A year of Domino

The year is about to end. In a few hours it will be 2016. My new year resolution: I will stop to start a blog post with thundering clichés and obvious statements. And for the very last post of 2015, I thought I would write about Domino and share another picture of him. This is him enjoying his first Christmas present. Yes, we are silly like this, we spoiled him rotten at Christmas, with catnip toys mainly. It has been a while since we first met him. I didn't know he would end up here. I had always wanted a cat for Christmas, this one decided that it was going to be him. It took me a while to get used to Domino and in many ways I have still to get my head around the situation: he can be a bit of a biter. I know, he doesn't look like one on this picture. I mean not a biter of anything else than a toy. And he is quite needy, always asking for food, attention, us time, or simply the place on the sofa where you happen to be sitting on. We will need to check on his weight for the upcoming year, and try not to give in to emotional blackmail (Domino is a master of emotional blackmail). Anyway, it is a work in progress, but it's nice to have a cat around here. Since this black and white feline brightened up our year, it made sense that I finished this blogging year with a post about him.

Un (gros) pâté à la viande

C'est assez rare de nos jours d'en trouver, enfin sauf les horreurs qu'ils offrent dans le commerce, mais des faits maison c'est plutôt rare. Je parle bien entendu de ce pâté à la viande de plus grosses dimensions, pour plusieurs affamés, enfin pas en portions individuelles (comme ceux que vous voyez à côté). Je crois que je n'en ai pas mangé depuis des décennies. Mon père l'a fait et a pris la photo. Morale de l'histoire? Aucune, mais je tiens à vous rappeler que même si c'est un gros pâté à la viande, c'est pas une tourtière!

The LGB train

This might be the last Christmas related post of the year. My father sent me many pictures of the Christmas tree via Dropbox, among them these two. I think this might actually be the thing I miss most about the the family's Christmas tree: the LGB model train at its base. It is by far the most loved and enduring Christmas present my brothers and I ever had.

This is more than an elaborate ornament: the train and what has been added through the years as part of its surroundings is a complete seasonal ecosystem. There used to be only the train and a few houses made of fabrics my father bought at a Christmas fair. Now there is a Playmobil station, a few extra houses, a water tank, a while menagerie made of sheep, lamas, one Scottish ox, dogs, three teddy bears and so on, also a whole staff of railway workers and now passengers. It is truly a game for all ages and I have no shame playing with it as if I was still a child, inventing adventures for the characters on display. Next time I will be home, I will ask my father if we can put the train on display for my godson and his sister. You know, so they can enjoy it too.

Question existentielle (277)

Le Temps des Fêtes n'est pas terminé, mais je n'ai jamais l'esprit quand approche le Jour de l'An. Alors je me pose cette question existentielle (en espérant ne jamais l'avoir posée):

-De facto, quand est-ce que Noël se termine?

It is here...

Have you seen it? Do you feel it like I do? Yes, it is already here: the post-Christmas blues. Today was the last day of the holiday and tomorrow I get back to work. I have been feeling low all day. Sure, officially we are still in the twelve days of Christmas and there is the new year coming. But let's face it: Christmas is done and dealt with and New Year is not really (for me at least) a great deal. So I am officially melancholic. I mean more than usual.

Les neiges chicoutimiennes

Photo prise par mon frère PJ lors de son séjour du temps des Fêtes dans notre ville d'origine de Chicoutimi. C'est le sentier entre le Centre Georges-Vézina et l'École polyvalente Laure-Conan. J'ai marché au travers de ce sentier durant toutes les saisons. Morale de l'histoire: au moins c'est l'hiver quelque part dans le monde.

Good King Wenceslas

We are the Boxing Day today... and also the Feast of Stephen, day made famous with this great Christmas carol. I love Good King Wenceslas, it is a story about compassion on a day that is now all about consumerism. I had to go and buy some bare necessities of life today, I did it as late as I could, I was happy to see that many shops were still closed for the day. Anyway, since it is still Christmastime and since it is a tradition on this blog, I am sharing the carol today. It was sung in York Minster. Not the greatest take on it, but I visited the place during my holidays in the city, so I thought it would be fitting enough.

Le mystère de la Fée des Étoiles

Je songeais récemment à poser une question existentielle sur la Fée des Étoiles, une invention bien québécoise aux traditions de Noël. Je n'avais aucune idée d'où elle venait. L'assistante du Père Noël m'avait toujours semblée une invention purement commerciale et relativement moderne créée afin d'utiliser un mannequin pour mousser l'attraction du château du Père Noël. Bon, il semblerait que ce soit plus complexe et plus ancien que ça, bien que les origines de la Fée des Étoiles soient obscures et ambigues. Lisez cet article de Rad-Can à propos de cet archétype québécois: la Fée des Étoiles serait peut-être une évolution de Sainte Lucie, elle même le succédané catholique de déesses païennes de la lumière. J'avoue que je suis très tenté de croire cette filiation. Mais lisez l'article et écoutez les extraits audios et dites-moi ce que vous en pensez.

God Jul!

I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas, the Scandinavian way. For me, Christmas is truly Yuletide. So I accompany my wishes with a Christmas tree ornament from Sweden. One of my favourite ones (okay, I have many favourite ornaments) from the family Christmas tree. There is just something about that smiling wooden figure. I love it anyway. So Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, God Jul everyone!

Le repas du Réveillon

Joyeux Noël à tous et toutes!Je le fête en expiatré cette année. C'est triste, mais c'est comme ça. En plus, je ne le fête pas à minuit, mais je le fête le 25, à l'anglaise. Alors je manque/j'ai manqué le repas du Réveillon traditionnel québécois, tel que vous le voyez sur la photo de gauche (gracieuseté de mon frère PJ): dinde, farce, pâté(s) à la viande (note: ce n'est PAS de la tourtière), patates pilées, atocas, compote de pommes, olives (pour la dinde) et keptchup (pour le pâté à la viande). Bon, au moins je peux me régaler avec les yeux, bien que ça ait des airs de Supplice de Tantale. Et ça me permet de partager avec vous le repas du Réveillon.

A D&Dr Christmas present

I was not expecting to blog about Dungeon & Dragons so early after my last post on the subject. But my youngest brother gave me an early Christmas present yesterday: he scanned our character sheets, the maps of the various kingdoms and lands we have made over the years and a number of other bits of data regarding the world we have created and he put everything into Dropbox. That might like nothing, but this is great: I am talking about almost 25 years of imagination on paper, now secure in electronic form and ready to be used. We won't have to wait until we are all in Chicoutimi in my parents' home for Christmas to play. I have to confess, I had suggested we did this before, I had asked for it for long, but feared I was being a pest (I probably was to be honest). All geeky pleasure aside, it is just a really lovely tribute to these decades. And I have decided to accompany this post with another image from D&Dr artist Daniel Horne. It's another one of my favourite, full of winter atmosphere. Yule is also, after all, a time of danger, even if it is imaginary one.

Attendre Noël...

Il ne reste encore que quelques heures avant Noël ici. Nous sommes le dernier jour de l'Avent, celui qui est le plus long. Alors je suis dans l'attente, avec un rhume qui me tape sur les nerfs. Et une température qui n'a vraiment pas sa place à Noël. C'est long et en même temps on dirait que c'est presque trop tôt, que je n'ai pas eu le temps de me préparer. Alors je passe le temps en écoutant de la musique de Noël. Dont Quelle est cette odeur agréable? que je retélécharge ici pour me/vous faire patienter. Une chanson qui est bien jolie, mais je ne peux pas m'empêcher de poser cette question bête et méchante: qu'est-ce qui peut bien sentir bon dans une étable? Elle doit puer la merde non? En plus d'être une étable, c'est une étable de l'Antiquité. Au Moyen-Orient. Non mais ça devait vraiment puer. Enfin bref... Je songeais donner un titre plus nauséabond et plus cynique à ce billet, mais je me suis retenu. Je suis déjà assez cynique comme ça cette année. Et j'espère que cette considération triviale ne vous empêchera d'apprécier le cantique.

Happy Festivus!

Well, I knew it was today, but this lovely and hilarious picture from David's Tea's Facebook page reminded me: it's Festivus. So Happy Festivus everyone! David's Tea asked their customers to give their grievances, which they did. I did not say anything, but many said that the company should not delete the bonus points every new year. I didn't know that and I am glad so many people brought it up. So yes, there was an Airing of Grievances and I had a Feat of Strength of sorts: tonight was Krav Maga training. It was the last class before Christmas, so it was pretty relax, but every session is a feat of strength so I can say I did my share tonight too for the holiday. And it is fitting: Festivus became famous because of the very Jewish sitcom Seinfeld, Krav Maga is a Jewish martial art... Oh, and I thought yesterday I was catching a nasty cold (I had felt weak and shivering all night and all day) so I was afraid that I'd be too sick for training. But I was absolutely fine. So yes, it's a Festivus Miracle! So mine was very happy, how was/is yours?

J'ai dans la tête un vieux sapin...

Vous connaissez le reste... Parce que c'est le 23 décembre, c'est le temps de la classique de Noël de Beau Dommage. Ca m'a pris du temps à trouver une vidéo sur YouTube qui faisait l'affaire ici, à cause de certaines paroles dans la chanson qui ont inspiré parfois des images d'accompagnement que je ne tenais pas à montrer ici. Certains Youtubeurs ont l'hommage un peu douteux. Alors bon, sans plus tarder, voici 23 Décembre...

Eyes Wide Shut for Christmas

In the first year of Vraie Fiction, I once listed Eyes Wide Shut as one my my favourite Christmas movies. I am a huge Stanley Kubrick fan and I consider his last film a very underrated gem, if not a masterpiece. Well, I was happily surprised recently to find an article in Rolling Stone arguing not only that it is a great movie, but that it is actually a great Christmas movie, deemed even a holiday classic. It may not be obvious to see, after all Christmas movies are often deemed more innocent than this modern tale of troubled couple and fantasized (or maybe true) adultery, but it always made sense to me. Kubrick's last movie belongs to a Yuletide tradition of dark stories (such as this one) with bizarre and or supernatural elements, when life and love are placed in danger and when one's perception of himself and the world he inhabits are radically altered. This is, in essence, what happens in the Nativity story. In Eyes Wide Shut, however, diabolical forces, not divine ones, are mainly at work, forces that are conceived in the characters' mind before taking shape. If you have seen the movie, read the article and rewatch it with new eyes. If you have not seen it yet, do it, put it on your list of movies to watch during the season. Enjoy a true Christmas classic.

Un vrai de vrai sapin de Noël

Petit moment de fierté familiale: voici l'arbre de Noël monté chez mes parents par ma famille. Tous ses membres, sauf moi. Avec ses décorations de partout dans le monde, ses glaçons, ses lumières, avec à ses pieds son train LGB, sa station Playmobil, son drapeau suédois (!), sur lequel est grimpé un koala (!!), ses maisons artisanales, enfin bref tous les trésors qui font que l'arbre de Noël de ma famille, c'est le plus magnifique et le plus impressionnant que j'aie jamais vu. Il prend trois hommes pour le monter (quatre quand j'y suis) et le décorer au complet, deux jours d'ouvrage. Ce n'est pas rien qu'un arbre, c'est un monument. Et oui, j'assume ma mégalomanie.

The polar bear mug

There was Secret Santa at work last week. So it means I received something from an unknown colleague: this mug with the look and colours of a polar bear. And two white chocolate snowmen. I have to say, it could have gone far worse, given the humorous nature of Secret Santa at work. I always unwrap my present from Secret Santa with a certain fear. This was quite sweet. The person who bought me this seems to know me fairly well. He/she knows that I have a sweet tooth and seems to know my love for wildlife. Or maybe he/she just thought the mug looked cute. My wife loves white chocolate far more than me, so I will share one with her. She might even have both. For the polar bear mugs, although we have plenty of mugs already, I will happily add it to our collection. Because polar bears are so darn cute and I can be silly enough to enjoy drinking from such cup, just because it is made up to look like a bear.

L'hiver catastrophique

Apparemment, ce sera le solstice d'hiver demain. Est-ce que ça a l'air d'être le cas chez vous? Sans doute que non. J'ai appris par ailleurs que l'on prévoit un Noël brun/gris/drabe à peu près partout au Québec. Sauf dans quelques endroits, dont le Royaume du Saguenay, où mon frère PJ a pris cette photo. enfin, touchons du bois. Il ne faudrait pas que le temps se radoucisse, mais au moins, il neigeait aujourd'hui à Chicoutimi. Il neige peut-être encore, qui sait. Et puis comme si un malheur n'arrivait jamais seul, un astéroïde frôlera la Terre le 24 décembre. Quand je pensais que l'hiver ne pouvait pas être plus merdique. Bon, je plaisante pour l'astéroïde il ne provoquera pas l'Apocalypse. Mais quand même, ça suce cette année. Je me console en regardant cette photo.

Winter on the Christmas tree

It does not look or feel like winter outside, as I have been moaning about. It has really got into me. But I try to find comfort in a few things. First, I have a real Christmas tree. This is always a plus to bring the spirit of Christmas home. And we have really nice ornaments. I have seen around far uglier Christmas trees than ours, because they are fake and because their ornaments are tacky. My wife and I are particularly fond of this sort, little doll girls that could easily be gnomes, wearing winter clothes, especially a woolly hat and pig tails. Some of them have ice skates. The brand is being sold in a local shop. We bought many of them, for us and for our families. It may not be winter outside, but these dolls bring winter on the Christmas tree.

La bûche de Noël

Mon père m'a envoyé une photo de la bûche de Noël que ma famille va manger cette année et que je vais (encore) manquer. C'est un incontournable pour les repas des Fêtes: on a de la bûche en dessert. Une en gâteau et glâcage et une gâteau et crème glacée avec coulis au chocolat. J'ai acheté une bûche toute faite pour cette année, mais je regrette de ne pas avoir pris le risque d'en faire une comme ça. Sauf que la seule et unique fois que j'ai essayé, ça a vraiment été une catastrophe (parce que le crémage était trop liquide, ça ressemblait à un calmar de Noël). Alors je me contenterai d'une bûche toute faire.