Montreal — Page 25

Very sad news today

July 3, 2001 by Michael Boyle

from the world of Quebec literature. Mordecai Richler died this morning at the Montreal General Hospital. It’s ironic, and sad, that one of the greatest writers ever to come from Quebec is massively disdained by much of the population here.

I don’t have many personal memories of the man. We never met, though I used to see him quite often when I worked at Concordia. What I do remember are his words – vivid, funny, wry novels that captured the spirit of a neighbourhood, and city, that I have made my home. And even 40 years since his first great novel, shades of his Montreal are still evident.

Last night was

June 25, 2001 by Michael Boyle

the big party for St-Jean, aka Fete nationale, in Parc Maisonneuve, and today is a (very lovely) holiday here in Montreal. Traditionally there have been big problems associated with this event, but reports are that last night was calm. I was sitting in a window on St-Laurent with some friends and I was amazed by the numbers of riot cops, who, as one should expect by now, seemed to have started the fracas mentioned in the last part of the above-linked story. Funny sight of the night: riot cops in full gear driving up the Main in rented vans. It looked like a family vacation from hell.

The Fringe starts

June 14, 2001 by Michael Boyle

tomorrow here in Montreal, and the beer tent is just around the corner from my place so I expect to be going by quite a bit in the next week or so. If you’re curious, they have a really nice website this year, design by Black Eye, development by the good people at Plank Design.

It’s the most beautiful

June 10, 2001 by Michael Boyle

weekend yet this summer here in Montreal, but alas I’ve been pretty much tied to my desk, other than meeting with a friend of mine for breakfast this morning. The choice came down to the following question: do I do the work that’s been languishing in various folders on my machine all at once and get it done, or do I put it off in favour of a great weekend and then fret about it for weeks or months, possibly ruining a good portion of the summer? So I came down on the side of the future, I voted for the potential of the entire summer rather than one glorious weekend.

Although the apartment

June 4, 2001 by Michael Boyle

I’ve been in for the past year is mine (not a shared situation), for the past year I had a semi-roommate, who lived in Ottawa but came back to Montreal every weekend or second weekend. It was a pretty good deal all around – a deal that ended this past weekend. I didn’t need the money or anything, so it’s no problem to lose it – and now I have the enjoyable situation of having a completely empty room to figure out what to do with! Do I move my office there, and use my current office as a permanent dining room? Do I buy a new couch and put my convertable futon thingie back there so it can serve as a guest room? Do I just use it for storage?

Damn, the possibilities are endless. And considering them makes me feel quite, ah, old.