A little background on the Schwartz's movie that opens this week.
posted at 11:02

 
People living on Nuns' Island are concerned about the increased traffic that will be brought by the new Bell Canada installation in 2008, and are being sold a bill of goods that it'll be better than before despite twice the traffic. Maybe Bell should establish a parking lot downtown and run bus navettes out to the island.
posted at 10:58

 
The Fraser-Hickson Library in NDG is closing for good, meaning the borough has to find something to replace it.
posted at 10:49

 
A show about the artistic roots of the Disney animation style opens here next week, the only North American stop for the exhibit, and fps magazine is running a contest to win two pairs of tickets to the show.
posted at 21:59

 
One of my favourite bookshops, S.W. Welch, is moving from the Main to Mile End digs on Saint-Viateur, exchanging smoked meat for bagels as you might say.

Also, apropos smoked meat, a new documentary on Schwartz's (youtube link) opens this week at ExCentris and Cinéma du Parc. It profiles the venerable deli and includes a vignette of Ryan Larkin panhandling at the door.

On a tangent, thinking of animation, the Oscar-winning anim The Danish Poet is watchable on the NFB site, a nice gesture considering how few outlets there are for shorter movies. It's 15 minutes long and narrated by Liv Ullman, in English.
posted at 11:35

 
Police take up the threads in an attempt to solve the 1971 murder of an elderly woman who died in a home invasion. New technology, says one article; new witnesses, hints the other.
posted at 11:15

 
Culture Montreal wants there to be an umbrella cultural agency that would administer all of Montreal's cultural affairs under one roof. Of course the Culture Montreal czar lists the advantages, but the disadvantages include the deadening kind of top-down cultural marching orders so beloved of bureaucrats, who are unequipped to understand the unruly nature of the creative spark.
posted at 10:53

 
A woman not far short of her hundredth birthday is an active volunteer at the Montreal General, in a testimony either to the value of keeping active, or the luck of inheriting the right genes. (Even so, couldn't the Gazette spell "Ogilvy's" correctly? And the practice of young society women coming out wasn't "quaint" – it was a pragmatic means of finding someone to marry your grown daughters and take them off your hands.)
posted at 11:27

 
A quick trade sees Craig Rivet leave the Canadiens on the brink of a critical game against the Leafs, in return for a young defenceman.
posted at 11:23

 
Interesting comparison of the (real) figures for the Laval metro extension vs. a potential light rail link to the South Shore. The AMT is talking about a billion-dollar budget for the 13-km track that has to leap over roads and other railways as well as the river.
posted at 11:14

 
Montrealer Torill Kove won the Oscar for short animation subject, giving me an excuse to link to a site in Norwegian for the first time. Ms. Kove says she just wants to make more movies in Montreal.

It's the 12th Oscar for the National Film Board.
posted at 23:17

 
Some suburbanites are ruffled over the deal splitting metro costs between the city and the suburbs, but then some people will always balk at paying for anything long term.
posted at 12:58

 
The city just made a recycling deal with a company that mostly hires the handicapped, but a suburb is making a fuss that it wasn't awarded after tenders.
posted at 12:55

 
Buoyed by their success in keeping the street's name, Park Avenue supporters look hopefully at prospects of beautifying the street.
posted at 12:32

 
A Gazette writer listed the city's six worst blunders and asked for comments on the seventh. The top answer wasn't the Olympic Stadium, but the non-action on continuing Cavendish Boulevard to the highway. This probably only reflects the west-end bias of the paper, but it's also an interesting example of the "will of the car" at work.
posted at 15:51

 
The Quebec election is the major news story at the moment, and it's going to loom over all the usual urban news until the shouting dies down after March 26.

Sources for campaign news abound: CBC, Radio-Canada, La Presse, Le Devoir and Canoë/Le Journal de Montréal. Some additional analysis here and here.
posted at 15:46

 
The chronic issue of who pays for Metro deficits is settled, at least for the moment, with the suburbs chipping in their bit. More here on the entente between the city and the suburbs. It boggles my mind that the suburban mayors think they should be allowed to dominate the urban agglomeration, when in fact their cities only exist as appendages to Montreal.
posted at 14:39

 
Place d'Armes is to be renovated after studies have revealed old latrines and a rat colony under the statue of de Maisonneuve. Other work around Old Montreal and a walking path around Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery are also in the city's plans.
posted at 14:01

 
An interesting piece about a Montreal politician and sometime federal Speaker of the House, whose life unravelled after a political crisis. I had never heard of René Beaudoin but his is a sad story.

The other side of the biographical coin is this excellent obituary of Dr. Patrick Cronin of McGill, who made a shining success of his career and his family life.
posted at 13:45

 
The Park Avenue Y is pondering removing the famous window frosting that became part of the accommodements raisonnables flap.

Looking at that picture, I have a suggestion. Could they frost the bottom third of each window? Then the Y members wouldn't be visible from below, but would be able to see out.
posted at 02:23

 
Richard Filion of Dawson says that events like the school shooting in September are not preventable short of turning schools into armed camps. I think that's wise, but it may not be what some folks want to hear.
posted at 01:54

 
The owner of the much regretted Russell Books on St-Antoine has died at age 96.
posted at 01:42

 
My well-used G3 iBook popped its clogs definitively this week so I'm in search of another Mac laptop. A G4 iBook or Powerbook, clean and in working order, would suit me fine. If you are thinking of selling off such a machine, please drop me a line.
posted at 16:40

 
Justin Trudeau makes the leap into federal politics in Papineau. Now held by the Bloc (by less than a thousand votes in the last election), Papineau is Pierre Pettigrew's old riding. It's also the smallest geographically and one of the poorest.

(Perhaps confusingly, Quebec also has an electoral district called Papineau, which lies north of the Ottawa river between Argenteuil and Gatineau ridings.)
posted at 15:09

 
The Planetarium, which was supposed to move out by the Olympic park, is suspended in space because promised federal money has not come through. I imagine developers are slavering over that now desirable plot of land where the Planetarium has stood since 1966.
posted at 14:52

 
The mayor is denying he is depressed or ill despite having taken a sudden vacation after the Park Avenue business and the criticism of the tourism czar. In fact, he says he's fine. But I find it highly suspicious: goodness knows, nobody healthy would want to take a break from Montreal in February.
posted at 11:33

 
The Montréal en lumière (High Lights) festival starts today and includes a lot of food and a series of concerts and dance performances, the underground footrace this Sunday and the Nuit Blanche on March 3. The Port Symphony also take place March 4 and 11.
posted at 11:21

 
Interesting bit about some ghost streets that were mapped out in Rivière des Prairies but never built on. They're around here, but aren't marked on the Google map.
posted at 11:13

 
The new Ville-Marie street cleanliness law is running into resistance as people point out that in some cases they're being asked to do blue-collar work that's already been paid for. In turn, the city is talking tough about inspectors and fines for insalubrity.

The La Presse description of the cigarette butts is nasty but accurate. I shop at Jean-Talon market, and I've been noticing how many people throw butts on the ground on finishing a cigarette or before entering a store. Almost everyone throws the butt with the same gesture of repressed disgust and denial. They're not letting themselves think about what they're doing, so it's difficult to get through to them that, by the way, they're also making a mess somebody else has to clean up.
posted at 11:02

 
With the Quebec election called for March 26 and the PQ and PLQ neck and neck, it will be interesting to see how many bones are tossed in Montreal's direction as the parties woo the fickle and critical voters on this island.

Al Gore, who was here in town yesterday, encourages us to vote for whichever party puts the environment first. It's not bad advice, but the environment (as well as health care, reasonable accommodation and other issues) will always come second in Quebec to the question of how the electorate is feeling on the ever volatile matter of Quebec's independence.
posted at 10:46

 
The city is going to appeal a judgement that the owners of a house can cut down three venerable pine trees on their lawn. The city has a tree policy which regards old trees as part of the general heritage. The proprietors are both lawyers who want a tidier lawn.
posted at 11:00

 
This Saturday will see a party to celebrate the non-renaming of Park Avenue; the mayor isn't likely to drop by.
posted at 10:56

 
As we wait to hear details of the provincial election call, city affairs are put to one side. even stories like budget money for public transit and for other city development hanging on whether the Liberals return to carry out their budget, or not.
posted at 10:41

 
The Journal de Montréal must have an editor for moral outrage, because periodically they try to whip up public opinion about something or other – English spoken downtown, frat parties at McGill, and now wet t-shirt contests at a bar!! that has!!! no permit for them!!!

Also: femmes en très petite tenue and stupid drinking games. It's a scandal, I tell you. We never thought it could happen here.
posted at 11:02

 
Car-sharing arrangements cut greenhouse gas emissions and the owner of Communauto says the government could do more to support the idea.
posted at 10:44

 
Gripped in the current mania for civic tidiness, Ville-Marie passes a law obliging both owners and tenants to keep their frontage tidy or be hit with fines. The borough also plans to hire more inspectors.

Flyposting is also going to be strictly illegal. This is a bad move, because the liveliness of our cultural life is supported and displayed in the constantly changing event posters around downtown and the Plateau. I am not against keeping crap off the streets, but downtown shouldn't try to look like Pointe Claire.
posted at 10:21

 
This is a little off my usual topic, but I'm fascinated to read that in Cameroon, where both French and English are taught and spoken, a new patois called frananglais has developed, and some people think it "might help bring national unity in a country divided along strong linguistic lines."
posted at 00:09

 
Some of the city's traditional posh private clubs are being rediscovered by another generation.
posted at 19:08

 
After reports on bad landlords here's a look at bad tenants, murderous tenants, pathologically filthy tenants, filthy tenants who don't pay their rent, and even more wilfully destructive tenants. Collect them all.
posted at 10:47

 
Another obit for Ryan Larkin, from Le Devoir's Odile Tremblay.
posted at 10:16

 
The film Congorama swept last night's Jutra awards, leaving Bon Cop, Bad Cop almost out in the cold.
posted at 10:11

 
The additional snow we got yesterday slowed down street cleaning operations. but the city says the work should be completed by tomorrow. On the other hand, there's more snow in the forecast.
posted at 10:04

 
The new provincial budget will propose that Quebec should pay 12% of the metro deficit which has been a sore point between Montreal and the suburbs, but this writer seems to think it's just an empty campaign promise.
posted at 10:01

 
Some dépanneur owners are equipping themselves for defence against street gangs and other sources of violence.
posted at 09:56

 
A look at what the metro extension will do for Laval, including land flips and real estate developments and dodgy-sounding deals.
posted at 22:18

 
Interview with Mavis Gallant, still considered a Canadian – even a Montreal – writer despite more than half a century in Paris; Vermont notes on cultural events; something called Phi has a nice graphic but not a whole lot of actual information; Habs break a six-game losing streak by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets, thank goodness for small mercies.
posted at 22:11

 
Despite the thoroughly seasonable weather, this has been a weekend of demonstrations: against the Harper government's disdain of the Kyoto accord, against the detention of terrorism suspects on federal security certificates, even against a car dealership being open on weekends.
posted at 17:21

 
Several people got stabby around town last night.
posted at 14:14

 
The city's major homeless shelters are asking for more government money: only 10% of their support comes from government funds; meantime, the federal government is apparently sitting on millions of dollars meant to help the homeless.
posted at 10:14

 
A downtown resto shares dumpling traditions for the Chinese new year.
posted at 16:02

 
More on Ryan Larkin and his life and death. Typically, Alan Hustak gets more facts into his piece than anyone else has done.

(As the accolades come in, I can't help wondering how many of these latter-day fans would've passed Larkin without a glance while he was panhandling outside Schwartz's.)
posted at 15:50

 
Suggestions what to do with kids in town during a week off school; thoughts on helmet safety for kids; general what to do with the rest of February listing.
posted at 15:36

 
In a mid-season slump, the Canadiens have lost goalkeeper Cristobal Huet to an injury and are calling up reserve goalie Jaroslav Halak to play this weekend; likewise, Alexei Kovalev is injured and NHL newbie Duncan Milroy will play tonight against Carolina.
posted at 01:42

 
A man who posed as a Hydro-Quebec worker and robbed old people has been given an exemplary sentence to warn others against emulating the modus operandi.
posted at 01:02

 
Panhandler and sometime animator Ryan Larkin's long strange life ended this week: he died of cancer aged 63. Photos here and here.
posted at 18:17

 
This week's blizzard, its aftermath and the cleanup and consequences are still news.
posted at 12:58

 
Police are gearing up to deal with street gangs, which are apparently at the root of a number of recent killings, although police maintain there's no organized gang war going on.

(I'm still curious why it's "street" gangs or gangs "de rue" particularly.)
posted at 11:08

 
It's good news that the public will have some say on the fate of disused Roman Catholic churches, as public tax money has been funding them for centuries.
posted at 11:03

 
The Raelians are selling off UFOland and leaving Quebec.
posted at 10:22

 
The Shriners are once again threatening to pull out of the MUHC superhospital plans over decontamination of the site and slow progress on construction.
posted at 09:49

 
The developer planning two condo towers that would loom over Place des Arts refuses to accept any of the recommendations of the city consultation bureau.
posted at 10:19

 
Another piece on the anti-idling law lays out exactly how damaging it is to idle a car in cold weather.
posted at 09:57

 
Decent piece about a new book on the McGarrigle sisters is marred by a gratuitous slam against the Arcade Fire in the lede. There's also a book excerpt.
posted at 09:50

 
The pressmen of the Journal de Montréal have won their case that the Quebecor lockout was illegal, and now they will keep their jobs and be repaid for their lost hours.
posted at 09:40

 
To celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2010, the Museum of Fine Arts plans to open a new pavilion in the old Erskine and American church on Sherbrooke.
posted at 09:37

 
The heralded storm has dusted the city with something between 10 and 20 cm, although other parts of Quebec have been hit harder. City cleanup will take a few days.
posted at 09:10

 
There's going to be a fair bit of excitement over the 40th anniversary of Expo 67: the linked site has a lot of interesting sidebar links to photos, histories and even videos.
posted at 22:08

 
Genie awards were given out yesterday and Bon Cop, Bad Cop and Maurice Richard were the big winners. (The photo of Huard and Feore smooching is hot.)
posted at 12:33

 
Still lots of news bits about the big blizzard expected here today, but so far it doesn't seem too newsworthy.
posted at 12:20

 
The city is going to install ashtrays outside metro stations in an attempt to reduce litter generated by smokers.
posted at 12:18

 
More on the fire that blocked off Ste-Catherine Street yesterday and destroyed a 100-year-old building.
posted at 11:25

 
A fire destroyed an old residential-commercial building at the corner of Ste-Catherine and St-Mathieu this afternoon.
posted at 19:39

 
Karla Homolka, it seems, did have a baby, and some people aren't happy about it, but she is no longer under any legal constraints on what she does.
posted at 11:39

 
Half a million books have been sent to a South Shore landfill because nobody wanted them.
posted at 11:30

 
Valentine's Day will be greeted with big snow, or so they're saying.
posted at 11:29

 
Ville-Marie is to pass a new by-law to fight the city's general scruffiness, and it's likely to affect smokers most.
posted at 11:12

 
Montreal is losing major film productions because of an ongoing union struggle, according to reports.
posted at 11:01

 
The Chowhounds come to Montreal – lots of photos, and there's a podcast link on the page as well.
posted at 11:27

 
Today's news is all about Quebec politicians positioning themselves as an election call looms. André Boisclair woos Montreal with promises of more revenue for the city (but nothing specific yet) while Jean Charest gets in bed with Stephen Harper over money for the environment. And the governor of Vermont keeps the peace by saying he'll keep up good relations with Quebec no matter which party gets elected.
posted at 11:18

 
With the closure of two high-profile restaurants, some are asking if there's a restaurant crisis in Montreal.
posted at 13:15

 
After a meeting with the mayor, tourism czar Charles Lapointe holds the line on Montreal being too scruffy.
posted at 12:58

 
Search for "Karla Homolka" today in Google News, and you'll find the amusing phenomenon that the tabloid press are all abuzz about her having (possibly) just had a baby, whether she's fit for motherhood, and contradictory comments about where she lives and who the father is. The more respectable press are merely nodding stiffly toward the existence of a story, clutching at the slightly more newsworthy angle: that St. Mary's Hospital may have tried to turn her away.
posted at 18:07

 
Ubisoft is getting millions to help finance expansion in Quebec – a move that would apparently make it the biggest game development studio in the world.
posted at 17:57

 
As the dates for threatened violence draw closer, the RCMP is questioning nationalist groups over the soi-disant FLQ missive.
posted at 17:45

 
There have been six killings in six weeks so far this year, all connected to gang activity, but police are stopping short of calling it gang war.
posted at 16:53

 
Formerly known as Mount Doom, the island with its volcanic mountain (highest elevation, 6000 m) is famous for being the headquarters of most conspiracies on Earth.
posted at 11:16

 
First there was Overheard in New York, then Overheard at McGill. Now there's Entendu à Montréal....
posted at 10:48

 
A preview of the upcoming Montréal en lumière festival, which includes the fourth Nuit blanche all-night fest.
posted at 10:43

 
Mayor Tremblay wants more money for Montreal and is for asking for more taxation powers as a provincial election draws nearer.
posted at 11:36

 
The homecoming of The Arcade Fire is some of the biggest local news this week. Youtube clip from a show at the Ukrainian Federation. A bit noisy perhaps.
posted at 10:26

 
As has been hinted before, the Laval metro stations are ready to open early, the only barrier being the lack of an agreement over aspects of financing them.
posted at 14:49

 
A glimpse of The Arcade Fire in one of their shows at the Ukrainian Federation; previews of the 25th annual Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, which starts next week; comparison of Montreal and Toronto in terms of cultural funding.
posted at 11:36

 
More detail this morning, but the story is the same: Mayor Tremblay has decided not to proceed with the massively unpopular plan to change Park Avenue – Bleury, too – to Avenue Robert-Bourassa. And people are happy.
posted at 10:16

 
The mayor comes to his senses and Park Avenue won't be changed to Avenue Robert-Bourassa after all.
posted at 19:38

 
The son of hockey legend Guy Lafleur is being held and evaluated over charges of sexual aggression.
posted at 11:30

 
Les Foufounes has to pay damages to a bar patron injured when a mosh pit got out of hand.
posted at 11:27

 
Headline emphasizes accommodation for Jewish holidays but, as a footnote, mentions that Christian holidays will also be accommodated with suspended parking regulations, in the Plateau. Meanwhile, Hérouxville is still in the news and Jean Charest is speaking out about the town's now infamous norms.
posted at 11:25

 
Yesterday was chilly, but not a record.
posted at 11:10

 
An exposé of possibly dodgy funding practices at the Montreal SPCA.
posted at 11:04

 
Two bus passengers turned away for having expired transfers caught a taxi and fired on a city bus in the east end, early yesterday morning. Nobody was hurt.
posted at 11:01

 
As winter weather continues, an enterprising bar owner launches a private smoking den alongside a popular Village bar.
posted at 16:08

 
Interesting glimpses of several visions of the Turcot Yards with references to Walking Turcot Yards, Méandres urbans essentiels showing the overpasses rendered into different colours (n.b. small video with sound), and the Turcot images from Urban Exploration Montreal. (I've posted some of these links before, but this brings them together in one place.)
posted at 15:39

 
The Times Argus likes the Lakmé of the Opera de Montréal.
posted at 15:14

 
The epic tale behind the reasons why Montreal has lame municipal libraries.
posted at 13:07

 
Richard Bergeron calls for an extensive tramway system to improve the environment and make Montreal more livable.
posted at 11:38

 
City rater says he thought he was in Kazakhstan when he came here – last March. Nonetheless, Montreal eventually rated as third of 60 worldwide cities in quality of urban life on his site where you can read his reports for a large sum of money.
posted at 21:44

 
A policeman from Laval was shot dead today during a drug bust on the South Shore.
posted at 15:56

 
One media outlet examines the current local buzzword reasonable accommodation (and to what extent it's a media construct), while at the same time other outlets verge on crowing over how an ambulance driver received damages for being asked not to eat a non-kosher lunch in the cafeteria of the Jewish General Hospital; although this incident took place two years ago it's now being rounded up into the "accommodement raisonnable" story.
posted at 13:35

 
A brief look at a new Plateau boutique (how can a small Montreal shop have an English name like Old Gold?); mourning for restaurants gone out of business; backstage view of one of the city's most popular singers; Gus Van Sant at the Cinémathèque.
posted at 13:17

 
After issuing a diktat about the dirt and ugliness of Montreal and clashing with the mayor, Tourism Montreal czar Charles Lapointe is keeping his job after all. In fact, many people agree that the city could be cleaner, although showing a picture of a back alley with trash bins and garbage isn't really fair: not many people choose to sashay down back alleys for the view.
posted at 14:13

 
More than three minutes of idling can now get you ticketed, although there's a long list of exceptions.
posted at 13:41

 
Firefighters will also become first responders in a new scheme by the city. First responder training falls between basic first aid and full EMT skills.
posted at 13:37