Nini la chance... or a mighty nostalgia trip!

I don't watch television _that_ much. News bulletins, weather, at times some documentaries and that's that.

It seems that for the weekend they unscramble more channels, so I got one of those "nostalgia" channel.

And boy I was yanked... in a past that I didn't suspect it got that far. A delightful hour with singer Annie Cordy, and the songs she sang in the 70s.

It's been already 30 years, almost 40 years ago. Wow. That doesn't make me feel young!!!

And it's amazing that after a few hesitations, all of a sudden it comes back to you.

I had that same feeling, and probably at the most oddest place, singing in duo at 10 000km away from Paris, in front of an English-speaking public. Not bad eh? :)

A street artist by the name of Joshua, a former Frenchman... at the Vancouver's Grandville Island Market, on a warm day of December 2006. He spotted my "Québec" jacket. He invited to join him and to sing along in front of the public. And I dare to say YES!

Singing in French... songs from Yves Montand, Charles Aznavour and Michel Sardou of that same era, in front of a (small) public who obviously never heard anything in French but were curious at us. An impromptu duo. It's one of those crazy things that makes you love travels.

Boy I thank him for "priming" me, so i wouldn't look too silly. Those songs were tucked deep deep in my memory, as I haven't heard them in decades, and then after a few seconds, poof it's all fresh.

Many crazy things also happened during that trip to Vancouver, good and bad, but I digress. Suffice to say that of all my travels, I have highly fond memories. You can read my original blog entry at FC about that crazy trip to Vancouver. End of digression again. :)

So... when you need a video for your blog, say about Annie Cordy, where do you turn to? YouTube, of course.

The snippet I have chosen looks like from the show I saw earlier this evening. "Nini la chance" is the kind of easy going music, with style that were prevailing in the 70s.

Somehow, with all the techno, and all the modern music, which to me it's awful noise... I kind of regret those songs from the 70s.

Also, look at the orchestra. Back then, they had $$$ ! Today's television wouldn't be able to afford so many live musicians. Also the use of *real* instruments back then, and no electronic keyboard around.

Sometimes, when one wonders about culture, well this *is* culture. A snapshot of our world, how we live, and when delivered later, it makes you dreaming all over again.

I was a bit sad that the show lasted just an hour, I'd take an additional hour or two or even three with Annie Cordy. Sigh. For the songs themselves, for the memories that they brought to the surface... and about an era that seems getting incredibly distant.

So, here she goes, Annie Cordy with Nini la Chance.... (Sorry, no close captioning, I couldn't find a clip with it).



Cheers,

-E

Juno...

The other day, I had the chance to see Juno. The movie, that is. :)

I come from FC, which several fellow bloggers upthere didn't like the movie. Personally, it's not my kind of movie, it's a bit sombre for my taste, but it's a good movie, overall. I'm also quite pleased to see that it might get an Oscar.

Not sure whether it's our Canadian accent, or our culture? Juno, aka Ellen Page is a young Halifax native, and the movie was entirely shot in Vancouver.

Sure, there's no Bruce Willis, and no wall to wall big Hollywood-style special effects. A low budget movie, so you have to go straight to the point. This is also why I like low budget movies. :)

Teenhood, at a time when boys become men, and girls, women. With the sexual freedom we enjoy, what was bound to happen... happened.

Topics like teen pregnancy... and its potential consequences, like abortion and adoption... it's a bit heavy, albeit the movie makes it palatable, nonetheless.

But I can't help, but thinking of my own teenhood and the men and women of my generation. This was a pre-HIV era, and also at a time the pill was a reality.

Were we all saints... and always using contraception? Mhhh.... I think a lot of us would have to plead the 5th amendment, isn't it?

It seems that a generation later, in a time that promiscuity can be a deadly proposal, there are some topics that are universal.

I don't have kids, but at this adult age, the parenting fibre is present and strong. So I can't help but thinking of what would happen if my teen daughter got pregnant, or my son did so to his girlfriend. Abortion, Adoption? Ewwwww....

Of course, if it was up to me, my answer would be:
1) Oh thank you for making me a grandfather!

2)Keep your baby. He or She will still be better in your hands... and take care as much as you can... and yes, the grandparents are there... sigh.

So all in all, a movie that makes me stop and ponder about a few things... it's not a bad movie. Not bad at all. :)

Cheers,

-E

Is it bad, is it good? A matter of opportunities...

At the workplace, some colleagues were teasing me today.

A year ago, about on this day... this was the scene on my arrival in Vancouver. A big snowstorm, followed the next day by bitterly cold temperatures followed by the next day by 100 km/h winds and followed by another snowstorm. Whoopy!

A place not used to see a real "Canadian-strength" winter... and a guy from the east coast (moi!) who said foolishly: "I wonder how Vancouver looks like in winter time".

Well... I came, I saw... I froze. :)

And back home, I got plenty of "friends" and colleagues giggling. Today, they were reminding of that. OK, I'm sport. :)

Beyond the giggles, people were really sorry for me, as if my trip was completely ruined. To them, this was sheer... bad luck.

To me, this has been a good thing. This has been sheer LUCK.

Sure, my plans were trashed by this incredible weather. (but not completely trashed. I could make it to Victoria, as planned) .

However... have you ever seen Vancouver under the snow? It's rather rare. I was there. :)

A walk in Stanley Park?

It felt like a walk in winter's wonderland.

Photos don't do justice.

Snow covered trees. Big big BIG trees, all dwarfing you. I really felt like a kid.

The seawall anyone who has taken a walk... The Pacific Ocean on side, Stanley Park on the other side, and in a distance the mountains, and as always, stunning sunsets.

It inspires serenity, it inspires peace.

Add snow... it's even better.

So... is this really bad luck? is this all that bad? Of course not!

This trip to the west coast last year was memorable... and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I'm thinking of several things that happened in my life which obviously bad things turned out otherwise.

It was up to me to adapt, up to me to seize opportunity...

However, if I kept complaining and sat idle, none of that would happen.

Cheers,

-E

-----
Photos
1) Downtown Vancouver, from the Metropolitan Hotel, where I stayed last year. In the forefront, Howe & Georgia streets. On the left, the entrance to the Pacific Centre Mall.

2) One of my favourite photos! Snow covered benches at English Bay Beach, near the end of Davie Street.

3) A walk in Stanley Park

4) Seawall, somethere near the Lions Gate bridge

Brrrr... am I a wimp? :)

When you have a handle by the name of Eskimo... You have a reputation to maintain, now that winter is approaching. :)

I wasn't much online this week. In part in preparation for the January trip to France...

And I took the opportunity to accept invitations from friends, and I also catch up with movies.

All in all, it means that I went back home late at night. Temperatures are dipping quite deeply.

Brrrr!!!! I was wondering... Gee whiz, how am I going through winter if I'm shivering now? It seems that every year I'm wondering the same thing, and of course, I got through all this.

I was thinking that last year, about now... I was in Vancouver.

Big snowstorm. +10F temperatures, and it was extremely windy. Absolutely NOT their usual weather.

I have this ritual. On arrival or the next day, at a place near a large body of water,I have to go to a beach. At least to dip my feet in the water.

In summer time, it's a no brainer, but in WINTER TIME?

Well... I remove my... *boots*, and I did walk barefoot IN THE SNOW... all the way to the sea. It isn't a snowstorm that will stop me!

I had even to return to English Bay Beach and redo what I've done for the camera!

The first time, I haven't thought of taking photos of my little footsies in the snow and then in the water. My gang in Montréal needed something to prove that I'm not making this up. Sheesh!

No... I'm still as crazy as before, nor I did I catch a cold. :)

Last year, I can say that I fully earn my wings (err... igloo?) as an Eskimo. :)

On a somewhat more serious note, it shows that at seemingly impossible things... we adapt. We all do. Consciously or not.

Except that fears... and the initial shock is not all that pleasant.

However once done... you wonder what was all the fuss!

So I was reminded of that, tonight.

I'm thinking... if I return to Vancouver in winter, anyone willing for a barefoot walk in the snow... and a dip of footsies in the water with me? Or a real full dip in the water, in swimsuit? A polar bear blogfest? ;)

Wimp. Just wimp, I'm telling you! Hehehe...

Cheers!

-E

Pensive...

(<---A sunset peaking through the clouds, over Vancouver's English Bay Beach, on a cold windy day of December 2006...)

I had to stay late in the office. In French, we say it's a baroud d'honneur. You give your best, as if it's a big fight, decisive... while you know it's just for the honour (baroud=fight, honneur=honour).

I'm tight lip about the things going on, but suffice to say that for me and for a lot of people, at the end of the year, it's going to be the end of the road. At first, it was something so far away... it wasn't worrisome at all.

And bingo, we're less than 6 weeks away from the end...

So I took a break, and I was watching the sunset over the Mount Royal...

(<--- Photo of Stanley Park, at sunset)
Last year, almost on this time of the year, I was on the west coast... on days a bit like today. Raw, cold and windy, and a sun valiantly attempting to peek through the clouds...

In some cultures, the sunset marks a passage. The end of a day... the promise that there will be another day tomorrow... which will almost certainly be different than today.

There's a bit of that happening with my professional career...

If this was up to me, this would be the ideal time to set sails and to say bye-bye Montréal!

Vancouver? The Gulf Coast Islands? Victoria? You betcha...

But I can't.

(<--- Photos of some of these islands, between Vancouver and Victoria)

I never thought, even in my worst nightmares that I'd be stamped as a caregiver... and the prime beneficiaries... would be my parents. In a country supposedly known for its safety net... where is that net when the time has come? I wonder...

There's something not right... At age 43, I should have kids of my own to care for. I shouldn't have to care for my parents as if they were my children. Things are completely in reverse, here.

And the weight of being single. At other times, it would be a blessing... especially with this powerful desire to set sails... since I have just myself and my cats to take care.

But on these days, on top of everything else... It's tough. The house is terribly empty, having just myself and my cats to talk to when I do breakfast, for instance.

Nor that I'm easily "marketable". Someone who wants to marry me... will marry the family, as they say. So, any nurse or would-be nurse around? Along with a serious dose of psychology in order to weather the storm, one after the other? Ootch... I scare everyone miles away, I know that.

I'm pensive...

Those are impossible questions which tomorrow will nonetheless have to bring answers. It's a sure thing. So this is going to be interesting...

But I wish there's a fast-forward button... I'm a little bit tired of waiting... and I wish that tomorrow is... _that_ tomorrow.

Since there are major changes just ahead... maybe this is the tomorrow I'm waiting for... albeit I've no idea of where, what nor how it's going to be.

Ok, time to go to bed. :)

Cheers,

-E

Balance...

<--- A common sight, along Vancouver's seawall...

I'm pensive this morning. Photos of Vancouver are in my mind.

So many walks in Stanley Park... so many walks along the seawall...

So... beautiful.

Meditation? Bliss.

Calm, serenity, serendipity...

-E

Day #4: I'm doing fine. :) - Luck and bad luck...

(This is a short hand version of something I posted on my now "invisible" blog at FC this morning)
Day 4... (of having an invisible blog upthere, and FC technicians working on my case. I'm a case! :) )

(...)

About the photos on the left... Those are rare photos of Vancouver (and Stanley Park)... under the snow.

And I was there. My luck.

Funny how people react.

Oh, I'm sensible to the massive irony that a place known... for *NOT* having a winter... I arrived there and WHAM! First class Canadian winter storm! Snow, hurricane-class winds and bitterly cold temperatures,.

It says something that on my arrival in Vancouver, I had to make some emergency shoppings. Boots, scarf, hat, gloves. All those wintry things... I left back home !!!

It also says something to see Vancouverites walking in the snow in ordinary shoes, even in SANDALS! That kind of weather is just foreign to them. I also have to say that they're brave, or insane... or both. :)

Some say that this was terribly BAD luck for me...

Personally, I'm saying this is luck nonetheless.

The odds that a winter storm would happen, and it would happen at the precise time I'd be in Vancouver...

Look at these photos.

You call that... *BAD* luck?

Now you see my point.

Cheers,

-E