Bushmills for Saint Paddy's?

 "McNulty: Can I get a Jameson?
Bartender: Bushmills OK?
McNulty: That’s Protestant whiskey.
Bartender: Price is right, ain’t it?
McNulty: Make it neat."

Well, first thing first: happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all. I will make time to drink today and, at some point, I might even accompany my usual pint with a shot of some Irish spirit. It might be Bushmills, even though it would be ironic to drink a Protestant whiskey on the day of a Catholic saint. But when we went to Belfast, we visited their distillery briefly. Could be a nice way to remember the trip. Oh and for those who don't know where the exchange above is from, it's from The Wire. You can watch the scene here. I've been wanting to say the reply next time they offer me some in a pub. Haven't had the chance since the local Irish pub shut down, but maybe today is my lucky day. Luck of the Irish, as they say.

La Saint-Pat au Cambio (rappel)

Tout d'abord, joyeuse Saint-Patrick à tous. Ensuite, veuillez noter pour ceux qui vivent au Saguenay que le Café Cambio la célèbre.Détails sur leur page Facebook, j'imagine.

Guinness (the crisps)

Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day, so I am preparing myself to it. I bought a few pints of Guinness and... and, well, that's it so far. No food for the special day. The Irish make the best crisps (see my post here). And you may be aware, if not please keep it in mind for tomorrow, that Guinness is also a flavour of crisps by Keogh's. I discovered them when we went to Belfast. There's Guinness and Flame Grill Steak, which I tried, and Guinness and Oyster, which I did not, because I didn't know it existed. Anyway, these crisps go well with, well, a pint of Guinness. I hope I can find some tomorrow (you never know).

Bière à l'érable (une critique)

 J'ai blogué le 6 mars sur la bière à l'érable de McAuslan, leur bière du printemps. Mon père en a fait une critique, que je partage ici: "Saveur de vanille et caramel. Mousse persistante et dense. Belle couleur ambrée. Accompagnerait peut-être un dessert. Se marie difficilement avec les chips." Ne me remerciez pas.

"Beware the Ides of March"

 Today is the 15th of March, therefore, this is the Ides of March. Which means that it is the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar.A rather gruesome anniversary, but it shapes the world like not many others did, for centuries to come. I blog about it every year, it's a sort of tradition, because I love history and I get in an Ancient Rome mood round this time of year. That and an Irish mood, too, but I digress. So yeah, as you probably, we owe to Shakespeare the line "Beware the Ides of March," you can hear it in Julius Caesar. I have yet to see the whole play, shame on me. For me, it reminds me of this scene from the HBO series Rome. I am going to watch it. If you do, fair warning: it is very bloody.

Pâques chez les Pères trappistes

 Photo prise sur la page Facebook des Pères trappistes.Juste pour vous rappeler que Pâques c'est dans trois semaines. Je l'ai déjà dit je crois, il n'y a pas de meilleur endroit pour célébrer Pâques qu'au Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. En tout cas, on y trouve sans doute le meilleur chocolat de Pâques.

An Irish Harp for Saint Paddy's?

Well, Saint Paddy's Day is coming and I thought it was about time that I blogged about it this year and prepare for it. Because as I am typing this, I haven't purchased a single Irish beer and I haven't really prepared anything for the 17th. Shame on me. Anyway, I will head on the nearest off license asap and sort things out. It struck me that there are more than one brand of Irish beer available. I drank this beer in Belfast, but I know I can buy Harp here too. Although I have strong opinion against drinking lager on St Patrick's Day and I still can't get my head around the very existence of Irish lagers, they exist and I could maybe add them to the drink menu. Just maybe. Like at the end of the evening. I will see what I can find.

Rhinoccino?

 Des fois, en revenant de l'école, mon fils et moi nous nous arrêtons dans un café pour manger un morceau et boire quelque chose. Je prends du thé ou du rooibos, il prend souvent un piccoloccino ou babyccino. J'aime bien le premier terme, le second beaucoup moins. Du lait chaud moussé avec un peu de cacao dessus pour faire joli. Servi dans une tasse toujours spéciale. La dernière fois, elle avait un  rhinocéros (rose) dessus. Ce qui fait du breuvage un rhinoccino? Je trouve que ça sonne bien.

Second Friday the 13th

For those among you who are superstitious, I am offering my commiseration as I have to remind you that we are Friday the 13th of March. And, to make matters worse, we are the second Friday of the year already. And, to make it even worse, 2026 has three Friday the 13th. For those among you suffering from triskaidekaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia, or both (I guess it's always both when you have such phobia), well, this is not your year. But on the plus side, after today, there will be only one Friday the 13th to go. For me, any Friday the 13th is just like any other Friday. I love when evening comes, and it is pretty much the weekend, however, it's a day out at the madhouse, whatever the date Friday falls on.

La Saint-Patrick au Café Cambio

Pour les Saguenéens qui se demandent où célébrer la Saint-Patrick, j'ai une bonne nouvelle: : j'apprends sur la page Facebook du Café Cambio qu'ils vont fêter ça en grand. Cool. Je savais qu'ils l'ont soulignée en 2024 et, j'imagine, l'année suivante. Mais il semblent vraiment créer une tradition. Bon, ce ne sera pas celles du défunt pub irlandais ici ou celles de Liverpool, mais quand même.

Vienna, city of espionnage

 You may remember back on the 25th of February, I had made the project of starting a number of posts here about cities and places associated with espionage, in fiction and/or in history. Well, I haven't forgotten it and today is the fitst post of I hope a new series. The first city I wanted to blog about came as a no brainer: I am talking of course of Vienna. Because it is not only the City of Music, it could easily qualify as the City of Espionage, and way before the Cold War. Of course it was one of those places at the center of the conflict between East and West, but it has always been the convergence point for both worlds, both Europes so to speak. Also, I suspect that due to its picturesque look, many spies would rather meet there than anywhere else in the world. For the writer, it makes for a great backdrop for a gripping drama, the beauty of Vienna a sharp contrast to the ruthless game of cloaks and daggers being played. Should you visit it, keep that in mind. I know I will next time.

"Pas grand-chose, c'est quelque chose."

 Je suis en train de lire (et, je l'espère, de terminer, car je lis trop lentement) le polar Entre deux mondes d'Olivier Norek. Un excellent roman noir comme ils en font de l'autre côté de la Manche. Et il y a de grandes répliques dans ce livre, je voulais en partager une. Le héros Adam Sarkis, ancien flic syrien devenu réfugié dans la Jungle de Calais, se fait demander par sa nouvelle connaissance Ousmane s'il a de l'argent. Il répond pas grand-chose, croyant être prudent. Ousmane lui dit alors: "Pas grand-chose pour qui? Pas grand-chose, c'est quelque chose. Je sais que tu as de l'argent, puisque tu viens d'arriver. (...) Mais tu dois toujours répondre non." Et voilà, c'est tout, je crois que ça peut s'appliquer à bien des situations, pas seulement celles des réfugiés. On a toujours quelque chose pour les gens mal intentionnés. Et sinon, lisez le livre, c'est vraiment un grand roman policier, une grande découverte dans le genre pour moi.

Pumpkin Spice Latte at the Yellow Ladder

 I am posting again about Yellow Ladder Coffee, the coffee shop we found out in London last month and which we really liked (well, I really liked it). You can find my original post here. I had forgotten to mention one other reason why I really liked this little known chain. They offered to my wife a pumpkin spice latte, which was the daily special brew, if I remember correctly. Now, I don't drink coffee, I actually hate the taste of coffee, I don't enjoy the effect it has on me, and it's the same with lattes. However, as an autumn and Halloween lover, I am glad I live in a world where pumpkin spice latte exists. It's one of those signs of my favourite season and my favourite holiday. I blogged yesterday about a possible early sign of Halloween to come. Well, this brew is the exact same thing: a reminder of autumn and Halloween. On a cold winter day, it also makes perfect sense to enjoy such brew, if you like coffee. In any case, Yellow Ladder Coffee just won themselves a new customer.

Guille et moi

Petite anecdote à propos de ma nouvelle job et de mon nom. Comme d'habitude, quand j'ai un nouvel employeur, mon nom se fait maganer un peu par mes collègues. Et parfois modifier. Un collègue hispanophone a décidé de m'appeler Guille. Le nom du petit frère de Mafalda. Ce n'est pas farfelu: Guille est le diminutif de Guillermo, l'équivalent espagnol de Guillaume. Et ça me plait bien, car Guille a toujours été mon personnage préféré de la bédé. Je crois que même ma mère m'appelait Guille parfois, quand j'étais jeune. Il partage aussi certains de traits de caractère avec petit loup.

"First" sign of Halloween?

There is something I forgot to blog about last month: during an afternoon trip to a nearby town, I stopped at the WHSmith near the station (and yes, I am well aware that it has been rebranded, but I don't care, it's WH Smith for me). And what did I see, by the till? This. These things. Halloween stuff. In freaking February. Granted, it was most likely stock from last week. All the same, it reminds me of the Halloween to come and, although I try to enjoy the present time, I do like to think of my favourite holiday way in advance. It put me in a good mood.

Les deux escoufles

Je blogue parfois sur les milans royaux qui sont nombreux dans le coin de pays où nous vivons. Je les appelle de leur vieux nom, escoufles. On les voit souvent voler au-dessus de nous. On les voit aussi perchés aux branches. Nous avons souvent un visiteur qui s'installe sur l'arbre derrière chez nous. Hier matin, nous en avions deux. J'ai eu le temps de les prendre en photo.

Truth Serum (The Night Agent)

 I am blogging again about the spy series The Night Agent. Because I really enjoy it, first and foremost. Also, because it renews with a number of old tropes that we seldom see nowadays in the genre, as far as I know. So yes, not to give too much away, but instead of using "proper" torture, ome of the antagonists (not sure if I can say villain) uses a truth serum to gather intel from an uncooperative person of interest. And it is also used, from what I read, fairly reastically. As I am typing this, the use of a truth serum in the episode has not been listed yet in the TV Tropes entry, to my surprise. Anyway, to me it shows that sometimes, to be original and creative, you need to revisit old tropes that have been discarted as clichés.

Le thermostat québécois (printemps VS automne)

Il y a quelques jours, une amie a posté ce meme dans un chat que nous avons. Il m'a bien fait rire. C'est bien entendu authentique. C'est drôle parce que c'est vrai. Bon, j'ai vu des memes semblables ailleurs, enfin qui parlaient du même sujet, ce n'est pas exclusivement une réalité québécoise, mais quand même. C'est vrai que notre rapport à la température dépend des circonstances. Même ici, j'ai souvent un sentiment d'horreur quand la température monte jusqu'à 15 degrés. Bon, je ne porte pas de t-shirt, mais je m'habille plus légèrement. Plus légèrement, dans tous les cas, que lorsque la température tombe à 15 degrés pour la première fois en automne. Mais c'est lorsque c'est trois degrés que c'est le plus frappant: si ça monte à trois degrés au printemps, après un long hiver, j'ai (trop) chaud. À l'automne, c'est un bonheur incomparable.

Farewell to the local autumn fayre

 I learned some sad news recently, which I wanted to blog about: as you may know, there is a local carnival held every year in September, the third or fourth Saturday of the month, in the biggest park in town. I blogged about it often before, like here. To me, it's like an officious autumn fayre. Sadly, for whatever reason (not sure if they were made public) the organisers cannot organise it this year, so there will be no local September carnival. No autumn fayre. This is one of the public event in our community I look forward to the most in the year. I'm really gutted.

Pâques chez les Pères trappistes

Je bloguais hier sur le compte-à-rebours vers Pâques, qui est commencé (c'est dans moins d'un mois). Je ne suis bien entendu pas le seul à le penser. Signe que la fête arrive: cette photo prise de la page Facebook des Pères trappistes. L'écureuil est l'animal de Pâques que j'ai choisi pendant des années pour mon chocolat, surtout parce que c'était l'un des plus gros. ici il n'ont pas d'écureuils. Ils n'ont rien d'approchant non plus, d'ailleurs.