This is really not the time to enjoy an evening outside. Thanks to all of that wind and ice combo, the organizers of the High Lights Festival have wisely decided to close down the site until tomorrow. The pyrotechnics are also pushed back to tomorrow at 8.

What a wet morning it is today with dire warnings of freezing rain and of flash freezing, whatever that may be. Those who know say that 70% of the earth is covered by water. It looks like an underestimate this morning.

Apparently it’s going to get worse. There’s a report in this morning’s Gazette that the Greenland glaciers have doubled their rate of melting over the last 5 years. There’s a longer account in Newsday today, Greenland’s glaciers quicken flow to sea. That’s very alarming as you can gauge by the number of bloggers who are commenting on the melting of the Greenland glaciers.

Water, water. We can’t live without it. I hope we manage to live with it.

Two silver and two bronze have doubled our medal count but the only Montrealers at play were in the men’s hockey team which beat Germany 5-1.

This morning I took the metro on the Blue line… And I got to see the new wagon decor! The seats are not orange/beige anymore but blue! And I don’t know if it was my imagination but the seats also seemed wider… The arrangement of the seats has remained almost the same except that now it’s seat-seat aisle seat instead of seat-seat-aisle-seat-seat. And they’ve added different holding poles. So less sitting space, more standing space. The colour of the wall also changed from the bright orange to a less bright orange, with some tiny colour dots. It looks a bit more modern. But still… I wonder…. Why not just change the wagons all together? They are getting old! And they will most likely have to be changed soon… So why just change the interior? Seems like a waste of money…?

Here’s a pic:

UPDATE: The STM has a PDF file on it’s website with information about the new decor… To answer Monkey’s comment below, it was not the prototype itself no… I remember seeing different prototype wagons (A, B, and C) and these were simply the same interior decor with a different seat arrangement. But the one I saw was more! They say this one is a finished model of the prototype C + improvements from the STM = new model of the interior. In that document there is also a clearer/bigger picture of the interior and more information on the changes. And they also hint at Metro stations being accessible for wheelchair access in the future! Finally!

The big news of the day is a bronze medal by Anouk Leblanc-Boucher. This is even more impressive when you consider that this 21 year old was skating in the 500m short track against the three best skaters in the world. Kalyna Roberge won the Final B and ended in 4th place overall.

Eric Bedard finished 1st in his heat for the 1000m short track.

Marc-Andre Moreau and Alexandre Bilodeau finished 4th and 11th on the moguls.

And the men’s hockey team beat the Italians 7-2.

Howdy!

Back in December, over the holidays, I was reading Martine’s blog, and noticed a funky new badge.
for Top Blogues, some sort of competition for Quebecois Blogs. I think I am the only bloke out of the 217 who have signed on, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I find it a fun thing.

Is there anyone out there who can explain the significance of the number on the right-hand side of the badge?

Then, today I came across egoSurf , you don’t even need to copy any code to get this kick ass set of images!

I also particularly like the size of their numbers.

So the last weekend of the “Fête des Neiges” went on and many Montrealers participated in the activities, happy that the cold was back!

The next big event in Montreal is the “Montréal en Lumières” (Montreal High Lights) festival! It takes place from the 16th to the 26th. Usually this festival was located on Ste-Catherine street around the Place-des-Arts but this year that’s changing! It’s moving to the Old Port! Different activities will be held at the Place Jacques Cartier, Bassin Bonsecours and Quai Jacques Cartier: firework shows, slides, street performers, Walkyries/Les 7 doigts de la main (circus and fire performances), figure-skating performances, Tam-Tams parade, urban snowboarding competition, symphony music show, all-nighter danse soirée at City Hall, and much much more! All of the activities are here…

Also there is the Montreal’s underground walkway celebration, on Saturday February 19th. “The event includes a footrace on a course criss-crossing the underground network connecting downtown Montreal. The five-kilometre trip is laid out on the pedestrian circuit connecting the Cours Mont-Royal with complexe Desjardins. Over a dozen activities have been set up along the circuit.” Sounds like a fun family activity!

What is the place you would most like to take your lover for a romantic set-the-mood meal here in Montreal?

Personnally, I can only speak for two places that we have frequented so far. Carlos & Pepe’s when we were younger, and Ouzeri now that we are more settled. Both have very good food. But back home we had a place that beat both of these hands down when it comes to romantic setting.

Geja’s is a fondue restaurant in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. They don’t take reservations, so the wait is always an hour or more on Friday and Saturday nights. But the wait is part of the package. To pass the time, most everyone hangs out at the small bar in the back. Conversation with your companion begins there over a bottle of wine, crackers, and cheese spread. The light in the bar gives a pink glow and the bartop is made of tiny ceramic hearts for added cheese. By the time your table is ready, the bottle of wine you have finished keeps the conversation flowing. The fondue meal three courses. Cheese fondue followed by the meat of your choice with vegetables in an oil fondue and ending in a chocolate fondue. Generally accompanied with a second bottle of wine. The setting is an excellent romantic setting with a live flamenco player, dim lighting, intimate booths, and plenty of time to converse while your food is cooking. Always a great meal with great company. Perfect to warm you up during the winter season.

So what is your favorite romantic restaurant? And yes, I am taking notes for next year.

Marcoux and Buntin finished the Pairs Free Skating final in 11th position.

Dominique Vallee ended 12th in the snowboarding half-pipe.

No medals for Canada today, probably because I had to spend the day cooped up in a meeting room :-(

The women’s hockey team massacred Russia 12-0 with Charline Labonte in front of the net. 28 goals in two games…not bad.

Mathieu Turcotte won the Final B at the 500m Short Track Speed Skating. He ended 7th overall.

The women’s team finished 2nd in the semi-final of the 3000m relay in Short Track Speed Skating. The finals will be on 22 February.

Anouk Leblanc-Boucher and Kalyna Roberge both came in 1st in their respective heats for the 500m Short Track Speed Skating.

A few more events remain in STSS but I have a train to catch.