Go and start another cat one. That oughta do it.

I don't believe in epistemology.

Shelly Vincoeur wrote:

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10 Crusaders fans on OTF? Ha, my work here is done.

You can't fool us. They're all you, but with different user names...

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But then, I've come to the view that your soul is basically Canadian and was just misdirected to the wrong side of the border on the way down. Your clinging to Cory Hart is otherwise very difficult to explain.

I think that's probably true. Unfortunately, my current line of work is sort of U.S.-centric.

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Bored Of Discipline wrote:

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London is probably perfect for me apart from the transport situation.


Maybe if you lived in London, as opposed to commuting from far off suburbia, you would be better off.

Seriously, though, where is better public transport-wise?


Pretty much any major Japanese city. Paris as well.

I did think of Paris as the metro is one of its redeeming features.Outside of that,though, is it any good?

I got 76 for the Canadian immigration questionnaire also.

Welcome, hoser. Here's your health card. Let me introduce you to Gord and Lorne...

Bored, Paris is a fantastic city, so much going for it. But it does have its serious flaws. It's quite expensive as far as housing, a bit like NYC, and unlike London and perhaps NY, life in the banlieue outside the Peripherique is not that interesing, so you'll be confined to a small place to live in Paris or bored outside of it.

The other serious flaw about Paris is the somewhat stifling cultural inertia that's baked into the culture. I have gained a little bit of perspective with this regard after having left and lived since college in cities that are very open and informal in North America, but I guess that's a personal perspective. This being said, there is an absolutely wonderful side to the local culture as well.

Liq, we've got the same sneakers here, but at half the price (two important words from the American lexicon: outlet malls.)

AG: there are only a couple of somewhat decent english new book stores in Montreal, but the many used book stores here like Word, Wescott, Ex-Libris really are gems. And yes, if you're bilingual, this place is indeed a bookstore paradise.

It's part of the wider cultural context here of Montreal being a cultural bridge between Europe and N. America, between the francophone and the anglophone word. I had the guys from Pas Chic Chic (one of my favourite local acts) on my radio show earlier today and talking with them I realized that the unique quality of their music was in good part based on their ability to thoroughly assimilate and weave the great musical heritages from both cultural universes.

Reed of the Valley People wrote:

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I like Gazelles because they fit me perfectly and make the ideal statement/non-statement I'm going for. Not flash, but not drab. Not conservative, but not self-consciously hipster.

Spot the irony.

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Liq, we've got the same sneakers here, but at half the price (two important words from the American lexicon: outlet malls.)

I actually got a decent price for those Nikes as it happens (€60). Outlets malls are too far away and I don't have a car.

linus should get a cut from the Montreal Development Authority; he's got me seriously thinking about visiting next year with an eye towards evaluating longer-term possibilities.

I also think he is absolutely dead on about Paris (as one would expect him to be).

Edinburgh would be great if that big castle wasn't in the way.

Sorry,linus, I wasn't asking about PAris in general, I was asking after the state of the public transport system outside of the metro.

Having said that, that is an interesting view on a city that people tend to describe with very broad strokes.

The Parisian buses are not what they used to be (largely because the volume of private traffic has increased considerably in a centre where it isn't easy to increase capacity); some tram lines have recently been introduced around the Peripherique (and now one on part of the Boulevards des Marechaux), and seem to be successful.

The latter help address a major issue of the metro/RER, which is that it has always been designed to get people into the centre, not to distribute them around the city. As places of work change, and with them travel patterns, the old system doesn't work as well (the French railway network has the same essential issue; it is world class at getting people to and from Paris, but nowhere near as good in connecting (say) Lyon to Bordeaux.

All that said, the system in general is in better condition (and therefore more reliable) and less expensive than that in London. The fact that the French have never privatised their rail network also makes the system beyond the metro much easier to understand and operate within.

Paris has Velib which was, once again, fantastically useful last weekend. Although it relies a bit on decent weather, and cycling up the Champs Elysees remains terrifying.

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I like Gazelles because they fit me perfectly and make the ideal statement/non-statement I'm going for. Not flash, but not drab. Not conservative, but not self-consciously hipster.

What I mean is that they look good, the fit right and they don't identify me with any particular sub-culture or youth tribe.