Advertisement 1

While you were sleeping: Sacré bleu! Quebec 'humiliates' cheese in France

Also: Pot and Big Pharma hook up, video-game tunes are up for a Juno, and Constantin Reliu must live his life as a dead man.

Article content

A few things you might have missed if you were sleeping or otherwise occupied.

Camembert calamity: It was one of Napoleon’s favourite cheeses, but French pride in their camembert has suffered a blow after a cheese made in Quebec has come first in the camembert category at the World Championship Cheese Contest, held in Wisconsin. L’Extra, produced in Saint-Hyacinthe by Agropur, beat the top French camembert, Isigny Sainte-Mere, which won the title in 2010 but placed 12th this year. Although another variety of French cheese was named the overall winner of the “world’s best cheese” award, that success was eclipsed by the sour aftertaste of losing the camembert prize. “How can it be?” lamented the Ouest-France newspaper while the Journal du Dimanche described it as “a humiliation for France.” They said “a diplomatic crisis” had only been averted by the overall victory of Esquirrou, a hard sheep’s milk cheese that was judged the world’s best.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

Big Pharma, Big Weed: Licensed medical marijuana producer Tilray Inc. has formed an exclusive alliance with Sandoz Canada, in what it says is the first collaboration between a cannabis producer and a local affiliate of so-called Big Pharma. Tilray has signed a binding letter of intent with the Quebec-based affiliate of Sandoz International GmbH, part of global health-care company Novartis. Tilray will become the exclusive collaborator with Sandoz Canada on cannabis-based medical products that are non-smokable or non-combustible, such as gel caps and sprays for the domestic market. The aim is to distribute on a wholesale level these co-branded products to Canadian hospitals and pharmacies and hopefully a collaboration with a recognized pharma will help alleviate cannabis skepticism, Tilray says.

Article content

A musical interlude: When orchestral percussionist Kristofer Maddigan began his years-long journey composing the soundtrack for a video game his friends were creating, he mostly kept the passion project to himself. As a genre, video game music doesn’t get a lot of respect. But the Regina native’s work on the indie game Cuphead won over the Juno Award judging committee who chose the contenders for this year’s best instrumental album prize. The game’s backing music, which was also released as an almost three-hour-long album, features a mix of jazz, big band and ragtime tunes recorded by live musicians, including a 13-piece big band and a 10-piece ragtime ensemble. Maddigan and Cuphead creators Chad and Jared Moldenhauer wanted fully formed songs for the soundtrack that were true to the sound of the 1930s. “I recall saying, ‘Definitely not, this is way out of my comfort zone,’ but I think I was maybe the only musician they knew so they kind of persisted.” The Junos are March 24.

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

You’re dead. Final answer. Constantin Reliu learned in January that he was dead. After more than 20 years of working as a cook in Turkey, the 63-year-old returned home to Romania to discover that his wife had had him officially registered as dead. He has since been living a legalistic nightmare of trying to prove to authorities that he is, in fact, alive. He faced a major setback when a court in the northeastern city of Vaslui refused to overturn his death certificate because his request was filed “too late.” The decision, the court said, is final. “I am officially dead, although I’m alive,” Reliu said. “I have no income and because I am listed as dead, I can’t do anything. … I am not sure whether I am divorced or not. I am not sure whether she is married to someone else or not. Nobody will tell me.” The AP was not able to locate his wife to hear her side of the story.

The London Daily Telegraph, Canadian Press and Associated Press contributed to this report.

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

This Week in Flyers