Skorpio for Noirvember

I have the perfect book to read for this year's #Noirvember: South African crime writer Deon Meyer's latest novel Skorpio. It's being released this month, for all I know it might be out already. The only problem is that it's in Afrikaans. So I will have to wait until it's translated. But hey, if there are any Afrikaans readers among my readers (you never know), buy it, lucky you, and enjoy it. Thankfully I have a big TBR list (well of course I do), so it's not like I have nothing to read at the moment. But there's just something about Meyer that just fits Noirvember perfectly.

Novembre: trop tôt pour Noël

J'ai lu un débat dans la grosse Presse hier: Pour ou contre: les lumières de Noël dès le 1er novembre. Entre Stéphane Dompierre et Rose-Aimée Automne T. Morin. Je ne connais aucune des deux personnes. Et ce n'est pas une question existentielle pour moi, alors je ne la poserai même pas. Pour moi, ça tombe sous le sens: je suis contre et c'est encore l'automne, alors non, non et non. Je suis donc fermement dans le camp de Dompierre. Néanmoins, faites-moi part de votre opinion sur le sujet dans les commentaires.

#Noirvember

There are many reasons why I made peace with the month of November. I used to dislike it, not so long ago. You can even read some of my posts from a few years ago on the subject. Well, not anymore. There are many reasons for it, as I said, but the most recent one is that it's #Noirvember. So I read crime fiction, I watch crime films and well, it's all about Noir. It is fitting for the month, of course, but since crime fiction is my favourite genre, it makes for a fine way to spend free time and enjoy the month. So if you have any reading or watching suggestions for Noirvember, tell me in the comments. And watch this space, as I should blog about it a good deal in the next few weeks.

Les Beaux Dimanches et moi

J'ai déjà blogué ici sur Les Beaux Dimanches, l'émission de Radio-Canada qui passait justement tous les dimanches soir. J'en ai rediscuté avec des amis il y a quelques temps et on s'est tous entendu pour dire que la musique d'ouverture de l'émission (vous pouvez l'entendre ici) nous rendait mélancoliques. Elle indiquait la fin de la fin de semaine et souvent le temps de se coucher. Sauf quand, parfois, on pouvait regarder le film ou l'émission avec nos parents. Mais quand même, il m'arrive parfois de m'ennuyer des Beaud Dimanches. Surtout que maintenant, j'ai l'âge pour les apprécier, étant pas mal dans la tranche d'âge du public-cible de l'époque.

Post. Halloween. Blues.

Today is All Saint's Day, which is of course the day after Halloween. I used to loathe November just because Halloween was over. This is no longer the case, however I still suffer from post-Halloween blues every first of November. It falls on a Saturday today, I'm not sure if it makes it better or worse. I have a whole weekend to enjoy, yet I also miss the anticipation, the eeriness, the spookiness, the everything. Don't worry: it used to take me a month or so to get through the dreary feeling, now it only lasts a day or two. I will blog more about what I love of November, so watch this space.

Tarowean

 "Je suis l'océan Pacifique et je suis le plus grand. On m'appelle ainsi depuis très longtemps, mais ce n'est pas vrai que je suis toujours pacifique. Je me fâche parfois, et alors je donne une raclée à tous et à tout. Aujourd'hui par exemple, je viens de me calmer mais hier, je dois avoir tout raflé sur trois ou quatre îles et autant de coquilles de noix que les hommes appellent bateaux... Celle-ci... Oui, celle que vous voyez ici, je ne sais pas comment elle a pu s'en sortir. C'est peut-être parce que le capitaine Raspoutine connaît son métier et que ses marins viennent des îles Fidji. Ou bien parce qu'ils ont fait un pacte avec le Diable. Mais cela n'a pas d'importance, aujourd'hui c'est "Tarowean", le jour des surprises, le jour de tous les Saints, le 1er novemvre 1913."

Nous sommes la Toussaint, par conséquent je cite le début de La ballade de la mer salée d'Hugo Pratt. C'est une tradition sur ce blogue. Il faudrait d'ailleurs que je relise le bouquin.

Trick or treat 2025 (a report)

 This is my report on trick or treat tonight and probably my last post for Halloween 2025. It goes way too fast. We didn't many rings on our door, but apparently there was one giant group that took a lot, or so my wife told me.They were about a dozen of them, which I have never seen since we moved here  I think trick or treaters tend to swarm: when they see one going somewhere, they follow. . Especially when they see a good Halloween display. I was pretty proud of mine. I suspect there will be more and more in years to come. I will decorate accordingly, making our own displau bigger. Wolfie got a fairly decent bounty, but our little town sure isn't where I grew up, although there are a few Halloween lovers out there. There's been a few genuinely spooky houses. Now trick or treat is over, but there's still a few hours of horror movies and horror stories to keep myself entertained until tomorrow.

Une observation sur l'Halloween cette année

L'une des citrouilles que j'ai creusées cette année. Design suggéré par Wolfie. Nous avons passé l'Halloween très brièvement, ça a duré une heure environ. Beaucoup d'Halloweeneux, mais pas autant de maisons que l'an passé, célébraient, ou alors nous ne sommes pas allés assez loin. Mais je compte couvrir plus de terrain l'an prochain.

Happy Halloween 2025!

 It is midnight where I am, the witching hour, it is the 31st of October, it is Halloween. So happy Halloween everyone. We made Jack O'Lanterns, this one is the best, or at least my favourite. Wolfie and I worked hard on it, it was team work: he designed most of the jacks, I did the carving. And later it will be trick or treat. I will try to blog again until the end of the day and evening. But until then, happy Halloween again.

L'Halloween sur le Plateau

 Mon frère PJ m'a envoyé des photos de l'Halloween sur le Plateau Mont-Royal. On n'y fait pas les choses à moitié, avec la Faucheuse et tout. Vraiment c'est magnifique...

Halloween, autumn and reading

These last few days, as it looks and feel very autumnal, I have been reading outside as much as I can. If a neighbour sees me, I guess I look like a monk with a rather sinister mind. So yeah, yesterday I took Halloween Folklore and Ghost Stories and I read it in the garden. I took a snapshot for the blog and the countdown. It was chilly, it had just enough sun, it was quiet, the leaves on the ground and the smell just enhanced the experience for me. So yes, it is my Halloween activity suggestion for today.

Une Dame Blanche à Chicoutimi?

 Mon père a pris cette photo il y a quelques jours. L'Halloween c'est demain, les fantômes sortent, il y a des Dames Blanches partout, même à Chicoutimi...

THE Scarecrow

So for today's countdown to Halloween post: scarecrows. So we went to the Scarecrow Festival two days ago.And there was a lot to love and blog about, but I wanted to share the best scarecrow we saw. This one. Many were cute and inventive, but I thought not enough of them were scary. Then, walking back to our car, cutting through the woods, we got slightly lost, then quickly found our way back to the village. And we saw this scarecrow. A Jack O'Lantern as the head, surrounded by actual crows, punpkins at its feet, the evening was falling down, a quintessential autumnal image... I could have watched it until night time. Then again, maybe he'd have started moving and chasing us. This scarecrow belongs to a horror story, which I hope to write one day.

Pâtisseries de fête

 C'était la fête de mon père récemment. Au lieu d'un gros gâteau, ils ont mangé des petits gâteaux (enfin, des pâtisseries), je crois qu'ils viennent de Mergeay. La plupart du temps, la Pâtisserie Mergeay était l'endroit où l'on achetait nos gâteaux de fête, quand ma mère ne les faisait pas. Souvenirs, souvenirs...

The Dracula Puzzle

I an not a fan of jigsaw puzzles per se, that said I can enjoy doing one if the image on it talks to me. So I saw this one during my last visit in a Waterstones. I did not buy it: we already have many, many, many jigsaw puzzles and we seldom play with them, even though Wolfie likes them a lot. But I regret it and I just might buy it one day, just to have a Halloween-themed game to play during the countdown and because Dracula is, as you probably all know by now, my favourite horror novel. The puzzle shows quite a few key events of the book, albeit it has been tainted by the popular image of Dracula (the black and red cape for instance). All the same, I think it looks gloriously eerie and it deserves a place here among our games.

Soir macabre

 Photo prise par mon père cette année, lors de sa promenade dans Chicoutimi. J'aime particulièrement le mort-vivant chauve. Un zombie? Je vais finir par me réconcilier avec lemonstre. Ici, on a changé d'heure, le soir tombe plus vite. Et il n'y a rien de plus délicieusement macabre qu'un soir qui tombe sur un cimetière hanté, même si ce n'est pas un vrai cimetière.

The Lost Skull Mask

This photo dates back from... 2007. It is a picture of me, and don't tell me I looked much better then. No, but jokes aside I had bought this book on the cheap in a shop, as I was waiting for my visa to arrive. I first wore it when my wife and I went out to an evening of scary stories telling and enactment outdoor. It was great fun. Then I have been using the mask ever since on Halloween. I sed to put it on for trick or treat. Until last year, that is, as I lost it when I accompanied Wolfie trick or treating. I must have dropped it somewhere. As we walked a lot, I could not find it afterwards. I hope it was not picked up by an homicidal maniac or an evil spirit. I think there is a horror story to be written about this lost skull mask. I just need to work on it at some point.

L'automne sur le Plateau

Mon frère PJ a pris cette photo sur la rue Fabre il y a quelques jours. L'automne sur le Plateau, ben c'est beau.

The Jack O'Lantern and the Goose

 I blogged before about my parents pumpkin for this year's Halloween. Well, my father carved it recently. It's a bit early for my taste, I hope the pumpkin doesn't go bad, however I do like the design, very simple with its many triangles. With the goose in the background, it looks suitably spooky and autumnal.

St-Ambroise automnale

Photo prise de la page Facebook de McAuslan. Même si je ne suis pas un grand fan du design pâlot de leur ale à la citrouille, j'aime vraiment beaucoup cette photo toute automnale.