Fieldwork: Rimouski

This is a short video of the research vessel tied up at the pier (probably not save for frequent victims of motion sickness, including AS and F). The video shows a 4 m (that's over 13 feet) swell. Immediately before I shoot this clip, a couple of waves crashed right over the pier, dousing the cars (hence the headlights - that vehicle is fleeing). This also explains why AS decided to go ashore and hold up in a hotel room in Rimouski for a week, rather than join us in the St. Lawrence. Made the hula dancer on the bridge dance.



A calmer moment in Rimouski:



Local fauna:

Québec to Rimouski

I was very surprised to learn Canadians had not heard of Rimouski. How can you not have heard of Rimouski? There's an oceanographic institution there. Where are their priorities? On the south side of the St. Lawrence there's only two towns of note. This is the one which isn't Trois-Rivières. I drove there with RM and AS. Mercifully, RM didn't mind driving in Québec, which I didn't feel like doing [insert inter-provincial rivalry/driving skepticism here] so he ended up driving the whole way. That meant we went the (more) scenic route and had to stop periodically for him to take photos.

We pased this building and AS remarked on the 'historic fortifications'. I said it looked more like a silo. So, within 30 s, we had a bet and RM pulled a U-turn. There were private property signs everywhere, but there was also a historic plaque for the moulin (mill... not quite a silo, but definitely not a fort).




The next stop was definitely a mill:





Clearly the first building built in any town was the church:




We actually got out, approached the water and tasted it, to make sure that it was at least brackish (somewhat salty) and we could expect good conduction of electromagnetic fields.*






*Yes, it's a nerd road-tip thing to do. I know.

Québec, Part III

It's a giant hand sculpture with a feather - of course it's in my photostream.



I re-visited the little gallery across the street from the train station, because I enjoyed the Barbie-parts sculptures in the window. A lot of glare, unfortunately, but I sort of like the reflections too, along with the wunderkammer of Barbie-parts.





By the train staion, the sculptural installation of metal chairs (a 400th birthday gift from Montréal to Québec) was deceptively simple. The incised snipets of Québec poetry, in French, English and Innuktitut, and the interplay of light and shadow was arresting.

Henrietta Swan Leavitt in the Blogosphere

I'm catching up on one of my favorites, News From the Craft and Style Blogosphere and I just noticed that the September 2nd issue includes my Henrietta Swan Leavitt blockprint. Sweet!

Québec, Part II