say something nice about montreal

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― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 22:44 (twenty years ago) link

Just for the purpose of counterpoint, of course.

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 22:45 (twenty years ago) link

bagels

― Bryan (Bryan), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 22:49 (twenty years ago) link

Bagels are something I've eaten so much of (I live practically right above one of Mtl's much-celebrated bakeries) that my body doesn't even recognize them as food any more. I could eat a hundred and still be hungry.

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 22:52 (twenty years ago) link

j'aime beaucoup.

― dyson (dyson), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:11 (twenty years ago) link

We're the kids from N.D.G.
we're the ones you always see
you better not stop, look or stare
we'll kick your face in we don't care

There will always be an N.D.G.
An N.D.G., there will always be!

In N.D.G. there are no jobs
sooner or later you'll have to rob
sooner or later do a B&E
that's the story of N.D.G.

There will always be a fucken NDG!
NDG, there will always be!

Cops are always chasin me
cops down here in NDG
they're never gonna leave you alone
not when they know you're an anglophone

NDG yes it's for me
where I was born, where I will stay.
NDG it's for you and me
where I'll always fucken be!

--The Discords, "N.D.G."

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:22 (twenty years ago) link

Poutain. My ex-fiance. The architecture.

I really wanna go to Montreal.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:22 (twenty years ago) link

I love Montreal.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:23 (twenty years ago) link

The only thing I remember about Montreal is falling down a hill.

― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:28 (twenty years ago) link

Poutain

er, poutine?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:30 (twenty years ago) link

Are you from NDG Flounder?

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:31 (twenty years ago) link

is it a good place to honeymoon?

― Mike Hanle y (mike), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:32 (twenty years ago) link

NDG?

Seriously though, I've never honeymooned here but I imagine that during the nice-weather months (ie May-Oct) it'd be a great place to honeymoon.

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:36 (twenty years ago) link

it is very inexpensive.

shopper's paradise... at least in 1998 it was.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:39 (twenty years ago) link

Dammit did I misspell it? Poutine. I was probably thinking of putana or something, um err... no lets not go there.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:47 (twenty years ago) link

(cos i think poutain or however it's spelt = "woman of the night")

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:48 (twenty years ago) link

Yeah... similar pronunciation was what got me.

Still, maybe chips with cheese and gravy is a bit like a hooker... err... somehow... ok maybe not.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:13 (twenty years ago) link

slutsky: Never actually lived in NDG, but right near it during my wayward youth from about age 11 to 19. I lived in Cote-des-Neiges/Snowdon, Cote-St.Luc (right near the N.D.G. border: I played soccer for an NDG team), Montreal West, and, once I moved out on my own, various parts of the Plateau. I did lots of hanging out in NDG, and that Discords single sort of came with the skatepunk territory of those days. This is years ago, though.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:34 (twenty years ago) link

And you?

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:38 (twenty years ago) link

It's really inexpensive. There's a sense of energy that always pervades the city. Soft drugs are absurdly available. I like the French language and culture. There are many nice restaurants. Casa del Popolo is awesome. Availability and popularity of avant-garde music, metal, and prog. All the festivals - I've never been anywhere else like it. Rue Saint-Laurent. Mont-Royal.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:43 (twenty years ago) link

Summer nights.

Sundar OTM.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:45 (twenty years ago) link

the amazing shops on blvd st.laurent!

and also the nice-looking restaurants, and general vibe.

(ok, so i've only been there properly once, but this was my first impression)

― sand.y, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:45 (twenty years ago) link

Oh shit, Blvd Saint-Laurent.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:48 (twenty years ago) link

blvd, rue, same difference.

anyway, i am always tempted to call it "saint-lawrence blvd", just because i sound so idiotic saying it in french. but i know doing that would be even worse.

― sand.y, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:52 (twenty years ago) link

another vote for the casa! and sun going down late on summertime.

http://www.boomspeed.com/chomi/resto.jpg

― chomi2003, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:58 (twenty years ago) link

The women...

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 01:02 (twenty years ago) link

yes, certainly the women. they're great photographers. also, frite alors and pizzédélic.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 01:24 (twenty years ago) link

We've done this before for Montreal or Quebec in general.

I'll say it once and I'll say it again: Montreal women and their love of the push up bra.

Fremont Bakery, Club Super Sex, the old forum, Saint Joseph's, the casino, the funky Expo apartments.

But sorry, the insane highways, specially the 40 must go.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 01:35 (twenty years ago) link

Foufounes Electriques. My friend Christina. Yes, the women. Many specific moments - the free jazz festival at Casa - the Sunny Murray show, the magical free ($-wise) Jean Derome/Joane Hetu show. The tofu sandwiches with nachos at Casa. A wild 'office party'. Seeing Sonic Youth at Medley in pass-out heat with my friend Sarah, almost hallucinating just on weed. No one has ever played a show that good. Spending most of the year in that state. Voivod at Medley. All-night depanneurs that stock beer, wine, and malt liquor. Rien a voir - especially the time it was across from Casa and we'd go back and forth between sets. Practically living at Casa. The repertoire cinema underneath that shopping mall, what the fuck's it called? Galerie Fokus. L'Oratoire St-Joseph and the organ concerts on Sundays. L'Echange Saint-Denis. Loft parties.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 01:54 (twenty years ago) link

MEN. WITHOUT. HATS.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 01:57 (twenty years ago) link

How could I forget?

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 01:59 (twenty years ago) link

the rep theater under the mall = cinema du parc

― jones (actual), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:03 (twenty years ago) link

Poutine.

― jm (jtm), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:03 (twenty years ago) link

haha, i totally searched out that montreal thread to help me get an idea of what was good in montreal. i forgot whether it was helpful or not, i think i meant to check some places out, but then i went to blvd st laurent and just got lost in my shopping excitement.

― sand.y, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:13 (twenty years ago) link

is it a good place to honeymoon?

I'd think it would be. Its where my parents went on their's during Expo.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:17 (twenty years ago) link

More cinemas: The Rialto & the Cinemateque (near UQAM). Assuming they're still there.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:20 (twenty years ago) link

The Rialto is still there, but it's not a cinema any more sadly (or even a theatre really). Primary purpose seems to be a rented hall for bouzouki nights. But but but, they were going to go even further & basically turn it into a nightclub, even--probably not-so-kosherly--got the right permits before the province stepped in and was all, "you're crazy, this is a historic monument, corrupt city government notwithstanding."

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:24 (twenty years ago) link

Just a dozen or so more posts and we can beat the Toronto thread, people.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:25 (twenty years ago) link

Shit, make that two dozen. Okay, we're seriously fucked unless we pick up the pace here.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:25 (twenty years ago) link

Vice magazine.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:26 (twenty years ago) link

That's something nice about Montreal?

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:32 (twenty years ago) link

Dude, first the SARS joke, now this... you're are bringing the edgy, not-funny-unless-you-are-evil funny tonight.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:35 (twenty years ago) link

One of my all-time favourite bands is from there: MY DOG POPPER!!!

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:37 (twenty years ago) link

Oh my god, I remember them.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:39 (twenty years ago) link

668: Neighbour of the Beast!

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:40 (twenty years ago) link

there was like a really big guy and a really small guy in that band right?

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:40 (twenty years ago) link

Montreal is cool because it has pretty girls, great hockey fans and it's less pretentious than Toronto. (The T-dot still rules though!!!!!!)

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:41 (twenty years ago) link

I think so, slutsky. I never actually saw them live, though. They were extremely hilarious.

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:42 (twenty years ago) link

I'm fairly sure there was at least one really big guy in that band. This is the blurry mental image that swims to mind.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:43 (twenty years ago) link

By the way, in discussing any "fun" band to ever come out of Quebec, it is vital to recognize the foundation-text-level importance of "Ça plane pour moi."

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 02:47 (twenty years ago) link

Skipping 25 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

OK! Circle jerk over! Hee hee!

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:10 (twenty years ago) link

Glad to hear it. From your bagel comment upthread I figured it might be in your hood. I was a bit further south, on Esplanade, for a while. Fuck! I think I've confused cherry cokes with cream sodas in my mind.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:11 (twenty years ago) link

A painting of Wilensky's I found on the web:

http://www.williamemorris.com/720.jpg

Also found online, a picture of Bernard Wilensky:

http://www.studioiris.ca/gazette/1998-09-17.jpg

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:11 (twenty years ago) link

Flounder, you can still get many kinds of hand-pulled sodas there.

Though I probably shouldn't say "hand-pulled" around here--wouldn't want to get Bryan worked up after that last comment of his.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:13 (twenty years ago) link

By the way, we've so nailed the Toronto thread.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:13 (twenty years ago) link

Without even trying.

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:15 (twenty years ago) link

I hunted those muskies for a while. In the middle of perfectly innocent bass fishing expeditions on Lac. St. Louis (which is just a widening of the St. Lawrence), I'd dig a 12 inch long plug out of my tackle box and start flogging the weedlines. Never got one, though I did manage to whack my brother on the back of the head with one of those plugs once (cramped little rental rowboats, you know).

Shit. I just saw that painting go up. Oh. Man. Thanks.

It's really been too long.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:17 (twenty years ago) link

THAT'S IT. I want to fish NOW!

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:19 (twenty years ago) link

I don't want to list my favorite clubs, record stores, etc, cause the thread will degenerate into "Er, that's not there nomore, Flounder". That's partly why I've gone into flora, fauna and hydrographic features.

Skiing to classes across Mount Royal: CLASSIC.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 04:32 (twenty years ago) link

I'll second that Quebecois accent vote. I'll never forget the first time the guy I ended up being engaged to phoned me all the way from Montreal (I live in Melbourne) and that twangy french-canadian drawl, ooooh! Niiice. His cute lapses into french also endearing.

Damn I miss that lad.

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 05:03 (twenty years ago) link

Wait!...accent..."Trayce"....Melbourne.....that was me!

(I should probably get some sleep)

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 05:12 (twenty years ago) link

Brian: go. get. musky. And remember: it's "the fish of a thousand casts". Bonne chance. Et bonne nuit.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 05:38 (twenty years ago) link

Oops, I meant "Bryan". Sorry.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 05:40 (twenty years ago) link

It's ok, Weird! CRAP!

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 05:43 (twenty years ago) link

The Expos kickin' ass, free phones at Concordia (6th floor), Esoterik, Beatnik, Tam-Tam, best place for people-watching, the great battles between drivers and pedestrians at every intersection, francophones for their love of life and their unexplicably weird medieval fetish, drinking on St-Denis on a nice day, weed delivery service, Old Port during summer nights, great restaurants, Mile-End and Plateau, Fantasia film festival, easy-ish access to rooftops, thrift shops, Movieland, Architectural Park and finally, the hottest people around.

― alex in montreal, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 17:53 (twenty years ago) link

i saw a rocker on a ten-speed here the other day and felt completely at one w/ the universe

― jones (actual), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 18:00 (twenty years ago) link

I used to live there.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 18:06 (twenty years ago) link

It's weirdly humid today in Montreal.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 18:48 (twenty years ago) link

Schwartz's Deli!!

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 18:51 (twenty years ago) link

And Ben's Deli, while we're at it, the most beautiful deli in the world. Let me see if I can dig up a pic.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 18:54 (twenty years ago) link

It's weirdly humid today in Montreal.

put a sock in it, "apartment w/ ceiling fans + a cross-breeze" boy

― jones (actual), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 18:54 (twenty years ago) link

and Rue Prince Arthur!

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 18:54 (twenty years ago) link

Here's the only picture of Ben's I could find:

http://www.greatestescapes.com/images/98gourmet11d-01.jpg

...and that doesn't even really give you a sense of it. I should go take some pictures of it and post them online.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 18:59 (twenty years ago) link

just remembered i went to a REALLY nice steakhouse... "queue du cheval" i think was it's name. best steakhouse i've ever been to.

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:15 (twenty years ago) link

That's probably the most famous steakhouse in town. Never been myself, though.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:21 (twenty years ago) link

horse's ass?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:23 (twenty years ago) link

tail! TAIL!

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:31 (twenty years ago) link

Jeanne-Mance Park (Fletcher's Field): where Mt. Royal meets the Plateau, excellent pick-up soccer, impromptu percussive jams across the street, etc etc...

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:35 (twenty years ago) link

I used to play soccer there occasionally, mostly hung-over. The percussive jams I could do without.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:39 (twenty years ago) link

They're a bore to actually hang out at, but I appreciated the ambient effect from a distance.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:43 (twenty years ago) link

For non-Montrealers, these are called the "Tam-Tams." I once saw a poster for a band called J'Tam, which made me sigh.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 20:01 (twenty years ago) link

Did someone slap them for that name?

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 20:07 (twenty years ago) link

queue to cul is a short trip, in so many ways

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 20:10 (twenty years ago) link

If I ever see them I'll deliver that slap for ya, Noodles.

Montreal has a not-proud tradition of bands with horrible, horrible names, like (and I will googleproof these for obvious reasons) 2 St0ne 2 Skank, Suck la M4rde, er, and many many others. It never ends with these bad band names.

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 20:15 (twenty years ago) link

One of the very first punk bands out of Montreal was the 222s. They could have tried a little bit harder in the naming originality department, methinks.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 20:22 (twenty years ago) link

I like Montreal better than Chicago.

― Ally (mlescaut), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 20:41 (twenty years ago) link

Speaking of the naming originality department, there's a Montreal band called Galaxie 500 right now.

― alex in montreal, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 21:33 (twenty years ago) link

I know! That drives me crazy! And The Saints too!

― slutsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 21:47 (twenty years ago) link

nice list alex... plus the obvious stuff, like the insane amount of festivals in the summer.. (fringe, jazz, bunch of films, mutek...theres basically some festival going on any time between june and august).

Oh and there are some really nice pictures here.

― Elliot (Elliot), Thursday, 29 May 2003 06:43 (twenty years ago) link

God, I miss Montreal so badly, you have no idea... everything about it, except maybe the weather and the inexplicable popularity of schlocky soft-rock. Is there another city anywhere in the world that's both that cool and that cheap to live in?

― Patrick, Thursday, 29 May 2003 15:26 (twenty years ago) link

Ville St. Laurent - the west indian grocery that only gets jamaican hardoh bread on Thursdays kicks and so does Ma's Place (better than Curry Garden--I know that's saying a lot) and the hot dog stand on the corner of Decarie and Cote Vertu.

I never thought I'd have a soft spot for St. Laurent--but it's happened.

Also, when I was away in the south for a couple of months this winter, I actually missed the weather. Now I miss the burning hotness of where I was...can't satisfy me either way. Especially when today the weather in mtl sucks!!!!

― cybele (cybele), Thursday, 29 May 2003 15:36 (twenty years ago) link

faded memories of summers in mtl as a kid:
- LaRonde
- the expos' homosexual mascot, Youppi
- Jos Louis
- olympic stadium when it seemed huge and far away from everything
- A beautiful mod girl on a brokendown bright yellow Vespa I saw when i was about 10
- expo 67 and olympics 76 ashtrays and clocks and teacups in all your aged relatives homes
- the almost graham greene-ish dying colonialism of westmount & anglo mtl: roast beef sunday dinners at my gandma's in Town of Mount Royal etc

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 29 May 2003 16:02 (twenty years ago) link

cybele, I just ate at Ma's Place for the first time and it was fantastic. This was during my joyful discovery of St. Laurent, which is really an overlooked gem in my opinion.

― slutsky (slutsky), Thursday, 29 May 2003 16:08 (twenty years ago) link

Is there another city anywhere in the world that's both that cool and that cheap to live in?

Halifax, NS. You just have to accept being far away from everything else.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 29 May 2003 16:51 (twenty years ago) link

there's a street named rufus rockhead!

― sevin, Thursday, 29 May 2003 17:03 (twenty years ago) link

Hahaha yeah I saw that for the first time while driving with my boss and I started laughing. She didn't understand why it was so funny, maybe it doesn't translate into french.

― Elliot (Elliot), Thursday, 29 May 2003 17:06 (twenty years ago) link

i want my address to be 746 Rufus Rockhead

― sevin, Thursday, 29 May 2003 17:07 (twenty years ago) link

ten months pass...

Poutine in the New York Times.

― Paul Eater (eater), Monday, 26 April 2004 13:05 (twenty years ago) link

!!!!

thanks for the link paul!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 26 April 2004 14:21 (twenty years ago) link

"Club Super Sex" still makes me laugh.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 26 April 2004 19:02 (twenty years ago) link

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