Monday, December 31, 2012

Enemigo

“Après avoir connu la dictature et la guerre civile, le Nacencio, État d’Amérique latine, s’engage sur la voie de la modernisation. Afin de transformer la jungle du sud du pays en terres arables, les autorités font appel à la société japonaise de bâtiment Seshimo. Lorsque Yûji Seshimo, son jeune et brillant président, se rend sur place, il est kidnappé par des mercenaires qui demandent l’arrêt immédiat des travaux… Manoeuvre du lobby du blé américain afin de contrer un concurrent potentiel ? Baroud d’honneur des derniers partisans de la dictature ? Opération commando des forces révolutionnaires? Complot des membres du conseil d’administration de Seshimo hostiles au trop jeune patron ?”

“C’est à Ken’ichi, le frère de Yûj, qu’il revient de démêler l’écheveau. Accompagné de Gloria, la secrétaire de son frère, cet ancien du Vietnam, aujourd’hui détective privé aux Etats-Unis, s’enfonce dans la jungle du Nacencio où l’attendent trahisons, courses-poursuites, guet-apens et autres réjouissances !” [ Texte du rabat intérieur de couverture ]

Continuez après le saut de page >>

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Garôden

“C’est l’histoire d’une quête d’absolu. D’absolu dans le combat. La quête de Tanba a peut-être commencé pour savoir qui était le plus fort, mais quand le récit de Taniguchi et Yumemakura commence, on est déjà loin de ça.”

“Tanba s’est formé dans les principes du Karaté, mais a découvert – à ses dépens – que les lutteurs professionnels (le catch), n’étaient pas tous des comédiens, que parmi eux se trouvaient de vrais bêtes de combat cheminant comme lui sur la voie du combat à mains nues. Il a donc développé une technique hybride, avec des percussions au poing ou au pied, et des immobilisations.”

“Tanba a perdu un seul combat dans sa vie, contre un jeune catcheur inconnu : Kajiwara. À la suite de quoi il a passé trois ans à comprendre pourquoi il avait perdu et à se perfectionner pour se dépasser. Mais Kajiwara n’est pas resté le même non plus, il est maintenant une star du catch professionnel. Quand il revient au Japon après une carrière internationale, cela fait six ans que Tanba l’attend. Pas pour prendre sa revanche, non, un mot aussi vulgaire n’appartient pas au vocabulaire des affamés d’absolu.” [ Texte du rabat intérieur de couverture ]

Continuez après le saut de page >>

Friday, December 28, 2012

Press Review (2012-12-28)

I didn't do much in the last couple of weeks because I was too busy setting up my new computer (which works great; finally!) and doing some renovation in my office (changing my wobbly table with a brand new kitchen-type counter top and installing a similar counter top in the back of the office as a working area, with a sink). One notable event: One night I was awaken by one of my cats making quite a ruckus and I quickly realized that he had caught a mouse, in the house! Now I have to make sure that such invasion never happens again. Finally, winter came upon us. After a first real snow storm that left just a few centimetres of the white stuff, we had rain on the day of the winter solstice (but the world didn't end, thankfully) and it left enough snow (or ice) to insure a white Christmas. However, yesterday we got a huge snow storm that paralyzed the city. Actually, we've beaten the record of the “storm of the century” for the amount of snow which fell during the same day: nearly 50 centimetres! That left quite a pile of snow in front of the house. Just like in my childhood. With all this I didn't have time to read much news, but I still gathered a few interesting stories. You'll find the links after the jump:

Monday, December 10, 2012

Press Review (2012-12-10)

Nothing changed much in the last couple of weeks. I am still suffering from spells of diziness (it's not severe enough to be a Labyrinthitis so I guess it should be something like BPPV ? Anyway, I should really try to find time to consult on this, because it's been several weeks and is quite annoying (and my wife worries). My iMac finally shipped from China and should be delivered imminently. I'll probably be busy for the next couple of weeks while I set it up properly. The Holidays are approaching quickly and now it really feels like it since we've finally got a real snow storm (although very small, just a few centimeters, and it quickly rained on it). As usual, here some links to the online news stories that I found interesting (after the jump):

Sunday, December 09, 2012

Cool motocycle

While watching BBC's Click tech news show, I came across this really cool motocycle of the future. Actually, it is an electric vehicle which is an hybrid between a car and a motocycle. It reminds me of Kaneda's bike in Akira. The particularity of its design is that, thanks to two gyroscopes, it stands upright and can never fall on its side. Called the C1, it was conceived by Lit Motors, a company located in California, and should be available on the market in 2014 for the hefty price of $25,000. Hopefully, with time, the cost will diminish.

This story has been around for a while but I think it's worth sharing anyway. See for yourself how cool it is after the jump >>

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Sushi Manga

Quand la culture manga et cuisine se rencontrent: un livre étonnant! Découvrez un livre de cuisine hors du commun, ludique et gourmand! Maître Karasu et Yuki l'apprentie vous enseignent l'art du sushi, de la cuison du riz jusqu'à la réalisation des rouleaux les plus complexes. Découpe de poisson, boulette nigiri, maki et sushi pressé... Tous les gestes, expliqués en manga, vous permettront de réaliser facilement plus de 40 recettes.” [ Texte de couverture arrière ]

Ce très beau livre offre un concept des plus intéressant: des recettes illustrées de superbe photos et expliquées pas à pas en BD. Toutefois l'emphase sur le manga (le livre est même présenté avec un sens de lecture de droite à gauche comme les manga japonais) est très nettement exagéré puisqu'on n'y retrouve que vingt-sept pages de manga couleur sur les cent-soixante-seize pages de l'ouvrage. C'est néanmoins non seulement un livre pratique et utile mais aussi un bel ouvrage à avoir sur sa table à café ou même dans sa cuisine.

Continuez après le saut de page >>

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Bibliothèque Marc-Favreau

Des entrées sur Facebook (ainsi qu'un billet sur la page du Canardo Pressé) m'ont fait découvrir sur Youtube cette video offrant une visite virtuelle de la future bibliothèque Marc-Favreau:


Ça nous donne le goût d'y travailler...

Relaxing view of automn

Gizmodo brought this to my attention: A nice relaxing view of leaves changing colors...

Fall from jamie scott on Vimeo.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Press Review (2012-11-27)

In the last couple of months I've been suffering from intermittent spell of dizziness. I'm not sure exactly what's causing this, but it is quite annoying (particularly this week-end). Strangely it strikes mostly when I am tired, after a long week of work, during my days off (as I am catching up on my sleep). Not much happened this week (however Apple FINALLY announced a date for the new iMacs! I'll soon have a REAL computer to work with -- whatever we say, a Mac-mini and an iPad can't do all the work of a desktop), but there was a lot of interesting stories in the news (I read a lot online this long week-end). As usual, I am sharing the links after the jump:

Monday, November 26, 2012

Démocratie syndicale : la pyramide inversée

L'équipe du 109 au 429 nous annonce la tenue d'une seconde Conférence-discussion cette fois sur le sujet de la démocratie syndicale: “Démocratie syndicale : la pyramide inversée.”

La présentation abordera notamment les embûches qui font en sorte que les structures syndicales peuvent sembler déconnectées des membres, alors que sur papier, elles semblent à l'écoute de ces derniers et apparaissent structurées démocratiquement. Le tout sera suivi d'une discussion.

La conférence aura lieu à l'UQÀM (salle A-2645, Pavillon Hubert-Aquin [entrée coin St-Denis/Ste-Catherine], 2e étage) le Mardi 4 décembre 2012 à partir de 19h00.

Vous pouvez aussi visiter la page Facebook du 109 au 429 pour approfondir et partager cette information.

Note : La période pour remplir le sondage en ligne portant sur notre future convention collective (via le site du SFMM) a été prolongé jusqu'au 7 décembre! Remplissez-le, c'est important!

MàJ (2 déc): Après avoir finalement rempli le sondage, j'en profite pour mettre à jour (encore) le billet “Note syndicale” où je donne mes priorités et suggestions de points à négocier dans la convention collective des cols blancs de la ville de Montréal.

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Monday, November 19, 2012

Press Review (2012-11-19)

Another difficult week. Nothing really important happened (I am STILL waiting for the new iMacs to be released and I am getting QUITE impatient!), but strangely there was nevertheless lots of interesting small news stories. Check the links after the jump:

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Mise à jour syndicale

Un bref billet juste pour vous informer que j'ai effectué ces derniers jours et semaines plusieurs mises à jour sur des billets d'information de nature syndicale.

Ces ajouts sont identifiés par la mention “Mise à jour:” (ou simplement “MàJ:”) et sont surlignés en jaune.

Vous les retrouverez dans les billets suivants:

Finalement, j'en profite pour vous enjoindre à nouveau d'aller sur le site du SFMM et d'y remplir le sondage pour exprimer votre opinion sur VOS priorités dans la négociation de notre prochaine convention collective. Ne tardez pas: C'est important et vous n'avez que deux semaines pour le faire ! [ Quant à moi, la priorité est de négocier cette convention au plus vite! ]

MàJ (28 nov.) : La période pour remplir le sondage en ligne portant sur notre future convention collective (via le site du SFMM) a été prolongé jusqu'au 7 décembre! Remplissez-le, c'est important!

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Clodji au Salon du livre 2012

Vendredi j'ai visité le Salon du livre de Montréal en long et en large (mais ce fut tout de même une visite éclaire, en un peu plus d'une heure) et tout ce que j'en ai gardé est une sensation de profond écoeurement.

Premièrement, il faut être pas mal masochiste pour visiter le salon après avoir passé une dure et très longue journée à travailler en bibliothèques (une de ces journées d'enfer qui vous font reconsidérer votre plan de carrière; ce n'est pas tout d'accomplir avec le sourire la pléthore des tâches variés qu'on vous attribut, mais le faire dans la cacophonie de petits morveux dissipés et irrespectueux qui hurlent et courent partout, c'est très exigeant).

Finalement, la présence de tous ces livres m'a laissé abasourdi, écrasé par une surcharge visuelle et intellectuelle. Il me semble que ce n'était pas comme cela quand je visitais le salon étant jeune. J'en conserve un souvenir d'émerveillement et d'admiration devant tout cet accomplissement littéraire. Des fois je me demande si il n'y a pas trop de livres publiés de nos jours. On en est venu à publier n'importe quoi et n'importe qui de sorte que tous les grands auteurs et ouvrages importants sont noyés dans la masse de ces titres insignifiants et médiocres. C'est cela sans doute la démocratisation de la littérature...

Et c'est probablement encore pire avec l'édition électronique, dont on faisait grand cas encore une fois cette année au salon. Est-ce vraiment une bonne chose que monsieur et madame tout le monde (et n'oublions surtout pas toutou) puissent raconter leur petite histoire et partager anecdotes et recettes savoureuses? Heureusement que les éditeurs ne publient qu'une fraction infime des manuscrits qu'ils recoivent!

Enfin, peut-être que l'édition a toujours été comme cela et, alors que les années passent, l'ivraie s'envole et qu'il ne reste plus dans notre souvenir que les perles et les classiques. C'est vrai, après tout il y a la loi de Sturgeon qui affirme que quatre-vingt dix pour cent de tout est de la merde! Peut-être, mais pour l'instant je ne vois qu'un gâteau visuellement trop riche, qui me reste sur l'estomac. La forêt de livres cache la littérature et je me sens dépassé, anesthésié, gourd et désensibilisé. Et au milieu de tout cela, la télévision, en directe, qui se se bat pour prendre à vos enfants le peu d'attention qu'ils peuvent donner. Les mots, il en reste si peu, auront-ils encore toujours un sens pour ces enfants turbulants, en constant état d'excitation comme de quelconques atomes, agités par les ondes de leurs écrans cathodiques?

J'ai tout de même apercu quelques livres beaux (sur la géographie ou l'art) ou amusants (comme ces compilations de Naruto grand format, immitant les magazines manga japonais hebdomadaires). Mais trop c'est trop. Et je reviens bredouille, mon épuisette vide, sans même la moindre suggestion d'achat pour Noël. Quelle tristesse.

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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Commentaire syndical, suite

Pour faire suite à mon précédent commentaire syndical, je voudrais signaler que dans le dernier Col Blanc (daté d'octobre mais que nous n'avons reçu à la bibliothèque que la semaine dernière), le SFMM annonce: “nous sommes sur le point de mettre en ligne un sondage afin de vous consulter sur vos priorités dans la perspective de la négociation de la prochaine convention collective (...). Ce sondage est le fruit d'un colloque qui s'est tenu le 31 mars (...). Soyez assurés que lorsque nous aurons compilé les réponses du sondage, nous nous attaquerons à la rédaction d'un projet de convention collective (...).”

De cela je tire deux constatations / commentaires:

Le colloque a eu lieu en mars et on nous présente un sondage que maintenant: cela leur a pris six mois pour préparer un sondage? Ciel! Si cela leur prend un autre six mois pour compiler les réponses et nous présenter le projet de convention en assemblée extraordinaire, combien d'années encore cela prendra-t-il avant que l'on ait une nouvelle convention négociée?!

D'autre part, jusqu'à maintenant je ne trouve toujours pas trace du fameux sondage sur le site du SFMM (le Col Blanc date d'octobre et le texte semble dire que le sondage est imminent). L'aurais-je manqué? Il est plus probable que nos bons amis du SFMM traînent encore de la patte... Soyez vigilant et ne tardez pas à remplir ce sondage dès qu'il sera en ligne. C'est important!

MàJ (15 nov.) : le site du SFMM nous apprend que le sondage pour nous exprimer sur notre prochaine convention collective est en ligne (il y sera seulement jusqu'au 30 novembre, alors dépêchez-vous d'y participer!). Vous pouvez y accèder par ce lien.

Je rappelle que j'avais déjà fait, en mars dernier, mes suggestions de points à discuter pour les négos (auxquels j'ajouterais peut-être la suggestion de bonifier les primes hors heures pour les permanents qui ont un horaire atypique et l'ajout de primes pour ceux qui doivent travailler avec des enfants!! C'est déjà dûr d'être un travailleur de première ligne, en contact avec le public, mais les enfants alors...)

Poursuivez la lecture après le saut de page:

Monday, November 12, 2012

Press Review (2012-11-12)

Still consumed by work and transit time. This week the news were dominated by the aftermath of Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential elections. Besides that it was mostly quiet, but here's a few interesting links anyway after the jump:

New look

I've just updated the look of the blog with a new template. I think it was way over due for a change.

Let me know what you think of this new look. Thanks!

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Monday, November 05, 2012

Press Review (2012-11-05)

Still busy. This week was dominated by the news of the aftermath of Sandy, George Lucas selling Lucasfilm to Disney and the very imminent U.S. presidential election. So, you'll find a few more interesting news links after the jump:

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Maudite Lenka !

Hier, j'ai vu l'annonce de Windows 8 à la télé et depuis ce temps-là je ne peux pas me sortir de la tête la “toone” [tune] plutôt entraînante [catchy] de Lenka, Everything At Once.

Pour vous contaminer aussi voici la video de promo de cette chanson, dont un extrait a été utilisé pour la publicité de Microsoft:

Everything At Once - promo video from LenkaMusic on Vimeo.


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Monday, October 29, 2012

Press Review (2012-10-29)

After over seven years and a little more than five-hundred posts (as well as nearly forty-thousands pageviews), I am still blogging (or doing my best to). I also keep reading the news online as often as I can. In the last couple of weeks, the story that dominated the tech news (and was of a particular interest for me) was Apple announcing many new products (the new iPad mini, of course, but mostly the new iMac -- I'll finally be able to replace my dead desktop, sometime in November, and I just can't wait to pre-order it). In the local news, everyone is still talking mostly about corruption (The Gazette, La Presse) and in the U.S. all minds are on the beginning of the last stretch of the electoral campaign for the presidential election (The Gazette, La Presse). And, of course, everyone is anxiously looking at the incoming super-storm Sandy (The Gazette, La Presse). So, again, I am sharing nearly a hundred more links with you after the jump:

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Bref commentaire syndical

D'abord, je rappel à tous que l'équipe du 109 au 409 (L'alternative syndicale pour les fonctionnaires municipaux de Montréal, c'est-à-dire “l'opposition officieuse” de notre très “démocratique” syndicat) tiendra demain une première conférence sur l'histoire syndicale au Québec (histoire sans doute de nous rappeler quelles devraient être les fonctions d'un véritable syndicat qui se respecte). La conférence aura lieu à partir de 19:00 au Centre St-Pierre (près du métro Beaudry, au 1212 rue Panet – salle 105). J'espère que quelqu'un m'en fera un compte rendu parce que je ne pourrai pas y être (je travaille loin et ne pourrais m'y rendre à temps).

[Mise à jour: voir le Compte rendu de la conférence du 17 octobre 2012 sur l'histoire du syndicalisme au Québec sur le site du 109 au 409]

La suite après le saut de page:

Press Review (2012-10-16)

I slowly succeed to catch up on my work around the house and in blogging. The three big news of the last couple of weeks are the rumors (again) of Apple updating its iMac line (possibly announced next week along the smaller iPad, a 13 Inch Retina MacBook Pro an even a possible new Mac Mini -- I hope I'll finally be able to replace my broken iMac), the 4.5-magnitude earthquake that I felt very early last wednesday (it didn't really shake but felt more like one big jolt), and Felix Baumgartner's parachute jump from the edge of space (I watched him live on YouTube as he broke several records and no bones). As usual I've gathered the links to the most interesting news and I am sharing them with you after the jump:

Sunday, October 07, 2012

“Unshelved” marathon

I just finished catching up on a few months worth of my favourite web comics: Unshelved. This year they're celebrating their tenth anniversary and there's already eight annual compilations available. Oh, did I mentioned that it is the story of a dysfunctional library and its staff ? I just feel at home. (See previous reviews).

See my latest favourites strips after the jump:

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Mangafy your life!

Thanks to Cult of Mac and Gizmodo, I've just discovered one of the cutest iOS apps I've seen in a long time: Manga Camera!

This app by Supersoftware allows you to take a picture (but only with an iPhone 3GS+, iPod Touch 5 or iPad 3) and convert it into a manga style image! You can select thirty-two different background styles (some with Japanese captions, “sound effects” or speed lines) and share your pictures on Twitter or Facebook. If you're not satisfied with the background, you can change it even after having taken the picture.

It doesn't always work well (sometimes shadows or darker subject gets converted into backgrounds effects), but when it does the result is quite impressive. A picture is instantly turned into a realistic manga panel (with all its characteristics: b&w, inked line, textured with zipatone). It's really amazing.

My only complaints is that it doesn't save the pictures automatically (you have to save manually each pics before taking another one, if not it will disappear), you cannot use the front-facing camera to take a picture of yourself (use a mirror instead) and you cannot use an existing picture to apply the manga effects (that would be quite cool).

Nevertheless, it can provides hours of fun! It could be a cool way to make a photo-manga (for those manga lovers with less drawing talent)...

Version 1.0 of Manga Camera was released on September 10th 2012 and weighs 14.7 Mb. Available in english and japanese. Rated 4+

See a few examples after the jump:

Misère subite

Certains pays sont plus sujet que d'autres à la misère subite. Par exemple, en Asie du sud-est, suite à une mousson plus forte qu'à l'habitude certaines régions peuvent se retrouver, du jour au lendemain, bang! dans la dèche!

[ Intraduisible! ]

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Merlin sighting

I mentioned earlier this summer that my wife had seen a fox in a nearby park. Well, it seems it is not the only wildlife that we have in the neighborhood (Montreal's St-Michel borough). We've just seen a Merlin this afternoon (aka Falco Colombarius in Latin or Faucon émerillon in French). And here's the video to prove it:

Merlin from clodjee on Vimeo.


The video is also available on Youtube (but I don't know for how long since it seems that when you use the copyright-free music included with iMovie, Youtube flags the video as a copyright infringement! So I'll probably avoid uploading video there in the future.)

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Press Review (September)

Another tiring, busy month. However, on the news side it was quite eventful. Here's the proof, after the jump:

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Retro-blogging

Ce week-end j'ai introduit un nouveau concept dans mon blog: le rétro-blogging. C'est-à-dire que ces derniers mois je n'ai pas eu le temps, ni l'énergie de blogger régulièrement mais je prenais tout de même des notes dans mon petit carnet. Et là je les introduit dans le blogue aux dates où ces notes on été prises. Ce week-end j'ai donc fait du ratrappage pour les mois de mai et de juin...

Autre nouvelle: mon blogue peut maintenant être rejoins à l'addresse clodjee.com!

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Monday, September 17, 2012

Oniisama E... on Viki

Just a quick note to let you know that I just realized that the superb classic anime Oniisama E... a.k.a. Dear Brother [info: ANN / Wikipedia] is currently streaming on Viki.com! Based on a manga by Riyoko Ikeda serialized in Margaret in 1975, the 39-episode anime series, directed by Osamu Dezaki, aired on NHK in 1991-92.

I never really had the chance to watch it so here is the best opportunity to do it legally (I just need to find some time!). I highly recommend you to take a look too.

By the way, Viki has an excellent app in the iTunes store for both iPhones and iPads. Check that too!

So far, Viki's anime line-up offers mostly stuff from Tezuka (strangely enough, Oniisama E... was animated by Tezuka Productions!) but I am sure more great titles will eventually be added (Lady Oscar / The Rose of Versailles is coming in December anyway).

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Press Release: Right Stuf, Inc. Acquires The Rose of Versailles

Nozomi Ent. to release classic anime as limited-edition DVD sets in 2013 and to conduct fan Q&A with creator Riyoko Ikeda; Viki to begin streaming series in December 2012.

GRIMES, Iowa, Sept. 12, 2012 – Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to announce the acquisition of The Rose of Versailles anime series from TMS Entertainment.

Also known as “Berusaiyu no Bara” and “Lady Oscar,” The Rose of Versailles will be released via Right Stuf's Nozomi Entertainment as two limited-edition DVD box sets in 2013. The series will also be streamed, beginning in December 2012, and made available exclusively to fans in the United States and Canada on Viki (Viki.com), as part of the site's growing anime lineup. This will be the first time the entire anime series will be available to English-speaking audiences in North America.

Goldorak enfin en dvd!

Après la sortie dvd avortée en France et un long litige devant les tribunaux tant français que japonais entre le créateur Gô Nagai et la firme de production Tôei Animation (apparemment Tôei avait vendu les droits en France et produit la version française sans l'accord de Gô Nagai), le magazine français Animeland nous apprend que “Les 74 épisodes de la série culte Goldorak [info Animeland / ANN] vont enfin ressortir officiellement en français en DVD (...)... au Canada !” La nouvelle a par la suite été confirmée par Le Soleil et un communiqué de presse d'Imavision, qui en sera le distributeur.

Cette nouvelle est plutôt surprenante, puisque je n'avait pas entendu dire que le litige avait été règlé et qu'on s'attendrait plutôt à voir une sortie dvd d'abord en France et non au Québec. Espérons que cette sortie dvd ne sera pas troublée par les mêmes problèmes qu'avait eut Déclic Images en 2005. Quoiqu'il en soit, Imavision a annoncé la sortie du coffet dvd, en collaboration avec DEP, pour la période des Fêtes 2012. Une distribution sur “diverses plateformes” sera par ailleurs annoncée ultérieurement.

UFO Robo Grendizer / Goldorak © Go Nagai / Dynamic Planning Inc., Toei Animation Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Sunday, September 16, 2012

Gloires passagères

Notre collègue aide-bibliothécaire Louis Fortier, un sculpteur de talent (dont j'avais déjà mentionné l'exposition Métamorphose en mars), exposera à nouveau ses oeuvres en octobre.

Le grand écorché, 2010-2011, cire colorée sur polystyrène expansé (152 x 213 x 304 cm)

L'exposition, intitulée “Gloires passagères”, se tiendra du 4 au 28 octobre 2012 à la Galerie d'art d'Outremont (adjacente à la bibliothèque Robert-Bourassa). Situé au 41 avenue Saint-Just à Outremont, la galerie est ouverte du mardi au vendredi de 13h à 18h, et les samedi et dimanche de 13h à 17h. (Renseignements: 514 495-7419).

Louis Fortier travaille à partir de techniques de moulage qui lui permettent d’effectuer des variations dans la série. Depuis une quinzaine d’années, il revisite son anatomie — et plus particulièrement son visage — à la manière d’un journal. En cherchant des équivalences entre la nature fugitive des émotions et le caractère imprévisible de matériaux tels que la cire et le plâtre, la démarche de cet artiste déjoue la fixité habituelle propre au genre de l’autoportrait. Ainsi, les morceaux d’anatomie qu’il nous livre sont assujettis à des programmes qui génèrent des dérives et des distorsions. Du coup, le résultat de ses explorations artistiques pourraient s’entendre comme des tentatives de traduire les accidents de la vie courante et la fugacité de l’existence.

Mise à jour: article dans l'Express d'Outremont.

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Translation

The problem with multilingual blogs is that you cannot always post in a way to be understood by every readership at the same time. Sometimes I will post a comment both in French and English, but most of the time I post in either languages depending on the nature of the subject. For example, if I read a book in French I will most likely comment it in the same language and I will comment in English if I watch a movie in English. And, of course, the blog is not accessible to people speaking any other languages (like my ancient roman fans or my Japanese friends or some accidental Aafrikaner or Hindi readers). I've always found this particularly annoying.

I recently stumbled upon a Facebook page that was offering a link to translate the post into another language (in this case either Japanese or English). I found that such option was quite practical and wondered if it was possible to do something similar with Blogger. I couldn't find a cool and easy way like I saw for Facebook, but I found a couple of ways to reach my goal. (It would be nice though to have Blogger to add a “Translate” option at the bottom of each post).

From now on, you will find in the right side column (between the “links” and the “Search this blog”) a “Translate this blog” section with a “Select Language” pull down menu. It includes over sixty different languages but, since it assumes this blog is in English only, the list doesn't offer an English option, which would be quite useful for my French posts. Instead, for this particular case, I will try to always add at the end of my French posts a “[ Translate ]” link that will bring you to an English translation (by default, but it can be changed to any language you want).

Unfortunately, the translation option often mess up the layout of the post (mostly paragraph jump -- strangely the individual links for the French to English translation fare much better layout-wise) and the resulting translation is generally far from perfect (although sometimes quite funny). But that's the best it can do for now. However, to avoid formatting problems I might simply add a “[ Translate ]” link even for the posts in English...

I hope this solution will help widden the readership of this blog. In any case, let me know what you think. Do you like this new option or not (or it doesn't make any difference for you)?

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Friday, August 31, 2012

Press Review (August)

Not much change this month as I was still too busy and tired to do much. But I always have enough energy to gather scraplinks and share them with you after the jump:

Humour pas éthique en [six] huit catas strophes

AVERTISSEMENT: Peut contenir des traces de mauvais humour! Toutes personnes allergiques à l'humour salace, grivois, sexiste, anticlérical ou raciste, voir: au calambour obscure, sont fortement conseillé(e) de prendre les précautions nécessaires pour leur sécurité et devraient s'abstenir de lire plus loin! (On vous aura averti!)

Monday, August 27, 2012

Yamamoto Isoroku

“Japan, summer 1939. Pressure is building for Japan to sign a pact with Germany and Italy, but admiral Yamamoto is reluctant to go to war with the US, whom he considers too powerful.” (2012 Montreal World Film Festival schedule book)
WARNING: May contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot's elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further.

The full Japanese title of the movie is 聯合艦隊司令長官 山本五十六 (Rengô kantai shirei chôkan: Yamamoto Isoroku / Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet).

Yamamoto Isoroku (山本 五十六) was a great thinker and strategist (he's often depicted in the movie playing shogi, a chess-like military strategy game). He told his superiors (and I am paraphrasing here) “Don't make a tripartite alliance with Germany and Italy. If you do, the Americans will cut us from the essential supplies we need.” But eventually, they did make an alliance with Hitler. He also told them “Don't attack the U.S., because they're stronger than us. If we do, we'll lose and Japan will be utterly destroyed.” But eventually, they did attack the Americans and, having no choice, Yamamoto planned the attack himself. However, he warned his superiors to “make sure to declare war before attacking the Americans, because if not it will certainly make things worse.” Of course, the Japanese embassy screwed up and the declaration of war was given one hour after the attack, angering the Americans. There is no mention in the movie of his famous quote: “we have awaken a sleeping giant,” probably because it is now considered apocryphal. Finally, he insisted that, if they had to go to war with the Americans, it would be better to hit them hard and fast in the hope to crush their morale and be able to quickly sue for peace, because he considered that if Japan had to engage in a long war of attrition with them they would definitely lose since the Americans were far superior in force and resources.

Unfortunately, his superiors took no heed of his warnings and the Pacific war quickly became a messy affair as the Japanese kept making wrong decisions after another, leading toward an ugly end. The culprit was an enormous national pride that made people believe they could win despite the odds. Even if Pearl Harbor was a strategic failure (they gambled they could destroy the American Pacific Fleet, but its most important elements, the carriers, were nowhere to be seen), it was portrayed at home as a great victory. The “success” of Midway was a failure as well (Yamamoto's subordinates did not follow his instruction to “load half the airplanes with torpedoes in order to strike and sink the carriers that our attack will definitely draw”), but the huge lost sustained by the Navy ultimately sealed the fate of Japan. In Guadalcanal, a retreat became a “transfer of troops” in the national newspapers! Fortunately, Yamamoto died in an enemy attack in the Solomon Islands (he wanted to inspect the troops and boost their morale by his presence, but someone had stupidly broadcast his traveling plans), and therefore never witnessed the miserable end of the war.

Yamamoto Isoroku is a “biographical” drama that focuses solely on Yamamoto's role in the Pacific War and his conviction that war against the Americans was a mistake and that, if it was indeed inevitable, the best chances of success for Japan was to aim at a quick peace after hitting them hard and fast. Not much is said on his personal life: once in a while we glimpse of his family just to remind the viewers that he is human and has a wife and children. The movie is essentially an history lesson but, thanks to an excellent storytelling, it never feels like a lecture. The director achieves this by introducing the viewers to two groups of people -- a couple of newspaper reporters and the customers of a small izakaya bar -- which he cleverly use to communicate to the viewers the essential historical and chronological information about the progress of the war, its historical context, what's the public opinion at the time and who thinks what about the current strategy or geo-political situation.

Strangely, it doesn't feel at all like an anti-war movie and is not even apologetic of Japan's role in the war. It simply tells the viewers that, if Yamamoto's vision would have prevailed, the Pacific War might have been avoided or at least delayed and, in case of war, an early peace would have been pursued, avoiding all the horrors that ultimately deprived Japan of its honor. It tells us (and I totally agree with that assessment) that the war was essentially caused by the stupidity of the “hawks,” the warmonger amongst the media and the political bureaucracy. Unfortunately, in order to pass his message, the director is raising Yamamoto to a status of demi-god and the movie is endlessly chanting is coolness and greatness to the point of being annoying.

I am not sure exactly what this movie is telling us about the ideology of today's Japan. We've certainly seen an increase in war movies being produced lately and it seems to coincide with an hardening of the right wing parties seeking more aggressive politics. Many want to re-arm Japan or defend more aggressively Japanese territory against the claim of other countries in order to secure future resources. However, I don't think that this movie is part of this trend. In contrary, it seems to warn us against repeating the pitfall of history (but this time the sleeping giant would probably be China).

All in all, despite its ideological aspects, it is quite an interesting movie that offers a beautiful photography where, surprisingly, the special effects are minimally obtrusive (I cannot say they are barely noticeable, but at least they are negligibly obvious). A movie well worth watching.

Yamamoto Isoroku (Admiral Yamamoto): Japan, 2011, 140 min.; Dir.: Izuru Narushima; Scr.: Yasuo Hasegawa, Kenzaburo Iida; Phot.: Takahide Shibanushi, Hiroshi Futsuta; Ed.: Hirohide Abe; Mus.: Tarô Iwashiro; Prod.: Shohei Kotaki; Cast: Koji Yakusho, Hiroshi Tamaki, Akira Emoto, Toshiro Yanagiba, Hiroshi Abe, Eisaku Yoshida, Kippei Shiina, Takeo Nakahara, Ikuji Nakamura, Mitsugoro Bando, Mieko Harada, Asaka Seto, Rena Tanaka, Toru Masuoka, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Shunji Igarashi, Asaka Seto, Rena Tanaka, Toru Masuoka, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Shunji Igarashi. Screened, in presence of one of the producers, as part of the “World Great” segment (Out of competition) at the Montreal World Film Festival 2012, on August 26th, 18:40 in Cinéma Quartier Latin 9 (a theatre with a 350-seat capacity which was a little less than 3/4 full).
Other comments or reviews:

One last point, not related to the movie itself: The primary duty of a film festival and of a movie theatre is to preserve the integrity of the artistic works it is presenting. I didn't appreciate at all that the sound was cut off for almost the entire end credits of the movie. A soundtrack is an integral part of a movie. It's bad enough that the movie started late (because of the Q&A of the previous movie, I think) but it is not the first year that I witness unforgivable technical screw ups at the festival and particularly at the Quartier Latin. Of course, the people of the festival say it's the mistake of the projectionist who cannot see or ear what's happening inside the theatre, and the acting theatre manager I spoke to said all complaints should be directed to the festival staff since they are the one in charge during the festival (even of the projectionist). This lack of respect for the movie industry craftsmen who created this film and for the viewers is quite annoying. It is a small detail, I admit, but it should never happen. The frustration I feel when this happens distract me from the enjoyment of the movie.

Update: Here's a video of the very quick presentation made by one of the producers before the screening of "Yamamoto Isoroku" at the 2012 Montreal World Film Festival.


[ Traduire ]

Friday, August 17, 2012

Autotune & other songs

I am sure you remember this amazing song someone made using Autotune and some clips from Carl Sagan's tv series “Cosmos” and this other video it led me to.

Well, I discovered more autotune marvels. A funny Jeanne Moos' report on CNN brought to my attention a tribute autotune video clip that PBS made for the 100th anniversary of Julia Child. Quite funny. When I as looking for it, another article made me discover more autotune tributes by PBS, one for Mr. Rogers amongst others! Here they are:

On another note (not related to Autotune), someone made a parody / tribute video about NASA and the Curiosity Mars landing that has been quite popular lately:

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Fantasia 2012

Malheureusement les circonstances de la vie m'ont empêché encore une fois de bloguer sur les films de Fantasia de cette année. Mais voici quelques liens forts utiles pour compenser cette lacune.

La 16e édition de Fantasia nous offrait cette année plus de 160 films dont près d'une quarantaine en provenance du Japon. Je veux tout particulièrement attirer votre attention sur deux catégories parmis ces films Japonais.

En premier lieu, on y retrouve huit films d'animation qui offrent tous, d'une façon ou d'une autre, un grand intérêt:

Aussi, pour marquer le centenaire du plus ancien studio de cinéma Japonais, Fantasia organise -- en collaboration avec le Festival du Nouveau Cinéma -- une rétrospective de la Nikkatsu en présentant cinq œuvres clés:

Cette 16e édition de Fantasia s'est révélé un retentissant succès, entre autre grâce à un record d’affluence (Le Devoir). Le festival a également récompensé plusieurs des films Japonais:

Finalement, en attendant que je trouve le temps de commenter quelques un de ces films, vous pouvez consulter les sites suivants:

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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Scène attendrissante

Avant hier matin j'ai été le témoin d'une scène des plus attendrissantes. Une chatte avait établie domicile dans la cour de mes voisins avec ses quatre chatons. La mère étant partie chasser, les chatons, laissé à eux-même, jouaient ensemble. La cour étant envahie par les Gloires du matin, c'était vraiment merveilleux de voir les chatons se poursuivrent dans ce lit de fleurs mauves.


Cependant quand je suis revenu de travailler hier soir, les voisins avaient fait le ménage et disparu étaient les Gloires du matin et les petits chatons courant dans la cour. C'est bien dommage. L'idée de petits chatons perdus dans la ruelle me rend très triste...

Malheureusement j'en ai déjà plein les bras avec mes deux chats et avec mes précédentes mauvaises expériences à essayer sans succès de trouver preneurs pour des chatons abandonnés, je dois me rendre à l'évidence que je ne peux rien y faire.

Toutefois, n'ayez crainte, on a entendu et entr'appercu la chatte et ses chatons chez un autre voisin dont la cour est, elle, encore en friche.

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Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Montreal World Film Festival 2012

In a press conference today, the Montreal World Film Festival announced the programming of its 36th edition, which will be held from August 23 to September 3. During the twelve days of its duration, the festival will present 432 films from 80 countries, including 212 feature-length movies, 16 medium-length and 204 short films. 212 of those features will be the first film of its director and 216 of those productions will be world or international premieres! You can read more details in the press release announcing this impressive line-up.


This year the festival is offering us eleven Japanese movies (more than last year): three in competition (including one Canadian co-production and one in the first film competition), three in the World Great category and five in the Focus on World Cinema (including one short).

The World Competition
  • Karakara: Japan/Canada, 2012, 103 min.; Dir./Scr./Ed.: Claude Gagnon; Phot.: Michel St-Martin; Light.: Motoshi Kinjo; Sound: Masahiro Yokozawa & Louis Collin; Cost.: Yuko Arai; Ass. Dir.: Masato Tanno; Mus.: Yukito Ara; Theme Song: Sakishima Meeting (Yukito Ara & Isamu Shimoji); Prod.: Takako Miyahira, Samuel Gagnon, Claude Gagnon; Exec. Prod.: Yuri Yoshimura Gagnon; Cast: Gabriel Arcand, Youki Kudoh, Megumi Tomita, Yuichi Atta, Toshi Moromi, Tenyu Okuda, John Potter, Takayuki Ichise, Mieko Taira and a special appearance by Toshiko Taira. Was screened at Cannes in May 2012 as part of “Perspective Canada.”
    Looking to embark on a spiritual journey, Pierre Masson, a 61-year-old retired Quebec university professor, ends up making a short, unsettling trip around Okinawa with Junko, a 40-year-old runaway wife. The unprepared intellectual would rather not get involved with this unlikely and passionate lover, especially in an unfamiliar and disorienting cultural context. The confused, unwilling sexagenarian decides nevertheless to follow his destiny, unsure of where it (she?…) will take him.
    Schedule: Tue 8/28 19:00 TM.28.1; Tue 8/28 CI.28.1.
  • Anata e (Dearest): Japan, 2012, 111 min.; Dir.: Yasuo Furuhata; Scr.: Takeshi Aoshima, Yasuo Furuhata (based on a story by Seichi Ichiko); Phot.: Junichiro Hayashi; Ed.: Jun'ichi Kikuchi; Mus.: Yusuke Hayashi; Cast: Ken Takakura, Yuko Tanaka, Koichi Sato, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kimiko Yo, Haruka Ayase, Takahiro Miura, Tadanobu Asano, Takeshi Kitano, Mieko Harada, Hideji Otaki, Kyozo Nagatsuka, Takashi Okamura.
    Eiji's wife leaves a posthumous request for her ashes to returned to the sea off the coast of her hometown. She also informs Eiji that there is a letter awaiting him there in the post office.
    Schedule: Sun 9/2 19:00 TM.02.1; Sun 9/2 19:00 CI.02.1; Mon 9/3 14:00 CI.03.2.

First Films World Competition
  • Sono Yoru no Samurai (The Samurai That Night): Japan, 2012, 119 min.; Dir./Scr.: Masaaki Akahori (based on a play by himself); Cast: Sakura Andô, Gô Ayano, Tomorowo Taguchi, Mitsuki Tanimura, Hirofumi Arai, Maki Sakai.
    Nakamura is released from prison after serving five years for killing a woman in a hit-and-run accident. The woman's husband has vowed revenge.
    Schedule: Sat 9/1 18:40 L9.01.4; Sat 9/1 9:30 L14.01.1; Sun 9/2 16:10 L14.02.4; 9/3 14:20 L14.03.2.

World Great (Out of Competition)
  • Yamamoto Isoroku (Admiral Yamamoto): Japan, 2011, 140 min.; Dir.: Izuru Narushima; Scr.: Yasuo Hasegawa, Kenzaburo Iida; Phot.: Takahide Shibanushi, Hiroshi Futsuta; Ed.: Hirohide Abe; Mus.: Tarô Iwashiro; Prod.: Shohei Kotaki; Cast: Koji Yakusho, Hiroshi Tamaki, Akira Emoto, Toshiro Yanagiba, Hiroshi Abe, Eisaku Yoshida, Kippei Shiina, Takeo Nakahara, Ikuji Nakamura, Mitsugoro Bando, Mieko Harada, Asaka Seto, Rena Tanaka, Toru Masuoka, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Shunji Igarashi, Asaka Seto, Rena Tanaka, Toru Masuoka, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Shunji Igarashi. See description on AsianWiki.
    Japan, summer 1939. Pressure is building for Japan to sign a pact with Germany and Italy, but admiral Yamamoto is reluctant to go to war with the US, whom he considers too powerful.
    Schedule: Sat 8/25 11:00 L9.25.1; Sun 8/26 18:40 L9.26.5.
    Read our commentary on this movie.
  • Nobou no Shiro (The Floating Castle): Japan, 2012, 146 min.; Dir.: Isshin Inudo & Shinji Higushi; Scr.: Ryo Wada (based on his 2007 novel); Mus.: Koji Ueno; Prod: Osamu Kubota; Cast: Mansai Nomura, Koichi Sato, Hiroki Narimiya, Tomomitsu Yamaguchi, Nana Eikura, Honami Suzuki, Masachika Ichimura, Yusuke Kamiji, Takayuki Yamada, Takehiro Hira, Machiko Ono, Mana Ashida, Gin Maeda, Tokyo Dageki Dan, Sohkoh Wada.
    In the year 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is on the verge of conquering all of Japan. One obstacle remains: a floating fortress known as Oshi Castle, defended by only 500 men.
    Schedule: Tue 8/28 18:40 L9.28.4; Wed 8/29 16:30 L15.29.4; Thu 8/30 11:40 L15.30.2.
    Read our commentary on this movie.
  • Itai (Reunion): Japan, 2012, 100 min.; Dir.: Ryoichi Kimizuka (based on a non-fiction book by Ishii Kota); Cast: Nishida Toshiyuki, Ogata Naoto, Katsuji Ryo, Kunimura Jun, Sakai Wakana, Sato Koichi, Sano Shiro, Sawamura Ikki, Shida Mirai, Tsutsui Michitaka, and Yanagiba Toshiro. The story is set in a morgue of Kamaishi, Iwate, in the aftermath of the great March 11th 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. More details on Tokyo Hive or AsianWiki.
    In March 2011, following the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami, a small town on northeastern Japan is faced with the problem of collecting and disposing of the victims' bodies.
    Schedule: Sat 9/1 21:20 L9.01.5; Sun 9/2 14:00 L14.02.3; Mon 9/3 12:00 L14.03.1.
Focus on World Cinema
  • Kazoku no Kuni (Our Homeland): Japan, 2012, 100 min.; Dir./Scr.: Yong-hi Yang; Phot.: Yoshihisa Toda; Ed.: Takashige Kikui; Mus.: Tarô Iwashiro. Cast: Sakura Andô, Arata, Ik-Joon YangYang, Kotomi Kyôno, Masane Tsukayama, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Tarô Suwa. More details on The Japan Times.
    A Japanese family of Korean origin are torn apart by ideology as they welcome one of their own after 25 years in a “repatriation program.”
    Schedule: Fri 8/31 14:30 L15.31.3; Fri 8/31 21:40 L15.31.6; Sat 9/1 16:30 L15.01.4; Sun 9/2 12:40 L15.02.2.
  • Kon-shin: Japan, 2012, 134 min.; Dir.: Yoshinari Nishikori (based on Kenichi Kawakami novel); Cast: Sho Aoyagi, Ayumi Ito, and Naomi Zaizen. The story revolves around a Sumo wrestler preparing for a big classical Sumo Wrestling tournament held at Mizuwaka Temple on Oki island, Shimane Prefecture.
    Originally, Sumo was not a sport but a sacred ceremony. The classic Sumo culture and practice is still alive on the Oki islands.
    Schedule: Thu 8/30 13:50 L16.30.3; Fri 8/31 16:30 L16.31.4; Sat 9/1 21:00 L16.01.5.
  • Boku no Naka no Otoko no ko (The Little Girl in Me): Japan, 2012, 100 min.; Dir./Scr./Ed.: Shoji Kubota; Cast: Ryoma Baba, Bengaru, Ryûnosuke Kawai, Naoki Kawano, Hôka Kinoshita, Kouta Kusano, Yuri Nakamura, Kiriko Shimizu, Asahi Uchida, Kinuwo Yamada, Yûrei Yanagi.
    Devastated after being fired from his job, Kensuke locks himself up in his room, with only the Internet as his window to the outside. Then he discovers the world of cross-dressing.
    Schedule: Fri 8/31 12:00 L15.31.2; Fri 8/31 19:10 L15.31.5; Sat 9/1 11:50 L15.01.2; Sun 9/2 21:20 L15.02.6.
  • Tsui no Shintaku (The Terminal Trust): Japan, 2012, 144 min.; Dir./Scr.: Masayuki Suo (based on a short story by Saku Tatsuki); Cast: Tamiyo Kusakari, Kôji Yakusho, Takao Osawa, Tadanobu Asano. A movie about euthanasia.
    Shinzo Egi suffers from severe asthma but he does not want to be placed on life support.
    Schedule: Sat 9/1 14:30 L14.01.3; Sun 9/2 9:30 L14.02.1; Sun 9/2 18:40 L14.02.5.
  • B/W Foxes and the Cave of Light: Japan, 2012, 15 min.; dir.: Kiyoshi Endo; Cast: Takuma Wada. Short Film opening for Boku no Naka no Otoko no ko.
    “In a world of black and white, ore dug from the cave is shedding colored light. Mikuro, the “Black Fox” bandit, appears before the white-haired boy Kohaku, who is captured by a gang of thieves.“ (Festival's program)
    Read our commentary on this movie.

You can read a little more on some of those movies on the Coco Montreal website as their August issue (pages 8-9) offers an article detailing the Japanese movies at the festival.

The Festival Guide Book is now available online and provides the films' index and schedule in PDF format. (8/15)

The complete, searchable schedule is now available. (8/17)

See some press coverage on the festival:

You can also read the comments of Claude R. Blouin on the japanese movies presented at the festival on the Shomingekiblog.

More details and links will be added as the information become available.

Updated: 8/8 (MWFF teaser, Karakara & Anata e info); 8/9, 8/10, 8/11 (more movies info), 8/15 (more info, schedule & Karakara's trailer link), 8/16 (a few details), 8/17 (FFM links), 8/27 (press coverage links) & 9/16 (Shomingekiblog link).