Rue St-Denis – 2013.05.16
Indochine
I learned on Friday afternoon that the French group Indochine was to perform that evening at the Bell Center, for a special single concert in North America. I didn’t know at all that they would be coming here when I posted about them recently. Insight? 
They didn’t have all the extravaganza props they have in outdoor concerts, but those who where there and just about all the music critics said it was a top notch concert, and a long one at that.
After-party clean-up
The new provincial government, the one elected the same day I was first operated on, Sept 4, 2012, has created a three-member commission to analyze the events of last Spring (the 2012 “Printemps érable”). Not an easy task. 
For info, number 728 (she’s known this way now – Matricule 728) is the Police ID number of that woman who pepper-sprayed a student at point blank, and who is also involved in various force abuse incidents.
«Where do we start?»
Cartoon © A-P Côté, Le Soleil
Kissing in the animal farm
This morning, I found in my paper this column by Jean Dion, humoristic sports columnist. I’m not usually interested in sports, team or individual, but I thought his column raked much more than the sports field in giving a face to all those stupid gimmicks we are subjected to everywhere, trying to lure people into buying whatever these people peddle, and to which the generic “stupid idea” fits like a glove.
«[..]
In the category “no way anymore to watch a game of ball in peace”, there is the Kiss Cam, a serious candidate for the title of the dumbest invention in the history of sport. The principle is as simple as ridiculous: during a pause in the action, a camera finds is a couple in the stands. Their image is shown on the stadium’s large score indicator, and both must kiss, which earns them the applause of the crowd. If they don’t, they are usually copiously booed.
Obviously, such an exercise has its share of disadvantages. For one, it is possible that we have to deal with people very embarrassed to have to kiss in front of thousands of people. Two, if only one member of the couple refuses to comply, it may generate tensions, as is often seen. Three, it may be total strangers simply occupying neighboring seats. Four, let that the man and the woman are married, but each with someone else (yes, there are people who spends quality time with her lover / mistress at baseball games). Five, the Kiss Cam squarely discriminates against same-sex spouses since it would never stop on two guys and two girls.
The Kiss Cam is essentially a North American phenomenon, but however has been around the world last year when none other than the President of the United States of America and the First Lady themselves in person were being aimed at at a basketball game in Washington. The first time, Barack and Michelle Obama just smiled. Booes, of course. So when, later in the game, the camera returned on them, he gave her a soft kiss on the lips. That’s what popular pressure is able to do.
So Sunday, we end up at the Dodger Stadium, and a young man and a young woman are isolated by the Kiss Cam. The woman immediately puts her hand over his face, while the man gets up and runs away climbing the stairs of his section. A shock investigator was subsequently sent on location to enquire about the reasons which prompted James not to kiss his girlfriend Kristy. “It’s not my girlfriend. It’s my sister”, answered James.
Therefore, as the saying goes, a tie game is like kissing one’s sister. And there are no tie games in baseball. Too bad there isn’t also a ban on stupid ideas.»
© Jean Dion, Le Devoir
In the same category, I’d dump also the “wave” and the “floating over the crowd gig”. Especially the “wave”. One spectator leans on his neighbor and then 50,000 morons feel compelled to do the same.
Da food section (warning: partly horrific – may also induce drowsiness)
On May 2, I didn’t feel at all like preparing supper and it was a while (last summer) since I had gone to the Smoked Meat restaurant on St-Hubert, corner St-Zotique. They have a take-out option which I usually use. I returned there later this month with Friend but we then ate on the premises. Anyways, I passed in front of the large IGA supermarket before getting there and entered (normal behavior for a food slut like me), just in case I’d see something to buy. There they were, twin mini-pizzas, and at a price hard to beat. The smoked meat would have cost me 12$ to 13$ with the tip. I gave a quick look at the ingredients (I always do) but it was past 21h00 and I was hungry and what the heck! Back home, I had a better look at the ingredient list. Frankly, the next morning, I was surprised to still be alive. 
Somewhere between May 2 and May 5, they had pieces of boneless ham (jambon blanc) on special at my corner supermarket and I bought a small piece. Good for two or three meals. On the 5th, I made this, mostly because it’s easy. And good also which ruins nothing. Fettucine, butter, ham, garlic (lots), italian (flat) parsley and parmesan. When I’m really into it, I buy snow peas and make a crown around the pasta, in which case I use a regular plate. This is a re-run since there is another pic about this dish in my Xangan Photos.
May 5th (a Sunday) I went to Milano on boul. St-Laurenet and came back with a pack of fresh raviolis, these stuffed with cheeses. The next day, I made a bit of tomato sauce to go with them and voilà! Of course, sprinkled also with grated parmesan.
May 8th, I had leftovers of both ham and mixed salad. I checked the internet for some ham salad recipe and found two or three which had bits I liked and bits I didn’t like. What I did is take only the bits I liked, ending up with an improvised salad which I probably won’t be able to reproduce because I kept neither links nor copies of those recipes. I think it was good but I’m not 100% sure. It was cute though. The eggs were not a success, although they were just as mentioned in the concerned recipe, that is cooked just below the fully cooked barrier. I don’t know how they cut them, maybe just in half with a wet knife, but I had a recently bought egg slicer I wanted to try out and the yellow parts just clinged to its wires. I had to do some plastic surgery to reunite the yellows and the whites. Not an easy task since those yellows were also sticking to my fingers.
On the 15th, I still had a final leftover of ham, under the form of a nice slice. Usually I would pan fry it, adding maple syrup in the end, and serve it with pasta, like farfalle and maybe some cream-style corn. That day, I had no envy to indulge in anything fancy. But to bring a little zest of spice in an otherwise somewhat boring life, I decided to make something I hadn’t done in quite some time: pilaf rice. Pilaf rice is a risotto which took the wrong exit. 
I made this one with Basmati rice.
On the 19th, Mexican nostalgia pitched an El Jardín sandwich on my menu. I call it that way because the restaurant where I first ate that sandwich was called El Jardín (in Puerto Escondido, State of Oaxaca, Mexico). The rest of their menu was mostly veggie, not my cup of tea. But this sandwich had chipotle in it, and that’s enough to wake me up. Starting from the bottom, slices of tomatillos, pieces of chipotle, Oaxaca cheese, then lettuce and finally mayonnaise. Must be done with whole wheat buns (says me). Bottom bun up to the cheese are put in the oven to heat. Upper bun is placed in the oven a little later, on the side. When cheese begins to melt, add the lettuce, the mayonnaise and the top bun. Nice with a Mexican apple soda (Sidral Mundet). Oaxaca cheese is expensive so I often use Montery Jack instead. The former is a ball of filamental fresh cheese and doesn’t conserve well, not mentioning that its leftovers are not obvious to use. The Monterey Jack I use is made by Kraft so it’s good for centuries.
Tomatillos are tomato-like fruits except there is no soft part in the interior. They come in a husk which sticks to them with some kind of glue and which is easily dissolved under tap water. The husk is to be removed beforehand, should I add. Chipotles, here in adobo sauce, are smoked jalapeños. Depending on the company, they will be either red like here, or very dark, almost brown. These chipotles are whole meaning that their seeds and veins are still inside. These buggers are really hot. For this sandwich, I use only one cut in 3 or 4 smaller pieces and I remove the seeds, which is a waste of time since the ‘hotness’ has already transferred to the skin.
May 23rd was the rock bottom pit of laziness, or blandness, or boringness, make your pick. Merguez with Pilaf (again 
)
I’ll stop here because I don’t remember what I had the other days (except that time with Friend at the restaurant) which means that I probably had an idea what to eat on those days but engaged in all sorts of activities resulting with me starting to be hungry and simultaneously noticing it was past 22h00. This is what you call a grilled cheese type of circumstance. 
I’m not sick or anything. I’m just tired all the time and occupied by other stuff which I always put off to later which in turn stresses and tires me. It’s what we call here the Hygrade syndrome, a wiener sausage tv ad slogan which incrusted itself in everybody’s mind: More people eat them because they are more fresh; they are more fresh because more people eat them. That can be applied to just about anything. Found in an article from my paper on the net: More people leave Montréal because taxes are too high. Taxes are too high because more people leave Montreal.
The Italian Corvo above, and the Willm Riesling, are half bottles I keep “for the visitors”. 
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