Quebec — Page 5

No one tops Gilles Vigneault

December 16, 2000 by Michael Boyle

, really, at describing Quebec. “Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays c’est l’hiver” is how he put it – roughly – my country isn’t a country, it’s winter.

We had over a foot of snow dump on us in the last week, today it’s warm and it might rain – leading to whispered concerns that we might have another ice storm like the great verglas of 1998.

And yet, and yet… things go on. Cheerfully. The pubs on St-Laurent were packed last night. Christmas shopping continues apace, amidst 24-hour-a-day snow removal that messes with parking, walking, driving – everything.

I really couldn’t imagine living anywhere else but here.

There was a big

November 30, 2000 by Michael Boyle

Quebec web and multimedia awards show last night at the Spectrum on Ste-Catherine at Bleury called Boomerangs 2000. Some of the winners are pretty interesting.

The Economist

November 30, 2000 by Michael Boyle

The Economist printed a story about new telescope technology involving a mirror made of spinning liquid (instead of highly polished glass) that was largely pioneered here in Quebec. Which is great, and pretty interesting to read about. Best, though, is the opening graf:

ON THE face of it, a telescope with a liquid mirror sounds about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Heh. Those wacky Economist writers!

OK, my home connection

November 29, 2000 by Michael Boyle

is a Bell Sympatico High Speed (DSL) system from the phone company (sort of). It’s OK overall, but twice in the last month the system totally crapped out on me: during the US election results broadcast on Nov. 7, and Monday night while I was trying to track the Canadian election returns.

My question: what exactly is the point if they can’t handle the load? It’s cheap for cable or DSL here – my current deal is $35 for the service and 120 minutes of long distance. And due to that low price, Quebec has the highest penetration of high speed internet access in the world. But still – it’s gotta work. The really big problem, though? I can’t go to a competitor.

Thanks to two people

November 13, 2000 by Michael Boyle

, Peter Merholz and Meg Hourihan, for pointing out this map of the US election results by county. The additional level of granularity yields some really interesting information – particularly concerning the urban/rural split in US politics.

The same thing exists in Canadian politics as well, with the ruling Liberals electing MPs in most major cities while the upstart Reform/Alliance has otherwise swept the West and is threatening a breakthrough in outlying parts of Ontario. Likewise, in Quebec the Bloc is predominant except in Montreal, and didn’t sweep Quebec City either. An important difference between Canada and the US is that Canada is slightly more urban than the US – though it’s only marginally so.