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.