Serenity

Usually my favorite movies are those that I hear very little about before seeing them. That way I don't have any expectations and I don't know too much of the storyline. Serenity I had seen the trailers a few times on TV and I read the synopsis on CinemaMontreal.com. I saw that it got good ratings from people who saw it, but it's the general public and we still did not know much about the story. Ironically by recommending it, I may be getting up your expectations.

We really enjoyed this movie. I would describe it as a mix of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars Ep 4. It has the humor of Raiders, the futuristic look and feel of Star Wars, with the action of both. I really want to see it again partly because we were up front and I missed a few things.

The cast is largely unknowns which is also a plus (just like Star Wars). Plus my wife and I agree the cast were easy on the eyes. The two cast members that I had seen before include Ron Glass and Adam Baldwin. Ron Glass I remember from the Barney Miller TV show. Adam Baldwin was the hero, Ricky Linderman, from one of my childhood favorite movies, My Bodyguard. The film was shot near my home and we had it on tape so I saw it dozens of times. It was also the second major film of Matt Dillon and Joan Cusack.

Back to Serenity, the storyline also has quite a few parallels to Star Wars. Underdogs, faith, and moral character. I really enjoyed the cinematography. They played with the focus a few times where the primary speaker was out of focus in order to keep your attention on the person in focus. One observation is that the movie is full of Asian references (they even swear in Chinese), but there are very few Asian actors in the film. In summary, the film is well balanced between the humor, action, drama, and horror. I look forward to seeing it again and hope for a sequel. I am also anxious to see how it plays out in the general public. Will it fade away as a good film, be a largely forgotten film, become a cult classic, or become the start of a new series of films? I consider it the best movie I have seen this year and would give it 9.3 out of 10.

Programming Note

Diversification. I had planned to keep this blog focused on Chicago vs Montreal differences, but there is so much more to life that I will slowly add other topics. I already have made my voice heard on some political issues. There are also a few other reasons. How many things can be said about the differences in cities? The audience of the blog is changing from almost strictly Chicagoans to include Montrealers. And whereas, my thoughts consisted primarily about my new environment as compared to my previous habitat, it is time to move on and embrace life here. Part of that transition was possible because of the release I got expressing my observations on this blog. As with everything, it is time to evolve. I still have at least two dozen topics I hope to cover in the coming months, including separtism, temperature, and snow. I also hope to keep my posts at about two a week. Not too much, not too little.

With that, I am posting my first movie review. Like most people, I like movies and like telling others what I think about them. My movie tastes tend to be eclectic. I figured out recently that I like thrillers, but not tear-jerker dramas. I have seen enough war movies that I'm not in a rush to see another. I like movies that are different like Memento and Amelie. Especially when they are filmed artistically like the M. Night Shyamalan movies. Though I'm not a movie snob. I liked comedies like Happy Gilmore and camply action movies like The Fifth Element. I'll try to limit the reviews to really good movies, lesser know films, and those I have differing opinions that the general public.

Autumn This Weekend

This weekend is probably your best shot to see the fall colors. This photo was taken last year on this weekend. The sugar maples put on quite a show.

Man in the Mirror

I apoligize for another Bush post, but I just read something I found ironic. From CBC News:

Bush drew parallels between the war on terrorism and the earlier fight against communism.

"Evil men obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously, and we must stop them before their crimes multiply."

He also gave us a timely reminder to remember to be living in fear of terrorism in case we forgot because of the hurricanes. Oh yeah, the next plague may be coming soon also.

Language, Part 3 - Correction

In my last post earlier this week, I rattled off some numbers in paragraph two in a haste to publish the next in the series. I had studied the demographics a few months ago and the numbers cited were from my recollection. Here are the correct demographics for the island. I used the 1996 Census results from the City of Montreal webpage. There is a study done more recently, but the raw census numbers gave more info. I hope this is of use or of interest to you.

Although there is a common notion here that the island splits into east and west sections either at St. Laurent or downtown, it seems the island splits more into three sections with a couple exceptions. There is the west island west of the Chomedey expressway. There is the east island east of Papineau. And there is the center section between the other two.

The island as a whole. Consistently around the island the allophones (those who's mother tongue is neither English or French) stands between 25% and 30%. Francophones (mother tongue French) make up 54% of the island and anglophones (mother tongue English) make up 19%. Among the allophones, Italian is 6.3%, Spanish at 2.9%, Arabic at 2.6%, Chinese 1.7%, Greek 1.5%, Creole 1.5%, Portugese 1.2%, and Vietnamese 1.0%. As an interesting side note, Blacks make up only 5.7%. I know they are about 10% in the US with higher concentrations in the major cities. So I would guess there are four times less blacks here that back in the US. This is in reference to a previous post on my preceived lack of racism.

Breakdown by city sections. Not including the allophones, the percentages of anglophone and francophones are: 63.3%/36.7% on the west island, 27.4%/72.6% in the center, and 6.8%/93.2% on the east island. Regarding bilingualism the rate is 65.3% in the west, 56.4% in the center, and 44,5% in the east. For those who can speak only English, 25% of the west island can only speak English, 15.4% in the center, and 4.5% in the east. French breaks down 7.8% in the west, 25% in the center, and 47.3% in the east. So you can see that it generally does have the east/west division with a leaning toward French all over the island. Another side note, the anglophone/francophone division in Longueil on the south shore is 10%/90% to strength the point in the last post of how French become dominant off the island.

The exceptions. Hampsted and Westmont were grouped with the west island because they have the highest anglophone populations and lowest francophone populations. Notre-Dame-de-Grace (NDG) is almost equally balanced between the three groups and has an unusually high concentration of English only citizens. St-Laurent, Villeray, St-Michel, Parc-Extension, and St-Leonard have high allophone populations. I'll elaborate on that in the next paragraph. Although Ahuntsic and Cartierville are in the center, they have a very low anglophone population (5.8%). Although Ile-Bizard is west island, it has twice as many francophones than anglophones.

Where are the allophones? It is well know that the Jewish have settled on the opposite side of the mountain from downtown in Outremont, Cote-St-Luc, Hampstead, and Montreal-Ouest. Also the Italians along with the Spanish are concentrated in the north east island: St-Leonard, Riviere-des-Prairies, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Montreal-Est, Montreal-Nord, Villeray, St-Michel, and Parc-Extension. Arabs are primarily north of the city in St-Laurent, Mont-Royal, Ahuntsic, Cartierville, Dollard-des-Ormeaux (DDO), and Roxboro. And the Chinese are concentrated in St-Laurent, Ville-Marie, Villeray, St-Michel, Parc-Extension, and the Plateau-Mont-Royal.

I really enjoyed plowing through the numbers and distilling the breakdown and exceptions. But that's what I do for a living, play with numbers and problem solve. I have also done studies of professional sports and each city or teams frequency of championships. I may share it around the World Series. This study also helps me get a better sense of the city. I hope you find it interesting and useful.

Metroblogging Montréal

Thanks again to my friend John, I am taking another step in the blogosphere. He suggested a link to Metroblogging New Orleans during Katrina to get some first-hand accounts of what people were going through. From there I realized there was a Metroblogging Montréal. Soon after I started following that page, one of the authors asked for more authors. So I am taking the plunge and seeing what I can offer. My plan is to keep this blog focussed on Montreal vs. Chicago differences and have posts on the other page relating to day to day life in Montreal. I see this winter as being slow on the sport viewing side since the Bears, Illini, and even the Packers don't look to do well. So I will use that time and other time that I was otherwise doing meaningless surfing devoted to this new endeavor. Wish me luck and thanks for reading.

Language, Part 2 - Quebec

Here is what I understand as the situation here in Quebec given my experience so far. For the natives, feel free to correct me.

The language demographics. Outside of the metropolitan area and places patronized by anglophone tourists, French is the language and English is a rarity. Many people outside these areas have little need and opportunity to speak English. In the metropolitan area, the division of francophone/anglophone splits at downtown. East of downtown is francophone generally by a ratio of 90/10, while west of downtown is anglophone by a ratio of 70/30. I did not include allophones (those who speak another language) in the percentages. They generally make up about 10 -15% on the island. My impression is that about half the francophones are fluent in English, while closer to three-quaters of the anglophones are fluent in French. I have limited experience of the north shore and the west island, so these are educated guesses on the anglophones.

Although I think a francophone can get by not speaking English as long as their business is not downtown, I find it hard believe an anglophone could do the opposite. I say this because French is the primary language here and there are only limited areas that are largely anglophone. I'm sure people could get by the same way I did in Europe, but to live here I feel you would eventually need to understand French. I'm just saying that it limits your options on both sides.

As a foreigner, I have addressed the language situation by assuming that this is a francophone province and it is my perogative to treat it as such. Therefore, when I meet people for the first time, I always address them in French and try my best to continue discussions in French. The funny thing is that many times it is evident that the person I am speaking to is anglophone but my brain keeps wanting to address them in French. When I return to the states I have the same problem. My brain keeps wanting to address people in French and sometimes I say Merci instead of Thank you.

With all of this said, it is a great place to learn French for an anglophone. Everything is written in both languages. There is a high percentage of people who speak both languages downtown. And I think that since people in the city know what it is like to learn the other language, they are very understanding of people who are learning. The other thing is that since there is an anglophone presense here, there is always that opportunity to escape back to your mother tongue every once in a while. For instance, I have been very bad about reading and watching things in French. I have been worried I would miss some important news or whathaveyou. Now that I am retreating from my interest in the news to return to naive bliss, I am free to study more on those fronts.

Language, Part 1 - My Background

I have been putting off this series of posts for some time now. Mainly because I wanted to collect my thoughts and make sure of what I have observed since it is probably the biggest aspect of life here. I will start with my journey with the French language so you know where I am coming from and where I'm at.


Fifteen years ago, I took part in a study abroad program in Versailles, France. The program was the equivalent of tranporting our classroom into a foreign country. We had all our own professors, our classes were in English, and the classes were the same as those the other half of our class took back home. So to prepare us for our stay, we were required to take a basic French class. I was in the lowest level class and we learned very basic French. Just a step above what you would read in a tourist guide. My best memory was when a friend learned how to say his name : 'Je m'appel Chuck'. Over the summer before the trip, I also bought a set of language cassettes and tried listen and repeating them in the car to work.

My very first experience was on the plane to France. I remember the flight attendant saying 'Bonjour' and I kinda chuckled and thought 'OK, Bonn Jewr'. But then I started to realize 'Hello!! You better get used to this'. It is funny how you find other languages kinda funny when you have limited knowledge of it. An example is Arnold's 'Hasta la vista.... baby'. After arriving in France, the school had set aside the first couple weeks for intense study of the language. I was still in the bottom class and we struggled through it. I even took a supplementary course. For that nine months, I had enough to get by (where is this and that?, my name is..., train schedules), but a conversation was out of the question.

A couple years later, I met my future wife (a Quebecoise) who came on the opposite exchange from France. She had a better handle on English and served as tranlator for the other French. That year I started spending a week or two every year coming to visit the in-laws. Only three or four were fluent and a couple others could hold conversations. Over the years, the trips served as yearly refresher courses slowly learning a little every year.

After my graduation, I returned to France for three reasons. To spend time with my girlfriend, help her with her thesis, and learn more about the French culture and language without the shelter of the school. I basically spent the nine months sitting quietly listening to those around me hold conversations. So my ear for the language progressed, my speaking skill advanced a bit mimicing what I had heard, but my writing skills did not advance. I ran into a few of the stereotypical French who refused to understand me. I would ask for a bagette and get a blank stare. 'Hello!! This is a bakery and your most popular product is bagettes!' Not to mention I would go in there everyday and get the same thing. Long red hair dressed all in black sticks out in bourgois Versailles.

So then the move here two years ago. Let me say for the first time (I will say it again later) that the people here are extremely understanding for someone learning the langauge. Almost night and day compared to France. In this nurturing environment, I have progressed to the current state of being able to understand most conversations with some concentration on my part. I can get my point across, but I still search for words. I can get the gist of what is written as long as there are no complex words. I can write with the help of a dictionary, but I have not mastered the best way to turn phrases. I still have times when I am completely lost. Sometimes because of peoples accent, the subject matter, or if people speak in cliches or expressions.

In the next post later this week, I will cover the state of language here in Montreal from what I have seen these last two years.

This Week's Pic.

Downtown Montréal from the south shore.

CNN Sabatical

OK. Now that Rita has passed, I am going to stop watching CNN indefinitely. My wife points out that it is depressing to watch, which is true since I was watching it almost exclusively during the Katrina coverage.

I started following CNN online after Sept. 11th to be sure I knew about something as soon as it happens or to be one of the first to know. Since I was working downtown, I felt it may save my life to know of a dangerous situation if it were to happen. I will probably still follow the online version. I can read only the articles of interest and on TV you're stuck with what they show. I started watching CNN after we moved here because it was 24/7 about US news.

It is time for me to move on and start following the news here in Montreal. I have been getting news here via news radio, morning radio programs, and free handout printed journals. Occasionally, I would end up watching local TV news, but for the most part I would switch to CNN. When I would return to Chicago, everyone would always asks me what people think up here or what the news reports. The ironic thing is that I watched CNN in order to be on the same page as them. So far I have only been able to relay what I had heard from occasional conversations with acquaintences and comments on the radio. This is probably another small step in the transition from Chicago to here. At a later date, I will be able to relay what differences I see.

Golf

Here's something that surprised me. Apparently the sport of golf is more true to it's elitest beginnings here.

The other weekend I went to a family golf outing wearing a baseball cap, collared shirt, denim shorts, and gym shoes. I figured I was 'dressing up' by wearing the collared shirt. As I was paying for my round, the woman behind the counter told me that I could not wear jean shorts. It really surprised me since it was a public course and not a country club where I would understand they have a dress code. So I was forced to buy an ugly pair of shorts in the pro shop. Afterward, an elitest member of our group who golfs regularly told me that there are NO courses in Quebec that allow you to wear jean shorts. A collared shirt or 'Tiger Woods' long sleeve high collared shirt (a dickie?) is required. Plus all shirts must be tucked it. Can it really be true that all courses here require that or only the one that person frequents?

I enjoy playing golf when I have a chance two or three times a year. I'm decent at it and have played for over twenty years. Plus I used to play wearing a t-shirt, jean shorts, and sandals back in the states unless by chance was a 'nice' course. I'm not fond of the elitest beginnings and my dress code may have been a rebellion against it. Anyhow, it surprises me because I have been under the impression there is less of the elitest attitude here. If I'm wrong, please someone correct me.

Autumn is here.

Here's a photo from a couple years ago from our old apartment. The Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome which was the US pavilion at the Expo 67. I has since been converted to the Biosphere which is a museum dedicated to the ecology of the St Lawrence River ecosystem. In the background is the Jacques Cartier Bridge.