Cynical Romantic

It's not really a Harris versus Gambon thing for me, because, sure, the actor has some say over how the character gets portrayed, but it's really more about the screenwriting and the direction. My issues with the portrayal of Dumbledore in GoF were that the real Dumbledore would never panic and freak out at everything, he would never shake Harry and manhandle students, he would never rage just to rage. Dumbledore can be extremely scary when he chooses to be, after all, he's the most powerful wizard in the world, but it's all calculated, and he has a deep love and affection for his students and for Harry in particular. Dumbledore in GoF was wrong, all wrong. OotP is a good example of what I mean. Same actor, different writing and direction = much better portrayal of Dumbledore. And that's just one example of what I mean. The movie version of GoF didn't "get" the Harry Potter world. The movie version of OotP did. It's not so much about details; it's about being true to JK Rowling's vision. Something that I thought got lost in PoA and GoF, and got found again in OotP. Would like to say I have high hopes for the HBP movie, but the trailers aren't looking too promising.

Oddly enough, I thought GoF was one of the least accurate movies of the bunch. Sure, plot-wise it was pretty accurate, but I thought the portrayal of the characters was just way off. Particularly Dumbledore. I was so mad when I saw GoF and was relieved that OotP, while maybe a bit less factually close to the book, had got it right in terms of tone and message once again. OotP was my fave movie so far, I think, and GoF was my least favourite.

As far as I'm concerned, they might as well drag it out. The books are all complete and there's only two movies left, and once that's done, a huge well of cash dries up for them, so why not stretch it out as long as possible? Besides, the anticipation for the movies is nowhere near what it was for the books; in the case of the movies, we already know what happens next.

It's always open season on the Leafs as far as this Habs fan is concerned. Q & A's from Health Canada in the wake of the Listeria outbreak: Q: The Stanley Cup was recently on tour in my town, and I kissed it. Do I have to worry about being infected by listeria? A: You are safe. The Stanley Cup has not been in contact with any Maple Leaf in over 40 years.

More like doing a double-take and then pinching myself repeatedly to ensure I was awake. And no, that wasn't entirely due to the jetlag.

So I go away for two weeks and return to find new chapters and updates from so many of my favourite authors. Libby Drew, Duncan Ryder, J.Ross, Tiffani Chin... even DomLuka, which I'd pretty much given up hope for! So much to read, so jetlagged, such a dilemma! But a lovely dilemma to have. Looks like I'll be happily immersed in reading for the next little while. To all the writers, thanks for such a great welcome home gift.

That is indeed very sad news. I think a lot of people who were reading ISWB sort of felt like they had a glimpse into Dan's life, because the story is so autobiographical. It's such sad news when a life is cut short like that. Condolences to his loved ones.

Winnipeg needs a team back before Toronto should be talking about a second team. Southern Ontario (I hate Hamilton but I guess it would be logical) could also use a team, though between Toronto and Detroit, you want to be careful not to crowd the market from a geographic perspective, either. I've also long supported the idea of a team in Halifax, though economically that might be tough to make viable. But none of those teams should be new teams. If anything, Gary Bettman screwed up the NHL with so much expansion, and judicious contraction is what's needed now in order to improve the league. In my ideal world, two or three teams in "soft" US markets would move to Canadian cities, and another two or three would be contracted. Let's cut the league from 30 teams back to about 24, and re-kindle some of the rivalries in the hockey-mad markets. Also, as the Russian super-league seeks expansion across Northern Europe, I think we will have more opportunities for games across the ocean. The travel and jetlag would make it impractical to look at merging the leagues and playing too many regular season games against one another. But what about a North American conference versus a European conference, with the Stanley Cup final featuring the top team from each playing against each other? Could be interesting...

This is definitely interesting. I "discovered" your stories after your "disappearance" and had pretty much relegated you to the ranks of the missing authors, possibly never to be heard from again. I'm quite surprised to read this, and glad that all seems to be well with you. Maybe you don't even realise that you've gained fans in your absence, but you have. I just thought you might like to know that.

Yeah, I heard that too, about Toronto and a second hockey team. Dumbest idea I ever heard, if you ask me. Hell, Toronto can't even put one decent team on the ice.

There are better pubs than that to watch the games. If you're interested, I can PM you with a few of my fave spots. They're 5-0-1 so far to start the season. Sounds like they heard you. Hah! Bonne chance! (I have tix to only 3 games so far this year. Hopefully I can get some more as the season progresses. But they're hard to get... I have to keep working my contacts for season tix or corporate box tickets.) So, so true.

Well, it's the same turkey we had yesterday. Plus

Yep, Happy Thanksgiving, fellow Canucks. Hope you all enjoyed the Monday off of work as much as I did. @TonyM, I think it varies, how much people celebrate Thanksgiving here. You're right in that it doesn't seem to be the hoopla that it is in the States, for most people. But it really depends on the family. Mine, for instance, never really celebrates it at all; we're generally holidayed-out by this point, thanks to the string of Jewish holidays that fall around this time of year. But I have friends whose families do the whole Turkey, family and football thing. And then there are those who take the opportunity for a weekend out of town while the weather's still nice. So, yeah, it varies. However you celebrated, hope you enjoyed it! And don't forget to vote tomorrow!

From the way you write, it's hard to believe you're only 20. But... happy birthday!

Well, Wildone, I'm guessing you're talking about Todd Bertuzzi, and I understand where you're coming from on that one. I find it very difficult to respect him, too, and I'm guessing he has the same issue himself, judging by his injury-riddled, under-performing career since the Moore incident. My guess is that his stay in Calgary will be relatively brief, as he appears to now permanently have "journeyman" stamped on his forehead. Maybe you can go back to liking the Flames after he's gone? Does it make you a traitor? Nah. Sounds like you were a Canucks fan before you were a Flames fan, so really, you're just returning to your roots, right? Though I wouldn't read too much into the team records using only the first two games of the season. It's early, yet. But I guess it's hard for me to imagine having divided loyalty issues when it comes to hockey. I'm a Habs fan from the cradle; my parents and grandparents are Habs fans, never any question there. Even through the Rejean Houle years, even through Mario Tremblay and the Patrick Roy trade, even through season after season of missed playoffs and dashed hopes. There will be no team other than the storied bleu-blanc-rouge for me, ever. By the way, I don't like Keenan either. Oh, but with 4 points tonight for Tanguay, I have to give Keenan a sincere thank-you. If Tanguay had been happy in Calgary, he never would've asked for that trade. *Grin*.

And speaking of Kovy, he just scored his 200th point with the Habs in our 6-1 spanking of the Leafs tonight. Woohoo! Agree with Mattie. Leafs SUCK!

Well, the Habs couldn't quite pull it off against Buffalo last night, but now we're getting set to kick some Leafs ASS. On a related note, a question for the hockey fans, now that we're a few seasons into the "new NHL": The shootout: love it or hate it? Oh, and @jamessavik: Funny you say that. I'm a huge hockey fan but never really thought it had the best-looking players. Too much truth to the stereotype of the mullet-wearing kid with missing front teeth and a broken nose, I guess. Or a bit of a defensive reaction to the idiots out there who assume that female hockey fans are just into ogling players and don't actually know or care about the game (not even a little bit true, I assure you). But if you're into hot hockey players, check out Alex Kovalev on the cover of the last issue of La Semaine:

I think Corvus nailed it. A story, not just a moral of a story or a summary of a story, but a real story in 6 words. Damn, this is a tough exercise! My attempt is inspired by a true story, witnessed in a Venice canal: Dead rat, beer bottle, used condom. (Yeah, I'm not sure I want to imagine that one either... )

So... anyone watching the opener? Habs started out strong, but the Sabres seem to have the momentum right now. Habs have too much confusion at the blue line. Kovy's playing strong, but Breezer is making too many of his classic mistakes, and what's up with Maxime Lapierre? He's playing like shit. Can't blame Price for that goal, mind you, and he's playing excellent otherwise. Hopefully the Habs will regain their fire in the second and get the upper hand back.

Finally, a hockey thread! Of course I have to support my own Montreal Canadiens as they pursue their 25th Stanley Cup in this, our Centennial year. We've got a great team out there and I can't wait to see what they can do. Other than that, it is tough to argue with all the talent that Detroit has out there. Back-to-back Stanley Cups for the Wings may not be that far-fetched, especially considering that they were the last team to have pulled it off. My prediction of a team to watch: Tampa Bay. Not Cup material just yet, but with all the free agency signings and new young talent, they should be much improved from last year.

Reminds me of the old joke about how all the Jewish holidays tell essentially the same story: "They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat."

Sounds like our beautiful city has sucked you in, heart and soul. Though we may not necessarily agree on politics, at least we agree on a few very important things: Montreal rocks, Toronto sucks, Habs rule, Leafs stink. And jaywalking is much more efficient than waiting around at crosswalks, freezing your ass off. A local comedian put it best: We watch the cars, not the streetlights. I've never known anyone who's ever gotten hit by a streetlight. The fashion and style thing I find a bit pretentious at times, mind you. I'm pretty laid-back, style-wise, and I'm in a very hip-and-trendy field where people tend to dress to impress. Sometimes it grates on my nerves. But then I travel somewhere like Atlanta or Winnipeg, and look around at all the people in their baggy jeans and mismatched oversized clothing, and just long to be back in a place where people know how to dress. Even if I don't always make the proper amount of effort myself. Oh, and poutine is really a Quebec-only thing. Don't be upset that you can't get good poutine elsewhere; just enjoy it here and eat local specialties when you travel. Seriously, trying to replicate it outside of Quebec is an invitation for disaster.

And on the Toronto thing: Wildone and Duncan both make good points: Yes, a lot of people outside Toronto hate Toronto just because so much of the national media is so heavily focused on Toronto. The "center of the universe-itis" tends to create a bit of an us-versus-them mentality which, while not totally justified, does aggravate the situation. Yes, there are other faces to Toronto than the one I just mentioned. Toronto has one of the worst urban sprawl problems of any city in North America. Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville, Oshawa, Whitby... how long until people start claiming that Ottawa is a suburb of Toronto? LOL. Seriously, this is part of what people hate about the city, and the cause of a lot of its other problems, namely the traffic and the pollution. Yes, we tend to "hate on" Toronto a bit undeservedly. It's not all that bad a place, all things considered. Plenty of people live with a very high quality of life there. It's got jobs, culture, arts, stability, and compared to a lot of places in the world, it's actually pretty good. It's a very Canadian thing to hate Toronto, though, if you live outside it, so maybe it gets a bit unfairly bashed. Still doesn't mean I'd want to live there. Yes, it is. I'm a fourth-generation Montrealer, fluently bilingual, and not at all "held back". I love it here. It's just not that unusual for Montreal anglophones to move to Toronto for jobs. Look at the numbers over the past fifteen, twenty years. The salaries are higher in Toronto, the opportunities are more plentiful, and in certain fields - like mine (advertising) - it's something everyone has to either do or purposely reject somewhere along the way. It's not enough to be merely bilingual in Quebec to get ahead; there are still a lot of barriers for the non-"pure-laine" here, though unspoken, particularly in certain fields. For more of a perspective on this issue, see here. But for me, it's more about the "soul" of a place. I have deep roots here and though I've done a ton of traveling, I firmly believe Montreal is one of the greatest places in the world to live. I've made a conscious decision to stay here, accepting certain sacrifices in exchange for a quality of life that's second to none. And I'm happy with that decision. But I have lots of friends and relatives who've made the trek down the 401 and are now in Toronto, and they're happy to varying degrees too (though they'll never stop complaining about the lack of decent bagels and smoked meat). Everyone's gotta do what's right for them. Back to the original topic... if you're planning a trip to Canada as a tourist, Montreal in the summer is a can't-miss stop. Festival after festival. It's like one big 4-month-long party. Quebec City is also nice as a tourist destination, though I wouldn't want to live there; too much of a government town. Ditto Ottawa. I don't really "get" Toronto as a tourist destination. I mean, you see the CN Tower, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and... then what?

Yes, Montreal and Melbourne have a very similar "feel" to them. Both are arts- and cafe-culture cities (though Melbourne obviously has a beach, and Montreal doesn't). The climate is much harsher here, much snowier in the wintertime, so don't let the 10 degrees fool your brother into thinking it will be an easy adjustment - it won't! But beyond that, I definitely "got" the comparison that a lot of Australians make with Montreal being akin to the "Melbourne" and Toronto akin to the "Sydney" of Canada - what with the tongue-in-cheek rivalry, and the general feel of each city, if not the climate. Tell your bro if he needs any advice on Montreal to drop me a line.

Interesting discussion topic. Duncan, I get what you're saying about the Toronto-hatred being a bit knee-jerk and overblown, and maybe this is just my lifelong habit as a Montrealer speaking, but I have to say, I really agree with Jack on this one: Toronto sucks. Yes, everything you said about it is true. It's diverse and lively and has good cultural scenes and all that. But there's just this feeling to the city - and I've been there dozens, if not hundreds, of times - that every single time I go there, I end up with a headache. It's the way everything is grid-like, the way the restaurants all require reservations and the nightlife is inextricably linked to the day job, with people going out more for the purpose of exchanging business cards than exchanging good conversation. It's a clich