Discovered on TV news, today...

... I was very busy this morning - the tube draining was blocked, so I was
going to and fro with a plunger and caustic soda when, passing by the TV
in my way from the kitchen to the bathroom, I suddenly froze in front of it.

I wasn't ready to see this before my morning coffee :


The Berlusco and his fave minister in an Αρκαδία-style landscape !
(by Filippo Panseca, Art & Savonnerie exhibition - Priamar/Savona, Italy).

Be sure a little later the water was running free in the bath tube.
________________________

Radical measures in Egypt against innocent pigs...

(Christian Fraser, BBC/UK)

... Virus' spread by people not pigs' !

The Greater Paris of the Future.

Ten projects to be seen at Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine
- Palais de Chaillot, opening tomorrow April 30th.

Below, Jean Nouvel and Roland Castro proposals...




The idea of a Paris extending beyond the boulevard Périphérique isn't new,
but serious studies about a master plan began when :

"On 17 September 2007, French President Nicolas Sarkozy marked
the inauguration of La Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine by stating
his wish for an international consultation on a new comprehensive
development project for Greater Paris".

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An ordinary day in my fief...

yep, just an ordinary day in Oberkampf.
(click on post title)

Out for a little shopping, like books at
l'Imagigraphe, where I've been told that
about forty readers came and met Amin
Maalouf, on April 2nd...

________

(still waiting Le Mur is cleaned up)...





... had a coffee, leafing through my new book, '100 Expressions à sauver',
(100 expressions to rescue), by Bernard Pivot...




... and, last but not least, I bought a bottle of fresh milk and said hello to Hamid.
Just an ordinary day in my fief.
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European Elections... Faites vos jeux !

Poll :

Do you think using social media
for political campaigns works ?


Challenges ahead 2009-2014.

Well, if you ever plan to motor south...

... get your kicks on La Pigna Hill !

This is the old Sanremo (Liguria, Italy), built in 'anno Domini 1000' up on a hill,
so the inhabitants could watch the sea and prevent pirates' attacks.


Knowing that Pigna means pine cone, you can easily find its shape on the map,
with its concentric narrow streets and majestic ficus macrophylla trees on top.


(click on map)








Two of the huge Ficus macrophylla, fiercely exhibiting their aerial and ground roots.








Unfortunately, I was on a flash trip and I discovered the place too late,
but I'll be back, soon - my oldest friend lives in Sanremo now.
____________

The Saint Germain's Muse soon in Concert...

"Je me souviens de tout"
the new CD by French singer Juliette Greco
to come out next week.

- Je Me Souviens De Tout - Madame Rosa - Bérénice
- C'est Le Moment - Dans Ma Chambre De Dame
- Le Solitaire - Un Petit Matin De Printemps - Testament
Rose - Tout Ira Bien - Un Art Assez Difficile - L'Ombre
Du Vent - Ha! Le Temps - Je N'ai Jamais Eté - Je Me
Souviens De Tout.

She will be in concert at
Théâtre des Champs Elysées
on June 4th, 5th, 8th and 10th.
____

This video shows her singing a Gainsbourg's song - La Javanaise.
Enjoy Saint Germain des Près and place de Fürstemberg as in 1963...


(Oldies 195)

Drawing for Peace...

"The power and the responsibility of political cartooning were illustrated by the Prophet
Mohammad cartoon debacle and the controversial cartoon exhibition on the Holocaust
in Iran.

Conceived by the French cartoonist Plantu, ‘Cartooning for Peace’
is an initiative born on October 16, 2006 at the UN Headquarters
in New York"... (more).




The most interesting thing is the universal meaning
of some drawings...

________________________


Now, don't miss
Plantu's site !

Earth Day/2009...

(Philippe Geluck, Le Chat)

Mac vs PC : a Computer's Fight.

(Peacer)
Written & Directed by Dan Chianelli & Nick Greenlee.

Thank you guys !

Hugest Spiders in the World... are French !

Born in Nantes, France
and created by
Compagnie La Machine
...
(see slideshow)...



(photo Matthew Andrews).

Last seen in Liverpool/08...


(click for more Pink Tentacle pics & video).

... the robot spider will perform in Japan for
the 150th Yokoama Port Opening Anniversary.

O

Another french huge spider is...


(photo G@tto)


(photo GMG)

... the fantastic spider sculptures of Louise Bourgeois, here shot in Beaubourg
and in Bilbao (2008).

And that's all, folks ! for the moment.
____

A dive in Nice "Vièia Vila" Atmosphere...

The "Old Nice" district lays between the Place Garibaldi (north), the Castle
Hill (east), the Espace Masséna (west) and the coastline (south).

Snake with G@tto along the ruelles du vieux quartier...

















The French Riviera Traveller says : "With its narrow, shadowy streets, cozy
squares, colourful markets, baroque churches and jumble of pastel houses,
Vieux Nice looks and feels much as it must have about two centuries ago.
The sounds are different though, at least at night when music from the bars
and nightclubs fills the air with rhythm.
The bustle of tourists and shoppers is replaced by teams of young clubbers
prowling the streets for the latest hangout. Especially on summer evenings,
the Old Town resembles a vast open-air party".


One more time, the open air market on the Cours Saleya is gone...


... and the hose-man is cleaning the place.









Farewell Nice, farewell the French Riviera...
G@tto's planning to move somewhere,
on the coast, in a few years !

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