Montreal
Worth visiting!
Montreal in the summer is the best! — 1 year ago
Montréal-ers are adorable in their excitement over summer. I guess it’s like New York—crappy weather for so much of the year that when the sun finally comes out people go a little crazy. There were SO MANY festivals going on while we were there. e.g.
1. haitian music festival
2. just for laffs comedy fest
We checked out a comedy gig by Zach Galafankis (or something to that effect; unpronouncable Greek name.) He’s a semi-hip comedian I think—has a Comedy Central special—but his act just wasn’t good. I literally didn’t laugh once. (why does he have ‘buzz’ ? his style is audience-confrontational. he spent a lot of time yelling at the empty seats in the house.)
A comedic float (comedic in the French style of “not comedic”)
- just for laffs had lots of incidental stuff that didn’t have anything to do with comedy but just seemed to be an excuse to get outside and be amongst ones people—lots of chess. they had a really huge chess board that was quite captivating. I was smitten with this intensely serious 8 year old kid who was playing an older boy. at one point his mom came over and made a comment to him. We wondered what she was saying. Strategy tips?
Jenny: Win, or it’s back in the closet!
That kid was weird. They kicked him & his opponent off after 15 minutes, to let other people play. Later I saw the kid walking by me and I gave him a thumbs up and said “nice game!” He looked really spooked and bolted away. Was it me?
3. famtasia – a cool horror/sci fi/asian film fest. we saw Silk, a very very creepy ghost story that was scary in the way only south asian can be. I feel like asian horror movies
are way scarier/creepier than American ones.
that old lady scuttering… EEE
4. the “International Fireworks Competition.” (seriously)
We missed Hong Kong’s performance on Weds but caught the US show on Saturday. I tried to sing My Country Tis of Thee but I couldn’t remember any of the words. We figured the U.S. would win, using a strategy of “shock and awe.” (“Take out the bridge!”)
5. international garden festival – sounds like a flower show, but this was more of a art/design expo—very cool. especially nice against the backdrop of the old silo. An artist called The User turned it into a sound installation. You speak into a microphone embedded in this small sculpture across the water, on the other side of the port. Your voice is transmitted to speakers installed within the huge echoey silo, and this sound is then trasmitted back to speakers on your side. It’s a really cool effect, although unfortunately none of us could think of anything of deep import to say. I think I did an “om” and Matthew said “Fuck all yall.”