Diabetic Candy

Get behind me, Santa!

2006-12-06T19:00:00.001-05:00

Bloggers in Montreal all seem to be getting into the act of photographing Xmas decorations that are scary, hideous, enormous, or just overdone.

To join in the holiday spirit, I've added a couple of photos from the World Trade Centre near Victoria Square. Every day I am lucky enough to pass by an assortment of themed Santas. My co-workers tell me that these Santas appear every year near the beginning of December. My two favorites for the pure "whaaaaa?" factor are this Goth Santa and the previously posted Disco Santa. I'm sure both Santas know just how to take care of the naughty list.

These really need to be experienced in person rather than through my cell phone's puny little lens.

Disco Santa. . .one in a series

2006-12-02T00:55:00.000-05:00

Remembrance Day

2006-11-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

Today was Remembrance Day in Canada.

The Canadians could teach us Americans a thing or two about taking Veterans Day seriously.

For weeks now, the poppies have been, well, popping up on lapels everywhere. You see people wearing them on the street, in the Metro, at work, and on the TV newscasts. I was unaware of the extent of the participation in this tradition. It makes an impression on the recent arrival. Somehow it seems more thoughtful than a magnetic yellow ribbon slapped on the back of a gas-guzzling Hummer.

This year, there was a predictably huge outcry when some clueless Provigo grocery manager tossed out one of the elderly veterans who sells these. I vaguely remember poppy sales in the US, but I can't recall seeing any recently in the US.

The poppy's significance is related to the WWI era poem, In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae.

VIA Rail's 150th Anniversary

2006-10-27T23:34:00.000-04:00

I took a ride on the train today from Montreal to Ottawa today courtesy of work. This is a picture of a wall relief decorating the Gare Centrale in Montreal.

On board the train, there was a letter on each seat from the President and CEO of VIA Rail Canada informing passengers that October 27 marked the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor.

In 1856, the first trains traveled between Montreal and Toronto. Today, there are more than 3.5 million passenger trips along the corridor ever year.

I thought I would be able to blog about this from the train since Wi-Fi is advertised as being available, however it turned out not to be working.

Cartographic instability

2006-10-24T20:41:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about buying a detailed street map of Montreal. I may, however, postpone this purchase due to the possibility that a major Montreal street near our apartment may soon have a new name.

The mayor of Montreal, Gérald Tremblay, has proposed that Avenue du Parc (Parc Avenue) be renamed Robert Bourassa Avenue to honor the former Quebec premier. Bourassa was Quebec's youngest premier and introduced Bill 22, which made French the sole official language of Quebec. Allegedly, Bourassa was once derided by Pierre Trudeau as a mangeur d'hot dog (a hot dog eater). I'm not sure what that was about, or even what it means.

Bourassa was defeated in 1976 by René Lévesque. Lévesque got his street in 1987, when Dorchester Boulevard was renamed.

The name change must still be approved by city council and the provincial government, although the announcement has already generated a web-based petition and protests from merchants along Parc. There is interesting commentary on this proposal here, here, and here.

Although the details may be different, I get the sense that Montreal has arguments about who controls public space and who gets honored in public space just as DC and other parts of the US do. In particular, I see similarities to the renaming of streets for Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez.

On a related note, my previous post had a photo of a statue in the center of Stanton Park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of DC. The park is named for Edwin Stanton, who was Secretary of War during the American Civil War and Reconstruction. When I first arrived on Capitol Hill, I assumed that the guy on horse must be Stanton. However, it's actually revolutionary war hero Nathanael Greene. I'm not sure if there was ever a dispute about resolving this naming discrepancy.

Goodbye DC, Salut Montreal

2006-10-24T19:52:00.000-04:00

Sorry for not posting for a few days.

This past Friday night I flew back to DC where J. had been diligently overseeing the packing of our household effects. With the movers on their way, we loaded up the car, pointed the car north, and headed up to Montreal.

Driving to Montreal is much better than driving to Boston, mainly because you get off I-95 before hitting any of the NYC/CT madness.

We had pleasant weather on Saturday, stopped overnight in Lake George, NY, and drove the last couple of hours to the border on Sunday. At some point on Saturday, we passed through the line of peak Fall foliage.

At the border, we managed to satisfy Canadian Immigration and Customs with a variety of visas, letters, and other paperwork in English and French. The obligatory joke here is that the border guard was named "Douane."

So, here we are.

News Flash: Montreal a damp city

2006-10-19T18:02:00.000-04:00

Before moving to Montreal, I did a little research on the average monthly temperatures, number of sunny days, precipitation, and other aspects of the weather. Montreal is generally about 4-5 degrees colder than Minneapolis, MN and gets more precipitation (snow) in the winter. See this nifty comparator.

For the month of October at the McGill weather station, climatic averages (1971-2000), were as follows:

Daily Average Temperature: 48.6 Fahrenheit
Precipitation: 3.3 inches
Days with Precipitation: 13.1
Bright sunshine: 39% of possible daylight hours

As of yesterday, we were through 58% of the month, but already had about 88% of the average October precipitation. Long story short, the weather has not been nice and my umbrella is not up to the task.

I hate to say it, but bring on the snow (if only for the novelty factor).

Not a square meal

2006-10-18T21:25:00.000-04:00

When you are living on your own, sometimes your standards go down. As Exhibit A, I present tonight's dinner of gnocchi and meatballs.

Luckily J. is joining me this weekend.

French is fun!

2006-10-16T18:35:00.000-04:00

Seance 2
Originally uploaded by Fireball728.

I don't really speak French at all. I know a few phrases at most, although I have the best intentions of taking some classes. So far, my efforts here in Montreal have been limited to attempting to order food in French and occasionally discovering a bit of French vocabulary that makes me smile.

The other day there was a city notice posted in my building alerting the residents to an upcoming Séance d'information.

At first, I was confused. I thought perhaps the city was casting the net for public comments a bit wide by consulting with the dearly departed. However, after a few seconds, I realized that this was just French for a public meeting.

I am still picturing mysterious gypsy facilitators, levitating tables, and the eerie cries of deceased developers and community activists. Sounds more fun that way.

Ricky Bobby's Credit Union

2006-10-15T17:35:00.000-04:00

Dear Lord Baby Jesus, thank you for your competitive interest rates.

The Other Side of the Mountain

2006-10-15T16:22:00.000-04:00

Despite continuing to suffer from some congestion-induced congestion, I took a walk up into the Parc du Mont-Royal today. It was an intermittently sunny day with a temperature that might have reached 50 (F, of course). Pretty decent for an October day in Montreal.

This photo of Mont-Royal is from late September.

The Parc du Mont-Royal is the most prominent greenspace in the city. The "mont" in Mont-Royal rises to about 800 feet above sea level, probably more of a hill than the common name would have you believe. Geologists say that the mountain (and others in the region) are actually part of an eroded ancient volcanic complex. What this means in practice is that hills rise here and there out of a mostly flat landscape. Mont-Royal is not as dramatic as other similar geological features like Devil's Tower in Wyoming or Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio. If you squint, maybe you can imagine the plug of an extinct volcano.

Most of the park is wooded and various trails, walkways, and stairs wind through the park. The park was originally designed by that superstar landscape architect of the mid- to late-19th century, Frederick Law Olmstead. Olmstead also designed New York's Central Park.

I've been up into this park before, jogging to the top and back. As on other days, lots of people were enjoying the broad path up to the top. The leaves are at various stages of turning, with some trees toward the bottom having mostly green leaves and others further up fully red and yellow.

At the top, there is an impressive view of the city and river from the Kondiaronk Belvedere.

I walked back past a couple of regular activities: the Tam-Tam and the Medieval Battle Royale.

The Tam-Tam is a regular Sunday drum circle at the base of the monument to Sir George-Etienne Cartier. As you might expect, there is the obligatory patchouli-scented crowd and an impromptu market along the sidewalk where you can pick up various hippie sundries.

The Medieval Battle Royale (probably not the official name) involves a lot of teens and younger kids beating on each other with pipes wrapped in padding and duct tape. Some have shields and others have more elaborate weaponry (all swathed in duct tape to prevent inadvertent cleaving of skulls). I hear that there are sometimes also archers in the summer.

There are better photos here and here.

All at Once

2006-10-13T20:09:00.000-04:00

The other day I got a late start for work. It was a rainy day, so the bus was more full than usual with folks who, I assume, usually walk or bike. It occurred to me that the concept of flextime has not really reached Montreal in a significant way.

For anyone not from DC, flextime is a US federal personnel policy that allows government drones to select their work schedule from a rather wide window of acceptable hours. In practice, this means that workers start trickling in from West Virginia at 5:30 AM or even earlier. After their eight or nine hour day, they head out just as early. Similarly, sleepy in-towners like me will saunter in at 9 AM or so, and not leave until 6:30 or 7 PM, locking up and turning out the lights as we go.

Here in Montreal, I notice that there seems to be a strong bias for the traditional 8:30-5 schedule. In some ways, this is good. These hours are quite civilized. With everybody clearing out of the office at 5 PM, there isn't much peer pressure to log late hours at work. According to this paper, "the average Canadian worker worked 34.6 hours per week, while the average US worker worked 37.9 hours."

The downside of rigid work hours, at least from my selfish perspective, is that there is a huge surge of humanity in cars, buses, bikes and on foot converging on downtown. If you head to work between 8 and 8:30, you will be crammed into a metro car, a bus or stuck in a traffic jam. (The picture for this blog entry is from the PM rush.) From the economist's point of view, we find ourselves with an overcrowded commons.

Perhaps this partially explains all the bicycle commuters. Perhaps this partially explains why I have a cold. Congestion pricing, anyone? It seems to be working for the Swedes.

Up The Main

2006-10-12T18:36:00.000-04:00

As part of my on-going effort to try out all possible methods of getting to and from work, I walked home up boulevard St-Laurent tonight.

Like much of Montreal, St-Laurent is under construction and any trip along "The Main" involves traffic, obstructed sidewalks, and streets in various stages of re-construction. For about half of the two-mile distance I even outpaced the bus.

St-Laurent (Saint Lawrence) is literally at the center of the city in that it serves as the dividing line for East and West street addresses. Historically, it also served as a de facto dividing line between Anglophone and Francophone communities with various other ethnic communities (Jewish, Greek, Italian, Chinese, and Portuguese) along its length.

Walking north from downtown, you pass expensive loft construction, a small red light district, trendy restaurants and shops, and various butcher shops.

I stopped to pick up dinner at Schwartz's Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen, a.k.a. Schwartz's Charcuterie Hebraïque de Montreal. Schwartz's is famous for their smoked meat: cured beef brisket which is spiced and smoked to produce a juicy, tender, fall-apart-on-your plate sandwich filling. I am posting a photo.

Vegetarians may wish to avert their eyes.

Last Hurrah of Pop Montreal

2006-10-10T19:18:00.000-04:00

Now that I have been listed on another blog as a source of Pop Montreal show reviews, I feel a tremendous pressure to publish. Not that the feeling has led to particularly timely updates.

I am definitely not a music critic. At best, I'm a fairly frequent music consumer, but I am often more distracted by the venue, the crowd, the price of beer, and other factors that aren't really under the direct control of the artist.

Having made that disclaimer, I will report that J. and I caught one of the headliner shows of Pop Montreal: Regina Spektor, with opening act Only Son on Sunday. Both are basically one-person singer-songwriter operations, although Spektor has a backing band and Only Son (Jack Dishel) has an Ipod.

You might like Only Son if you like poppy, emotionally accessible tunes with thoughtful lyrics. Like I said, I'm not necessarily the best source for a detailed music review.

The main thing I remember about Only Son was the complaining about his MySpace page. He must have come late to the MySpace game because he's Only_Son at MySpace. For the record, the MySpace page for "OnlySon" is another cup of tea entirely, although Jack wasn't dissing his doppelgänger in any way, nor am I. As Yakov Smirnov would say "What a country!"

Regina Spektor is a gifted pianist and singer with stylistic similarities to Björk, Tori Amos, and Fiona Apple. There's a lot less angst with Spektor than with a lot of the other piano pop stars of today. You can almost check off the influences as Spektor performs: classical sources, hip-hop, jazz, beat-box. The sum is definitely more than the sum of the parts. I would highly recommend the live recording of her show in DC from NPR, which had a similar set list to the Montreal show.

J. may have more to say later.

Automated Cash Machine

2006-10-08T15:24:00.000-04:00

J. is up from DC visiting in preparation for our big move of household effects later this month.

Last night, we took in just a bit of Pop Montreal at Barfly. The band we caught was the Johnny Cash Machine. What else can you say about a cover band, but that they are competent and don't let the source material down? I was kind of hoping for covers of Johnny Cash covering Nine Inch Nails, but maybe this came after we left.

It's probably a sensitive subject, but didn't the Man in Black become a bit of a cash machine for Rick Rubin toward the end of his life with his American Recordings? I mean, Johnny Cash would probably sound good covering Celine Dion, but it was a bit of a novelty act in my opinion.

One other note about Roky

2006-10-08T15:13:00.000-04:00

I wanted to add one other thing about Roky Erickson.

Part of the reason I wanted to see him at Pop Montreal relates to a conversation I had with my father back in 1989 or so. At the time, I was just starting to work at the college radio station and was looking to pull some older alternative music from the stacks for my show. I remember asking my dad in a telephone conversation about music he liked during his high school and college years. At the top of the list: the 13th Floor Elevators, Moby Grape and Blind Lemon Jefferson.

All good advice, I might add.

Roky Erickson at Pop Montreal

2006-10-06T23:37:00.000-04:00

One of the big surprises of the Pop Montreal festival was the appearance of Roky Erickson, a formerly reclusive icon of psychedelic rock.

Erickson, co-founder of the Texas band 13th Floor Elevators, has had a rough life even by Behind the Music standards.

After success with the single "You're Gonna Miss Me Baby" in 1966, Erickson made the mistake of being arrested in Austin for possession of marijuana (a single joint). His second mistake was pleading insanity. Erickson was packed off to the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane where he was subjected to shock treatment and Thorazine until his release in 1972.

After his release, Erickson's music and outlook understandably turned darker. He recorded songs with horror, occult, and science fiction themes, but his music career tapered off as he struggled with schizophrenia and poverty.

It seems Roky is back on the right track with the help of his brother, Sumner, and his band the Explosives. Tonight Roky played a show at the Associacao Portuguesa, a small social hall that held a crowd of perhaps 400 tonight. This was only his second show outside of Texas since his 2005 comeback. Sounding a bit like Neil Young and backed by a supportive band, Roky played a number of his older and newer songs including "Red Temple Prayer," "Starry Eyes," and "You're Gonna Miss Me Baby."

Pop Agenda

2006-10-05T19:33:00.000-04:00

I am headed out to check out some of the smaller, less well known acts at Pop Montreal. And there are a lot of them. About 30 different clubs are hosting anywhere from 2-6 acts per night.

Tonight I am thinking of going to a place that's new to me called "Barfly." (Hey, if it's anything like the movie it's got to be a good time, right?) The Pop Montreal guide drops Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) references about 4 of the 6 bands playing there, so that may be a good sign. Reviews to follow.

Update--

Some bands to see if they come through your town:

Awesome Color: Terrible name for this band from Michigan via NYC. This enthusiastic threesome channels MC5 and the Stooges and truly kicks out the jams.

The Cliks: Melodic, poppy, punk from an androgynous Toronto trio.

Black Helicopter: Yet more indie/psychedelic/rock with Pavementesque vocals, this time from Boston.

Pop Pop Pop

2006-10-04T23:51:00.000-04:00

Tonight was the opening of the Pop Montreal festival. I attended the kickoff concert at the Eglise St. Jean Baptiste just a few blocks from my apartment. Jesus provided his blessing for the event.

On the bill tonight: a recent silent film from Montreal, a showing of the German Expressionist film "The Golem" accompanied by Gary Lucas on guitar, and an organ recital by Gonzales.

(I wonder if Play-Doh has ever put out a Golem kit? Could be a hit, but you would need an industrial size tub of the stuff just for the pageboy hair.)

The organ recital was a bit of a strain for the audience. Like most events in church, there were long stretches of sitting on hard benches waiting for something interesting to happen.

Gonzales indulged in what I would imagine most of us would if we had keyboard skills and a seat at a massive church organ: banging out the classics on the fat pipes . . . Black Sabbath, the "Think Music" theme from Jeopardy, Chariots of Fire, Maniac, Beat It, etc. There was a bit more embellishment, but that's about the long and short of it. Maybe not worth thirty bucks Canadian, but an "A" for effort.

Escalator etiquette

2006-10-03T20:22:00.000-04:00

I am relieved to learn that escalator etiquette, specifically passing on the left and standing on the right, absorbs the attention of Montreal as much as DC. It hasn't been a bother yet, but I've been preoccupied.

What I need is some sort of mnemonic to help me remember which way the Henri-Bourassa train takes me versus the Côte-Vertu. In DC, I only had to remember Jim's Catholic friend Glen to remind me that the Glenmont train would take me toward Catholic University.

Any suggestions?

Worth the trip

2006-10-03T19:50:00.000-04:00

President's Choice English-Style Fish and Chips is definitely worth the trip. Come up for a visit and I'll bake some up for you.

As I wrote previously here and here, PCESF&C is a favorite of an infrequent blog-posting friend of mine, but is no longer available south of the 49th parallel (actually Montreal is between 45° and 46° north, but you take my point).

Tonight I prepared a couple of fish fillets and fries. The fillets baked up nicely, with a delicious crispy breading that almost seemed fried. The fries weren't anything special, but also tasty. All in all, a superior frozen fish product. It will definitely make its way onto the comfort-food short list.

(One complaint: the ketchup in Canada is thin and overly sweet. I should have known not to expect much from a bottle labeled "sauce genre-Ketchup-type sauce.")

Also on the menu, mâche dressed with balsamic vinaigrette. Apparently, mâche was just waiting for spinach to slip up so it could make its move to the dinner table. The package came with a sticker that said "contains no spinach."

Now that I have crossed this research project off my list, I can begin preparing for the Pop Montreal music festival. Tonight's assignment, listening to Regina Spektor on NPR's All Songs Considered broadcast from DC's 9:30 Club. Ms. Spektor will be playing here in Montreal on October 8.

Hot coffee

2006-10-02T21:02:00.000-04:00

I have a growing list of places within a few blocks that I need to check out. Here are three coffee shops recently described on Midnight Poutine:

1) Salon b. Bibliocafe: It's a coffee shop. No, it's a funeral parlor. Actually, it's a coffee shop over a funeral parlor including a second-story catwalk overlooking the memorial services. Wow. Maybe just one morbid peek.

2) Cafe Central Portugais: at once both "the most intimidating cafe in Montreal" and a "citadel of awesome." Apparently, old Portuguese men scare the crap out of some people. Maybe I just haven't had adequate exposure. However, who can resist the promise of a latté "like buttered popcorn on a slab of crushed cacao beans"?

3) Caffe Italia: Okay. I have a new favorite food critic. Anyone who writes about coffee with phrases like "tobacco bouquet," "sexy on the tongue," "blackberry finish," and "indiscriminate spankings" is worth following.

Slugs of Montreal

2006-10-02T20:10:00.000-04:00

I thought I had discovered slugs in Montreal today.

For those of you not from the Washington, DC area, slugs are commuters who line up in unofficial, unsanctioned locations to hitch rides with cooperative drivers who want to form ad hoc carpools for the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes. Commuters queue up in slug lines and drivers who need warm bodies just pull up, roll down the window, and shout out their downtown destination. The slugs get a free ride and the driver gets to use the less congested HOV lanes. Over time, a number of customs and folkways have developed to regulate the practice.

As it turned out, these folks were just waiting for the express bus. The line for the local bus started up by the bus stop. Actually, I think I got on the express bus the other day. The driver let me off at my stop, but he had a lot to say to me (not a bit of which did I understand). Oops.

Catch of the Day

2006-10-02T19:51:00.000-04:00

It's official. President's Choice English-Style Fish and Chips (or Poisson et frites a l'anglais) is still available here at the local Provigo grocery store. The other bit of good news, Provigo delivers, although probably not across the Great Lakes.

I previously posted on the barriers to free trade that keep this product off the shelves in the US, much to the dismay of my good friend at Flapjam.

Tonight I braved long lines and potential thawing of my other frozen goods to bring home this tasty catch.

I haven't tried it yet but I am looking forward to eating like a king for the next two to three nights. Some key facts: each box contains four servings and at least six pieces of delicious breaded pollock. I promise to report back on the results.

Men Without Hats

2006-10-01T13:18:00.000-04:00

Traffic Cone on the Champs Elysees
Originally uploaded by Will Palmer.

I'm not sure how much coverage the overpass collapse in Laval is getting in the US, but my stepmother in Minnesota did call to make sure I was not involved.

I have to admit that I have not paid a lot of attention to unfortunate events in Montreal before moving here. It probably has something to do with being too preoccupied with anthrax, snipers, and burned bodies in dumpsters in my old DC neighborhood.

According to the coverage here, the Transport Department was aware that pieces of concrete were falling off the overpass and had even dispatched a crew to clean up the mess. The best quote is from Transport Quebec spokesperson Mario St-Pierre who said:

"Portions of structures like this fall off all the time and most of the time that does not affect the stability of the bridge. It is just the cosmetic part of the bridge."

It sounds like he's talking about Michael Jackson's nose.

What I've noticed since I've been here is a certain laxity around public works projects and construction in progress. Although steel plates do cover large holes in the pavement, I have never seen one secured in any way. In fact, one of these plates collapsed into the hole in front of my office this week leaving a traffic-snarling gap. Protective scaffolding for facade work seems hit or miss. Perhaps the orange traffic cones would do more good if people wore them as safety helmets.

This seems strange in a place so prescriptive in other ways, particularly with respect to the possessive apostrophe.

Loonie sightings

2006-09-29T22:03:00.000-04:00

I had a long day at work today, so I'll only be posting a few random observations tonight:

1) You can order a coffee here, pay with a $10 bill, and get all your change in coins. Apparently, the Canadians have been keeping the technology that makes $1 and $2 coins a viable proposition for themselves.

2) The metro in Montreal makes a noise as it leaves the station that sounds like the first three notes of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" played on the French horn. Apparently this is an unintentional byproduct of the electric motor, and not a warning to hang on. The sound does seem to start after the train is well underway.

3) I am probably bringing the average level of fashion down here in Montreal, but this should all change once I acquire my red toque. Also, hockey season is not in full swing, so this may lower the bar a bit.

4) Women in Quebec who are married are forbidden by law to take their husband's last name. A co-worker told me this, but I have not verified it.

5) The blog name "Schwa de vivre" has already been claimed, but is sadly underutilized.

Sucking up to our new insect overlords since 2006

2006-09-28T22:23:00.000-04:00

the secret lives of insects
Originally uploaded by emdot.

Thanks Boing Boing for this post about an interesting little flaw on a Google Map just down the road from Bopfingen, Germany.

One of my projects at work deals with maps, so this sort of thing is funny to me. Unfortunately, there are no nearby streets named "Earwigstrasse."

If you also find this sort of thing mildly amusing, there's a whole website devoted to interesting images from Google Earth and Google Maps.

President's Choice

2006-09-27T19:40:00.000-04:00

While shopping here in Montreal, I've noticed President's Choice brand products in just about every grocery store.

For no particular reason, I have included a photo of some President's Choice olive oil next to a bottle of piri-piri hot sauce that I picked up at a Portuguese grocery down the street.

President's Choice seems to be sort of a store brand/no-name line of food products (although they have also expanded into financial products and phone cards). Mmmm.....financial products. According to the PC website, President's Choice is one of "Canada's best known trademarks." Huh.

For a while I was racking my brain to recall where I had heard of this brand. Then I remembered that a good friend from college had written about the loss of her favorite brand of fish sticks: President's Choice English-Style Fish and Chips. It's worth reading her blog entry for the whole story, but the upshot is that PC is no longer exporting this delicacy because of new FDA rules. So much for free trade.

Anyway, I feel that I now have a bit of additional purpose in my life: tracking down the lost fish here in Quebec and perhaps bringing some back to the US for my friend.

(Note to US Customs authorities, I am a great believer in regulations, so the cross-border transfer will not occur until I can establish whether there is some sort of frozen fish duty free exemption for returning US citizens.)

Check this space for updates.

Underground Passage Underground City

2006-09-26T21:34:00.000-04:00

This is a photo of the passageway that connects the building where I work to the Square-Victoria metro station.

I have been trying out different methods of getting to and from work, including two bus lines and the metro. In my experience, all the public transportation seems like it is used near full capacity during the rush hours. The headway is about 5-7 minutes, which is reasonable now but perhaps less so in sub-zero weather. (Can you tell I'm worried about winter?)

To and from work is about 15-20 minutes whether by bus or metro, with another 5-10 minutes of walking on one end or the other. I'm sure a bike would be faster, so I may go shopping this weekend.

Beware of Morlocks

2006-09-25T18:33:00.000-04:00

Today I took a brief trip into "the underground city" in search of a post office. My entry point into the 20 mile subterranean pedestrian network was the Complexe Desjardins, seen here in a photo from my cell phone via Flickr.

At first I had trouble locating Canada Post, but one of the helpful Eloi stationed near the entrance directed me "straight ahead and two levels further down."

There is quite a bit of natural light, but it's essentially a mall. However, I can see how this setup might be more attractive during winter.

Mutant Cauliflower at Jean Talon

2006-09-24T19:59:00.000-04:00

Here's a photo from my cell phone of one of the many, many fruit and vegetable stalls at Jean Talon market. Your cauliflower can be conveniently accessorized with your dining room or kitchen colors. Note that the heads are, well, as big as one's head.

Dog in Sweater at Jean Talon Market

2006-09-24T18:56:00.000-04:00

In what is becoming a Sunday tradition, I took a metro trip up to the Jean Talon market for some coffee and a little shopping.

The market is in the Little Italy neighborhood of Montreal, and is quite a bit bigger than DC's Eastern Market. Jean Talon is mostly composed of outdoor stands under a big roof. There is an incredible array of fruits and vegetables, all attractively displayed. There are also quite a few food specialty shops around the periphery. Today I picked up freshly-made pasta, pattypan squash, tomatoes, and wild blueberries.

For some reason, the market is named for Canada's first official statistician.

Back en ville

2006-09-23T22:29:00.000-04:00

Back in Montreal after a much delayed flight from DCA. The final delay involved a spill from the truck fueling the plane. After evacuating everyone back up the jetway, a variety of trucks with flashing lights converged on the scene. There didn't seem to be a great deal of concern, but no one was smoking either. Ultimately, all was resolved with what appeared to be several bags of cat litter and a push broom. I have a feeling that someone back in DC is still filling out paperwork and trying to guesstimate exactly how much Jet A ended up on the tarmac. I left my camera on the plane, so no photos of the commotion.

The good news: free drinks on the plane to apologize for the delays. Believe me, I'm keeping track of all Canadian freebies. More on the a la carte Canadian consumer marketplace in a future post.

En ville, sans ma voiture!

2006-09-22T17:08:00.000-04:00

I am disappointed to have missed Car Free Day in Montreal, which was observed today.

According to this Montreal Gazette article, part of downtown Montreal was closed to car and truck traffic between 9:30 am and 3:30 pm on Friday, September 22.

Unlike Thanksgiving and Boxing Day, there is no US equivalent holiday.

Last meal in DC

2006-09-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

So, I'm back in DC this week for meetings and a conference. This may be a regular occurrence, so it should make the task of comparing and contrasting Montreal and DC that much easier.

The big plan for tonight is to head out to the Inn at Little Washington to use up a gift certificate that we received last year as a wedding gift. According to the website, reviewers have called the restaurant the "promised land" and its patrons are known as "pilgrims." The Zagat Survey raves that that it's "the gastronomic equivalent of sex" and "heaven comes in second place and it's not really close." Normally, I'm more of a hole-in-the-wall kind of guy, but I do appreciate heavily subsidized fine dining. The bar is set a bit high based on the reviews, so we'll see.

We'll be dining at the restaurant, but staying at a nearby Super 8 Motel, which I hear is the "lodging equivalent of an awkward hug with a stranger."

Celebrities of Canada

2006-09-21T15:33:00.000-04:00

The September issue of enRoute, the inflight magazine of Air Canada, features a famous Montreal native: William Shatner. Born in 1931, Shatner spent his childhood in the anglophone neighborhood of NDG.

According to the article, the famous actor/singer/author/icon may be the "world's most fully realized human being." (Apparently Gandhi didn't make the short list.) I do have to applaud anyone who has the vision to sell his own kidney stone for charitable purposes.

According to the editor's note, which perhaps is only available in the print version, only two famous Canadians have twice graced the cover of enRoute during the current editor's tenure. Shatner is one and the other, Nelly Furtado.

Mmmm.....candy!

2006-09-21T14:38:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about starting a blog for some time. It seems like a prerequisite for a successful blog is a memorable name that, more likely than not, is completely unrelated to the actual content.

My current plan is to write about life in Montreal from the perspective of a recent arrival from Washington, DC.

I'm not sure exactly what to promise as far as content, but I suppose this will reveal itself as I go along. So, with no further ado, I give you "Diabetic Candy."