Just a quickie post for those of you that are adamant enough and totally against (or for) the name change of Park Avenue.

The Montreal Gazette today published a little feature containing a listing of City Councillors names and contact info so that you can voice your opinion to the many that are indecisive about how to vote on the name change next week. There are plenty that either won’t say or haven’t responded to the question asked by The Gazette.

I haven’t been able to locate a copy of this list online, so I scanned it and am making it available as a .PDF right here - sorry for the orientation of the scan, it was a quick hack job, just rotate it from within your PDF reader of choice).

On Monday I had to take one of my kids to the dentist and on the way home we passed the old Imperial Tobacco which is now in the process of being converted to lofts. It doesn’t look like much from the outside yet, but I snapped a picture so I would remember to go to the website. Well I did today and they sure sure look nice!

I’m not even really a big loft kind of person. I like the open space in theory but also like having closed doors. What I really need is a two storey house with an open concept downstairs with closed bedrooms/offices upstairs. Still, looking through that site, I could almost be convinced to switch to a loft frame of mind. Well, maybe if I didn’t have kids, that is.

A reader on my art blog posted the following information:

“We are having an art walk in St Henri on November 30th 5pm to 9pm. Artist’s studios and galleries will open their doors. What an excellent way for art collectors to A) view the piece in it’s birth place B) meet the artists C) catch the art before it’s discovered.”

I think this is a GREAT idea — something I’d long thought “somebody” ought to do. The blog reader was kind enough to come to my Indigo book signing and give me a detailed map of the event, but I passed that along to a journalist and now can’t find any info on WHERE the studios are. If anyone has specific information, please post it here! All art enthusiasts should turn out for this event.

On my way home from work today, I saw four large men in uniform standing on each corner of St. Catherine and Peel. Well, not quite on the corners, but on the street facing the corners where pedestrians were waiting for the light to change. The guards stood with their backs to the flow of traffic, their burly arms folded in front of chests emblazoned with the word “CADET.” They did not smile.

As I waited, a street kid approached the guard standing closest to me. “Excuse me, sir?” he asked, not at all politely. “Are you standing there to keep us from crossing the street?” The guard grunted, “Yeh.” There was a tense pause as the guard and the street kid surveyed each other, the street kid shifting his weight from one foot to another, the guard perfectly still.

Then, the street kid cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, bro, but that’s really fucking stupid.” The guard bristled. I quickly stifled a laugh.
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I’ve got a culinary fetish that I shouldn’t be proud of. I love foie gras. While other North American cities are banning this product (in response to animal rights activists) I’m glad this fervor has not spread to Quebec. Chicago was the latest big city to ban this delicacy. Now don’t get me wrong, I feel for the little guys, but every being has to die, and the “torture” of which the activists speak is relatively tame when you compare it to say, fishing. (Incidentally, research shows that fish DO feel pain and therefor catching them via a hook in their mouth is most decidedly torture. But I digress.)

Last night, we went out for spouse’s birthday to Restaurant Sasha. This is the newest tapas style restaurant that has opened in the Village. While Casa Tapas on the plateau is more traditional in its Spanish style tapas offerings, Sasha has applied the concept to continental cuisine. Imagine my delight to find foie gras on the menu. They served it with hot candied cranberries which were not only festive and holiday-like, but also an amazing taste combination. I highly recommend it.

Toque may be widely known for its foie gras (and it IS good), but Sasha does a great job competing (and at a better price I might add.)

Still, the best foie gras I’ve had in this city was at The Beaver Club in the Queen Elizabeth hotel. Get it with some ice wine and you can spend some time in culinary heaven.

Any other foie gras officionados out there? If so, where else should I be sinking my teeth into this delightful dish?

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GALA-SHOW: Homage to Oum Kalthoum

Hadia & Joe Nachef invite you to a unique evening of Oriental Dance and Music - for the first time ever in Quebec !

Sunday December 3rd at 8 pm at Club Kola Note 5240, Ave Du Parc, Montreal

This « must see » Evening of Excellence, presents many of Montreal’s most beautiful dancers as well as a phenomenal 9 piece oriental orchestra comprised of some of Lebanon’s most gifted and professional musicians and their interpretations of the sublime classics of the great Egyptian Diva of Song, Oum Kalthoum plus Abdel Halim Hafiz and Farid al Atrash.
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As a scientist, I am always a little annoyed to see homeopatic “medicine” at the pharmacy. Of course everyone has a story about an aunt, a friend or a co-worker who successfully used them to cure a case of the flu, allergies, a compound fracture or Ebola. The fact remains that every controlled study has failed to see any significant benefits outside of the well documented placebo effect. It would be bad enough if these little bottles contained nothing else than distilled water or small sugar pills but unfortunately that industry is completely unregulated which means that its distributors insist on selling you “something”.

Last June, I was contacted by journalists from the Radio Canada television show Zone Libre who were investigating the alternative medicine industry. I’ll be on television during the second half of the inquiry that will be shown next Friday but I have heard about the contents of tonight’s first episode that will air at 9 PM.

Make sure that your aunt, friend or co-worker tune in to Radio-Canada tonight or RDI tomorrow…and bring a barf bag.

A reader wrote:

A propos de Montréal metblog, je préferrais l’ancienne version ou les bloggueurs/ses étaient francophone et anglophone. Maintenant que tout est anglophone, je trouve que ce blog ne reflète plus la réalité d’une ville unique en son genre et bilingue telle qu’est Montréal.

Roughly translated, this reader would like to see things written in French around here, because Montreal is a bilingual city.

Alors… si on mettait un peu de français de temps en temps? Cette personne qui a fait la demande ne doit pas être la seule qui aimerait lire en français sur ce site.

Une des raisons pour laquelle il n’y a pas beaucoup (ou pas du tout) de français ici, c’est que la plupart des auteurs n’écrivent pas souvent en français. Personnellement, je n’ai jamais pris le temps de penser à la langue dans laquelle j’écris. Ça sort tout seul quand ça veut.

Je me demande s’il y a des lecteurs ou lectrices Vietnamien(ne)s, je pourrais écrire ene vietnamien aussi… c’est peut-être poussé un peu loin :P

Quoi qu’il en soit, je pense que je vais commencer à écrire en français juste pour obtenir un ratio de 1:1 au niveau linguistique.

En passant, il y a une série de conférences (en français ;) qui sont organisées à l’École de design de l’UQAM. La prochaine a lieu le 27 novembre.