Wolfie and his train set

I took this picture at the National Railway Museum of York and I am sharing it here as it illustrates tonight's topic (as usual). I don't think I shared it before. I hope not anyway. Today, my wife when thrift shopping, at the instigation of one of her friends (Blonde Tickler's mother). My wife wanted to buy more toys for Wolfie, as if he doesn't have enough already. Well, she found an offer that was so good she could not refuse it: a whole train set for only £4.00. This include a lot of railways, locomotives, wagons, some pieces of machinery to go with the trains, a station and some other things. Nothing very sophisticated, it's all cheap plastic stuff, and second-hand on top of that. But Wolfie loves it. The set turns the living room into an already bigger mess than before, nevertheless I am very happy to see that he shares the same fascination for railways as his father, uncles and grandfather.

N'en jetez plus...

...la cour est pleine. Dans ce cas, c'est littéral. Nouvelle photo envoyée par mon père, de la cour justement, après la tempête de neige qu'ils ont eue. L'entrée était ensevelie sous la neige et la cour avant de même. Et dire qu'ici, on décrète presque l'état d'urgence quand il tombe un pouce de neige...

Card games and me

Fellow blogger Debra from She Who Seeks is learning bridge and reading about it on her blog made me think of my own troubled report with card games. To sum it up, I generally suck at them and consequently I really don't like playing them either. I don't remember playing bridge, but I do have memory of trying to learn cribbage (or crib as we called it) with a friend (cribbage? How lame is that? Even the name sound dull!) who for some unknown reasons was really into it and being so darn hopeless that we stopped playing altogether. He turned out schizophrenic, which might explain why he thought crib was so the epitome of cool and sophistication. I also remember reading the rules of Canasta, I believe it was at school, and finding the name very dull as well. Then there was solitaire or patience as I knew it, which I quite liked, because it was simple to understand and well, you could play alone. When it comes to cards, what I like the most are the look of the cards themselves, if that makes sense. Jacks, Queens, Kings, Aces, they look quite elegant and sophisticated (unlike a crib board, which is really ugly).

I also vaguely remember playing or at least learning about Blackjack, which is also fairly easy to understand. And there was poker of course, which remains to this day my favourite card game, even though I very rarely play it, have never truly played it (read: I never played for money) and, furthermore I have never been very good at it. I guess not playing for money was either a blessing or it prevented me to be truly motivated and become a decent player. I will try to write a full post about poker in the near future, suffice to say for now that I started enjoying this particular card game all thanks to a certain classic movie where it is heavily featured. As a young teenager I had developed a fascination for The Sting and partially to enjoy the film more I had started learning about poker hands and so on. But I digress. I still cannot find interest in card games. But I still like the look of the cards in a deck.

La souffleuse et la neige

Je pensais intituler ce billet d'une citation très célèbre pour les gens qui ont grandi dans les années 80 au Québec: "La gratte a passé, deux morts". Mais je l'ai déjà utilisée pour ce billet. Vous pouvez le lire pour le contexte et la petite histoire. et puis vous voyez sur cette photo une souffleuse soufflant, pas une gratte. Enfin oui, une gratte un peu, mais c'est la souffleuse qui est en action sur la photo. Toujours est-il que c'est toujours l'hiver pour vrai de vrai au Saguenay, contrairement à ici et mon père m'a envoyé quelques photos comme celle-ci, que je veux partager.

Schizophrenic weather

People here have been very happy: the weather has been extremely kind these last few days. This weekend, I only wore a light coat when I went downtown and to be honest, I did not need a coat at all. Then today the temperatures where approaching 20 in some parts of the UK. But this was only part of the picture. When I woke up this morning, it was still freezing, with temperatures barely above zero. I thus had to wear my winter coat. It is only later during the day that it became unusually and ridiculously hot. People say Spring is here already, but they forget that the weather changes drastically during this season. In other words, it is not because Spring is at the door that Summer is on its way. The weather these days is just schizophrenic and to be honest, I find it utterly unpleasant.

Lait aux (fausses) fraises

Vous savez qu'au travail, je me payais parfois la traite avec les milkshakes de Shaken Udder. C'était le cas jusqu'à ce que j'essaie leur milkshake à la fraise (et à la clotted cream). Ce fut une déception. Vous vous rappelez le Quik aux fraises? Je crois que ça se vend encore, je peux me tromper. J'ai il y a fort longtemps fort aimé le Quik aux fraises, comme chaque enfant de mon âge, j'imagine. Mais c'était dégueulasse. Ben cette affaire-là, ça a le même goût de fraises artificielles. À un point tel que j'ai maintenant un regard plus critique envers les autres produits Shaken Udder: même leur lait à la vanille que j'aimais tant, bien je ne l'aime plus si tant que ça. La prochaine fois que je vais boire un milkshake, je vais me le faire moi même.

Anthony Burgess' 102nd year

I do it every year, or at least try to do it every year: I hereby mention that today, 25th of February, is the birthday of John Anthony Burgess Wilson, better known as Anthony Burgess. He would have been 102 today.He is my favourite writer. If you wonder why, please read this post, or that post, or this one. Or this post too, come to think of it. Bottom lime is: he is great. And I hope you find time to discover him. I wanted to find a good picture to celebrate his anniversary, I found this one which I thought was so typically Burgessian: the rather ugly, outlandish suit, the cigar, the painting in the background. Cultured, bon vivant, with a dash of snobbery. Yet look at the sharpness in his eyes. Burgess may have been rather ugly (even his second wife, whom I met, said that much), but he had a beautiful mind.

"Un, deux, test"

"Un, deux, test". C'est ce que j'ai tapé comme titre de billet il y a onze ans, le 25 février 2008. Vraie Fiction a onze ans aujourd'hui, ou en tout cas l'aura à 21:41. Aujourd'hui est donc l'anniversaire de ce blogue et je voulais le souligner. Je ne sais pas trop comment ni si je vais le célébrer. Mais j'essaie de me rappeler chaque année que Vraie Fiction existe depuis le 25 février 2008. Je soupçonne que je suis souvent le seul à le lire, mais ce blogue est vraiment important pour moi, à la fois comme journal et comme source de créativité.

Venus & Mars

This was yesterday’s poison. Venus & Mars from Black Sheep Brewery, which beers I have enjoyed in the past, but very seldom tried. I thought it was the right time to get acquainted with their products. I bought it and decided to try it then because February is the month of Venus (with Valentine’s Day and all) and the coming March being the month of the God Mars (well, duh!), I also loved the way they sold it on the label, the meeting of two world, heavens and earth (Mars is also a Cthonian, thus an agricultural god), "ancient alchemy in full force." I thought this was an obvious choice. It may not be as amazing a drinking experience as the promotion made it out to be, but it is nevertheless quite enjoyable for a pale ale that is actually not so pale, as you can see from the picture.

Domino le chasseur

Domino a décidé de chasser son déjeuner ce matin. Il s'est pointé devant la chatière vers 11 heures avec un rongeur dans la gueule. C'était une souris, peut-être un petit rat. J'ai pu barrer la chatière juste à temps. Il a donc pris son déjeuner dehors, en bon chat sophistiqué qu'il est. Non, mais c'est drôle de le raconter comme ça, mais notre chat est un chasseur méthodique et sans merci, diablement efficace, alors je me méfie toujours lorsque je le vois. Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'il tente de faire rentrer les rongeurs qu'il tue (quand ce ne sont pas des oiseaux) et il l'ai fait avec succès à quelques reprises déjà. Cette fois-ci au moins, je n'ai eu qu'à nettoyer les viscères du jardin. C'était dégueulasse, mais moins pire que de ramasser un cadavre de souris dans la maison, avec un chat qui te regarde comme si tu gaspilles de la nourriture.

Books are...

Here is another comic strip from Grant Snider, which one of my friends from way back (my undergraduate years at uni) shared on his Facebook wall. I really loved it. This is very sweet, evocative, and so very true. Funny in a witty, like Snider work is, the kind of thing that will not make you laugh, but will give you a long lasting smile. So I had to share it here. Vraie Fiction is a lot about literature, big and small (often small). This comic strip shows why.

Trop chaud, trop tôt?

Je l'ai dit il y a une semaine environ, il y a comme un air de printemps ces temps-ci. Aujourd'hui, on dirait même un printemps avancé: il a fait un soleil splendide et aux environs de 15 Celsius. Je devrais me réjouir, mais je trouve ça trop chaud, trop tôt. Il va y avoir un retour à la normale, ou pire en dessous de la normale, à un moment donné et on aura alors tous la mine à terre. je suis fataliste, je sais. Ou alors je suis lucide.

Shatterhand?

Maybe it is a rumour that has gone wild, maybe it is genuine, but I got excited about it anyway. You know that I am a big fan of James Bond, both in novels and movies. Well, I heard and read today that the next Bond movie apparently has its title: Shatterhand. For those who know the character and the work of Ian Fleming and not only his cinematic adaptations, you will recognize the pseudonym used by archenemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the novel You Only Live Twice. It might only be a working title, but if it is true, I am very happy and excited. Does it mean that Blofeld will be back? And that they will use the novel as inspiration in some capacity? I sure hope so. If nothing else, it's a great title.

Fous de Bassan gaspésiens

C'est une nouvelle ancienne photo d'oiseaux que je partage ce soir, encore des Fous de Bassan de Gaspésie. (Une question comme ça: peut-on vraiment dire des Fous de Bassan gaspésiens? Parce que l'île de Bass, elle est en Écosse. Il faudra sans doute que j'en fasse une nouvelle question existentielle). Encore une fois la photo a été prise avant ma naissance, ou en tout cas il y a des années.

The No Nonsense Coffee Guide

I found this picture at total random today on social media and I thought that even though I hate coffee, it was too good not to share it here. I have been once to the Lake District, but never to Silloth. Since my wife and I have been wanting to go back there, maybe we will go in this area next time. This is one of my new holiday objectives anyway: to visit Silloth and the Fairydust Emporium. I haven't checked the reviews anywhere online, but I love their attitude. Because what I dislike about coffee, apart from its colour, its taste and its smell, it is the snobbery and silly verbiage associated to it. For Pete's sake, you just want coffee, sometimes with something in it! This guide is straight to the point.

Livres et temps libre

J'ai trouvé cette courte vignette bédé sur Facebook. Je la partage ici ce soir parce que c'est vraiment criant de vérité, en tout cas en ce qui me concerne. Et vous?

Hump Day

The word of the day today/tonight (haven't done that in a while) is hump day. Which is a popular term for Wednesday, being the middle of the week. Apparently, it can be written humpday, hump day or Hump Day, among other spellings. I am not sure which one I prefer. Wednesday is maybe the worst day of the week for me, where I feel the most tired at work and the weekend seems far, far, far away. This is the case in the morning at least. And until the day ends, time is so very long and things go very slow. Hump Day is maybe just a way to give a positive spin to Wednesday, but it is sitll Wednesday, and I can only call it Hump Day when it is finally over.

Table en bois

Vous vous rappelez peut-être de la table en bois dans le chalet (enfin la cabane, voire le campement) de mes oncles. Une table en bois, faite à la main, dans une cabane en bois, dans les bois... Ça ne s'invente pas. J'ai retrouvé une photo de la table en question. J'aimerais vraiment en avoir une comme ça ici. Bon je ne peux pas me plaindre: nous avons une très belle table en vrai chêne, mais elle est toujours couverte de pleins de choses, alors on ne peut pas vraiment l'apprécier. Mais c'est notre faute. Non, je voudrais une table comme celle-ci comme table de bureau, où je mettrais mon ordinateur ainsi que des trucs pour écrire. Mais alors il me faudrait une maison plus grande, avec sans doute une une pièce de plus pour pouvoir la mettre là. On peut rêver...

True (Organized) Crimes

I have on my bookshelves a book on organized crime by Paul Lunde, which I received a few years ago for Christmas. It is aptly titled Organized Crime: An Inside Guide to the World's Most Successful Industry. It is merely a coffee table book, but it is a fun read and I want to get back to it again as inspiration and source of information for the synopsis for the crime fiction story I am working on for my writing workshop. Because I know criminal organizations will play a central role in the plot and I always believed that crime fiction was at least fueled bu true crime stories. This book may not be the most up to date resource, but it can be a starting point and if nothing else, it has some striking pictures that will put me in the right creative mindset.

Onze muffins dans une douzaine

Mes parents ont fait des muffins au gruau cette semaine (la recette ici, essayez-la c'est délicieux). Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo. Ils n'étaient pas sitôt sortis du four qu'il en manquait déjà un pour la photo. Ils sont bons à ce point-là. Nous allons sans doute en faire pour que notre petit loup il goûte. C'est l'un des classiques gastronomiques du côté de son père qu'il n'a pas encore essayé et je suis confiant qu'il va adorer.