Monthly Archives: October 2006

Photo credit: Expatica If you are thinking of buying a property in France you are probably worrying about how to deal with the French bureaucracy, the language and even the French themselves. All of these pale in comparison, however, when … Continue reading →

Photo by Julian Wasser (1963) Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp posing during the Duchamp retrospective at Pasadena Museum of Art Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), the painter and mixed media artist, was associated with Cubism, Dadaism and Surrealism, though he avoided any … Continue reading →

[googlevideo]4045232613432917751[/googlevideo] La vie des Sax. A nice 5-minute 3D animation created (including the soundtrack) by Frédéric Lagarde. Now you know what saxophones do at night – they go clubbing! Via [tags]France,music,animation,video[/tags]

From an article in today’s Times: France’s old-fashioned left can sleep easily. Ségolène Royal, the Socialist who is current favourite to win the French presidency next spring, likes Tony Blair, but she has little in common with the British prime … Continue reading →

Morocco-born Frenchman Aziz Senni is not waiting for help from the state. “It is up to us,” he says. “We must be the ones to change France — the society, the politics, everything.” Motivated by what he calls “social revenge,” … Continue reading →

Claude Luter, the French clarinetist/soprano saxophonist who was a popular figure in postwar Paris, died there on Oct. 6. He was 83. Luter picked up the trumpet after discovering New Orleans jazz in his adolescence, but quickly switched to clarinet … Continue reading →

[youtube]aVtbFjCMEDs[/youtube] Disney bosses are fuming after this video of Disney characters simulating sex was circulated on the internet. The two-and-a-half minute clip shows Disneyland staff dressed in costumes of Disney favourites Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy pretending to have … Continue reading →

The French Novotel hotel chain has come up with a new advertising campaign featuring this stag, lions, bears and other animals. From their website: To offer its customers an even greater feeling of well-being Novotel has come up with a … Continue reading →

France may have the reputation as the country with the world’s best healthcare, but not everybody will agree: One person died and 13 others fell sick after they were exposed to excessive doses of X-rays as they were being scanned … Continue reading →

Huffinton Post contributor Joan Z. Shore tries to analyze what’s behind the resurgence of French-bashing in America these past few years, which has been a lot worse than Yankee-bashing in France. “I chalk it up not simply to politics, diplomacy, … Continue reading →

This is a little French New-Yorker. His name is Victor, and he lives in Manhattan. The portrait is part of the NYChildren project, brainchild of New York photographer Danny Goldfield. Goldfield has set out on a multi-year mission to portray … Continue reading →

Two days ago the world entered its ‘ecological debt’. The 9 October date symbolised the day of the year when people’s demands exceeded the Earth’s ability to supply resources and absorb the demands placed upon it. The ‘ecological debt’ concept … Continue reading →

Coccinelle in 1963 and 2005 Coccinelle was born a man in 1931, and died as a woman last Monday. She was France’s first and most famous transgender, and became an icon for the cause of transsexuality. She was the founder … Continue reading →

Whether we like it or not, in a good year from now all French restaurants will have to make smoking a thing of the past. If you can’t wait, you’ll find a list of current non-smoking restaurants on the DNF … Continue reading →

When NASA ferries Europe’s Columbus scientific research module to the International Space Station next year it may send along a Frenchman to operate it as well. If the plan is approved, French astronaut Leopold Eyharts would likely would get the … Continue reading →