Long Weekend

Throughout my life, my family has encouraged a healthy love of nature, whether it be a walk through the woods or intensive birdwatching, a love of heartfelt naturalistic programming, or even camping whenever visiting large cities in Canada and Québec or the U.S (you save a fortune); there's always been an environmental edge to our various activities that's cultivated a robust admiration for the great outdoors, with which I've tried to interact to the best of my abilities, by writing hundreds of films reviews and poems in parks and forests.

Montréal's parks are great for nature lovers and give residents ample opportunity to briefly forget the city (Jeanne-Mance, Jarry, La Fontaine, Jean-Drapeau . . .), or easily recapture that emancipating feeling one often gets laidback in the woods.

Plus you can head out for lunch shortly afterwards or just wander around at random. Can't wait til this pandemic's over. I hear they've already vaccinated more than 40 million people in the United States. 

In most parts of Canada and Québec you have to put up with a long winter, but this keeps the population small, and ensures abundant space for the lazy days of Summer.

Plus, venomous snakes and spiders seem to generally dislike the cold, so our forests aren't as dangerous, although you have to watch out for ticks and bears.

Apart from polar bears, however, bears are generally harmless, predominantly omnivorous in fact, although you should still always keep your distance, since you never really know what they'll do.

I've read several books about bears anyways (The Sacred Paw, Bears: An Altitude SuperGuide, The Blue Bear: A True Story of Friendship and Discovery in the Alaskan Wild, Grizzlyville, Shadow of the Bear: Travels in Vanishing Wilderness . . . ), and they all highlight the generally peaceful nature of bears, but they still do attack at times, so it's best to always keep your distance.

I wonder what the island of Montréal was like on first contact and how many bears used to live there. There must be old studies from the 18th or 19th centuries at the BAnQ. Someday I'll have the time. 

Long Weekend takes place in Australia and sees a married couple head off to the woods, disputes regarding their destination abounding even though it's clearly incredible once they get there.

Unfortunately for them, however, nature is rather irritated by their recreational presence, and assails them throughout their visit, more intensely after they start to fight back.

It's somewhat ridiculous to curiously watch as opossums bite and birds swoop with ill-intent, special effects would have greatly enhanced Long Weekend's trepidation, although I imagine it was cutting edge at the time.

It's not meant to be a comedy but may have benefitted through recourse to the ludicrous, there's a little bit too much sincere improbability to take without a grain of disingenuous salt.

Worth watching for a taste of the bizarro, nevertheless, wildly crafted with frights Down Under.

I wonder what Australia was like on first contact.

So many new species unlike anything Europeans had ever seen.