More Dracula

I often say the images uploaded on my blog show the colours of the seasons. Well, not always, as you can see here. This is something I would usually upload in autumn, when Halloween is coming. But I have been reading/playing on and off Dracula's Castle where this image is taken from and sometimes one's mind wanders around. And Halloween is only about three months away. As a child, we used to play "horror" make belief games throughout summer and not only on rainy days. I had not even read Dracula that I was already fascinated by the character. I do remember playing a few Dracula games before "the" Dracula game, but it is very vague in my mind.

I find this drawing interesting in many aspects. I do not know who Dracula is fighting. It could be either Jonathan Harker, who is the "good guy" character played in the gamebook or Abraham Van Helsing, who is the main adversary if the reader decides to play the Count. Van Helsing in the novel is elderly, but in the gamebook he is younger (40s? 50s) and nastier. The odds seem to be even here: the man is heavily armed and has a strong enough built. Of course, Dracula has superhuman strenght, but he might be weakened by the presence of the cross (although the man holds it in a strange way) and the stake is dangerously close to the Count's chest. It reminds me a lot of the climatic combats in the old Hammer movies, especially the one between Peter Cushing (Van Helsing) and Christopher Lee (Dracula) at the end of Horror of Dracula. Tense, dynamic, uncertain, vicious. I wouldn't mind watching some Hammer movies actually.

Question existentielle (142)

Je pose cette question existentielle inspirée bien entendu de mon dernier billet en français:

-Quelle est la température idéale d'une piscine?

Adapting to the heat

Summer has finally arrived and has now settled. By this I mean that it is finally hot, we have had no more rain since last week. It happened suddenly, it hit me like a ton of bricks (this line is a cliché I cannot help but like, thus I use it more than it deserves). It was a shock today feeling the heat of the sun, and it seems that we are heading right into a heatwave. I am not complaining, having summery weather and temperatures in July is not too early, but it means that I will need to get used to it, adapt in fact, and renew with old routines.

I need to cover my ridiculously pale and thus sensitive skin with sun cream before going out, especially when I want to read outside. I need to shave daily because even a five o'clock shadow makes me feel so darn hot. I will need to wear lighter clothes and also/especially light coloured clothes. This is a real problem: I don't have that many colourful clothes. Even my t-shirts are dark: black, navy blue, stripey black and grey, more black stuff I had forgotten I had, etc. I think like a man who comes from the cold. Which is an absurd caricature: we have a summer in Québec too and they are very hot. I will need ro remember this in the days and weeks to come.

Une pensée à propos des piscines québécoises

C'est à nouveau l'été ici, il fait chaud, assez pour que je me mette de la crème solaire quand je sors. Bien sûr, j'ai en tête une piscine fraîche pour me baigner. Il y en a assez peu ici en Angleterre. J'ai lu sur le blogue de Cyberpresse que les Québécois sont particulièrement friands des piscines. Le ratio per capita est plus important au Québec qu'en Californie. Enfant, on a eu une piscine dès que j'avais cinq ans, creusée en plus. J'ai essayé de trouver des photos pour télécharger, mais je n'en ai pas. Pour moi l'été, c'est la piscine, plus qu'autre chose. Peut-être que c'est pour ça que j'aime moins l'été depuis que je suis adulte.

J'ai déjà blogué là dessus, dès 2008 en fait. J'y reviens parce que j'y pense, aussi parce que j'ai un lectorat plus important et je suis curieux de savoir ce qu'il en pense. Pour moi, et je ne crois être le seul, l'été au Québec, c'est surtout ça, l'odeur du chlore et l'eau, le soleil. Ma famille a été l'une des premières à avoir une piscine dans le quartier. Quand on l'a inaugurée, on avait soudainement plein d'amis. Ensuite c'était plus tranquille. Maintenant la piscine est ancienne, le chauffe-eau ne fonctionne même plus (sauf qu'on n'en a pas vraiment besoin), mais je m'y rebaignerais bien.

Misirlou: music for a summery Saturday night

Finally, summer is showing up again: it is warmer and sunnier. It was about time. I thought I would upload some more music here on this blog, something circumstantial. Since I recently have beeen listening again to the Pulp Fiction soundtrack (I already uploaded one song here), I thought Misirlou interpreted by Dick Dale would be perfect. When the movie was released, we could hear it everywhere: in beer adverts, in car adverts, in bars, what have you. For me this is what summer music sound like. So here it is.

Les couchers de soleil tardifs

Il sera bientôt dix heures du soir, et ce n'est pas encore tout à fait nuit dehors. Je ne me suis pas vraiment rendu compte des longues soirées d'été, avec le temps nuageux qu'on avait. Cela dit, il semblerait que l'été revienne (à en croire le site météo de la BBC) et avec lui le soleil, lequel se couche ici très tard en été. Je ne m'y fais jamais tout à fait. J'ai déjà été en Suède, au mois d'août, et c'était encore plus surréaliste: le soleil était encore là passé onze heures.

Cosmic horror trivia

Recently, my brother posted on his Facebook wall that he was in the mood for a game of Call of Cthulhu. And October Farm blogged a spaghetti meatballs recipe, which reminded me of two things: 1) that Lovecraft loved spaghetti meatballs (true and that we often had spaghetti bolognese or some other kind fo paste before playing a game of Call of Cthulhu. I mentioned the role playing game before, among other times here. Anyway, this blog post and my brother's wall post made me think of the game and got me in the mood for it.

Little details like this, that made me remember the game. We used to play during summer, mainly, especially cool evenings and rainy afternoons. I remember the spaghetti bolognese we often made for the supper before. Our characters (well, I was the Game Master but they were still "my" characters) were eating plenty of pasta, lasagne, spaghetti and canelloni. This was for two reasons: one, because of Lovecraft's own food preferences, two, because it fitted the time period and the characters (one character, played by PJ, was an Italian American gangster, so the menu brought some kind of authenticity). And well, Cthulhu's tentacle are a bit like, you know, spaghetti.

Des nouvelles d'Omertà

Bon, ben je suis en retard dans les nouvelles et c'est pas pour dire, mais Omertà le film est un franc succès commercial au Québec. J'en suis heureux, simplement parce que je suis un fan de la série originale. La critique de Marc-André Lussier est plus mitigée et semble confirmer mes craintes quant à la distribution. Il dit une chose assez révélatrice: "Il appert pourtant que le scénario de ce long métrage est complètement différent de celui élaboré en vue du quatrième volet de la série, qui n'a jamais atteint l'étape de la production." En fait, plus j'y pense, plus c'est ce que je voulais vraiment voir produire: la quatrième série d'Omertà. Je me demande s'il y a un scénario écrit. Le film, ça risque d'être un prix de consolation. Je vais le voir quand même...

Our share of Apocalypse

I mentioned it not long ago, I blogged about it already this evening. Today is the 16th anniversary of the Saguenay Flood. it made my region's history like 9/11 made this century, it was the event of my generation in my home. It has been on my mind a lot today, so I decided to blog about it. Twice instead of one. For a dispassionate account, please check this link. You can also see some dramatic images on YouTube.

First things first, a disclaimer: I did not lose my home, no loved one died. I saw the flood mostly through the television screen and mostly dry. The day before, I had gone back from the video club absolutely soaked, my mum and I had a good laugh about it. It hadn't stop pouring outside. I was considering going out that night, but because it couldn't stop raining I had decided against it. The next morning, we had learned that the water had gone over the dams. And we saw on the television images like the one I uploaded here. Familiar places that were drowned, houses that were carried away by landslide and dirty water, streams and small rivers turning into furious torrents. I was lucky enough: Chicoutimi was built on steep hills and valleys, the family house was on top of a hill. So we remained safe. We didn't have running water for a bit, we didn't have drinkable water for longer (in theater it is called a dramatic irony), but overall we were okay.

We learned only later how close we were to an even worse disaster. Our neighbour was a fireman and worked non stop over that period of time. He told us later that the water purification plant could have been taken away by the flood. Had it happened, the whole city would have been evacuated, if not the whole region. It was a traumatic event for all of us. I had spent my whole childhood and teenage in Chicoutimi, I had never left it to live somewhere else yet, I was pretty much a home boy, a Blueberry through and through. The next autumn, I was going for the first time to live in Montreal, to start my first year at university. For the first time I was going to be an expatriate. I never felt so much of a guy from Saguenay that first year in Montreal: my accent was giving me away, then people were asking me about the Flood.

I gave a nickname to the event: "our share of Apocalypse". I guess I was feeling poetic. I thought it would make for a great title for a novel. For now, it will be good enough for a blog post.

En souvenir du Déluge du Saguenay

Parce que c'est le seizième anniversaire du Déluge du Saguenay aujourd'hui et parce que, comme on doit le dire quand on a vécu ce genre de choses, je me souviens... Je télécharge ici la chanson-bénéfice qui a été composée à l'époque. Est-ce que ça a vieilli, je ne saurais le dire. Vous me direz ce que vous en pensez et n'hésitez pas à me raconter vos souvenirs de cette part d'Apocalypse, si vous en avez.

A philosophical (and funny) great unknown line

I re-read the blog of my youngest brother, which he writes, or used to so very sporadically. So it is easy to get through it. Anyway I saw that back in 2008 he commented on one of his posts a funny line about his academic background. And I laughed enough to decide to place it here it on my own blog as a great unknown line: "You can tell I'm a philosophy major, 'cuz I use words like uselessness..."

Question existentielle (141)

Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais j'ai pensé à cette question existentielle à portée hautement gastronomique:

-Quels sont les différents éléments (viandes, sauces, bouillons, accompagnements, etc.) à inclure dans une fondue chinoise pour qu'elle soit idéale?

La fondue chinoise, c'était un de mes mets préférés étant enfant. C'est encore un repas que j'aime beaucoup, c'est celui que j'ai fait pour célébrer l'obtention de mon doctorat. Enfin bref, je suis curieux de connaître vos réponses.

Apocalypse in July

I don't want to repeat myself too much when I blog, and I understand that I recently blogged about the weather. Not even a week ago, in fact. But it is an obsession here: since the beginning of the summer, it has been raining, raining, raining. It is almost a caricature. And there are flood alerts here and there. As I am typing this, it is not raining, but the wind is blowing like mad. It is a strange feeling: it does not feel like July, it is cold, it is miserable and it feels like we are all going to drown eventually.

It is a strange, but not entirely unfamiliar feeling. I have been through a flood once in my life, and I remained (mostly) dry. I am refering of course to the Saguenay Flood of 1996. It will be very soon its anniversary, I will blog about it I think, either in French (although I already did) or in English. I nicknamed it "our share of Apocalypse". When I hear about the flood alerts here, I think about it.

Vert (la photo du mois)

Ce mois-ci, le thème "la vie en vert" m'a donné l'embarras du choix. Ca ne manque pas de vert ici en Angleterre et encore moins avec les pluies torrentielles que l'on a eues récemment. On vit beaucoup dans le vert. Mes photos sont souvent pleines de verdure. Après moultes hésitations, j'ai opté pour cette photo prise à Kew Gardens. Il y en a de plus vertes, mais le vert domine et contraste brillamment avec Londres en arrière-plan.  

Vous pouvez voir les découvertes (calembour atroce et néanmoins volontaire, je n'ai aucune honte) des autres participants ici (et dites-moi si vous en trouvez un de daltonien):

100driiine, A&G, Agnès, Agrippine, Akaieric, Alban, Alexanne, Alexinparis, Alice Wonderland, André(eric)Fernandes, Anita, Anne, Anne Laure T, Anne-Cécile, Annick, Aparça, Arwen, Aude, Ava, Babou, Batilou, Bestofava, Blogoth67, Cara, Carnets d'images, Caro, Carole In England, Cathy, Cekoline, Céliano, Céline in Paris, Cessna, oui !, Champagne, Cherrybee, Chris et Nanou, Clara, Coco, Cocosophie, Cricriyom from Paris, Cynthia, Dan, David et Mélanie, DNA, Dorydee, Dr CaSo, Dreamteam, E, Elapstic, Emi London, Emma, Escapade en Tunisie, Fanfan Raccoon, Filamots, Flo, florianL, François le Niçois, Frédéric, Galinette, Gilsoub, Gizeh, Guillaume, Hibiscus, Isabelle, J'adore j'adhère, Jean Wilmotte, jen et dam, Karrijini, Kob, Krn, Kyn, Kyoko, La Fille de l'Air, La Flaneuse, La Nantaise, La Papote, La Parigina, LaGodiche, Laure, Laurent Nicolas, Lauriane, Lavandine, L'Azimutée, Le Mag à lire, Le-Chroniqueur, Les petits supplices !, Les voyages de Lucy, Les voyages de Seth et Lise, Les zinzins, Lesegarten, Leviacarmina, Lhise, Lost in London, Louiki, Louisianne, Lyonelk, M, M.C.O, magda627, Maïder, Mamysoren, Manola, Marie, Marion, M'dame Jo, Melting Pot, Mgie les bons tuyaux, Misscarone, Mistinguett, Muni57, Narayan, Nataru, Nathalie, Nelcie, Nicky, Nomade57, Nora, Olivier, Ori, Oryann, Otaku, Où trouver à Montréal ?, Petite Marie, Pilisi, Quelbazar, Renepaulhenry, Sébastien, Sephiraph, Sinuaisons, Skipi, Stephane08, Stéphie&lesCacahuètes, Super Lisa, Tam, Tambour Major, Terhi Schram, Testinaute, The Mouse, Titem, Typh', Un jour une rencontre, Une niçoise, Vanilla, Véro Beramelo, Violette, Viviane, Xavier Mohr, Xoliv', Zaromcha.

The tea and milk controversy

I recently posted this line on my Facebook Wall: "Twinings suggests to drop a dash of milk in their English Breakfast tea. This is barbaric." It generated noless than 23 comments so far, including my own. I think in itsel qualifies it as a great unknown line. I said in the title of the post that it was a controversy, but in fact not really: people in an overwhelming majority agree with me. In fact, everybody did. It shows that many people share the opinion I wrote before on this blog, about two years ago, that milk was primitive. I feel less alone.

La Marseillaise (parce que)

Nous sommes le 14 juillet, Jour de la Bastille. Je ne l'oublierai pas cette année. Je me demandais comment le commémorer, j'espère qu'on ne me trouvera pas banal à télécharger ici La Marseillaise. Extrait tiré de la télésérie/du film... La Révolution française. Cet extrait me donne des frissons à chaque fois que je le regarde. On oublie souvent à quel point c'est un grand hymne national, sans doute le plus international des hymnes nationaux, ainsi qu'on le dit dans cette émission de radio. Pour moi, le 14 juillet est plus une célébration du républicanisme en général que de la France. Ceci explique peut-être cela: La Marseillaise, c'est peut-être aussi plus un hymne républicain qu'un hymne national.

Music in the library (and Mozart)

I stopped at the local library on my way back from work tonight. I was tired, it had started pouring rain and I thought before I get soaked (although I did in the end), I would stop there. I hadn't done so in a long while. It was quite relaxing. There were two middle aged guitarists there, playing some music, sometimes singing (I heard What a Wonderful World). I used to think libraries should be havens of silence. I was adamant about it. As a teenager, I even requested to the librarians of my high school to turn off the radio they used to play every morning. But this evening, I actually enjoyed the music and the string playing. It felt calming and heavenly. I flickered through books on British wildlife, history, what have you, and it felt nice.

It was not opera, but I thought I would upload an trio from Cosi fan tutte here. Something calming for the weekend. Just because. Had it been Mozart, I would have stayed the whole evening there.

Tiens, on est un vendredi 13

Incidemment, si j'ose dire, je me suis rendu compte que c'était vendredi 13 aujourd'hui. Quelqu'un d'autre l'a remarqué? Comment a été le vôtre? Le mien a été tout ce qu'il y a de typiquement treizien. J'avais hâte qu'il finisse. Mais c'est le cas de bien des vendredis. La dernière fois que l'on a eu un vendredi 13, c'était le 13 avril. Ce 13 juillet 2012 est le troisième vendredi 13 de l'année. Ca fait beaucoup de vendredis 13 pour les superstitieux.

A new great unknown line

It has been nearly a month since I didn't blog here a great unknown line. So it will be the first (and maybe last) great unknown line of July. And again, it is about often. Today, a colleague had a couple of small Cadbury's chocolate bars. I can't remember exactly the names, but they were small, thin caramel bars covered in chocolate. Like every time someone brings some candies or cakes, she offered them to the people around, including me. She gave me two bars, saying: "Have more, you are a living dustbin." To which I replied: "This is false, unlike bins, I don't take the wrapping." I mean,  I know I have a sweet tooth and I need my glucid intakes on a gloomy day, but I don't swallow just anything.

Des nouvelles des cidres québécois

Mon petit frère a mis sur Facebook le lien d'un article sur le succès commercial des cidres québécois. J'en suis très heureux. Je bois trop peu souvent de cidres. En fait, je commence seulement à connaître les cidres anglais et les cidres bretons (peut-être mes préférés jusqu'ici). De retour au Québec, il me faudra apprivoiser les cidres québécois. Il y a d'autres amateurs de cidre ici?