Last-minute Loot

Gift solutions for the scrambler

Dec 17, 2021

Hey everybody, I’m taking a break over the holidays, so this will be the last post for 2021. No prise de tête, no depth. This “article” is of the shiny and superficial variety.

I’ll be back in January, and will take some time to reflect on the direction I want to take this newsletter, while finishing several bottles of wine and one of those enormous tins of Walker shortbreads you only find in December. If you have any requests, things you’d like to read, subjects you wish I’d explore, subjects you wish I’d avoid, please share them with me! I mean it!

Things to drink

Champagne. I don’t know of any occasion which is not improved by the mood-lifting properties of Champagne. Both guests and hosts will seem wittier and more radiant as the carbon dioxide makes a beeline for the jugular and the brain discharges dopamine in effervescent quantities. See how they glow! Champagne Paul Dangin, Cuvée Jean-Baptiste Extra Brut is absurdly good value for money. Françoise Bedel, Entre Ciel et Terre is more expensive, but sublime. If you can’t find these Champagnes de vigneron (I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but here in Quebec the shelves of our wine stores look like the toilet paper aisles circa March 2020), I suppose one of the Grandes Marques will do, but know that you are paying at least 10% per bottle so that celebrities can cavort in their vineyards.
Actual shot of a Quebec wine store at present. Photo: Énergie 94.3

Remember that article where I was hanging around with those winemakers? I don’t dare link back to it. If you know what I’m talking about and are curious to taste their wine, it’s currently available in my part of the world and can successfully be paired with turkey and cranberry sauce. Achtung, though: this is wine of the natural sort, somewhat wild and unpredictable, and potentially inappropriate, depending on who’s sitting at the dinner table. Much like its originators, finalement. So much for anonymity. Château Terre Forte, Côtes du Rhone, Class Hic, 2020.

Things to read

Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry by Julian Peters, because for heaven’s sake poetry shouldn’t only be required reading in high school. This anthology includes towering greats such as e.e. cummings, Maya Angelou, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, etc. Julian’s illustrations vary in style and in media, and the result is captivatingly rich. I particularly love his interpretation of Caged Bird by Maya Angelou, which reminds me of the Gee’s Bend quilts.

*Caged Bird* by Maya Angelou illustrated by Julian Peters.

McGill University, renowned here in Montreal and, dare I say it, worldwide, has recently published an unusual interactive book based on its rare books and archives. Amaze: A McGill A-Z Experience is essentially a cabinet of curiosities in book form and I think it’s delightful. You can view part of the contents set to a rendition of The Entertainer here.

Things to wear

The Hudson’s Bay Company stripes colour scheme was first created in 1779. I recently discovered it has been turned into a pair of heart socks. I can’t even.

I love every single thing Sarah Flint designs, but this silk scarf, with its woodland critters, seems particularly seasonal. Before you say anything, we’re still in autumn until the 21st, and also I can’t resist a squirrel. Those of you embracing the depths of winter may prefer this dark floral, or this subtle stunner to coordinate your ensemble with your finest china.

Sarah Flint scarf painted by artist Sucharita Sengupta Suri, featuring animals, fruit, and florals inspired by Provence, France.

Things to smell

One person’s olfactory heaven is another’s hell. HOWEVER, thirteenth-century florentine perfumers Santa Maria Novella have created this magical object out of clay that embalms linen closets, rooms and even whole houses with the most spellbinding scent. Their melograno in terracotta profumata has the same effect on me as the pipe had on the rats in Hamelin. I would follow it anywhere and blindly, towards impending doom. As it is, I only have to go to Florence. Or maybe New York. Notoriously a pain in the arse to find in Canada, and expensive to ship from the U.S., but worth it.
My taste sometimes errs on the side of the ridiculously old-fashioned. I don’t know what all the fuss with Diptyque is about, but I prefer candlemakers who have been around since at least the 17th Century. I realize how obnoxious that sounds and j’assume. Cire Trudon make the most beautiful scented candles with the most lyrical accompanying descriptions - if you can, read the original French. I adore them all, from the ecclesiastical Spiritus Sancti to the profane voluptuousness of Odalisque. Also, one day I’ll buy this wax bust of Napoleon.

Things to hang and do

I know what you’re thinking. You would be wrong.
I have an appreciation bordering on a spine-chilling obsession with Ontario artist Janet Hill and her quirky, fetching, narrative art. Pick up her diecut ornaments and while you’re at it one of her puzzles for entertainment during the dark days.
Mermaid Fountain paper ornament by Janet Hill.
The first time I stood in front of the original of J.M.W. Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire, I felt like its luminosity spilled right out of the canvas onto me and I walked away wearing a seraphic aura. As it turns out, Wentworth makes these wonderful wooden puzzles with quirky shapes allowing me to literally piece my experience at the National Gallery back together again when the mood strikes. Find The Fighting Temeraire in puzzle format here. Yes, I love puzzles and I also love Scrabble. J’assume again.
To wrap up the 2021 edition of Mad Make Party, I treated myself to this absolutely ridiculous and entirely appropriate ornament. You can buy Santa wearing a surgical face mask here and look back fondly on the madness every time you lovingly remove him from storage.