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This Weekend In the World: Bejeweled Toilet Seats and Canals of Art
· Venice: This weekend marks the opening of Venice's huge art to-do, the Biennale, which transforms the city into an exhibition space for international artists until November. While the acqua alta floods the city during late winter and early spring, the Biennale does its own summer flooding of Venice with tourists and fans of modern art, film, music and dance. Expect to see odd apparitions like inflatable icebergs plopped in squares, such as in the picture above. For information on the exhibition's major shows and locations, check out the official website.
Tags: Bike Sharing / Montreal / Canada / Bicycling / Bixi / → All Tags
Bike Sharing Just Got Greener With Montreal's New Bixi
Following the huge success of Paris' Velib bike sharing program, we've been wondering how long it would take for North American to get in on the action. Leave it to Frenchy Montreal to show everyone up by being the first on the continent to put the pedal to the metal.
Launched last week, the Bixi program (a combo of "bike" and "taxi") puts aluminum Montreal-made bicycles on the streets, available for rental with annual memberships of $75, a daily rate of $5, or per-hour pricing following a free first half-hour. By June 7, the city is aiming to place 3,000 of the bikes at 300 hubs around the city, and your rented Bixi may be picked up at and returned to any of them.
And these babies weren't named one of Time's top 50 top inventions of 2008 for no reason; the bike docks are equipped with wireless RFID technology which can immediately signal if one is defective, and the pay station itself is touch-screen with energy support from solar panels. According to the Vancouver Sun, this model of bike sharing in Montreal is what's being studied for the future in other bike-desperate cities like New York and London. Bring it on!
Related Stories:
· Bixi System [Official Site]
· Part bicycle -- part taxi, meet the Bixi [Vancouver Sun]
· Bike Sharing Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: AddictiveDJDesigns]
Tags: Burlesque / Events / San Francisco / Montreal / Dita Von Teese / Marilyn Manson / Sex / → All Tags
How to Make Like Dita Von Teese, Minus the Part Where You Divorce Marilyn Manson
By now all gossip addicts (and the rest of us who have to be online all day) have heard about Marilyn Manson's breakup with his burlesque superstar wife, Dita Von Teese. Sad, because that one was really meant to last. Manson reportedly left his cute 'n' classy wife for mini-Dita Evan Rachel Wood, 19, who we can only assume thinks it's totally gonna last this time. To each their own, we guess. Whether Dita's composure during tumultuous times has inspired you to tap into the magic of burlesque yourself, or you simple want to see her in action, we've got a few suggestions.
In Seattle, Miss Indigo Blue's Academy of Burlesque accepts both male and female students, and promises to teach you "how to twirl your tasseled pasties in at least 5 different ways!" In San Francisco, Bombshell Betty offers Burlesquercise workshops that turn burlesque basics into a workout. And in Montreal, Mademoiselle Oui Oui Encore offers classes, available to women only, near the Mont-Royal metro stop.
If you just want to cheer Dita on, she'll be performing on February 9 and 10 at the Triple Door in downtown Seattle.
[Photo: Lucky Lou]
Related Stories:
· Evan Rachel Wood Goes Single White Female [US]
· Burlesque Classes at the Museum of Sex [Jaunted]
Tags: YouTube / Languages / Montreal / → All Tags
Swearing in Quebecois French
YouTuber obsesik is blazing the way for Quebecois secession, and has posted this video to draw tourist dollars to his province in preparation for the day when it's on its own.
Quebecers use standard curse word favorites too, but have their own brand of mouthing off that uses words relating to Christianity. You know, like you might scream "Jesus fucking Christ on a goddamn crutch!" at the TV when an Avril Lavigne video comes on.
Throw away your phrase book--these are your essentials for getting around Montreal, Quebec City and beyond.
Tags: Montreal / Christmas / Art / Holiday Travel / → All Tags
Montreal Offends With More Than Christmas Trees
While the brouhaha over those "holiday" trees in Seattle pipes down, the war against Christmas decorations is heating up over at Montreal blog Midnight Poutine. Up north, the outrage has little to do with menorahs, and much to do with giant turd-like icicle decorations. Take this encounter from blogger Cat:
The Ice Man Cometh. He cometh and he dumpeth his stool and he dropethhis feces upon us. One presumes that what the "designer" is aiming forhere is some sort of Christmassy icicle effect or glowy North Polestalactite (tiny coloured lights illiuminate the thing at night).Can you picture the monstrosity for yourself? Click through to take a peek, and check out the other glaring offences they've spotted so far. Midnight Poutine will continue to follow developments in ugliness through Christmas, so adventurous travelers will want to keep tabs (try entering "hideous" in a site search). It would make for a fabulous alternative sort of walking art tour!
Let's just call a spade and spade (and somebody, please, fetch a spade!) and name this for what it truly is: crap.
[Photo: Midnight Poutine]
Related Stories:
· Dept. of Hideous Xmas Decorations, Take 3 [Midnight Poutine]
Tags: Travel Deals / Orlando / Montreal / → All Tags
Orlando to Montreal: $206 on Scare Canada
If WestJet is to be believed, booking this fare on Air Canada could be a risky move. Whether or not it's home of the Air Witch, we'll give props to Air Canada for this totally decent rate between Montreal and Orlando. Flying the same dates (we tested Dec. 17-19) on WestJet would be quite a bit more expensive, but WestJet also has affordable weekend flights on the route, whereas Air Canada does not.
To get this fare, head over to Air Canada's website and make sure you deselect all the "extras" they offer at the end. By "extras" we mean things you'd consider standard (advance seat selection, checked backage), and though we wish Air Canada could go truly cheap while still offering you some comfort, going bare-bones for a quick weekend trip shouldn't be too hard. It's not a bad deal if you want to soak up some pre-Christmas magic in Montreal before heading home for better weather, or if you want to take someone to Disneyworld as a holiday gift.
[Photo: caribb]
Related Stories:
· On the Trail of Scare Canada [Jaunted]
Tags: Montreal / Canada / Live Music / Advertising / → All Tags
The More We Kissed, The Frencher It Got
In case you haven't noticed recently, Jaunted kinda likes Montreal. Not long ago, the city's tourism board launched an ad campaign touting a new, sexy Montreal. Its slogan? "The more we kissed, the Frencher it got." Well, that was one of a few saucy phrases featured on their advertisements. So, we've found ourselves wondering, how is Monty feeling these days? Any sexier?
Assuming he's the artsy type...yes, he's feeling très sexy! That's because Pop Montreal starts tomorrow and rolls on until Saturday, and that means music, drinks and all the related sexiness imaginable for days on end. Montreal's getting plenty of attention from the likes of psych-star Roky Erickson and his fans. Tons of lesser-known bands will be making the rounds at Montreal's best small venues as well. If you're not sure where to start when it comes to the lineup, the excellently named Midnight Poutine ran a podcast series featuring music from its favorite participating acts.
Related Stories:
· Tag: Pop Montreal 2006 [Midnight Poutine]
· We're cheap and easy [Hour]
Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Montreal / Food / Restaurants / → All Tags
Rubik's Restaurant
Squares of all sorts will have trouble resisting Montréal's Restaurant Cube. Located in the St. Paul hotel, it too is a testament to modern, angular design. Even their business cards are shaped like squares, people--that's how committed they are. Thankfully, their food is less on the pointy side than everything else.
While dishes limit the number of crazy ingredients, they do rely on a variety of clever cooking methods; cold pea soup comes with a grapefruit mousse sitting atop it and nuts and goat cheese buried at the bottom, for instance. Also, several of the main courses are cooked sous vide--vacuum-sealed at a low temperature--making them both intensely flavorful and tender. What won us over, though, was dessert. After all the showmanship, it was a haute cuisine take on a Mounds bar. Clever and delicious--that's our style, too!
Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Montreal / Hotels / → All Tags
A Less Chilly St. Paul
We have every reason to be suspicious of "boutique hotels". Usually that means furniture that's angular, uncomfortable, and poorly assembled, but of course looks great on their web site. So we were pleasantly surprised at the St. Paul in Montréal. Despite an abundance of modern touches--lots of leather seating with a décor that's extensively accented with alabaster including on the handrails of the staircases and lamps--it's quite cozy. The faux fur blankets and throws probably help.
Also going against the boutique hotel grain is the staff, which is knowledgeable, friendly, and completely without the attitude we'd expect to get from a similar hotel in the U.S. However, standard rooms aren't especially big and don't feature the biggest windows. Bonus points for the deep bathtub and square sink in the bathroom, though. Rates start at about $200 a night.
Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Montreal / Food / Restaurants / → All Tags
Pig Heaven
Consider, if you will, foie gras. Banned in Chicago, lauded pretty much everywhere else, it's in the pantheon of rich man's food right alongside caviar and Tyrannosaur eggs. So when you get the chance to sample it for less than three bucks at a meal, you jump at the chance.
It was woth every cent. Montréal's Au Pied de Cochon serves an appetizer called the "foie gras cromesquis" (it's in the foie gras section of their menu, no less, near the foie gras burger and the foie gras poutine). Brought to the table, it looks like a miniature, cubed croquette. Toss it into your mouth, and it literally bursts with warm essence of foie gras on the inside. If you only allowed a single bite of any given dish at a restaurant, it would clearly be the one you'd want to have. The problem, of course, is limiting the experience to just one.
Tags: Montreal / Restaurants / Delis / Schwartz's / → All Tags
Off to Greet a Pile of Meat
Oh, salty meat. Nothing is more delicious in Montreal than saddling up to the bar in Schwartz's and getting sneered at by the waiters. Call it masochistic, but it's absolutely worth it when they slam down that stack of shaved meaty goodness.
With one line (spilling south on the sidewalk) for take-out orders and the other for dining-in, Schwartz's welcomes hundreds of hungry diners into its tiny space. Complete strangers sit shoulder to shoulder, rubbing their hands and licking their lips waiting for lusciously tender and flavorful smoked meat to appear from behind the counter. Combining it with a salty dill pickle, a side of soggy fries and a can of the thick, sweet Cott's black cherry cola is the ultimate way to experience the city's favorite culinary delight (with poutine being a close second). There's been plenty of debates on which smoked meat is the tastiest in this fair city, but for our money, Schwartz's reigns supreme.
[Image via smaku/Flickr]
Tags: Montreal / Design / Magazines / → All Tags
Plaisirs de Vivre/Living With Style
The sophisticated spirit of Montréal is on full display in Plaisirs de Vivre/Living With Style, a bilingual style and interiors publication. The June-July issue features, among other pieces, an article on Baronet furniture, splashy photos of an Alexander Gorlin loft in NYC, a smart round-up of culture and design news in Montréal and beyond, a Montréal calendar, and even some recipes.
While the magazine's text is completely bilingual, advertisements are almost entirely in French. It's a kind of testimony to Montréal's default-francophone-yet-actually-completely-bilingual culture.
We liked the thinking-out-loud piece on contemporary style and design by journalist Sylvie Berkowicz. Ms. Berkowicz, who edits Créativité Montréal, despairs over the chintz, feathers, and gilt that she recently saw at Paris decorating show, asking, apropos of the current flight from minimalism and embrace of kitschy nostalgia: "Have we failed at modernity?"
We hope not, Sylvie, and we love you for asking.
