"I remember Dublin City..."

Tomorrow is Saint Paddy's Day and to get myself and my family in the mood I have been listening to a lot of Irish music, particularly the Dubliners. I thought this blog needed a bit more music, so I am sharing one Irish song here. I have been to Dublin only once in my life, for a week, I did not know it "in the rare old times", nevertheless it must have changed since. And in any case, I can relate to the nostalgic aspects of this song. We all have a Dublin somewhere, it may not be a town or a city, it may not be anywhere in particular, but it haunts us.

Les Ides de mars hier à Montréal

Je pensais hier aux Ides de mars, me demandant si je ne devrais pas bloguer sur le sujet. Puis je me suis dit que non, que j'avais fait le tour de l'assassinat de Jules César, en tout cas pour le moment. Je pensais que je trouverais une nouvelle approche pour en parler une autre année, quand j'ai vu que Leonardo Rizzuto a été victime d'une tentative de meurtre. Un 15 mars. Il semble être hors de danger, mais quand même, ça fait drôle (je n'oserai pas dire "approprié"). Des fois, il y a des coïncidences qui ne s'inventent pas.

Scotland Yard in Hamleys

We did not buy much during our trip to Hamleys, but it had a lot of very temping toys and games. I was so happy to see Scotland Yard among the board games on sale. It may be my favourite board game, ex aequo with Clue/Cluedo. More details about my story with Scotland Yard here. I even invented a make-belief game based on it, I was that obsessed with it as a child!  The one I found in Hamleys is the original gameplay, set in London, on the chase of the elusive  Mr X. But I did not want to carry the whole thing through London and back home, and at £35, I thought it was a bit much. Nevertheless, I was tempted, for no better reason than to buy it in London would have made it extra special. All the same, it's on my list of birthday presents.

Chekoutimi

J'ai trouvé dans les internets une photo de la toute première carte de Chicoutimi, avant même que ce soit une ville. Elle s'appelait alors "Chekoutimi". J'ai entendu cette prononciation dans mon enfance. Je n'ai rien d'autre à dire, sinon que je trouve cettecarte fascinante.

A Guinness Cake for Saint Paddy's

 I haven't blogged about the upcoming Saint-Patrick's Day yet, which is a bit of a shame, as it is one of my best holidays. That doesn't mean we are not preparing it. I say we, as this year my wife took the initiative with a great idea. For many of us, myself included, Saint Paddy's means drinking Guinness. Well, she suggested that we bake Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness cake. We never made one, but enjoyed it a few times in cafés and restaurants. It is just so delicious. We bought alcohol free Guinness so Wolfie can have some too. We might fail miserably, but even if it looks terrible, it should be edible.

Felipe siempre!

Je partage un gag (re)trouvé sur la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda. Felipe me fait souvent penser à moi: j'ai l'imagination fertile et au lieu de faire des corvées il m'arrive souvent de rêvasser. C'était le cas à l'école, ou quand je devais faire des devoirs, c'est encore le cas aujourd'hui. Cela dit, malgré ses tendances à la paresse, Felipe a de l'éducation et celle-ci nourrit ses rêveries, ce qui n'est déjà pas si mal.

Cate Blanchett, Tar and Oscar

You must have read the news already, if you've been following it a bit. But anyway, my favourite actress Cate Blanchett was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Tar. She did not win. I have neither seen the movie nor its competition, so sue me for that and say that I don't have sufficient information to make a judgment, but the fan in me can't help but suspect that she got robbed again, just like in 1999. Anyway, I will watch it and the other films/performances, I promise.

Il vente

Aujourd'hui, il vente. Il a venté toute la journée, à écorner les boeufs. Ca s'est calmé un peu dans la dernière heure et ça sera plus tranquille demain, mais c'était impressionnant d'entendre et de voir ça aujourd'hui. J'adore le temps venteux, en autant que je puisse rester pépère chez moi. J'adore l'atmosphère que les bourrasques donnent à une journée, comme si elles annonçaient un certain drame qui va mettre fin à la monotonie ambiante.

The Bernina Express

 My laptop has Windows 10 and recently, the screen saver showed this image. I fell in love with it right away. It's the Bernina Express, a Swiss train. Apparently, Swiss trains are the very best in the world, comfy, classy, efficient, just like the country's greatest gift to transport. As a railway afficionado, I want to revisit the country just to take its trains. And I know this picture is pure and utter scenery porn, with the snowy landscape and everything, but I had to find it and share it.

La Tour de Londres, vue de haut

Photo prise samedi à Sky Garden, de la Tour de Londres. J'ai envie de la revisiter.

The world's most expensive teddy bear?

We went to London yesterday. We did not visit many places, but at the last minute we decided to make a quick trip to Hamleys, one of its most famous toy shops. Wolfie loved it. I did too, although I found it a tad too crowded. One of their floors had lots of plush toys and I stumbled upon this man size, or maybe should I say bear size teddy bear. I was very impressed at first glance, then I had a good look at it and I was scared. Not because he looks nasty, but because of the price tag: £4,000. That might be the world's most expensive teddy bear. Be that as it may, he's very impressive.

Tower Bridge vu de haut

 Nous sommes allés à Londres hier. Nous n'avons pas fait beaucoup de visites, mais nous avons passé la plupart de l'après-midi à Sky Garden, où on peut voir la ville de très haut. À défaut de visiter les hauts lieux historiques (et touristiques), on peut les admirer à vol d'oiseau. Et puis ça nous donne des idées pour les prochaines visites. Parmi les attraits que l'on peut y voir, il y a Tower Bridge, qui est mon pont préféré de Londres (je ne suis pas bien original), juste parce que, ben, il y a des tours dessus.

Things to do on a train journey

I blogged last year about 100 Things to do on a Journey, which I bought for Wolfie for our future holidays. It is a gamebook meant to keep children busy when they travel. We used it on our last holiday, but I intend to use it again soon on our next day trip by railway, as there are still plenty of activities to get through. I love planning train journeys, I get excited for them, often more than the destination. Books and train journeys always go well together, but this specific book is also interactive, which is a blessing when you travel with a young child. As any train lover knows, the journey is part of the fun, but it is sometimes less obvious for a young boy, so this book should come in handy.

Question existentielle (380)

 Nouvelle question existentielle, ça faisait longtemps:

-Les bouteilles de vin sans bouchon de liège, pour ou contre?

Monstrum on Bloody Mary

YouTube/PBS series Monstrum has released a new video recently, about the folkloric character of Bloody Mary. I really loved it (as always) and I decided to share it tonight. Bloody Mary and divination in front of a mirror used to be a staple of Halloween, so all the more reason for us to enjoy this video.

Neige

Il a neigé cette semaine. Pas les neiges d'antan, pas ce qu'on a au Québec, mais quand même. Je ne bouderai pas mon plaisir.

A Scotsman in the snow

I saw this picture on the Facebook page  of the National Railway Museum in York. It's been snowing recently, so they had the inspiration of taking a picture of the Flying Scotsman while it was falling.There's just something about a train in the snow, even if it is melting snow that does not stay. Especially when it is a classic steam train like the Scotsman. So I had to share it.

L'Étape d'hier

J'ai trouvé une vieille photo de L'Étape qui date des années 60. C'est bien entendu l'ancien bâtiment. Je me rappelle encore y avoir été, quand j'étais tout jeune. Ca ne rajeunit personne. Le vieux bâtiment avait beaucoup plus de cachet que la patente construite par après. Tout ça pour dire que je m'ennuie de l'Étape, surtout de cette Étape.

Komodo Dragons

I recently found on BBC iPlayer an old documentary series, in black and white, with David Attenborough. When I say old, it dated back from 1956. A piece of anthology. I only watched one episode, the one about Komodo dragons. When I was a child, my brother PJ had a book about dragons in general, and the Komodo dragon was mentioned in passing. It got me fascinated. The idea of a gigantic lizard with a venomour bite living in a remote part of the world seemed both thrilling and exotic. Like a mythical creature that turned out to be real. Seeing Komodo dragons in a black and white video, they seemed even more mysterious and strange. It reminded me of my old childhood fascination for them.

L'hiver chez nous et chez vous

 Photo que mon père m'a envoyé l'année dernière, prise le 8 mars 2022, un an et un jour exactement. Le solarium chez mes parents, tout enneigé et couronné de glaçons. Mars, c'est supposé être le début du printemps, mais ici c'est souvent le moment où l'hiver fait un dernier tour de piste remarqué. Au moment où j'écris ces lignes, on prévoit de la neige. Ironiquement, mars est souvent le mois le plus hivernal ici. Enfin, comment est l'hiver chez vous?