Al B Here For You

The Debate Rages On

Published on 2007-05-08 11:53:00

The debate wages on, at the moment. In one corner, we have those that believe that this little Montreal experiment has run its course. In the other, we have a small faction that believes there’s a world of opportunity waiting for me to find it. As per usual, I’m on the fence. If I had the slightest idea what to do right now, I could move forward with confidence—even if moving forward meant moving back to the city I fought so hard to escape.So for my own sanity, I’m going to try and g

Bye Izabelle!!

Published on 2007-04-28 10:24:00

The landscape of Musique Plus changed last night as the folks at Plus Sur Commande bid a fond farewell to longtime VJ, Izabelle Desjardins. When I first learned she was leaving via MySpace (she had sent out a bulletin to everyone on her friendlist), I was a bit puzzled. After all, this girl had pretty much become the face of the station over the last couple of years. She was the first VJ I ever remember seeing when I tuned into the station in the summer of 2004. From what she’s written, she ha

Maddy's on the Office!

Published on 2007-04-18 07:44:00

One of my faithful readers, who identifies herself as Lina in the comments section from time to time, has dropped the not-so-subtle hint that my blog has been on a bit of a downward turn with the various bumps I’ve been enduring in the last month between work and school. So I decided I would try and be a bit more upbeat this time and let people in on what I consider to be good news. Granted, it’s not good news for me, specifically, but I’ll live vicariously through this one anyway.A certai

the long weekend

Published on 2007-04-11 08:45:00

Well, it’s all over except for the crying. I finished the second of my night courses last evening and, though I’m not nearly as confident of the outcome as I was about the French to English class, I’m thinking I should finish with a reasonably solid B. Of course anything could happen, so I may well finish with something ghastly like a C. There isn’t an A in the running, though, as I believe that was mathematically impossible. Oh well. Onwards and upwards, right?Today is important as

Updates from Al

Published on 2007-03-29 07:51:00

Well, well, well… the last couple of weeks have been quite an adventure, to say the least. To begin, I would like to formally announce that I’m looking for work in and around Montreal. I got the news last week that there just isn’t any money in the budget to maintain my position, so at the end of the fiscal year (May 31) I’ll be handing in my keys and bidding a fond farewell to my little office space. While this is hardly the sort of news I wanted to hear, I was only ever promised a y

Avril Lavigne, Supporter of Core French Currculum Reform

Published on 2007-03-26 11:56:00

As I was reading through an article on Avril Lavigne’s new multilingual single “Girlfriend” and I couldn’t help but laugh. Apparently the folks in marketing thought it would be a brilliant move for her to record the chorus in 7 different languages in an attempt to further break through overseas. Not a bad idea. But that’s not the thing that made me laugh.Y’see, one of the languages chosen for the song’s reworked chorus is French and, despite her VERY French name, Avril doesn’t sp

My Mind is Blank

Published on 2007-03-15 10:48:00

We’ve hit March 15 and my mind is still a blank. My parents decided to take advantage of March Break this past week and drove up from London to see little ol’ me. As much as I hate to admit it, I do miss my family occasionally. Sure, it was pretty tight quarters, but it’s the price one pays to have visitors in a one bedroom apartment in Montreal. They were able to entertain themselves while I was at work, so I didn’t need to play tour guide.I also got back the results of my English-t

Loose Ends

Published on 2007-03-07 07:45:00

Consider this post as Al’s way of tying up some loose ends. The last couple of weeks I’ve been more self-absorbed than usual and, to be honest, haven’t had much to say au sujet du Québec. But for those who are interested in the daily happenings of my routine, I wanted to let you know that, yes, the bank did manage to correct my balance and return to me the money that had been scammed by those evil card skimmers. And no, there were no bounced cheques in the meantime, so all is well in t

Justin Trudeau's Aspirations

Published on 2007-02-27 08:35:00

I was thinking about the recent announcement Justin Trudeau’s intention to run under the Liberal banner in the Papineau riding of Montreal. I don’t know about the political landscape of Montreal, but from what I’ve been reading, the seat is currently held by the Bloc Quebecois. I wonder how much his last name will help or hinder him in a campaign.What I really wanted to talk about is the reaction I’ve read from English Canadians. The ones that have particularly caught my attention are

Ripped off- the cloned bank card fiasco

Published on 2007-02-23 12:50:00

Well, how about that… ol’ Al has had a bit of a rough week, to say the least. It started off innocently enough, but it’s turned into an exercise in frustration. I was checking my account balances yesterday to make sure that my pay had gone in, and it did, but I also got another fun surprise. Someone had cloned my bank card! Apparently some yahoo made a deposit of $2222.22 (obviously an empty envelope) and then took out whatever he could from my account. Thankfully, I have limits on my