Fire

Good morning my dears,

Today I had intended to write a concert review but that shall wait until tomorrow. Instead, I am posting this picture I took of a fire on St. Denis early yesterday evening, Sat. June 27, 2009. It was on St. Denis between Pins and Cherrier. It appeared that three buildings were on fire and I could see a lot of fire fighters on the roofs with chainsaws. It was kind of eerie hearing the buzz of all those chainsaws punctuated with siren bursts and the comments from gawking bystanders. The sky was also trying to rain but was just spitting a bit at that point. I don't have a television so I couldn't watch the news for more info. and surprisingly I have only found amateur reports about this fire online. I know it was significant enough that traffic was re-routed onto Berri well into the night. I think the buildings were a mix of stores with apartments above them. I feel bad for all the people that probably lost their homes and possessions. I hope no one got hurt!

Until tomorrow,
Mr. P
xx

UPDATE: A friend was kind enough to send me a link to an article about the fire. Click here to read it yourself (it's in French). According to the article, only one building was lost which included a beauty salon on the main floor. The rest of the building was being renovated. At least that means that no homes were lost and people are safe. Yay!

Today's song is 'Lover I Don't Have to Love' by Bright Eyes because it is kind of depressing and that sums up my mood at the moment.

Insomnia

This early morning's song is 'Jesus Christ' by Brand New, even though I think I've used it before.

That is all.

No, one more thing. My computer is confused and thinks it is 1:00am right now when it is actually 4:31am. And my pictures switch their order when I publish the post... :(

Un-Dry Humour

'Tis raining today yet pleasantly pleasant. Indeed.

Yesterday, I forgot to mention that Dry is a very funny book in a dark humour sort of way. Alas, I've now finished it and discovered that the last two chapters are not really funny but just really intense. I almost cried and that's not dry at all.

Pic model: Miss Dish
Today's song: 'Jungle Drum' by Emiliana Torrini. Thank you Monsieur James.

Delightfully Dry

Alas, no pictures today! I am two chapters away from finishing Dry: a Memoir by Augusten Burroughs. Many of you might be familiar with him as the bestselling author of Running With Scissors. This is my first foray into the world of Augusten Burroughs and I absolutely love it. His book is everything that I look for in a good read: complex characters, unique descriptions, a well-paced plot. As well, I love that there are many details in this book that can only be described as uncomfortable and politically incorrect. Burroughs is a fearless writer who confesses his own profound vulnerability while being totally in control of his craft.

Dry starts when Burroughs is 24 years old. He lives in Manhattan and makes a lot of money working in advertising even though his formal education ended in elementary school. Besides a lack of schooling, he explains that at the age of 13, his mother gave him away to her lunatic psychiatrist who adopted him. He then lived a life of "squalor, pedophiles, no school and free pills." It is no surprise then to learn that at 24, despite having a successful career, Burroughs is also an alcoholic. The book follows him through his adventures being forced into rehab and his recovery afterwards. It is full of eccentric characters and unique life perspectives. I can't wait to finish it to see if the ending is as satisfying as the rest of the novel.

I have checked out a few sites that question whether this book is a true memoir because the details of Burrough's life seem so extraordinary and almost unbelievable. I also checked out his Web site and read what he has to say about these criticisms. I won't quote him verbatim but he basically says that the people criticizing his book come from privileged backgrounds and find his life hard to believe because they are so distanced from his reality. I love the idea that this is a memoir, but if a few details are embellished, who cares? It's still a great read.

That is all for today dears!
ciao
xx

Sunday on a Tuesday

This picture has nothing to do with this post. These are two of the items found in the time capsule.

Today is Tuesday, but let's write about Sunday shall we?

On Sunday I met with the lovely Kristine. I accompanied her on a threading expedition in Park X. I assume you all know what threading is but just in case: Threading is a method of hair removal similar to tweezing but in which thread is used to remove hairs faster. I don't actually know how it works, but it's a cool process to watch.

Anywho, I went with Kristine to this neat little beauty salon in Park X. They charge only $3 to thread eyebrows and no appointments are necessary. The salon is in the basement of a commercial building. We descended a short flight of stairs into a cotton-candy pink confection of a room. Chairs were lined up along the walls in a 'u' shape and they were all taken. People were also standing in all the available spaces. Popular place! It reminded me of going to the passport office except that the air had an antiseptic pleasantly-sweet smell to it and there was a lot of sunlight coming through the one window.

Despite how busy the place looked, the wait only lasted about 10 minutes. If you are wondering, I did not get any threading done personally. The salon says on its business cards it is 'exclusively for women.' I am not sure how they feel about pig hand puppets and didn't ask. My butt arm (yes, the one that makes me move) got her eyebrows done and they looked pretty good. Can't beat the price either. Kristine has been going to this place for a couple of months and swears that they always do a good job.

If you are interested in checking them out, they're called Salon Dee's Beauty. They have the following three locations:

737, Blvd. Cote-Vertu-2nd floor, Ville St-Laurent (corner of Montpellier) Tel: 514-744-2306
803, rue Liege Ouest, Montreal (corner of Outrement) Tel: 514-948-2306
1014, rue Jean-Talon Ouest, Montreal (corner of Acadie) Tel: 514-277-1074

After our hair removal excursion we took a little trip over to Marche Centrale and visited the SAQ depot. I bought a couple inexpensive bottles of wine for future festivities whilst Kristine picked up a 2-6er of Vodka for her mother. (I know, that sounds bad!) The only problem is that she bought Bacardi and neither of us noticed. At least the weather has been hot and lovely lately and they are all set for Daiquiris...those use rum right? I am so uneducated in the realm of alcohol!

Today's song is 'Head over Heels' by Tears for Fears. It's an 80s sort of day.

Fashion of the Day

I was unsure of what to write this evening. I had a very pleasant weekend thus far, with great company and good food. Now I am once again alone and pondering what to write on my little bloggy-blog here...

Several weeks ago I met with some friends to dig up a time capsule that we buried in 1996. I was just a wee piglet then, still finding my place in this world. Originally, we had planned to dig it up at the 10 year mark but found that getting all the original participants together was too difficult. Three of us decided to dig it up without the others because we had used an old camper cooler to bury the items in, and started to fear that the contents would be damaged. There was indeed damage, with the exception of some items places in a bucket within the cooler, and we threw many things out. All of us had forgotten what exactly was in the time capsule so we were surprised by what our younger selves considered significant. Basically, we found a lot of magazines, notes that we passed in class, drawings and other oddities and creations. There were also letters to our future selves and some trinkets. In future, I may post a series of photos that we took to document the contents. For today, I have included two of the ones pertaining to fashion. The bottom one is from a 1996 edition of the now defunct YM magazine heralding 'Genius jeans!'As you can see, you would have to be a genius to pick such fetching ensembles! The top picture is my own attempt at drawing a fashion line...please keep in mind it was the 90s!

Ciao darlings et a bientot! (insert accents in necessary places)

Tonight's song: Tom Waits 'Real Gone' album

Fringe Fest-In Cold Blood

Today was utterly depressing. It was gorgeous and sunny outside and my schedule was wide open. So what did I do? I sat in my armchair reading the entire day. (At least I preserved what's left of my precious and limited funds.) I drank a lot of tea and ate a lot of Ryvita crisp bread (endorsed by the Queen!), and all day long I read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. My friend lent it to me a few months ago and I wasn't sure I would like it, but once I got started I was kind of sucked in. Unaware of the book's phenomenal success I decided to google it. After doing that, I now reckon it is quite possible that every other person my age and older has already read this book. If you are one of the few exceptions like me, you should pick it up! Why should you pick it up? It is a well-written and engaging book. It also has historical significance. It was originally marketed as being a non-fiction novel giving a true account of the murders of a Kansas farmer and his family. It is full of very interesting characters and descriptions. As well, I find that the sections in which the murderers take a road-trip can be likened to a perverse version of On the Road. I enjoyed reading about the places that they travelled though it was horrible to think of the actions that preceded the trip as well as some of the things they did while moving about the U.S. and Mexico. I really don't know what I can say to endorse the book, there is so much written about it already and readily available on the Internet. You don't need to take my word for it, look it up!

After I finished the book I was still feeling too gloomy to step out for a stroll. Since I was feeling depressed and had spent the day reading a book that reconfirms 'life is not fair' I gave up on trying to shake the bad mood and also watched the movie Capote which is about the author of In Cold Blood. Watching the movie after reading the book really makes you think about how Capote got his information and how much of it he may have embellished.

So my dears, as you can tell, I am a bit morose tonight. Yes, I have said this is the case but I think my writing indicates it as well. My week actually started on a high note though. For the first time ever, I attended the Fringe-for-All event on Monday, June 1. The event at Cafe Campus included 2-minute preview performances from 45 of the performers that will be at this year's Montreal Fringe Fest. It was so much fun and there was so much talent in that room! I just love to see what wonderful things emerge when fertile creative minds are given a forum like the Fringe where they can show off their uncensored works. There were a couple of misses, but maybe they were just shows that could not be represented very well in such a short period of time. Also, the performers still have a few days of rehearsal left as it does not start until June 11. If you are anywhere near Montreal, you MUST attend. It is inexpensive and loads of fun! The festival runs from June 11-21. You can click here to visit the official Web site and get schedules, ticket info. and all that jazz.

Goodnight all!
kisses
xx

Tonight's song is 'Perfect Day' by Lou Reed.

Free Museum Day is Not a Piece of Cake...and Pie!

Here is the picture of the raw, vegan, apple pie as promised!

Yesterday was Sunday, May 31. It was also Free Museum Day here in Montreal. Each year I gleefully imagine all the fantastic (free) things I will witness on this day. Each year I strategically pick out which museums are the most worthy of not receiving my hard-earned cash. This years honoree was the 'Irish O'Quebec' exhibit at the McCord Museum. Ange came along to experience her first Free Museum Day. Just like every year, the museum was absolutely packed. We fought the crowd to see perhaps a quarter of the first floor of the exhibit. Reading each sign required a valiant effort as did each attempt to move through the crowd without getting bumped off course. As I do every year, I gave up after half an hour and left...

As Ange put it, museums just aren't the same when they are over-crowded. To really enjoy them you need enough room to proceed at your own pace and read as much or as little as you please.

Today's song is The Smiths 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'.

Ttfn darlings
xx