Thunderball

I learned thanks to the Facebook page of Ian Fleming that yesterday was the anniversary of the publication of Thunderball. The book has a special place in my heart. First, it is the source material for one of my favourite James Bond movies, then it is the very first Bond novel I purchased and read. The very edition you see on this picture. It also marks the first apperance of Bond nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld, one of my favourite villains ever, head of SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extorsion). Let not the movies and their many parodies fool you: in the original novels, the organisation is almost inhumanly sinister. I want to revisit Thunderball one day, I suggest you give the novel a try in the meantime.

Le problème avec McAuslan

Vous savez sans doute que lorsque je suis au Québec, j'aime boire de la bière McAuslan. Or, ce n,est peut-être plus le cas. Je m'explique: ils ont changé leurs étiquettes il y a peu de temps. La Griffon n,existe plus, elle est devenue la St-Ambroise, rousse ou blonde. L'ennui, c'est qu'il y avait déjà des St-Ambroises de ces couleurs. Je soupçonne que ce sont ces recettes, et non pas celles des Griffons, qui ont survécu. Ou alors, ils ont changé de recettes, ça arrive aussi. L'autre problème, c'est que les bières sont rendues difficiles à trouver, à tout le moins c'était le cas quand je suis allé à l'épicerie. Pas moyen de trouver leur pale ale, leur meilleure. Il n'y avait que de la blonde. Plus insipide que dans mon souvenir (d'où mes soupçons).

Majestic Mozart

Well, it is still Mozart Week, so I am sharing more of his music. And a statue of Mozart himself: the one you can find in Vienna. It is often surrrounded by tourists, who just take pictures of it because, well, Mozart is a huge part of Vienna and Austria, maybe its most famous composers. And I was there as a pilgrim, a proper worshipper in fact. That said, like many other portraits and monuments to the man, I find this one strange at many levels. He looks atypically regal and Greco-Roman godly here. Maybe a tad Messianic too. As much as I'm a sucker for the monuments paying homage to him, I can't help but find them incomplete. There's a lot of Amadeus in this statue, but very little of Wolfgang, even less of Wolferl. There's no mischief. Anyway, this post would not be complete without a bit of music, here an aria from from Le Nozze di Figaro. Sung by Rod Gilfry. Tell me what you think of the music and the statue.

Un spaghetti tunisien

Des fois je cuisine pour toute la famille et jéponds à des demandes spéciales. Ainsi donc, ma femme et mon fils m'ont demandé de faire un spaghetti tunisien la semaine dernière. Je me suis donc exécuté. C'est de l'ouvrage: non seulement il faut couper les légumes, mais ma femme n'aime pas les champignons crus, alors il faut que je les fasse cuire aussi. Cela dit, une fois terminé, on a des réserves pour nourrir une armée. Une armée qui a deux ou trois jours de campagne, parce que c'est rare que les réserves durent a-delà.

About The Night Agent

I blogged a week ago about The Night Agent, a spy TV series on Netflix which I thoroughly enjoyed its first two seasons. The first season is based on a novel of the same name (which I intend to read one day), I understand the second and upcoming third ones are completely original stories. So yeah, as you know, there is an upcoming season three and I am quite excited about it. I watched the new season trailer yesterday and yes, it seems promising. There is just one thing that disappoints me: the absence of Rose Larkin, the character played by Luciane Buchanan. In the first seasons, Rose was not merely the love interest for the hero Peter Sutherland and occasional damsel in distress. She was also a civilian caught in a dangerous game of violence and espionage, an outsider who had to learn on the spot how to play. She was also a de facto audience surrogate. So I fear we will lose a bit of the show's humanity with her absence. I understand putting continuously a civilian in a world she does not belong to would stretch credibility. However I hope she shows up in later seasons, because she does bring a lot to the series, contributing to its relatability.

Verdi, l'opéra et notre monde

 Petit billet musical, encore une fois, sur l'opéra, encore une fois (mais pas sur mon compositeur préféré, assez ironiquement). Enfin donc, j'ai lu dans Le Devoir un texte d'opinion d'un certain Éric Cornellier, Ce que l'opéra peut encore apporter aux sociétés humaines. L'auteur utilise l'anniversaire de la mort de Giuseppe Verdi pour parler de la pertinence de l'opéra dans notre époque. Je n'ai pas remarqué l'anniversaire de la mort de Verdi parce qu'elle tombe sur un anniversaire de naissance d'un compositeur que je préfère beaucoup plus et que, ben, c'est pas mal ça. J'aimais plus Verdi quand j'étais plus jeune, mettons. Maintenant, même si j'apprécie certaines de ses oeuvres, je tends à le trouver un brin sirupeux. Mais dans tous les cas, c'est un article intéressant que je vous invite à lire.

Black and Blue

 Yesterday, when we picked up Wolfie from school, we saw that the dad of one of his classmate was wearing a suit instead of the usual sloppy dad clothes we dads all wear on school runs. A black suit and a blue shirt, no tie. I said to my wife he probably went to a job interview. I was brave (or reckless?) enough to ask him: "Black suit, blue shirt, that's a dead giveaway that you went to a job interview, am I right?" I was right. Thankfully, I was right and he was not back from a funeral or something else. Anyway, I think that deserves to be a great unknown line. I knew he was wearing a suit for a job interview because I did the exact same thing last week, also a black suit with a blue shirt. It's perfect for interviews ad you appear professional, but the blue is not an agressive colour, so you come off as friendly. It's also perfect for all formal occasions: funerals, weddings, baptisms, first communions, etc. But especially for job interviews. Oh, and for the record, he got the job. I didn't.

Les brouillards de janvier

 Je veux revenir sur mon billet d'hier, à propos du brouillard (ou parfois de la brûme) qui a été le lot de ce mois de janvier. Le brouillard est assez fréquent en janvier, mais il l'a été encore plus cette année. On en a encore eu hier lorsqu'on a mené Wolfie à l'école. Le brouillard apparaît au moins une fois par semaine. Cette photo date du 16 janvier. C'est vraiment magnifique, on dirait que l'on passe dans un autre monde hors du temps. Si je pouvais, je passerais tout le matin à marcher jusqu'à ce qu'il se dissipe.

Mozart, music and chocolate

Yes, yes, Mozart's birthday was yesterday, I know it came and it's gone. However, as it is still Mozart Week, this household will spend it listening to Wolferl's music and we will stuff ourselves with Mozartkugeln. We made stocks during our time in Austria and we are still getting through them. I tookthis picture in Salzburg, where Mozart as born 270 years ago and one day. They sell the stuff everywhere, in all sorts of varieties. But more on that in another post. I thought it would be fitting to share a bit of Cosi fan tutte. One of my operatic obsessions. It's about love and, yes, sometimes it is also about chocolate.

Mon globe terrestre

Lors de mon dernier séjour au Québec, j'ai retrouvé dans un coin du salon d'en bas mon globe terrestre. Je dis mong lobe terrestre, parce que c'est un cadeau de mon parrain, de Noël 1985, 1986 ou 1987, je crois. On pouvait le brancher et une ampoule à l'intérieur l'éclairait. Sans lumière, on voit les montagnes, les plaines, etc. Avec lumière, on peut voir les pays et leurs frontières, de différentes couleurs. Enfin, les pays du temps de la Guerre froide. J'étais fasciné par ce globe et je pouvais passer des heures à le consulter. Je ne sais pas si la lumière fonctionne encore.

A Sherlock Holmes Guide

I found this book in a thrift sales, it cost me a quid or something. So even though my bookshelves are packed, I regret nothing. Its full title is The Sherlock Holmes Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained. It's a guide to all the canonical adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I love reading Sherlock Holmes, but I am not an expert. I do hope that with this book, if I take time to read it, I will become more knowledgeable and learn to appreciate even more the stories I read and loved and see them in a new light.

Janvier et le brouillard

Il n'y a pas de neige ici depuis notre retour et ça me manque. Cela dit, janvier a été jusqu'ici un mois de brouillard, parfois de brume. J'essaie de prendre des photos autant que je peux, parce que c'est vraiment joli. Il y aura d'autres photos d'ici à la fin du mois.

The Birthday of Amadeus

As you probably know by now, today is the birthday of of Wolfgang Johannes Chrysostome Amadeus Mozart, the heart of Mozart Week. I commemorate it a picture with his most famous (although not his most accurate) portrait, which I took in Vienna. I am also sharing a bit of his music, the Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra. I thought I would give you a break from opera. And that a birthday needed something joyful and youthful.

Gâtastrophe à l'érable

Des fois, je fais des gâteaux, juste pour que l'on puisse manger un dessert frais maison. J'avais cuisiné un gâteau à l'érable l'an dernier, j'ai décidé de faire la même chose en fin de semaine. Le résultat a été moins convaincant, en tout cas en ce qui concerne la présentation. J'ai été trop impatient à le sortir du moule. Mais sinon, il était très mangeable quand même.

Safari Outfits in South Africa

At the moment, I am rereading South African crime writer Deon Meyer's novel Blood Safari. I know I have a huge pile of TBR, however I was in the mood to revisit this novel as it features one of my favourite characters of Meyer, troubled bodyguard and sort of private eye Martin Lemmer. And sometimes rediscovering novels you enjoyed years ago (more than a decade for this particular one) is just what you need. Anyway, so rereading Blood Safari, I discovered that one of the characters, a middle aged barmaid who is attracted to Lemmer, makes an observation about tourists in South Africa, the very same another character of Meyer made in another novel (more details in this post from 2016). She notices that among tourists, "(...) the foreigners wear safari outfits." Ouch. If I ever visit South Africa, which I hope to do one day, I swear I will not commit that faux pas.

Mafalda et le futur

Cette image a été prise il y a quelques jours sur la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda. Je ne me rappelais plus de ce gag. Il prend une toute autre dimension de nos jours, sachant de quoi l'avenir a l'air. Je crois que beaucoup ont envie de faire comme ce crabe.

Don Giovanni for Mozart Week

Because it is Mozart Week, I think it is proper to share more of Mozart's music. I took this picture in Salzburg, the city of his birth. As you can read beneath, it is a drawing of a stage design Don Giovanni, my favourite opera of Wolfgang. My favourite opera, period, in fact. I haven't shared an aria from DG for a long while, not since 2022, so it was about time. This is Mi tradi wuell alma ingrata, sung by Alexandra Lowe (a soprano I don't know all that much) and I hope you enjoy.

Première Moisson en mode Saint-Valentin

Photo prise de la page Facebook de Première Moisson. Février n'est pas encore arrivé qu'ils sont déjà en mode Saint-Valentin. Je trouve que c'est un peu tôt, mais si je vivais à Montréal, c'est là que j'achèterais mon chocolat et mes desserts.

Baijiu

Fairly recently, I was made aware of another alcohol I did not know about: the Chinese liquor baijiu. (By the way, baijiu is the word of the day.) Ironically enough, I heard about it through the Japanese anime programs I have been watching recently on Netflix (more on that another day). Japanese anime, even aimed at children, tend to be rather less strict, if not downright permissive, about display of alcohol and drinking in their stories. Anyway, so baijiu is a traditional alcohol and I am getting curious about it. I wonder if it is easy to find here. Anybody tried it? How does it taste like? What's the best way to enjoy it? Please let me know in the comments.

Canards de bois

J'ai déjà je crois partagé cette photo il y a dix ans, mais je suis retombé dessus hier. Les canards de bois de notre foyer.