Parallel Universe Watchâ„¢ (2)

Des kiwis et des hommes is a seemingly inexplicable title for a show. It means Of Kiwis and Men; Of Mice and Men is Des souris et des hommes, and kiwis rhymes with souris.

Promo for DES KIWIS ET DES HOMMES

It’s a curious cooking-cum-chat show. Maybe the most curious thing is its cohost, Boucar Diouf, who, as a black person who speaks French, jams pure-laine circuits. Quebeckers are ahead of Ontarians on a lot of things, but behind us where it counts, like living in the 21st century. Racial pluralism is still a rather new concept there. (Oh, am I guilty of stereotyping? So are they! Just mutter the phrase accommodement raisonnable in any tavern on rue Ontario est and lemme know what happens.)

What interests me when I travel is not just that the people are different, but that the mixture of people is different. Many more Latinos in Texas, of course – that isn’t surprising after the first ten minutes. But black people’s migrations to different places over the centuries mean black people look different in different cities. Diouf’s appearance, for example, would be atypical for Toronto, with its large Caribbean and Ethiopic base. (He’s from Senegal.) It probably freaks out the old Quebec tribalists even more. And what is up with his hair? (RuPaul: “BLACK… HAIR… IS… a revolution!”)

Anyway, on each episode there’s the kind of roundtable segment that, according to one review of Olympic coverage, is a mainstay of Radio-Canada programming. Then we get cookin’! In lieu of a giant modesty panel below the counter, it seems we have a see-through fridge.

Hosts and two guests fiddle with food and appliances on set. Captions at top

(That’s shitty French live captioning, by the way. Note the lack of accents other than é.)

They run this thing five days a week. But which would you rather – this or Steven and Chris?

8 Comments

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    I am a charter member of the International Association of Armchair Sociologists. Besides, I said I was stereotyping.

  • Kev says:

    Fair enough.

    I’m not surprised. The pure-laines are.

    What’s your source for this assertion?

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    Kev, try rewriting your comment without that last part.

  • Anonymous says:

    Demain 9h Maritimes 10h

    … Sorry, but who the fuck watches TV at 9 in the morning? Or 10?

    If I were CBC prez, the first thing I’d do is cut all programming before 5:00pm and use the extra money to fund programming when people are actually fucking watching.

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    Wait. Didn’t you mean mangia-cake?

  • Fake Ouimet says:

    I’m not surprised. The pure-laines are.

    I’m English, French, Scottish, and Irish, but frequently mistaken for Italian.

  • Anonymous says:

    Bring back Gill Deacon?

    The ratings wouldn’t be much worse.

  • Anonymous says:

    It’s a summer show only for the open-air Jean Talon market in north Montreal.
    Diof has only been co-host this season.

    SRC had Michaelle Jean, (whatever became of her?) as a news reader on weekends.

    The new national SRC news reader Celine Galipeau has some Vietnamese roots, and can interview in half-a-dozen languages, including Putin in Russian, and Hu in Chinese if needs be.

    Many Quebecois staff have some Amerindian blood in them.

    So?

    Do they have skills? Are you just surprised by their appearance :(He/She is so tall/blond) compared to the stereotypes you see on U.S. television.)?

    Do you know the faces of people on CBC radio? Who reads the 5 pm news nationally?

    Clark. Isn’t that a blanc-mange name?

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