Readings

I was shelving in the non-fiction area of the library when I happened upon the French-language collection. PEI's Francophone population is vanishingly small; I'd guess off-hand that a majority of the children who attend the École François-Buote are immigrants, from Québec or New Brunswick or even Ontario or Europe or Africa. Nonetheless, the Confederation Centre Public Library is the chief library in a province that enthusiastically claims to be the birthplace of Canada.

I ended up picking some books: Paul Wycszinsky's biography of Émile Nelligan, Antonine Maillet's La Sagouine, two interesting books on the development of ideoloigies in 19th and 20th century Québec. Feedback later

McGill

Although I seem certain to have gotten into Wilfrid Laurier University, my applications to other universities remain active. I doubt that even/when I get accepted to Dalhousie, Memorial, or Western I'll take up their offers, unless they are financially far superior to WLU--WLU is particularly close. If I got a comparable or superior offer from Queen's, however, or a comparable offer from McGill (I'm realistic), I'd take either of those two.

Now. I've gotten an E-mail last night from the head of the graduate program at McGill. Apparently I need to submit a statement of proposal--another one, apart from what I submitted on the on-line forum. I've debated mentally the pros and cons of sending one in--cons, more effort, pros, chance of living in Montréal and having a McGill degree. I will send one in (750 to 800 words in length), typed tonight and sent tomorrow via courier and E-mail. It's just a pain.

Émile Nelligan, "Autumn Evenings"

See how here the tulip- there the rose,
By a group of bronze and marbre statuaries,
In the park where love frolics under tres,
Sing through my nights, pink and monotonous.

The flowerbeds sang at eve in joyful chords
Where the moonlight's dance is a shifting show
And where, sultry and sad, their high notes go,
Troubling the pure dreams of solitary birds.

See how here the tulip there the rose
And crystal lilies, crimson in twilight,
Radiate sadly to the sun in flight
That bears away from beasts and things their woes.

And my ravaged love, like bleeding flesh, makes
whole
Its wounds and lets its madness find repose.
See how the lily, tulip, and the rose
Weep for the memories that wash my soul.

- from The Complete Poems of Émile Nelligan, edited and translated by Fred Cogswell, (Montréal: Harvest House, 1983), p 38.

Some Gym Observations

• Whenever I see Michael Jackson (tonight, on the TV monitors in the gym), I keep thinking of Molly's encounter with Ashpool père in Neuromancer (to debate--Is that encounter is a mixture of Citizen Kane and snuff porn?). He's a perfect example of how having too much money can make you fucking insane.


• It says something about early 21st century heterosexuality that some gym-going men have larger pectoral muscles than some women's breasts.


• I really like Émile Nelligan's poems. So, I'll cite one a day, in an effort to provide him with the Internet exposure he deserves. (Only ~2500 cites on Google? Shame!)

Tatu, and Russia

I've just downloaded Tatu's Russian-language music videos "Ya soshla s uma" (the original version of "All The Things She Says") and "Nas ne dogonjat" (the original version of "Not Gonna Get Us"). Yes, they do definitely appeal to that segment of the heterosexually-inclined male population which are interested in attractive teenage girls in schoolgirl uniforms.

I've made this observation before in the English Lounge, but I'll make it again, for posterity, on my livejournal: That a Russian pop music group centered upon two teenage girls who claim to be lesbians and make out in their live performances and music videos would have a #1 international hit has to be one of the most unexpected outcomes of Gorbachev's accession to power in 1985.