Article de Libe...

Un article de Libe tres interessant sur le "nouveau parle" en politique:

Linguiste, Pierre Encrevé a été conseiller auprès de Michel Rocard lorsque celui-ci était Premier ministre. Il décrypte les nouveaux mots du pouvoir.

Nicolas Sarkozy est-il en train de changer le niveau de l’expression politique ?
Un peu. Comme les vêtements. Il a jeté le costume gaullo-mitterrandien aux orties, la langue avec. Vous imaginez l’un quelconque de ses prédécesseurs courant dans les rues en culotte courte rehaussée d’un tee-shirt à l’enseigne de la police new-yorkaise ? Son langage public improvisé est à l’avenant : celui de n’importe quel membre de sa classe sociale et de sa génération qui n’est pas passé par les grandes écoles. Il méprise l’usage de la particule négative («C’est pas comme ça que ça marche !»), il ignore le parler énarque, mais emprunte à Coluche le tutoiement collectif («Attends !»), il emploie le vocabulaire quotidien. Bref, il use d’une variété souple et non guindée de la langue française et, négligeant de mettre les formes, il préfère jouer de la spontanéité, du naturel, du relâché, qui caractérisent depuis longtemps le parler public du show-biz, par exemple dans les talk-show. On n’est pas loin du langage de Bush fils, mais on peut aussi le rapprocher, mutatis mutandis, de Georges Marchais, dont le populisme ne lui est pas vraiment étranger.

Est-ce que cela marque une inflexion dans la pratique du pouvoir ?
La Constitution ne précise pas de quelle variété de la langue française doit user le Président. Dans ses discours écrits, Nicolas Sarkozy n’innove guère. Mais en discours spontané public, il brise la convention de la monarchie républicaine qui voulait que le Président s’exprime avec une distance le distinguant constamment du vulgaire. En public, même dans les occasions apparemment détendues, ses prédécesseurs n’utilisaient que le style surveillé. Nicolas Sarkozy, lui, semble négliger la dimension symbolique de l’exercice du pouvoir suprême, se consacrant avec frénésie à illustrer ses aspects réels et imaginaires : il paraît exercer tous les rôles gouvernementaux, il parle beaucoup et se montre sans cesse, mais tout ce qui dans la représentation de l’Etat tient à l’éloignement, à la hauteur, au laconisme est, pour l’instant, laissé pour compte. C’est apparemment un choix calculé, et c’est une vraie rupture avec la Ve République qui, pour le style, pourrait nous rapprocher de la IVe avec ses Conseils des ministres en bras de chemise et le tutoiement de rigueur - sauf qu’il n’y a plus de ministres.

Quand Fadela Amara dit «dégueulasse», perpétue-t-elle le parler banlieue ou bien adopte-t-elle le parler Sarkozy ?

Elle tient son rôle. Faites une expérience mentale. Imaginez que Rachida Dati en sortant d’une visite de prison, l’autre jour, ait dit «C’est dégueulasse !» et que Fadela Amara, elle, ait dit des tests ADN qu’ «ils ne font pas honneur à la France» : le gouvernement serait en danger ! Avant sa visite aux prisons Rachida Dati partageait les vacances américaines du Président, et après les prisons elle a dû visiter les défilés de haute couture : elle représente le rêve d’intégration à la française. Elle doit donc parler la langue des politiques issus de la bourgeoisie, auxquels elle doit tendre constamment à ressembler en tout. Fadela Amara tient, dans l’excellent casting des spécialistes élyséens, le rôle symétriquement opposé : elle doit représenter la banlieue pour tenter de la réconcilier avec le Président, en délicatesse avec elle pour cause de «Kärcher» et «racaille». Elle doit donc avant tout conserver des marques apparentes de sa différence originaire avec les «bourges» qu’elle côtoie au gouvernement. Le mot «dégueulasse» n’appartient pas spécifiquement à la banlieue mais aussi bien au français familier de chacun de nous, et bien des politiques l’emploient publiquement à l’occasion, en l’accompagnant d’un «passez-moi l’expression», qui dans la bouche de Fadela Amara aurait bien déçu le Président. Ce n’est pas du parler Sarkozy, c’est de la division du travail. Et Devedjian fait aussi le sien en feignant de s’en scandaliser, légitimant avec soin Fadela Amara comme insoumise tout en réconfortant les électeurs lepé­nistes.

Et Henri Guaino, qui traite BHL de «petit con» ?
C’est une autre affaire. Je suis moins sûr que le Président lui sache gré, après avoir réussi à le fâcher avec toute l’Afrique, d’insulter un intellectuel à qui il aurait volontiers confié un ministère. «Petit con», l’injure sexiste (ne l’oublions pas !) la plus courante de la langue française, c’est très classique quand on est à court d’argument. Si Guaino était ministre, il y aurait un problème politique, mais venant d’un simple conseiller, fût-il spécial, ça n’est pas significatif.

Quote of the day.

Johnny Greenwood (Radiohead)): “It's just interesting to make people pause for even a few seconds and think about what music is worth now. I thought it was an interesting thing to ask people to do and compare it to whatever else in their lives they value or don't value.”

Context

La citation du jour.

Henri Guaino: "Il ne m'aime pas, moi non plus. Il n'aime pas la France, moi si. Il a la bave aux lèvres, avec la haine qui suinte de partout."

C'est beau l'amour...

Contexte

La citation du jour.

Bernard de la Villardière, journaliste et producteur à M6 ("Enquêtes exclusives"): "Pour retenir le jeune public, on ne provoque plus son émotion mais sa pulsion et son excitation, ce qui amène à en faire toujours plus"

Pour le contexte c'est ici.

On veut de la DI-SCI-PLI-NEUH!

Un sondage dit que les francais veulent un retour de la discipline a l'ecole...

C'est etrange mais ca me fait rire...

Par exemple: "78 % que le téléphone portable soit interdit pour les élèves dans les établissements scolaires" => c'est pas les parents leur laissent prendre le portable avant d'aller a l'ecole?

Si les parents enseignent pas le respect, comment peut-on attendre des eleves qu'ils respectent un etranger (le prof)?

Mais bon c'est pratique de se defosser...

Pendant ce temps, en France...

On vote des lois.
On propose une depenalisation du droit des affaires. C'est vrai que c'est horrible que des gens qui detournent des fonds de grands entreprises doivent aller en prison. Ils ont souvent besoin des millions qu'ils volent.

Ce sont les memes qui demandent des facilites pour licencier leurs employes. C'est vrai que c'est injuste qu'une entreprise soit responsable de ses employes.

On va de plus vers des remises de peines non systematiques. A la limite on pourrait comprendre ca, mais faut voir aussi a qui ca profite... Les voleurs de voitures recidivistes qui se prennent une peine plancher, peut-etre?

La dessus, on veut refuser des soins d'urgence aux sans papiers.
Et pour couronner le tout, la moitier des francais est pour les tests ADN pour les immigres candidats au regroupement familial...

Quel beau pays, la France...

Ig Nobel.

I had never heard of this scientific prize before but a good summary article from the BBC website brought that to my attention.
It also describes this years prizes, including a study the side effects of swallowing swords...

The official website is well worth a look, with the full lst of all winners.

As usual the Wikipedia entry also revealed most informative linking to other "different" prizes:
# Darwin Awards for fatally foolish behavior
Wikipedia also has a entries for "unusual deaths" specially a "List of inventors killed by their own inventions" entry where you learn that Charles Justice was electrocuted in the electric chair he had improved the design of.

# Pigasus Award for paranormal fraud (U.S.)
You can learn there that "Templeton Foundation for spending US$2.4 million and ten years research on a study researching the effectiveness of prayer." ...

# Stella Awards for "outrageous" lawsuits

Seam carving.

The future of picture "enhancement" is here!

Thanks to this web application using a new cutting edge technique, you can enlarge or reduce an image while keeping the main features the same and even remove elements from pictures, in just a few clicks...
Quite amazing.

Now cheating on pictures won't be an art anymore...

Another warning not to trust only our eyes...

Original article from Rue89 (in French)

Rubik's cube.

Following a conversation with friends, I set out to find some videos on YouTube about people solving Rubik's Cubes...

As usual, I found more!
I didn't know the amount of contribution Michel Gondry (one of my favourite directors!) has contributed to in this matter!



And also:



:)

Let's have a "serious" one to finish (or is it? ;) ):

Genius!

I'm going to send all my emails with this now!!! :)

http://www.geogreeting.com/

REAL Transformers!

This is so cool!! :D

Votez pour Montcuq!!!

Apparemment Hasbro a lance un vote pour elire des noms de ville qui figureront dans une nouvelle version "francaise" du Monopoly.

Des joyeux drilles ont decide de pousser Montcuq le plus loin possible pour qu'elle occupe la place de la celebre rue de la Paix de l'edition originale, place reservee a la ville qui aura le plus de votes (lien d'origine a consulter ici).

Une idee pareille ne merite rien d'autre qu'a etre soutenue jusqu'au bout.

Allez voter pour Montcuq!!!!

C'est ici.

!! Mise a jour !!
34680 votes et 1ere place pour Montcuq! Plus que 18 jours a tenir!

Diplomes. Plom!

On m'a envoye ce texte, extrait d´une conférence prononcée en 1935 par
Paul Valéry et consacrée à l´enseignement.
En cette periode de rentree et de debats sur l'ecole, je pense que tous se devraient de lire et mediter ce qui suit, fustigeant les fondements meme de notre mentalite en termes d'education.
D'un point de vue personnel, me souvenant de mes annees scolaires et de ma recherche d'emploi, je ne peux qu'en approuver le contenu (pour ce que ca vaut)...


"Les préoccupations dominantes semblent être de donner aux enfants une
culture disputée entre la tradition dite classique, et le désir
naturel de les initier à l´énorme développement des connaissances et
de l´activité modernes. Tantôt une tendance l´emporte, tantôt l´autre
; mais jamais, parmi tant d´arguments, jamais ne se produit la
question essentielle : - Que veut-on et que faut-il vouloir ?

C´est qu´elle implique une décision, un parti à prendre. Il s´agit de
se représenter l´homme de notre temps, et cette idée de l´homme dans
le milieu probable où il vivra doit d´abord être établie. Elle doit
résulter de l´observation précise, et non du sentiment et des
préférences des uns et des autres - de leurs espoirs politiques,
notamment. Rien de plus coupable, de plus pernicieux et de plus
décevant que la politique de parti en matière d´enseignement. Il est
cependant un point où tout le monde s´entend, s´accorde
déplorablement. Disons-le : l´enseignement a pour objectif réel le
diplôme.

Je n´hésite jamais à le déclarer, le diplôme est l´ennemi mortel de la
culture. Plus les diplômes ont pris d´importance dans la vie (et cette
importance n´a fait que croître à cause des circonstances économiques)
, plus le rendement de l´enseignement a été faible. Plus le contrôle
s´est exercé, s´est multiplié, plus les résultats ont été mauvais.

Mauvais par ses effets sur l´esprit public et sur l´esprit tout court.
Mauvais parce qu´il crée des espoirs, des illusions de droits acquis.
Mauvais par tous les stratagèmes et les subterfuges qu´il suggère, les
recommandations, les préparations stratégiques, et, en somme, l´emploi
de tous expédients pour franchir le seuil redoutable. C´est là, il
faut l´avouer, une détestable initiation à la vie intellectuelle et
civique.

D´ailleurs si je me fonde sur la seule expérience et si je regarde les
effets du contrôle en général, je constate que le contrôle, en toute
matière, aboutit à vicier l´action, à la pervertir ... Je vous l´ai
déjà dit : dès qu´une action est soumise à un contrôle, le but profond
de celui qui agit n´est plus l´action même, mais il conçoit d´abord la
prévision du contrôle, la mise en échec des moyens de contrôle. Le
contrôle des études n´est qu´un cas particulier et une démonstration
éclatante de cette observation générale.Le diplôme fondamental, chez
nous, c´est le baccalauréat. Il a conduit à orienter les études sur un
programme strictement défini et en considération d´épreuves qui, avant
tout, représentent, pour les examinateurs, les professeurs et les
patients, une perte totale, radicale et non compensée, de temps et de
travail. Du jour où vous créez un diplôme , un contrôle bien défini,
vous voyez aussitôt s´organiser en regard tout un dispositif non moins
précis que votre programme, qui a pour but unique de conquérir ce
diplôme par tous moyens. Le but de l´enseignement n´étant plus la
formation de l´esprit, mais l´acquisition du diplôme, c´est le minimum
exigible qui devient l´objet des études. Il ne s´agit plus d´apprendre
le latin, ou le grec, ou la géométrie. Il s´agit d´emprunter, et non
plus d´acquérir, d´emprunter ce qu´il faut pour passer le
baccalauréat."

For those who have friends...

...but don't want to meet them!

http://nosoproject.com/

It's a strange idea, but interesting still...

The Bourne Ultimatum

I wasn't really expecting this one, although I enjoyed the 1st 2 very much, but I got lured into the cinema for this one as I saw raving reviews.
If it was that good, it should be worth seing it on the big screen.

Well I have to say the movie doesn't disappoint.
You might say that it's "just a thriller"... But it's as good a thriller can get.
A great cast and direction make up for a gripping rollercoaster.
When you think about it, the story is pretty standard (don't get me wrong it's still good with a few good twists and turns but there's no real revelations) but the thing is that the movie doesn't let you think!
It just doesn't stop.
And it's got a lot to do with the handheld camera used throughout, sort of "documentary" style, that always keeps your nose on the action so you can't breathe.
By the way I was well impressed that this (volontary) messy way of filming manages to be clear, so you always understand where you are in the chaos around you...

You go to the movies and you get to see a lot of action and you finish by being a bit jaded by it all. But here I found myself being surprised at how good it was every step of the way, whether it's a game of cat and mouse in Waterloo station (jaw dropping!) or a gritty fist fight in Morocco or a humongous car crash in New York...
It's always very rough, down and dirty so you always feel involved.
Very impressive.

The cast is also quie a standout, Damon first with his Bourne character that manages to be indestructible yet faillible and tortured.
I was happy to see a number of actors I really like, such as Paddy Considine (see Hot Fuzz, but more importantly Dead Man's Shoes) or Edgar Ramirez (I so love Domino!).

So with Spidey, a 3rd episode that was wll worth doing!
"Just a thriller", but full marks still!

Bourne.

I was thinking of new titles for the Bourne franchise, to extend it, as they seem to try to wear out any concept they can:

Bourne to be wild
Bourne to be alive
Bourne on the 4th of July
AirBourne
Bourne, Baby, Bourne
(French spin of) Merci et Bourne journee!
(Sequel to the french spin off) A Bourne entendeur, salut!

Winners...

...women don't like them apparently... :)

No comment.

reg: kro est a fond sur les lois de murphy en ce moment
kro: yep
kage: et là tu fais quoi?
kro: j'etudie le corollaire de blumenfeld
kro: qui dit que si la tartine est tombé du coté non beurré, c'est que t'as beurré le mauvais coté.
kage: O_O
kage: putain ça marche!

(thx BashFr)

A Dilbert...

Type Dvorak!

I thought Dvorak was just a composer, but a distant relative of his also designed a keyboard layout much better than the qwerty/azerty layout we all use.

There's a very interesting website dedicated to this.
It makes me want to give it a try!

Original article where I found this (from Rue89, surprisingly)

Free, but...

An American graduate has created a way to track down who anonymously changed contents in Wikipedia and found some quite interesting data...

Like corporations or even government agencies removing too critical material against them...

I think the community aspect on Wikipedia is excellent and make it possible, through collaboration and refining of the information, to have some truly objective articles.

If now we can even spot actual misinformation, it's near perfect!

Link to the WikiScanner.

Original article (from Wired) here.

I found it here on Rue89 (in French)

A thought.

You know how some people get depressed with the weather?

Well I'm like them.
Except that I get depressed with conversations about the weather.

Optical illlusions.

My "hightech" post pushed me to investigate optical illusions, which are always fun.
So I found a few here with some very interesting sites full of them.

Do you see a fish or a girl here?

(For some reason I saw the girl 1st)

This one is totally weird (try to fix it a blink):


Another one that tends to make people puke...


To see this one, you need to close 1 eye and look at the cross... You should see a green spot appear and then the purple spots will disappear!


The last 2 were found here.

2 other sites which are full of these:
http://www.eyetricks.com/
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/

If you want to dig a bit more, the entry on Wikipedia is also definitely worth a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion

Last but not least, the most fascinating illusion of all:

If you look really carefully, you can see a waterfall at the back...
No idea how it works... Magic! :)

Let's talk about sex.

Some psychology experts from the university of Texas have released a study about why people have sex and have extracted 237 reasons to do so (good and bad).

It's here.
Always interesting to see where you fit in... ;)


The original article (from Rue89) where I found this (in French).

High tech

Control your computer with your eyes with the below module!
Just look at it and see how the white dots move as you look in different places!
Amazing!




The author's site (in French) has some other funny stuff here...
http://bluepsi.free.fr/

2 articles du Monde.

Peut-etre un peu long mais tres interessant...

Irresponsabilité politique, par Jean-Louis Bianco et Bruno Rebelle
LE MONDE | 07.08.07 | 13h59

Bien sûr, on peut souligner l'intérêt de la reprise de relations diplomatiques et commerciales avec le gouvernement de Mouammar Kadhafi. On aurait même souhaité que cette évolution contribue à pacifier la situation au Proche-Orient.

Cependant, le trouble est réel. Le 31 juillet, Bernard Kouchner, chargé - théoriquement au moins - de la conduite de la politique étrangère de la France, était auditionné par la commission de l'Assemblée nationale. Nous espérions qu'à cette occasion des clarifications seraient données, en particulier sur le très discutable"mémorandum d'entente sur la coopération dans le domaine des applications pacifiques de l'énergie nucléaire".


Mais, après les explications pour le moins embrouillées du chef de la diplomatie, le trouble persiste. L'inquiétude grandit encore avec les déclarations de Saïf Al-Islam Kadhafi, fils du colonel, qui précise que le "coeur du sujet" entre Paris et Tripoli n'est pas ce projet nucléaire, mais une affaire "militaire" évoquant même ventes d'armes et usine d'armement. Il est inacceptable que le ministre des affaires étrangères ait omis d'informer les parlementaires de cette composante, pour le moins inquiétante, des termes de l'accord qui a accéléré la libération des otages du régime Kadhafi.

Nous ne pouvons accepter, que pour assurer un nouveau "coup d'éclat médiatique" du président Sarkozy, le gouvernement français propose à la Libye de Kadhafi une nouvelle aventure nucléaire. Ce choix est géopolitiquement irresponsable et énergétiquement inutile. Le gouvernement a oublié que les expériences de coopération nucléaire dite "civile" se sont, jusqu'à maintenant et dans leur majorité, terminées, soit par la mise au point de l'arme atomique par les bénéficiaires de ces coopérations (Inde, Pakistan), soit par des crises diplomatiques majeures (Iran, Corée du Nord), soit par la guerre (Irak).

Au moment où la tension au Proche-Orient atteint de nouveaux paroxysmes, le renforcement de l'équipement militaire de la Libye et la menace du développement de l'arme atomique chez un des partenaires du monde arabe ne fera qu'aggraver ces tensions. Les efforts des pays du Golfe qui, à la fin de l'année 2005, s'engageaient pour promouvoir une région libre de toute menace nucléaire sont, de facto, anéantis.

Comme le sont les initiatives de la société civile et de certains diplomates courageux qui tentent de convaincre Israël de renoncer à l'arme atomique. Ce mémorandum est d'autant plus iconoclaste que nul ne peut ignorer qu'il a fallu plus de dix ans pour obtenir du colonel Kadhafi qu'il abandonne ses projets de développement d'armes non conventionnelles et qu'il cesse de soutenir les activités terroristes qui ont coûté la vie à de trop nombreux civils, notamment français...

Nicolas Sarkozy nous dit que l'on ne peut refuser aux pays du sud de la Méditerranée une technologie dont ils auraient besoin. Mais chacun sait que certaines technologies sont plus sensibles et plus dangereuses que d'autres. La question n'est pas de priver la Libye d'énergie ou d'eau potable. Une coopération responsable devrait, en aidant ce pays à couvrir ses besoins, écarter le risque d'un nouveau dérapage militaire et nucléaire qui handicapera les efforts de paix, si nécessaires dans cette région du monde.

La finalité de cette coopération est d'autant plus discutable que l'argument énergétique avancé est totalement inepte. La Libye, à l'inverse de certains pays de la région, n'a pas particulièrement besoin d'usines de dessalement. Le pays pompe depuis toujours dans une nappe phréatique profonde, qui suffira largement à couvrir ses besoins si les autorités en assurent une gestion rigoureuse. Le recours au dessalement d'eau de mer, s'il devient nécessaire, ne le sera qu'en complément très accessoire de la ressource actuellement exploitée. Il n'y a donc sur ce sujet aucune urgence.

Par ailleurs, l'utilisation d'eau de mer, ressource abondante et gratuite, nécessite de l'énergie... et la Libye n'en manque pas. Elle est riche en pétrole et en gaz. Il est vrai cependant qu'il faut limiter la consommation de ces combustibles fossiles pour lutter contre le changement climatique. La recherche d'alternative est donc louable, si tant est qu'elle permet de répondre à des besoins réels et non supposés.

On estime qu'il faut 4 kWh d'électricité pour produire 1 m3 d'eau douce. Avec une population de 5,5 millions d'habitants, la Libye aurait donc besoin d'environ 1 million de MWh d'électricité par an pour couvrir la totalité de ses besoins en eau douce si ces besoins étaient assurés à 100 % par une usine de dessalement... Cette quantité d'électricité représente moins de 10 % de la production permise par une centrale nucléaire de type EPR que la France s'efforce de vouloir exporter à n'importe quel prix.

Ce fameux "mémorandum d'entente" veut donc répondre à un besoin quasi inexistant avec une solution totalement inappropriée ! A qui profite vraiment ce marché de dupes ? D'autant que la Libye, comme tous les pays de la région, possède une autre ressource énergétique illimitée, renouvelable et gratuite : le soleil ! Il serait bien plus prometteur, dans le cadre d'un accord de partenariat scientifique et technique, de développer des unités de dessalement en valorisant l'énergie solaire suivant les technologies déjà mises au point en Israël et en Espagne. Une seule de ces centrales permettrait de fournir l'eau potable pour toute la population libyenne.

L'industrialisation de cette technologie serait une chance pour la Libye, sécurisant ainsi ses besoins, pour la France, développant ce savoir-faire, et pour le reste du monde, bénéficiant ainsi d'une technologie renouvelable très prometteuse... Car, en dépit des déclarations de Claude Guéant (les participants au Grenelle de l'environnement apprécieront), le nucléaire n'est pas une énergie renouvelable... Et force est de constater qu'il est à peu près certain que l'on ne fera pas la guerre pour contrôler le soleil !

Il serait grand temps que la diplomatie française, qui devrait avant toute chose être au service de la paix et du développement durable, prenne le dessus sur le spectacle.

Jean-Louis Bianco, député PS des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence et ancien codirecteur de campagne de Ségolène Royal

Bruno Rebelle, ancien conseiller de Ségolène Royal

--------------------------

Cessez de vouloir "sauver" l'Afrique !
LE MONDE | 28.07.07 | 13h49

A l'automne 2006, peu après mon retour du Nigeria, je fus interpellé par une blonde et guillerette étudiante dont les yeux bleus paraissaient assortis aux perles du bracelet "africain" qu'elle portait au poignet. "Sauvez le Darfour !", criait-elle derrière une table couverte de brochures exhortant les étudiants à "agir tout de suite !", à "arrêter le génocide au Darfour !". Mon aversion à l'égard de ces étudiants qui s'impliquent à corps perdu dans des causes à la mode faillit me faire tourner les talons, mais le cri qu'elle jeta ensuite m'immobilisa.


"Vous ne voulez donc pas nous aider à sauver l'Afrique ?", hurla-t-elle. Il semblerait que depuis quelque temps, rongé de culpabilité par la crise humanitaire qu'il a provoquée au Moyen-Orient, l'Occident se tourne vers l'Afrique pour y chercher la rédemption. Des étudiants idéalistes, des célébrités comme Bob Geldof et des politiciens comme Tony Blair se sont fixé pour mission d'apporter la lumière au continent noir. Ils arrivent en avion pour effectuer un internat ou participer à une mission d'enquête, ou encore pour adopter un enfant, un peu comme mes amis et moi, à New York, prenons le métro pour aller adopter un chien abandonné à la fourrière.

C'est la nouvelle image que veut se donner l'Occident : une génération sexy et politiquement active dont la méthode préférée pour faire passer son message est de publier de pleines pages de magazines avec des célébrités au premier plan et de pauvres Africains déshérités derrière. Et tant pis si bien souvent les stars dépêchées pour secourir les indigènes ont un air délibérément aussi émacié que ceux qu'elles veulent aider.

Mais ce qui est peut-être plus intéressant encore, c'est le langage employé pour décrire l'Afrique que l'on entend sauver. Par exemple, la campagne lancée par l'association Save the Children, intitulée "I am African", présente des portraits de célébrités occidentales majoritairement blanches avec des "marques tribales" peintes sur le visage au-dessus du slogan I am African imprimé en grosses capitales. Dessous, en lettres plus petites, apparaît la phrase : "Aidez-nous à arrêter l'hécatombe."

Même bien intentionnées, ces campagnes propagent le stéréotype d'une Afrique qui serait un trou noir de maladie et de mort. Articles et reportages ne cessent d'évoquer les dirigeants africains corrompus, les seigneurs de guerre, les conflits "tribaux", les enfants exploités, les femmes maltraitées et victimes de mutilation génitale. Ces descriptions apparaissent sous des titres tels que "Bono peut-il sauver l'Afrique ?" ou "Les Brangelina parviendront-ils à sauver l'Afrique ?" La relation entre l'Afrique et l'Occident n'est plus fondée sur des préjugés ouvertement racistes, mais de tels articles rappellent les beaux jours du colonialisme européen, quand on envoyait des missionnaires en Afrique pour nous apporter l'éducation, Jésus-Christ et la "civilisation".

Tout Africain, moi compris, ne peut que se réjouir de l'aide que nous apporte le monde, mais cela ne nous empêche pas de nous demander si cette aide est vraiment sincère ou si elle est faite dans l'idée d'affirmer sa supériorité culturelle. Je ressens toujours un certain malaise lorsque, dans une soirée caritative, l'organisateur récite une litanie de désastres africains avant de faire monter sur scène une personne (généralement) riche et blanche qui s'empresse d'exposer ce qu'il ou elle a fait pour les pauvres Africains affamés.

Chaque fois qu'une étudiante pourtant sincère évoque les villageois qui ont dansé pour la remercier de son aide, je fais la grimace. Chaque fois qu'un réalisateur hollywoodien tourne un film sur l'Afrique dont le héros est occidental, je secoue la tête - parce que les Africains, alors que nous sommes des personnes bien réelles, ne font que servir de faire-valoir à l'image fantasmée qu'a l'Occident de lui-même. Et non seulement de telles descriptions ont tendance à ignorer le rôle parfois essentiel qu'a joué l'Occident dans la genèse de nombreuses situations déplorables dont souffre le continent, mais elles ignorent également le travail incroyable qu'ont accompli et que continuent à accomplir les Africains eux-mêmes pour résoudre ces problèmes.

Pourquoi les médias persistent-ils à dire que les pays africains se sont vu "accorder l'indépendance par leurs anciens maîtres coloniaux", et non qu'ils ont combattu et versé leur sang pour obtenir leur liberté ? Pourquoi Angelina Jolie et Bono bénéficient-ils de toute l'attention médiatique pour leur travail en Afrique alors que Nwankwo Kanu ou Dikembe Mutombo, tous deux africains, ne sont pratiquement jamais mentionnés ? Comment se fait-il que l'on s'intéresse plus aux bouffonneries de cow-boy auxquelles se livre un ancien diplomate américain de second rang au Soudan qu'aux nombreux pays africains qui y ont envoyé troupes et vivres et ont consacré d'interminables heures à négocier un règlement entre toutes les parties impliquées dans cette crise ?

Il y a deux ans, j'ai travaillé dans un camp de personnes déplacées au Nigeria, les survivants d'un soulèvement qui avait entraîné la mort de 1 000 personnes et le déplacement de 200 000 autres. Fidèles à leur habitude, les médias occidentaux parlèrent longuement des violences, mais pas du travail humanitaire que les autorités locales et nationales accomplirent - avec très peu d'aide internationale - en faveur des survivants. Des travailleurs sociaux ont consacré leur temps et, dans de nombreux cas, donné leur propre salaire afin de venir en aide à leurs compatriotes. Ce sont eux qui sauvent l'Afrique, et, de même que pour beaucoup d'autres à travers le continent, leur travail ne trouve aucun crédit à l'extérieur.

Le mois dernier, le groupe des huit pays les plus industrialisés s'est réuni en Allemagne avec une brochette de célébrités afin de discuter, entre autres sujets, de la façon de sauver l'Afrique. J'espère qu'avant le prochain sommet du G8 le monde aura enfin compris que l'Afrique ne veut pas être sauvée. L'Afrique veut que le monde reconnaisse qu'au travers de partenariats équitables avec d'autres membres de la communauté internationale elle sera elle-même capable d'une croissance sans précédent.

Traduit de l'anglais par Gilles Berton

© 2007

Uzodinma Iweala est écrivain nigérian

Le lapin Le lapin!

I was looking for ASCII bunnies like these:

(\ /)
(0.o) (\(\ (\(\ (\__/)
(> <) (='.') ( - -) (='.'=)
/_|_\ o(_")") ((') (') (")_(")

And I found an incredible website: http://www.asciimator.net/
Quite incredible!

For some more bunny cravings:

################
####_#####_#####
####\`\ /`/#####
#####\ V /######
#####/. .\######
####=\ T /=#####
#####/ ^ \######
##{}/\\ //\#####
##__\ " " /__###
#(____/^\____)##
################

##___
,'_ "`-. ,-'""`-.
('"/"-. \ / ,-,. \
`'###\ ,-'-/ / `-'
####,-'-. /
#__ ("|") f
(_)`-"---. |
#l ---. j I'M A ZOMBIE BUNNY
##`---' ,'
######\ f HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGHHGHHHHH
#######) l
####__f _ Y
#,'",-'"_" l
(,,(,,,' ` Y
#####| l
#####| \,';,
#####l , Y, ;
#####(`._( ),'
######`. `. (
####,--',--' ) PK
###(,,,(,,,---'

It actually doesn't show really well, so the zombie bunny is here and the other one is here (with others).

You can really do great stuff with just characters...

Brick

Here's a movie that somehow gets an old receipe, mix it a new pot and end up feeling almost new!

The story and characters are that of a pure "noir" movie. So you get the typical characters (the femme fatales, the mob boss, the henchmen, the tough (but not invincible) hero...), but it's all set up in an high school environment.

It's practically a masterclass on how a good "noir" should be made.
The story gives you plenty of twists and turns and the characters are very well written.
It's all supported by an excellent cast of unknowns (you can recognise faces from Lost or Heroes). The lead stays the higlight: Joseph Gordon-Levitt impersonates here one of the coolest characters I've seen on screen for a long time, hard-hitting yet vulerable.

The movie is also beautifully shot and maintains an excellent atmosphere throughout, strange and eerie, perfectly in synch with the corrupted world it describes.

An excellent movie, for a 1st, it's really impressive, I'll make sure I'll check out Rian Johnson's movies in the future.

Adaptations...

Je viens de lire ici que Ridley Scott bossait sur une adaptation du jeu Monopoly au cinema.

Bon alors j'attends avec impatience l'adaptation de Puissance 4...
Et Pic' Puces!
Et les Hippos Gloutons!

Que de futures Palmes d'Or en perspectives... ^^;

Cela dit ca veut pas dire que ca sera un mauvais film.
Mais pourquoi le baser sur un jeu???????

Transformers

Time for a belated review, I saw the movie at the end of July but didn't come round to actually write anything before now.
Here it goes.

Summer blockbuster could be considered as a genre in itself.
Like most genres, it has its rules.
It has to be fun. It has to blow a lot of stuff up. The plot shouldn't make any sense (it makes it funnier).

Like other in genres you got good summer movies and bad summer movies. And sometimes, when a good director gets down to it, the genre can be transcended to make something more.
I mean, that's just cinema.

Anyway if anyone is to be the king of summer movies, that person has to be Michael Bay.

I have to say that I am a late admirer of the guy and I admit that I still don't buy into his "early" stuff. I saw the end of The Rock (admittedly 1 of his best films) the other day and let's say that it was a lot worse than I remebered it.
Yet the insanely dumb fun of Bad Boys 2 was too much for me not to enjoy and I thought The Island was a solid (although maybe a bit unoriginal) Sci-Fi movie. I liked it, that's all that counts for me.

Anyway whether you like his movies or not I think you have to give him that: he KNOWS how "to make that shit look good"... I mean the guy could probably film a guy with diarrhoea desperately trying to reach the toilets and make it the most badass thing you've ever seen... Filters and yellow light and all.

All that to say that although I had no expectations of a Transformers movie (yet another stupid adaptation coming out of the current Hollywood frenzy to adapt anything they can find), when I heard that Bay was involved I couldn't help but think that maybe that could be an interesting thing. Why not?

So what's the verdict then?

Well Transformers delivered for me on everything I was expecting and then some.
Story: don't care. The stupidest the better here.

My biggest surprise was on how succesful the comedy aspects of the movie came out.
It's actually funny!
It probably has a lot to do with the leading man (Shai LaBeouf, whom I had never seen on screen so far). He can deliver some seriously corny lines without you actually noticing. That's how good he is.
So casting-wise you got some cameos from great actors (Turturro and Voight), hot chicks (Megan Fox!!) and him. Spot on.

Then you got the robots. It is really amazing how good they look. Their updated design is great, they move graciously despite their apparent weight and like they actually are in the picture.

And then you get the action and on that aspect you know you can trust Bay to blow thing up like no one.

I was just a bit anoyed at the end that the Optimus Prime / Megatron fight was so "cut", there are times were you actually don't really see what's happening and you WANT to see. I mean it's cool!
But it didn't spoil the experience for me.

So yeah, great fun.

You could wonder how much brain damage it gives you but certainly less than an alcoholic night out...

Aucun rapport.

Pour mon 1er post depuis un moment, je viens de realiser ceci:

Dans "Benetton", y a "benêt". Et y a "ton" aussi.
Pas tres flatteur.

Aussi, un titre du Monde que j'ai vu aujourd'hui: "Un projet d'abattage de kangourous fait bondir en Australie"
C'est tres bon(d)!! :)

Beware.

You can't experiment with anything...

An interesting experience.

No idea why but today I just thought of an experience I had heard of some time ago and that is quite good food for thoughts.

If you take a frog and throw it in a pan filled with boiling water, it'll obviously be hurt and will try to get awayfrom that danger.

Now take a frog and put it in a pan filled with cold water. It will just sit there. Nothing dangerous to flee from. Then raise the temperature very slowly, say 1oC per hour, up to 100oC.
Your frog will end up boiled and it will have done nothing about it. Because the threat built up from seemingly harmless events...

The story said that this is true with frogs bt also with any living creature...

Useless but for that very reason compelling.

Wow! A full month not posting anything... For some reason I was busy elsewhere...

Anyway this is utterly useless but still totally brilliant:

http://www.revfad.com/flip.html

¡ʇı ǝʌo1 oʇ ǝʌɐɥ noʎ

Fainting goats.

For some reason I find that very funny... :)

Of mice and men.

Ever wondered how the cursor of the mouse on your computer moved?

Thanks to the Japanese high technology, you'll be able to see for yourself using this magnifying device: http://www.1-click.jp/

The Prestige (slight return).

I watched The Prestige for the 1st time since I've seen it in the cinema.

Sometimes, there are movies that make such an effect at their end, with a "twist" so impressive that it could be easy to discard them as being based solely on their final trick. That would theoritically make them totally inefficient when you watch them again.
Like a magic trick that loses all interest when you know how it's done.
As they say in that movie, "the secret is everything".

Then again, not always.

I know that the kind of magic I personnally enjoy the most is the kind that requires actual skill (like sleight of hand, for example), that makes it impossible for anyone to do it, if they don't put the efforts required to actually master the technique.
To palm a coin for example: you can know how to do it, if you don't work on the technique, you'll never be able to do it. That makes the trick still wonderful...

"Twist" movies can be like that too. The Prestige is one. Usual Suspect is another. Fight Club yet another. Memento, Following...
Movies that are so exceptionnally crafted that even when you know how they work, you can't stop but be astonished at how good they are.
You can start looking for the perfect tiny details, the hints that you were given that could have given the trick away when you didn't know it, but that you couldn't see, because "you weren't really watching". And they are plenty here: birds in cages, bouncing balls... All hinting at the solution, always obvious when you know it. It was all right in front of your nose and you didn't see it. You were fooled. Then again you wanted to be fooled. And all this makes that you still want to be fooled.

And there's also the fact that beyond all the trickery, there's something more. There's this wonderful and cruel tale of deceipt and revenge. And real and complex characters. A story that deals with issues that are profoundly human and that in a indirect way makes you think.
And also send a chill down your spine.

That's what makes movies special.

Air guitar.

Someone over at Ultimate guitar posted an excellent article on Air Guitars!
It's full of useful advice.

Check it out, it's great!

It's here.

Zodiac.

Even before this movie, David Fincher had done thrillers.
Se7en, The Game, Panic Room.
Just Se7en practically reinvented the genre.
But yet again a thriller? Could he be moving in circles? No.

He managed to find yet another angle he hadn't done: the "documentary" approach.
By basing this on actual events and on an true investigation, you get another edge on the audience. Like in Fargo (except that here it is actually true, at least the facts are), you tend to give more credit to the story.
The fact that the killer was never caught, that he might still be alive and well, is the most frightening thing. Like Jack The Ripper.
You can invent the most twisted boogie man, it will never ever come as scary as a "real" killer. Especially if he never got caught...

The film basically lays in 2 parts. The 1st presents the facts and the initial investigation by Paul Avery (journalist at the San Francisco Chronicles) on one hand & David Toschi (the cop in charge of the case) on the other.
You get to see the killings and the lack of communication between all parties involved in finding the killer.
Then the 2nd part sees Graysmith, cartoonist at the Post, take over the investigation when he sees that noone will ever finish it otherwise. He had just been interested in the case without being able to contribute to it so far, so he decides to take everything back to 0.

Fincher does masterfully bring that story back to life, thanks to a very faithful recreation of the seventies and a top notch cast: Ruffalo, Downey Jr. & Gyllenhall are all excellent and really carry the film.

And thanks to his excellent direction, he delivers a movie that manages to be anti-spectacular and wordy, but at the same time gripping and always entertaining.
It's quite amazing when you think that you get no action scene and most of the suspence relies on the paranoia of the protagonists (ie there's no direct threat).
But thanks to a great story like only reality can give you and great pacing, the nearly 20 years covered over the rather large runing time (2h30) passes like a charm.

And you get this "it actually happened" chill, when the credits roll...

Heat

I just re-watched this.

I remembered that this movie was good. I remembered it was a true masterpiece.
But there are things to actually need to reexperience to actually remember exactly how good it was.

LA by night. The wonderful cinematography.
De Niro. Pacino. All those wonderful characters, main, secondary, all perfectly defined. Human.
That story.

This picture elevates "just a thriller" to art.

Dilbert.

Another very good example of helpdesk support. :)

Spiderman 3

Hat trick.
Sam Raimi has made it.
When he took on to 1st adapt Spiderman to the big screen, anyone had seen the guy's work just knew that it would be something unique. What anyone didn't know was that the guy would make the 1st best ever superhero trilogy...

Because this 3rd installment gives everything it promises which was what the 2nd promised over the 1st: MORE!
After dealing with the transformation into a superhero in the 1st, then handling the responsibility of being one in the 2nd, this one is (quite logically) interested in the corrupting effect of power.
Spiderman is getting famous and loved by the NY population and gets to deal with revenge, which takes him into a dark place that a certain black suit will favour.

The script is very dense and ties pretty much all the story arcs developped in the 1st 2 movies. It's quite amazing to realise how much stuff you can pack in 2h20! No time is wasted in a movie that moves very fast. And it has to as it has 3 villains and the rest to take care of!
The story is strongly centered around Peter Parker, but somehow, although most secondary characters (all perfectly cast) get little screen time, they still all get space to exist.
At least it felt that way to me.

Of course you could argue that the movie would have gained depth if they had kept to 1 or 2 baddies. But then again they all feel right for the themes: Harry Osborne is all about revenge, Sandman is made the object of Spidey's revenge and the symbiote is the factor that enhances it... And you can't really have a movie with the symbiote without Venom...
So granted I'd have liked to spend more time with everyone (I would also have liked to have more Frozone in the Incredibles, but hey...), but as a whole it still feel very logical & coherent...

And the most important thing is that the movie makes you care about the characters.
I felt 10 again, gasping, laughing...
Sam Raimi has reinvented Spiderman, making him one of his own heroes while still staying true to the original material.

And as far as the action is concerned, it's just jaw dropping and even manage to feel fresh!

So a smart and engaging script, amazing action...
Sam is the man... Again!

Une pensee...

Depuis quelques jours qu'une grande majorite de mes compatriotes ont choisi le "cote obscur de la France", j'entends a la radio plusieurs choses.

Ca se plaint du diner au Fouquet's de Sarko avec ses amis riches. Ca
se plaint de ses vacances en yatch a Malte.
A ceux qui chouinent j'ai envie de dire "mais vous vous
attendiez a koi???!?".

Ca et puis les casseurs soi-disant anti-Sarko: comment peut-on justifier des manifs contre un un gars qu'on a elu a 53% alors que 85%
du pays s'est deplace??
Ou alors c'est des pros Sarko qui veulent s'assurer qu'il fera bien le
menage dans les coins aussi?

Y a vraiment des trucs qui me depassent...

Pour conclure, l'excellent edito de Colombani dans Le Monde.

Ha oui et un article tres interessant qui retrace l'irresistible ascension de notre nouveau president...

J'aime beaucoup je passage qui decrit la fabrication de la notion de "declin de la France". Ca va de pair avec la fausse notion de "l'assistanat" ou de "la France, pays de branleurs"...

Great punch-line.

"Move or I'll pound your head so hard you'll have to remove your pants to read."

That's from a Dilbert.
Excellent.

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex - 2nd Gig

Masamune Shirow is the reason why I came to manga.
A while ago now, a friend lend me the 2nd volume of Appleseed. That was the start of my love for Shirow's work that grew into my love of manga in general that grew into my love for anime.

When Ghost In The Shell was first released in France, in the brand new prepublication magazine Manga Player, it was a huge shock for me. I had been through 3 Appleseed volumes, Black Magic (Shirow's first work), so I was kind of used to his world: cyborgs, robots, guns, girls & obscure underlying politics. Or I thought I was.
With that first issue, you were sent without warning into a world where global network are a reality, were people have cyberbrains that can communicate with each others without wires, where the boundaries of the brains are more or less virtual as you can hack into someone and take control of him.
All that on top of the "usual" Shirow stuff ie intricate political background, convoluted plot and his trade mark strong characters & hugely dynamic drawing.
The kind of stuff that leaves you KO and have you read it again straightaway to actually understand what it's about.

Because bear in mind that this was 1st released in the early 90s, when internet was only a scientific network. The guy had already seen the future.

To say that there is a "before" and "after" Ghost In The Shell. The "you've read it here first" kind. The kind that makes you feel enlightened. By the time you reach the end of the Puppet Master story arc, suddently all SciFi becomes toned down, strangely simplistic...

Moving into the mid 90s, Mamoru Oshii adapted this manga into a film, which would lead to world fame. Being an adaptation, the movie was kept closer to Oshii's themes and was featuring a significantly different Major Kusanagi, tortured by her condition of cyborg and questionning what makes someone human.
Don't get me wrong: the movie is excellent, but was to me a significant departure of the original manga that I loved.

So I was therefore very happy when I finally got round to discover the 1st season of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (GITS SAC), because that adaptation to a TV format kept very close to the manga, keeping the original characters and the aspect a bit more chicks with guns. You get fast paced actions, ground breaking cyber punk and on top of that the political side that actually makes most of the episodes being sorted in the background. You get fights, explosions, but the real solution is soften reached throught negociations or manipulations, because in a world of information, data is the key.
So this "1st gig" was an unbelievable success, keeping the original spirit of the manga, porting almost directly some of its side stories in its "Stand Alone" episodes, but also creating a brand new & excellent story line, with the Laughing Man case ("Complex" episodes). That with a technical level almost flawless through the course of the 26 episodes. Incredible animation, amazingly integrated CGIs, Yoko Kanno doing the soundtrack...
And that's not even mentionning the incredible boldness of the script episodes, tackling varied themes, and that don't hesitate to dwell on the Tachikoma's metaphysical reflexions or spend an entire episode based on a chatroom conversation (certainly in an attempt to reproduce the Shirow's famous footnotes)... Memorable moments are plenty here. Suspence & emotions are not left out either as our heroes come close to their demise and some sacrifices are made, showing you that humanity has a lot to learn from machines...
It even made me read JD Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye! (very good book BTW)

How do you follow up on that? Easy. By doing better.
The writing team this time called back Oshii for the starting point of the series. And created again a strong story that also resonnates to today's problems, as it has to do with immigrants & refugees and at first terrorists bombings...
As with 1st Gig, you'll have to be wide awake to fully understand the story which involves lots of twists & turns.
At some point you have 4 different groups that all seem to have different objectives. But who's really calling the shots?
It's often the case with anime, but I can't get tired of it: it's so nice to watch something that doesn't assume that you're some sort of retard... The counter part is that you have to pay close attention or you might miss a thing.

I thought that plot wise, the series was a lot tighter than 1st Gig.
In the first season you could feel that the authors felt a bit of the weight of the original material and had Stand Alone episodes often drawing story lines directly from the manga. Which isn't bad in any mean though.
But here, although you have some referencing to events in the manga, pretty much every episode is a least loosely connected to the main plot.
For an avid reader like myself, it feels fresher.
It also adds some background to the different characters that might have felt left out in the 1st season.
Everything adds up to a wonderful crescendo to the season finale with a rare intensity and that masterfully manages to tie everything back together!

Because here I am, at the end, and this end sends me right back at the beginning...
The beginning of the manga! Drawing directly from the presets of that first issue, a bit like a Star Wars Episode 3, the last moments of the series finally set those 2 seasons as a prequel to the events I read all those years ago. And manage to even give background and raise questions about it...
This could have been called "Ghost In The Shell Begins".

The loop is looped.
And I am having goose bumps again...

lol

Une nouvelle preuve que l'on peut rire de tout mais pas de n'importe qui...


"J'invite les Français à rallier mon ego surdimensionné", disent les sous-titres alors que Nicolas Sarkozy avait invité les Français à "s'unir à lui", le 22 avril.

Le traducteur et "l'ego surdimensionné" de Nicolas Sarkozy

"J'invite les Français à rallier mon ego surdimensionné". Des Français de New York ont fait un bond en lisant les sous-titres en anglais du discours prononcé par Nicolas Sarkozy au soir du 22 avril dans un sujet diffusé dans le journal de France 2 du lendemain, retransmis aux Etats-Unis sur des chaînes du câble.

Le dérapage dans la traduction a été aussitôt signalé sur un Web magazine à l'intention des Français de New York, French Morning NY. Et un élu des Français de l'étranger, Jean Lachaud, se serait plaint de l'incident auprès de France 2... qui a décidé de licencier son traducteur facétieux.

La responsable du service traduction de France 2, Claire Quidet, souligne dans un courrier qu'"il serait faux de croire (...) qu'il s'agi[t] d'un sous-titre anti-Sarko". "Il s'agit plutôt, souligne-t-elle, d'une blague de potache d'un traducteur un peu surmené, qui aurait pu s'appliquer à n'importe quel autre personnage, politique ou non, que le traducteur aurait eu à traduire dans sa partie ce soir-là. Il faut enfin rappeler que tous les traducteurs sont américains, et qu'en plus de ne pas être électeurs pour ce scrutin, leurs sentiments vis-à-vis des candidats n'ont rien d'aussi tranché que ceux des citoyens français."
Le Monde.fr

Un peu de politique?

Hop j'ai lu quelques articles dans le Monde qui m'ont beaucoup interesse:

Le 1er traite d'imigration et s'adresse a tous ceux qui pensent etre envahis: on a BESOIN d'immigres!!!

Le 2e de provocation presentant Plantu aux prises avec certains detracteurs de ses caricatures.

Le 3e et dernier des derives possibles d'un appareil judiciaire trop developpe...

Quelques grammes de reflexion dans un monde reactionnaire...

Dumb warnings.

I noticed earlier today that the label on my underwear was reading "Keep away from fire", which made me laugh out loud.

It also reminded me of the Dumb warning web site, which gathers this kind of warnings found on labels, user's manual, etc.

Examples:
Unknown Air Conditioner
Caution: Avoid dropping air conditioners out of windows.

Rowenta Iron
Warning: Never iron clothes on the body.

Unknown Batman Costume
Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly.

Ansell Condoms
Do not return used condoms to the manufacturer through the mail.

Unknown Toilet Plunger
Caution: Do not use near power lines.

And my all time favorite:
Swedish Chainsaw
Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals.


Check it out if you're bored, it's a good laugh!

Watch out for Superman!!

...They found kryptonite, he should definitely exist.


Original link from the BBC------------------------
'Kryptonite' discovered in mine

Kryptonite is no longer just the stuff of fiction feared by caped superheroes.
A new mineral matching its unique chemistry - as described in the film Superman Returns - has been identified in a mine in Serbia.
According to movie and comic-book storylines, kryptonite is supposed to sap Superman's powers whenever he is exposed to its large green crystals.

The real mineral is white and harmless, says Dr Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.
"I'm afraid it's not green and it doesn't glow either - although it will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange," he told BBC News.

Rock heist

Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual mineral and enlisted the help of Dr Stanley when they could not match it with anything known previously to science.

Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral's chemical make-up, he was shocked to discover this formula was already referenced in literature - albeit fictional literature.

"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns.

"The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite."

The mineral is relatively hard but is very small grained. Each individual crystal is less than five microns (millionths of a metre) across.

Elementary clash

Identifying its atomic structure required sophisticated analytical facilities at Canada's National Research Council and the assistance and expertise of its researchers, Dr Pamela Whitfield and Dr Yvon Le Page.

"'Knowing a material's crystal structure means scientists can calculate other physical properties of the material, such as its elasticity or thermochemical properties," explained Dr Le Page.

"Being able to analyse all the properties of a mineral, both chemical and physical, brings us closer to confirming that it is indeed unique."

Finding out that the chemical composition of a material was an exact match to an invented formula for the fictitious kryptonite "was the coincidence of a lifetime," he added.

The mineral cannot be called kryptonite under international nomenclature rules because it has nothing to do with krypton - a real element in the Periodic Table that takes the form of a gas.

Power possibilities

Instead, it will be formally named Jadarite when it is described in the European Journal of Mineralogy later this year.

Jadar is the name of the place where the Serbian mine is located.

Dr Stanley said that if deposits occurred in sufficient quantity it could have some commercial value.

It contains boron and lithium and two valuable elements with many applications, he explained.

"Borosilicate glasses are used to encapsulate processed radioactive waste, and lithium is used in batteries and in the pharmaceutical industries."
------------------------

Today's Dilbert...

A perfect example of a "killer product"...

Un jeu de mots incroyable.

La, le simple adepte des jeux de mots tordus et de calembourg que je suis se reconnait un maitre.

Série Z from Les Cahiers du Football
"L'Inter Milan ne perd jamais" (maxifoot.fr). Forcément, Materazzi connaît par coeur les vices.

Par la meme occasion, une autre breve des Cahiers du foot qui est drole:
48 images / seconde from Les Cahiers du Football
"OM TV propose demain mercredi plus de 4h de direct à ses abonnés, de 19h à 20h55" (F365). Et les Marseillais n'exagèrent jamais.

:)

Une pensee...

Beaucoup disent que Tony Montana dans Scarface, regardant la TV dans sa baignoire geante, a influence pas mal de monde, en particulier des generations de rappers.

Bah perso en termes "d'influences baignoire", je n'ai vu Scarface que tres tard (y a 2ans) donc ca ne m'a pas influence mais c'est plutot Colt Seavers (L'Homme Qui Tombe A Pic), lisant son journal en prenant son bain dans son salon qui a marque mon jeune inconscient de l'epoque...

Chacun ses references.

See you space cowboy...

I was reading the latest edition of Anime Land, my usual anime magazine and they did an interesting feature on Cowboy Bebop, because it's being rereleased in France.

So they mentionned the end of it and described it and just as I was reading, I could see everything in my mind and had goosebumps (just as I'm writing this, I feel the same).
Because this ending might be the best ending I'll ever see in my whole life.
"Bang!"

If you know what I'm talking about, you may know what I mean, if you don't, just check this wonderful series out.

I'll have to carry that weight...

Tom Yum Goong

I have an Asian wave going on again.

Tom Yum Goong under its strange name is the latest of the new Thai star Tony Jaa who was put under the spotlight by the instant cult Ong Bak, a proud B movie that feature insane stunts & martial arts under the usual B "nonsense" (ie no plot).
Where do you go from there?

I didn't have great expectations for this, all I wanted was more of the same as Ong Bak.
But I have to say that this outing was a disappointment.
It really feels like after Ong Bak's success, they got plenty of money and didn't really know what to spend it on. So they set out to go "bigger", moved to Australia, got themselves some huge tracking shots, but all in all it falls flat.

I mean Ong Bak had a really thin script, but it still managed to hold itself together, evenly dispensing various action scenes (chases on foot or on tuktuk, fights, etc) and linking them logically.
Here, the plot is even more "nonsensic", it's hard to care about this elephant story, there's even less character development than in Ong Bak, you could cut all the 2ary characters out of the movie and see no difference. I'm not saying that I'd watch such a movie for story or characters for example. But here it really feels badly put together...
It would be OK if the action made you forget that but the set pieces feel too far apart and are reduced to "plain" fights, breaking arms or legs. Most of the stunts have been seen in Ong Bak anyway.
Obviously you get highlights and you still have the odd jaw dropping move: about 1h in you have a Muay Thai vs Capoeira fight that in itself makes the whole thing worthwhile. But other than that it's quite overblown... A shame...

I hope Jaa will get himself the right ccoperators in the future to deliver some truly great action...

Fearless.

I wanted to catch this one in the theaters but couldn't. So I finally got round to get the DVD.

So what to think of Jet Li's "last kung fu movie"?
It actually is his last "period" kung fu movie meaning that he will still do moves with "kung fu" in them but no more movies ABOUT "kung fu".
And actually having said that kind of sums it all up: this is a movie about kung fu, in the "old school" sense.

It tells you the story of the guy that tried to unify the martial arts in China.
So you get the classic story of the guy that is very arrogant at the start, practising martial arts without actually knowing what it's really about, but his actions will trigger events that will change his perspective on things and after redeeming himself he will be back and honor his status of "master".
For anybody that has seen 2 or 3 HK movies on the subject, this will sound very familiar.
But the point is not to be original here.
The fights are excellent, the direction is good (very clear), acting appropriate.

The movie is meant to be a statement: kung fu is the key, it enables to to improve yourself and if every body works in the same direction ultimately it's a vector of unification.
It might seem very naive, but for me it's a kind of "naive" that I have a soft spot for. ;)

All in all I really enjoyed it!

Translation exercise...

Following up on yesterday's funny sentences, I couldn't resist to put them through Babel Fish.
I often do that translating strange textes into various laguages and looking at the result, it's always very funny!
Proof:
Eng => fra
Trois montres d'Échantillon de la montre trois de sorcières. Quelle sorcière observe qui montre d'Échantillon ?

Eng => Jap => Eng
The watch of Swatch of watch 3 of the magical errand 3. Does the watch which magical errand of Swatch see?

Eng => Jap => Eng => Fra
La montre de l'Échantillon de la montre 3 de la course magique 3. La montre que la course magique de l'Échantillon voient?

Same thing for the 2nd one:
Eng => fra
Trois montres commutées suédoises d'Échantillon de Suisse de la montre trois de sorcières commute. Quelle sorcière commutée suédoise observe qui commutateur suisse de montre d'Échantillon ?

Eng => Jap => Ang
It converts the watch of Swatch of the Swiss person of watch 3 of the magical errand where 3 Sweden are converted. Does the magical errand where the watch switch some Sweden of Swiss Swatch is converted see?

Eng => Jap => Eng => Fra
Il convertit la montre de l'Échantillon de la personne suisse de la montre 3 de la course magique où 3 Suède sont convertis. la course magique où le commutateur de montre la certaine Suède de l'Échantillon suisse est converti voient ?

:D

Pronouncation exercise...

Try saying that fast:

Three witches watch three Swatch watches. Which witch watches which Swatch watch?

Too easy?
Try this one:

Three swedish switched witches watch three Swiss Swatch watches switches. Which Swedish switched witch watches which Swiss Swatch watch Switch ?

Don't forget to give your jaw a rest! ;)

300.

This year I'm not going to the cinema that much. But it does feel that every movie I see counts.

Take 300.
THIS is the movie that I wish Sin City had been.
Don't get me wrong: I loved Sin City, but I thought it didn't feel like a movie. It did feel a straight transcription of a comic book. Which, granted, was the point but then you could just read the thing! OK, you get the actors' performances which were great.
All in all it was great, it was an unflinching adaptation of the books it was based on. I just wished it was more a movie, ie that it used more the tricks of the medium.

But for this, I got my "proper" movie take on a Frank Miller book.
Again, the cinematography is entirely stylised, going for an overall gorgeous sepia and grainy look. But this time, the camera does move and we get those massive travelings that make the whole thing truly epic!
Also to keep a "comic book" feel, that is a succession of static pictures, the "slomo", instigated by The Matrix, is used to a large extent and to great effect.

Overall it gives the movie an impact and an epic feel that is rarely seen.

The movie obviously doesn't aim at any historical accuracy, as Miller originally thought of it as a bed time story, the kind that always get bigger and bigger each time it's told. So you get a fair share of fantasy, with monsters, deformed creatures, that never feel out of place.

You have to see those spartans fight and protect each other at the same time... The choreographies are excellent.
There's serious @ss kicking going on there.

That's the style done. You can't fail the movie on that, it's pretty much flawless.

Now for the "substance".
Storywise, although there's not much here, I was really pleasantly surprised that although this is only 1 battle, it's varied enough so you don't get bored. Waves of enemies are diverse, death also. :)
And you get some breaks with events hapening back in Sparta, where you get a piece of political manoeuvres and treasons on top of your barbaric massacres.

I think this is also something you have to watch regardless of the current political context. There's no politics involved here.
If you do get that in, you actually could see the Spartans as Americans, fighting and dying for their freedom and way of life. On the other hand you could see that Americans are th Persians, who are invading and forcing THEIR ways onto smaller less powerful countries...
You can see that polemics are out of place here...

What's left is the story of people raised in violence, as warriors, with blood and honor for only value. They get attacked. They react. Their background just explains the nature of their reaction. You see the story from their end.

I have to say I got a bit annoyed to hear the word "free" used so much and that sounded quite "american" to me. After all ancient Greeks are the inventors of the "republic", but they were slavers nonetheless... But that also means that at that time "freedom" had a different meaning. So ultimately it's a thought that hasn't its place here.

It's an epic story of people sacrificing themselves for an ideal (it kind of reminded me of Zhand Yimou's Hero at times).
That's all.
All you have to do is to fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride!
And what a ride.

Un peu d'economie...

Cet excellent article pose un probleme peu discute et pourtant fondamental dans notre culture d'entreprise...

http://www.betapolitique.fr/spip.php?article0497

J'espere qu'on en reentendra parler...

Un poco del sol de Cuba! (if that means anything)

When a few month back I learned that the Buena Vista Social Club was coming in my neighborhood, I didn't think twice and got ticket already. 1st reason being that they are the symbol of Cuban salsa, 2nd being that the original have started to disappear... 4 of the main original club remained for this week end's show. And even if time has passed their energy is obviously unaltered.

When going to such a performance, you expect something great to happen. After it's always hard to actually believe how good that was.
For me salsa is really a live music. Like jazz, it's a music made by musicians that have reached such a height in their mastery of their instrument that they're just here for the fun. And it shines through a music that it itself is already very energetic.

And to think that this is such a complex music, involving more than 10 people and that still they can do pretty much anything they want, do mad improvisations and everybody else will follow, not a problem, thank you... (^_^)

The amount of talent and dexterity in all fields concentrated on that scene was just mind blowing, to such extent that it's impossible to see a highlight. From drums to cello to piano to brass to strings to singers, everything was a highlight.
An I'm not especially fan of salsa to start with...

You can't help but to walk out such thing by doing 2 steps forward, 1 back, 2 forward... :)

The key to hapiness...

Thanks to Dilbert! :)

Health & safety warning.

Please read this very important public safety message.



(^_^)
I think it could make the strongest anti-alcohol advert ever... ;p

Hot Fuzz

As I went to watch my 2nd film of the year, I have to says that my expectations (as bad as they are) were again pretty high.
I mean let's face it: "from the same team that brought you Spaced & Shaun Of The Dead".
The 1st one is one of the best TV shows I've seen in years. The 2nd is one of the best film I've seen in 2004 (which bore the release of movies such as The Incredibles, Kill Bill Vol.2, Lost In Translation, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind... So that's tough competition), happily combining the best of british comedy with an old school straight & tough zombie movie...
Their ambition was to do the same with the American blockbuster action-thriller genre (Lethal Weapon, Point Break, Bad Boys...).

And they've basically done it again! Whatever tool they used on zombies has worked again on cops.

It follows more or less all the cliches of the genre: the main character (Nick Angel, played by Simon Pegg) is transferred in a new place, having to cope with a misfitted partner (played by Nick Frost) and discovering some unsuspected corruption among senior members of the community, that will finally be defeated with some guns and car chases.
Only here, it all takes place in a small Gloucestershire village!
It's a similar formula to Team America or to some extent Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-rabbit.

The comedy works on many levels, primarily on the brilliant complicity between the leading men (reallife mate Pegg & Frost), but also on the many winks at the "proper" thriller that gets all its rules twisted... Fortunately the movie manages never to cross the line into parody, although it sometimes get quite near it...

The cast is brilliant, combining so much talent that never feels wasted, each actor adding some wit to what they have. One highlight is definitely Timothy Dalton as a memorable over the top too-sure-of-himself-not-to-be-evil character but a lot of 2ary characters, whether they be Angel's colleagues (Paddy Considine!!) or the colorful inhabitant of Stanford. Sprinkle that with a few excellent cameo (Bill Nighy & Steve Coogan come to mind) and you got bull's eye!

The script is very well written, taking its time first to set the story, giving a few false leads (you'll never guess the motive! :) ) before going into full blown popcorn nonsense.

One negative thing I have to say is that director Edgar Wright should sometimes go easy to the ultra cut editing, because it gets tiring.
But the whole thing is too much fun not to spoil it with such minor detail... ;)
And I mean it makes the "guys in blue" look cool!

Go and see it (if you can)!

The Science Of Sleep.

Wow! Almost 3 months without going to the cinema. That's to say how tired I am! ^^;
Well actually I WOULD have gone, if only the movies i wanted to see had been released around here!
What about Black Book or The Fountain? I would have wanted to see those so much. But the closest they got from my home was around 50km. I don't do 50km for watching a movie. Then you'll say that I didn't want to watch them that much... But dedication has its limits! :p

Anyway February has seen my 1st outing in month to see The Science Of Sleep, a movie I've been eying ever since I knew that 1) it was Michel "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" Gondry's latest 2) it was released in France 6 months ago.
I can't say how much I loved Eternal Sunshine, beautiful story beautifully told. I especially appreciated Gondry's eerie weirdness and how he used all sorts of effects, all optical, to convey it, with a sort of stubborn romanticism. This was top of my 2004 cinema top 10.

So I know it's bad, it spoils aeverything, but somehow I had high expectations for this. I didn't know what to expect but I wanted it to make me escape the way Eternal Sunshine did. Well I can now say happily that I wasn't disappointed.

The story centers around Stephane, young mid 20s guy, lured by his mom into coming from Mexico back to Paris. He barely speaks French and the job his mom got him is everything he didn't want: he's the creative type and he's doing basically a monkey's job. One of his particularities is that he dreams a lot and as he sees his life being more and more away from what he wanted it to be, back in his old kid room, being stuck in a shit job in a country he doesn't really know, when his colleagues or people just make of of him as he can't really speak French, he escapes more and more into his dreams which start mingling with reality, to the point where he actually doesn't know what is true or part of his imagination, bringing the audience with him.

As I write this I suddenly realise that somehow it's a bit Lost In Translation but in France and with a twist (the dreams).

It's a story of "boy meets girl", but with a lot of layers. It centers more on his main character, who's a bit this kid who hasn't grown out his dreams at all. Unresolved grieving about a lost father and a exploded family floats in the background...

The whole movie really feels like a dream, when different unrelated things seen through the day mix together to make things sometimes funny sometimes weird, sometimes unpleasant.

I'm always impressed at movies that actually can physically reproduce on the audience feelings that the characters can feel. Here at some point you really feel like "reality" is fading away. What's real? Was it a dream?
This is what cinema, to me, is all about.
Experience.

This was a great one.

Helpdesk.

Anybody who has tried to explain something to someone (especially about computers!) should laugh at this...

Computers & private parts.

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. "House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa." "Pencil," however, is masculine "el lapiz." A student asked, "What gender is computer'?" Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation. The men's group decided that computer” should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long erm memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women’s group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ("el computador"), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won
-------------
(as a personnal opinion, I think that's unfair... :p )

Next is a real memo sent out by IBM to its employees in all seriousness. It went to all field engineers about a computer peripheral problem:
------------
'If a mouse fails to operate or should it perform erratically, it may need a ball replacement. Mouse balls are now available as FRU (Field Replacement Units). Because of the delicate nature of this procedure, a replacement of mouse balls should only be attempted by properly trained personnel.

Before proceeding, determine the type of mouse balls by examining the underside of the mouse.

Domestic balls will be larger and harder than foreign balls. Ball removal procedures differ depending upon the manufacturer of the mouse. Foreign balls can be replaced using the pop off method.

Domestic balls are replaced by using the twist off method. Mouse balls are not usually static sensitive. However, excessive handling can result in sudden discharge.

Upon completion of ball replacement, the mouse may be used immediately.

It is recommended that each person have a pair of spare balls for maintaining optimum customer satisfaction. Any customer missing his balls should contact the local personnel in charge of removing and replacing these necessary items.

Please keep in mind that a customer without properly working balls is an unhappy customer.
------------

You can only agree with the last sentence.

Parlons BD... (partie 3)

La derniere BD que j'ai decouverte cette annee, c'est pas non plus une nouveaute, c'est Blacksad (vol. 1), par Juan Diaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido.

La BD relate les peripeties d'un prive nomme John Blacksad, dans l'Amerique des annees 50, donc au milieu des affaires de corruption et autres embrouilles mafieuses.

La 1ere chose qui frappe sont les dessins exceptionnels, d'un realisme qui ferait presque oublier que les protagonistes sont des animaux (ils sont toutefois anthropomorphes)! L'utilisation d'une telle representation pour les personnages est a mon sens extremement judicieuse car elle permet de transcrire le caractere a travers le choix de la race (un indic sera bien evidemment une fouine!) mais aussi une grande expressivite: par exemple quand Blacksad, qui est un chat, se met en colere, son poil se herisse, tout naturellement, ce qui amplifie visuellement son sentiment.
Le realisme de l'ensemble permet de ne pas rendre tout cela "mignon" et donne une atmosphere sombre, limite poisseuse, a souhait!

Les personnages, semblant sortis tout droit d'un roman de Chandler ou d'Elroy, se revelent tres attachants, Blacksad le 1er, prive expeditif mais ayant quand meme son code d'honneur.

L'histoire de ce 1er volume nous emmene a sa suite dans l'enquete du meurtre d'une de ses ex-"clientes", qui bien entendu va montrer des implications dans les hautes spheres de la societe...

En resume, c'est une perle de serie noire, rien que du classique mais extremement efficace!

Kiwi!

Sad but very good animated short...
Poor kiwi...

A review and a trailer.

Guys, 1st this an early review of the up-coming-Frank-Miller's-comic-book-adapted-Spartians-VS-Persians-story, 300.

And it happens to be the best review anybody will ever do. Ever.
No kidding.

Enjoy.
(you might have to be a guy though)

2nd, this might be one of the best trailers I've seen, for the upcoming comedy/action-movie-by-the-team-that-brought-you-Shaun-Of-The-Dead, Hot Fuzz.
Love it as well.

There you go.

I'm still laughing... :)

Nouvelle expression...

J'ai lu ca sur un forum: "etre un parapareunique diptérophile".
J'aime beaucoup. :)

(l'expression, hein... Encore que...)

A manga meteor rushing on the UK!

A good article from the English version of the Asahi Shinbun (thanks Anime UK) describes a growing interest (a tsunami!) for manga in the UK.
It's even more surprising that "graphic novels" in general haven't really massively caught on around here...
Cool! :)

OMFG.

I've just read an article saying that an 11 years old girl had had a baby...
The father was 18 at the time.

Surely that's a record. And it'd be a French one! Wow... ^^;

Article here (French).

Parlons BD... (partie 2)

La 2e BD que je voulais aborder, c'est Donjon, de Lewis Trondheim et Joann Sfar.

Cette serie d'heroic fantasy prend un concept extremement interessant: c'est l'histoire, au fil des albums, d'un donjon (surprise!). Un donjon, ca a un maitre, des monstres, des heros qui viennent tenter d'en piquer les tresors... C'est un ecosysteme.
Donc la serie s'interesse tour a tour a tous ces elements, decrivant ainsi une evolution globale.

Pour ce faire, 3 series principales ont ete crees: Potron-Minet, qui est le debut du Donjon (album -101, -102, etc), Zenith qui represente l'apogee du Donjon (albums 1, 2, etc) et Crepuscule qui decrit la fin du Donjon (albums 101, 102...). Les auteurs sont partis (sur une boutade) pour faire 300 albums en tout...

A cela s'ajoutent les series Monsters & Parade qui s'interessent plus particulierement a des personnages 2aires le temps d'un album et qui s'inserent dans la chronologie du Donjon (entre -100 & 199).

Cette profusion de niveaux permet une grande variete: d'un album a l'autre et d'une serie a l'autre les histoires peuvent se montrer violentes et sombres ou au contraire pleinement humoristiques. Le fait qu'elles s'inserent toujours dans la chronologie du Donjon font qu'elles enrichissent toujours un univers tordu mais extremement coherent. On decouvre ainsi au detour d'un album "Monsters" les origines d'un personnage principal de Zenith, puis sa mort dans un album "Crepuscule".

Tout cela serait bien beau si les albums en eux-memes etaient sans interet... Il n'en est rien! Dessines simplement mais avec gout, surprenants a chaque case, avec des dialogues tres bien ecrits, c'est une joie a lire!

Au finish, un serie intelligente, coherente, pour tous les gouts et hautement addictive...

J'ai trouve par hasard une interview tres interessante de Trondheim, suivie d'une autre de Sfar. Il n'y a rien de mieux que les auteurs pour parler de leur oeuvre...

Sometimes things need to turn off...

A follow up on yesterday's turn off the light for 5 minutes in France: it made the energy consumption drop by 1% which represents the consumption of a city like Marseilles!
Cool!
It's good to hear that such actions can find such support.

Full article here (in French).

Parlons BDs... (partie 1)

(Sorry guys, since I'm speaking of comic books in French (1 is Spanish) here, I don't see the point of doing this in English>

Hop! Pour une raison bien particuliere, la fin du mois de Janvier est toujours pour moi plus propice pour decouvrir de nouvelles BDs, c'est donc l'occasion de partager tout ca...
3 en tout sont au programme de cette annee.
3 BDs europeennes majeures que j'ai mis un moment a decouvrir malgre de chaudes recommandations. L'important est bien de sy mettre au bout du compte.

La 1ere, c'est Les Formidables Aventures de Lapinot, de Lewis Trondheim.
D'une certaine maniere je commence par le plus difficile, car decrire une BD comme celle-la, en soi, ca parait assez difficile. Il y a aussi le fait que je n'ai lu qu'un seul volume et que le reste me parait emprunter a pas mal de genres. Jugez plutot: on m'a dit que le 1er tome est un pur Western old school alors que celui sur lequel je me base n'est rien de tel.

Le dos de la couverture arbore fierement "Ce 2e tome rejouira les amateurs de Scrabble, de billes, de flipper & d'esoterisme d'Europe centrale".
Je pense que ca decrit assez bien l'esprit.

Le fil conducteur est effectivement une malediction, mais cette histoire principale rondement menee se retrouve emaillee de digressions geniales autours de personnages tres bien construits et surtout de dialogues percutants.
L'ensemble est berce d'une douce ironie et d'un sens de la logique absurde qui, d'une certaine maniere, me rappelle Fred.

C'est reellement "formidable" et je vais veiller a decouvrir les autres albums.

La suite bientot...

Final College Fantasy

This is quite fun!
Especially to anyone who has played the Final Fantasy games.
A bit long maybe but you need to do what you need to do... It's also an aspect of the game after all. ;)

Eteignez les lumieres!

Ecologist associations in France are calling for everyone to turn off their light for 5minutes between 19h55 & 20h00 on thursday night (tonight that is), as a token to show people's awareness to global warming.

Apparently the Eiffel Tower might be turned off as well!

I think that's a great symbol and I'll follow it from where I am!

The full article here (French).