Happy Bastille Day
Unfortunately I missed out on the Portland Bastille Day festivities this weekend, but I will make up for it by doing my own personal “quatorze juillet” celebration on my own this evening… Need tips on how to best celebrate the French national day? Go here. Hint: it includes drinking French wine, eating French cheese and possibly singing La Marseillaise.
[and I apologize for the quality of the photo… it’s from the study abroad archives; something that I had to scan in because it was taken in film form!]
Friday Photo: Summer in Portland
It’s all about gourmet organic food (I’m a foodie, it can’t be helped) and weekend walks by the river; a good place to be this time of year. Clockwise from upper left hand corner: red quinoa salad with pecans, dried cranberries, bell pepper and greens; view of the east bank from the Hawthorne Bridge; vegetarian tostadas; boats moored in order to take in the scene and sounds at last weekend’s Waterfront Blues Fest.
New Carla Bruni out today (in France at least)
Today marks the release of French First Lady, Carla Bruni’s third CD. Some are skeptical of the ex-supermodel turned politician’s wife’s artistic abilities, but I happened to be won over by her first CD Quelqu’un m’a dit. On top of it — even though I hate to admit it — I just can’t get enough of Bruni-Sarkozy gossip. I write about it frequently over at Gadling (this article for example).
I am therefore a little bitter about not being able to get Comme si de rien n’etait in the US yet… (American release date is set for July 22). But it’s on the list of things to look forward to.
Friday Photo: Sellwood Bridge
Riverfront park in Sellwood, Portland. The lighting in this picture isn’t fabulous because that weird Portland, 4th of July weekend weather is officially upon us. But it’s not raining so I am going to keep from complaining.
Les Poupées Russes
Another one of my multilingual favorites, Les Poupées Russes (that’s Russian Dolls to all you anglophones) is the sequel to l’Auberge Espagnole. Being a little older, a little fresher and a taking place in a different scene make the movie, in my opinion, even better than the first. Considering a good friend of mine that lives in Paris just ran into Romain Duris in a bar the other night, it is fitting that I give a little tribute to one of my favorite movies.
Here’s an excerpt from my review over at Been Seen: “If L’Auberge Espagnole is a coming of age movie, Les Poupées Russes is about searching for and finding one’s path in life. Five years have passed since Xavier and his friends lived together in their small Barcelona apartment, but now they are all re-united in St. Petersburg for the wedding of Wendy’s brother William.”
If you weren’t tempted to move to London before, now might be the time…
Friday Photo: Seasonal cuisine
Taken at the first official garden dinner party of the year.
New York: nature and art together in a major installation
I wish I was in New York to see this insane (and at $15.5 million, pretty expensive) art installation that just formally opened today. The four waterfalls are big — 90 to 120 feet tall — and they churn an incredible amount of water: 35,000 gallons of East River water per minute which makes 2.1 million gallons per hour. Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, artist Olafur Eliasson sees Waterfalls as making nature tangible to people, an imperative task in a world where the use and preservation of natural resources is an on-going discussion. Combining nature and art… in my opinion, always an impressive statement.
Read more in the New York Times article.
[Photo via NYTimes]
Summer edibles
The arrival of summer means two very important things: I can drink coffee on the back patio and I can start making my favorite seasonal meal. It’s not extravagant, but it is the epitome of summer: salmon, potatoes, asparagus and tsatsiki.
And with the new camera, I just can’t stop taking food pictures… maybe this should turn into an epicurean blog…
Along those lines, here is my killer recipe for summer tsatsiki:
1 1/2 cup goat yogurt
1 cup thinly sliced/shredded cucumber
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon olive oil
dash of salt and pepper
Combien de bises?
The French hello: it’s not a handshake, it’s not a hug, it’s a brief set of kisses on the cheek. But as a foreigner, there is a certain level of awkwardness when you faire la bise for the first time. What cheek to offer? Who do you kiss? How many kisses do you give? It’s simple really: offer your right cheek and don’t kiss your superiors (i.e. your boss). But the confusion comes at the “how many?” part. Fortunately a smart Frenchman did a poll on just how many bises people were used to doing and put together this handy map. What does it tell us? That 2 is the most common, so for the socially conscious, if you’re not sure, go for the double-take and no more; there’s nothing worse than going in for one too many cheek kisses when the other person is already pulling away.
For more on just how to faire la bise in my post on Gadling, click here.
Vanessa da Mata: Good summer music
In order to keep up with my French, I’ve started streaming France Inter, which is a pretty good blend of world news, political analysis and music from around the globe. This is how I came across Vanessa da Mata, a Brazilian pop artist. Her music falls into the Música Popular Brasileira genre, which is Bossa Nova-esque and perfect for summer afternoons spent on the patio. Give her super popular song “Ai Ai Ai” a listen here.
blog.annabrones.com 