The owner of the mysterious Bernard St. storefront shown above has died, and a memorial was held for him. Image fom Google Streetview.
Updates from July, 2010 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Andy Riga has some notes about an expansion at the Pointe-à-Callière museum that will explore old sewers, excavate the site of the old Canadian parliament buildings nearby, and more.
I think this is all worth doing and we should do what we can to keep our knowledge of history alive for future generations, which is what the museum’s long-term raison-d’être is. But it seems just a bit silly to archaeologize a parking lot for something from 1849, when you can hardly move in England for tripping over hoards of Roman coins or 3000-year-old carvings, and in Ireland you can pull stuff like this out of a bog – and that’s without getting into ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, caves like Lascaux and so forth…
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A McGill architecture prof points out several spots around Montreal where the urban mix works well.
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naftee
I love how carré St Louis is right there at number 2. It’s the second best place in Montreal to either a) find your favourite illicit drug or b) get asked for money by squeegees. First place goes to Place Émilie-Gamelin, of course.
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The SPCA is offering discount cat adoptions this weekend. It’s a very good deal to get a nice older cat for $40 including shots, neutering and microchipping – hundreds of dollars worth of vet services normally.
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Yesterday’s 53 mm downpour flooded l’Acadie circle – the seventh time this has happened since the circle was redesigned in 2004 (by a firm belonging to Tony Accurso). There were also some flooded houses and other traffic problems and bricks fell off some buildings.
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Montrealer Autumn Kelly is to give Queen Elizabeth her first great-grandchild.
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Ogilvy’s on Ste-Catherine has been sold to a consortium based in Quebec. A new branch is to be created at Dix30.
Ogilvy’s is described as upscale now, and I suppose it is, but for most of its 140 years it wasn’t. I remember going there as a kid and finding it kind of fusty and old-fashioned, not trendy at all. You could get British books and candy, and they had a restaurant (in the basement?) that served afternoon tea – I was treated to it once by my godmother – but it was a far cry from the glitzy designer palais that it became in the last decade or two.
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A Ville Emard neighbourhood has benefited for years from a park almost casually leased from an adjoining church, but the arrangement with the city has ended and the church is locking people out of the park services now. Kristian Gravenor investigates.
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People are invited to participate in an attempt to establish a record number of nude bathers at Oka beach this afternoon.
Neath 23:50 on 2010/07/10 Permalink
I read a good article about that guy a few months ago but just can’t remember where it was and too tired to go a googlin right now..
Ian 08:22 on 2010/07/11 Permalink
Here’s an interview with Riddell some 5 years ago in Outdoor Canada:
http://articles.outdoorcanada.ca/homepage/default/interview-with-george-riddell-n254174p1.html
Here’s a more recent video interview:
http://thefishingsports.info/lures-flies/george-riddell-old-school-fishing-lure-shop-48-years-in-the-making-in-montreal-canada-24-flv/
admin 09:19 on 2010/07/11 Permalink
Thanks Ian!
Kristian 20:41 on 2010/07/12 Permalink
I wrote an article about Riddel around 1992 for something called Montreal Magazine or something and just when it was going to publish, the magazine went broke. So I only got a cut fee of the $300. The photographer called me and urged me to send the article to a competitor so he could get paid for his photos. I never did. Someone else ended up writing it for them. I was a bit annoyed, but it’s fair I guess. That article was too boring to even read (as is most stuff, I lay my eyes on alas) The storeowner, Riddell, was nice enough, very proud of his fancy lures, but overall I mostly have a low appreciation for folksiness. I find pain a lot more interesting.