GOURMET GIRL: August 2016

Friday, August 19, 2016

WALKING THE EUROPEAN STREETS OF MONTREAL

STOP NUMBER ONE: Windsor Station. Built by CPR, houses a WWI statue for all of those lost who worked for the railroad

STOP NUMBER TWO: ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH - DE LA GAUCHETIERE AND PEEL - BUILT IN 1870, ITST MONTREAL’S SECOND ANGLICAN CHURCH - ENGLISH GOTHIC REVIVAL - CEILING BEAMS ARE SECOND ONLY TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY I SPAN - TAPESTRY ORIGINATES FROM LONDON, USED DURING CORONATION OF QEII - WAR MEMORIAL WINDOW (1949 ANGELS REPRESENTS NAVY, ARMY AND AIR FORCE)

STOP NUMBER 3: PLACE DU CANADA - MARRIOT CHATEAU CHAMPLAIN HOTEL LADIES BATHROOM ON FLOOR 23

STOP NUMBER 4: DORCHESTER (DOMINION SQUARE) - FIRST UNDERGROUND GARAGE 1878 - USED TO BE A CEMETERY -
BELFORT STATUES

STOP NUMBER 5: SUN LIFE BUILDING - METCALFE AND RENE LEVESQUE - LARGEST SQ FOOTAGE BUILDING IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE 1931 - BUILD IN 3 STAGES - 33rd President HARRY TRUMAN WROTE IT WAS HIS FAVOURITE BUILDING - DURING WWII OPERATION FISH WHERE BRITAIN’S GOLD RESERVES WERE STORED (UNTIL SHIPPED TO OTTAWA)

STOP NUMBER 6: MARY QUEEN OF THE WORLD - 1/8 SCALE TO ST PETER’S IN VATICAN - THIRD LARGEST CHURCH (1. ST JOSEPH’S AND 2.ST ANNE DE BEAUPRE) - 1894 “ST JAMES” - LARGEST CHURCH IN QUEBEC AT THE TIME - INSTEAD OF 12 APOSTLES (LIKE ST PETER’S), THESE ARE THE 13 PATRON SAINTS OF MONTREAL PARISHES THAT DONATED
BALDACCHINO IS A REPRODUCTION OF BERNINI’S - STATUE OF MARY IS MADE BY SYVIA DAOUST - HISTORICAL PAINTINGS OF MARGUERITE D’YOUVILLE (HOSPITAL), MARGUERITE BOURGEOUYS (TEACHER), MARTYRS BREBEUF (IROQUOIS) - COFOUNDERS COMEDY, MAISONNEUVE AND JEANNE MASSE AT THEIR JESUIT MASS, SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

STOP NUMBER 7: OLYMPIC HOUSE PHILLIPS/RENE-LEVESQUE

STOP NUMBER 8: ST PATRICK’S BASILICA - IRISH IMMIGRANTS 1847 FIRST MASS, GOTHIC REVIVAL- FLEUR DE LYS AND SHAMROCKS AND MARBLE COLUMNS - PEW 240 WAS USED BY THOMAS DARCY MCGEE (FATHER OF CONDERATION ASSASSINATED IN OTTAWA), EMILE NELLIGAN (POET) WAS BAPTIZED 1879 (PLAQUE AT THE BACK)

STOP NUMBER 9: WORLD TRADE CENTRE “HORIZONTAL SKYSCRAPER”- ST ALEXANDRE AND SAINT ANTOINE - BERLIN WALL GIVEN IN 1992 AND FRENCH GUIBAL 18TH CENTURY FOUNTAINS

STOP NUMBER 10: SQUARE VICTORIA -1813 (NAMED FOR VIST OF KING EDWARD VII 1860)- HER STATUE - METRO SIGN - FRENCH FOUNTAIN ART NOUVEAU (HECTOR GUIMARD)

STOP NUMBER 11: PLACE ROYALE - 1605 SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN SET UP A FURTRADING POST

STOP NUMBER 12: VILLE MARIE 1642 SETTLED WITH MAISONNEUVE (FROM CHAMPAGNE) AS FIRST GOVERNOR

STOP NUMBER 13: NELSON’S COLUMN - 1809 OLDEST MONUMENT

STOP NUMBER 14: BONSECOUR MARKET - CHARLES DICKENS VISITED WHEN IT WAS A BRITISH-AMERICAN HOTEL. Kitty corner is L'usine de spaghetti 273 rue St Paul E: In May 1842, in the back room of this Italian restaurant, Mr. Charles Dickens wrote the notes for "A Tales of Two Cities"(based on London and Paris)

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

OLYMPIC WAY SWIMMING

I really want my daughter to become life guard trained. I don't need her to be a lifeguard, unless she wants to be. I do want her to the training to a safe swimmer, and be responsible in emergencies. I wish, honestly, that she had the red cross training that I started ages ago, but she has certainly become a great swimmer with the Olympic Way, and I am proud of her promotion to blue this summer.

A lifeguard in this program learns to develop four important qualities for life and in times of urgency:
1. knowledge
2. judgement
3. physical aptitude
4. ability

I have been impressed over the years of going to our local pool how mature, responsible, but still fun the lifeguards are. I would love for her to have that same mix of fun and responsibility. I am even prouder, because she finished the summer passing into bronze!

Way to go kid!

Sunday, August 14, 2016

FAILURE IS NOTHING TO FEAR

Saturday, August 13, 2016

OSASCOMP

"QUASI-OFFICIAL" ORDER OF ADJECTIVES

OPINION (ugly)
SIZE (little)
AGE (young)
SHAPE (round)
COLOUR (green)
ORIGIN (Canadian)
MATERIAL (styrofoam)
PURPOSE (sewing)

Three is about the limit, and sometimes the order sounds reasonable out of order. This is a guideline, not a rule.

LOGICAL FALLACIES

When it comes to podcasts, I often have to skip Grammar Girl, but, as I remain subscribed, I still occasionally have the time to listen. This last one was interesting for its simplicity in recognizing logical errors, and I wanted to share the examples.

1. Overgeneralization or hasty generalizations - based on bias or stereotype, these are the trickiest to notice in yourself - don't base your argument on an overgeneralization - make sure your assumptions are true.

2. Straw Man Argument - by oversimplifying a view to attack it - don't let this misrepresentation
fool you - it should not suffice to argue a point

3. Ad hominem - attacking the opponent's character instead of making a logical argument

Tu quoque - oh yeah, what about you? (attacks the behaviour of the opposition, capitalizing on any imperfect record)

4. Post Hoc (ergo propter hoc) - Just because a series of events happens, does not mean that they are true. E. g. My brother got sick after swimming in the ocean, so now he doesn't swim in the ocean because he is afraid of getting sick

5. Red Herring - bringing in a distracting fact that is unrelated to the argument, to make your point

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

SYNANTHROPES

I have on my podcast listening list a fascinating show called 99% Invisible. It is a show about buildings, and I like the variety of stories, and the announcer's radio voice.

This show was a story about a father who was an urban dweller like me, noticing the life around that manages to live in a city with humans. I learned a word for the admirable survival adaptive living forms that manage to survive despite being overtaken by humans. Synanthropes can be plant or animal, like a pigeon, or a racoon, or a carpenter ant.

The author of Unseen City, Nathanael Johnson compares the status of pigeons with doves. There were some interesting facts raised. Pigeons, although birds, produce a "milk" from the throats of both male and female, to give to their young. Pigeons have messed up feet, often tourniquets from dragging their feet and winding up strings. Gross and sad facts, but I have a love of pigeons because of their ability to co-exist. Bert on Sesame Street and Mo Willems prove pigeons are loveable. If you need more proof, listen to this podcast and look for the book!

Sunday, August 7, 2016

URBAN LIBRARIES

Atwater metro

CANADIAN SUFFRAGETTES

I think my first awareness of women lobbying for the vote came from reading Anne of Green Gables. I am grateful to them for the freedom I had in choosing my career. I remember hearing an excerpt of an embarrassed Princess Theresa talking about her earning a biology degree from the University of Munch. I am so grateful that today I am proud to earn a degree, and that shame is hardly imaginable for me or my daughter. My favourite suffragette is Emily Stowe, Canada's first physician. She created a literary circle for women in Toronto in 1867 that not only read books, but became the first Canadian group of suffragettes. This is not to take away, however, from the incredible admiration I have for the Famous Five. Although central Canada likes to believe they invented our history, these five women were from out West. These five women were integral in bringing electoral equality to our country. Notably, Manitoba was first in implimentation, followed that same year by Saskatchewan, then Alberta, all in 1916. It took Newfoundland until 1925, which you would think would be the outlier. Alas, Quebec took until 1940, and incredibly NW territories took to 1961. Nunavut, being created in 1999, started with the law in place.