The Nanuk Chronicles

I'm on a polar bear kick. Polar bears are very appealing, in an anthropomorphic way. They can be very human-like in their attitudes, and very cat-like as well, which I believe is part of my attraction to them.

So in The Nanuk Chronicles, I’m going to post bear pictures. I went through thousands of them and no, I didn’t bother taking note of photo credits. I apologize in advance. I’ve no idea where a lot of them came from. One of my main sources, however, is a stock photo agency called Alaska Stock. All their pictures are copyrighted so they all bear (get it) the name.

Since I’m only an obscure, small, under-read blog, I don’t think any one will mind.

So here we go, all captions written by me of course.

Introducing..... SUMO BEARS!




These guys already have a fan club. Last May, enthusiastic fans created a riot. They are celebrities.


Bear yoga is the latest health craze up North.







Not everybody is equally gifted.


The well known "Sun Salutation":


It's enjoyed in groups:


And not forgotten in captivity

The Politics of a Brand New Face

A few days ago, I had never heard of her. Now, she's everywhere and I'm already having an overdose.
I don't like her. I don't like what she stands for. I don't want her at the head of a very powerful nation.
I don't care who her husband is, I don't care if her kid is pregnant, and I don't like pitbulls.
Go back to your beauty queen world, Sarah Palin, just go away.

...don't you think?

How ironic is it that I and millions of Americans are cheering for a next President of the US whose middle name is "Hussein"?

For Shasta

Once in a while, a story strikes you and stays with you, like Beslan did and does for me.

I have always wanted to be a vegetarian because I love animals so much. Alas, I am very much a meat eater.
I have always wanted to be as colorblind as I was as a child. But with age came experience.
I have always wanted to be against the death penalty, as an ideal. But I've always been on the fence.

Two days ago, a monster was sentenced to death, and I don't see what else could have been done. Would a life in prison made him repent and change? I don't think so. What about the little boy he once was? I believe he is lost for this lifetime. We shoot rabid dogs, don't we?

Can society enforce "thou shall not kill" by killing? I wish I could say no.
For Dylan and Shasta, I say: "Yes, willingly."

Walking In The Sunshine

Not to be outdone by my little brother, who does it regardless on a daily basis, I went for a 21km walk yesterday. My hip flexors and I are no longer speaking. Other than that, R.A.S.

Windy

Two good books this weekend:

Cry, The Beloved Country
which has been sitting in my library for years, the only one of my books about Africa that had remained mysteriously untouched. I had tried it before once or twice but didn't have the perspective needed to grasp and enjoy it. Now I do, with a South-African sister-in-law only the cherry on the sundae.

Ayn Rand's Anthem
Controversial, sure, as was all she wrote. But as brilliant as the rest.
I dream I could wake up one day to find that there existed Lucy M. Montgomery, Jane Austen, Tolkien and Ayn Rand's books that I had not yet read. Oh the feast!



Shimmering colors, songs of the wind, chimes brought back from the seaside by my mother... as delightful to listen to as they are to look at.

At The Movies

So I saw the latest Batman.
It's become a cliché to say that Heath Ledger steals the show but he does. He simply does. I took a few minutes to think long and hard whether the hoopla over his performance would have been the same had he not died tragically since. Honestly, I think so! He created a character of such intensity, with peculiar speech, mannerisms, walk… The minute he’s on the screen, you see no one else. Christian Bale is oddly tame and flavourless, almost as a background character, but that’s partly due to the scenario, which gives him little chance to display his acting skills.

I was in the car, on my way to see Tropic Thunder, because I usually enjoy Ben Stiller‘s humor, because the premise sounded good and because a satire of Hollywood is always welcome. But I suddenly realized that even though that’s a movie I want to see and I’m willing to pay for, I’d rather wait for the DVD because most likely the out-takes will be worth the wait. So I turned aound.

Pride and Glory came out. I try to go see most of Norton’s movies but I believe this is the movie adaptation of Motherless Brooklyn. If that’s the case, I’m not so eager because I didn’t really enjoy the book. And if that’s the film, goodness, it’s a project Norton has been working on for, what? the last TEN years or so!

Finally, two movies I’m looking forward to: Body of lies, with Crowe and DiCaprio and, of course, Madagascar 2, with a lion and a zebra!!!!

Be good and don’t abuse the popcorn.

Olympics' Opening Ceremony - random thoughts

How do you insure security for an event THIS vast? The truth is, you can't. Determined and well organized terrorists, infiltrating themselves ahead of time, would make a play of it. Just trying to imagine the logistics of security on top of the obvious logistics of the opening ceremony makes me dizzy.

It feels funny to hear all announcements in French first. An homage to monsieur De Coubertin, I suppose?

I didn't like the military bringing up the Olympic flag. The Olympics are no place for the military and certainly not in the opening ceremony.

It struck me how Caucasians were interchangeable, country wise. Watch the athletes coming into the stadium and try to GUESS which country is which without looking at the flag or the colors. If you say you can do it, I think you're a liar. We tend to stereotype "the Australians", the "Brazilians", "the Spanish", "the Americans", but the truth is, we're all alike, we're all a melting pot. Only language, culture and politics really divide us.

Will Chinese athletes REALLY be dope free? aghhhh, hard to believe.

All right, let the games begin!

I'm on vacation!

This is the view from the North:



This is the view from the South:



This is the view on the floor:

Synchronism

Mr X usually leaves his office at four o'clock sharp. But today, his brother calls him with good news. They chat a while, and it's finally eleven after four when he walks out the door.
Walking the ten blocks to his apartment, he sudenly decides to grab a bottle of wine for his supper and alters his path accordingly.
On tiny Wilson Street, a shortcut to the liquor store, Mr X passes by a fifteen stories apartment building.
A window washer slips, falls from his hanging platform and lands right on top of Mr X.
They are both killed instantly.

"Freak Accident" says one newspaper. "Random Bad Luck" says another.
"Accidents just happen" people tell his grieving mother.

OR DO THEY?

What did it take for Mr X to be at that PRECISE PLACE, at that PRECISE TIME?
How many circumstances had to cooperate?

Let's not even consider the washer, who fell and landed at 4:22 that day.

If Mr X's brother had not applied for a job?
If Mr X's brother had not gotten the job?
If Mr X's brother hadn't want to tell his brother right away?
If their chat had ended two minutes earlier or five minutes later?
Mr X debated whether to go to the gym or to cook a good supper with a bottle of wine. What if he had chosen the gym?
Mr X just missed the light and waited for 2 minutes before crossing the intersection that led to Wilson Street. What if he had caught the light?
He chose to walk on the north sidewalk because the South one looked muddy.

All this had to happen for him to be at the exact spot at the exact second when the washer fell. Add to that the set of circumstances leading to the washer falling from that window at the exact time and spot. Can we really talk of coincidence? Or of events unfolding EXACTLY as they were meant by who knows what? Once you think about it, it’s the case for every event in our life, good or bad.

I came to this by reflecting on how my killing a cat had come to happen… I had to leave the office at a precise time, I caught one green light, one red light, I decided on going to the grocery store first, the pick-up decided to pull RIGHT in front of me instead of waiting for the empty street right after me… a 30 seconds difference and I would have had the time to break and not hit it… a freak accident? I find it very hard to swallow… it took too much coordination…something crucial about the universe is eluding me...

SO SORRY

I was driving to the grocery store, not very fast, on a completely residential street full of brand new houses. A pick-up truck decided to pull out from its entrance and pull right in front of me, even though the street was deserted. I grumbled. A ton of water that was in the back for some reason drained out of it as it pulled. I was maybe 3 meters behind the truck.

Then it happened so fast, but so clearly. Suddenly in the midst of the gushing water there was a... cat!... he looked puzzled as he fell, he hadn't even turned back on its four paws, so he really looked like a little fuzzy doll falling thinking: "Wooooah".

Right under my car. I hit the breaks to a complete stop in a big screech of tires. I thought "Oh no. Oh no." I looked in the rearview mirror, hoping to see a furry shape speeding away. I got out of my car slowly, willing the cat not to be still under it. But he was. I couldn't avoid it. I partially ran over its head. Its back limbs were flailing in agony. A small teenager cat with long hair and a head deformed and half-crushed under my tires.

I've never EVER run over anything. Much less a CAT. There was no way I could avoid it. If the truck had not pulled right in front of me, the cat would have fallen behind, on a clear road, unharmed. As it was, it fell from the truck right under my wheels.

The owner and driver of the truck somehow got that something had happened and stopped and backed-up. When he found out what had happened, he cursed loudly. Out of their 3 cats, this one was the favorite, he said. He just walked away to his house, and I couldn't believe he would even come near enough to see. I couldn't leave. By then my eyes were full of tears. I asked a neighbor who was standing there, watching the whole thing with sympathy: "Do you have the courage to put it out of its misery?" "It's dead", he answered. I looked down, and indeed, mercifully, the body was now still. But its agony had lasted two endless minutes. The owner finally came over with a garbage bag in which he scooped his poor little cat.

I drove away and sobbed like a five year-old. I killed a cat! I did. Of all creatures, my dearest one. I got my heart broken numerous times before as beloved cats were ran over. I'm always so sad when I see the body of a cat on the side of the road, but this time, I'm the culprit. One second it was alive and bewildered, the next it was horribly maimed and in agony. By my hand, well my car.

I'm still crying. Shrug in contempt if you will. It breaks my heart.

The Lovely Garden

Canada Day

Today was Canada Day, a statutory holiday. Since it is mid-week, the weather was tricked into being gorgeous sunshine instead of our usual weekend grey skies.

The pool was ready and inviting. There was an armload of fresh laundry flapping in the light wind, drying in the sun.

Then Brigitte had the idea of starting a fire in the fire pit to try and burn the accumulated branches and leaves that had been there a while. It had been too rainy and wet to burn before. And indeed, it was still very humid, and the fire exhaled a thick, fragrant smoke. Very lasting, persistent, insidious, fragrant smoke.

After she had to do the same laundry a second time to get the smoke smell out, Brigitte forgot her pyre ambitions and settled in her lounge chair with a book and frequent dips.

A lovely day, as illustrated below.

Sheer delight

A rosebush

Another rosebush

The Edible Chronicle (for my sister-in-law)

Loukhi being grossly disrespectful

Echoes

Came across a sweet memory...

It's bloody hot, says Circé. What's a black cat to do?

Hail to Mother Nature

So as we know, nature's freak phenomenons will be on the rise with the planet heating up.

Two days ago, the South Shore was hit by a storm of extreme violence. Wind and rain lashing with unbelievable force. Well protected behind the windows of the office, I watched in awe and jubilation as all hell broke loose.

The return home was a little less pleasant as I discovered my area was out of power. Do we take power for granted or do we take power for granted? The more we rely on electronic life, the more at loss we feel when it fails. No, we can't cook supper. No we can't microwave popcorn. No we can't watch TV. No, we can't check what's happening on the computer. No we can't call or receive calls, except on the lone cell. Food in the fridge will be lost. Once used, the hot water won't keep coming. The fans stand idle. You can still grab a book, but you'll read only as long as there is enough light. As for waking up on time the next morning, it's touch and go since you can't set your alarm clock.

We spent the evening, the night and the next morning without power or much news. Once we were reconnected to the outside world, I discovered that a narrow corridor in Beloeil, Mont-Saint-Hilaire and Otterburn Park was hit by hail. Huge hail. Enormous hail. I was shown a Ziploc bag of the culprits: we're talking chunks of ice the size of my fist!!! I'd never seen anything like it. So for the unlucky people in the hail corridor, the vehicles were pummelled. Cars, from the rusted tin cans to the luxurious sedans, were beaten up like with baseball bats. Windshields shattered, and the tops and hoods completely indented. Nothing deep, yet unmistakable. I'll try to get a picture. (It's actually worse in real life than on the pics.)

Needless to say, the tenderly tended gardens and flower beds were slaughtered. Trees were maimed. But the damage nature inflicts on nature never really shocks me. The damage it inflicted on thousands of cars in my neighbourhood, including many friends', left me stunned. Cars are tough metal things. I thought. All within one hour. Wow.

Dans les brassicas

Answer: No.

Sunday Sunny Sunday

A post directly inspired by some green New York posting...

Gods and Monsters

I saw last night that a liter of gas was at 1.304 $, and thanks to recent brainwashes, I thought: "Oh, it's cheap! I'll fill up first thing tomorrow morning." (Yeah, can you imagine?)

At 6h45 am the next morning I pulled up at the gas station. Alas! The God of Oil had striked again! The numbers said: 1.384$ Overnight, the price went up by 8 cents, or 6%. OVERNIGHT.

How long will we put up with this bullshit? What's my alternative???? Let's just say my bike will get plenty of mileage, not only because it's good for me, but because it's my only way to give the finger to the oil business.

F*** Y*** OIL BUSINESS!!!!!

Snapshots

Marie likes dandelions. What a coincidence, we just happen to have a plantation.... funny how the neighbors don't seem to find it as pretty as we do.




It's a hard life, but somebody has to live it...

Mothers' Day

It was a gorgeous, sunny day, as my nose and cheeks could attest. We prepared the table outside. No bugs, no sweater needed, perfect temperature.



Notice, unlike my dear sister-in-law's table, no tenderly cooked dish. We don't cook! As Vince well knows.



The Christmas tree gave us such beauty and joy during the holidays. Saved for the purpose, it now ended its mission in a blaze of glory, giving us a lively, crackling and fragrant fire.



Meanwhile, Yann practiced for male teenagerhood: note the lounging position, the no effort attitude, and the provided-by-a-helpful-female bowl of popcorn to be eaten at leisure. I think he'll be a natural.

Frolicking

Luritja cools off ...



...while Loukhi roams by Bondi's grave.





And they weren't overexposed before I posted them, dammit.

A Tale of Two Kitties

Dust To Dust

Cats are dainty creatures who can spend hours washing their fur meticulously.

Then came Loukhi.






Never as happy as when she is perfectly filthy. The photos truly don't do her justice.

The Alternate Realm

Books, said my brother. Aaaah, books. Yes they take a lot of room. Not everyone can afford a basement to line the walls with bookshelves. I might not have that luxury much longer.


Ze Library

At supper time, our house is probably the only house where you can find 3 generations eating in perfect silence, each engrossed in its own book. And perfectly happy, I might add.

My son, who is not yet eleven has so far devoured: All the Harry Potters; All the Chronicles of Narnia; The complete Lord of the Rings; Philip Pullman's His Dark Material, Watership Down, and the classic A.S. Neil, Le nuage vert.

Not bad. Next I'm getting him The Neverending Story.

Meanwhile, the snow is finally GONE! Flowers bravely open up, leading the way for the rest of the flora.


Brave New World

As always in the Spring, Love is in the air. For everyone but me.

Till death do us part

Finally, this is what happens when you're fat: you overflow.

Let's be serious

Things are serious and we, at home, take them seriously indeed.

We take ourselves seriously.



The cats are serious.



Circé takes her watchcat role seriously.



So does Luritja.

The Ludlum Pattern

The title is easy. Take "the". Add a name. Add a noun. There you have it.
The Icarus Agenda
The Bourne Identity
The Aquitaine Progression
etc
The hero's name varies but the hero himself doesn't. He's tall, handsome. He's knowledgeable, skilled, experienced, cunning. His instinct is simply infallible. Bad guys are after him. Deception, betrayal, tight situations. In the end, he always prevails.
That's the advantage of Robert Ludlum. Unlike a box of chocolate, when you pick one of his books, you know exactly what you're going to get. In that sense, it's a safe bet.
This is why, when I ran out of things to read yesterday, I saw a Ludlum at the drugstore and I thought: "Why not?"
However, there is a very real problem with Ludlum. His titles, plots and heroes are interchangeable. So how do you remember which book you've read and which you haven't?
Man. It's a real puzzle. An extreme difficulty. I wish Jason Bourne a.k.a. Joel Converse a.k.a. Hal Ambler a.k.a. Todd Belknap was here. His instinct would tell him for sure. Mine is not so efficient, so I took a chance. It was my lucky day: upon verification, I did not already own the Ludlum I got yesterday. So far it's really exciting. The hero is tall and handsome. Bad guys are after him but he's not sure why...

Now shall I tell you about Dick Francis?

And....Action!

Well, that's it! Enough is enough! After being sick for 6 weeks, doing nothing but lounging on my bed, reading and stuffing myself, my physical envelope has enlarged. I don't like my physical envelope enlarged, nor do I like my pants fitting too tightly. Consequently, it's DIET time!!! On the menu: stop eating anything at any hour. Slow way down on sugar and white flour. Increase physical output. Hum. Sounds so simple.
(Spits in her hands, rolls her sleeves up, takes a deep breath.)