General 54 and sister boutique Local 23 are like a cozy Mile End mini indie design empire run by Jen and Gen (Glasgow and Heistek.) With love and good taste these two shops on Bernard and St Viateur have helped dozens of emerging designers get their start, and so it's exciting for me to get their take on what's sprouting up new as this burly 2012 Winter starts to imagine Spring.

Jen Glasgow tells me "General54 was opened in 2006 because our first store Local 23 was in fact, too small to carry all the talented designers that came to sell with us. We incorporated a local designer boutique with vintage clothing shop to address the community needs. It meant you could find something cheap (vintage) and something a little more (designer.)  We house over 50 Canadian designers. Everything from home decor, one of a kind clothing and full clothing collections by some of Montreal and Canada's best. Gen has recently opened Annex Vintage right beside General54 and now the vintage selection is massive and only a step away!"

The Incurable Hobbyist is a highly subjective monthly series that examines various hobbies and the areas of the city that offer means to facilitate their practice. The goal is to inspire curious readers to develop hobbies they'll grow to love dearly, filling their hearts with the singular joy that comes with learning something special, something new.

Know those cold Montreal nights when all you want to do is stay inside? But then you suck it up, brave the cold, and end up at a show, thinking, "Yes! This is worth it!" That's how I felt last night at the Grinders Comedy Weekend, Day 2, at Theatre Ste-Catherine.

The Incurable Hobbyist is a highly subjective monthly series that examines various hobbies and the areas of the city that offer means to facilitate their practice. The goal is to inspire curious readers to develop hobbies they'll grow to love dearly, filling their hearts with the singular joy that comes with learning something special, something new.

About 4 years ago, I was checking out where my ancestors were from in Vienna, and I noticed one thing: Austrians sure know how to do Christmas. There are Weihnachtsmärkte on practically every sidewalk, and each park seemed to be filled with booths selling Christmas trinkets and giving children meat-on-a-stick (clearly a festive gesture). Here in Montreal, we've come pretty close with Noël dans le parc, a festive square of pine trees, candy canes, warm cider, a fireplace replete with marshmallows, and (probably my favourite part of it) music in a box.

The holiday season is upon us in full swing, and nowhere is it more curiously amusing than at Cabot Square. It's the Bubble Boy brought to a new height: small ensembles entertained park-goers and pigeons alike with their festive and upbeat music. The catch, of course, is that they're - wait for it - inside a big ol' plastic bubble!