I think the entire island of Montreal was jarred awake last night by the sound of thunder which rattled the very foundation of our city around 4am this morning. Everyone walked around like zombies today after having our precious REM sleep crashed by the sudden SNAP of the air being ripped open in the sky.

Today as I walked from the metro, a low rumbling rang throughout the city and I was waiting for the sky to open up in a downpour. Living here in Montreal has given me a taste of many extremes – the weather being but one of them. For all of the complaining I do about the weather, this city makes up for it in so many other ways.

There’s an interesting article in La Presse this morning. Killing two birds with one stone is probably an inappropriate metaphor although to my mind it’s very much a win/win situation.

I’m referring to the 15% or so drop in revenues that Loto Quebec has seen as a result of the No Smoking ban in bars where often VLT’s are placed. For some people, gambling is clearly an addiction and now if they were smokers they cannot indulge in both simultaneously. Breaking off for a smoke may involve quite a trek in some bars and you can see how this might be a disincentive to return. This is happening in summer so the effect may well be even more marked in winter.

Although Loto Quebec is feeling the pinch as are some bar owners, it’s highly probably that society as a whole is economically better off .. and the gamblers too, even if they don’t acknowledge it.

According to this article in the Montreal Gazette, Montreal is being used as the gateway for all evacuees coming out of Lebanon. Toronto would have probably sounded more likely, being a bigger airport, but it’s actually more problematic because it’s so much busier than Trudeau airport.

So far they’ve set up stations with telephones to contact family or friends upon arrival, they’ve fed and even clothed people with help from the Red Cross, and they’ve offered up social workers to those in need.

After feeling a little frustrated over what I considered to be a bit of a debacle with Canada’s inital setup for rescuing Canadian citizens, I’m proud to know that my city is the meet and greet for our country’s people coming home.

As an avid cyclist, who’s been racing bikes for over ten years and who was a bike courier for 2 years, I’ve really seen the evolution of city riding in Montreal.
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I discovered another great local photographer while surfing around on Flickr. IrenaS not only has a good eye, but her post-processing skills are simply amazing.

Stuff like that really makes me realize how much I still have to learn.

I have a handful of photoblogs that I love to visit regularly (mostly because they’re much better than mine!), one of them being that of our very own Andre. Another one that I really enjoy is Toronto’s Sam who posted this picture that he took while visiting Old Montreal.

Everyone knows that Montreal has a fascinating, rich history, but I love the surprise history that you see in that picture. It makes me wonder what those two original buildings were, especially the smaller, stone building. Was it a store of some sort? Did someone live there? What did the owners do for a living? How did they pass their evenings?

I haven’t been in Old Montreal for awhile – I think this summer I’ll have to go wander around again.

The recent addition of Jay, Mikel and Sherry seems to prove the hypothesis that adding several new writers at the same time is a good way to jump start posting frequency, even amongst us “established” contributors. And we’re getting even more. I have just learned from our Metroblogging Overlords that Tanya and Justin will soon be added to our little group.

It’s not too late to join us if you’re still interested, the Kool-Aid is nice and cold.

So I have noticed around Montréal many odd things when it comes to road design and signage. Firstly, whose idea was it to put so many left hand exit ramps on the highway system and why do they put the exit sign halfway down the ramp? I guess this is why we drive so crazily here. The three lane switchover is common because it is necessary! Why does the AUT 20 seem to magically reverse sides while traveling west of AUT 15? However the greatest question of all, located on the service road to the Met. How does one obey both the traffic light AND the obvious “No Stopping” sign? I guess you just take your chances!

Just a quickie post.

I came across this photoset on Flickr and thought it was interesting enough to show you all. They were apparently found on a street in Cambridge, MA and taken by a visitor to our fair city, Lillian Seymour (scanned and uploaded by Flickr user ninecormorants).

While there’s nothing too spectacular, I thought that seeing some photos of the Expo from a tourist eyes from back in 67′ was kinda cool.

Enjoy.

UPDATE: Please check out the comments, reader Stephan supplied a few more links to some nifty photosets.

Last night while driving home I saw the dreaded sign “Tunnel Ville-Marie Ferme”…. This made me wonder, why do they close that highway so often? I cruised down Rene-Levesque and noticed many police and fire vehicles. All of this seemed out of place, by the time I got home it was clear to me that something was up. I had a d’oh! moment when the sky erupted into balls of fire and sound. What a great experience!! It turns out that my condo is nestled nicely in a position where I can see the entire fireworks show framed by the CBC on one side and an unnamed building on the other. I sure hope that they don’t go and build a new condo project in front of mine!
I understand now why they close the Cartier bridge but why do they close the tunnel?? Safety? Simplicity? Or is it just to make it harder to get home?! I guess it won’t matter because I’ll be firmly planted on my patio for the next rounds. The fireworks run each Wednesday and Saturday until the end of July.