FAMILY BABY SHOWER - PART 1

FAMILY BABY SHOWER

NAPPINGG

Oosterdam Xmas Cruise With Mark, Friends and Family

Easter Weekend, San Diego & Baja

Plane ride, friends,sunshine, drinks at El Cielo, sketching and dogs...life is good!

UCSD Medical Research and Student Service Buildings

Visite avec Louise Hogues, laquelle apparaît, mon Dieu, sur presque toutes les photos. Enfin un bon moment de sont voyage chez nous. On espère bien sûr la revoir!!!!

Happy 61st Ron, and here's 20 years ago

Happy sixty-first Ron Smith, you now a Texan and I a Mexican. Remember Louisiana 20 years ago? Troubleshooting a machine we designed and built. Things were'nt so cool all the time. They seem to have improved a lot. I think youth is overrated. The best is yet to come! And here's my family 20 years ago, at my sister Lise's birthday and Yvette's marriage to Dale. Wow, what a hen house assembled at my mother's Ste Adele house! Those chicks (my sisters) have been going downhill since, o cruel fate, but so have we. We don't talk so fast anymore and our muscle tone went the way of the 45RPM record player. But we don't get in trouble so often and life is more sweet!

Flowers and a Cake for Nikki

Nikki got these beautiful flowers from Lupe, our new maid (see previous post about our first encounter with Lupe)
I never got around to buy flowers myself...what a shame!
And then disaster struck! I could not find the candles to put on a cake. Seems they sell those in 'Farmacia' and not grocery stores here in Mexico. But the cake! completed with 5 leftover strawberries....
This is my first cake ever, at 65. Pillsbury, I love you because you are user friendly! And it tasted good too.

Le Tablier De Grand'mère

Te souviens-tu du tablier de ta grand-mère ?
(Merci à Yolande. English translation in the comments below)

Le principal usage du tablier de Grand'Mère était de protéger la robe en dessous, mais en plus de cela, il servait de gant pour retirer une poêle brûlante du fourneau; il était merveilleux pour essuyer les larmes des enfants, et à certaines occasions, pour nettoyer les frimousses salies.
Depuis le poulailler, le tablier servait à transporter les oeufs,les poussins à réanimer, et parfois les oeufs fêlés qui finissaient dans le fourneau.
Quand des visiteurs arrivaient, le tablier servait d'abri à des enfants timides; et quand le temps était frais,Grand'Mère s'en emmitouflait les bras.
Ce bon vieux tablier faisait office de soufflet, agité au dessus du feu de bois. C'est lui qui transbahutait les pommes de terre et le bois sec jusque dans la cuisine.
Depuis le potager, il servait de panier pour de nombreux légumes.
Après que les petits pois aient été récoltés venait le tour des choux.
En fin de saison il était utilisé pour ramasser les pommes tombées de l'arbre.
Quand des visiteurs arrivaient de façon impromptue, c'était surprenant de voir avec quelle rapidité ce vieux tablier pouvait faire la poussière.
A l'heure de servir le repas, Grand'Mère allait sur le perron agiter son tablier, et les hommes au champ savaient aussitôt qu'ils devaient passer à table.

Grand'Mère l'utilisait aussi pour poser la tarte aux pommes à peine sortie du four sur le rebord de la fenêtre pour qu'elle refroidisse, tandis que, de nos jours, sa petite fille la pose là pour décongeler.
Il faudra de bien longues années avant que quelqu'un invente quelque objet qui puisse remplacer ce bon vieux tablier qui servait à tant de choses.

The Early Morning Jog of a Needy Brain.

I need to write this morning with only the vaguest idea of where I am heading. I know it will involve dogs, our mortality, superstition, addiction and a few other topics. I want to tie stuff together, in a way, connect some dots, make little packages of wisdom or knowledge that are readily available on the shelves of my blog, something I do for myself every day while thinking pretentiously that it serves mankind.
My blog is read by a few friends and family members, my own window on ‘mankind’, but so what? We are a collaborative species, aren’t we? If you ever took a dog walking you know that they are seeking with their wet noses scents and other artifacts that could reveal a prey, something edible for the entire family of which they are. Even bees do their little song and dance to tell each other where the flowers are.
So here I am this morning with my nose wet for something revealing, fingers dancing on the keyboard.
But what exactly? Let’s ramble on until it materializes.
The topic of addiction would be a good start, said he while lighting a second cigarette after a third gulp of that great cappuccino. Whoops, I forgot the cinnamon, the only food substance that, according to recent science, is a true aphrodisiac. As opposed to false aphrodisiacs, the ‘true’ variety actually raises the level of testosterone in men. So I am going to wait a few minutes until I feel a surge of manhood in myself before I tackle anything of substance. Aha, tobacco is already getting in my brain thanks to that direct link to that immense porous lung membrane that if flattened, they say, would cover an large dining table. The neo-cortex of the brain is another one of those things that if it was stretched from its convoluted state would represent the area of a large handkerchief. Nicotine is pinging right now, boosting serotonin production in several synapses, making me excitable and certainly more talkative. Caffeine helping on with shaking the large handkerchief until of it fires on all cylinders. Pretty soon, blawgers and friends, we will have a synthesis, connections will occur and a concept will emerge, a morsel for us to savor all day.
....
I don’t know about you but I’m waiting for it. Like waiting for Godot. It doesn’t seem to be happening....! All the cigarette did was to make me want to smoke another one. All the coffee does is make me want to cook up another cup. Shucks. Remember two weeks ago I said I had quit smoking for five days then? It was true. Fell off the bandwagon on the sixth day. My brother-in-law that I am going to visit today in California was on a similar plan with a progressive decrease. I was competing with him using the ‘cold turkey’ approach. OK, I dont want to lose face so I am quitting RIGHT NOW so that when the family car reaches Carlsbad CA at around 11AM, I can safely tell him that I quit smoking.
...
Done. I just quit. I feel wonderful. All that oxygen is already seeping through the tablecloth of my lungs, rushing through the carotids to the handkerchief of my brain. I feel terribly smart and ‘promising’. Trouble is I have been ‘promising’ since my youth and have not delivered much. And still no delivery of anything substantial on the horizon, in spite of the ‘clean living’ I have subjected myself for the last five minutes. Nothing connects. It’s 4AM and the dogs are still sleeping around Nikki. Conditions are perfect for discovery, yet I discover nothing, zilch, nada, just wasting your precious time.
...
Let’s face it, I am not a Montesquieu nor even a Georges Carlin. I just don’t cut the mustard as a morning philosopher. And my own mortality makes it that fairly soon I will fizzle out into the dark soup, leaving no traces of my passage on earth. What a depressing thought.
But I did play the accordion at a wedding last week. And they are making a leather bound photo album. That document could last 100 years and end up on PBS's 'Antique Road Show'. Possibly someone would then identify me and say: there's my great great great grand uncle Jacques.
Unlikely. So let’s have another cigarette

Happy Birthday Camille

...so we had Camille's Yorkies Beau & Belle give her a virtual cake, nearly industructible (and unedible?)to cheer you on your happy birthday.

Happy Birthday, Geraldine, October 28, 1919

.
For your birthday, mother of mine
I caught a fish at sea today
Then I ate him with a good wine
So now in me I feel him play
And swim around my DNA
















You dead and gone for all these years,
You still frolic around my brain
All your stories, laughter...and tears
Still rumble like a distant train
Somewhere in New Brunswick or Maine

The fish, the train, the thoughts of you
Give my life all the vitamins
I need to work and play...THANK YOU
You were and are...and I don't mince
my words...the greatest gal of all.

Jacques
(Jimmy)

My Mother's Family, circa 1996

He was short in stature and his first name was Napoleon, but my grandfather N. Joseph Bernard (1896 photo at left) had 18 children most of which are visible in this family reunion photo taken in 1996. The family tree today has over 300 twigs of all sizes. Contrast this with the descendants of Ciras and Beaudrys.
Click in it to silence animation below

Pressure Cookers Are Back To Soften Our Lives

When I was a kid, the soft rocking motion and hiss from the valve on Geri's 'Presto' was always good news. A delicious dish was coming up, Acadian stew with tender chicken and crisp carrots, a Québecois stew with beef, new potatoes and yellow turnip, dumplings and wedges of cabbage, all offering textures that cannot be had by any other cooking method. Since my mom's birthday is coming up soon, we bought a pressure cooker for remembrance sake and I just used it for the first time today. It successfully delivered a squid stew with new potatoes, garlic, dill, leek, cilantro, basil , yellow peppers, paprika and white wine with other more discreet herbs.
There are no words to describe what happens to a rubbery giant squid when subjected to 15 atmospheres of pressure and 250F temperature: it slices like salmon and tastes like heaven! Wish you were here maman! Oh well you always are, actually, and to tell the truth, you never really liked my cooking. ;-) So we'll take you out with the four sisters on your birthday. A good restaurant. How about Desjardins, the King of High Class Sea Food in Montreal? I hear they use a pressure cooker with their lobster, crab and...(noooooooo! dont click on the next link pleeeeease! ) ...squid ?

After My Second Martini,.. My Very First Blog.

"I'm writing a novel called 'The Enemy.' It's a story about 3 terrorists who enter the United States as medical doctors (a play-off on the recent London and Glasgow bombings -- unsuccesful as they might have been.)

You, dearest brother-in-law, asked me why I insisted on writing something about which I knew nothing. Don't know. Still, I persevered. Almost 3/4's through the book. In order to write it, however, I had to do a great deal of research. I've read everything from 'Inside the CIA,' (Ronald Kessler) to 'Middle East Illusions,' (Naom Chomsky) to 'The Soldier' (about Colin Powell), and many, many more in between. I refused to denigrate the Bush administration without garnering as much understanding as possible.

Sadly, today, I recognize that a party of ideologues (neocons Cheney and his accolytes, perhaps Rumsfeld) insisted of developing a case for the war in Iraq, rather than responding to a direct threat. Colin Powell was the one dissenting voice in the first four years of Bush's presidency. Powell fought a good battle but, as a soldier, ultimately bowed to the his superior's wishes, believing in the 'facts' provided to him by the CIA. I've found him to be a good and honest man, one with an unbeatable record of service to our country. Someone I would have thankfully supported for President. But he was destroyed, asked to resign as Bush went into his second term, as were any of those with dissenting voices.

I am an American (ex-Canadian for 40 years); I love and am intensely loyal to my country. I am a Republican, resistant to a welfare and high tax state. Over and over again, I thank the young men and women who are sacrificing their blood in this Iraqi warfront. You don't think it's a war? Tell it to our soldiers.

How do we get out of this ugliness? To date, my vote will be for Mitt Romney, who has proven himself to be a superb financier and business leader. Someone I believe will not be deluded by special interest/far left ideologies.

P.S. If you're one of those who espouses a 9/11 conspiracy by the American government, go take a deep dip in the fires of hell.

Nikki's Musical DNA - Grandpa Theo 1887-1918

Nikki's and her mother's musical DNA come from this tall handsome music professor, cut short by a newly mechanized war. Just think, in the single battle of Marne, a million men on both sides fell to machine gun fire and poison gas just to gain a half-mile in 3 days.
Theo rests in the French Dury Cemetery, and since the last word of this great 1900 French martial song is 'Immortalité', the least we could do is put him on this blog . Who knows, it might just outlive us. Theodore Ernest Sunbury (click here) died when Nikki was minus 31 and her mother was plus 2. Is it not fitting that the DNA carried through till today ? Nikki is highly musical and her mother was a star on the piano, the perfect daughter.
Incidently, 'Le Regiment de Meuse et Loire' was chosen as the theme song of the Ohio State University ; you can listen to their peppy rendition here. Let's wish that these college kids stick to their wonderful marching band and avoid marching to some useless combat. There's too much spilled blood already and certainly not enough gutsy music like this tune.
Through Nikki , professor Theo is still a little bit with us. Through this blog he will remain so a little bit longer. His war diaries will be published here soon.

Precious Musical DNA From The Fifties

Here is a rare glimpse of my well-traveled grand-papa Jared Poirier. As a youth he picked bananas for United Fruits in Guatemala, and also this lovely song. This demonstrates the unique musical talent, good looks and taste for anything Spanish that runs in the family..... Thanks Jared!

Autumn Nostalgia

Nikki and our older dog Sesame, when both were 3 years younger and the weather was at least 30F colder at this time of the year. This was taken in the Adirondak Park's residence of my sister Yvette. Fall is a time when gentle cooler weather changes and rotates the tires of our minds. There is a stimulating newness, like a trip to Norway. We certainly miss that in Mexico. When a cooler breeze greeted me this morning and I rushed to the stove, it occured to me that in one hour the sun will be up and it'll be 75F. So I went back to my regular threadbare summer tires and put on a light shirt. Maybe I'll book a flight to Oslo. As for Nikki, she's online selling throws woven from photos of autumn leaves sent to us by clients. Sesame, sporting brand new cataracts, sniffs around fallen leaves (yeah!, palm tree leaves!).

The Hate Between The Shiites and The Sunnis

Oh the mistrust, the hate
and the dangers! Our three dogs, Sesame, Sheila and Amélie (the 'Shiites' in our little comparison...) watch with baited breath a pair of Sunnis across the street, elegant and street smart. They feel that these two cats ought to be fenced in or put on a leash. The mischiefs of these bums showing off on roofs and fence tops... And the way they taunt us from behind our American green zone screen daddy bought at Home Depot.
But we have oil and they don't, so screw the bastards and let them eat fish. We have steak and potatoes and spaghetti, stuff they can't handle with their fussy ways and superior attitude. Down with Sunnis and may the fleas of one thousand camels bite them in places where they cannot scratch.

Our Favorite Squirrel Now On TV Worldwide

To popular demand, we are now broadcasting our squirrel "McCorn" and his tango steps on our blog. Credits for the music to Ensemble de Tango de Montréal, with special thanks to Anne-Marie, its cute and smart pianist, for that number.