which reference to 1904 and the Finnish composer (beginning "In 1904 Sibelius tried to escape the embarrassments of his Helsinki life style ...") I offer here because it caught my eye in the New Yorker (July 9 & 16, 2007, Alex Ross, "Apparition in the Woods, Rescuing Sibelius from silence," p. 53) which I'd picked up for the David Sedaris story to read on the flight from Montreal to L.A. along with a stack of other reading material including The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur.  I was also watching "Blades of Glory" on my Air Canada personal screen implanted in the back of the headset of the seat in front of me.  And I don't know how any of this is much of a seque from Beatrix Potter.  As T.A. offers in a private correspondence, her work is "all a lot of hand wringing about nothing" anyway, and I agree.  Let's move on, shall we?

It's good to be home.  I am delighted to have 800 emails waiting for me, as I rarely check them while travelling, and a few were touching.  I am also still in a different time zone, so my reporting on recent events will come to you haphazzardly.  But to make a beginning --

First: The Chateau Frontenac Hotel in Quebec City looks exactly like Hogwarts.  Seriously.  In French Hogwarts has been translated Poudlard (sic?) in the books and if anyone knows why, please explain.   

Second: Swearing in Quebecois is very Catholic; all the expletives are sacred -- "Tabernacle" "Host" "Chalice" -- just as they were in Shakespeare's time, "Zounds" (Christ's Wounds) and of course the ever popular "Bloody" (as in the Blood of Christ).  In Quebec it is possible to string the offensive words together in a splurge of fury which is sure to offend, especially if you throw in "whore" and "Jesus Christ," as in "You whore of the Tabernacle, you can go chalice yourself with the host and I don't give a tabernacled chalice..." or something to that effect.  Very much Taking the Lord's Name in Vain to great heights, but not done, I assure you, in jest, and not to be attempted by amateurs or foreigners. 

Speaking of Catholic, I saw the French Canadian blockbuster hit NITRO starring the adorable, hirsute, unwashed and smoking hot Guillaume Lemay Thivierge, (he's got an eagle -- wings outstretched and hovering above his navel -- tattooed on his abs, which is featured prominently in the extensive ad campaign).  SPOILER FOLLOWS: In order to save the life of the beautiful woman he loves who looks just like the VIRGIN MARY, our hero MAX must bribe the organ donor bureaucrat (apparently not everything is perfect in Canadian healthcare) with money and a heart, which he takes from a very very bad gangster man, enlisting the help of the mob's own doctor and his own former girlfriend who worked for the mob and was a pole dancing whore who looks like MARY MAGDALENE and when that doesn't work out... well, after a couple agonizing twists and car chases, in the end Max goes to jail for the rest of his life, but the heart of the recently deceased MARY MAGDALENE is transferred into the VIRGIN MARY.   I'm not making this up.  This is what happens when Catholics make action films.  Distrubing and yet curiously HOT.
 
On a different note, Justin is returned from Paris and informs me of the passing of Count Gottfried von Bismarck.  I urge you to read his obit at www.telegraph.co.uk -- when I get around to making a list of important links, this will be at the top, as the Telegraph Obituaries are unsurpassed in their ability to charm and surprise and delight.  I note in passing the deaths of Madame Claude Pompidou and of Boots Randolph who composed the "irritatingly catchy tune which accompanied the chases on the Benny Hill show."

I attended the Jazz Festival and then we drove out of the city and I visited the Plains of Abraham, which is where the Quebecois license plate motto JE ME SOUVIENS comes from. 

I had a lovely time, but it is good to be home.  Please do post.