Odin, In Memoriam

My long time readers remember Odin the one-eyed black cat who we used to have. He was the best, sweetest cat we ever met. He died ten years ago today. You cna read his eulogy here. We miss him to this day. I had to commemorate his tragic passing.

Une étoile filante (RIP Karl Tremblay)

Je saisque je suis en retard sur les nouvelles, mais celle-ci est une nouvelle triste et je ne savais pas trop comment la commenter, sinon en musique. Voici donc une des chansons du répertoire des Cowboys Fringants, chantée avec l'OSM. Je crois que c'est de circonstances. Les Cowboys ont chanté le Québec comme peu de groupes. Ils sont les descendants directs de Beau Dommage et des Colocs. Je ne sais pas s'ils vont survivre à la mort de Karl Tremblay, mais l'étoile des Cowboys, comme celle de leur chanteur, brillera toujours pour le Québec et les Québécois.

The "Secret Battle" Game

You may remember before that Wolfie has invented a sort of War Game, which is more a kind of crime/spy thriller. It is very elaborate, you can find the details here. We use many props, I mean toys, mostly but not exclusively toy guns I bought for him at the local toy shop. Like this dangerously genuine looking M4. We did not play much in October, I guess he was like me in a spooky mood, but it is as if he channeled #Noirvember too. That and G.I. Joe, which he discovered recently. Anyway, we played for a good portion of this afternoon, as my wife was away helping her friend preparing her wedding. The game has evolved a bit since. Our nemesis is still King Cobra, who is now a lot like Cobra Commander in mannerism, but we don't play Max and Joe anymore, we are Wolfie(!) and Levi. And the name is no longer "War" but "Secret Battle" for some reason, although there isn't anything really secret about two guys fighting a terrorist organisation with heavy artillery. It is great fun and it sure makes a November afternoon go fast. It reminds me of similar game we used to play, my brother and I, round the same time of year. But I'm sure you could have guessed it already.

Les clémentines en novembre

 J'ai acheté ces clémentines la semaine dernière. C'est assez tardif: d'habitude j'en achète dès le premier novembre, à tout le moins dès la première fin de semaine de novembre. Pour une raison quelconque, on dirait que cette année les agrumes disponibles ne comprenaient pas les clémentines. Je n'en ai trouvé que samedi dernier. L'ennui, c'est que je n'aime pas vraiment les mandarines, les satsumas et le reste. Les oranges oui, mais je préfère et de loin les clémentines. En novembre, elles me donnent de la vitamine C et j'aime leur parfum. Qui plus est, elles donnent de la couleur à un mois gris. Un mois que j'aime quand même, mais je le préfère quand il a plus de clémentines, pas moins. Enfin bref, ce n'est pas vraiment novembre sans clémentines.

Christmas on the Flying Scotsman

I  got some great news from the Facebook page  of the National Railway Museum in York, where I found this picture: the Flying Scotsman is back in action and you can travel on it Shildon, County Durham during Christmastime. From the first of December until the 7th of January, this is Christmastime as seen in the old days. Tickets available for free(!) at Locomotion. Sadly we are just a tad too far for it, but I'll see what we can do, as this seems like a dream holiday/seasonal activity. Okay, I  promise I will not write too many Christmas posts before December, but this had to be announced.

Avent Macabre (polar de Noël?)

Alors que je cherchais en ligne ce bouquin, dont je vous rabats les oreilles depuis des années, je suis tombé sur celui-ci par un total hasard. Deux romans différents, mais le principe est le même: un chapitre par jour, chaque jour de l'Avent jusqu'à Noël. Ce n'est pas un Série noire, mais la facture est assez semblable, avec une couverture très sombre malgré les lumières festives en haut de page. Il est peut-être très mauvais, mais j'ai assez envie de l'acheter malgré tout. À défaut d'avoir le polar de l'Avent, je pourrais lire un polar de Noël... durant l'Avent. C'est peut-être pas Série noire, mais au moins je sais que j'aime le concept.

Of kids and clothes

We were waiting for Wolfie to get out of school yesterday when I heard a mum ask another mum, who was wearing some trendy suede shoes that looked like slippers: "How can you keep your shoes so clean when it is so muddy everywhere?" The reply of the trendy shoed mum: "I keep my children at arm's lenght when we go out." It made everyone laugh. It is true that kids can get quite messy. Anyway, this deserves to be saved here as a new great unknown line.

La cuvée Ciné-cadeau 2023

Je dois toutde suite commenter une nouvelle importante pour les Fêtes qui s'en viennent: la grille-horaire de Ciné-cadeau 2023 est sortie aujourd'hui. La cuvée Ciné-cadeau, comme je l'appelle. Qu'en pensez-vous? Je vais regarder ça tranquillement et donner mon avis (ou pas) dans un prochain billet. On peut commencer à penser à Noël au Québec quand on connaît la teneur de la cuvée Ciné-cadeau.

Binge watching and reading for #Noirvember

 So as you know, I now spend my whole month of November celebrating #Noirvember, the month where people watch noir movies. That is my big activity this month. Not only watching crime fiction movies (and tv series), but also and especially reading crime fiction. I do this all year round, to be honest, but I have decided that I put the emphasis on it this month. People complain that November is grey, let's make it Noir. So yeah, I am very slowly reading a very noir book and in the meantime I have been binge watching crime films. Mostly on Netflix, sometimes on BBC. I intend to speed up my reading a bit, so I will binge read as well as binge watch. But I would love to receive suggestions from you: what movie or tv series would you recommend? And what crime novels? It has to be violent, maybe even nasty, it does not have to be pure Noir, but it cannot be light. Please leave a comment with your suggestions.

Entre l'automne et l'hiver

 Photo prise par mon père, la première neige de fin octobre. Il a neigé un peu plus depuis. C'est le terrain de jeu de l'école primaire la nuit. Tout ça pour dire que nous sommes dans cet entre-deux entre la fin de l'automne et le début de l'hiver. Enfin, c'est le cas au Québec. Ici c'est plus monochrome, pour ne pas dire monotone. Les entre-deux saisons avec de la neige, je les aimais vraiment enfant.

The cry of an owl

It happened a few nights ago, just when I was in bed, trying to sleep. I heard a hoot, I think it was a hoot anyway. I heard it before, back in 2016, but I am not sure I heard an owl in the neighbourhood ever since. Or at least I don't remember. I got up and looked at the window, to check if I could see the owl in question. We have a few trees behind our house, I suspected it might be hanging nearby Not a trace, but obviously it was dark. I will be on the lookout for owls in the neighbourhood from now on, will eep my eyes and ears open. Owls are cool, so I'm glad we have one nearby.

Le blogue hiberne (un peu)

 Bon, j'ai passé la barre des 700 billets depuis un bout et l'année n'est pas finie. D'habitude, j'essaie d,avoir environ 730 billets, deux par jour, un en français et un en anglais. J'ai quelques projets d'écriture d'une autre nature qui vont me tenir occupé, sans compter le reste (lecture, vie familiale, etc.) Je vais donc tenter de ralentir le rythme d'ici à la fin de l'année. Le blogue va hiberner un peu, en quelque sorte. Je dis un peu, parce que je risque de trouver l'inspiration pareil, surtout que les Fêtes s'en viennent. Mais ne vous étonnez pas si je saute un ou deux jours de temps à autre.

War Games (and a tank)

We went to one of Wolfie's friends' birthday party yesterday. It was nice and Wolfie enjoyed it a lot. The main activity was a warn game with Nerf Guns. Kind of fitting, given that yesterday was the 11th of November. Maybe we should not be trivial about war, but since I am a child I always found war games both fun and cathartic. Wolfie and his friends enjoyed it greatly anyway. He usually gets bored at birthday parties, but not this time. And there were not only Nerf Guns: the whole décor was rather well done, really elaborate, with a cool and huge inflatable tank. Ironically, the birthday party was in a church. I must confess, I would rather play war than listen to a sermon.

Parmentier de poisson

Parlons encore une fois de bouffe. Pour la fête de ma femme, il y a quelques jours de cela, nous sommes allés dans un resto français, parce qu'elle ne voulait pas se taper des pâtes ou de la pizza. Moi, quand on sort au restaurant, c'est une excuse pour manger du poisson. J'ai donc commandé un "fish parmentier", ce que les Anglais appellent chez eux un fish pie. Pas une coquille Saint-Jacques, mais pas loin. C'était délicieux.

Crime Fiction News for #Noirvember

If you have been reading this blog, you may know that South African crime writer Deon Meyer was writing a new novel. Well, it has been published late last month. In Afrikaans. I learned that it will be released in its English translation in October next year. Right in time for #Noirvember 2024. I can't wait.

Photo de neige (encore)

Photo prise par mon père il y a quelques jours. Rien que pour dire que c'est l'hiver ou presque au Québec.

"Easy" Chocolate & Mint Cake

It was my wife's birthday a few days ago and she wanted a special birthday cake, not something bought or my old family's recipe. So she found an Easy Chocolate & Mint Cake recipe on the Waitrose website. She bought it and, as I was too nervous to mess it up for her birthday, she baked it herself. But I did the washing up, don't worry. It turned out not so easy after all: instead of three layers of cake, we got two and the cake looks and feels more like a giant brownie. But it tastes really nice and the presentation isn't too bad either. I would have made it much worse looking in any case. Anyway, there is no such thing as a failed cake. This one was certainly a success, although a bit of trouble.

Une talle de champignons

 J'ai pris cette photo il y a quelques jours dans le voisinage. Je ne sais pas ce qui a provoqué pareille éclosion (on peut parler d'éclosion?), mais c'est vraiment un spectacle à voir. Ma femme trouve ça dégoûtant (parce que c'est de la moisissure), j'espère que ce n'est pas votre cas. La talle de champignons est vraiment énorme, la photo ne lui rend pas justice. Enfin bref, c'est toujours l'automne, alors je partage, car les champignons font partie des signes de l'automne.

Guessing game at work

Quick anecdotal post, I have something to tell. We have team building activities at work, about once a week, we spend time on a Zoom or a Teams call and we play a game or two, sometimes there are incentives with it (early finish on Friday, freebies, etc.) We played one this afternoon, when we had to guess what objects was hidden in a bag held by our manager. We could ask questions about the nature of the object. One of them, our manager explained that it was "something you put on your body to protect yourself". I could not help it, I said: "Is it a condom?" It made everyone laugh. But no, it was sunglasses. Still, I think my little witticism deserves to be a new great unknown line.

Première "vraie" neige

Photo prise par mon père hier. On dirait bien que la première "vraie" neige soit tombée et que l'automne laisse déjà la place à l'hiver. Voir l'école primaire de mon enfance sous la neige comme ça me rappelle bien des souvenirs.