Frogsmoke

Smoky scenes from Jean-Luc Godard’s famous 1965 movie:


More where that came from

Using modern identikit software and verbal descriptions, Brian Joseph Davis brings heroes and villains from literary works to life. The results are photo-like portraits of never-before seen human beings. Below is Emma (“Madame”) Bovary from Gustave Flaubert’s famous novel.

“She was pale all over, white as a sheet; the skin of her nose was drawn at the nostrils, her eyes looked at you vaguely. After discovering three grey hairs on her temples, she talked much of her old age…Her eyelids seemed chiseled expressly for her long amorous looks in which the pupil disappeared, while a strong inspiration expanded her delicate nostrils and raised the fleshy corner of her lips, shaded in the light by a little black down.”

The Composites

In the Daily Mail: Life on the front lines: Extremely rare colour photos of U.S. troops before and after D-Day show World War II in brand new light

More pics and info

Lola Dupré is a collage artist and illustrator currently working near Avignon in the south of France. Her works are made by hand with paper, scissors and glue. Here’s one collage from a series entitled Four manifestations of Nicolas Sarkozy. Click to view all.

View the original image in the comments.

Frogsmoke reader (and fan) Jean-Michel Muyl sent me this artist’s impression of a new theme park near Paris: Napoleonland. He estimates that this is yet another good example of Gallic madness.

The Daily Mail has more:

After almost 200 years, the last thing you would think the French want is a daily reminder of the devastating military defeats at Waterloo and Trafalgar.

But now a theme park is being planned in honour of Napoleon Bonaparte – and will stage daily re-enactments of the victories for Wellington and Nelson.

Dubbed ‘Napoleonland’, the attraction is likely to be built on the site of one of the military leader’s most famous victories.

If funding is secured for the £180million (€200m) park it is expected to create 3,000 jobs and could ultimately emerge as a rival to Disneyland.

Read more

Click to biggify these wintry pictures:

Legends die but legendary moments are forever. A memorable meeting on French TV, probably in 1986.

This happens all the time in France. And no police in sight…

Spot the café and the souvenir shop:

The Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. The cable car to the summit, the Téléphérique de l’Aiguille du Midi, was built in 1955 and held the title of the world’s highest cable car for about two decades. It still holds the record as the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1,035 m to 3,842 m.
More on Wikipedia

The Aiguille du Midi is also featured on 10 Breathtaking Viewing Platforms Worldwide. This photo shows the reward if you dare to take that cable car:

Including an interactive panoramic view. Click for more & better.

On top of la Banne d’Ordanche in France

Sarkozy and Merkel don’t just like each other – they are each other:

From a Gender Bending photoshop contest on Worth1000. Click for source & bigger.

The Sexy Photo Facebook Doesn’t Want You to See

Jim Harris of the Canadian HuffPost writes: “Recently I posted a sublime, cheeky photo on Facebook. The reaction from my friends was swift: Everyone loved it! Within just a couple of hours it had been liked by more than 100 people and shared by 50. It was very quickly going viral and from past experience, I know that within three days it would have been liked and shared by more than 1,000 people.

“The photo was taken at the Louvre in Paris. Four women with their backs to the camera are standing in front of Henri Regnault’s “Three Graces” — a painting which features three nude women. In the art gallery three of the four women have stripped off their clothes to the point where their bottoms are showing. It’s very tasteful, and very funny. People described it as delicious, delightful, hilarious. Friends in the art community all across Canada loved it. Reaction from francophone friends was overwhelming — the French, of course, have such a strong joie de vivre and appreciation of the finer things in life.”

But then something went wrong. Read further

Panoramio is a Google service, allowing members to submit photos that are used on Google Earth and Google Maps. Here are some spectacular ones from South-Eastern France, near the Swiss-Italian border.


Many more pics here

French feminists have something new to be angry about. This time it’s a commercial for a shop that sells… well, you’ll see at the end.

Source (in French)

French computer graphics magician Kadeg Boucher designed a series of F1-inspired lawnmowers that are not for sale but should:

F1-style lawnmower cuts down all the competition. . . even Schumacher (Daily Mail)