The Quartier des spectacles blog reports disapprovingly on the sudden recent painting over of the whole Bombe sur la Main graffiti project on Saint-Laurent between Ste-Catherine and René-Lévesque. The sound of strife between QdesS and the SDA (which now owns that whole block) is pretty obvious.
Updates from September, 2010 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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The legendary Asexuals are to do a reunion show tomorrow night, part of Pop Montreal, and will be supported by the 222s (photos here).
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OldMontrealerInExile
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The Mirror looks at how the coming of the UdeM’s new campus next to Park Ex means the loss of affordable housing for the area’s immigrant families.
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Police have just tweeted a link to this advice page against getting your pocket picked at Jean-Talon market.
Admission: For a nanosecond I thought “vols à la tire” meant the theft of maple taffy.
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Grego
I like this one: “Ne laissez jamais vos effets personnels sur le banc à côté de vous : vous pourriez vous endormir et il serait ainsi plus facile de vous les subtiliser.” I really don’t see myself falling asleep at the Jean-Talon Market… I guess it happens, though.
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Kate
There’s that clutch of picnic tables in the middle area which is popular with some of the older folks that frequent the market. Some of them might conceivably doze off, although picnic table benches aren’t too comfortable.
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The Catholic diocese is considering turning a massive Hochelaga church into either cheap housing or an old folks’ home, and dismantling its huge Casavant organ which many people hoped to keep in the building for future concerts.
I see one big flaw here: a church is a tricky kind of building to turn into apartments. It took a long time and a lot of money to turn Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix (at the corner of Saint-Zotique and Saint-Laurent) into a condo building. The resulting flats were clearly never going to be cheap. So I think it’s disingenuous for the Catholics to pretend they’re making a charitable gift. If that church becomes apartments, they’ll be luxury ones – especially given that it’s been closed because the structure is becoming unsafe. Much more expensive than building from scratch.
Maybe it’s time to talk about taking some of these churches down?
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Virginia
I’m all for luxury housing in Hochelaga, if that is the worse-case scenario. It’s one neighborhood that could benefit from would-be Plateau-dwellers living next door, encouraging other condo owners to move there as well. The community could become safer. Secondly, I much prefer church-style architecture to the rectangular condo structures being built today. I think this landmark structure beautifies the neighborhood. There is an intrinsic and historical value in keeping this structure.
As for the Casavant organ, I heard there was talk of it being moved to another church for future use if someone picks up the cost of having it moved, which is easy enough. Moreover, the organ is not doing much good as it is, seeing as the church closed its doors over a year ago.
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DC
Church re-use should start with looking at the attributes the buildings possess. Big floor plates and large interior envelopes would suggest offices, gyms, schools, or large retail stores, not residential use.
It’s troubling that the archdiocese and the religious orders are so solidly wedded the idea that residential conversions are their best or only strategy for re-use — building high-end housing (which, as you noticed, is more or less the only financially realistic residential option) is a pretty high-risk endeavor in a low-wage town. They’re opaque institutions, so there’s a lot of kremlinology involved in second-guessing their decisions, but it suggests that they haven’t thought much about different ways of getting value out of what they don’t need anymore.
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This weekend is the last few days of World Press Photo at the Just For Laughs museum; the last couple of days of the booksellers at the Grande Bibliothèque; the last few hours of Michaëlle Jean as governor-general and we’re coming to the last few presentations of Elixir at the Quartier des spectacles.
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As presaged two weeks ago, Brian Gionta has been named captain of the Canadiens. Andrei Markov and Hal Gill have been picked to wear the A.
Gionta is the Canadiens’ 28th captain; the National Post notes that he’s now the shortest captain in the NHL at 5’7″. Tweets inform me he’s the second American to captain the team, Chris Chelios having been the first.
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Standard Paris-on-the-cheap piece in the New York Daily News, which also has a piece on an autumn itinerary; the Toronto Star has a piece on seeing Montreal with kids.
Heretically, I always wonder why we send tourists to Jean-Talon market. I love the market myself, but that’s because I have a kitchen a few minutes away. I don’t quite get the point of going there if you’re staying in a hotel room. It’s a massive resource for cooks, mostly – am I not right?
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naftee
One can get desserts and treats there. There are also lots of restaurants around.
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Benoit
Farmers market are my favorite places to explore when I visit a new city. They give you a feel for the city’s beat. Love them.
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DeWolf
Plus it’s always fun to visit markets when you travel because they give you a good sense of the local culture and eating habits. And even if most of the food consists of raw ingredients, there’s always found to be some prepared stuff you can eat at the market or take home as an edible souvenir.
Whenever I travel, most of my return luggage consists of food.
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Kate
OK, I guess I get it. It’s more than just ingredients for dinner.
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Ian
Worth noting, Jean-Talon market is well known for its selection of Québec products including cheeses, prepared meats, seafood, local liqueurs and beers, and many other délices de chez nous that are generally not available outside of Quebec. It’s not just pork hocks and fresh greens for the soup pot!
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MB
I send visitors there for the blueberry jam alone.
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It isn’t brand new, but I’ve become aware of petluck.ca, a site for lost and found pets in the Montreal area that uses Google maps to good advantage.
It’s hard to believe that Berger Blanc, which does animal pound work for a part of the city, doesn’t even have a microchip reader to help it reunite pets with their owners, or post any information about found animals on their website. The city should insist on better services – in fact, if animals matter to you, dropping a line about this to your city councillor might be a good idea.
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Petition
Please sign the petition and please distibute widely!
http://www.petitions24.net/petition_berger_blancAnd if you have any questions or would like to contact us about a personal or knowing experience with Berger Blanc, please contact us at : petition.bergerblanc@gmail.com
Thank you!
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A damning report is in, squarely accusing Montreal North police of racism and of hassling nonwhite teenagers in particular.
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Andy Riga has some maps showing the Park Avenue excavations and what’s being done about them. He says the work is to take place after October 11, but that part of Park was already obstructed by repairs in mid-August.
Also, nothing is shown of the extensive closure of Bernard west of Park, blocked to traffic for street repairs: some empty storefronts are already visible along that stretch. Park has a few signs up indicating that businesses are still open, but the city ought to be helping the folks on Bernard too.
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Linda B
Most of that parking is north of the tracks. Oh yeah, that will help the merchants south of Bernard a whole lot.
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There was an oil spill in the river last night from an east-end terminal – La Presse says it’s “indeterminate” but also that the slick is more than 2.5 km long. The Gazette calls it major but says guys are out in boats trying to assess the spill – which they don’t even call oil, but the more disturbing “possibly toxic material.” CBC calls it a mix of petroleum products.
Massive fan of the 222s here, wish I was in Montreal to witness their historical reunion, but I’m just wishing them well from Paris. Hope someone can film bits of the concert & post them on YouTube ?