Derek’s Diary

After having been closed for almost three months from early August to late October, I was happy to learn a little over a week ago (better late than never) that Cinéma du Parc has re-opened its doors to Montreal fans of independent and international film! Though gone are the tattered movie wall posters and the little plush chairs that lent the small theater its quirky and rebellious charm, its new owner, Roland Smith, remains committed to presenting quality alternative films to those Montrealers, like myself, who have grown tired of the endless stream of mostly forgettable and brain-numbing Hollywood blockbusters.

To mark the opening of the theater (and to save some money), Desiree and I each bought a $40 movie card that allows each of us to watch eight movies before April next year. So far, we’ve watched three very different and unique films:

• Nadia’s Journey
• Bobby
• A Year in the Death of Jack Richards

Sadly, when we attended the evening showing of each of these films, most of the seats in the theater were empty. Though I try to remain optimistic that this is just a sign that not many people are yet aware that Cinéma du Parc has re-opened and that this time the theater will have a much longer and successful third life, in the back of my mind, I can’t help but think that the empty seats are a bad omen that the theater may once again just fade away into Montreal repertory movie theater history.

Let’s hope that its fans will not let that happen! Support quality film in Montreal and please buy more tickets to Cinéma du Parc!

Further reading:

• Third time lucky?

Two weekends ago, Desiree and I spent a chilly, but memorable long weekend in Québec City where we bought two Quebec City Museum Cards for $40 each and visited several museums in the Old City:

1. Musée du Fort
2. Québec Wax Museum
3. Musée de la civilisation
4. Château Frontenac
5. Musée de l’Amérique française
6. Traverse Québec-Lévis

For museum fans, the Museum Card is a pretty good deal. Each card allows you to visit 23 different museums over three days and includes two public transit day passes, each worth $5.40. On weekends, each day pass lets two passengers ride, so our four passes effectively allowed us to travel for three days.

Our first night in the Québec capital, we had a comfortable stay at Auberge Michel Doyon. For our second night, wanting to be nearer to the Old City, we decided to stay in a private room at the Auberge Internationale de Québec, a very clean and secure hostel just inside the stone walls of the Old City. Of the many hostels in which I stayed in Europe, Ottawa, and the Atlantic provinces, the hostel in Québec City ranked as one of the best.

Last weekend, I attended BarCamp Montreal where a mix of tech-savvy Montrealers gave informative and entertaining presentations on diverse topics that included:

• Art collection
• Artistic games
• Network Journalism
• Public domain audio books
• Electoral systems
• Project scheduling
• How ASPs are killing free software
• Wiki travel guide

A common theme of the presentations was harnessing the potential of the Web for conversation, collaboration, and group participation. I went to BarCamp to listen, to learn, to discuss, to question, to be inspired, and to network, and I was not disappointed. After attending the conference, I realized that the technology community in Montreal is alive and well, but perhaps more artistic and media-oriented than the tech communities in Ottawa and Silicon Valley.

Did you know that Grande Bibliothèque (BAnQ) provides Québec residents with free access to Safari Books Online? This service lists books for online reading from publishers such as Addison-Wesley, No Starch, O’Reilly, Peachpit, Prentice Hall PTR, Que, and Sams. I found a few Ruby related O’Reilly titles that I recognized:

• RJS Templates for Rails
• Ruby Cookbook
• Ruby on Rails: Up and Running
• Web Services on Rails

Though the Grande Bibliothèque Safari subscription allows you to search all books and read any book online, unlike a regular Safari subscription, it does not allow you to download individual book chapters for offline reading.

On Sunday, Desiree and I enjoyed a sunny day of apple picking with two school bus loads of Flipinos at Les Vergers Petch along Le Circuit du Paysan in Hemmingford, Quebec. We also stopped to buy meat at Boucherie Viau, a popular Montérégie butcher, and at Vignoble du Marathonien for wine tasting.

Further reading:

• Quebec’s cider houses rule

Tonight was Cinema du Parc’s closing night. To celebrate CDP’s five years in business and to enjoy one last week of repertory movies, Desiree and I have seen six movies at the CDP since last Friday:

• Amores perros (Love’s a Bitch or Loves Dogs)
• Trainspotting
• La Mala educación (The Bad Education)
• Girl With a Pearl Earring
• Lost in Translation
• Clean

Tonight we had also wanted to see Eraserhead, their last show of the evening (and forever), but unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was sold out.

Despite this last disappointment, I was mostly pleased with the movies that we did get to see. Of these, I particularly enjoyed Amores Perros and Girl With a Pearl Earring, but was unimpressed with Lost in Translation. Coincidentally, Scarlett Johannson played in both Girl With a Pearl Earring and Lost in Translation. Though it had its humorous moments, Lost in Translation had a dull and mostly pointless story in which Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson were a very unlikely and mismatched pair. Girl With a Pearl Earring was a much more interesting film for which Johannson was a perfect fit.

A few days ago, CTV, the Globe and Mail, and others reported that according to a recent Statistics Canada study, Canadians spent an average of 273 hours (11.38 days) in 2005 commuting to and from work, up from 256 hours (10.65 days) in 1998 and 234 hours (9.75 days) in 1992.

Next to Toronto, where the average commute lasts 79 minutes, Montrealers like myself have the second longest commute time of residents in any Canadian city. In 2005, Montreal commuters spent an average of 76 minutes getting from home to work and back, up from 62 minutes in 1992. I estimate that my daily, round-trip travel time on public transit is about 80 minutes, 4 minutes higher than the Montreal average, but 26 minutes less than the Canadian public transit average of 106 minutes. Not surprisingly, the report reveals that those 20 per cent of urban Canadians who take public transit have a 41 minute longer commute than do those 86 per cent of Canadians who drive to work. But what about the quality of a commute by bus, subway, or train compared to one by car? Unfortunately, the StatsCan report apparently considers only travel time quantity, not quality.

In my experience, travel by public transit can be far more productive and less stressful than travel by car. For instance, while on the bus or Métro, instead of fighting traffic, I can relax and read a book or listen to Podcasts on my Sandisk Sansa audio player. So, not only is my daily BMW commute less costly, less stressful, and less harmful to the environment than driving, it’s also more educational!

Nevertheless, despite the arguably higher quality of my commute experience over those of drivers, I’d still prefer to spend less time in the morning getting to work and more time sleeping!

This morning, I was disappointed to hear on CBC Radio that Montreal’s last remaining English repertory movie theater, Cinema du Parc, will be closing its doors on August 3. No longer will I be able to go to my favourite theater to see a documentary or international film. Films that I’ve seen at Cinema du Parc include Farentheit 9-11, The Corporation, Sisters in Law, and most recently, the South African film Wah-Wah. Before the theater closes, I’ll try to see a few more films, one of which will likely be The Road to Guantanamo. However, once Cinema du Parc closes its doors, the only place left in Montreal where I’ll be able to watch an English documentary will be at the Grande Bibliotheque.