Montreal

Next week, I'm in Canada for the third Montreal International Game Summit where I'll be giving a talk on the subject of Play Styles and Player Needs. I have no idea whether blogging will be disrupted; I guess as long as there's a wireless network at the hotel it'll be business as usual. It'll be my first time above the 48th parallel on the North American continent... Let me know if you're at the summit, and if anyone knows Montreal and can recommend a good place to visit, vegetarian restaurant, or place to meet squirrels do let me know.

I'd like to find some Eastern grey squirrels while I'm there, because they are known to have two seperate colour phases, grey and black, and apparently black is the dominant colour in Ontario and Quebec; I've not yet seen a black squirrel. It's the same species as the greys in the UK (Sciurus carolinensis) but the populations have some different genes for fur colour. And following my recent encounter with an albino squirrel in London, I've learned they have an entire breeding population of white squirrels in Exeter, Ontario, but that's five hundred miles away from where I'm going, alas.

Lastly, as you can see, I finished the last of the Temperament pieces today. I'll start talking about how these relate to play over the next few months, laying stronger foundations for the DGD2 research which is still lurking somewhere in the future, but I might also talk about how these temperament issues relate to my own life in some more personal pieces... To be honest, I have no idea what is going to happen next on the blog, so I'm going to try and relax and see what flies out of my fingers.

Have a great weekend!

Comments

[Johnny Pi]

We have a resident black squirrel in our neighborhood. I'll look into getting a picture of the little guy, assuming he's not driven elsewhere by the cold.

[Clint]

Chris:
I walk through a fairly large urban park twice a day, and see numerous squirrels, but have yet to see a black one in Montreal. They all seem to be grey. Good luck in your quest. See you at the summit.

[Ben Mattes]

Chris,

There are some excellent vegetarian restaurants in Montreal that I can reccomend.

Chu Chai (http://www.vegguide.org/vendor/view.html?vendor_id=142) is vegetarian/vegan Thai.

Le Commensal is vege staple
(http://www.montrealfood.com/restos/commensal.html)

Finally Santropol (3990 St-Urbain, 842-3110) is not uniquely vegetarian but has great vege dishes and the best sandwhich in town.

Enjoy your time in Montreal. Hope to see you at the MGS.

-Ben

[Chris]

Je suis arrive! :) Yes, I am here in Montreal, and struggling to overcome the hotel's dodgy wireless connection.

Johnny: if you can get a photo of a black squirrel, I'd love to see it!

Clint: it doesn't seem like there are any black squirrels here in Montreal, but there is a wealth of arboreal rodents - I'll post about this once the internet connection has stabilised. :)

Ben: many thanks for the tips! I wish I'd checked this before I went out yesterday... I didn't do very well with my random choices of places to eat yesterday. :(

And hope to see Ben and Clint at the Summit somewhere! ;)

[Sam]

Two more vegetarian restaurants you might consider: Burritoville - vegetarian organic burritos, tacos, quesadillas, Sherbrooke and Clifton in NDG,
Au Vivres: Vegan friendly food on St. Laurent in the Plateau, just above Mont Royal on the east side of the street. Have fun!

[Chris]

Thanks Sam! If I get a chance tomorrow I'll check out Burritoville as I have a hankering for Mexican food... :) It's a bit far from my hotel though...

Oh, and Ben, I went for a sandwich at Santropol and it was indeed good. Plus, there was a trio of squirrels in the garden area picking at the decaying pumpkins which amused me. :)

And on the Quest for the Black Squirrel, Nicole Lazzaro informs me that there is a black furred squirrel at or around McGill university - but the rain is keeping me from checking it out. Fingers crossed for clear weather tomorrow as it's my last day and therefore my last chance!

[Anon]

Burritoville doesn't look very clean. You may want to reconsider eating there.