Coeur de glace

Pour la première fois cet hiver j’ai du abandonner une randonné dans le parc parce que les conditions du sentier étaient vraiment trop mauvaise. Tout était complètement glacé. Ce genre de situation est arrivé quelques fois par le passé mais cette année les conditions des sentiers du parc sont systématiquement mauvaises. Il faut croire que la ville confie l’entretien des sentiers à la même équipe qui s’occupe de l’entretien des patinoires! J’ai essayé de marcher sur les côtés du sentier mais comme il y a eut de la neige fraîche récemment je renfonçait trop et marcher dans ces conditions était trop pénible. Il semble que cette année je doive abandonner le parc aux skieurs et aux raquetteurs. Alors je suis simplement rentré à la maison en passant par les rues (dont les trottoirs sont maintenant un peu plus praticable que la semaine dernière car il y a maintenant moins de neige mais encore beaucoup de glace et de flaques d’eau plus ou moins gelées—et glissante!).

Quand j’ai acheté un duplex dans VSP, la proximité du parc Frédéric-Back était une importante considération. Je trouve qu’il est important pour ma santé (et sur recommandation du médecin) de prendre de fréquentes marches (des problèmes de genou et de cheville m’interdisent le jogging) et de faire des randonnées occasionnelles à bicyclette (l’été seulement). Jusqu’à l’an dernier les sentiers du parc étaient suffisamment bien entretenus pour être utilisé en toutes saisons par les marcheurs, joggeurs et cyclistes en plus d’être accessible l’hiver aux skieurs et aux raquetteurs. Étrangement, cet après-midi j’ai remarqué un couple qui faisait du jogging en avançant sans difficulté sur la patinoire du sentier polyvalent alors que j’essayais moi-même de progresser en enfonçant jusqu’à mi-mollet dans la neige. Je me demandais “mais comment réussirent-ils cet exploit?” jusqu’à ce que je remarque qu’ils portaient tous deux de solides crampons à leur chaussures. Je crois que demain je vais aller m’acheter des crampons (et, pourquoi pas, je vais en réclamer le coût à la ville — car le mauvais entretien que la ville fait du parc m’empêche d’en profiter et d’y prendre ma marche de santé !)…

Difficile de marcher dans les sentiers du parc où l’épandage d’abrasif a été trop parcimonieux. Ayoye! [Damn you VSP !]

Comme je l’ai mentionné récemment, l’entretien des rues et des sentiers du parc est déficient ces dernières années (depuis l’arrivé de la nouvelle administration de Projet Montréal, ce qui ne semble pas être une coïncidence — non, ce n’est pas juste à cause du climat). Cessez donc de faire des économies de bouts de chandelles en étant trop parcimonieux avec l’épandage d’abrasif (ce qui est très évident dans le parc) et avec l’utilisation de sous-traitants peu motivés ou inéfficaces et donnez donc le service que vos citoyens méritent! Je ne suis pas contre de constantes augmentations de taxes (je viens d’ailleurs de payer le premier versement sur mon compte de taxe pour cette année) mais cela ne doit pas aller de pair avec une DIMINUTION constante de service! On est vraiment mal servi dans le quartier par nos politiciens qui semblent avoir l’habitude de briller par leur absence (au cours des derniers cinq ans je n’ai jamais réussi à rencontrer mon représentant de quartier, Frantz Benjamin, et je n’ai pas encore vu une seule apparition de son remplaçant, Josué Corvil; même notre député fédéral, Nicola Di Iorio, semble se foutre complètement des citoyens de sa circonscription!)… J’avais beaucoup d’espoir en voyant Projet Montréal détrôner Coderre et c’est pour cela que j’avais voté pour les mairesses Plante/Fumagalli mais jusqu’à maintenant j’ai été extrêmement déçu.

Un petit effort SVP ! Car à Montréal il n’y a pas que des automobilistes : il y a aussi des piétons et des randonneurs (qui votent…) qui aimeraient bien pouvoir utiliser trottoirs et sentiers sans risquer trop de blessures, fractures et ecchymoses !!!

Et il n’y a pas des carences seulement dans le déneigement (de la rue, des trottoirs ou des sentiers du parc — voir les billets du 01/06, 01/21 et 02/13), il y a aussi les fois où la ville ne ramasse pas le recyclage (soit parce que ça tentait pas à l’employé ou parce qu’il trouvait qu’il n’y en avait pas assez dans le bac?). Je paie toujours mes taxes alors je m’attends à ce que la ville me donne toujours du service — pas seulement quand ça leur tente! Il ne faut pas oublier non plus le manque de respect et de considérations de la ville envers ses employés — mais ça c’est une autre histoire… Maudite ville de merde!

Il ouvre le bac et le replace sans le vider !

 

[Mise à jour] Pour suivre l’état des choses dans le parc, voir les billets suivants:

 

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Bonne et heureuse année 2019

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En ce dernier jour du cycle solaire, je souhaite à tous que la nouvelle année vous soit meilleure et favorable en tous points. Que Janus veille sur votre passage vers cette 2772 ème année ab urbe condita (ou l’an MMXIX CE du calendrier grégorien, ou l’an Heisei 30 [平成30年]). Puissiez-vous vivre longtemps et prospérer…

On this last day of the solar cycle, I wish everyone a better and favourable new year in all respects. May Janus watch over your passage towards this 2772 nd year ab urbe condita (or the year MMXIX CE of the Gregorian calendar, or the year Heisei 30 [平 成 30 年]). May you live long and prosper …

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Happy Holidays to all !

Gratin assaisonné à tous

🌲☃️ 

Season’s greetings to all

Happy Holidays!

 🎁   🙏  🍀

A défaut de vous souhaitez la paix dans le monde (soyons réaliste!), je vous offre à tous, amis et lecteurs, mes voeux de quiétude et d’ordre, de bonheur et de joie, de santé et de prospérité tant pour ce solstice qui clôt un autre cycle solaire que pour la nouvelle année qui s’amorce et que nous espérons meilleures (Pour nos amis américains, je souhaite également une destitution sans peine et un prompt rétablissement 🤪). Peu importe ce que vous célébrez (Noël, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Saturnales, etc.) je vous souhaite tous de joyeuses fêtes!

For want of peace in the world (let’s be realistic!), I offer you all, friends and readers, my wishes for quietude and order, happiness and joy, health and prosperity for this solstice which closes another solar cycle as well as for the new year that is beginning and that we hope better (For our American friends, I also wish a painless impeachment and a speedy recovery 🤪). No matter what you celebrate (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Saturnalia, etc.) I wish you all happy holidays!

🏛    ⛪️    🕌    🕍    🕋    ⛩

عطلات سعيدة للجميع

祝大家節日快樂

Feliĉaj Ferioj al ĉiuj

Frohe Feiertage für alle

Ευχάριστες διακοπές σε όλους

Happy Holidays nan tout

חג שמח לכולם

सभी के लिए खुश छुट्टियाँ

Buone Feste a tutti

すべてにハッピーホリデー

Beatus festis in omnes

Счастливые праздники для всех

Felices fiestas a todos

Chúc mừng ngày lễ cho tất cả

 

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Haïku

Tel le phare et la bibliothèque d’Alexandrie
Nous sommes les balises du grand savoir
Qui guident et promulguent la connaissance

Like the lighthouse and the library of Alexandria
We are the beacons of great learning
Who guide and promulgate the knowledge

Όπως ο φάρος και η βιβλιοθήκη της Αλεξάνδρειας
Είμαστε οι μεγάλοι γνώστες
Ποιος καθοδηγεί και διαδίδει τη γνώση

                      (2018/12/02 — originally written on 2017/05/08)

Fanzine reminiscence

Like most people, I had many different periods in my life, each corresponding with the major activity or fancy of a specific era. I had my “childhood” period (spent stupidly frolicking, questioning the universe and learning to be a decent human being—of which I have very little recollection), my “academic roman” period (where I worked on my Master degree and PhD in roman history dedicated to an obscure roman emperor and the impression that was left of him through a biographical compilation), my “SFQ” period (where I published — in collaboration with a few friends — a fanzine on Quebec Science Fiction, as well as a few anthologies and short stories compilation), my “anime & manga” period (where I published a fanzine-turned-magazine about Japanese popular culture, as well as a translated filmography of the first thirty years of anime in Japan) and, finally, my “library” period (where, as a library underling, I do my best to help promote the love for books and knowledge). I am proud of everything I’ve done, but sometime I feels like my curriculum reads as a list of failures…

Samizdat16

Cover #16, by Pierre D. Lacroix

I was recently googling to kill time and ended up searching entries about my old SFQ fanzine, Samizdat. That’s the period of my life where I think what I wrote, published or did had the least impact on the universe. However, I was surprised to discover it was mentioned in quite many places. Of course, it is one thing to have SFQ insiders like Yves Meynard, Jean-Louis Trudel or Claude Janelle mentioned it when they talked about the history of the genre in Quebec, but I was impressed to see it mentioned in a couple of British academic publications like Science Fiction Rebels by Mike Ashley (Oxford University Press) [Amazon, see extract bellow] or New Directions in Popular Fiction edited by Ken Gelder (Palgrave/MacMillan) [Amazon, extract].

Science Fiction Rebels by Mike Ashley

Science Fiction Rebels by Mike Ashley, p. 342 [ actually, it ran for 25 issues until November 1994 ]

Now, I am more proud of that work and, maybe, those years (the “good old time”, like I was recently reminiscing with Yves at the book fair) were not wasted after all. I feel better already. Like Hippocrates said, Ὁ βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή, or, to quote Horace, Exegi monumentum aere perrennius ! 😉

All I need now is my own entry on Wikipedia !

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Un commentaire déplacé

Les bibliothèques de Montréal sont rendu folles ! Faire passer de la section adultes à la section enfants des titres de manga comme Nausicaa ou Bride Stories ! Ça n’a aucun sens.

Nausicaa07Nausicaa offre une histoire mystico-politique vraiment trop complexe (que j’ai moi-même eu de la difficulté à suivre!), des thèmes matures (religion, guerre), de la violence, un graphisme plutôt chargé pour être vraiment compris et apprécié par des enfants. D’ailleurs, les spécialistes le considère comme un manga seinen. Bon, je comprend que l’éditeur français, Glénat, classe lui-même ce manga dans sa collection “Univers Kids” (Kodomo?) [quoi que l’éditeur américain, Viz, le classe comme “Teen”] et que l’anime était “ben cute” mais quand même!

BrideStories10Quant à Bride Stories on y retrouve des thèmes matures et de la nudité ! C’est un manga considéré seinen (donc généralement pour les jeunes hommes de 15 à 30 ans), même par l’éditeur, Ki-oon, quoique certains spécialistes le classe pour 14 ans et plus! Il y a-t-il quelqu’un du réseau des bibliothèques, un bibliothécaire par exemple, qui va se décider à regarder la définition de seinen dans le dictionnaire ?!

Un compromis acceptable aurait été au moins de les mettre dans la section ados… mais qui suis-je pour m’en plaindre. Je n’ai fait que publier un magazine sur la culture populaire japonaise (animé & manga) pendant une vingtaine d’années… Je n’y connaît donc rien en comparaison de bibliothécaires qui viennent de sortir, tout verts, de l’université! Bande d’ignares!

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Shakespearian doubt

Life is hard enough with all the running around at work, the emotional roller-coaster of relationships, the absurdity of human society, the stupid  hurts of the political world, so I seek refuge in my creative work, writing & photography, my little haven, my safe-house, my blog. When the integrity of this last refuge is attacked what do I have left?  If even this—the last solace that makes worth enduring all the slings and arrows—can bring me unbearable pain, I can only wonder if it is still worth pursuing. What do I have left to enjoy? Can I continue writing in this now taint medium or should I cease all activities? That is the question…

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Pictorial chronicle

Déroutante erreur / Baffling system error

Baffling error message

“Une exception non gérée s’est produite dans un composant de votre application. Si vous cliquez sur Continuer, votre application va ignorer cette erreur et essayer de continuer. La collection a été modifiée; l’opération d’énumération peut ne pas s’exécuter.”

Voici un étrange message d’erreur apparu sur un poste au travail aujourd’hui. Le libellé en français ne fait guère de sens… mais, bon, nous n’en sommes pas à une absurdité près…

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Vegan Fest 2018

VeganFest2018

Like a couple of years ago, we went to the Vegan Fest. However, this year it was held at the Palais des Congrès de Montreal (new metro Place-d’Armes) on October 21st and 22nd. With such a venue, the festival was bigger but still quite compact so it was quite crowded and difficult to circulate. Also the conference area was much smaller and less accessible, so I didn’t bother to listen to any of the presentation.

This year there was a lot of cosmetic products, non-dairy cheese and desserts as well as fermented (Kombucha) or herbal tea. We have noticed A LOT of interesting products and organisations that deserve a further look (check their websites):

There was one local products in particular that I was looking for at the Vegan Fest because I had seen it talked about in culinary TV shows: Gusta’s sausages and cheeses. Their plant-based deli “meats” are made from wheat protein (saitan) and their grating cheeses are made from coconut oil and various plant milks. I tasted their meat substituted and the taste is pretty close. Check it out: gustafoods.com

Mélanie and Jimmy

Mélanie and Jimmy

Last year my wife met a nice couple, Mélanie and Jimmy, who had quit their jobs to become farmer in the small municipality of Boileau, in the Outaouais region. On their one-acre farm, La Ferme de l’Aube, they are cultivating a variety of over seventy vegetables, fruits, fines herbs and flowers. They are great advocate of biologic and vegan farming. They were at the Vegan Fest again this year, selling organic seeds and garlic. You can check their webpage and FB page. I greatly admire people who chose to become farmer because it is not an easy job and yet it is essential work. I think the future of a healthy life can be found is in locally produced, organic food. So I exhort everyone to encourage our local farmers. They surely need our support.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of stuff I’ve seen at the Vegan Fest that seriously annoyed me. I favour wholeheartedly the health aspect of veganism , but I seriously despise the political and militant part. I am okay with avoiding red meat, eating lots of plant-based food, treating animals and the environment with respect, but for me vegan philosophy goes too far. I particularly don’t understand this war that is currently waged against milk products. Personally, I don’t drink milk (I prefer Soy milk) but I like a lot my yogurt and cheese. I don’t mind eating plant-based cheese (so far, what I’ve tasted seems close in texture and taste) but I don’t see any purpose for it if you are not lactose intolerant. Why not appreciate the real stuff. Our dairy farmers needs our support too, you know!

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A walk in the park in late September

Today was the time to relax. In the morning, I read a pile of couple of weeks-old newspapers (mostly The Gazette) while listening to smooth jazz on the internet. Then, in early afternoon, I went for a walk in the park with my lovely wife. It was a beautiful day of late September!

The deep blue sky was dotted by luminous clouds. There was still plenty of colours in the field and a great variety of flowers: a few Sweet William, many Asters and Sunflowers, Thistle and Chicory, those tall Dandelions like in spring, some Mint and plenty others that I couldn’t put a name on. It was full of life as grasshoppers and crickets were jumping all over in front of our steps, bees and bumblebees buzzing in the air, as well as blue and orange butterflies dancing around in the wind. We also saw a dead rat, a murder of crows and even a flight of Canadian geese flying high toward warmer skies in the south. A great day — even if we could smell in the air that rain would come later…

I took many pictures. Unfortunately no camera could render the richness of details that the human eye can capture. And the memory is fleeting. We have no choice but to rely of those imperfect pieces of frozen time to remind ourselves of this moment: the blue sky, the green grass and yellow flowers…

[ iPhone 8+, Parc Frédéric-Back, 2018/09/29 ]

About reading

Each time I see a new book I am taken by the deep desire to read it. However, if I try, I find out that I often don’t have the energy or the attention span to do so anymore. Why reading has gotten so hard? Is it because of age? The fact that I have less energy now? Or that having such a large field of interests makes me too busy (or being too spread out) and I have difficulty adding more activity to my schedule? So many books, so little time!

Reading is extremely rewarding but it is also very time consuming. So, I guess I am losing patience after a while, taking the lazy path of watching TV instead. Also, if I am reading, I am not writing about books. And if I am writing about some books, I can’t read other books. I really have to work that out and find the strength and patience to keep reading. There is so much wealth and experience and pleasure in each story! How can I be so weak that I find myself passing on this?

As I often say, I cannot wait to retire and have more time to read. I don’t understand how people can have a job, kids or pets, go out, travel, go run a marathon or train and still have time to read books (without burning out, of course) ! My house (and the world!) is filled with marvellous books waiting for me to appreciate, discover and love them! Well, there’s only 3158 days left before I am liberated from my obligation to work productively for society. Maybe sooner if I manage my stuff well (or if I am lucky). I just need to be a little more patient. And maybe read a book to spend the time…

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About writing (3)

Sometimes, when I start writing a comment on a book or a movie, I have no idea what I will be writing. It just comes along, one idea bringing the next and the whole comment is slowly taking form. Sometime, I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to say and I have to make a plan, a structure, detailing the basic elements of each idea or concept I want to cover in order not to loose the tread of my thoughts (which happens sometime if I wait too long before putting it down on paper or on the computer).

I don’t have a good memory, I usually don’t remember much about a book I’ve just read or a movie I’ve just watched after a little while. When I want to remember, I just read what I’ve written about it. In fact, that’s one of the reason I write.

Sometime, when I don’t know what to say about a book or a movie, I just sleep over it and it usually helps a lot. But I must not wait too long to write after that. If not I might just end up with some sketchy notes and not much substance…

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Electoral conundrum

On October 1st the population of Quebec will have to vote to put their favourite candidates in the National Assembly. I find myself in quite an electoral conundrum since the lack of leadership makes it impossible to find anyone worth of my support. Every party has good ideas, but also so many stupid ones. I began this reflection when my union started a campaign advocating not voting for either the Liberals or the CAQ because “they are all the same” and that “we deserve better”… But if not them, who?

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About writing (2)

Strangely, the more touched I am by a book or a movie, the more difficult it is to write about it. It seems easier to write about something I didn’t like so much… Maybe I am so overwhelmed that I just can’t organize the zillion things that I want to say. Or maybe I am just afraid to mess up something that I really like. I don’t know. I just find this strange…

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About writing

I realized recently that the best way to gather my thoughts in order to write a comment on a movie or a book (or any text) is to go take a poop or a shower right after viewing or reading. That’s when my mind gets freed from the daily drone and works better. It is also the case when I write early in the morning, when my mind is fresh from its nightly clean up and simulation.

They say that, in order to improve your writing, you must write at least a thousand words per day. I just can’t do that because, with my hellish job, I come back home at night completely exhausted and my mind is functioning just enough to eat, crash on the couch and watch TV… However, I have noticed that if I write regularly, the writing come easier to me and the result is generally more satisfying. I just have to keep going… I’ll do that thousand-word-a-day thing on the week-ends or, more likely, when I am retired (now in about only three-thousand-two-hundred-and-five days !!!)…

(Note: this blog entry is 194 words, so that means 806 words to go for today !)

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In liberfacies

Against Facebook

I am really getting fed up with Facebook. It is an exceedingly time-consuming activity (chronophagios) that really gives little rewards — I means besides watching cat videos and stalking (um, I means, keeping in contact with) friends. More and more it has become the kingdom of fake news, as people constantly pass their expressed opinions as news (or as news-worthy).

Not only Facebook is doing very little to prevent foreign agencies to try to influence our minds through fake posting or advertising but, at the same time, they block legitimate ads from museums around the world because it is deemed offensive or subversive ! Incredible! How comes a bunch a geeks who know so little about the world become arbiters of morality and political decency ? They’re such a great influence over our minds (and our children’s minds) and yet, there is no one to oversee their policies? Inacceptable!

Of course, I would not be so inflamed by their ignominious policies if I would not have been touched personally by it. I am busy and I don’t have time to post on my blog, on Facebook, on Tweeter, on Instagram, etc. So I concentrate on what’s the most important to me (the medium that I can control the most) — my blog — and I just automatically repeat each (or most) post on the other social media to increase diffusion of my art and thoughts. However, a recent change in policies brought by Facebook is blocking this automatic reposting! What? They let the Russian pass through but they block my book reviews and cats’ pictures?! That’s unconscionable !

That I learned recently from a WordPress email:

“Starting August 1, 2018, third-party tools can no longer share posts automatically to Facebook Profiles. This includes Publicize, the WordPress.com tool that connects your site to major social media platforms (like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook).”

They explain that if my content is linked to a Facebook Profile (a personal account), then Publicize will no longer be able to share my posts to Facebook, but it will still work if it’s a Facebook Page (public profiles allowing “artists, public figures, businesses, brands, organizations and nonprofits connect with their fans or customers”) that is connected to my site. I have only two options if I still want my Facebook followers to see my posts : create a link manually or convert my Facebook Profile to a Page ! They continue:

While Facebook says it is introducing this change to improve their platform and prevent the misuse of personal profiles, we believe that eliminating cross-posting from WordPress is another step back in Facebook’s support of the open web, especially since it affects people’s ability to interact with their network (unless they’re willing to pay for visibility) We know that this might cause a disruption in the way you and your Facebook followers interact, and if you’d like to share your concerns with Facebook, we urge you to head to their Help Community to speak out.

Damn you Facebook! Improving your platform? You means improving your profits by making changes that would favour the commercial use of your application! What about the users, the people who made your product famous (and create its value) ? Oh, yes, that’s true: since we know that WE are your product it is getting more difficult to fleece us, so you reorient your business model!

So, if you were wondering why I am posting very little on Facebook lately, well, that’s the reason. Now, I will probably share my posts manually for a while (for the most important entries) and maybe consider to eventually create a Page, but I am also quite seriously considering withdrawing completely from Facebook…

What do you think about that? (please comment)

And don’t hesitate to let Facebook know what I think of their stupid policies!

(note: the title is in latin)

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Bibliothèque idéale

Je crois que les bibliothèques devraient être un peu comme l’Athenaeum (du Grec Athēnaion, un temple à la déesse de la sagesse Athéna) que Hadrien avait fait construire à Rome près du Capitole pour en faire une sorte d’université. Ainsi, ma bibliothèque idéale serait un temple à la connaissance, à la culture, au savoir. Un lieu qui non seulement la préserve (une bibliothèque) mais aussi la diffuse avec des salles d’expositions et de conférences ainsi que des lieux pour donner des ateliers en tous genres. Toutefois toute nouvelle vocation de la bibliothèque ne doit RIEN enlever à l’ancienne. Oui à avoir des aires où les gens peuvent participer, échanger, discuter, manger, jouer, etc., mais il faut aussi conserver des espaces où les gens peuvent lire et étudier en toute quiétude…

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Customer service is dead!

It seems that wherever we go these days companies don’t care about customer service. Either they have a quasi monopole and it’s irrelevant or, despite a competitive environment, nobody seems to pay attention to the need or satisfaction of the customer. It must be really bad in my area — or I am a VERY unlucky customer — because I keep having those horrible experiences with customer service.

Beside the notoriously bad customer service of telecom companies like Bell (about which I have talked many times — their Fibe TV is superb but their wi-fi is quite shitty and their tech service doesn’t seem to care — unless they can sell you extra service or device that supposedly would improve the situation) I can easily mention three or four companies that gave me bad service just in the last couple of weeks!

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Le chat du rabbin, vol. 7: La Tour de Bab-El-Oued

Chat_du_Rabbin-v7-cov“Ce nouvel épisode nous ramène à Alger. Le rabbin Sfar et son cousin l’imam Sfar devisent sur leurs différences qu’ils pensent inconciliables. Pourtant, lorsque la mosquée est inondée, le rabbin et l’imam s’entendent pour que les musulmans puissent, le temps des travaux, prier à la synagogue. Pendant ce temps, le chat du rabbin traverse des moments difficiles: non seulement Zlabya a mis au monde un adorable bébé, ce qui le plonge dans une profonde jalousie, mais, pour ne rien arranger, des chatons se sont réfugiés dans la synagogue… Comment de petits chats étrangers peuvent-ils avoir l’audace de boire son lait ?”

[ Texte du site de l’éditeur — voir aussi la couverture arrière ]

ATTENTION: Peut contenir des traces de “divulgâcheur” [spoilers]! Les personnes allergiques à toutes discussions d’une intrigue avant d’en avoir eux-même pris connaissance sont vivement conseillées de prendre les précautions nécessaires pour leur sécurité et devraient éviter de lire plus loin.

Continuez la lecture après le saut de page >>

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Does that ring a bell?

Bell offers a notoriously bad service to its customers. In fact, as I mentioned recently, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services  tells us that 32% of all complaints from Canadian consumers are related to Bell! I experienced this personally numerous times (I once had five services with them [phone, cellphone, internet, web hosting and satellite TV] and cancelled it all because of a really bad customer service!). Recently, after switching internet & TV service from Videotron to Bell, my VoIP phone from a third party stopped working properly and, when I called Bell technical service, I was told that they didn’t support VoIP phone and that if I wanted a good phone service I should use theirs! Also, as soon as I started using their wi-fi, half my numerous devices using internet (computers, iPhone, iPad, VoIP phone, thermostat, WeMo Insight & Switch, Philips Hue lights, printer, garage door opener, security cameras, etc. — I have over twenty different devices requiring wi-fi!) wouldn’t connect properly through their WPS and it took me a long time to figure a way to have everything working in a decent and almost stable way (using a combination of DMZ and MAC filtering — as well as using my sister’s Videotron‘s wi-fi!). Clearly, this bad service thing is not a myth… At least it has a ring of truth, but I am sure many other people can confirm that.

I always wondered how come that a company with such a bad reputation would, first, manage to stay in business and, second, never make any attempt to improve either their service or reputation. This week, I just figured it all: why improve your crappy service when you can just charge your customers for an improved premium service ?!

For instance, if you are not satisfied with the crappy-almost-inexistant technical service, you can simply subscribe to their “Bell Tech Expert” service for only $6.00 per month! There’s no incentive for them to offer a good service if they are making money with the premium service option!

Screen Shot 2018-02-08 at 20.04.03Or, if you find their crappy, unstable wi-fi service unbearable, you can simply subscribe to their “Whole Home Wi-Fi” service that uses a network of pods plugins that works with the Home Hub 3000 to strengthen and optimize the wi-fi! Only for $5.00 per month extra!

Some people will put up with the crappy service and some will pay up for the extra (real) service. You subscribe to Bell because (you think) they offer more than the competitor for a much cheaper price, but you end up paying more anyway for what should be standard service…

Quite annoying!

Unfortunately, I could never go back to Videotron’s TV service because Bell’s system is really amazing. It’s only their wi-fi (and customer service) that’s totally crap. Unfortunately, this makes their offers of Wi-Fi pods very tempting…

But at least, now, the Bell’s secret is out of the bag!

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The Controversial Art of Reviewing

Last September I wrote an essay on the “Subtile art of writing a review/commentary” (in French, but it is also available in a machine-translated English version). It is an essay I wanted to write for a long time, explaining how I was approaching the writing of a book or movie review — which I did for twenty years for a magazine. The funny thing is that I discovered a few weeks ago that I had already written that article in 2009 (in English) and forgot about it! I was checking out some old hard drives looking for something and stumble upon this article that I had written for a special issue (PAX #3) of the magazine I was working for, but we stop publication before it was released. It is based on the guidelines I wrote for our staff writers. My views on how to write a review have not change much since then. I thought it would be interesting to share it with the readers of this blog.

Reviewing a media product (wether it is a book, a manga, an anime series or a live-action movie) might seems an easy task, but in reality it is far from being simple. In fact, we are all doing it when we express an opinion to friends, but it is usually done in an emotional and very imprecise manner: “it was so bad, man” or “it was really cool.” In opposition, a professional reviewer—someone who does it for a living—must do his/her best to remain objective, precise and rigorous.

I admit that, if I always try to be an objective and precise reviewer, I am rarely rigorous. I am lazy and tend to keep my reviews short, introducing the subject and expressing my opinion in the most elementary manner. Today everybody is a critic as they can easily post what they think of this or that on their blog , but what makes the appraisal of a professional reviewer more interesting and valuable is experience. I’ve spent about two decades watching videos or films and reading books related to the subjects I review. I have therefore developped a methodology to assess the subject, an understanding of its workings and a set of criteria that—I hope—better equip me to examine and judge a particular media product.

In this article I have attempted to explain how I approach the writing of a review, what I think a review should be and what aspects of a medium I take in consideration when writing a review. I wanted to talked about this for a long time as I think it can offer interesting insights to both our readers and would-be reviewers.

First, there is two types of reviews: the basic or elementary review (the one I tend to favour) and the exhaustive review.

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Happy New Year

I wish you a great new year.

My greatest hope for 2018 is to find a better job (in a quieter library or a desk job — but preferably still with books), to read more, to finish repairing and improving the blog so I can finally concentrate mostly on writing, and to keep in good shape mentally and physically (i.e. sanity, health and maybe losing some weight) !

I hope the best for you all, my dear readers, friends and colleagues. Again, may Fortuna smiles upon you!

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Happy Holidays to all !

Version 2

Joyeuses Fêtes à tous !

Je tiens à souhaiter à tous mes collègues et ami(e)s, chers lecteurs et lectrices, un excellent solstice (en retard), une bonne Nativité (ou Noël, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Saturnalibus — peut importe ce que vous fêtez) et surtout une heureuse, paisible, saine et agréable nouvelle année.

I want to wish all my colleagues and friends, my dear readers, an excellent solstice (a little late), a good Nativity (or Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Saturnalibus — whatever you celebrate) and especially a happy, peaceful, healthy and pleasant new year.

عطلات سعيدة للجميع
祝大家節日快樂
Feliĉaj Ferioj al ĉiuj
Frohe Feiertage für alle
Ευχάριστες διακοπές σε όλους
Happy Holidays nan tout
חג שמח לכולם
सभी के लिए खुश छुट्टियाँ
Buone Feste a tutti
すべてにハッピーホリデー
Beatus festis in omnes
Счастливые праздники для всех
Felices fiestas a todos
Chúc mừng ngày lễ cho tất cả

L’art subtil du commentaire-critique

On me demande souvent quels sont les critères que j’utilise quand j’écris des critiques (reviews) de livres ou de films. En fait, j’utilise les même critères que j’ai développé au cours des années alors que j’écrivais des critiques d’abord pour Samizdat (un fanzine de science-fiction et fantastique québécois, 1987-1994) et, par la suite, pour Protoculture Addicts (un magazine sur la culture, le dessin animé et la bande-dessinée japonaise, 1987-2008). J’ai été rédacteur-en-chef pour ce dernier pendant plus d’une vingtaine d’années et ce sont ces même critères auxquels je demandais à mes collaborateurs d’adhérer. Je vais donc profiter de la présente occasion pour vous expliquer un peu comment je procède. Et je suggère à quiconque qui désire écrire des critiques de suivre ces quelques lignes directrices.

J’aimerais d’abord définir la critique comme étant un simple commentaire et non pas une critique analytique. Cette dernière cherche à étudier, en profondeur, les moindres aspects d’une oeuvre: les motivations des personnages, les choix narratifs, le message de l’auteur, etc. Une simple critique, quant à elle, n’est qu’un commentaire qui se veut ni objectif, ni constructif, ni négatif : c’est juste une opinion, un ressenti, que l’on exprime. On aime ou on aime pas, et on tente d’expliquer pourquoi, en décortiquant brièvement les impressions que l’oeuvre nous a laissé.

Je préfère d’ailleurs parler de “commentaire” et non de “critique” car ce dernier terme fait plus pompeux et peut aisément être confondu avec son cousin analytique. Un commentaire donne une impression plus modeste. On ne cherche pas a donner de leçon mais simplement à dire ce qu’on en pense. Dans le cas d’un livre, on pourrait parler de commentaire de lecture mais comme on peut commenter aussi des documents audio-visuels (des BD ou des manga, des films (vu au cinéma, en Dvd, ou Blu-ray), ou même de la musique (concert, CD)) je préfère m’en tenir simplement à “commentaire.” Bien sûr, l’approche sera un peu différente selon le type d’ouvrage  que l’on commente (livre, cinéma, musique).

Une autre question que j’entend parfois c’est “pourquoi se donner la peine de faire un commentaire” alors que l’on pourrait bien se contenter d’apprécier une oeuvre pour ce qu’elle est sans trop se poser de question. Je dois avouer que pour moi c’est plus une déformation professionnelle. J’ai écrit tellement de commentaires pour les publications pour lesquelles je travaillais que maintenant je ne peux pas m’empêcher d’analyser et de penser à ce que je ressens au fur et à mesure que je progresse dans le livre que je lis ou dans le film que je visionne. Et tant qu’à avoir des idées ou des opinions, pourquoi ne pas les partager? Car la raison fondamentale d’un commentaire c’est cela: partager ses coups de coeur (ou de foudre!), son amour (ou parfois son aversion) pour une oeuvre, ou simplement donner son opinion. Parfois, aussi, il s’agit de vouloir aider les autres à comprendre et à mieux apprécier une oeuvre ou, tout au moins, à partager la façon dont nous percevons une oeuvre (à travers le prisme de nos expériences personnelles, de notre savoir, de notre vécu). Si nous sommes passionné par un sujet, il est tout naturel de vouloir partager cette passion. Le lecteur (du commentaire) en fera bien ce qu’il veut…

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How to save the planet

You’re feeling good because you think you are saving the environment by recycling and switching to LED light bulbs? Well,  don’t (feel good, I mean). It is totally useless.

Last week-end, I read an interesting article in The Gazette titled “Want to save the planet?” (also from the National Post via PressReader). A study by the University of British Columbia is showing that what we are told to do to reduce climate change is rarely the most effective way.  We’re told that “making a difference doesn’t have to be difficult” when, in truth, making a real impact demands some major sacrifices!

The most interesting part of the article is found in a graphic that was available only in the print version. What high school textbooks suggest students to do for the environment is not very effective: using reusable shopping bags instead of plastic ones represent only a saving of 0.005 tonne (5 kg) of carbon dioxide per person per year, while upgrading light bulbs saves 0.1 tonne, hanging your laundry to dry in the sun saves 0.21 tonne, recycling saves 0.213 tonne and washing your clothes in cold water saves 0.247 tonne. Small changes.

In opposite, the more effective actions for helping the environment represents only four per cent of the suggestions given to students. The best tactics are eating less meat with a plant-based diet (saving of 0.8 tonne per year), buying green energy (saving 1.5 tonne per year), taking one less transatlantic flight per year (saves 1.6 tonne), and going car-free (saving 2.4 tonne per year — note that switching from an electric car to car-free saves 1.15 tonne per year and buying a more efficient car saves 1.19 tonne per year!). However, the most effective way to be environmentally friendly is to have one less child: you would save 58.6 tonne of CO2 emission per year! I always said that those kids are killing the planet.

I am really happy because I am already doing all those things (switching light bulbs, washing in cold water, hang-drying, using reusable bags, hydro-electricity, having a plant-based diet, no flying, no car, no kid) and I hope you will consider it too. I won’t go as far as some sci-fi shows and suggest, as some sort of Sophie’s Choice, that we should reduce the children population (or even the general population) — it would surely make the environment quieter — but please copulate with moderation (I would say “practice abstinence” but that would be inconsiderate: just don’t have four or five kids and think of it as a planetary-wide one-child policy)! There are already too many people on earth…

That would certainly be a good way to save the planet.

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Absurdity of the day (#02017117)

I feel I was born in a parallel universe with a completely different logic system and then absconded here for some mysterious reasons. This place doesn’t make sense at all to me as nobody seems to follow what I consider to be basic common sense. Here are two examples that I witness daily.

In this part of town, people are waiting for the bus in line from the back to the front or the concept of lining-up seems foreign to them. I know many of them are deeply religious (as they read the Bible or pray on the bus, probably going to church every Sunday) and “Jesus” told them “the last shall be first” but he meant it for the kingdom of Heaven, not here! I can’t stand such hypocrisy: they are supposed to be charitable and humble and they are the first to cut the line, steal your place or hate you for daring to stand your ground (sometimes even accusing you of being racist if you complain)! As an agnostic I feel I have more moral values than most of them.

I also don’t understand how an employer can be so callous and disrespectful toward its employees (the people who are actually making things work): I should not have to fight for compassionate leave (it has nothing to do with the collective bargaining agreement: it’s in the damn labor code!) or to work in difficult and unpleasant conditions as the work place was without any ventilation or air conditioning for several days and the room temperature was neighbouring 24 to 27.5 ? (if we were simply sitting at a desk it would probably be bearable but our work requires to be constantly standing or moving — actually, if the ideal comfort zone is defined as 21-23°C, there is NO maximum Temperature Limit set by the labor code) ! And, to add insult to injury, this week they also used the employees’ room (where we rest and take our meals) to store the stinking floor polishing equipment! It is not enough for the employer to trim our pension (unilaterally changing a negotiated agreement), cut some of our leave, reduce the staff and increase the number of tasks so we have to force the pace until we feel we are on an assembly line, but they must also show us a total lack of respect? And, after that, they still expect their employees to be loyal, enthusiastic and performing? The union is no better because, when we complain, they just do nothing (they are masters of collusion). It is inconceivable, unacceptable, completely outrageous!

I don’t understand how this could be completely normal to other people. I really must be from another world…

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Monthly notable news (W12-16)

Another month (or so) has passed at lightning speed. Lots of stuff to do, particularly now that spring has come. We had plenty of rain at first, however now the weather is more enjoyable but still a little chilly. The humidity has made my left knee (and a bit my right ankle) hurt and, for a week, my back pain came back with a vengeance — libraries can be hard work sometimes (and not only for the soul; although it can be amusing too). I also had an episode of high blood glucose and I feared I would become a full-blown diabetic but it returned to my pre-diabetic “normal” after a week. This is no work for old men…

It has been a busy month. We’ve visited the notary twice for mom’s succession paperwork and there was plenty of work around the house particularly for the garden cleaning. I also had to deal with many unexpected problems: some strange Bell bug kept me from my blog for a week and I had some leaky roof, front door handle and water heater issues (the latter two just this weekend). Installing two more Outdoor Nest Cams (as one of my cheap IP cameras died following water damage inside the window) has been a strain on the Bell Wi-Fi causing serious performance problems. I’ll probably solve this issue by going back to Videotron, but only for the internet (I’ll share my sister’s).

A question on FB made me look back at my collection of old books and share my love for them. I also purchased a new Telephoto Mirror Lens for my camera. My TV viewing habits didn’t change much. I still watch too much TV: the new season for old series (When calls the Heart, Into the Badlands, Doctor Who) but two series are particularly worth mentioning for their quality: Anne and The Expense (and its beautiful opening credits with Norwegian vocals — listen on Soundcloud and Youtube). I also wanted to go see Ghost in the Shell in theatre but the reviews were not too good so I decided to wait. However, I’ll definitely won’t miss the Valerian‘s movie when it is released!

I have always considered blogging (and writing in general) as an essential mental exercice (as much as my daily walks) to keep in shape, the mind sharp and age better. However, now I have some doubt. It sometimes feels like a strain since I have less and less time to do it. I have to split my waking hours between my wife-together time, my me-time and work (from which I always come back exhausted). Lately, I had lots of problems with the blog (the Dropbox issue, not being able to log in for an entire week) and it leaves me with the dilema of having to choose between fixing the layout on the old posts or writing new material (or try to do both and be unhappy with the result). I just wonders if it is really worth it.

Maybe I should try less to DO something and just take more time to enjoy life right now (going to movies, to the museums, to the botanical garden, READ more, etc.) without always thinking about sharing it, what I would say about it, which angle I could use to explain the subject better or tell an interesting story about the whole experience. My health won’t improve with the years and I am quite sure that there is less road in front of me than behind, so maybe I should just take the most of it and enjoy the moment. Who’s reading me anyway. Although, I often say that I am writing for myself, so I can read what I wrote one day and remember how it was (particularly when I would not remember it at all). It is just like a journal left adrift in the binary stream of time, to create some sort of posterity.

Both ways seem kind of selfish: if I do write I feel guilty of not doing more of my life and, if I don’t, I feel I am letting myself down. Either way it is a losing battle. •Sigh* It’s the age-old depressing philosophical question: Did I ever really lived and did it really matter? I can only press on and hope for the best.

Finally, I nevertheless managed to stay acquainted with the (ever so depressing) affairs of the world and gathered a few notable news & links — which I share with you (in both french or english, and roughly divided into a few thematics), after the jump.

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