Looking for like-minded Google Plus'ers

Hey, I'm over at Google+ and I'm looking for people who are interested in discussing the kinds of movies we see at Fantasia as well as the topics of Canada and Montreal that get bandied about here.  I'm sure they are out there and it would be fun to have the kind of short-term discussions and sharing of neat stuff that goes on on G+ with them.  So if you are on google+, find me at Olman Feelyus and add me to your book circles or whatever.  If you want to be on, let me know in the comments and I'll try and send you an invite.

It's weird, because I already have lots of people I already know as well as tons of people from the tabletop RPG community in my circles.  But I can't figure out a way to search people by interest and thus find discussions about other subjects (mainly books and movies) that I am interested in.

(I've posted this same thing over at Olman's Fifty, but about books.)

Rant: l'affaire Turmel

Canadians are fucking stupid and the fucking media is largely responsible for this.  How the fuck is it a news story that the interim leader of the NDP once was a member of the Bloc.  This is like the Red Scare.  How did it end up that our media just entirely bought into the Conservative propaganda line which effectively undermines any serious opposition to their power?

What's even more maddening than the retarded reporters and their scumbag editors who are pushing this story to the top of the headlines, are the retarded anglophone Canadians who are on the left who actually consider this an issue.  Check this quote from user "retardo" on the CBC website:

This is really sad for the Federal NDP. They made such gains in the last election, and actually could have formed a govt in 4 years (Providing that Canadians are upset with the Conservatives and the Liberals are still picking bad leaders) This Woman has just destroyed the NDP. They now stand no chance of making any gains outside of Quebec in the next election. They had an opportunity to become a national contender in the next federal election, now they will simply become the regional party of Quebec.
What was the NDP caucus thinking? If Jack does not miraculously heal in the next week they will lose every seat outside of Quebec in the next election.

You really believe this shit?  Seriously?  How fucking stupid and ignorant are my fellow anglophone Canadians?

Here, I am going to spell it out for you.

Quebec separating is not "destroying Canada"
If this worst-case scenario were to actually happen (which it won't), so what?  The only people who will suffer are the federalists in Quebec and they are already so put upon, I can't see how much worse it could be for them.  Otherwise, Canada is still Canada, just minus a big province.  If you cut off my arm, it will hurt like hell, but I'll live and still be me (and I'll still kick your ass).  This "having anything to do with the Bloc" = "wanting to destroy Canada" is simply a logical fallacy and must be eliminated from our national discourse.  It exists because as long as the Bloc is demonized, the left can never unite against Harper and his neo-cons. They know this and that is why they are very happy right now.  I'm not speaking to fans of Harper and his cronies here.  I'm speaking to you fuckstick anglophones on the left who do not know shit about Quebec but are somehow weirdly fearful and angry that there is a political movement here that wants independence.  YOU ARE WRONG.

Quebec won't separate
It's just not a practical reality.  That's why the NDP did so well in Quebec.  So even if you disagree with my logic above, it doesn't matter.  It's simply never going to happen.  Francophone Quebeckers already get the social and cultural benefits they demanded for in la Revolution Tranquille and tons of economic benefits.  The only people who are still complaining are those for whom it is an emotional issue and they are dying off and selling out (cough Jaques Parizeau cough) or remain a small minority too distracted with Turcotte to care.  So stop worrying about it.  It's not going to happen.

Political reality on the ground in Quebec has almost nothing to do with sovereignty
Sovereignty is pretty low down on practical political issues that drive people to vote here (and drive politicians to choose parties).  The economy, the environment and myriad local issues.  The Bloc and Quebec Solidaire never talk about separation these days.  It's just sort of a baseline that you have to say to be a legit party here in Quebec.

I have to cut this short, because I have to get to a Fantasia screening (enfin!), but I think you get my point. Dear anglo leftie who thinks that it is an issue that Turmel was a member of the Bloc: you are an idiot.  Fuck, it was 20 years ago!  Dear CBC: @#@Q#%#$^@#$^ (sorry, I can't even express myself).

So Fantasia

As some of you have already seen in the comments, I am unfortunately going to be going on vacation for the first two and a half weeks of Fantasia this year.  While I am very excited about my vacation (to the Maritimes), I am bummed about not being able to dive into the awesome madness that is the world's best film festival.  It's even more of a disappointment because I built up a lot of momentum last year blogging about the movies (and possibly even got a few regular readers).  On the other hand, this will be a test of my maturity.  I am going to get the program and read it on my vacation and there will be lots of wailing and gnashing of the teeth (already missing both The Robot and the latest Ip Man installment), but when we come back, I will be psyched to dive in and take in what awesome movies are left.

Part of the reason I started blogging last year was because I found a big drop-off in the quantity of coverage from the english blogosphere last year.  So in my absence, I hope that people who lost some of their energy, find it again and give us the awesome in-depth reports as well as reviews.  I won't be online too much, but I hope to come back to an internet about to burst with Fantasia news, reviews, stories and opinions.

Go explode your cinematic awesomeness all over Montreal and the world, Fantasia.  I feel that this year is going to rock even harder. I can already here the CJLO DJs crushing it.

Seriously.  I'm not playing.

Also, PLEASE DO NOT TEXT DURING THE MOVIES.  NOT EVEN DURING THE TRAILERS!  If basic civil decency and thoughtfulness is not enough to convince you to turn your phone off as soon as the lights dim, I will warn you now that you have a two-week window to be an asshole.  Because when I get back, I am going after with extreme prejudice anybody who texts in my vicinity during the movie.  You will receive a stern warning.  You will receive a second warning.  Third time I am going after your phone.  I WILL go there.

Finally, are any of you movie nerds on Google+?  I never did the Facebook, but am on the Plus and would like to get a movie circle going.  If you are, you can find me at Olman Feelyus.

Bon festival!  Keep the seat warm for me. 

Portuguese Scaffolding

This is the kind of project that makes me happy to live where I live:

Man working

Seen on aqueduct replacement site on Laurier, east of St-Denis.

A message is sent

When you don't live in a neighbourhood and you see a sign like this, it is of passing interest and perhaps a gentle reminder to not litter.  But when you live here, you realize that there is a rich and ongoing story behind such a sign, a history of neighbours, conflicting use of space and cultural and demographic assumptions.  Though I usually fall on the fascistically clean side in these kinds of arguments, I am sort of on the fence here.  On one side, we have a residential building that is used as a commercial garage.  I'm pretty sure it is them who tend to leave fairly large piles of junk (though strangely, it's rarely automotive stuff) in this section of the alley, which then becomes a magnet for other junk leavers (including me on occasion).  I am pretty sure what you are supposed to do is leave the big junk in the front of the street where it will get picked up.  I don't like all the garbage in the alleys, but on the other hand, sometimes you do have a ton of clippings that need to get put out.  And when the alley is full of stuff, it blocks people from driving through, and I'm always in favour of blocking cars.  My larger concern about too much fussiness around the alleys is it starts to get close to restricting people's ability to do projects in their yards.  Too much officiousness back here and we could end up like Vancouver where you aren't allowed to have a clothesline.  It's a balance.

ruelle Saint-Louis du Ha ha

Here is a sweet alley.  I forget exactly where it is, one of those T-alley intersections south of Laurier, east of St-Hubert.  Anyways, I applaud it.