Heat in Isola

I know I'm blogging a lot about Ed McBain's 87th Precinct crime novel series these days, as I am reading the books in order of publication (as much as possible). But it struck me that one novel would be very fitting for this summer, either this heatwave or the next. I blogged about Heat back in July 2024, more specifically about a grossly lying cover on its French translation. I hate heatwaves, but they are more bearable when I read seasonal crime fiction. It makes me hate the heat more, ironically enough. But hey, it's not the only novel of McBain set in summertime. He seemed to consider sunshine as evil as I do (see this post). But hey, if you are looking for summertime crime fiction, you can't go wrong with Ed McBain.

9/11... again

I always commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. I am doing it this year again with this post, although I don't write long posts about it. From my thoughts and memories about it, read this post from 2008 and that post from 2009. However, I will say one of thing of what happened in the USA since. On the 11th of September 2001, democracy in the West and in the USA in particular was attacked. Islamic fundamentalism showed its ugly nihilistic head. Sadly, nowadays democracy in the US is falling apart, not because of an alien force of Islamifascists, like almost a quarter of of a century ago, but because of the Xian fascists who took power. So yeah, I am feeling a tad cynical and gloomy today, thinking about it.

To revisit Isola

 "The city in these pages is imaginary. The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory technique."

 No, no, this post's title is not referring to our next holiday destination. I'm referring to the setting of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. Isola is imaginary, but it's a stand-in for Manhattan, the imaginary city being a thinly disguised New York. In August last year, I was lamenting that I hadn't read McBain since 2021. It hasn't changed, in fact I didn't even buy a new book from the crime fiction series. I want 2025 to be different, but I have a lot of books on my TBR list and I am reading very slowly. That said, I still hope to find time to slip one title or two from the 87th somewhere in the coming months, after I finish the next two or three unread  books on my shelves. I mostly read crime fiction until August anyway, so I think I can find the opportunity.

Fragments of 9/11

 Today is the anniversary of 9/11. I always commemorate it on the blog.I once used to blog about deeper stuff, when I started blogging in fact, and I gave this date a lot of thoughts back in the days, As you can read in this post from 2008 and that post from 2009. In the latter, I said that I remembered the most trivial thing about it. What I ate that evening for instance: shepherd's pie, or pâté chinois as we call it, with beetroots on the side, and a chocolate cake for dessert, which my mum made as a goodbye treat because I was going back to England a week or two later. I remember reading the morning newspapers and just stopping, because it felt absurd to read old news. I went to the bar that night, but did not get drunk. I discussed this with my wife a few days ago: she was then living at her parents' house, she had walked the family dog and in the park where she walked, she saw people doing tai chi, which she thought was a strange activity to do in a park. Then she walked home and she learned the news. That night, she thought that if the terrorist attack had not happened, she would have thought the 11th of September 2001 to be a day like just any other. Now she remembers these people doing tai chi. And I find it strange and a little bit eerie that for so many people this date in history has been crystallised like this, with every single trivial detail of their day forever in their memory.

87th Precinct, Isola

 "The city in these pages is imaginary. The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory technique."

 Amateurs of crime fiction identified this quote easily: it is the disclaimer placed before the start of every novel from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. I first discovered them translated in French, before switching to original English. Heat was the last one I read translated, suring the summer of 2006. Fittingly enough, I read it all during a heatwave, just like in the book. Before I go any further, I recommend it for a summer read, especially when it's hot outside. I still have my copy, this copy. And you can find on it a glaring mistake: the promotional paper slip says: "N.Y.P.D 87e District". I mean... what? It says in the book that the unnamed city is imaginary. Yes, it is a thinly disguised New York, Isola being Manhattan, but it's sitll not New York. I don't want to be pedantic, but surely every fan of the series worth his salt knows that by now.

About New York

 My brother PJ is taking some holidays in New York. He is going today. When I spoke to him last night, it struck me that I have yet to visit the USA, which is a shame. And that of all the places in the US I would love to see, New York is... not on the top of my list. I am not certain why. I have a housemate back at uni who was from there and he was a great guy. Actually, I met a few Americans from New York and they all seemed really nice. I enjoy a lot of movies and TV shows set there. I think maybe that's why, actually: New York has been featured in so many films, so many TV series, so many novels, so many everything, it does not feel new or exotic. It's like I am afraid I would be disappointed, or underwhelmed, if I was to take holidays there. Nevertheless, there is one place I want to go to that is in New York. But that is for another post.

9/11 and now

Today is the 22nd anniversary of 9/11. I have not forgotten. I will try to remain short, as I often blogged about it and I don't know if I can add all that much to what I have already said in the past. For my observations about this fateful day, please read this post from 2008 and this one from 2009. They are still the posts I am most proud of in all my years of blogging. Otherwise, there might be one thing that is worth adding: I find it tragic and often infuriating that nowadays, the United States is struggling with another sort of religious fundamentalism, not islamist this time, bu Christian, and that it brought its own homegrown domestic terrorism. Because I challenge anyone to tell me what is the intrinsic difference between a a MAGA supporter and/or a Christian fundie and an Islamist. No, cosmetic differences don't count.

9/11

I almost forgot that today is the 21th anniversary of 9/11.  I will be brief this year, or at least I hope to be. Read this post from 2008 and this one from 2009. They are from a long time ago, when I was much younger, nevertheless I am still very proud of them and I consider them my best posts. Youcan also read my posts from 2011, 2012 and 2013. As for my current state of mind, you can read my post from 2021. Sometimes I wished we still lived in the nineties.

The Shark of East Hampton, NY

We went on a day out a few days ago and parked in a public parking next to a truck. I think it was a Range Rover, I might be wrong. On this vehicle there were two stickers, including this one, which caught my attention. The car was British, but obviously they have been to East Hampton in the state of New York. I have never been to East Hampton or heard about East Hampton before. Of course what caught my attention was the shark. Apparently there's been shark sighting there in the recent past. I am not sure why, but I find all this fascinating: now I know of a place in the US I have never heard of or noticed before and I also a bit of local news. All this because we parked next to a car that had this.

9/11, 20 years after

Today is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The terrorist act that truly kickstarted the century and the millenium. Our share of Apocalypse, so to speak. For my own experience and my reflection on 9/11, I recommend that you read this post from 2008 and this one from 2009. In my years of blogging, they are the posts I am most proud about. I am thinking about twenty years ago and I am worried about how things might turn out in the future, because I feel like little has been done. I'm glad Bin Laden got killed, but Islamofascism is still very storng indeed. Maybe worse, in the US they are stuck with their own brand of talibans in the guise of Christian fundamentalism. Now these fundies existed before 9/11, but they grew stronger due to the attacks of twenty yers ago. So yes, I'm worried and disappointed about the human race.

N.Y. Chase (Mr X in New York)

My readers know that one of my favourite board games is Scotland Yard, which features the Met against the mysterious and elusive criminal Mr X. The stock villain fascinated me as a child. Now I found out years later Scotland Yard had a number of sequels (can we say sequel when it comes to board games?), among them N.Y. Chase, where Mr X goes to New York. I must say I am quite curious about it, but I am skeptical. I've read in a number of reviews that the game is too easy for the detectives, who can use road blocks and other means. Mr X becomes a trivial fugitive, not the master criminal I always imagined him to be. Also, if you change settings, you also change dramatically the atmosphere of the game. The original channels on old English crime fiction, a certain nostalgia in a city that is still for many timeless and exotic. You kind of lose this if you switch London to New York. All the same, I am curious about it.

Another year of 9/11

It is a sad anniversary, but every year I commemorate it on Vraie Fiction. So it is the 19th anniversary of 9/11. I have very little to say apart from mentioning it, and as usual poiting you to my post of the previous years: from 2008 and from 2009 especially as I am very proud of them. My posts from 2011, 2012 and 2013 you may also find appropriate to read today. In a year of pandemic, a few (some who were too young then perhaps?) may find the actions of the terrorists almost trivial in scope, but let's not forget that the vicious murder of so many innocent lives to religious fanaticism is also the symptom of a disease that is still sadly a threat to us all.

18 years of 9/11

Today is the 18th anniversary of 9/11. When the new century in which we live in truly started, in blood, fire and death and history was made and more importantly lived. I will not say that I remember it like it was yesterday, that would be a cliché, but I do remember it vividly. I guess it is difficult to avoid commonplaces when one talks of such event. For my own experience and my reflection on 9/11, please read this post from 2008 and this one from 2009. They are the posts I am most proud of of all my years as a blogger. Talking of years, 18 is, in man's age, the one when he reaches maturity. I know at least one child the daughter of my friends (the big sister of my godson), who was born late in August and was actually on the 11th of September. Strange to think of her as an adult, stranger to think of her as having spent the first weeks of her life among the chaos and horror of that time. Thankfully and of course, she was oblivious to it. And on a sadder note, I don't think we matured much as a species, if at all, since the 11th of September 2011.

9/11

I hope I am not the only one who remembered the date today, although I must confess, after seventeen years, while the memory is very vivid, I have little to say apart from the fact that I remember it like it was yesterday. In the end, talking of your memories of that day end up like spouting clichés. I always commemorate the date on Vraie Fiction. Please read my posts from 2008 and 2009, which I consider among the best blog posts I ever published. I have nothing more to say about this.

Une meute d'enfants

Photo prise dans le Derbyshire, utilisée ici comme d'habitude afin d'illustrer mon propos. Je ne sais plus quel est l'artiste, mais je sais que c'est supposé représenter New York. Moi, je trouve que ça représenterait plutôt bien un endroit envahi par de jeunes enfants. Nous en avons fait l'expérience aujourd'hui, lorsque nous avons reçu la visite de deux amies de ma femme avec leur marmaille respective. L'une en a deux, l'autre trois. Deux garçons, trois filles, avec petit loup comme troisième garçon, six enfants, de presque sept ans à neuf-dix mois environ. Le salon avait l'air d'un champ de bataille. En plus, l'une a été malade, ce fut la joie, mais on a eu bien du plaisir malgré tout. Quand même, on dirait vraiment une meute d'anarchistes.

Who else remembers?

It seems that everybody forgot, from what I can tell from my news feed. Well, I did not, even though I did not think all that much about it. Maybe now that we live in constant fear of Islamist terrorism, 9/11 seems rather tame, maybe grief softens when crime becomes history. This year again, I will invite my readers to read what I wrote in 2008 and 2009. I am quite proud of these posts.

Pink Drink

As my readership knows since last year (if they read this blog for that long) I sometimes treat myself at work with the pseudo fruit juice that is Snapple. It is an artificial mess of a juice drink that only the Yanks can create (born in New York says the label), but that is not quite the point of this post. Or maybe it is. Anyway, last time I bought Snapple with my lunch, there was no Fruit Punch (which tastes neither fruity nor punchy) so I had the Kiwi Strawberry. Now, I've had kiwi strawberry juice and smoothies before and I can tell you: it does not look or tastes like the Snapple version at all. The Snapple version, in fact, tastes as pink as it looks. And can you imagine what a pink drink tastes like? Well, it tastes like this. So I have no idea why I buy this. It is fake and kind of vile and it is nothing like it says on the label. Maybe because I like the trivial facts you can read on the lid (the "real facts"), but they get old. Moral of the story: I really obsess about stupid things sometimes.

Snapple trivia

Sometimes at lunch time, I buy myself a Snapple drink, usually a fruit punch. It's probably just as bad as a cola, but I feel less guilty drinking that than a cola. Apparently, it says on the label that it is born in New York, but available everywhere in the world, or something like that. But what I like about Snapple is not the juice, which is more like a sort of juicy drink that tastes of colours more than any fruits, but the "real facts", bunch of trivial information about various topics: you cannot tickle yourself, plants can have a fever just like humans when sick, fish can drown too, etc. When one has a few minutes to waste during lunchtime, this is always fun to read. Moral of the story: I am easily amused.

The date today...

I don't know why, but I feel like it's only me today who remembered it was the anniversary of 9/11. Among my friends, colleagues and acquaintances that is. There has been no mention of it at work, on my Facebook page, or barely anything. As if it was a distant memory. I will not blog about it for long, but I invite my readers to check my post from 2008 and 2009. These were two of the blog posts I was most proud of, since I have started blogging. So here it is for this year's anniversary. I am sure there must be report of commemoration on the news. I know have not forgotten.

Renversant (la photo du mois)

Le thème a été choisi par Carole en Australie. Passablement plus facile que le mois précédent. Alors enfin donc et bref, j'ai choisi cette photo, prise dans le Derbyshire. Si je me rappelle bien, c'est supposé représenter New York. rien qu'à cause de ses courbes et de son énergie, c'est dans tous les cas assez renversant, merci.

Et vous trouverez plus bas comment les autres ont été renversés:

A'icha, Akaieric, Alban, Alexinparis, Arwen, Aude, Autour de Cia, BiGBuGS, Blogoth67, Calamonique, Canaghanette, Cara, Carole en Australie, Champagne, Chat bleu, Christophe, Cocazzz, Cricriyom from Paris, CécileP, Céline in Paris, Dame Skarlette, DelphineF, Dom-Aufildesvues, Dr. CaSo, El Padawan, Estelle, Eva INside-EXpat, Fanfan Raccoon, François le Niçois, Frédéric, Galéa, Gilsoub, Giselle 43, Guillaume, Homeos-tasie, Iris, J'habite à Waterford, Josette, Julia, Kenza, KK-huète En Bretannie, Koalisa, Krn, La Fille de l'Air, Lau* des montagnes, Laulinea, Laurent Nicolas, Lavandine, Lavandine83, Les bonheurs d'Anne & Alex, Les Filles du Web, Loqman, Loulou, Luckasetmoi, Lyonelk, magda627, Mamysoren, MauriceMonAmour, Memories from anywhere, Milla la galerie, Morgane Byloos Photography, Nanouk, Nicky, Noz & 'Lo, Philae, Philisine Cave, Pilisi, Pixeline, princesse Emalia, Renepaulhenry, Rosa, Rythme Indigo, Sinuaisons, Suki, Testinaute, Thalie, Tuxana, Un jour, une vie, Woocares, Xelou, Xoliv'.