Krampus: Origins of the Yuletide Monster

Quick post today, 'tis the season to be a tad creepy. Monstrum made a video about Krampus recently and it was too good not to share it. Who doesn't like Krampus? I debunks a lot of misconceptions about the critter, particularly his association with Santa. Anyway, here it is:

Des nouvelles de la neige

Mon frère PJ est chez mes parents pour les Fêtes, Ma mère a dit que la température a radouci et qu'il a même plu, transformant le coin en patinoire. Croisons-nous les doigts pour qu'ils aient un Noël blanc... Et que ce soit le cas ici aussi (on peut rêver).

Jólabókaflóð

I blogged about it last year. I made it a word of the day then, I will do the same now. So Jólabókaflóð is an Icelandic term meaning "Christmas Book Flood" and it is the word given to their tradition of giving book on Christmas Eve and spending the rest of the night reading it. I think it is a great tradition which I haven't quite done as of yet, except for the reading book part. This is how I spend myfree time waiting for Christmas to arrive. 'Tis the season to be reading, after all.

Beignes, demi recette

Mes parents ont fait une demi recette de beignes. Et ils m'ont envoyé cette photo. Je ne sais pas s'ils en feront d'autres, ils reçoivent moins de monde cette année et Wolfie n'étant pas là, il y a un ogre à dent sucrée friand de beignes de moins à nourrir. Mais quand même, fêter Noël en expatrié, c'est par moments plus difficile.

The Wait for Christmas

Christmas is only ten days away and Wolfie will be on holiday bu the end of this week, yet he is getting very impatient. He still has a vague idea of time, so he hopes that Christmas will come tomorrow, even though is Advent calendar shows otherwise. I must confess, I am starting to feel like time is running very slowly too. I will be on holiday as well and the days at work feel more and more... endless. I also want time to prepare properly, which I feel I haven't had the chance yet: I need to wrap presents, buy food and drinks, maybe do a bit of cooking myself, etc. Once I am on annual leave, then I don't feel so much bored, I can enjoy the wait and the preparations. Otherwise, I cannot say I have matured all that much since I was Wolfie's age: whether one is at school or at work, waiting for the Christmas holidays is really a pain.

"Sentier de neige"

 Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo. J'aimerais avoir de la neige ici et je m'ennuie des hivers québécois. Il n'y a pas à dire, c'est moins Noël sans neige...

Money, Money, Money (#Christmascrimes)

'Tis the season to be reading, falala lala, and so on. For today's (and this year's) first Christmas reading suggestion (and sorry if I have been late this year to kickstart the tradition): Money, Money, Money by Ed McBain. Because I always read some crime fiction during Christmastime, there's just something about blood on snow. This is one of his later novels, featuring the team at the 87th Precinct, especially Steve Carella, and Fat Ollie Weeks. It has cocain, phoney dollar bills, Mexican druglords, a woman eaten by lions, a duo of sexy blonde hitwomen, the Secret Services and Islamic terrorism. Did I say that this was published days before 9/11? Both chilling and very entertaining, albeit at times a bit far fetched. All set between Christmas and New Year.

200 bûches de Noël volées

J'ai appris avec quelques jours de retard une nouvelle qui m'a jeté par terre, tant par son absurdité que par sa vilenie: on a volé 200 bûches de Noël à Shawinigan. Des bûches destinées pour des oeuvres de charité, par-dessus le marché. Le dessert, pas des bûches de bois. Je ne sais pas laquelle peut être pire. Il semblerait que le vol ait été commis par erreur et que ce soit lié, accidentellement, à une affaire de drogue. Le sucre crée des dépendances, après tout. Mais plus sérieusement, le vol est aussi stupide qu'ignoble. La pâtisserie s'appelle Le Palais. Je n'ai jamais mis les pieds à Shawinigan, mais si jamais j'y vais, je vais acheter un dessert là pour les encourager, promis. Ca ne risque pas d'être durant les Fêtes, autrement ce serait bien entendu une bûche.

A children's Christmas Party

Last weel,Wolfie had his Christmas party at school, which he seemed to be quite anxious about. We don,t know why, but he said that he didn't want to go to the party and the "Christmas disco". So when we left him at the school gates, we told his his teacher about his concerns. She told us not to worry, that many pupils, especially boys, were a bit afraid of it at this age. So I said: "When you are a boy, fear of parties follows you well into teenage and into adulthood, until you are no longer expected to attend such events." They all laughed. I think it is due to dancing: I always hated dancing in parties and clubs and I know many, many men who feel the same. Anyway, that was last week's great unknown line.

Faire la bûche (ou pas)

Je partage encore une fois une photo de la bûche de Noël que mes parents ont fait il y a quelques jours. Avec les petits sapins en déco. Je me demande si je ne devrais pas me risquer à en faire une, par tradition familiale et pour Wolfie. La dernière fois que j'ai essayé, il y a plus de dix ans, ça ressemblait à une pieuvre de Noël, mais il faudrait que je tente l'expérience à nouveau, rien que pour voir.

A Christmas Village

As I already mentioned in my previous post in French, ysterday, my family and I went to meet my wife's family for a day out in the model village of Beakonscot, which is in Beaconsfield. The village was adapted for the season and they added lots of Christmas elements to it. I want to blog about each and everyone of them, but right now I just wanted to share this picture. A perfect Christmas village, with snow and trees and people being festive. Walking there made me feel quite nostalgic, in a good way.

Le train de Noël

Hier, nous sommes allés en famille rencontrer la famille de ma femme (ses parents, sa soeur, le chum de sa soeur, leur fils donc le cousin de petit loup) à Beakonscot, un village miniature avec chemin de fer et trains électriques. Ils avaient adapté le lieu pour les Fêtes, avec enre autres un train de Noël qui transportait le Père Noël et ses rennes. Il a fait une forte impression sur petit loup. Et sur son père aussi. C'est pas le train de grand-papa, mais c'est impressionnant quand même. On l'a suivi tout letemps qu'on était là.

The family's Yule Log

My dad sent me last night pictures of the Yule log, or bûche de Noël as we call it, he made with mum. It's not Christmas without one. My parents added Christmas trees on it, which is a bit of a novelty. I tried to bake a Yule log once, but it ended up looking like a squid and tasting not so great. I bought one from  shop, which I put in the freezer. We will decorate it with Wolfie, just like he did with the one his grandparents made during our last visit to Québec. Not quite the same, but it somewhat preserves old family traditions.

Pointsettias

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo des pointsettias que mes parents ont mis dans la maison pour les Fêtes. Je ne me rappelle jamais du nom (ou de me rappeler de la manière de l'écrire) et mon père doit me remettre en mémoire à chaque fois, mais j'aime beaucoup, parce que ça fait vraiment Noël.

Our Gingerbread Man

Many think that gingerbread men are a stable of Christmas. I do too, but it has never been a dessert I was particularly fond of, although I do it some from time to time, if only to give me a quick Christmas feeling. I eat it more for the feeling than the taste, if that makes sense. But is especially remind me of the tale of the Gingerbread Man. And recently, I lived my own mundane version of the tale. A week ago, I went to a nearby corner shop to buy bits and bots and saw that Cadbury had made a Gingerbread Edition of their Dairy Milk. So I bought it for my wife, who loves chocolate and special editions of classics such as the Dairy Milk bar. But I left the bar at the counter. I saw when I got home that I had forgotten it. As I needed to get back to work, I could not walk to the corner shop and correct my mistake, but my wife went there for me, even though I had not asked for a receit. She managed to get it back without too much trouble. Nevertheless, it felt like this Gingerbread Man, like in the old tale, tried his hardest not to be eaten.

La gratte et petit loup

Mon père m'a envoyé une photo d'une gratte qui passait à Chicout. Pour impressionner son petit-fils. Qui aime vraiment tous les engins. Quand il contemple les engins pour gratter la neige ou la souffler, je vois comme sa nordicité dans son regard et j'en suis fier. Et ça me désole toujours de voir qu'ici, ben on est sous la flotte.

All I Want for Christmas is a Book (or Twelve)

I found this online and thought it was very funny and very "me", so I decided to share it here. It is both funny and kind of deep at the same time, if you think about it. Also, my wife has been struggling to find me presents recently, so this might come as a sort of source of inspiration, but it can also be useful to you if you are wondering what to buy to your loved ones. Or how to explain to them in an easy to follow graphic what present you want.

Bonhomme de neige de Noël

Je partage aujourd'hui une autre photo que mon père m'a envoyée: celle d'un bonhomme de neige en plastique (de la neige en plastique, ou un bonhomme en plastique?) comme décoration de Noël. Je ne suis en général pas un fan des  Pères Noël, des rennes ou des autres personnages hivernaux ou des Fêtes en plastique, mais celui-ci n'est pas mal. Tout ça pour dire également qu'à défaut de neige collante, on peut toujours se procurer des bonhommes de neige artificiels (et non pas de neige artificielle).

Have a Pagan Christmas

'Tis the season to be... well, a lot of things, but maybe Pagan is the right word. Anyway, I found this meme online and found it hilarious, because it's pretty much how I feel when I get irritated by people talking of Christmas being a Christian holiday (which often implies: "it should be exclusively Christian and no godless heathen should have fun on our Most Sacred Day.") So yes, in these moments I feel like that weird promitive, tribalistic Santa Claus and yes, I feel animated when I have a few alcoholic drinks in the stomach.

Noël à la librairie

J'ai trouvé ça sur la page Facebook d'une de mes anciennes profs du cégep et je partage parce que je pense que lorsque l'on fait ses achats de cadeaux pour Noël, c'est important de se rappeler: 1)que c'est bien d'encourager les commerces locaux, surtout les librairies indépendantes et 2)c'est un endroit où on peut trouver de vrais cadeaux inspirés. Que l'on croit au Père Noël ou non une chose ne fait pas de doutes pour moi: s'il existe, il doit se stocker auprès de librairies indépendantes.