en Argentine et dans tout l'hémisphère sud, c'est l'été et les vacances, voici donc un gag bien estival. J'adore l'attitude de Guille. Il me fait souvent penser à mon fils.

Forever Autumn?

 There are some memes which I find on the internet which capture perfectly my state of mind. Like this one, for instance, which I found recently. Now, for the record, I love winter, but I wouldn't mind to skip summer entirely. I know that's not something common, but there you go. So yeah, why isn't there a place where it is always autumn?

Un renard dans la neige

Je partage encore une fois une des photos des caméras de surveillance sur le lot de mes oncles, envoyées par mon père. Rien que parce que c'est vraiment beau, un renard dans une forêt enneigée. J'en enverrai d'autres dans les prochains jours.

The arsenal in crime fiction

 Okay, so I don't ave a gun fetish, or a weapon fetish, but there is one little thing I like in crime fiction: it's how some weapons reveal something about characters, whether they are good guys or badguys. I love signature weapons in crime fiction. South African crime writer to Deon Meyer is keen on this trope, as I blogged here. He does it again with Leo, when police officers Vaughn Cupido and Bennie Griessel do the inventory of the arsenal of a murder victim, a mercenary with a shady past. I love Cupido's connoisseur appreciation: "Number two, the cute but deadly little Heckler & Koch 416. (...) This time the elegant but deadly G36, in mint condition.(...)the very sexy bad girl of assault rifles, the AR-15. (...) Glock 17. Impeccable taste." It's a least a page of exposition, but Meyer reveals a lot about the victim and Cupido and makes it engaging. I found it really neat storytelling. So yeah, read the book.

Chevreuil ou orignal?

Je partage une photo prise par une des caméras de surveillance sur le lot de mes oncles. Est-ce un chevreuil ou un original? Quelqu'un qui s'y connaît parmi mes lecteurs? Je crois que c'est un orignal, parce qu'il semble un peu gros pour un chevreuil, mais je peux me tromper.

A fox in the snow

My father sent me pictures from the surveillance cameras on my uncle's allotment in the forest. There are some really nice snapshots of a fox. I love foxes, especially on a snowy background. Anyway, I am sharing it here, because it's a really nice picture.

Hello Moineau

Billet nostalgique pour ce dimanche,souvenir des fins de semaines de mon enfance. Quelqu'un se rappelle d'Hello Moineau? Une obscure émission pour enfants datant du début des années 80, je l'aimais beaucoup. Elle était amusante et irrévérencieuse, avec une grosse, grosse, grosse dose d'humour absurde. Il y avait une famille, la famille Moineau, autour de laquelle gravitait des animaux anthropomorphiques. Ils combattaient des adversaires aussi bêtes que méchants. J'ai retrouvé les épisodes sur YouTube, quoique je ne sois pas certain que toute la série y soit. Mais bon, on ne boudera pas son plaisir. Suis-je le seul à m'en rappeler?

"Restless pillow"

I think I might start reading Charlotte Brontë. I never did, I only read one book from the Brontë sisters and it wasn't Charlotte's. So yes, I just learned that she once said (or wrote): "A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow". In a nuthsell, this is the very essence of insomnia. She was a wise woman indeed.

La Raisonnable?

J'apprends via la page Facebook de La Voie Maltée qu'ils ont une bière sans alcool, la Raisonnable. Joli nom pour une bière sans alcool, mais j'avoue que les bières sans alcools, je suis encore dubitatif.

Chicago Crime

 I thought about it recently, somethign struck me checking my TBR list: I haven't read a single novel from crime writer Theresa Schwegel since 2008... In fact, I only read one novel of hers, her acclaimed debut novel Officer Down,which I had borrowed in the local library. Whatever happened to her? It seems I cannot find her novels anywhere here. It is a shame, because I really loved her first novel and I had been wanting to read more since. One of the things I loved about it is that it was set in Chicago, a city I don't know well, but which is a perfect setting for crme fiction, due to its history of violence. So I have a new reading objective (another one!): find more of her books.

Faux Cherry Blossom

 Y aurait-il de l'espoir pour les amateurs de Cherry Blossoms? Non, pas parce qu'Hershey a changé d'avis, mais parce qu'une version québécoise de la friandise vient de quintupler ses ventes en trois semaines. Ca s'appelle Berry Blossom, c'est fait avec des atocas au lieu des cerises, mais c'est le même principe. et c'est tant pis pour Hershey s'ils vont perdre au change. Ils avaient juste à ne pas se fourvoyer ainsi en insultant leur clientèle.

Japanese Crime

Every time of year, or almost, is a good time to read crime fiction for me. Except between August and October, when I read horror. Anyway, I recently started reading Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka. I last year for various reasons, one of them being that I have never read Japanese crime fiction. I am expanding my horizons. So far, so great: it's smart, witty, suitably dark and it has heart too. I should probably add exotic, at least compared to what I am used to in crime fiction. It makes me want to visit Japan one day. In some way, maybe I am already visiting it, through the pages of this novel. In any case, if I carry on enjoying it, I will read more Japanese crime fiction.

Olivieri (In Memoriam)

 Triste nouvelle apprise par hasard et vraiment, mais vraiment en retard: je cherchais des infos sur la librairie Olivieri, je trouve leur page Facebook, j'apprends sur celle-ci que la librairie a fermé ses portes en 2020. Parce que pandémie, bien entendu. J'étais déjà pas très heureux qu'Olivieri ait dû vendre son âme au diable. Maintenant elle n'est plus. La mort d'une librairie, c'est toujours tragique.

Navy Blue Coats (a trend)

 One thing I observed recently during the school run: it seems that about half the boys in Wolfie's school wear a navy blue winter coat. Wolfie has one, brnd new from last year. His friends have one, many of them anyway. And the younger kids at school also have the same kind of coat: navy blue, with faux fur on the hood. It reminds me of the orange coat trend of 2022. I must say, I far prefer Wolfie to wear more colorful clothes, especially on a cloudy day or at night. But this year it's all navy blue. Which is quite elegant, if nothing else. I always loved navy blue clothes, to my wife's great disappointing. She prefers more colourful stuff.

L'outarde

 Je faisais du ménage dans mes photos quand je suis (re)tombé sur une photo de la bernache, aussi appelée outarde, de mes parents. Pas une vraie outarde, bien entendu, mais une outarde en bois. Que j'adore. J'en achèterais bien une pour ici, si on avait de la place.J'aime les outardes, à mes yeux elles annoncent l'automne, alors cette oie me fait penser à ma saison préférée.

Take the Cannoli

 "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

You know where this quote comes from. Recently, WOlfie was asked in a homework to try Italian food. Could be anything: pasta, goat cheese, figs, olives, artichokes, etc. There was a list of suggestions, but I decided to be original and I bought two packs of cannoli. Because why the heck not. After all, it was an educational project. I had cannoli in the past, very rarely. Funny how the dessert is now associated with a classic movie.

Substituts

Bon, dans le même ordre d'idées qu'hier, voici une liste de substituts québécois et parfois régionaux aux produits américains qui risquent de devenir prohibitifs.

"Wolfie, my man..."

 My wife went to volunteer at Wolfie's school recently, to help children read. I envy her for having that extra time with him, and in his every day environment. But anyway, the kids were supposed to read a bit of a book, then pass on to the next kid so he would read the next few pages, etc. And whoever read the pages chose who was supposed to read next. So one of Wolfie's friends, when he had read his bit, said: "Now I will pass it on to Wolfie, my man!" I find it cute, and that's it really.

Passé la Chandeleur...

 D'habitude je le mentionne le jour même, mais j'ai négligé de le faire cette année. Enfin bref, c'était la Chandeleur dimanche dernier. On a mangé des crêpes en dessert, petit loup et moi, et il a fait assez froid. Je dis ça à cause du proverbe: "À la Chandeleur, l'hiver passe ou prend vigueur." C'était un peu des deux, alors j'espère qu'il va prendre vigueur pour un mois ou deux. J'aime l'hiver et je n'ai pas trop envie d'avoir du temps trop doux, surtout pas trop tôt. Je sais, je suis bizarre.

Valentine's Day from the Bookshop

 It might be a bit early to think about it, but Valentine's Day will be here soon. During my last trip to the local bookshop, I noticed a fewromcom books on display. I could buy one for my wife, although I know she thinks we already have too many books. That said, I still encourage you to express your love with a book, purchased at your local bookshop.

ALMArique

J'ai trouvé ça sur les réseaux sociaux. J'ai bien ri. La réponse saguenéenne aux tendances hégémoniques d'un certain voisin du Sud. Ou l'SUDE, comme on dit chez nous.

Ciao Caffè Nero

Well, here's some good local news for a change: we learned that there will a Caffè Nero opening soon in the town centre. No, I am not a coffee drinker, but of all the coffee chains in the UK (not counting the independent coffee shops), Caffè Nero might actually be my favourite. I'm not sure why. Because it's pseudo Italian, perhaps? Because I always find something I really like there (see this post)? Also, it's oneof these underdog chains, not nearly as big as Costa or Starbucks. But mainly, I think I like Caffè Nero because I like the look and feel of their places, the general atmosphere. It just feels nice there. Anyway, many cafés have closed down in the near 20 years we have been living here, so I welcome a new one, even from a chain. So it is on our to visit list, whenever it opens and when there aren't too many customer cramming it.

Pâté à la truite

 Mes parents ont fait du pâté à la truite il y a quelques jours. J'aime le poisson en général, la truite en particulier. J'adore le pâté à la truite, même si je trouve que c'est peut-être un repas pour du temps plus doux. Dans mon souvenir, c'est surtout quelque chose que je mange au printemps ou vers la fin de l'été. Je n'ai pas mangé de truite depuis quelques années déjà, sauf en terrine, pour le pâté à la truite, ça doit bien faire vingt ans. Mais enfin bref, c'est bon en tab.

Aquila and Sherlock

I said it before and I will say it again: Wolfie receives the best mail. A few days ago, he got the latest edition of Aquila Magazine, the magazine with "big ideas for inquisitive kids". So yeah, the February issue is all about forensics, crime investigation and, well, crime fiction, with  Sherlock Holmes on the cover (because well of course). I need to teach him about Sherlock Holmes, by the way, he barey knows him. But anyway, it has lots of fun stuff and it's a pleasure to read together.

Pain aux trois chocolats

Petite nouvelle bouffe et amoureuse sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson: ils ont un pain aux trois chocolats pour février et la St-Valentin. C'est décadent en tab...

Farewell to the local WHSmith

 Sad bit of local news: our WHSmith branch is going to close down soon. Now, I was never really that much into the business:it is meant to be a bookshop, but in reality it's a glorified stationary shop. Be that as it may, while I don't buy books there, I find it useful for everything else: presents, greeting cards, wrapping paper, pencils, the odd chocolate bar. So yes, that's not good news. Apparently, it may survive as a much smaller WHSmith, like the one you find in airports, so with far less choice. Except books, ironically. But I already have a local bookshop for that. So yeah, it's not great and to my surprise I think I will miss it.

Dernier jour de janvier

 Je prononce ici une évidence: nous sommes le dernier jour de janvier. Comment a été le vôtre, de janvier? Le mien n'était pas génial, mais il se termine mieux qu'il a commencé. C'est dommage, parce que c'est l'un des mois de l'année que j'ai appris à apprécier. Je dirais même que je l'aime pas mal plus qu'un mois d'été, par exemple. Je sais, je suis bizarre comme ça, mais je déteste la chaleur et les journées longues, alors un mois long, sombre et froid, je trouve ça relaxant.

Elmore Leonard on my TBR list

As I was checking my to be read list recently, something struck me: I have no title from Elmore Leonard. Worse: I haven't read him since, well, a long time ago. I think the last time was circa 2020 or 2021, so a long time ago. And that is terrible. So I will need to sort this out and maybe include one title or two of him. Now, it will not be Cat Chaser, because I read it back in 2007. The second Leonard novel I read, which cemented my interest in him.I have been wanting to revisit it, but I have too many unread novels of his to discover to have time for revisiting any one of them. I just put its cover because I like the look of it, I find it atmospheric. So yeah, If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments.

Les promenades en forêt...

Photo prise en... janvier 2023. Je la partage ici car elle sert mon propos, même s'il se peut que je l'ai déjà mise sur le blogue. Il y a un boispas loin de chez nous. Du temps de la pandémie, nous allions y marcher assez souvent, en famille, ça nous faisait quelque chose à faire. Même si c'était parfois boueux, c'était assez plaisant: de chez nous à travers le bois, en s'arrêtant à un hôtel, puis de l'hôtel à travers le bois, ou simplement à travers le voisinage jusqu'à chez nous. Parfois, je n'étais pas d'humeur à marcher, à cause de la boue justement. Mais ces temps-ci, je crois que ça nous ferait du bien de faire revivre cette tradition familiale.

Ironic Weather

 It's been kind of stormy these last few days, because of, well, this. So yeah, Herminia has given us rain, wind and even a bit of hail. On Monday, during the school run, it was pouring, windy and hailing when I walked with Wolfie to school. At the moment he walked it, it suddenly stopped and everything went calm. The parents were all dumbfounded. One of the mothers said how typical it was that now the weather was calm. I said: "Don't worry, when it is time to pick them up in the afternoon, of course it will get stormy again." She laughed. And I think it deserves to be a great new unknown line. That said, in spite of my pessimistic views, the afternoon school run was much quieter: no rain, no hail and barely any wind to speak of. Still, walking to the school felt like an epic journey that morning.

Flétan géant au Saguenay

Mon père m'a envoyé cette nouvelle régionale, qui aurait pu être une histoire de pêche: un flétan a été capturé dans le fjord du Saguenay. Jusqu'ici, rien à dire, c'est banal. Mais c'est un flétan de l'Atlantique et un flétan de l'Atlantique, ben c'est gros en tab... Et bon, c'est le premier flétan de cette taille pêché cette année. Je ne suis pas amateur de pêche, je n'ai pas de patience pour la pêche, ni l'habileté, mais je vais quand même donner une morale à cette histoire véridique. Il n'y a rien de petit au Saguenay.

PTO: please turn over

I feel terribly silly. My wife was helping Wolfie to do his homework last Sunday and, as there was no more room on the page he was writing on, she told him to write more on the other side. Shethen told him to write PTO, for "please turn over", so the teacher would know there was more written. And that's why I feel silly. Because I didn't know. I mean, I heard it, I had seen it, but I never pay attention to what PTO meant in that context. So yeah, anyway, PTO is the word (abbreviation?) of the day.

Porc-épic flou

Photo prise par mon père en juillet 2023 lors d'une promenade. Un porc-épic, qui ici a l'air flou. J'ai retrouvé les photos dans des archives et j'ai pensé à en partager une.

Happy Birthday Wolferl!

Today is the birthday of of Wolfgang Johannes Chrysostome Amadeus Mozart, aka Trazom when he signed his documents, aka Wolferl as he was called by his family, aka that kid from Salzburg, aka the greatest composer who ever lived. And my favourite. I have been listening to his music all weekend and will obviously listen to his music more today, non stop. To celebrate on this blog, I have decided to share the sextet from Cosi fan tutte. I came to Mozart through his operas, so it makes sense that I use them toc elebrate him. I think this one shows very well Mozart's virtuosity and art. It's dynamic, it's funny, it's joyful, it's gorgeous, so it should put you in a dreary January Monday.