I just wanted to quickly point out that there is an online petition opposing the very unpopular name change of “Parc Avenue” to “Robert-Bourassa Avenue”. Their goal is 5000+ signatures, so if you’re opposed to the name change go ahead and sign it and voice your opinion while you’re at it.

I also happened to be in the area yesterday at Mount Royal where protesters gathered to show their opposition to the sudden name change. I snapped a few pictures of the crowd.

It’s below zero this morning. The growing season on my patio is officially over. And did you catch that burst of wet snow on Friday? It seems there are three basic reactions to the first snow sighting of the year. The first is one of joy and wonder. “Oooh, look it’s snowing! So beautiful,” one gushes. This was my reaction the first few years I lived here. It seemed like magic, this ice from the sky. Still, the winters are long, and come March, I would adopt a more negative view of the white stuff. When I hear “oohs” and “aaahs” over the first snow sighting now, I figure it’s a tourist or newly transplanted resident. The second and far more prevalent reaction ranges from “Wait, I’m not ready!” to “Oh, Nooooooooooo.” These folks dream incessantly of a life at the beach in Mexico. If only they could have year round sun and warmth. The last reaction is one of mixed character. A sense of resignation combined with excitement over the gifts of winter. These are the people like avid skiers or ice fishers who truly get a kick out of winter activities.

My reaction this year was, “Wait, already? I don’t think I’m ready.”

How about you, are you happy to see the snow arrive or do you just despise it?

By now most of you probably have seen “Bon Cop Bad Cop” already. But if you haven’t, or just want to see it again, you can do it for FREE on Monday!

At the Quartier Latin cinema there will be 4 showings of the movie, and at each some of the people involved in the making of the movie will be present!

13h00 (French) / With Patrice Bélanger
16h00 (English) / With Colm Feore
19h00 (French) / With Sylvain Marcel and Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse
21h30 (English) / With Patrick Huard, Colm Feore and Érik Canuel

It’s kind of neat! Too bad I’ll then be in Vancouver for a short holiday…! But if I was here in Montreal I’d go queue up to get in! It is first come, first serve.

A scene from the movie…

The name change of Avenue du Parc to Robert Bourassa is really not a popular announcement… And the opposition is organizing itself!

There is a demonstration planned for Saturday (tomorrow) 21 October at 14h. The meeting point is at the well-known “tam tam” statue on Avenue du Parc. More information about the demonstration can be found on this website.

Avenue du Parc and Bernard, photo from christopher dewolf | urbanphoto.net (flickr).

In a recent interview with TVA, former Premier of Quebec, Lucien Bouchard, stated that Quebecker’s do not work enough, or hard enough.

The Globe and Mail in a editorial, agreed. Needless to say, you know what has hit the fan over this.

Mr Bouchard might want to follow the average work day of your average tech worker.. I can assure you, us slaves who work in the IT industry put in MORE then our fair share of hours.

But alas, that’s not who he’s referring to. He’s referring to our public sector, say, I dunno, maybe Montreal’s blue collar workers? The Globe and Mail sites as example that our famous Cols Bleus have in their contracts a mandatory 4 day work week and many pauses during the day.

We love to hate our cols bleus and their supposed laziness. Le Journal de Montreal takes great pride in showing our cols bleus goofing off.

But the question really is this: what kind of a life do you want ? Do you buy into the Protestant Work Ethic ? Do you believe that working insane hours during your working years will yield you a better life later on? Or do you, say as many in France do, believe that living well now, that is not working yourself to the bone, is a better way to live? Because this is the heart of the question. We here in Quebec straddle the two. On the one hand we believe that working hard is important, mais pas trop OK?

The more years I work, the more I think that this Ontarian and American idea that we need to slave day in and day out in order to be “productive” is really, all for not. More and more I am inclined to think that a four day work week and a nice long lunch is a better way to be, even if it means living with less in the long run. Why are we here ? Are we here to enjoy life and live with less or to work and consume more ? Because that’s really what it comes down to.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pass to go see a screening of Borat tonight (trailer | Official Site). It was an extremely funny movie, but if you’re easily offended, then it won’t be for you once it comes out in a couple of weeks (but I still recommend it).

Anyhow, this isn’t a movie review. What I found totally interesting is how, after the movie, everyone was talking about it for an extended period of time outside of the movie theater, which was Cinema Guzzo Marche Central. Now, there’s nothing particularly unusual about people yakking about a film once it’s over, but it just seemed that even strangers were talking to each other, citing quotes and reenacting scenes from the flick. My friend and I ended up walking to the bus stop with a few people the we didn’t know (and a few that my friend happened to know – small world) and talked about it non stop while waiting. Once on the bus there were a bunch of other people that clearly didn’t know each other talking about it and a couple of them joined into the group conversation. It was all very strange, yet intriguing how people would just start chatting to one another, I couldn’t help but mostly stay quiet and observe the phenomena, even the people on the opposite side of the Metro car that seemed to not be able to talk about anything else but the movie. Our conversation did eventually move on to other topics once on the Metro and we also eventually parted ways.

I had a good time tonight, even considering the rain in which we had to walk through to and from the theater (not having a car sucks, sometimes).

I just heard on the news that the city is thinking of renaming Parc Avenue to Robert Bourassa Avenue. My first instinct was not favourable to the idea. My second thought was how expensive it would be for all the businesses on Parc Avenue to change their printed material. I don’t think that I could get used to calling Parc Avenue, Robert Bourassa Avenue. No offense to Robert Bourassa, RIP, but Parc Avenue is such a mainstay. Isn’t it called Parc Avenue because it runs beside the parc Jeanne Mance and the foot of Mount Royal? Well, I think the city is going to have to throw around some other proposals because I can’t imagine people being receptive to changing Parc Avenue. Just like people still refer to Dorval airport as Dorval and not Trudeau airport – because it’s in Dorval. When they changed Dorchester to boul Rene Levesque, I was able to adapt, but every once in a while, I still hear people say Dorchester and I think, “where have you been?”.

UPDATE: it seems that I was wrong about the tentative nature of the change. Apparently it’s a done deal. Mayor Gerald Tremblay was just giving an interview about the name change on tonight’s nouvelles TVA. He says that people will get used to it and highlighted the symbolism of having the street intersect with Rene Levesque boulevard. I’m just wondering, were the citizens of the city ever consulted on this?

I don’t know how to dress these days. The wild temperature swings and changeable weather this time of year makes for long stares at the wardrobe in the morning trying to figure out the most appropriate outfit. Should I put one shirt, two, or a sweater? Which jacket is the most ideal? I check the weather and try to make the best choice. But inevitably, I find myself either too hot or too cold, and then I blame the weather guys. Sometimes, when a front moves through, the temps change drastically. I’ve gone into a building for a two hour meeting only to come out to a temperature change of 10 degrees. The worst was a couple years ago when I went into teach a class at 9am at 18 degrees and when I came out at 11am, it was minus 4 degrees. I had to go buy garments to get through the rest of that day.

Anyway, best to be prepared, I am throwing a sweater and gloves in the backpack, just in case.

Last night, I left school at 9 PM because of a 3-hour long conversation that made me delay diner. I really didn’t plan on that.

Two strange things happened in metro Berri-UQAM. There was an Asian dude (not me) who was being arrested as i went in the metro and he guards took him to the surveillance room. I was hungry so I ate some pizza and as I walked, I saw a woman who was brushing her teeth… just there not far away from the swivels.

On the usual side of things, there were people asking for money…

For some reason this morning, I was thinking about Halloween as I was brushing my teeth. Must be the cold nights and chilly mornings reminding me that we’re in the middle of October and that Halloween is just around the corner. By association to the brushing, I must have been thinking about all the candy to come… and the dentist visit to follow…

Supermarkets now have tons of Halloween candy for sale. The trick is not to buy it too soon or risk eating all of it before the day actually arrives. Then you’ll find yourself running out to the store to stock up – again.

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