D&Dr: popular again?

This is the cover from the Dragon Magazine number 254, released in November 1998. One of the few later covers I liked, drawn by Jeff Easley. I had wanted to blog about Dungeons & Dragons again, but did not know exactly what angle to take this time. An article in today's Guardian gave me the opportunity for it: apparently, D&Dr is getting popular again. For many reasons, one of them being of course the nostalgic factor. I am glad. I think it is a valuable past time that makes you socialize and allows you to develop your imagination even as an adult. So I am not surprised, in a time dominated by nostalgia, that this old game is getting traction among old players who go back to it and new players who discover it. Anyway, read the article, it is fascinating. As for me, I will eagerly wait for our future games this coming month.

Un dinosaure, mais lequel?

Mon père a pris cette photo à Montréal, dans le Vieux-Montral je crois. Un faux crâne de dinosaure. Je ne sais pas lequel, je soupçonne que c'est un t-rex, ou alors c'est une représentation fantaisiste. Dans tous les cas, c'est impressionnant.

A bookshop window on Black Friday

My readers know that Wallingford is one of my favourite English towns and that one of the reasons why I love it so much is that it has its own independent bookshop, aptly and simply named the Wallingford Bookshop. They published today on social media this picture of their window. It looks like the perfect place for Christmas shopping. They said on their Twitter account that it is the antithesis of Black Friday: "a warm, welcoming(...), with real smiles and real knowledge." I love this way of thinking. I tend to avoid Black Friday like the plague, but I wish I had been there today. I could have bought a book or three without feeling like succumbing to consumerism.

Une grue (?) l'hiver

Mon pèrem'a envoyé cette photo, prise près de chez nous. Nos voisins, enfin les voisins de mes parents (je dis parfois "nos" voisins, "notre" maison, "notre" quartier, parce que pour moi c'est toujours un peu chez moi, autre aspect de ma nostalgie), font des rénovations. Petit loup aime les machines des chantiers de construction, alors grand-papa essaie de l'impressionner. Et moi j'aime cette photo parce que je vois de la neige.

Of mice and cats

I took this picture in the Natural History Museum and I am uploading it here as it suits my topic. It was a display representingsomething like the relation between animals and men in the food chain. A stuffed cat and stuffed rats, in what was meant to be a basement or an attic, full of bags of grain. The rats eat the grain gathered by men, the cat eats the rats, thus serving men, etc. I blogged about it here. This weekend, Domino created quite a commotion by bringing a mouse home. It was not the first time he did such a thing, but this time the mouse was alive. Our cat had decided to have a play with it in the living room. Long story short, I managed to move Domi away and save the mouse. But it really freaked me out, as I hate rodents. So whatever I said then about how great cats are for getting rid of vermin, I don't have this opinion anymore, unless they have the courtesy to kill their prey.

Premier vin chaud

Samedi dernier, nous sommes allés à une fête de Noël pour enfants organisée par la garderie de notre petit loup. C'est encore un peu trop tôt pour ça, je trouve, mais bon, j'imagine que tout le monde trouve le temps gris autrement. En ce qui me concerne, je n'ai pas encore tout à fait l'esprit festif. On y servait de quoi manger et boire, dont du vin chaud. Les Anglais aiment beaucoup le vin chaud durant les Fêtes. Comme c'était à peu près le seul alcool qu'on y servait, j'en ai pris un verre. Il était franchement pas mauvais pour quelquechose de servi dans un verre en carton. Et ça réchauffe l'estomac sinon le coeur quand il fait frais et humide et gris dehors. Enfin bref, ce fut mon premier verre de vin chaud cette année.

The Catherine Wheel

I did not take this picture myself: it is one I found online. This is the ensign of The Catherine Wheel, a Wetherspoon pub in Henley. It's only a Wetherspoon pub, nothing special, but we went there a few times and quite enjoyed it. I always wondered what its name meant. Well, today I discovered it, pretty much at random. You see, today is Saint Catherine's Day, which we used to celebrate when I was a good but ignorant Catholic boy. Out of curiosity, I read about it. The Saint in question is Catherine of Alexandria, who according to legends, had to endure ridiculously gory tortures as a martyr. Among them, she was placed on a breaking wheel, which shattered at her touch. She is often depicted on a wheel and this is why there is this cool ensign at the entrance of the pub. Neat. I wish I had been told this story when I was a young and ignorant Catholic boy.

"Colette ne voulait point coiffer Sainte Catherine..."

Ainsi commence l'un de mes contes québécois préférés, appelé À la Sainte-Catherine ou La Sainte-Catherine de Colette. Je l'avais lu en quatrième année dans le cadre d'un cours de français et depuis Nous sommes donc la Sainte-Catherine et pour l'occasion je repartage ce conte (je l'ai déjà fait à quelques reprises par le passé), que l'on ne retrouve plus très facilement en ligne. En fait, après une recherche rapide, j'ai pu le trouver en deux parties sur un autre site, ici et là. Vous me direz ce que vous en pensez. Avertissement: c'est très, très catholique.

Snowy railway

Just because it looks good, I am sharing again tonight a picture sent by my dad of a train running in the snow. Like I said on my first post a week ago, it's only a cargo train, but it is still a striking image. My father was lucky to take it at that time, as this is a CN train and they are on strike. I did not follow the story. But anyway, a snowy railway and a train passing by, you can't get any better than that when it comes to atmospheric images.

"Les bibittes"

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo de créatures faites par l'artiste de Chicoutimi Ann Jones. Je ne retrouve plus son site web, hélas. Elle fait aussi de magnifiques marionnettes. Mon frère Andrew aime surtout je crois les créatures vaguement insectoïdes que vous voyez ici. On les appelle communément "bibittes". Il en a partout dans sa chambre à Montréal. Je préfère ses marionnettes et ses grigris (faudra que je blogue sur eux un jour), mais juste parce que les bibittes sont assez saisissantes, je partage la photo ici ce soir.

Taking the tramway

I blogged recently about our visit to the Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire a few months ago. We spent a fairly short time there, but I very much enjoyed it. Like during our visit to old steam train, I really felt like going through another time period for a day. Tramways may not be as exciting as trains (in my opinion no other mean of transport can be), but they are clean, elegant and taking them is just such a pleasant and unique experience, especially in such an atmospheric setting. We intend to revisit Crich Tramway Village again at some point in the future.

Une falaise enneigée

Je partage ce soir encore une photo envoyée par mon père. C'est l'hiver au Québec, déjà. J'ai hâte de pouvoir en profiter moi aussi. Sinon, je sais que ça peut paraître banal pour ceux qui vivent cette réalité de manière quotidienne, mais pour l'expatrié que je suis, je n'arrive pas à m'en blaser.

Pizza Express, troubles and tribulations

I haven't been to Pizza Express since the birthday of my son. This is where we went for his birthday meal. We don't go there, yet we all love it. It's nothing outstanding, but it is a reliable chain and we always eat well. Recently, Pizza Express has been on the news and on my mind for all the wrong reasons. Firstly, it got into financial trouble. When a pizza chain is in trouble, it is never a good sign. Then, I learned that Venice is literally drowning. That looks like it is unrelated, but you see, when I go to Pizza Express, I almost always have a Veneziana. Because it is delicious and has everything I love in a pizza (see the picture) and because it gives 25p of  its price to Venice in Peril. And now I feel guilty that I have not eaten there more often, or visited Venice, for that matter. All these 25p they gave to a worthy cause, maybe for nothing. And then, the worst happened: Prince Andrew said that he was in the Pizza Express in Woking when he allegedly sexually assaulted a teenager. I know this stupid, arrogant, sinister aristocrat has a lot more grievous things to answer for, but tarnishing an honourable restaurant chain by using it as an alibi (and a stupid one at that) was downright crass. So I feel very bad for Pizza Express. I don't think they deserve all this.

Le Père Noël déjà?

Mon père m,a envoyé cette photo d'une décoration achetée récemment sans doute, d'un Père Noël qui va se ramasser dans le sapin familial. Est-ce trop tôt pour les décorations de Noël? Je me le demande, mais ici pour bien du monde, c'est tout réglé: on voit les décorations partout. Je vais donc poser une autre question: est-ce trop tôt pour voir le Père Noël, alors que l'on n'est même pas en décembre? J'en ferai peut-être une question existentielle, toujours est-il qu'on le voit de plus en plus ces temps-ci.

It's clementime!

Sorry for the atrocious pun, but I thought it would make for a remarkable title. I haven't blogged yet about clementines, and I thought I had to before the end of November. It is one thing I always loved about the month, even when I did not like the month much. I have been eating clementines and sharing them with Wolfie (well of course, he loves them as much as I do) since the beginning of November. It's a great source of vitamins C and they taste delicious. For a full post on why I love them, please read this one from 2011. I bought these ones at Morrison's. Not my favourite, but they it's kind of nice to have thhe leaves still on. And you, do you eat clementines this time of year?

Le gel au sol

J'ai pris cette photo tôt le matin hier ou avant-hier. Au début, j'ai cru pour un instant qu'on avait eu de la neige. Mais non, ce n'était que du gel au sol. Maintenant, à bien y penser, je crois que c'est pas mal à ça que ça aurait ressemblé avec de la neige. Vous voyez dans cette photo toute la mesure de l'hiver anglais. Sans rire, c'est surtout ce qu'on aura cet hiver. Pas tout ce qu'on aura, parce qu'on devrait avoir au moins quelques bordées de neige à un moment donné, mais ce sera à la mesure de l'hiver assez modeste. C'est joli malgré tout.

Planning the In-Flight Entertainment

Well, it is now official: we have tickets to go celebrate Christmas with the family (on my side of the family). So I will be home for Christmas. It also means that we will have to keep a three year old boy entertained for seven hours or so, if he does not sleep. All the same, I am very excited. Planning a long journey is always stressful, but it also bring its share of excitement. So I am already checking the In-Flight Entertainment on that day. For him and for me.

Le participe passé

La blonde de mon frère Andrew, qui enseigne au cégep, a partagé sur les réseaux sociaux cette perle d'un étudiant: "Saviez-vous que "le participe passé employé seul ne s'accorde avec personne, car soit l'accord vient après le participe passé ou il n'y en a tout simplement pas" ? Moi non plus." Ça a le mérite d'être clair. Et je me suis senti forcé de commettre en commentaire ce calembour atroce: "Pas d'accord." Avouez que ça vous fait mal rien que de le lire.

A train in the snow

You know my love for trains, a love I think I easily shared with my son, who loves al sorts of vehicles. Well, my father decided to take a few pictures for Wolfie of a train passing. It is "only" a cargo train, nothing fancy, but the images of the train in the snow are striking and I wanted to share a picture here tonight, just for fun.

Deux ans sans tourtière...

Ça m'est venu en tête ce soir, je sais pas trop pourquoi: ça fera deuc ans bientôt que je n'aurai pas mangé de tourtière. Un délai vraiment trop long pour mon plat régional. Ça devrait se corriger pour les Fêtes, mais quand même, je me rends compte que ça me manque beaucoup.