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.

Don Giovanni à l'Hôtel Chicoutimi

 Je re, re, re-plogue la production de Don Giovanni de Mozart par Opéra du Royaume. Un, si vous pouvez le voir, allez le voir, c'est en avril. Aussi, si vous n'êtes pas du Saguenay (ou vous n'êtes pas proche) vous pouvez obtenir 25% de rabais pour une chambre à l'Hôtel Chicoutimi en présentant votre billet d'opéra. Vous avez les détails dans l'image plus haut, avouez que je vous mâche le travail.

A portrait of Frankenstein's Monster

Here's a bit of literary horror news: the first ever image of Frankenstein's Monster in print is going to auction. You can see the image in the article and, well, it's not the one you are used to and, to be honest, is not very impressive, as in not very scary. Let's be honest: it's not the unnatural abomination that the creature was meant to be. Only the long black hair is truly faithful to the source material (although I don't think they were meant to be curly). In fact, I thought the monster looks more pathetic, even a tad comical than anything else. But people at the time might have had different standards, and it is easier to describe terror than give it a face for all to see. Anyway, that was the piece of Gothic horror news I wanted to share and there's only seven months until Halloween... Yes, I'm already thinking about it.

Nuée d'oiseaux (2)

 Autre photo prise par mon père de la nuée d'oiseaux.

About Navajas

 I blogged last year about the navaja, this Spanish knife that can be used as a weapon. Maybe it is its main utility. I have been fascinated by it since, well, since a long time. A morbid, sinister fascination, I must confess. I always thought it could be one great weapon for a character in a crime fiction story. Well, I recently stumbled upon this short YouTube video about navajas. And well, boy is the navaja one nasty weapon! I mean, I knew it already, but seeing one like this, of this size especially, it just makes me think if I ever write a story featuring it, it has to be used by a villain. And a borderline psychotic one at that. Because that is one vicious looking knife.

Mozart dans le Royaume

Comme vous le savez si vous suivez ce blogue, Opéra du Royaume va présenter Don Giovanni de Mozart en avril.Je plogue la production de temps en temps, parce que c'est une première régionale et parce que c'est mon opéra préféré de Mozart, qui est mon compositeur préféré. Vous pouvez lire une entrevue avec son directeur artistique ici. Ils font beaucoup de promotion de cette production à L'Opéra du Royaume, ce sera un évènement musical majeur.

Cub Coffee Sighting

A couple of weeks ago, we went downtown and we stopped at the local market. Sadly, as we arrived too late, everything was closing. Including the Cub Coffee van. Not that I drink coffee, mind you, but my wife does and she likes the idea of an ethical, vegan coffee company. She tried this brand once, back in 2022. Not since then, but we saw their distinctive trailer with the bear cub and the green colours from time to time driving round town. I don't know where they stop, probably in one of the business estates here. They don't only serve coffee, so I might buy something from them one day, just to encourage them. But truly, I just like Cub Coffee because of the bear cub. He's very cute.

Nuée d'oiseaux

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos d'une nuée d'oiseaux. On dirait un essaim. Sinon, c'est tout, je partage parce que c'est une photo assez saisissante. Qu'en pensez-vous?