A Few of my Favourite Things (2019 Edition)

[Documentary] Free solo by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin: The obsessive quest of free solo climber Alex Honnold to ascend the 900 meters of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park is vertiginous and breathtaking. Shot flawlessly by an experienced crew of directors/climbers for National Geographic, the documentary follows Honnold climbing up immense mountains around the world and behind-the-scenes in his everyday life, where we get an inside look at his perseverance, practice and sometimes chilling lack of fear and human emotions. Free solo won Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars in 2019.

[Fiction] Marriage story by Noah Baumbach: This is the story of a 21st century couple (portrayed by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver) with a young child, fighting for the marriage. It’s a very real view into how love can go sour, one day at a time, through slow erosion. I found it fascinating to see how two humans in love, thrown into the legal frame of a divorce, enter into defensive postures and end up inflicting pain and fighting each other tooth and nail. Without any stunts or fireworks, it’s intense and poignant, taking turns between uplifting and tragic. The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates by Davis Guggenheim: The 3-part Netflix documentary series explores the mind of legendary Microsoft founder Bill Gates on his quest to solve humanity’s top challenges. Directed by Davis Guggenheim (The Inconvenient Truth), it features Gates’ work on toilets, curing polio and nuclear energy, highlighting how his unique cerebral intensity, insatiable curiosity and work ethic can lead to technical innovation breakthroughs. I found Guggenheim’s storytelling style particularly compelling, with each episode encapsulating three streams of Bill’s life: building Microsoft, his social impact work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and personal life at home with family and friends.

When They See Us by Ava Duvernay: This Netflix series is a harrowing recounting of the miscarriage of justice of five teen boys, known as the Central Park Five, who were wrongfully convicted of a gruesome murder and subsequently acquitted decades later. The four-part series follows the life of the boys in East Harlem in the late 80s before the crime, the trial, the hardships of their time incarcerated in prison and their bittersweet homecomings. Not only does it show a judicial system that is broken, but one that seems designed to generate certain types of outcomes. Masterfully directed by filmmaker Ava Duvernay (the first black female director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture with Selma), it is poignant, heart-wrenching and occasionally very hard to watch, but necessary viewing.

Chef’s Table, season 5: This was my favourite season of Chef’s Table, the acclaimed series following the best chefs from around the world. It felt like the most diverse season, in terms of geographies, gender, class and range of stories. As Quartz echoes: “Chef’s Table ditches the boys’ club for a triumphant season”. For example, it portrays the extraordinary life story of Christina Martinez, the “undocumented Mexican immigrant chef behind Philadelphia’s renowned restaurants South Philly Barbacoa and El Compadre (…) who found wild success in America by reclaiming a dish she was forced to make in an abusive relationship back in Mexico, and, in doing so, can thrive in North America while also supporting her daughter back home”.

[Francophone] L’âge Adulte: This award-winning web series was a wonderful discovery: full of surprises, humour and endearing moments. It tells the story of Alex, a twenty-something with the “perfect” life and career who falls is in a brief coma which triggers various changes in his surroundings, as well as his two oddball idiosyncratic siblings, in the context of a modern and occasionally dysfunctional family. It’s a hilarious and entertaining take on family, identity and adulthood.

[Francophone] Faire oeuvre utile: This series tackles the intersection of arts/culture and social impact, exploring the relationship between a work of art and its place in society. In this particular episode, I found both main segments equally fascinating. In the first, the show brings together a former member of a racist group (now counselling youths against extremism) with the author of provocative theatre play La Meute that tackles the theme of racism, creating an incredibly powerful conversation in a place where none could have existed previously. In the second part of the episode, unrelated to the first, post-classical pianist Jean-Michel Blais explains the story of his popular song Roses, which was written spontaneously for the mother of one of his childhood friends, who is battling cancer. It’s an extremely moving message about the power of music, including the realms of health and healing, both physically and mentally.

[Indie/Folk] Wave by Patrick Watson: The singer-songwriter is back with his most personal record, which was on repeat in my headphones for several months this year. Following a breakup with his long-time life partner, we get a sense that not everything is OK in Watson’s world (especially in his song Broken) while at the same time seeking to let go, make sense of things, and find peace after a tumultuous few years. The wave from the album’s title refers to the wave of emotion that seeks to submerge him. After initially resisting it, he decides to let himself be overtaken by it, accepting it, which is probably the first step to getting to the other side to a more positive next chapter. Here comes to the river is emotional and cathartic, and we can all try to empathize with what Watson is living through.

[Alternative] ANIMA by Thom Yorke: True to form, the frontman from pivotal alternative band Radiohead creates another unique sonic universe with ANIMA. “It is the darkest and tenderest music he has released outside of Radiohead, floating uneasily through the space between societal turmoil and internal monologue”, reviews Pitchfork. It is heavy on synths, electronic drums, pulsating beats, white noise and layered voices. The record seems centered on the space between sleep and dreams. In Dawn Chorus, the soft-spoken verses felt like sleepwalking in a numb state through a futuristic parallel dream world. It captures well loss, nostalgia and anxiety in a post-modern world, as only the inimitable Yorke can.

[Rock] Remind me tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten: The indie rocker is back with another solid, raw record. She explores themes such as fleeting sense of love, the adventurous teenage years, growing into parenthood and making peace with a more controlled life. “On her fifth album, Sharon Van Etten conjures tempests and explores their subsequent calms. It is the peak of her songwriting and her most atmospheric, emotionally piercing album to date”, comments Pitchfork. “The aggressive sound meets its match in her cresting, torrid sense of melody. More than ever, it’s these uneasy textures that do Van Etten’s storytelling for her”. Jupiter 4 and I Told You Everything were standouts track for me.

[Rap] Psychodrama by Dave: British rapper Dave sits down at the mic to introspect and narrates the most thoughtful album of the year, exploring racial identity, social injustice, relationships and his private pain. He layers fierce wordsmithing over thumping beats and occasionally faster post-grime tempos (like on Thiago Silva). As Pitchfork raves “the talented South London rapper Dave explores family and identity with the unguarded catharsis of a therapy session”, calling the album “one of the most significant bodies of British rap music in a generation”. Psycho, Environment, Location and Drama were my favourite tracks.

[Classical] Mathias et Maxime soundtrack by Jean-Michel Blais: Between two records, talented post-classical pianist Jean-Michel Blais is back at it here, scoring the latest film from another local talent, indie director Xavier Dolan. This was Blais’s first experience scoring a film, and it’s evident that his musical style fits like a glove with film scoring in general and with Dolan’s images more specifically. Blais even won best score at the prestigious Cannes film festival for his effort. In an interview, Blais mentioned that he and Dolan composed the songs in real-time in his apartment with Blais on the piano while Dolan acted through the different scenes. Although the songs are typically shorter and more ambient than Blais’s intense and whimsical style regularly, the songs are beautiful, soft and introspective pieces of music that left me hoping we’ll see him scoring more films in the future.

Keep your head by Sheenah Ko: A dark and simply mesmerizing 10 minute track by this Chinese-Irish solo artist from Montreal and Maui, who is also a keyboardist for The Besnard Lakes. Her Bandcamp page describes her music as “avant garde electronic pop for those who want to get into a trance, get into a vibe, get deep and get real”. And this track’s rhythmic drums and stirring vocals will definitely induce into a trance.

Beyond by Leon Bridges: This soulful tune chants with layered vocals talks to the space between “love at first sight” and “finding the one” who is everything and beyond. Bridges croons about his courtship that he “wants to take it slow” and feels like a fool for not rushing in after new intense feelings, but he’s also “scared to death that she might be it and that the love is real”. Mixing soul and classic R&B, it’s a smooth and soothing song that we can tap our foot to in our own quests to finding real love. The acoustic version is also worth a listen.

The Fear of Falling Apart by Geoffroy: Year after year, I am proven wrong that the “music video” is a dying medium. Case in point, this video by Geoffroy, which adds a completely new layer of feeling to an already powerful song. The song is an ode to his late mother, who passed away in 2017 from cancer. The video features VHS-style home video from his mother, as well as himself as a child, making some of his childhood memories live again. This is a beautiful, powerful and emotional tribute to the mothers who raise us, day after day, with dedication and love. Of course, I had to share this with my mother. Maybe you’ll want to also?! :)

All the time by Loud feat Charlotte Cardin: This video features the two popular artists face-to-face against a green screen filled with alternating backdrops, both half and full screen, to show them in the same and different locations. A relatively simple concept, I really liked the visual aesthetic of the end product, elevating the song’s lyrics. It shows each part of the pair living their life independently and in parallel, presumably in a long-distance relationship setting, longing for each other while doing their own thing.

Age of Union by Dax Dasilva: While not busy with bringing to market one of the most successful IPOs for a Canadian tech company in a decade, local Montreal entrepreneur Dax Dasilva had time to write a book! And it’s a good one. Actually, I thought it totally broke the mold of many business and entrepreneurship “secret of my success”-style books. Rather, Dax goes into a completely different direction, penning an inspiring and empathetic manifesto about the importance of the peaceful connexion (ie. union) of humans and our environment in an increasingly chaotic and complex world. He takes on topics he cares deeply about, such as spirituality, nature and culture (Dax founded the great Never Apart community centre, which I referenced in my Best of 2017 list). It’s a deeply personal book that stands out from the pack.

Caribou: Celebrating 5 years this year, Caribou caters to local foodies looking to learn and discover more about food. That said, while most other food media is recipe-driven, Caribou goes a level deeper by focusing on the sociological aspects of food and agriculture. The themes of recent articles illustrate this well: the cuisine of Micmacs (a First Nations tribe), insect protein, winter on the farm, and a community’s path to self-sufficiency. The result: a fresh and in-depth look at our food ecosystem in Quebec.

A Few Good Reads (2019 edition): View the list here.

X2 by Van Moof: E-bikes are an amazing evolution, unlocking new possibilities in terms of range, speed and terrains. The X2 by Van Moof is an urban bike with a sleek design that incorporates the electric motor directly into the bike’s frame (in the diagonal bar). It also offers many great innovate features, such as anti-theft system, power boosts (practical to climb hills or zip by other riders on the bike lane) and a “peace of mind” guarantee in case the bike is stolen. It’s made my daily commute to work exhilarating, fast and fun. The new models are pricey, but super high quality. (Note: The bike is not yet available commercially in Canada.)

Quiet Comfort 35 II by Bose: The single best improvement to business travel I’ve found. The classic QC35 model makes your music sound amazing with impeccable audio quality, while blocking almost completely any engine or ambient airplane noise. Peace and quiet at last! It’s wireless, comfortable, boasts long battery life, and very portable in a flat pack case. The II model adds voice assistant, but I personally don’t use that feature much. Note that Bose has since also launched the newer Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 with better design and playback controls.

Things is a really simple and straightforward task manager that helps to keep the different parts of my life (work, family, etc) organized. The iOS and Mac apps are well-designed with smooth interactions, and sync well across devices (web, app, etc). I’ve tested a few others in past years, including one of its main feature-rich rivals OmniFocus, but they had too many bells and whistles and made me feel I was spending too much time organizing/labeling/cataloging tasks and not enough time getting things done. In terms of personal productivity, I’ve come to feel strongly that my email inbox should not be my task manager, but rather that I should extract tasks (things that take more than 5–10 minutes to do) to a separate task manager. Although I mostly only use the Today view and I wish the app would be refreshed more frequently with new features, it remains the best simple tool I’ve found to stay organized. Learn more.

Wirecutter: Wirecutter is a super useful resource to help make purchase decisions for various goods (electronics, household items, recreational items, etc). Although Amazon and other vendors increasingly do a great job of exposing a plethora of reviews from users (including user photos, star ratings and keyword tag clouds), Wirecutter has developed a testing approach based on in-depth human review of the main consideration set of products in a category. It’s not unusual at the beginning of their articles to read something like “the author has spent 40 hours testing 17 different popular toasters”. Following this, they provide a neutral and objective recommendation of the best option for “most users”, often accompanied with some runner-up options, notably some more budget or upgrade picks to accommodate all budgets. In my own experience, it often results in purchasing an item with a better cost/benefit profile than the item I was looking at purchasing initially. The site was acquired and is now part of the New York Times.

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish. This is hands-down one of the most informative and interesting “general interest” podcasts out there. An extension of Parrish’s popular Farnam street mailing list, it features extended 1:1 interviews with a wide-ranging pool of guests such as business leaders and economists (episodes with hedge fund managers Ray Dalio and Stephen Schwarzman are particularly insightful), entrepreneurs (listen to episode with Patrick Collision from Stripe), medical researchers, best-selling authors, a relationship doctor and even an FBI negotiator. It provides thought-provoking “beyond the surface” exploration of the thought patterns of leaders in various fields. Listen here.

Bring Back Wildhood by GoRVing.ca: “Why do grown-ups have to lose their wildhood?”, a child’s voice asks. This inspiring ad hits all the right notes, from the music to the imagery, inviting us to emancipation, freedom and adventure in the great outdoors. Staring at the stars, not our phones. I found it also did a great job shedding the more conventional and less sexy perception of RV’ing that many travellers may have. It made me want to check out their site if ever I had the chance/time to go for an RV trip in the future.

Fly responsibly by KLM:It takes courage as a brand/advertiser to communicate that your product (taking the plane) may not exactly be good for the environment (and indirectly for all of us). Yet that’s exactly what KLM did with this thought-provoking ad, inviting travellers to fly responsibly. With the climate change and “flight shaming” movements picking up steam around the world, travellers are more and more recognizing that they need to change their habits. KLM is showing leadership here by raising awareness for this challenge, building trust with its customers, even though selling less flight segments runs counter to their short-term business interests.

Mets du respect dans ton bac by City of Laval: The City of Laval hit a home-run with an ad to raise awareness about how to properly recycle and sort your trash, featuring popular Quebec hip hop group Alaclair Ensemble. The ad managed to turn a generally boring topic (determining which type of containers can be recycled or not) into a catchy and engaging theme song that makes us want to recycle more. Great job. Read more in Voir.

Candide: Many years after opening, Candide continues to be a favourite of Montrealers, serving exceptional seasonal fare highlighting fresh locally-sourced ingredients from farms/gardens outside Montreal. Chef John Winter Russell continues to create, innovate and perfect his craft, from new pursuits (brewing their own beer) to frequent interesting collaborations with other chefs. I attended a special dinner during the Montreal en Lumière 2019 winter festival that showcased the product from the Cadet Roussel biodynamic farm, ranging from delicious root vegetables to canned/preserved ingredients. Another example of Russell always putting the food first. The atmosphere is warm and inviting in the winter, with a nice terrace with a view on a nearby Griffintown park for warmer days. Read the 2016 NY Times review.

Alma: This hidden gem in Outremont boasts one of the best wine lists in the city, with a deep selection of natural and orange wines. The creative Mediterranean-style cuisine is delicious and very well-executed, boasting dishes such as grilled octopus and patatas bravas, char-grilled shishito peppers with smoked cream and pancetta, or its famous sardines over tomato bruschetta. The staff is always super friendly, and the small street terrace out front is the perfect place to spend a balmy summer evening with some friends, far from the bustle.

Caroline: The best <10$ meal-size dish that I ate this year was the Jerusalem bowl at the Caroline food counter in the Mile-end. The restaurant is tucked away the more industrial part of the neighbourhood (east of St-Laurent, just under St-Viateur street), home to startups and creative folks. The Jerusalem bowl features an ample serving of grilled/roasted veggies served over a warm bed of orzo/couscous, finished off with a fresh dollop of fresh labheh. It’s frankly delicious and makes for a nice filling lunch. The ingredients change regularly and some off-shoot versions are available (keto-friendly, with avocado or egg/chicken/steak protein, etc). Friendly owner Caroline, of SoupeSoup and Bloomfield fame, is regularly in the kitchen cooking away a variety of other tasty and healthy soups/salads/sandwiches too.

Hof Kelsten: Montreal is lucky to count on the talent of Jeffrey Finkelstein, a top chef turned expert breadmaker, to churn out incredible pastries with masterful consistency. Finkelstein, who interned at Michelin-starred restaurants such as Noma and El Bulli, settled in a few years ago at the corner of St-Laurent and Mont-Royal. The resto serves great brunches (a nice alternative to legendary Beauty’s around the corner if the lineup is too long!), perfect breads (pumpernickels, rye, sourdough, you name it), a legendary holiday panettone, as well as the most epic chocolate-filled Babka cake of your dreams! Finkelstein’s story is 100% Montreal, a deserving next chapter to legendary St-Laurent vicinity haunts such as Beauty’s, Schwartzes, Moishes. Check out this video if you want to learn more. And please go get yourself a pastry! :)

Tisane Inuit by Northern Delights: These are fantastic herbal teas produced in Quebec’s northern/arctic Nunavik region. I suggest you start with the assortment box which has all 5 different flavours currently available. The teas feature unique hand-picked plant ingredients from the tundra, such as ground juniper, Labrador tea leaves, licorice and sarsaparilla roots, cloudberry leaves and more. The company’s website suggests that the teas are also a vehicle for social change. In addition to creating work for local women, a part of the profits are reinvested in the local community centre, as well as offering an opportunity to create a new revenue stream to increase the community’s economic independence. It’s available only at selected grocery stores and shops in Montreal, check out their website.

Smooth Meals: If like me you’re often in a rush or on the go but want to stay healthy, you’ll love this meal replacement beverage. In the super crowded smoothie space, these are the best tasting that I’ve found — and they are made in Montreal! They are nutrient dense, packed with superfoods, and mouth-watering. While many of the flavours have a cashew milk base, they feature a variety of flavours such as antioxidant wild blueberries, strawberry and dark cherries, spinach kale and lime, etc. They were imagined when the company’s founder was pushed to find healthy ingredients after experiencing a severe digestive disorder, which was later diagnosed as Crohn’s disease. They are available at many grocery stores and health-focused shops, check out their website.

Lush shampoo bars: I’ve started to replace my purchase of shampoo in plastic bottles with soap-like shampoo bars. The bars have a much smaller ecological footprint than sending a big plastic bottle to sit in a landfill or to float in the ocean for decades. It may feel like a small gesture, but every little step helps. According to Lush, we throw out 552 million shampoo bottles each year. Although I initially was a bit resistant to make the swap, I was surprised to find the experience superior to conventional liquid shampoo, and each bar lasts about 80 washes. Also, as a separate perk, they are easy to pack (in a small bag or soap case) for frequent business travel, instead of buying more wasteful travel formats.

Ursa: Talented Montreal-based singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright launched a new cultural and community space. The project is located in a basement of a Mile-End building on Parc Avenue, just below the headquarters of music festival Pop Montreal. With a full-kitchen, the space is perfect for events, cultural workshops and intimate concerts. At its launch, Wainwright wanted community members to help craft the programming of the space. “I want people to feel like anything can happen here. Ursa is what you want or need it to be, as long as it promotes positive things. My vision is a giant calendar on the wall, or Google calendar, and people just putting stuff in it”, adds Wainwright in an interview with the The Globe & Mail. This is a breath of fresh air in the Mile-End, which has recently become home to many vacant storefronts following intense speculation from real-estate developers pushing out many small shops and artists out of the neighbourhood. This will no doubt be a place for independent artists to host smaller shows of all sorts, the type of grassroots cultural vitality that made the Mile-End an epicentre of independent music in the past two decades. Learn more in Le Devoir.

Adélard: Located in Frelighsburg, a small village in the Eastern Townships about 1hr outside Montreal, Adélard is an arts centre instigated by a group of arts-loving folks living both in Montreal and Frelighsburg. The centre provides residences/internships to 3–5 artists (visual artists, photographers, etc) each year, who settle in to the community for a few months. The artists are encouraged to connect with the local residents, both to find inspiration for their art but also to share and discuss their work. Located in a small barn right on the village’s main street, it also offers a varied programming of activities (cultural workshops, social events, art expositions, book discussions, etc) that have made it a local favourite. This is a place for arts, but also clearly for people and ideas. It also seeks to weave a community ecosystem with other nearby commerces, such as inventive beer brewers Brasserie Dunham, vibrant café Beat & Betterave, and entrepreneurial local farms. The dynamic arts community centre will surely help to attract tourists to the region as well. Learn more.

Fermier de famille by Equiterre: Environmental non-profit Équiterre helped to put together fermierdefamille.org, a wonderful resource allowing families and city folk to connect with their local farmers, notably to subscribe to a weekly/biweekly basket of fresh fruits, vegetables and produce. The site make it super easy to find nearby drop-off points in your neighbourhood by entering your postal code, but it also help facilitate the actual transaction and manage your subscription afterwards (if ever you need to cancel a basket if you are on vacation). This is a great way to eat healthier and to support local agriculture. If you didn’t know, buying a farmer’s basket is one of the best actions you can take to help farmers, even more so than buying produce at a local market (like Marché Jean-Talon or Atwater). By committing to the basket ahead of the peak season, you put revenue immediately in the pocket of farmers earlier in the season. This helps pay for their expenses to operate the farm, of which the majority happen earlier in the season (buying seed, paying labour to plant and take care of the crops, etc) than at harvest time, and helps farmers optimize their planting for the committed demand, reducing waste at every step. I signed up for the bi-weekly medium box, and zero regrets.

La haine mur à mur by Journée internationale contre l’homophobie: This very provocative campaign aimed to raise awareness for bullying and hate speech on the internet, especially directed toward members of the LGBTQ+ community. The execution was simple: they printed posters with comments posted online, where users often feel the protection of their screens give them greater liberty to troll or attack others. So they printed the words in the real world, to the horrified looks of passers-by. It also became clear these words have no place in our society, either online or off.

Chez nous by Cécile Gariépy: This huge mural on the side of a building on Décarie boulevard in Montreal was realized for the 50th anniversary of the OMHM (Office Municipal de l’Habitation de Montréal) by Gariépy for the MU collective. It colourfully depicts how social housing can give members of the community a leg up, and how they can build a life on top of a stable housing situation. The OMHM has collaborated with muralists more than 30 times over the past decade to embellish their housing projects. To learn more or to see the making-of video, go here.

Make your soul grow: An inspiring two minute video of Sir Ian McKellen reading a letter by author Kurt Vonnegut about the value of art.