Happy New Year!

L'image du mercredi

Derniers jours de décembre / Last days of December
Le neige a toute fondue ! / The snow has all melted!
(iPhone 6, camera360 app, 2014-12-26 & 27)

The month in review (Nov-Dec)

Too many things to talk about so the domestic report will be in a separate entry this time…

The last couple of months have been busy so I haven't watch or read that much news, but, still, I have gathered nearly two hundreds links to share with you. The news have been dominated by local stories (austerity mesures, union fighting back) and science stories (Rosetta & Philae comet mission, Amphipolis Tomb discovery, new gadgets), a few disasters & terrorist attacks as well as the inevitable reviews of the year. Have a look after the jump…

Original location of SDF-1 identified !

We all remember the scene in the very first episode of Robotech (or Macross) where the SDF-1 (or Macross Super-Dimentional-Fortress) automatically shoot its main gun and blasts part of the island where it is located. Ever wondered where this island was located in reality ?

You won't believe it! Click here to see where it is located >>

My year in books

Goodreads is kind enough to remind me how little books I read this year. Incredibly I read only twenty books this year and most of them are manga! (actually, I read a few more that I forgot to log as read). I definitely need to watch less TV in 2015 and read (as well as review) more books. So my goal for 2015: read twice as much books!

This year there are so little titles that I could hardly establish a top 10. Beside, they were all good. However, I particularly liked the Cesare series, Josephine and Le rouge et le noir.

For my top 10 movies & TV series see the post The year in media entertainment.

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Les images du chat-medi

Caramel, Saya et toute la famille vous souhaitent de Joyeuses Fêtes et une excellente année 2015 !

Caramel, Saya and the whole family wishes you Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year !

L'Image du mercredi

Couchés de soleil de décembre / December sunsets

Crépuscule sur la carrière / Sunset on the quarry
(iPhone 6, Camera360 app, 2014-12-13)


Crépuscules sur le parc / Sunsets on the park
(iPhone 6, Camera360 app, 2014-12-19)

Passez de Joyeuses Fêtes et ayez une Bonne Année !

Comme toujours je souhaite à tous de Joyeuses Fêtes et une excellente année 2015 !
As always I wish you all a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year 2015!
كما هو الحال دائما أتمنى لكم جميعا عيد ميلاد سعيد وسنة جديدة سعيدة 2015!
Както винаги Пожелавам на всички Весела Коледа и щастлива Нова 2015 година!
與往常一樣祝你聖誕快樂，2015年新年快樂大家！
Kiel ĉiam mi deziras al vi ĉiuj Feliĉa Kristnasko kaj Bonan Novjaron 2015!
Wie immer wünsche ich Ihnen allen ein frohes Weihnachtsfest und ein glückliches neues Jahr!
Όπως πάντα, εύχομαι σε όλους σας Καλά Χριστούγεννα και ευτυχισμένο το νέο έτος 2015!
כמו תמיד אני מאחל לך את כל חג מולד שמח ומאושר חדש שינה 2015!
हमेशा की तरह मैं आप चाहते हैं सब एक मेरी क्रिसमस और एक नया साल मुबारक 2015!
Come sempre vi auguro a tutti un Buon Natale e un felice anno nuovo 2015!
いつものように私はあなたを望むすべてのメリークリスマスと幸せな新年2015年！
언제나 나는 당신에게 원하는 모든 메리 크리스마스, 해피 뉴 2015 년!
Volo autem omnes esse sicut semper, et novus annus Christmas MMXV!
مثل همیشه من برای شما آرزوی همه کریسمس مبارک و سال نو مبارک 2015!
Как всегда, я желаю вам всего Веселого Рождества и счастливого Нового 2015 года!
Como siempre les deseo a todos una Feliz Navidad y un feliz año nuevo 2015!
Som alltid önskar jag er alla en God Jul och ett gott nytt år 2015!
และเช่นเคยผมหวังว่าทุกท่านสุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาสและปีใหม่มีความสุข 2015!
Như mọi khi, tôi muốn tất cả các bạn một Giáng sinh vui vẻ và một năm mới hạnh phúc 2015!

Découvertes livresques multiples

En furetant dans le catalogue “Découverte” des bibliothèques de Montréal, à la recherche de mangas historiques (ou de livres sur l'histoire du manga?), j'ai trouvé quelques titres de plus à ajouter à ma longue liste de lecture. Je vous en fait ici une brève introduction. Décidément, il va vraiment me falloir trouver beaucoup plus de temps pour lire en 2015 !

>> Cliquez ici pour lire la suite

Merry potter

Two weeks ago I went to a small winter bazar (15 th Annual JCCCM Holiday Craft and Food Sale) organized annually by the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center of Montreal (JCCCM) for the sole purpose to see a pottery craftsman. I met him at last year's bazar and bought a small piece from him. This year I wanted to go back to purchase more.

His name is Daniel De Lisle (Facebook, Google+, Picassa). According to Créateur d'Ici, “he is a ceramist since 2007 and lives in Quebec's pottery capital, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in the Montérégie”. He spent two years in Japan and that's where he developed his passion for Ceramics and pottery. “His clay work is inspired by Japanese tradition but also by abstract geometric shapes, a fusion of wabi-sabi and modernism, which demonstrates his ambivalence between West and East. His works are exhibited in Japan, Hungary, France and Canada, including the Japanese consulate in Montreal“. His production includes mostly tea bowls and “japonaiserie” [japonism].

I like his work a lot (that's why I wanted to share it with you). Here are the three pieces I own (in the center: the one I purchase last year and, on each side, the two I bought this year):


(in the background you can see a part of my metal cups collection)
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L'image du chat-medi

Caramel (2014-12-05)

Cols blancs: dures négos en perspective

La loi 3 a été passé malgré les protestations des syndicats et des journées de deuil (lire grève) qui n'ont pas été sans un aspect ludique (voir le jeu “Perdant à vie”)! La lutte se poursuit mais cette fois devant les tribunaux…

Il est donc temps maintenant de se tourner vers la négociation de notre convention collective (échue depuis décembre 2010 et prolongée pour une année jusqu'en décembre 2011). Dans un récent communiqué, intitulé “Négociations: l’hiver sera froid”, le syndicat des fonctionnaires municipaux de Montréal (SFMM) nous faisait un compte-rendu de la première rencontre de négociation “sérieuse” avec la ville qui a eut lieu le 8 décembre. Les nouvelles ne sont pas bonnes et il semble que nous devrons faire face à de dures négociations…

En effet, la ville en a profité pour déposer son nouveau cahier de demandes. Elle désire maintenant réduire la rémunération globale des employés cols blancs de 12 % ! Pour y parvenir la ville tentera d’augmenter les heures travaillées en plus de diminuer le coût des avantages sociaux. Si il n'est pas encore clair ce qu'ils veulent dire pas “augmentation des heures travaillées” (nous faire passer à quarante heures par semaine?), il est évident que la ville va tenter, comme c'est le cas pour nos collègues provinciaux, de revenir sur plusieurs de nos acquis tels que nos vacances, congés mobiles et congés de maladie! Et, comme si c'était pas assez, en plus des ajustements de retraite apportés par la loi 3, la ville exige un nouveau partage du régime d’assurance!

>> Cliquez ici pour lire la suite

L'image du mercredi

Chemin enneigé / Snowy trail
(iPhone 6, camera360 4:3, 2014-12-12)

Nuclear scream

While I was watching the news on NHK World, I saw a group of anti-nuclear protesters brandishing this sign and I thought it was quite cool. It is of course a mash-up between the radiation warning symbol and the famous painting “The Scream of Nature” [Der Schrei der Natur] by Edvard Munch. Quite clever.

Of course, the use of nuclear energy has always been controversial, particularly in Japan where people still rightfully bear the stigma of having been the first and only country to be bombed with a nuclear weapon. The anti-nuclear movement is an aggregation of groups with both environmental and nuclear disarmament concerns. If I am in favour of disarmament (although I would not readily dismiss the idea that the bombing of Japan was unnecessary like it is currently in fashion to believe), I've always been on the fence on the environmental argument.

Nuclear energy is after all the best example of science in the service of man. It offers cheap and clean energy. But (there's always a but) is a dangerous energy (no problem to control it until shit happens: human error, neglectfulness, freak nature accident, etc.; a couple of disasters [like Chernobyl and Fukushima] have caused a serious rethinking of nuclear energy policies, particularly in Germany) and there's always the thorny problem of the waste… I've always thought that as long as there is no better alternative it must be an option on the table, but with solar, wind and hydro energy getting more advanced and less costly, the nuclear option become less and less attractive. Of course, if we want to move away quickly from Fossil-fuel based energy, nuclear power must remain an option at least temporarily. But maybe not in regions that are subject to earthquake, tsunami and typhoon like it is the case in Japan. However, considering the constant rise of energy cost since the total shutdown following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Japan will have no choice but to restart at least some of their fifty-something nuclear power stations.

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L'image du chat-medi

Saya (2014-12—05)

L'image du mercredi

Ciel bleu de décembre / Blue sky of December
(iPhone 6, camera360 app, 2014-12-07)

L'image du chat-medi

Vanille
(iPhone 6, camera app, 2014-11-22)

L'image du mercredi

Bordure du circus michaelis
(iPhone 6, camera360 app, 2014/11/29)

(On aperçoit bien sûr ci-haut la Tohu et l'usine Gazmont à l'extrémité est du CESM)

Vieil arbre / La nuit tombe sur le parc
(iPhone 6, camera360 app, 2014/11/29 & 2014/12/05)