Taylor Noakes {.} Com

Ola amigos –

In transferring files a little while back I stumbled upon this gem of a picture. I can’t remember who sent it to me, but I’d love to know so I can blow this up into a poster!

Neat eh?

I came across this video of Montréal in the 60s set to the music of Pink Floyd on the NFB’s blog. It seems to be mostly NFB stock footage and I know I’ve seen some of this in Luc Bourdon’s 2008 Masterpiece, La mémoire des anges. Apparently, it originated on a blog called Montreal State of Mind.

Enjoy – it’s trippy and its what we used to look like. Watching vids like these remind me of why Montréal really is a fantastic place to shoot films.

Is it me or does this guy look an awful lot like Jack Layton?

Alright, technical point – this statue/sculpture is actually in Westmount. But let’s face the hard facts, Westmount is kinda like Montréal’s Cayman Islands, and really wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the fact that Montréal’s wealth is ‘stored’ there.

I’ll tell you this much; since moving to Westmount I’ve unfortunately come across the stereotypal Westmount Rhodesian, completely self-absorbed, tactless, unaware that human life exists beyond the individual with as much worth as the perception of humanity inside the heavily-tanned, surgically enhanced corporeal being. And yes, there are plenty of locals who’d have a hard time with that last one. Money doesn’t buy brains.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s really lovely here, but we need to be honest with ourselves; the people who established this place and I’m assuming most who live here do so because of their ill-will towards the established city which surrounds them. I am not part of this demographic – suburbs are kinda prejudiced when you get right down to why they were established in the first place. Anyways, we oughtta follow NYC and Toronto’s example and annex everything within the metropolitan region. If Rosedale, the Bridal Path and the Upper West Side can all happily exist as attached, non-gated luxury communities and pay taxes to help inner-city kids get a decent lunch while at school, then so can we. I hate to think how much wealth an individual doesn’t have to pay into the communal pot simply by living on the other side of Atwater.

And just to keep the record straight, I’m only here because of a too-sweet-to-pass-up summer sublease opportunity.

Word…

He's reading an article on Springsteen, FYI, 'le patron'...

One of my favourite songs, and an excellent video to go with it. Features some interesting perspectives on the city – a very Montréal video. I am not saying it captured the zeitgeist of the era, as that is exactly what you’d expect to read here (if this were a poorer quality blog). So instead I’ll just say that I find this particular video captures a quintessential element of the local culture in the late-90s. It’s dark yet lively, promising despite the gloom, sort of relishing the noire, and reminding us that below the surface, a walk on the wild side awakens spirits numbed by the demands of a trying environment. Yeah, that’ll do nicely…

One more thing, the incomparable Curtis Mayfield is indeed featured on this funkiest of Bran Van tracks, and it would be his last, as the soul-singer-supreme would succumb to illness related to his paralysis. Of note, he recorded the vocals for Astounded while suspended in a special spin-aligning bed. That’s right, Curtis was staring at the floor while his lungs belted out notes that flew towards heaven.