mardi 31 juillet 2018

ELECTIONS QUEBEC 2018 - RESULTS PROJECTIONS


ELECTIONS QUEBEC 2018 - RESULTS PROJECTIONS -
by Bernard Bujold -
We are two months away from the Quebec elections and as a famous television host said: "If the trend continues ..." 
According to me, the trend favors Philippe Couillard who would form a minority government. 
I had written in my diary on June 22nd those projections; 
Liberal 60, 
CAQ 40, 
PQ 23 and 
QS 2. 
It will be necessary to see on October 1st if I continue in my success of "champion" among the "Monday Quarter back" in the world of political projections... 
The reasons for my October screening are: 
1. the distribution of the current seats (Liberal Party 67 MPs - PQ 28 - CAQ 21 - QS 3 - INDEPENDENTS 6); 
2. the fact that Couillard has the government portfolio and that he subsidizes widely the various groups who reproach his government; 
3. and above all that Legault does not have a nice aura and he has not managed to create a media wave. 
In all the cases of my previous projections, the winner had always been an attractive media figure. Today's society wants attractive figures. And voters choose a leader rather than a political party. 
Philippe Couillard in 2014 was the good doctor who came back to the wheel after Charest forced him to leave the boat; Justin in 2015 was the son of a legend while the whole country was tired of Stephen and Thomas did not light his audience; Donald was the perfect media image of the rebel savior a little like Che Guevara; and finally Valérie Plante won on one element: her perfect smile. Jack Layton's first campaign smile was too artificial and he became the clown of the election, but Valerie's smile was perfect. 
An election is never decided on the logic but on the deep feelings of the population concerned. The feeling of security of the good doctor Philippe, the aura of the legendary father of Justin, the rebel and courageous ardor of the candidate Donald or the nice smile that comes to compensate the arrogance and the anger of the outgoing mayor. 
According to me, on October 1st, Philippe Couillard will be seen again as the good doctor securing the risk of undefined change that represents his main opponent François Legault. 
I am not a fan of Couillard and if I had the choice, the next head of government would be Jean-François Lisée, a high-level intellectual but politics is not the place for great theories... 
So if the trend continues, Couillard will be the next Prime Minister of Quebec! 
Also, the advertising campaign by the Quebec unions reflects an angle that says a lot about the division in the intentions of votes. Such a state of mind against the two leading candidates could create surprises in the final result in favour of Couillard, especially with two other parties in the race! 
TO BE CONTINUED...
SEE PHOTOS ALBUM

mercredi 25 juillet 2018

TO HAVE THE MEANS OF ITS AMBITIONS ...


TO HAVE THE MEANS OF ITS AMBITIONS... 
By Bernard Bujold - 
It is sometimes said that our project is beyond our means! I realized that when I wanted to enjoy a visit to the city and I stopped to shop for light shoes for the cottage (loafers). 
I thought maybe my favorite store would have some. There were some but I had to make my idea that the beautiful little shoes in the windows were beyond my means... 
A simple pair of "loafers" Louis Vuitton sells on average $ 1,400 (for two shoes)! I thought to fall back on sport shoes style "running" but it's the same price as for the walking boots. 
Finally, I fell back on the discount store in the mall a few blocks further. 
Conclusion: You have to live according to your means... 
SEE PHOTOS

lundi 23 juillet 2018

EDGARD FRUITIER AND HIS GHOSTS IN 2018...


EDGARD FRUITIER AND HIS GHOSTS... 
By Bernard Bujold- The new scandal of the now moment concerning Edgard Fruitier raises a questioning for society! Should the old standards of moral judgment change with the evolution of society? 
My deceased friend, Daniel Pilon, often told me about the time when he was a young guide at the 1967 MONTREAL exhibition. It seems that all this beautiful world (the guides) sexually fraternized in a so-called "libertine" way. The actions of then would be highly criminal in 2018! 
I knew three of the characters from the crowd of many accused of sex scandals: Edgard Fruitier, Charles Dutoit and Gilbert Rozon. 
To my knowledge, the sexual tendencies of these characters were known to all but at the time when society accepted these trends. Each of my three acquaintances had adapted to the new society of today and their former personalities were part of their past. 
To want to live the past in the present, modern society risks becoming a world of ghosts ... 
The text of Lise Ravary sums up the situation! 
SEE TEXT LISE RAVARY

dimanche 22 juillet 2018

BOAT RIDE - JULY 2018


BOAT RIDE - JULY 2018 
By Bernard Bujold- 
It is very pleasant on hot summer days to go on a water excursion aboard a boat. Nothing like getting up in the early morning and arriving at the dock early and to go for a ride to come back at the end of the day. 
Long live the summer of 2018! 
SEE PHOTO ALBUM

vendredi 20 juillet 2018

VISIT TO THE HOSPITAL IN JULY 2018


VISIT TO THE HOSPITAL IN JULY 2018 -
By Bernard Bujold - 
What is the most difficult to live? A crowded hospital waiting room or an empty room just waiting for you... 
The atmosphere of an empty room can sometimes be disturbing because "calm in an urban setting" (especially in a hospital) is also a sign of "lack of life"! 
A few years ago, I had to stay at the Hôtel-Dieu for a health problem that is now fully over. After my stay, in the years that followed, I returned to the Hôtel-Dieu to meet my specialist doctor to check the situation. This year, on the occasion of the final visit, I was surprised to find the calm of the waiting room usually full of activity. Two years ago during my visit, I even met a TV star and a well known museum director who were waiting at the same time as me... 
This year, some "quidams" and two attendants in addition to the doctor with his list of monthly appointments. 
To make a short story, some premises of the former Hôtel-Dieu continue to be used by doctors to meet their patients but there is no more care. Within 4 years, these offices will be built on the site of the former St-Luc and everything will be grouped under the banner of the CHUM. 
Obviously, it will be a little less calm for visitors... 
SEE PHOTOS WAITING ROOM HÔTEL-DIEU 

jeudi 19 juillet 2018

CONSTRUCTION CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE 2018


CONSTRUCTION CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE 2018 - 
By Bernard Bujold -
After the destruction, comes the construction! Work began on the Gilles Villeneuve racetrack in Montreal and the construction crews replaced the demolition one for the old garages. According to officials, the new "paddocks" will be beautiful! I loved the old ones but I will have to see.... 
To be continued! 
SEE PHOTOS CONSTRUCTION

mardi 17 juillet 2018

THE MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL 2018



THE MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL 2018 -
By Bernard Bujold -

"BURN THE FARM RATHER THAN ABANDON IT TO ATTACKING INVADERS..." 

-The founder of the Montreal World Film Festival (FFM) Serge Losique is once again fighting against all odds to present his event edition 2018. 
The 87-year-old has lost none of his energy and spirit despite the abandonment by the Quebec film establishment! 
Serge Losique is reminiscent of a captain who continues to stay at the helm despite the flight to the sea of his crew. 
Serge Losique, like all those who have created an exceptional work and who, as he ages (the creator) sees his work coveted by others, defends himself for his survival. There are several other such cases and the example that comes to mind is Steve Jobs with Apple when Steve Scully (whom Job had recruited to assist him) wanted to take his place. Scully had even fired Job out. Subsequently, a few years later, when Apple was facing bankruptcy, Jobs had agreed to return to save Apple but on one condition: that Scully be out ... Steve was in his prime age and he was successful to avenge the injustice and revive the Apple empire that we know today. 
In the case of Serge Losique, the Quebec establishment, with Alain Simard (Jazz Festival) as leader, wanted to take his project in 2005 but the group failed. The "deep state Quebecois" then cut the government subsidies and the FFM never recovered. The problems of the FFM began with the cutting of subsidies. No cultural event or institution (museum, orchestra, theater) can operate without a grant. In the history of the FFM, the absence of subsidy lasts for 13 years...
Serge Losique and his team sincerely believed all those years that they would be able to find back the grants and Losique financed the event with his own money while reducing year after year the scale of his Festival to arrive at a model like the last year in 2017 and like what will be the 2018 edition. 
The coveted treasure of Losique is the exclusive license of the festival which is a like a hockey franchise. The only license for a world-class "A-Class" film festival for Canada is at his name. The FFM was established in 1977 and is part of a small group of competitive festivals recognized by the F.I.A.P.F. (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) such as Cannes, Berlin or Venice. The World Federation has never accepted the many demands by the Quebec establishment to remove the franchise of Losique and give it to another group. Even Toronto despite its great success with their film festival has only a non-competition license. This is also the reason for the failure of the project of Simard's group, it had no license category A.
Over the years, the crew of the FFM "jumped" to the sea and Serge is now the captain of an abandoned ship. 
The 13-year-old "war" totally destroyed the festival and neither of the parties: Losique on one side, and the "deep state of Quebec's artistic milieu" on the other, did not want to give in and everyone believed that the other would give way. Eventually the coveted loot was damaged to become a deformed object and a sort of broken pot that is no longer worth it. My prediction: Serge Losique will die with his Festival in a few years and the category A franchise will just leave Montreal to never be renewed with any other organization of Quebec cinema. The World Film Federation does not need to have a Festival in Montreal as such. 
This is called "not having a winner in a war! 
Losique felt "raped" and "stolen" by the establishment in 2005 and, given his personality, he will never give up the FFM. 
One thing is certain regarding Losique. He is not in for money but for honor, honor being the survival of his film festival with him at the helm. If he had been a mercantile, like Gilbert Rozon for example with Just for Laughs, and even Alain Simard with the Jazz Festival, Losique would have sold his franchise in 2005 when the event had a great monetary value and he would have finished his life on his farm in the Eastern Townships to contemplate the trees. 
Losique is a kind of kamikaze hero in his thought of life: "Burn the farm rather than abandon it to attacking invaders!" 
To conclude, I continue to admire Losique in his fight. If anyone else had created a life project that would have been stolen from him, I would admire him just as much! 
The 2018 FFM will run from August 23rd to September 3rd. 
To be continued... 
SEE PHOTOS

lundi 16 juillet 2018

DONALD TRUMP AND VLADIMIR PUTIN MEETING OF JULY 2018


DONALD TRUMP AND VLADIMIR PUTIN 
The Summit of July 16, 2018 was a success according to the two leaders.
The question now: "What is next?"
To be continued
SEE PHOTOS AND STORY