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.

Cocaine Shark?

Okay, so you probably know about the movie Cocaine Bear, which I must confess I haven't seen and don't really care to watch in any case. Well, my wife sent me this article. Its title is obviously clickbait, nevertheless it is an interesting if scary thing to ponder: we might have to deal with sharks intoxicated with cocaine off the coast of Florida. I am fascinated by sharks, like many men of my generation, so my wife knows my fascination for the apex sea predators so she sends me articles like this one from time to time. I am also watching a documentary about shark attacks, but this will be for another post. Right now, I just wanted to share with you the clickbait article. Okay, so I really don't think this can be taken seriously for now, for one I doubt that much cocaine is being thrown in the wild so to speak, let alone end up in sharks' stomachs, which are from what I understand very resilient. Nevertheless, it would make for a more interesting dramatic premisse than a bear on coke. If sharks do get high on drugs, then humans are to blame. As always.

About Michelangealo's David (from The Simpsons)

There is a certain stupid controversy in the US at the mooment. I will not comment on it, I will just leave here this clip from The Simpsons. In this episode. Yes, they were prophetic. And I'm not the only one saying it. I hope the clip makes you feel a little bit better.

"La Fleuride"

Je ne suis pas un puriste de la langue depuis que j'ai étudié la linguistique dans une autre vie. Cela dit, il y a parfois des prononciations qui m'agacent. Comme dire Califournie au lieu de Californie. Ou dire hot doye et hambégueurre. Il y en a un autre qui m'est revenu à l'esprit récemment.J'étais je crois en deuxième année et la famille d'une fille dans la classe passait beaucoup de leurs vacances à Miami en Floride. Et elle prononçait ça "Fleuride". Pendant un temps, j'ai cru qu'elle allait dans un jardin botanique. Quand j'ai appris la bonne épellation et la prononciation, bien "Fleuride" a commencé à me gricher les oreilles. Je raconte ça parce que je l'ai entendu à la radio hier et mon agacement est toujours le même. Est-ce si difficile à dire?

Alex & Droogs (?)

There are silly things, sometimes, you wish were true, however ridiculous they seem. You can see here the cover of a comic book adaptation of  A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Or, to be precise, an adaptation of the movie. And yes, if you think it looks ridiculous and like the cover of an Archie comics, it is because this is a fake. Or rather, something fan made. Very well made too, it looks like a piece of a vintage, long forgotten adaptation, where the violence has been toned down, but the film's iconic imagery remains. All the same, I wish there has been an Alex & Droogs comics, it have been real horrorshow.

A Clockwork Orange banned in Florida?

I read this piece of news yesterday which really got me fuming: in Florida, a group of legislators and conservative lobbyists (well, of course!) are trying to ban books from public schools that they deem "pornographic", among other things. Among these books is A Clockwork Orange of Anthony Burgess. My favourite author and the novel that introduced me to him. ACO is actually more than that: it was the coming of age novel for me. It taught me a lot about the nature of freedom and art and was my true introduction to proper literature. It is one of these novels that makes a young man (or woman) think and grow. Trying to censor it is pathetic, it is cowardly, it is stupid, it is despicable.

Giving a name to a hurricane

My blogging friends Wendy the (Very Good) Witch and Peeking Through an Open Window live in Florida, where of course they might see/feel Hurricane Irene. I feel for them: I lived my share of nature's manifestations of force (one ice storm, one important earthquake and one flood) and it's not funny. Although I have never been through a hurricane, some of the leftovers from hurricanes down in the South have touched Quebec from time to time, giving us heavy rains.

Hurricanes are given male and female names, in alphabetical order. I find it a bit boring and unimaginative. We do not give planets and constellations names such as Joey and Martha, we don't give such names to volcanoes either, why hurricanes? I asked an "existential question" on this blog about it once: what name to give a hurricane? My own suggestion was, I think, an interesting one: why not give one the name Tiresias? It has the right gravitas, being from Greek mythology. Since Tiresias was transgender, that would make for an interesting change in the male/female order.