No, this is not a dream gournal. And this may seem as too clever by half, but I promise that my subconscious brewed it up in between snooze taps this morning. I was hanging out with someone who needed to fill out a form (in France), but he was functionally illiterate and does not know [...]
When I came to the center yesterday, it was clear that I had rolled in via Vélib’. “Be careful tomorrow with Vélib’,” one instructor warned me, because today’s general strike will make the bicycles extremely valuable. With at least the RER B scheduled to be out of commission, it’s entirely possible that I would have [...]
Continue reading about Are grass’s roots that much more impressive than trees’?
When the Awl complains that this has been a miserable American summer, they’re mostly right, but it hasn’t been exactly a great summer in France, either. Sarkozy has decided to kick off the 2012 presidential campaign extra early by re-burnishing his xenophobic credentials, angling to get the support of the far-right Front National types–the very [...]
Continue reading about Mechanical reproduction of la manif and the Tea Party
This might get a bit weepy or whiny in places, but I promise there’s a bigger point to it. I’m writing this post from Café de Paris, which is more or less exactly what it sounds like, except that it’s in Vilnius. I’ve spent a lot of time here over the two months I’ve been [...]
This xkcd comic from Monday has been forwarded around a bit. My own reaction was heavily influenced by @sepoy’s comment that maybe JFK was talking about the “global south (po folk)” avant la lettre. I think it’s funny that JFK could have merged the idea of the “Global South” with the literal southern hemisphere. Randall [...]
[I have written a separate post that describes the updates to the Vélib’ system that appeared in Spring 2011 here. Considering the two main changes are pricing options and availability to Americans, I encourage everyone to read this pieces and then read the update to have their excitement renewed (or enhanced).] Using a bicycle in [...]
Continue reading about Vélib’ and generally using a bicycle in Paris
Since 1998, part of my excitement over the World Cup has been stoked by ads leading up to it. Usually, Nike makes charming and witty ads, like this one, in which the Brazilian national team messes around at the airport, having just been told that their flight to Paris is delayed: What Eric Cantona is [...]
Continue reading about The cringe-inducing South African World Cup ads have begun
I have been posting of late, just not here. I’ve put up three posts over at Lithchat discussing the Eurovision Song Contest, in particular the song chosen by the Lithuanian people to represent them at the contest, the subversive “Eastern European Funk.” The first post merely introduces the song with a few video clips thrown [...]
Continue reading about Eurovision and neoliberalism: the case of InCulto
I finally saw The Hurt Locker, after wanting to see it forever. I don’t remember what about the original reviews or trailers made me think I’d like it, but the absolute orgy of praise it has received in the months since release only built up the interest. And now, I don’t get it. I think [...]
I wrote a little something about James Verini’s fascinating Vanity Fair article about the Moscow newspaper, the eXile, edited by Mark Ames and Matt Taibbi, over on Lithchat. Mostly, the piece prompted an opportunity to think about how my own experiences during the ’90s, especially as they pertained to Eastern Europe, would have been different [...]
Continue reading about Ames, Taibbi, Moscow, and missing the boat
