It is this time of the year again. Journalists, politics, random people reflect on their annual achievements as we get close to the end of December. That is why I felt this picture would be a great analogy for my weekly "Saturday Shot" blog post.
Happiness is a warm gun.
I once wrote an article about France's renewed passion for melancholy. Centuries after Baudelaire started to praise
Because of the above-mentioned trend back home, we were tempted to blend in the indigenous customs and to go for a more positive attitude... Yet that was before we started listening properly to the rhymes that were sung all around him.
Happily ever after.
You would assume that children stories are all rosy and happy, but if you listen carefully it is not that obvious. Let me take a few example to illustrate my assertion. Do you know the "ring around the roses" song? Well, it is nothing but the story of how plague wiped off large parts of the London population who after coughing they "all fell down", dead... Not very positive. One off you may object, but that is not the case. Let me expand with another very famous nursery rhyme.
The English version reads: "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, life is but a dream". Note how the story concludes on a realistic letdown: "life is but a dream", meaning, boy enjoy it for now, but beware of the rapids that will shake your skiff soon enough.
The same song in French reads: "Petit bateau, p'tit bateau descend la rivière. Petit bateau, p'tit bateau ira jusqu'à la mer". This would translate into "little boat, l'ttle boat goes down river. Little boat, l'ttle boat will reach the sea". Interestingly no anticlimax in the French version which on the contrary delivers a more positive conclusion to this analogy. In the end, life is a blossoming achievement: you reach the sea and its endless possibilities.
But maybe it is simply me... I may have been contaminated by the French Sadness Syndrome and consequently start to see evil everywhere. So tell me which is your favourite rhyme, and what is its positive message conveyed by these apparently fatuous lyrics. I am keen to learn and in turn teach my son. After all, as George Santayana (1863-1952) coined it once, "Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness."
To read further:
Divine recipe.
Back at my place, I pulled out a couple pans, a bag of potatoes, a few more ingredients... and 25 minutes later , voila! A delight ready to be swallowed... Really worth any spoonful. The potatoes literally melts in your mouth, with double cream elevating the flavours of cured ham and onions, whilst the melted cheese strengthena the whole experience... OK, I know that at this stage, you are already salivating. Like Pavlovian subjects, you are already envying me, so let me fulfill your newly discovered dream, and share with you the recipe of this Alpine delight (as reported by the not-so-alpine Waitrose, yet with my own twist as those weirdoes started to tweak the real thing):
SadlyI have no left-overs from my latest cooking to extend the pleasure beyond reason... But trust me, it was worth it. Enjoy, and take care.Serves: 4 to 6 (but let's face it, more likely 4 than 6
Ingredients:
50g unsalted butter, softened
175g bacon or pancetta, cut into 1cm lardons
1 onion, sliced
1kg waxy potatoes, such as Cara, peeled and sliced to a 3mm thickness
Salt and freshly ground pepper
250g Reblochon cheese, cubed
568ml carton double cream
Method:
1.Preheat the oven to 150°C/gas 2. With half the butter, grease a shallow baking dish, about 25 x 30cm.
2.Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the bacon. Sauté for about 5 minutes until crisp and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
3.Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the bacon fat. Return the pan to the heat and add the sliced onions. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Season.
4.Layer half the potato slices and add salt and pepper (remember the bacon brings already quite some salt). Sprinkle with the bacon and onion. Put the rest of potatoes on top, and add the rest of onions and bacon. Pour enough cream over the top to just cover the potatoes - you may not need it all. Dot with the remaining butter.
5.Bake for about 1¼ hours, or until the potatoes are tender. Slice your cheese in two, lay it on top of your potatoes crust upwards, and return to the oven until brown and bubbling (about 15 minutes). Remove from the oven, cover with foil and leave for 10-15 minutes before serving (if you can resist).
To accompany this week's Saturday Shot which is a topical/typical seasonal pastry that was brought home by a French Friend from Alsace, I looked for a topical/typical quote. Bon appetit:
To accompany this week's Saturday Shot, how could I miss this quote from UK most famous writer of all time. It both pictures the frosty weather which has hit the UK for a couple days, and makes a highly contextual reference:
A harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving was a holiday to express thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation to God, family and friends for which all have been blessed of material possessions and relationships.Here again you could wonder why the Christmas rule does not apply. I appreciate Thanksgiving is no literally a religious celebration, but the connection clearly exists historically...
One thing though that I am keen to share immidiately is how gloomy an airport can, especially when your luggage get lost, a fellow passenger has a heart attack and dies in the plane, or that you have a long transfer and not a single penny/euro/dirham/cent to offer a bit of entertainment (all true stories I am afraid).
That is only if you don't arrive in the London Heathrow Terminal 5, where T-Mobile recently performed another of their flashmobs:
Too busy these days to keep up with the cultural differences happening around me, I have shamelessly forgotten to pay my tribute to this blog... and to my prior commitments to publish more regularly.
This one was shot today, Saturday, in Hyde Park as a Scottish band was entertaining the crowd of passers-by, teaching them how to move on the sound of "Up-North" music.
Walking around Notting Hill and Maida Vale, we bumped into this shop... Bemused by the sign, I was wondering who one earth would buy some bride cakes from such a bakery. Then I realised that the owners must have identified a brilliant market niche: the ultimate, and delicious way to tell the groom that his future wife is a bitch!Mein Freund.
France and Germany have had a serious history for centuries. Every now and then the troops from one side of the border got across and marched forward, before being pushed back. As a result, the region separating the two archrivals, the Alsace, turned French or German depending on who won the last battle.
This part of France faced some strange situations, and this short animation by Sophie Nau describe with much emotion the fate of two French brothers who had to join the Nazi ranks, despite them. Enjoy.
That is when I saw the truth... This bag was in reality a value judgement about my photographic work. Three green letters and I realised what people may think about my pictures! No wonder I prefer usually other photo brands like Ilford or Kodak.I obviously hope that Fuji's tactlessness is not intentional, but the mere reflect of a lack of international acumen. There are numerous examples of such design bugs like the Saab 900 SE for example. This was a classical Scandinavian car but also a questionable choice for a model name: once spelled out on the back of the cab you could clearly read that the car was a 900se (goose). I wonder if that was some kind of a private joke when the Germans re-baptised the VW Golf into VW Rabbit for the US market...
But some logos are just brilliant. They convey smartly some messages that are subliminally influencing the eye of their viewers. Let's share today some of these hidden secrets:
Let's start with a reference to my dear Alps. Hidden in the rocky alpine landscape of this famous chocolate packaging can be found the silhouette of a bear standing on its back paws... A tribute to Basel, the original city of Toblerone.
Galeries Lafayette is a department store in Paris. The desire of this megastore was to establish itself as an iconic landmark, a synonym of the Parisian touch. That is probably what inspired the graphic designer to turn the two "t" into a graphical representation of the Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of Paris.
"Carrefour" means the crossroad in French. It is also a major retail chain in the world, the place where the offer meets the demand with a tremendous choice of goods... This encounter was represented in the logo where a white C for Carrefour is enshrined in two arrows, a red one pointing to the left and a blue one pointing to the right. It may take you a while to see the C (it took me 30 years) until you see it, and then you cannot see anything else but that letter.
Whilst talking about arrows, here are two other famous examples. The first one is FedEx, which is a company that goes forward whatever it takes to deliver your parcels. Remember that super long commercial with Tom Hanks called Cast Away (well, Robert Zemeckis may argue it is a movie... for me, it is a 143' long tribute to the courier company). Anyway to embody this determination, an arrow is hidden in the logo. Right here between the E and the X. 
Amazon too has got an arrow in his logo. This one is not hidden, but it conveys a strong message. More than an arrow it's a smile, and a smile that brings you from A to Z, implying that the extensive catalogue of goods and services offered by the Seattle-based company is a source of consumer joy. 
And finally what is probably my preferred logo story. The TGV, or Train Grande Vitesse (High Speed Train), is the jewel of the French railways. Super fast, it is the exact opposite of a snail, the symbol of slow motion by excellence... Again, this idea can be literally visualised, and if you reverse the fluid and forward projected logo, then a snail logotype appears in front of you.
As you can imagine, I love signs and symbols. And logos are nothing but signs applied a commercial message. If you want to unlock more mysteries behind brand logos I recommend these two articles (1, 2). Until then, check out around you, there may be some subliminal messages influencing your behaviours.
To read further:
Here is a short selection of the numerous pictures I shot whilst being stranded in Chicago, Illinois. Enjoy the slideshow, and feel free to comment:
More of my pictures can be seen on Flickr.
To read further (or in that instance, view further):
In my eyes, churches are a symbol of faith, a cultural patrimony, and certainly not an asset to market. But I tried to picture the associated advert, and came up with something that could read like:Tough to say if I would manage to sell this property... But if I were not, I could always try my luck on eBaysilica!For Sale because of worshiper defection. The property offers a large cross-shape floor plan with spacious, though gregarious living accommodations. Great opportunity to elevate. Small interior swimming pool and wine cellar. Ideal for social gathering. Comes fully furnished for large receptions, though guests would need to accommodate with wooden benches. Former landLord could offer repayment through Devil Soul Bank. Visits on Sundays.
Vincent Vega: You know what the funniest thing about Europe is?
Jules Winnfield: What?
Vincent Vega: It's the little differences. I mean they got the same shit over there that they got here, but it's just, just there it's a little different.
Jules Winnfield: Example.
Vincent Vega: Alright, well you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And, I don't mean just like a paper cup, I'm talking about a glass of beer. And, in Paris, you can buy a beer in McDonald's. You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Jules Winnfield: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Vincent Vega: No, man, they got the metric system, they don't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules Winnfield: What do they call it?
Vincent Vega: They call it a Royal with Cheese.
Jules Winnfield: Royal with Cheese.
Vincent Vega: That's right.
Jules Winnfield: What do they call a Big Mac?
Vincent Vega: Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.
Jules Winnfield: Le Big Mac. What do they call a Whopper?
Vincent Vega: I don't know. I didn't go into Burger King. But you know what they put on french fries in Holland instead of ketchup?
Jules Winnfield: What?
Vincent Vega: Mayonnaise.
Jules Winnfield: Goddamn!
Vincent Vega: I seen 'em do it. And I don't mean a little bit on the side of the plate, they fuckin' drown 'em under that shit.
A woman can deliver a child in nine months, but I have never seen nine women deliver a child in a month.
Back to the playground.
I have recently had the opportunity to fly to almost the other side of the planet. This was my first time on the West Coast of the USA and my first time in Seattle. No matter how much people had told me about this major city of Washington state, I must admit that I bumped into a few surprises that I am keen to report in this blog post in form of questions/answers:And finally, is this the best example of name dropping or what?
