A Walk Among the Tombstones (#Noirvember)

I seldom read Lawrence Block and it is a shame, as he is an amazing crime writer and he always delivers. I plan to change this in the coming year. I thought about this when I stumbled upon an adaptation of A Walk Among the Tombstones on Netflix. So I have started watching it as part of my #Noirvember season. I cannot judge how faithful the film is, but so far it is very Noir indeed and very enjoyable. And it features Liam Neeson as private eye and reformed alcoholic Matt Scudder and I think it's a pretty good casting. Neeson delivers anyway. So yes, I will read more of Block in the next year, especially during #Noirvember of course.

La cabane sous la neige

Photo prise par mon père récemment, encore une fois sur le lot de mes oncles. C'est leur chalet, enfin leur campement. Une cabane dans les arbres (bon sur piloris, mais c'est tout comme), c'est pas mal idyllique. Je n'ai jamais été dans le lot en hiver. À l'intérieur, le confort est assez réduit (enfin selon mon souvenir), mais c'est quand même situé dans un coin magnifique.

Foggy Hill

 This morning, we dod the school run, as usual. But we witnessed something rather strange. When we left home, it was sunny outside. The school where Wolfie goes is on the top of a hill. After parking on a street midway across the hill, we started walking up to school and saw that the top was actually foggy. It was beautiful and eerie. I could even say that it looked a bit surreal and actually magical. And that's it. That's my anecdote for the day.

Hiver

Photo prise par mon père dans le lot de mes oncles. Rien d'autre à dire: quand les Fêtes arrivent et je vois ça, j'ai le mal du pays.

Christmas Books

I found this image via d by Books Are My Bag and I am sharing it today because I think it needs to be promoted. If you bookshop for Christmas, whether it's for you or for your loved ones, please do this in your nearest bookshop, not via Amazon. Today we went to the locak bookshop, sadly the free guide (which looks absolutely gorgeous) was not there yet. Maybe it's still a bit early.

23 décembre - Le film

Je sais que mon lectorat québécois doit déjà être au courant, mais il y a maintenant un film sorti en salle qui s'appelle 23 décembre. Exactement comme 23 Décembre de Beau Dommage. Je ne le verrai pas cette année, malheureusement, mais j'espère me rattraper pour Noël prochain.D'ici là, voici la bande annonce. La chanson de Beau Dommage n'y figure pas, mais elle doit forcément faire partie du film à un moment donné.

Dead at Daybreak (#Noirvember)

There are only a few days left to #Noirvember and I haven't exatly binge read crime fiction as I wanted. That said, I have been wanting to make a few suggestions before the end of the month. Recently, I bought Dead at Daybreak, the first crime novel I read of Deon Meyer. Details about it here. Anyway, I read it in French about fifteen years ago or so, I thought it would be time to revisit it. Not this month as I hoped, but some time after the new year. It struck me that it would make a perfect #Noirvember read (for this year or the next) and for those who never South African crime fiction, a great starting point.

Complainte Pour Sainte Catherine

Nous sommes la Sainte-Catherine, alors je crois que c'est le temps de partager ceci à nouveau:

Plugging Krav Maga

I haven't blogged about Krav Maga in a long while, partially because I haven't gone back to it, to my great shame. But a few years ago, I started thinking about it again. I was buying a few things at a nearby corner shop, when a mother and her daughter walked in. The daughter must have been around ten, twelve top and she was wearing a Jujutsu uniform, with belt and all. I don't know if she was coming back or going to practice, must be back as it was not very early and they didn't seem to be in any rush. So anyway, I told them that if the girl was interested in self-defence, there was local Krav Maga lessons given nearby and that it was a great method, very efficient. I don't do Krav Maga anymore, but I am still evangelising. At some point, I ought to preach by example and get back to it.

Une anecdote sur le bureau et le rasage

 Petite anecdote humoristique qui je l'espère vous fera bien rire. Ca s'est passé lors d'une conversation entre ma mère et moi via Facetime hier. Je vais la raconter comme une comédie en un acte et une scène, à la manière de ce billet datant de 2020. J'en ferai peut-être d'autres ainsi.

Personnages:
-Moi: votre humble narrateur et bloguer, 45 ans, marié à une Anglaise, père d'un garçon, travaillent de la maison depuis le début de la pandémie, sauf un jour par mois où il doit se rendre au bureau.
-Ma mère: donc, ma mère, qui lit ce blogue parfois, je vais pas dire son âge, mariée, mère de trois garçons et grand-mère gâteau. 

Moi: "Bon, finalement, je n'aurai pas besoin d'aller au bureau demain, ce n'est pas nécessaire."

Ma mère: "Tant mieux, ce sera moins épuisant." 

Moi:"Oui c'est certain que je n'avais pas envie de me taper tout le voyagement."

Ma mère: "Et puis il aurait fallu te raser."

Moi: "Oui, c'est certain."

Ma mère: "On dirait qu'il vous faut tous une bonne raison pour vous raser la barbe, votre père, tes frères et toi. Avoir de la barbe n'en étant pas une."

Morale de l'histoire: je ferais mieux de me raser avant notre prochaine conversation.

20 years of mince pies (an anniversary)

 I met my wife 20 years ago today, around this time in the evening. I lived and I was eating a mince pie. You can read more about it in this post. Because it is an important anniversary, every year since then, I eat a mince pie in the evening. At least one. Even though I don't like them all that much.

Le Salon du Livre de Montréal

Petite plogue pour ceux qui peuvent: le Salon du livre de Montréal commence demain. Je le confesse, je ne l'ai jamais autant aimé que celui du Sag-Lac, mais c'est sans doute parce que je n'ai pas le même rapport nostalgique avec. Si je pouvais y être cette année, j'y serais.

My #Noirvember (and yours)

There is less than two weeks left of #Noirvember and so far I must confess I have been going through it at a snail's pace. Basically, since day one I have been reading A Dark and Broken Heart by R.J Ellory. At least it is Noir all right, read my post on the 11th about it. I recommend it for all crime fiction afficionados like myself. Otherwise, I have watched a few crime films. I can't complain, but I think next year I should binge read more and make it more of an event on this blog, with more posts about it. Anyway, that is my #Noirvember so far, how about yours?

Les beignes des Fêtes

Nouveau billet de Noël, peut-être queje vais trop vite, il reste après tout dix jours ou à peu près à novembre. Mais enfin bref, mes parents ont fait des stocks de beignes, comme je l'ai blogué vendredi. Un détail sur nos beignes: les trous sont déjà créés lorsqu'on les met dans l'huile. On a un outil qui crée le beigne avec un trou dès qu'on le jette dans l'huile, pas besoin de faire un trou avec un verre ou quoi que ce soit. Tout ça pour dire que je suis bien fier des beignes de notre famille.

Here comes the snow

You know, I try not to think of Christmas too much these days, to fully enjoy what's left of November. I love winter and Christmastime, but I try to take this month as its own thing. That said, it is a transitional month and Christmastime is looming. Case in point: it snowed a lot in Québec recently and looking at the pics my parents sent got me in a festive mood. Anyway, here is a pic of the snow on the crab apple tree.

Les stocks de beignes 2022

Mes parents ont fait des beignes. Ce sont les réserves pour les Fêtes. Je ne sais pas encore si nous irons pour Noël, mais petit loup veut déjà faire un razzia dans les stocks de beignes. Il devrait y en avoir juste assez pour lui.

Parcheesi

As we are getting into this time of year when I used to play board games quite a lot as a child, I was thinking to check if there were any classic board games to buy for Wolfie for the upcoming holidays. And I thought about Parcheesi. I think it might have been the very first board game I owed when I was a child. I vaguely remember my father buying us one. And I also remember liking the look of the board, because it had some fancy exotic house in the middle, but being otherwise bored to tears about the gameplay itself. So we made up our own rules as we went, then stopped playing it altogether. But maybe I misjudged it. Anybody among you ever played it? Is it worth playing? Did I misjudged Parcheesi as a child?

Ciné-Cadeau a 40 ans

Tiens, mine de rien, je me suis rendu compte hier que la cuvée 2022 de Ciné-Cadeau venait d'être dévoilée. Et j'apprends par le fait même que l'évènement incontournable des Fêtes au Québec célèbre ses 40 ans. Je donnerai plus de détails sur la cuvée 2022 dans un autre billet, mais d'ici là je veux souligner l'anniversaire. Sinon, parlez-moi de vos souvenirs de l'émission dans les commentaires, dites-moi aussi ce que vous pensez de la sélection cette année et on en discutera en détails dans les prochains jours.

Lego's Christmas Magazine

A couple of days ago, I found this in our mailbox: Lego magazine, Christmas edition. It was of course for Wolfie. Apparently, it's a freebie he subscribed to, or rather his mummy did on his behalf. Sometimes I think Wolfie receives more mail than us! There are worse toys to play with than Lego, there are worse things to receive than this, yet I cannot help but think: this is way too early. Surely they could have waited until December? Be that as it may, I think this is the very first Christmassee thing that entered this household this year.

"La première neige est tombée..."

Parce qu'il neige au Québec: