Jeux de mains (photo du mois)

J'ai une soudaine inspiration pour la photo du mois de septembre, dont le thème, "jeux de mains", était suffisamment vague pour porter à la créativité. Cette photo a été prise au Keswick Museum dans le Lake District. Il représente une sorte de xylophone de pierres, un lithophone, appelé le "Musical Stones of Skiddaw" comme ils l'appellent. Il est unique au monde, on ne peut donc entendre les sons qu'ils font qu'à Keswick (enfin, sur YouTube aussi). Les visiteurs peuvent y jouer. Et comme on joue d'un instrument de musique avec (notamment) ses mains...

Allez voir les jeux de mains des autres blogueurs ici:

100driiine, A&G, Agrippine, Akaieric, Alban, Alexanne, Alexinparis, Alice Wonderland, André(eric)Fernandes, Anita, Anne, Anne Laure T, Anne-Cécile, AnneSoPhotos, Annick, Arwen, Ava, Batilou, Berliniquais, Bestofava, Blogoth67, Café créole, Cara, Carnet d’une Réunionnaise, Carnets d'images, Caro, Carole In England, Cathy, Cekoline, Céliano, Céline in Paris, Cessna, oui !, Champagne, Cherrybee, Chris et Nanou, Cindy Chou, Clara, Coco, Cocosophie, Cricriyom from Paris, Cynthia, Dame Skarlette, Dan, David et Mélanie, DelphineF, Dorydee, Dr CaSo, Dreamteam, E, El Padawan, Elapstic, Emma, Escapade en Tunisie, Fanfan Raccoon, Filamots, François le Niçois, Frédéric, Galinette, Gilsoub, Gizeh, Guillaume, Hibiscus, J'adore j'adhère, Jean Wilmotte, jen et dam, Karrijini, Kob, Krn, Kyoko, La Fille de l'Air, La Flaneuse, La Messine, La Nantaise, La Papote, La Parigina, LaFamilleD , LaGodiche, Laure, Laurent Nicolas, Lauriane, Lavandine, Le Mag à lire, Les petits supplices !, Les voyages de Lucy, Les voyages de Seth et Lise, Les zinzins, Lesegarten, Leviacarmina, Lhise, Lisa adore, Lo, Lost in London, Louiki, Louisianne, Lucile et Rod, Lyonelk, M, M.C.O, magda627, Maïder, Mamysoren, Manola, Marianne, Marmotte, Melting Pot, Mgie les bons tuyaux, Mistinguett, Mon p'tit boudoir : Mot de passe : mon/ptitboudoir, N, Narayan, Nataru, Nathalie, Nicky, Olivier, Ori, Oryann, Où trouver à Montréal ?, Pat Québec, Pilisi, Renepaulhenry, Sébastien, Sephiraph, Sinuaisons, Skipi, Sophie Rififi, Stephane08, Stéphie&lesCacahuètes, Tambour Major, Testinaute, The Mouse, Titem, Tsuki, Un été Sans Fin , Un jour une rencontre, Une niçoise, Vanilla, Véro Beramelo, Vickie in the sky, Violette, Viviane, Xavier Mohr, Xoliv'.

Fabergé and Octopussy

I checked on Google today, and because of today's doodle I discovered that it was the anniversary of Fabergé, the creator of the Fabergé eggs. This is not an original Fabergé egg, obviously. It is a copy of a copy: it represents the Fabergé egg in Octopussy. It was taken in the james Bond Museum in Keswick, which I think no longer exists. It was not a very good one anyway. All I know of Fabergé eggs, which is nothing, I know from the movie or The Property of a Lady, which is the short story the James Bond movie was freely based on. I never had much interest in jewellery, except as a MacGuffin for stories (they were heavily used in crime fiction of course, but in other genres too). When I learned about the birthday of Peter Carl Fabergé, all I could think of was Octopussy (I guess I was not the only one). I actually enjoyed the movie a lot, in spite of its flaws. Today, I thought I could watch it some time soon.

Souvenirs de sécheresse

Bon, j'espère qu'on ne trouve que je ne répète pas trop dans mes billets. Cette photo prise au Lake District, à Keswick. Elle date de l'été 2010. Il avait fini par pleuvoir, et beaucoup, mais avant cela le pays avait souffert d'une certaine sécheresse, même au nord. C'est lorsqu'il faisait un temps très sec que j'ai pris cette photo. J'espère la pluie, en fait la tempête, depuis un certain temps. mais elle ne vient pas. Je crains qu'on ait de la sécheresse, phénomène rare dans ce pays.

Je viens d'un coin de pays qui la connaît assez peu: on est entouré d'eau et la pluie ne manque pas, j'ai même vécu une authentique inondation de mon vivant. Mais je crois que si j'ai à choisir, je préfère la pluie à la canicule. Durant les sécheresses que j'ai vécu, je me rappelle passer des journées au sous-sol pour éviter la chaleur. Ensuite quand mes parents revenaient dut ravail on se baignait dans la piscine, mais alors l'eau était trop chaude. Durant les vacances on dormait au sous-sol durant les journées de sécheresses. Ca c'était plaisant (le dire à la saguenéenne): on regardait la télévision tard le soir, je me rappelle surtout de documentaires sur la vie marine, un en particulier sur les baleines. Mais maintenant, je ne vis plus dans un sous-sol. Alors c'est plus difficile d'être à la fraîche. Par conséquent, j'espère l'orage...

Un rapace dans le champ

Cette photo a été prise au Keswick Museum. Je ne sais pas si c'est un épervier empaillé, un buzard, un faucon ou whatever. Je m'y connais assez peu en rapaces.

Enfin bref, je ne publie pas cette photo de manière arbitraire. Je suis de retour de bretagne depuis hier soir. Alors que l'on se rendait à l'aéroport, nous avons vu un rapace comme celui-ci dans un champ, sur un poteau de clôture.La position était la même. Je n'ai bien entendu et malheureusement pas pu le photographier.

Cela me rappelle les éperviers et les faucons que l'on avait chez nous à Chicoutimi. Comme on avait des mangeoires à oiseaux, d'ailleurs très populaires, bien des oiseaux de proie ont choisi l'arrière-cour comme terrain de chasse. alors plus d'une fois on a pu observer une bête comme celle-ci dans les branches d'un arbre dévorer un moineau. Quand c'est dans la nature de l'animal, je ne trouve pas ça cruel. Et puis un oiseau de proie est toujours une créature magnifique et terrifiante.

Garden wildlife

My readers will notice that I blog a lot about gardens recently (here and here to be more precise). It is probably a mere coincidence, or I just get into one of those blogging moods. This picture was taken in the Keswick Museum. I make any excuse to put more pictures from there. I have never seen a hedgehog in the garden of our block, but it is one of the animals that I discovered here in back gardens and which I consider (rightly so) quintessentially British. When I first arrived here, I was amazed about the wild life I could see on the lawn of the halls of residence where I was living: foxes, hedgehogs and magpies essentially. In Quebec we have mice, rats and squirrels. The squirrels can be fun too, but I find hedgehogs more exotic.

Of course what are most common in the garden here are birds and then cats, either wild asocial ones or domestified, friendly ones. No later than yesterday evening, the tabby cat showed up for some cuddles. I find fascinating that in an urban area (although the town where I live is quite small) there is so much wildlife, so close to us. I feel British wildlife much closer than I ever felt Québec wildlife. Autumnwatch also made me more conscious about it.

Springwatch is on

Hey, I just discovered it this evening: Springwatch was on! I catched it just in time. I cannot believe I didn't know, although it is a bit late in the year to have a "Spring" watch. It is true that I am not as big a fan of Springwatch as I am of Autumnwatch, but it is still lovely to see British wildlife. There are the usual stars of the show: beavers (they have been reintroduced in Britain), foxes (among my favourite), barn owls (another favourite of mine), various small rodents, birds and badgers. For me, a badger is mainly the name of a character in this British classic and this weird song. I saw a dead one by the road last Sunday, going back home. I felt a bit sad. Badgers, like all animals, are fascinating creatures. I will learn more about them with the program.I don't think I can love them as much as foxes or owls, but they will be my wildlife discovery of the year.

This picture was taken in the Keswick Museum. Any excuse is good enough to put pictures from Keswick here, but there is another reason for putting it here: as badgers are elusive, it was easier to take a picture of a dead stuffed one than a live one.

Manger de l'agneau ou pas?

Pâques s'en vient et donc je commence déjà à penser au dîner de Pâques, qui sera je l'espère copieux et délicieux. Mais voilà, je fais face à une question éthique importante: est-ce que le repas pascal devrait avoir comme pièce principale de l'agneau? L'année dernière, j'avais évité ce problème parce que j'étais au Québec. Cette année je célèbre Pâques en Angleterre, donc je suis très tenté de renouer avec l'agneau accompagné de sauce à la menthe (et oui, c'est délicieux). Mais voilà, j'ai promis à ma femme de ne plus manger de l'agneau depuis notre voyage dans le Lake District, où la proximité avec les mignonnes petites bêtes m'a fait réfléchir sur ma nature de carnivore. À Keswick, on les voyait tout le temps, les moutons étaient timides et ne se laissaient pas toucher, mais on pouvait quand même les voir de près et marcher dans le même champ qu'eux. Difficile de désincarner la viande quand on la voit marcher.   

J'ai quand même déjà trahi ma promesse lors de ma dernière Saint-Patrick, mais je ne pouvais pas refuser un Irish stew offert et puis quand c'est en viande hachée on fait moins l'association. C'était quand même plus simple d'être végétarien à Pâques quand mes parents respectaient la tradition québécoise particulièrement dégueulasse de manger du jambon. Détestant le jambon, je me contentais de manger des oeufs cuits durs. C'était aussi pascal. Mais quand on a connu l'agneau, surtout avec du rouge, on ne veut rien manger d'autre à Pâques. D'où mon profond conflit moral. Je suis déchiré entre mon coeur et mon estomac.

Corvids and magpies

This picture was taken in the Lake District, in the Keswick Museum, every exsue is good to publish pictures from that time, even dead birds on display. It was a small museum but I was fascinated by what was in it.You can see here (I think but I am not sure) from left to right a raven, a crow and a magpie (or a hooded crow?).

Anyway, when I went out yesterday I saw lots and lots of crows. With the springtime colours, their black feathers make them difficult to miss. Oh and their distinctive caws! I am fascinated by these birds, which I used to dislike as a young child, especially when I was having breakfast, as I found their appearances and their cry utterly sinister. But then of course whatever is sinister also fascinates me, even at a young age, and I learned more and more about them and ended up loving them. I still find them sinister, but playfully so, knowing very weel that this is irrational superstition. Great working material for fiction or games.

Magpies are a different lot. I never even saw one until I campe in England. They have a very distinctive colour too, and I remember taking many pictures of them when I first came here. Before I associated them more with this Tintin album, maybe the best one ever. I never heard La Gazza Ladra, except its overture. Anyway, as this is the wildlife I see outside, I thought I would put some here on my blog.

An afternoon nowhere

This picture was taken in the Lake District last summer, in Keswick I think. I stupidly forgot to bring the camera when we went out today so could not take any pic. Anyway, as I have been wanting to do for ages, we went nowhere this afternoon. Well, it was not quite nowhere as it was a sizeable English village that was buzzing with people enjoying an April Sunday, but it was still nowhere enough: i.e. in village with plenty of countryside surrounding it, plenty of old pubs but virtually no other businesses open and no tourist around. It was warm but there was a bit of cool breeze. I enjoyed real ales in two crammed pubs, walked by the river, smelled the green pastures. England often smells of wet land, especially during spirngtime. It is not nearly enjoyable as a crisp cold autumn day, but it is still a very pleasant way to spend Sunday.

Spinning wheel

I was reading Gwen Buchanan's blog recently (which I found because she made a beautiful portrait of Anthony Burgess) and I noticed a pic of a spinning wheel that struck me. It reminded me of one I saw in the Keswick Museum, which you can see pictured on the left. I don't want to make her blush or anything, but I admire Gwen and consider her a true artist because she can take simple objects and show their aesthetic aspect, turn them into artistic creations: a stone wall, working tools, etc. Back in keswick, I took a picture of this spinning wheel because I thought it looked good, without understanding exactly why I thought so. It is a simple object, it was a long time ago a useful one, but it also has strong symbolic associations with the passage of time and death (I think among other things about the Norns in Viking mythology, even though they did not have a spinning wheel). But I just love it as an aesthetic object.

Musing on superstitions

These pictures were taken in the Keswick Museum, one of the nicest town museum I have ever been to. There were a "section" (well, two window displays really) about Cumbria's superstitions. I took picture of them, you can enlarge them if you want to read, I hope the light did not get in the way too much. I like my times in museum to be educational but also atmospheric and this museum had plenty of both. Since Halloween is coming soon, I thought it would be the right time to blog about it.

As a child, I had a wild imagination and at some point, I was fairly superstitious: I believed in ghosts, in the Loch Ness Monster, in devils, what have you. And even if and when I did not believe in something supernatural, I was fascinated by old wives tales and ancient irrational beliefs. I knew they were not true, but I was doing as if. As I said in French here, while I did not like the taste of mushrooms, I still kept an interest in them because of their association with supernatural and witchcraft. Especially when they were in a fairy ring, which was called "rond de sorcières" in French, "witch circle". I loved when I could find one on the ground and they were the basis of many of our make-belief games. I wish I had known then about the superstitions surrounding the rowan tree, as we were playing next to one very often. I developed an interest in this one only in recent year, but was happy it was mentioned in the museum display.

So I grew up to become a rational man (or trying to be one anyway), a skeptic and an atheist. I do not believe in the supernatural to the slighest, yet I still have an interest in them. Like haunted houses, superstitions transform the domestic and the familiar into something much more fascinating than it really is and makes people's life more exciting. There is a bit of Don Quixote in all human beings and sometimes imagination takes over our perception of reality.

Musing on haunted houses

This picture was taken during our holidays in the Lake District, in Keswick. The austere, sinister beauty of this house struck me as perfect for a haunted house. "If that's how your mind works" said my wife when I told her this earlier this evening, and I have to put it as a great unknown line (number 12 if you are counting) before going any further. I will also put here a disclaimer: I have no interest here about "real hauntings", which I don't believe in. This post is about the haunted houses of folklore and literature.

I am reading ghost stories these days and it got me thinking about the haunted house as a theme and a dramatic setting. Ghost stories are probably more often set in houses, however old, than in ancient castles. There are a number of theories about this: both haunters and haunted can be perceived as intruders, stories are scarier when a familiar, seemingly secure environment reveals a malevolent presence, etc. If you are into literary analysis, you can can read the introduction of The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories by Michael Newton: there is a good part of the text that reflects about the significance of haunted houses. I have my own theories about them: for authors and readers, everyday life must have felt sometimes opressive and because of its very banality threatening. Having ghosts invade familiar environment could have been a way to introduce through fiction ecitement in the desperately boring nature of the life of ordinary people.  The same motivation might be at the basis of many claims of real hauntings: you appear more heroic if you said you struggled against the Forces of Darkness than if you tell your investment in a house was a poor decision.

There is a problem with haunted houses as a setting: when things start getting ugly, why wouldn't the tenants leave? The threatening environment is limited to a closed space. Writers have to be inventive to keep their characters in the place: the house is in a secluded area and blocked from external help, or the characters want to be there to see for themselves if the house is haunted, or something of the sort. I often wonder how I would deal with haunted houses if I ever decide to write a horror story. I dabbled with the plot device when I was playing Call of Cthulhu, but not all that much. During my days in Liverpool, I dreamt of turning the house I was living in in a haunted house in a short story. I had the perfect setting, sadly no plot ever came to my mind. Maybe one day I will give it proper thoughts. This post is a start.

Waiting for Autumnwatch

People might think I am of a one track mind these days, but there you go. According to this post on Autumnwatch's blog, the new season of Autumnwatch will start in early October. I can barely wait. I think it should start earlier, more like in mid-September, but this is much better than in 2007 when it started in November, way too late in the season. I have mentioned before how much I love this show. I am looking forward to it and find evenings a bit boring now.

The picture here was taken in the Keswick Museum. I love foxes, especially red foxes like this one. One of the first things I noticed about this country is the proximity of the foxes with human population, as I saw many foxes prowling the back garden of our university residences. I didn't complain. For me they are one of those animals that perfectly represent autumn. In this case, because of its fiery red colour. It was great that the museum encouraged us to touch the animal! Anyway, since the fox is often featured in Autumnwatch and because of its association with the season, I have decided to put it here.

Un furet

Cette photo a été prise au Keswick Museum. J'ai déjà blogué sur les furets, ayant une certaine fascination pour la créature, fascination provoquée par une chanson enfantine. Ce furet-ci a été empaillée, mais j'ai décidé de mettre sa photo ici, parce qu'on voit mieux l'animal que sur les photos prises sur mon premier billet sur le sujet. On a beau dire, les sujets morts sont plus faciles à photographier que les sujets vivants. La taxidermie a quand même du bon. Le furet de la photo a une belle couleur rousse qui lui donne un air bien automnal, raison de plus pour le mettre ici en cette saison. Il colore le blogue et il est tout à fait saisonnier.

Ghostly owls

This is a (poor) picture of some owls taken in the Keswick Museum. I was waiting for an opportunity to post it here and one of my recent posts gave it to me. This post is a kind of followup.

So I took a picture of those stuffed owls at the Keswick Museum. Bad picture, but it still captures their ghostly appearances. Add to this their gloomy cry, their nocturnal and elusive nature, their swiftness, the fact that are hunters and that they are fond of empty barns and you have a bird of prey at the basis of many stories of haunted places. I have a growing interest for them that is turning into fascination. I read about barn owls (which I believe is the owl you can see on the picture) in the Springwatch and Autumnwatch Guide and I am going to read more. Funny that the animal at the origins of so many superstitions is in fact the results of many years of evolution, which created the characteristics that turned it into a ghost in people's perception.

Oh, and there is another "ghost" on this picture: you can of course see my reflection in the glass.

Compter les heures

Cette photo a été prise à Keswick, je crois que c'était au Pencil Museum. Une des choses que j'aimais de cette ville (ce village?), c'était son originalité. Je sais que j'ai déjà utilisé ce titre pour un autre billet, mais il me faut le réutiliser aujourd'hui. Enfin, je m'ennuie un peu ces temps-ci alors je compte un peu les heures jusqu'à ce que quelque chose d'excitant arrive (ce qui ne saurait tarder, mais je n'en dis pas plus pour établir un certain suspense).

Enfant, il m'arrivait souvent ainsi de m'ennuyer dans le quotidien, que ce soit durant l'année scolaire, quand elle ne finissait plus, ou en vacances, quand elles étaient sur le point de terminer. J'avais inventé avec mes petits frères un "entre-jeu", où l'on jouait les personnages de nos jeux d'enfance (les policiers, les agents secrets, les chasseurs de vampires, etc) alors qu'ils n'étaient pas en train de faire des tâches héroïques. C'était une façon intéressante de donner de la dimension à nos personnages imaginaires, ainsi qu'une vie propre, presque parallèle à la nôtre. On a continué cela jusqu'à l'âge adulte, en un sens, lorsque l'on discutait de notre campagne à Donjons & Dragons ou à Call of Chtulhu. Même maintenant, quand je trouve la journée monotone, j'essaie de trouver des idées pour nos jeux de rôles ou je pense à des histoires que j'espère écrire un jour. Je ne sais pas si ça fait de moi un Don Quichotte ou un geek fini.

Evening shadows

This is a picture of Keswick, I put it here because I am shamelessly using my last holidays' pictures and because it is a beautiful one that fits the topic.

We went for a walk yesterday, my wife and I. We take evening walks more and more these days. We walked around the little streets we seldom use and looked for places we had not seen in a while. It was superb. The dying lights of the day, the growing evening shadows, it was beautiful and eerie. And we even had a fluffy cat to stroke (now that is a bonus here when you walk: there are plenty of friendly cats). Pure happiness. The surroundings here are not nearly as spectacular as in Keswick, but the evenings make up for it.

Il me manque un manteau

Il m'est (re)venu une chose à l'esprit aujourd'hui, alors qu'une pluie fine mais constante finit par me tremper un peu trop pour que je sois confortable dans le manteau d'été que je porte: je n'ai plus ici de manteau fait pour les températures plus difficiles. J'ai un manteau d'été correct, mais j'ai deux manteaux d'automne/hiver qui ont tous deux connus des jours meilleurs. Un Timberland qui est en très mauvais état, qui ne me couvre pas assez l'hiver et qui est tellement épais qu'il donne l'impression que je porte un gilet pare-balles en dessous, un autre que j'ai acheté à Liverpool et qui est le journées d'automne... tant qu'il ne pleut pas à verse.

Parfois je me demande si je ne me considèrerai pas confortablement installé dans mon pays d'adoption qu'une fois j'aurai rapatrié (ou expatrié?) mon Kanuk. Cela dit, une fois il me faudrait encore un bon manteau d'automne. Reste à le trouver. Le pire, c'est que je crois que j'ai manqué ma chance: lors de notre voyage au Lauke District, il y avait treize magasins de plein air à la douzaine à Keswick où nous résidions, tous vendant des manteaux à prix réduits. . Et c'est l'endroit parfait pour trouver le bon manteau: la région a un climat particulièrement ingrat, rarement chaud même l'été et prompt aux caprices de la température.

Je n'ai jamais consacré le temps qu'il aurait fallu, un bon après-midi à me trouver un manteau chaud et qui tient au sec. En vacances, on pense assez peu à se préparer à ce qui nous attend dans quelques mois. C'était une erreur. La photo plus haut est celle de George Fisher, un magasin plein de charme avec une tea room au deuxième étage. Je n'ai vraiment aucune excuse pour ne rien avoir acheté. Si d'habitude le magasinage de linge m'ennuie au plus haut point, j'ai rarement eu l'occasion d'acheter des vêtements dans un environnement qui a autant de cachet.

Geeks, nerds et autres espèces humaines

Je viens de lire cet article dans Cyberpresse sur les geeks. Une question qui me revient parfois: suis-je un peu geek, voire nerd? Une anecdote à ce sujet: mon petit frère et moi, on regardait nos nombreuses cartes de Donjons et Dragons étalées par terre, avec les différents royaumes, humains, nains ou elfiques, les lieux mystérieux et sacrés inventés, on discutait des lieux et du meilleur endroit pour cacher un artefact (le centre de notre présente campagne) quand il dit, du ton d'un homme qui vient d'avoir une épiphanie: "Guillaume, on est des nerds!"

Je sais qu'il y a une différence entre nerd et geek, mais je n'ai jamais eu l'intention de devenir l'un ou l'autre, pourtant j'en ai certaines caractéristiques: je suis souvent socialement inepte, je m'intéresse à des sujets les geeks/nerds (D&Dr, James Bond, les vieilles séries télé, il fut même un temps où je regardais Star Trek, c'est dire) et je ne suis pas sportif. Ca m'angoisse un peu rien que d'y penser.

Ah oui, la photo a été prise au Bond Museum à Keswick, c'est la reproduction du tank dragon que l'on voit dans Dr No. J'ai traîné ma femme là. J'ai été déçu du musée, mais il est la preuve qu'on peut être un geek fini et en faire une occupation profitable.

Living in an atmospheric town

Before I start, a disclaimer: this is a picture of Keswick, not of the town we live in, or anywhere nearby. I was walking in town recently (I seem to be doing that often these days), which of course made me thoughtful. The town I live in is not half as bad as sometimes I thought it was, when I was bitter and unemployed. Now it is a bit of a haven for many reasons. I feel home here, maybe not quite when I wanted to end up at first, but I warmed up to it.

It is certainly a pretty, picturesque town, at least in some areas. Not nearly as much as some towns we saw on holidays here and abroad, but it is still pretty. Back in 2008, when I was bitter and unemployed, my wife and I considered moving, closer to her working place. Since I had plenty of time and I found the place a bit claustrophobic, I was the one going around visiting flats. We decided to stay, partially because we didn't find any apartment that was better than our lovely attic, but it was also because the towns around were a bit bland. I didn't see it like this then, but we live in a place full of charm. In the end, we decided to stay.

When I first came here for an interview for that job I ended up getting, losing and hence hating (although I don't think I ever liked it), I loved the town badly. It was early October (I am easily charmed in October), the colours were magnificent, I was feeling confident about the position, before and after the interview, everything seemed right here. I do not have this idealised vision anymore, but since we see that we are likely to move I find it more attractive, akin to how I saw it the first time. I hope we will stay long enough to see it in October.