Frogsmoke

(Original source unknown)

This is probably what they looked like before they became cartoon characters. Click for source & bigger.

Members of photoshop site FreakingNews have spoken, and chose this image as the winner in the Sarkozy’s Next Job contest. Sarko’s future lies in the restaurant business – as a waitress. Click pic for more details.

For those who want to know: frequent Frogsmoke commenter General Pepper finished 28 out of 31…

If she hadn’t drowned in her swimming pool last year, Marie-France Pisier could have been 68 today

Born in Indochina to a French official, Marie-France Pisier (10 May 1944 – 24 April 2011) began her film career in Paris at age 17. While appearing in such films as Love at Twenty, she completed her law and political science degrees at the University of Paris. After working in a string of comparatively obscure, experimental feature films, Ms. Pisier scored an international success with Cousin Cousine (1975), for which she won a Cesar award. Her Hollywood career began and ended with the disappointing The Other Side of Midnight (1977), but she continued to flourish in European films; among her better film roles were Charlotte Brontë in Les Soeurs Brontë (1979) and Coco Chanel in Chanel Solitaire (1981). An accomplished writer, Pisier produced the best-selling novel The Governor’s Party, going on to direct the 1990 screen version of that book. Marie-France Pisier’s later films include Pourquoi Maman Est Dans Mort Lit? (1993) and Tous les Jours Dimanche (1994).

The 66-year-old actress died on 24 April 2011. She was found dead in her swimming pool and is believed to have drowned.

Now that Nicolas Sarkozy is nearly an ex-president, Photoshoppers on Freakingnews try to imagine his new career. The jury is still out but this is my favorite in the contest:

A mixed bag today. Click for source.

If he hadn’t died 41 years ago Fernandel could have been 109 today

Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French actor and singer. Born in Marseille, France, he was a comedy star who first gained popularity in French vaudeville, operettas, and music-hall revues. His stage name is the diminutive form of his first name in Occitan.

In 1930, Fernandel appeared in his first motion picture and for more than forty years he would be France’s top comic actor. He was perhaps best-loved for his portrayal of the irascible Italian village priest at war with the town’s Communist mayor in the Don Camillo series of motion pictures. His horse-like teeth became part of his trademark.

He also appeared in Italian and American films. His first Hollywood motion picture was 1956′s Around the World in Eighty Days in which he played David Niven’s coachman. His popular performance in that film led to his starring with Bob Hope and Anita Ekberg in the 1958 comedy Paris Holiday.

Fernandel died from lung cancer and is buried in the Cimetière de Passy, Paris, France.

Update: thanks to frequent commenter General Pepper here ‘s Fernandel with one of his greatest singing performances. (The Youtube version was disabled for embedding but on Dailymotion there’s no such problem.)

Fernandel – Félicie Aussi par Skyremax

This graphic novel by French illustrator David Revoy is a personal project made aside from his daily work as an illustrator.

“I tried to depict in it a difficult theme but a one witch is close to my heart : the way children are affected by a negative ambient at home, and social difficulties they can endure in consequences. I’m always shocked when I meet parents who send unconsciously their violence, pessimism or sadness to their children. This novel is not really a mental answer to it, just a heart reaction.”

More beautiful work here

At Frogsmoke HQ you will be dearly missed!

Click pic for full image & source

They all come from the travel section of Libération. Click for more info (in French).

French health laws strictly forbid the depiction of smoking people in public places. So when the library of Montpellier installed a giant photo of celebrated writer Albert Camus (shown above) on their façade, one (Green) deputy cried foul and took the administrators to court.

Now, the verdict is out: the famous 1947 photo by Cartier-Bresson is not subject to the Loi Evin because it is considered a work of art. The deputy who filed the complaint, supported by the honorary president of the Alliance against tobacco, plans to appeal the verdict.

In the meantime, Albert Camus can puff away.

Story in French | Google Translated

Plonk & Replonk is a Swiss art collective who have been photoshopping vintage postcards for 15-odd years, turning them into superkitsch creations. Part of their work is a series of retouched cards depicting the professional life of known and unknown French people. Below are some of them. Click here for the full series.

My collection of pretty pictures has become a bit large, so here’s a double dose. Click for source.

Bonus: a moving postcard from Saint Guilhem le Désert (Languedoc)

I like this very mucho…

Music : Les passantes, Banda De Musica Municipal de Santiago (Brassens cover), Video : Micaël Reynaud. Vimeo link

Another edition of the famously popular guessing game on Frogsmoke. Don’t bother using Google Image Search; I’ve manipulated the pic enough so it won’t be recognized.

The answer (all two (!) respondents were right): it’s model, actress, occasional singer and confirmed Frogsmokerette Lou Doillon.