Montréal

I was walking down St Laurent earlier today, and noticed a sign for Fear & Loathing Mtl (some party thrown at Fouf's every summer).

The words said something like "So awesome it will blow your face off."

And the image on the poster? Someone who actually had their face blown off. Like, a photo of a solider (I think) in a hospital, with the lower half of his face looking like ground beef dripping off of his jawline.


Is it just me or is that utterly tasteless, insensitive, and inappropriate? I like to think I have nerves of steel so while I could stomach the image, I really don't think it is appropriate to put on a poster that will be seen by, well, everyone.

I'm all for freedom of expression and twisted humour, but this is just not sitting well with me. Thoughts?

This was sent to me, thought I would spread it around:

Public Assembly & Mobilization Meeting
When? Tuesday, March 18th, 2008, 6pm – 8pm (THAT IS RIGHT NOW, FOLKS)
Where? Native Friendship Center Montreal 2001 St. Laurent, corner of Ontario, Metro St. Laurent
Free dinner & childcare provided on site
Wheelchair accessible
Donations of non-perishable foods requested

The federal government has just deposed Barriere Lake's Customary Chief and Council – with the Sureté du Quebec helping to impose a minority faction as the new leadership – in order to get out of signed agreements with the community!

The Customary Chief and Council and the majority of the community have been struggling to have the federal and provincial governments fulfill several important agreements they've signed over the last two decades. The agreements are meant to give Barriere Lake a say in the management of their traditional territories, protect Algonquin practices, and give them a share of resource revenue from the logging and hydro industry on their land.

But rather than honour the agreements, the Department of Indian Affairs has ousted the Barriere Lake's Customary Chief and Council, and appointed an interim band council made up of a minority community faction, in clear violation of Barriere Lake's Customary Governance Code.

( More details & what you can do )

22°C Overcast

 

Short Term Forecast

	Sunday Overnight	Monday Morning	Monday Afternoon	Monday Evening
Temperature	17°C	19°C	23°C	22°C
Condition	Cloudy with showers	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Cloudy with showers
P.O.P.	90%	60%	60%	80%
Feels Like	-	-	32	32
Wind	NE 15km/h	NE 10km/h	SE 5km/h	E 10km/h
Humidity	94%	89%	88%	100%
Rain	2-4mm	2-4mm	5-10mm	close to 1mm

Like many Montrealers I live in a flat in a row of duplexes and triplexes. Today my adjoining neighbour is demolishing a back porch. It's really noisy and very distracting. I have work to do here today and it's hard to concentrate. Had I known he'd be spending the day doing this, I'd've made plans to go out, maybe work at the library or at a friend's office.

But I didn't know. By and large, the owners of property feel no obligation to warn folks in adjoining buildings about work they're going to do. Over the years I've been subjected to noise, brick and plaster dust, varathane fumes, you name it, from work being done in adjoining spaces, no warning, because it wasn't their problem, I wasn't their tenant.

All it would take would be a brief note saying such and such work would be done during certain hours, so one could make plans accordingly. I think that should be a social norm, and although I doubt I'll ever own a building, if I did, and had to do heavy work on it, I hope I'd be considerate enough to remember to let nearby people know what's in store.

Originally posted last night, but someone somehow managed to get offended. *shrug* Edited the "offensive" part out and original version can be found here. To those who were "offended", not my intention, apologies. To anyone who cries out censorship, well, to be fair, the moderator who nicked the original version was at least polite about it.

( Montreal - The Flying Fortress Island )

(Cross-posted from my own journal. The following is the first instalment in what I hope will become an irregularly-updated series of tongue-in-cheek vignettes about living in Montreal.)

Early morning, a coffee shop. I reach the head of the line, put on a pleasant smile, and start my order: "Bonjour! Je prendrai une tisane au citron."

The barista smiles back, but something is amiss. Something in my accent must have revealed me for what I am: an anglophone. Though her own accent clearly marks her as a francophone, she is quick to show off her verbal virtuoso, "of course. Just a moment."

She brings me my tea. I refuse to let her get the upper hand in our dance of languages, "ça fait combien?"

"One-sixty-six," she says, barely pausing despite the challenging numbers.

I hunt through my change purse, "un-et-vignt-cinq, un-et-cinquante, un-et-soixante-quinze, un-et-soixante-seize!" Triumphant, I hand over my change. She takes it.

Finally, the numbers have vanquished her, and she reverts to her native tongue: "un-et-soixante-seize," she says, ringing open the cash register. "Et dix," she finishes, handing me a dime.

I smile broadly, "merci!" I take my tea and beat a hasty retreat, proud in the knowledge that my mastery of French is ever-so-slightly better than her mastery of English.

( Continued behind the cut )

I don't mean to be rude, but...

I think it needs to be said, because I'm certain I'm not the only member who finds it deeply annoying, that there's a lot of downright laziness going on in the Montreal LJ community.

I mean... really?

What's easier? Opening a browser, loading up LJ, and writing a post asking, oh, say, what the opening hours of such and such a store are, or, will the store you walk by every day carry such and such an item; Or, opening a browser, and Googling that store's opening hours, or, god forbid, actually going into that store yourself? I can only imagine accomplishing one of these tasks yourself is a lot less time consuming than sitting around waiting for someone to reply to your post.

I see the community as a place to post your newsworthy events. Your kickass show, your awesome club. I see it as a place to get a feel for the pulse of the city, exchange ideas, and meet people. A place to share experiences, perhaps, to find answers to questions that cannot be answered anywhere else.

A community is just that. A Community. Not your private interactive search engine.



Love, Luck & Lollipops.

Montreal weather:

Take your pick:

It rained.

It’s about to rain.

It’s raining.

Union of Swimming Pool operators has decided to join the Québec Bar Owners Association in their lawsuit to suspend the province's new anti-tobacco law. Here is how the spokesperson for the group, Jean Marc Dubois, explains the reasoning behind the decision when asked to comment:

"We have always maintained that it's the customer who should decide what is and isn't allowed at the recreation facility that they frequent. Many of our clients have expressed the wish to be able to pee while in the water, and I don't see why we have to force them to leave the company of their friends and do it in an uncomfortable chilly room with cold floors. I can't even fathom how much business we have lost because of this ridiculous requirement."

Mr. Dubois brushed off the criticism of the clientelle who say they "don't enjoy swimming in other people's urine:"

"Look, it's perfectly healthy -- this is, after all, why we add chlorine to the water, you know? Besides," he added, "every swimming pool will be divided into two sections -- the peeing half, and the non-peeing half. If you're such a snob, just swim under the clearly posted signs."

The Québec health ministry was not immediately available for comment.