Old and new

I am writing this as an afterthought to this post and maybe you will find contradictory what you are about to read. To illustrate the comment I am going to make, I just thought I would put first this picture of the glass pyramid inside the Louvre museum. It illustrates the counter-argument, or at least counterpoint of what I was saying then. Indeed, new constructions, and definitely modern looking ones, can stand with new ones in perfect harmony and almost if the old had been made to mix with the new.

Back in another life, I used to teach French around Montreal in various businesses. Some companies were based in old factories, warehouses and what have you, and were mixing elements of old architecture and new things build on it. It was often strange to see the marriage of ultra modern offices and old buildings, but somehow it often worked. I don't know how people who were working there from 9 to 5 were feeling about these places, but it did make my job more enjoyable.

Boisson d'avril

Je ne connais presque rien du groupe Groovy Aardvark, mais je ne sais pas pourquoi, j'ai toujours aimé cette chanson et puisqu'on sera le premier avril demain, autant la mettre ici. Elle me rappelle bien des soirées arrosées et c'est une excellente musique de fond pour les beuveries:

A long, dark night

Yesterday, we got a complete blackout from 5:00PM(ish) to the early hours of the morning. I got the title for this post from the neighbour, who came to warn us to "be prepared for a long dark night". So that was a major blackout. Of course I have known major blackouts in my life, sometimes in spectacular circumstances (like this one or that one). But one never gets used to extended ones like the one we just had.

Of course, when it happens, it is an inconvenience that illustrates how much we are dependent on technology. That said, it was not totally devoid of charm. We were lucky enough to have plenty of candles and it proved quite useful: we could lit the room and it gave us just enough light to read a bit. Of course, the mix of shadows and candlelight made the flat very atmospheric. The blackout also made us (re)discover the neighbours and appreciate them. Strange that it is easier to start a conversation when you share the same problems. So the long, dark night was not all bad. That said, we sure could do without another one.

Le corbillard

C'est la Semaine Sainte depuis hier, et l'incroyant que je suis tient tout de même à le souligner. Depuis hier la semaine ont une ambiance mortelle appropriée à cette semaine qui mène au Vendredi Saint (où je jeûnerai aux bagels et saumon fumé, tu parles d'un sacrifice): il a plu des cordes et il fait frais. Je pensais mettre de la musique sacrée, mais une petite anecdote m'a mis une chanson de Georges Brassens en tête. En effet, j'ai en effet vu un corbillard sur le chemin du retour. Un grand véhicule noir, avec le cercueil bien visible et fleurs ostentatoires et croquemorts portant chapeaux haut-de-forme. J'ai pensé aux Funérailles d'antan. Je dois admettre que les hauts-de-forme donnent un certain décorum à la funéraille, voire un charme certain. J'ai ressenti une ombre de culpabilité à trouver charmant ce qui pour beaucoup doit être un spectacle d'une tristesse immense, mais j'ai quand même la chanson de Brassens en tête. Enfin, puisque l'on va célébrer la mort-résurrection putative d'un prophète juif, une chanson sur les funérailles colle assez bien à la semaine.

Old buildings

This is an outdoor picture of the pub we visited a month ago. I love old buildings, whether they are pubs like this one, churches, houses (like the Victorian house I was sharing in Liverpool), or simply new businesses in an ancient place. I thought about it yesterday when I was walking around, that this is something I really appreciate about Europe in general and England in particular: they have plenty of old places, old buildings, old architecture, wherever you are. In America, you don't have that feeling of walking with history just by looking at the architecture around you. A century old house is almost an antiquity and often out of price, or it is crumbling and about to be demolished. Architectural patrimony is a relatively new concept to the new world, while in the old one it is integrated in the psyche. This is the feeling I had when I walked around anyway.

I guess this wide eyed, naïve attitude I have towards European architecture betrays my status of outsider. And since I know nothing about architecture and its history, these observations are the ones of a complete amateur, most likely full of clichés and false perceptions. When I go back to Québec and spend time in Montreal and Quebec City, I will look around for old buildings (might be easier in Quebec City), see if I am more perceptiver to their presence.

Compter les heures

Bon, cette photo date de notre voyage à Vancoooouver, c'est une horloge à vapeur, elle n'a donc rien à voir avec le Québec, mais je la mets ici 1)parce que j'aime bien mettre de jolies photos de temps en temps, ça brise la monotonie, 2)parce que j'aime bien l'horloge en question (les vielles horloges en général, en fait) et (surtout) 3)parce que ça reflète bien mon état d'esprit. Nous allons au Québec bientôt, ma femme et moi, et comme à chaque retour au bercail, surtout quand celui-ci devient imminent, je commence à m'impatienter et compter les heures. Ca me fera du bien de changer d'air. Surtout que ce sera l'air du pays. Alors plus le jour approche, plus le temps me semble long, même si j'ai de quoi me tenir occupé. Et là je dis des banalités.

Addendum: L'introduction de ce billet est peut-être plus longue que le reste.

An aria for this melancholic day

Well, we have today a rainy, even stormy day, the first storm of the spring, with lightning and all. I find it better than late snow. I was wondering what music to put on this blog for such circumstances. I don't want to put Vivaldi's spring here, that would be too obvious. Easter is coming soon and I guess something out of Mozart's requiem could be fine for a gloomy weather, but I put on this blog my share of sacred music in the past. Then I thought: why not some Handel? Two days ago, it was the anniversary of his Messiah, which would certainly suits the coming Easter (at least as much as it does Christmas, the holidays which it is usually associated with), but I want something profane. So I am putting here the aria from his opera Rinaldo, Laschia ch'io pianga, maybe its most famous aria.

I have first heard the aria in a scene(which you can see here on Youtube) from the movie Farinelli, a musical melodrama based on the life of the castrato. A very good scene from a not quite great but underrated movie. But maybe I am easily impressed when it comes to opera. Nothing beats Amadeus, however Farinelli was quite watchable. I loved the aria then, I love it even more now that I can understand it. It has a beautiful melancholic feel to it, perfect for gloomy days. It is here interpreted by Danielle de Niese, who I think sings Handel beautifully:

Le gros bon sens?

Michèle Ouimet chronique aujourd'hui sur les nouvelles mesures du gouvernement Charest concernant les accomodements raisonnables. Elle a des réserves, mais titre son article "Enfin, le gros bon sens". Il aurait dû s'appeler "Le moins qu'ils puissent faire". Je suis content qu'on interdise le voile intégral dans les institutions publiques et je suis en profond désaccord avec Michèle Ouimet quand elle dit qu'il y aurait fallu des exceptions pour les cours de francisation, sous prétexte d'intégration. À ce degré-là d'intégrisme, l'intégration est impossible sans fermeté et rigueur de la part de la société d'accueil. Il semblerait que Michèle Ouimet ait accepté les niaiseries dévôtes de Naema. Déplorable. Cela dit, elle a raison de dire que l'interdit de symboles religieux devraient être amenés chez les juges et les policiers. Pour ma part, j'étendrais cela aux membres de la fonction publique et aux enseignants. On ne peut clamer que l'état est laïque et permettre à ses représentants de porter un signe religieux, quel qu'il soit. André Pratte croit que ça fait de moi un "tenant d'une laïcité pure et dure", je crois plutôt que c'est le signe de laïcité rigoureuse. Laisser un fonctionnaire porter un symbole religieux, c'est encourager tacitement une croyance.

Ah oui, et pas tout à fait dans le même ordre d'idées, mais un peu tout de même, je recommande la lecture de cet éditorial de Mario Roy sur le projet de loi irlandais sur le blasphème (je vous jure) et sur la résolution onusienne condamnant la "diffamation des religions". Ce sont de dangereux projetts qui cautionneront l'intégrisme religieux, tout en menaçant sérieusement la liberté d'expression. Ici aussi, le gros bon sens semble disparaître pour accommoder toutes le susceptibilités. Ici encore, la fermeté et la rigueur devraient être de mise.

Musing on spring, again

Yes, I am blogging often about spring these days. I seem to be lacking inspiration for anything else. Anyway, I was wrong, today was lovely, warm and everything. So long for gloom and doom. Until tomorrow, that is, when it is supposed to get rainy.

Spring is not my favourite season, for various reasons. The temperature changes too much, for one. The same thing happens in autumn (my favourite season), but then nature takes a fiery beauty. It is never as beautiful as when it is dying. During springtime, it often looks just as bare as in winter, except without the snow, and well, it smells. Spring stinks. So does autumn sometimes, but spring more so. All the rotting, mouldy things that were frozen or buried in the snow get out again. I have to admit that here it is not as bad as in Québec, as not as much junk gets buried in this generally much milder temperature.

Spring has some nice things going for it: Easter and my birthday, mainly, and of course some memories related to the season and those two events, which I will spare you for now. But on the whole, I consider spring to be a long rehearsal before summer.

Question existentielle (4)

Il fait un temps splendide aujourd'hui, alors qu'hier c'était gris et pluvieux. Le printemps a des humeurs changeantes. Ce qui m'amène donc à poser ma quatrième question existentielle:

-Que porter en avril?

Gloom and doom

I was right to say that March is a treacherous month. After a week of nice weather and a first day of the spring absolutely idyllic, it is now rainy, cold (well, the rain makes it cold), and dark. So it is now gloom and doom, weather-wise at least.

Des heures de plaisir en perspective

Ma mère m'a demandé récemment de mettre de l'ordre dans ma bibliothèque lors de mon prochain séjour au Québec. Elle me fait la même requête à chaque fois. Étant donné la surcharge de bouquins, ça risque de prendre un peu de temps. Il me faudra classer ceux à garder, ceux à donner (assez peu je le crois) et ceux à ramener avec moi, ce qui ne plaira pas à ma femme, puisque notre bibliothèque ici est déjà surchargée. D'habitude, ma mère essaie de convaincre de m'y mettre en me disant que ça sera une partie de plaisir si je prends une bonne bière en même temps. Il m'en faudra plus qu'une, je le crains.

Beefing up the blogroll, at last

As I have been an avid follower of various blogs since I started blogging myself, I thought it was about time that I beefed up the blog roll to your right. I hope I did not forget any of them. I hope I did not forget anyone. I already mentioned a few of them recently, I will point out to some of the others. So you now have here:

-The Atheist Experience. I follow the blog and the show assiduously, I became one of their fans through Youtube. Pretty busy blogs as many people post on it.
-Ariane Sherine's blog, the one who started the Atheist Bus Campaign. She blogs only sporadically.
-L'Étrange cas du Baron Luisant. If you can read French and like old serials, this one is for you. It's a brilliant pastiche from an old friend of mine.
-Leigh Russell's blog. Leigh actually found this blog before I found hers. She also happens to be a published author of crime fiction novels, so I was very flattered that she comments here.
-Nuts and Reasons. Another atheist/humanist/secularist blog.
-Mozart's Girl's blog. There are never too many Mozart fans around.
-Orange and Black, mainly about Halloween.

I hope I am not forgetting anyone. Some random observations about the :

-The French content is distressingly low, only one of the new blogs is in French. Just like for my own blog (mea culpa), which is a shame as it is called Vraie Fiction. I think it is the result of me living in English for most of my life. English language has a power of attraction that I cannot avoid.
-Just like the way I blog, the way I follow blog is pretty anarchic: there are no central themes or topics to the group of blogs I follow, some are about atheism/humanism, others are about a very specific holiday or about various arts.
-I started blogging to and for my family and close friends, but it quickly extended. I sitll have a very modest readership (although I did receive some attention from time to time), yet I really feel part of the blogging world.

Premier jour du printemps

C'est officiellement le premier jour du printemps aujourd'hui, je m'en suis à peine aperçu. C'est parce que la température est printannière depuis à peu près une semaine, mars ayant des allures d'avril. Nous en avons profité, ma femme et moi, avec la belle-mère, la belle-soeur et le conjoint de celle-ci. Nous avons été chanceux avec le beau temps.

L'arrivée du printemps annonce une série de choses: ce sera ma fête dans un mois (il y a autant de chances que la température soit horrible ou superbe), Pâques arrive à plus ou moins brève échéance, c'est le temps des sucres au Québec (et cette année ma femme en fera l'expérience pour la première fois), changement de régime (enfin j'essaie de manger plus léger), changement d'habitudes de lecture (j'essaie de lire "saisonnier" et j'espère bientôt pouvoir lire dehors), etc.

Bon, je suis sans doute en train de bloguer des banalités présentement. Mais étant un homme saisonnier (ma femme me l'a refait remarquer aujourd'hui), je ne pouvais pas passer l'arrivée du printemps sous silence.

Treacherous March

I said it before before: March is a treacherous month. This week, we had very sunny weather and very nice temperature. It was comfortably warm like springtime should be, yet we are still technically winter. I hope we will not have weather worthy of winter when we should be in the spring. The last two days have been rainy, but still very warm, therefore bearable.

I don't trust March. Hey, it's named after the Roman god of War and since it is a month quick to sudden weather changes, it deserves the name completely. I suspect that it was nasty weather that got in the head of the murderers of Julius Caesar. He was assassinated in March and he was wisely warned to beware of the Ides of March.

Il était temps!

Je viens de lire le Manifeste pour un Québec laïque et pluraliste. Il était temps. C'est peut-être le meilleur texte sur les récentes controverses de la place de la religion dans l'espace public québécois. Et je ne suis pas surpris de trouver mon héroïne parmi les signataires.

The Southern accent of a Northerner

Today, I had a conversation about a possible future job for me. It is very hypothetical right now, but anyway, the agent, who was Italian, asked me if I knew any other languages apart from French and English. I told her the usual line, to which she replied, in Italian: "You say you don't understand a word, yet you speak with a Southern accent." As I said then, the smallest thing can make my day. I was happy not only to see that I could have the accent of a native, but that I could understand what she was saying. It is also funny that it appears that I am a Northerner everywhere except in Italy.

Coïncidence musicale?

Je me le demande depuis mon billet d'hier: est-ce que les chansons À la pêche aux moules, que j'ai brièvement mentionnée ici, et I'll Tell Me Ma ne sont pas un peu liées. Les deux ont pour protagoniste une fille qui se fait harceler par des hommes sans comprendre pourquoi, les deux parlent de l'éveil à l'amour et de l'adolescence, les deux ont disons-le certains sous-entendus pas si sous-entendus, etc. Bon, peut-être que je vois trop de métaphores quand il n'y en a pas. Parlant de moules, il y en a aussi dans Molly Malone. Autre coïncidence?

Lovely day for a Guinness

Yes, yes, I used that picture before, but who cares? It's Saint-Patrick's Day and it is indeed a lovely day for a Guinness. And it is also my favourite Guinness advert ever, the still ones at least. Happy Patty's Day to everyone.

Between the beginning of this post and now, I had time to drink two Guinness and had a bit of Irish stew (so long for Lent and fasting), courtesy of the landlady of the local Irish pub (almost empty, sadly, but I guess tonight is the big night). So I am writing this not quite sober. Anyway, it is time to celebrate, so will put here two Irish songs. I'll Tell Me Ma I first heard in Liverpool on Saint-Patrick's Day and I fell in love with it, I still don't know why. On the Bank of the Roses I only discovered recently, but it is the same thing, I just love it. Both songs are here interpreted by the Dubliners:

Cooking blogs

I am not a big follower of cooking blogs, as I think they are too often virtual catalogues with some nice photographs. That said, there are some that I really love and follow eagerly, as they manage to be quite inventive in this often very unimanginative format. Notice that I use the word "cooking blog" very liberally, as these blogs often are not exclusively about cooking. So here's the list:

-My French Cuisine. Maybe my favourite, and I say this very carefully as I don't want to take anything away from the others. But anyway, I particularly love this one because of the cultural aspect. Her post on Easter got me into the blog, I found it fascinating. I read this blog for the cultural aspect more than the food, as the posts reveal a way of living.
-October Farm. Not really a cooking blog, but as I said I use the term very liberally. There are plenty of posts where there are meals and their recipes, mainly comfort food, they are always seasonal and they always look delicious. I haven't cook one yet, but I have been printing many of them and I am planning to give them a try. I have started following this blog for other reasons, but I was amazed that kept reading the recipes.
-Baking Brownies for Mozart. From Mozart Girl, who is a professional baker (and boy does it show on the decadence of some of the desserts there!). Why I love this blog has nothing to do with Mozart (no seriously), but everything to do with my sweet tooth. I need to try some of those desserts, although I am always worried that I might miss the cakes.

I should also mention that Desideratum posts sometimes recipes which are quite mouth watering. Oh, and I published one recipe myself, here. So far it's the only one.