Anglophone Montrealers open and close lights, fall pregnant, get a coffee, go to vernissages, eat on the terrasse, and get cash at the guichet. Francophone Montreals, if they are lucky, have un chum or une blonde who is not only smooth but also le fun. Basically English (and its three main 'ethnolects' here, British, Jewish, and Italian) and French get all
interestingly mixed up.
[more inside]
posted by Salamandrous
on Feb 14, 2010 -
55 comments
Montréal Mirabel Airport was opened in 1975 at the cost of $2 billion adjusted. Ultimately its tarmac and runway areas alone were to take up 70 km
2 (27 mi
2) of space and would have made it the world's largest airport. The airport never got any busier than Boise Airport is today, and the passenger terminals are now abandoned shells (
slideshow). A key
factor in the failure was that for 22 years authorities banned all international flights from the much-closer, thriving Dorval Airport, heavily used by locals and business travellers. It didn't help that Montreal was already sliding into decline in the 1970s due to the growth of the Great Lakes and Toronto-based economies and uncertainties about Quebec's
political climate. Montreal is no stranger to alleged boondoggles:
Olympic Stadium, half-finished during the 1976 Summer Games, spiralled
$1 billion over budget.
posted by crapmatic
on Nov 27, 2009 -
46 comments
Funkytown: The Montreal Disco Era. Studio 54?
Qu’est-ce que c’est? By the late 1970s, “Montreal had platinum-status admission to the VIP lounge of coolest-of-the-cool disco cities.” An oral history of the city where no one bats an eye at going out to dance at 1:30 AM in –20°C weather. (Contains links to MP3 of CBC Radio documentary.)
[more inside]
posted by joeclark
on Oct 21, 2009 -
14 comments
Montreal Graffiti/Street artist
Roadsworth, who
was arrested in 2005 and faced up to 250 000$ in fines, is
back on the streets,
this time with a permit and a commission. Interestingly, the title of the new piece (which stretches across multiple intersections on downtown Sainte-Catherine street) is "Défense d'Afficher", which means "No Postering". It seems as though he's commenting on the role of art and advertisement in public space, but maybe that's just my take. Thoughts? For a more in-depth discussion, read
the Torontoist's article on graffiti), and for more examples, check out
Vandalist, the same blog's photostream of T.O. street art,
Streetsy, a great photoblog showing off various street art from around the world, and, of course, Flickr's
STREETART pool.
posted by rssaddict
on Jul 3, 2008 -
20 comments
Quitting France: French Jews are leaving the country in ever-growing numbers, fleeing a wave of anti-Semitism. They are moving to Israel, the United States, and increasingly, Montreal -- where the mostly English-speaking Jewish community is preparing for its greatest demographic change in decades. An interesting if slightly anecdotal look at the situation for Jewish people in France from Canada's National Post.
Part 1 - Barricaded in Paris,
Part 2 - Taking leave of 'the fear', Part 3 tomorrow deals with the impact of the influx of French Jews in Montreal.
posted by loquax
on Nov 21, 2005 -
67 comments
WeFunkRadio.com has 390 full shows available for download featuring the funk, underground hip-hop, and rare grooves that are so hard to find. BitTorrents are available for the
two most
recent shows and there's always the
audio stream and
podcasts coming at you fresh from Montréal's
CKUT radio.
posted by furtive
on Sep 16, 2005 -
16 comments
MadeInMTL is a rich media application site that enables the user to explore the city through 15k photographs, 400 texts, 50 hours of video, 40 sound bits, as well as 25 short films that truly capture the spirit of Montreal in a virtual experience." {it be flash and I found it at netdiver}
posted by dobbs
on Nov 28, 2004 -
9 comments
Ryan is a documentary about Oscar nominee/animator Ryan Larkin, who now panhandles on the streets of Montreal. A preview clip is at the far right of the photo gallery.
posted by disgruntled
on Jun 4, 2004 -
5 comments
The Silophone - turning abandoned industrial farm equipment into musical instruments. "Located in Montréal's old port, Silo #5B-1 was built in 1958 and has been cited by Le Corbusier as a masterpiece of modern architecture....These tall parallel cylinders, whose form evokes the structure of an enormous organ, have exceptional acoustic properties: a stunning reverberation time of over 20 seconds. Anything played inside the Silo is euphonized, made beautiful, by the acoustics of the structure. All those who have entered have found it an overwhelming and unforgettable experience."
posted by skwm
on Mar 2, 2001 -
7 comments
Positive, by Ian Stephens. Not, perhaps, in the tradition of Day Without Art. But...
Ian Stephens was a poet, musician, and performer from my neighbourhood in Montreal who died in 1996.
posted by mikel
on Dec 1, 2000 -
0 comments
October Coffee Crisis. Montreal Gazette: "In its communiques, the BAF warned that Second Cup franchises were to be 'in the line of fire' and warned of an escalation of violent acts if Second Cup and other chains insist on keeping their trademark English names." More Trudeau nostalgia?
posted by todd
on Oct 12, 2000 -
7 comments
