tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72021757966822737182023-11-15T07:30:47.855-08:00Straddling the AtlanticFrench and American culture, society and politics.CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-1917808340728463142008-11-02T01:57:00.000-07:002008-11-02T01:58:12.828-07:00Joe the Plumber Stands McCain Up at a Rally!!! McCain soooo Awkward HA HA HA<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9igTjab1O6k&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9igTjab1O6k&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-41633840614451621202008-10-26T08:43:00.000-07:002008-10-26T10:14:41.524-07:00Rock- Kill the Messenger Part II Genius:)"This whole election is so weird, the way they report on it, cover it, everything is so racial, racial, racial, and they have how many white people are voting? How many working class white people, how many white people over 4' 8" are voting for Barack Obama? <br /><br />And the crazy thing is whenever white people vote for Obama, which is a lot of the time, they say, they listened to their issues, weighed the pros and cons and they felt that Obama spoke to their issues. And whenever black people vote for Obama, they say well, they black, he black, I guess that's why."<br /><br />"Black people very excited about Barack Obama, but we're not just votin' for him cuz he's black, we're votin' for him cuz he's black and QUALIFIED. That's why we're votin for the mother-fucker. It's not like we're votin' for FLAVAH FLAV."<br /><br />"We're very excited. I'll tell you this right now, white people that are here right now. If Barack Obama wins, if you have any activity in your life that involves black people that is supposed the day after election day, it will NOT get done. Election day is a Tuesday, that Wednesday don't schedule no black shit. Like if you gotta fly, ain't nobody carryin' your bags, you got to get your own motherfuckin' bags, we gotta a black president mother fucker,... shit."<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JSLW4apcaNo&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JSLW4apcaNo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-31482485680630273352008-10-26T08:23:00.000-07:002008-10-26T08:43:48.572-07:00Kill the Messenger - Part I - Chris Rock Genius"This is a crazy time man... This is the time to be on stage, this is the time to do a special, cuz this is a special time. A lot is goin' on. This is the time to do a special.<br /><br />(<span style="font-style:italic;">To London audience</span>)Big election year in the United States! that's right, it ain't your election but you payin' attention, you damn right you are. <br /><br />George Bush has fucked up so bad: he's made it hard for a white man to run for President. <br /><br />People are like: give me a black man, a white woman, a giraffe, a zebra, anything but another white man..."<br /><br />"And who do we have runnin' for President?... John McCain, 72 years old, he was too old 10 years ago! He's so old he used to own Sidney Poitier.[...] Seventy-fuckin'-TWO! You see he hired his nurse to be his vice-president too.<br /><br />[...]<br /><br />What the fuck is on her mind? Sarah Palin, out there shootin' mooses and shit, holdin' up the moose and shoot, I see her holdin' up a dead moose, I'm like what the fuck is Michael Vick in jail for?<br /><br />My god, John McCain, how you gon' make decisions about the future when you ain't even gon' be here??!<br /><br />He's old! The mother-fucker's too old.<br /><br />When you die at 72, no matter what you die of, it's natural causes. Even if you get hit by a truck, it's natural causes, cuz if you was younger, you'd a got out the way."<br /><br />[...]<br /><br />"Who's he runnin' up against? Barack O-BAMA. (<span style="font-style:italic;">To Johannesburg</span>) Barack O-BAMA man. Barack O-BAMA. Yes, Black man, with a black name, I know it ain't that black here, but in America that's about as black as a name could get.<br /><br />Barack O-BAMA. That's right next to : Mikimbe Mtumbu. That's right Barack, man, he doesn't let his blackness sneak up on you. If his name was Bob Jones, or somethin' it might take you 2 or 3 weeks to realize he black. But as soon as you hear Barack Obama, you expect to see a brother with a SPEAR! Just standin' on top of a dead lion, like grrrrr!"<br /><br />"And Barack, young brother, he's so calm and cool, sometimes I think he doesn't realize he's the black candidate, like he thinks he could win this thing fair and square, like he thinks havin' the most votes is gon' mean somethin'! Sheet... They gon' change the whole system on his black ass overnight[...] They will change all this shit, with a straight face too: "Hey man, you got the most votes, too bad you lost. That's how we used to do it. We don't really count votes too much no more." "<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UvDzbThHOXY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UvDzbThHOXY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-57040625373534150352008-10-26T00:59:00.000-07:002008-10-26T01:00:53.577-07:00Hilarious SNL: Bush Endorses McCain/Palin while McCain Cringes in Pain!<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/490421ba4af11e90/4741e3c5156499a7/77d94fe3/-cpid/c6bbc9799070a74f" id="W4727a250e66f9723490421ba4af11e90" width="384" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/490421ba4af11e90/4741e3c5156499a7/77d94fe3/-cpid/c6bbc9799070a74f" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-82795922556005913472008-10-23T09:16:00.001-07:002008-10-23T09:16:40.609-07:00BO's got not only brains but moves too!!<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RsWpvkLCvu4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RsWpvkLCvu4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-71607663804775911362008-10-19T10:41:00.000-07:002008-10-19T10:45:22.705-07:00SNL: France suffering from financial crisis too by France's "Jean K. Jean""Do you see evidence of financial collapse in your country?"<br />"Oh absolutely Amy, people are broke up in France! Brothers be eatin' pain au chocolate, without the chocolate! Just pain... Last weekend I went to the supermarche to get a bottle of Perrier, man all I could afford was a glass of tap water and a straw to blow my own bubbles, zut alors!"<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48fb707fd1cd7bc7/4741e3c5156499a7/8e2a1d8/-cpid/8cbdf4d113eda3a3" id="W4727a250e66f972348fb707fd1cd7bc7" height="283" width="384"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48fb707fd1cd7bc7/4741e3c5156499a7/8e2a1d8/-cpid/8cbdf4d113eda3a3"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-14354626589858385982008-10-19T01:11:00.000-07:002008-10-19T01:12:44.530-07:00Sarah Palin Makes SNL Appearance / Funny Rap and Moose Guest StarPalin tries to offset the negative effects of Tina Fey's effective impersonations of her, by appearing on SNL Sat. Oct 18th. <br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48faea96e79d58bf/4741e3c5156499a7/96a1c0c1/-cpid/56daa13120955d91" id="W4727a250e66f972348faea96e79d58bf" width="384" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48faea96e79d58bf/4741e3c5156499a7/96a1c0c1/-cpid/56daa13120955d91"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-67809758716491619602008-10-18T01:13:00.000-07:002008-10-18T01:14:22.014-07:00SNL Spoof on Final Presidential Debate: McCain to Use Joe the Plumber, his imaginary friend, as Key Economic Adviser (Funny!)<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48f997c06e854dee/4741e3c5156499a7/bbd7796d/-cpid/7b4e31f1c1b05b81" id="W4727a250e66f972348f997c06e854dee" width="384" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48f997c06e854dee/4741e3c5156499a7/bbd7796d/-cpid/7b4e31f1c1b05b81"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-49996099524088425042008-10-17T23:56:00.000-07:002008-10-18T00:03:14.069-07:00Video shows many Americans think Obama is a Black Muslim who wants to hurt or destroy white people"I'm afraid if he wins, the blacks will take over."<br /><br />"He's not a Christian! This is a Christian nation. What is our country gonna end up like?"<br /><br />"He seems like a wolf in sheep's clothing. And I believe Palin, she's filled with the holy spirit."<br /><br />I would put up more quotes, but some of them are too offensive for my taste, so I prefer not to publish them (You can hear them however in the video.)<br /><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zRqcfqiXCX0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zRqcfqiXCX0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-77160543487866833672008-10-05T04:12:00.001-07:002008-10-05T04:12:37.766-07:00SNL gives you another, not so different version of the VP Debate!!<!--[if IE]><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="W4727a250e66f972348e89d36fda6d3cc" width="384" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48e89d36fda6d3cc/4741e3c5156499a7/ab07b2f3/-cpid/9b352bc621baa7ed"><![endif]--><!--[if !IE]>--><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48e89d36fda6d3cc/4741e3c5156499a7/ab07b2f3/-cpid/9b352bc621baa7ed" id="W4727a250e66f972348e89d36fda6d3cc" width="384" height="283"><!--<![endif]--><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-11030285527937287512008-10-04T12:50:00.001-07:002008-10-04T12:52:23.502-07:00Gad Elmaleh- Comedien Francais - "La Clope""La clope - c'est tellement bon[....]Je sais pas comment j'ai fait pour m'en passer pendant tant d'annees. Mais, maintenant, ca y est. J'ai reussi a commencer!"<br /><br />("I don't know how I went so many years without smoking... Finally, after so long, I've finally been able to start!")<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aneWGnjEzh4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aneWGnjEzh4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-8053776913832230472008-10-04T08:24:00.000-07:002008-10-04T08:28:42.757-07:00Funniest Chris Rock Stand Up from "Bigger and Blacker""There's some diseases they just can't help you with. You just got that shit. If you paralyzed, you go "Doc, I'm paralyzed." He goes "Ok, get yourself a chair, wheel your ass around town." "What the f**k is this? Where'm I supposed to take this, a furniture store? F**in IKEA? I didn't tell you I can't sit.. I told you I can't walk."<br /><br />"Racism. Everybody's screamin' racism. Black people screamin racism. White people screamin reverse racism. Chinese people screamin' sideways racism. Indians ain't screamin' nothin' cuz they dead. That's right. Nobody got it worse than the American Indian[...] When's the last time you just saw 2 Indians just hangin' out at Red Lobster?"<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y-Onse9geBE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y-Onse9geBE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-85477592013414588452008-10-04T07:30:00.001-07:002008-10-07T03:40:05.490-07:00Chris Rock Introduces Barack Obama at the Apollo in HarlemRock : "I'm looking forward to a change, somebody other than Mr. Bush [...] You know in some ways Mr. Bush's presidency has been a true success : he really didn't let us down! He was everything we thought he was going to be and <span style="font-style: italic;">WORSE</span>."<br /><br />Obama : "You'll have a President who actually believes in the Constitution."<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PW7EbURS2h4&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PW7EbURS2h4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-51509669389029287742008-10-04T02:16:00.001-07:002008-10-04T02:22:37.474-07:00Palin Takes Cues from BushNice piece showing that Palin's debate style (never mind, extremely conservative views) is very similar to Bush's. (For example, never having studied law or perhaps even read the Constitution, she's happy to report that the Constitution actually calls for expanded VP power over the Senate- Watch out Cheney... You were just a wallflower compared to Palin !)<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27015517#27015517" frameborder="0" height="339" scrolling="no" width="425"></iframe>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-40634041088521520072008-10-03T11:28:00.000-07:002008-10-24T11:29:24.474-07:00Chris Rock on McCain ("Kill the Messenger" Comedy Tour)"72? seventy-two? That's old! How you gonna make decisions when you ain't even gonna be here?"<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i9C-dVX59Fw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i9C-dVX59Fw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-27688686424714206922008-10-03T09:26:00.000-07:002008-10-07T03:42:57.122-07:00"Most Important Speech on Race since MLK's "I have a dream" "- True? March 18, 2008 - Obama<object height="344" width="425">Like my heading suggests, people have called this the most important speech on race in the U.S. since Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" during the Civil Rights Movement.<br /><br />Obama's speech is so subtle, that I will admit to needing help to truly understand its message.<br /><br />Memorable quotes:<br /><br />After speaking about the history of legalized segregation and slavery, Obama says it still has an effect on blacks today: "William Faulkner once wrote "The past isn't dead and buried. It isn't even past." "<br /><br />"There were many who were ultimately defeated [by discrimination... ]That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations."<br /><br />"For the men and women of Rev. Wright's generation, the memories of doubt and fear have not gone away nor has the bitterness of those years."<br /><br />"The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Rev. Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that "The most segregated hour of American life occurs on Sunday morning." "<br /><br /><br />Comments?<br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pWe7wTVbLUU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pWe7wTVbLUU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-45105728931684323102008-10-03T09:17:00.001-07:002008-10-03T09:17:50.949-07:00"Meet Barack Obama" : Beginning with Landmark Speech at 2004 DNC<embed src="http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1185304443" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=422561644&playerId=1185304443&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-57292251229198687492008-10-03T07:50:00.000-07:002008-10-03T07:51:04.220-07:00She Can't Name One Supreme Court Case<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EsvJBgQp3V4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EsvJBgQp3V4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-1414378540170854242008-10-03T07:44:00.001-07:002008-10-03T07:44:28.091-07:00She Can't Name One Newspaper<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KyoafptEm5c&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KyoafptEm5c&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-25586187362960117412008-10-03T05:57:00.000-07:002008-10-03T06:02:07.155-07:00What We Learn from the VP Debate: Palin's memorable momentsHi "Joe Sixpack" & soccer moms! Isn't she cute?! And isn't cuteness what will resolve all your problems?<br /><br />Who's more a part of the middle class, Palin or Biden?<br /><br />Maverick, maverick maverickmaverickmaverickmaverickmaverickmaverickmaverickmaverickmaverickmaverickmaverick<br /><br />Drill baby drill!<br /><br />Wink wink!!<br /><br />Watch the debate here: <iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27001471#27001471" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27006066#27001471">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27006066#27001471</a>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-47786883858872767232008-09-29T23:38:00.000-07:002008-09-30T11:51:46.262-07:00A List of IMPORTANT Ways in which France differs from the USIn France,<br />1) When you ask for a pint of beer, the server doesn't ask what kind.<br />2) You can open a lot of cans (like a can of coffee grain, for example) without a can opener, just pull-tab, like a Coke.<br />3) Instead of turning a knob to open a door, sometimes you pull a lever horizontally.<br />4) Unlike in the US, there are no electronic flushers in toilets which detect when you're "done." (If you want the thing to flush, you have many options: you can to pull down a chain, pull up on a knob, push in on a button, millions of ways to flush, but all require some kind of effort on your part.)<br />5) You bag your own groceries.<br />6) An "entree" is an appetizer/ starter.<br />7) You can pop open a beer can on the sidewalk.<br />To be continued...CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-48797446024840943152008-09-29T23:36:00.000-07:002008-09-29T23:38:15.455-07:00Essay I drew up 6/2/08 in MA on "French National Character" (a friend had asked me for a description)<p class="MsoNormal">My assignment:<span style=""> </span>to describe the French national character.<span style=""> </span>First, it is contradictory; so one point may be true and somehow co-exist with something at an opposite end.<span style=""> </span>But let’s get into the generalizations, which is of course what they are; and therefore, they are <i style="">generally</i> true.<span style=""> </span>And, as a (legal?) disclaimer, this will be a lot of rambling…</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The French like to complain; this is in French called “râler”.<span style=""> </span>The French are “râleurs”—never happy, and always willing to tell you about it.<span style=""> </span>About anything.<span style=""> </span>From small, unimportant things, like how long a line is in the supermarket (“<i style="">Oh quel bordel!<span style=""> </span>Rien n’est organisé dans ce magasin!</i>”[What a mess!<span style=""> </span>This store is so disorganized!]) to important ones (<i style="">“Oh quel bordel!<span style=""> </span>Cette guerre en <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>…!”[What a mess this war in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> is]</i>).<span style=""> </span>Americans like to “take it easy,” and “not sweat the small stuff;” they revere people of calm, even temperaments.<span style=""> </span>The French see nothing wrong with screaming, getting impatient, having fights, raising their voices; they’re not averse to extreme demonstrations of emotion.<span style=""> </span>(In fact, they’d probably regard the strong, silent type man which is an American ideal as repressed).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the same time, politeness is very important to them, as are signs of respect like using the formal “vous” or appropriate titles (Every French client I have calls me Maître, the title for a lawyer, no matter how long I have been working with them).<span style=""> </span>For example, when you enter a bakery, you’ll have this exchange (the same as everyone else!) “Bonjour madame.” “Bonjour mademoiselle/monsieur.” [You would not ask “How are you today?”]<span style=""> </span>“Comment pourrais-je vous aider?”<span style=""> </span>“Une baguette s’il vous plaît.” “Très bien mademoiselle, vous desirez autre chose?” “Non merci madame.” “Merci mademoiselle/monsieur.<span style=""> </span>Bonne journee a vous.”<span style=""> </span>“Merci madame.<span style=""> </span>Bonne journee a vous aussi.”<span style=""> </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> is (I think) where the formal pronoun has remained in use more frequently than in other countries.<span style=""> </span>In <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Spain</st1:country-region></st1:place> for instance, <i style="">usted</i> is used only very occasionally, to elderly people, but not to a strange shopkeeper.<span style=""> </span>Addressing a French shopkeeper with “tu” would infuriate him (In fact, I made the mistake of doing this once, and the clerk replied irascibly “Who do you think you are addressing me that way?<span style=""> </span><i style="">Pour qui vous prenez-vous?</i>”<span style=""> </span>So the quick, hot temper is always there lingering…<span style=""> </span>The French President recently was smiling, shaking hands to members of a crowd when somebody said something critical of him and Pres. Sarkozy’s expression changed in a matter of a second and he yelled at the man “<i style="">Pauvre con!</i><span style=""> </span>(You stupid idiot!)”<span style=""> </span>When interviewed by 60 Minutes, everything was all fine and dandy until Leslie Stahl pressed Sarkozy about his personal life; he ripped off the microphones and said “<i style="">J’en ai assez de ça!<span style=""> </span>J’ai autres choses a faire!</i>”<span style=""> </span>(Enough of this shit.<span style=""> </span>I have better things to do.)<span style=""> </span>This is kind of the equivalent of the “Dean Scream” – losing control of your temper, which is very looked down upon in the United States, both in personal life (anger management is big here) as in public life, and can, as in the case of Howard Dean, mean the death of presidential possibilities.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Another point (and by the way, these are in no particular order) is that, for the French, oftentimes there is only one way of doing things, one method.<span style=""> </span>Phrases used very often are “Ça ne se fait pas comme ça.<span style=""> </span>Il faut… Il ne faut pas… On ne fait pas… On doit… On ne doit pas…”<span style=""> </span>[That’s not the right way to do it; one must; one must not; one does not do this; one does not do that…] For example, there is, for the French, one right way to cut certain parts of a cow.<span style=""> </span>A Frenchman in an American supermarket one time said “What is the butcher doing?<span style=""> </span>I’ve never seen such craziness!<span style=""> </span><i style="">On ne coupe pas le boeuf comme ça.</i>”<span style=""> </span>[Beef cannot be cut like that.]<span style=""> </span>These rules are spoken in Absolutes and treated like doctrine.<span style=""> </span>There are many rules in French society, especially around food, around culture.<span style=""> </span>You must have learned by heart certain poems or songs by a certain age.<span style=""> </span>You can never eat bread with another starch (rice/ pasta).<span style=""> </span>Children must have a daily snack at 4 p.m.<span style=""> </span>Families must eat dinner together at 8 p.m.<span style=""> </span>You never eat salad before a meal.<span style=""> </span>The list can go on and on.<span style=""> </span>Then there are the things that, while not necessary, are close to required.<span style=""> </span>You must eat yogurt, fresh fruit (and a comment will inevitably be made on how ripe/sweet/good it is), cheese (and inevitably a comment must be made on its smell, taste) after your main course.<span style=""> </span>I don’t believe there exists a vegetarian in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place>!<span style=""> </span>You sit when you eat; you do not eat while talking on a cell phone or walking in the street.<span style=""> </span>You take at least an hour, more like an hour and a half for lunch, and it must be balanced:<span style=""> </span>typical lunch fare at a business cafeteria will be a small piece of pâté to start, beef stew with potatoes and carrots in a wine sauce for the entrée, and some yogurt and/or salad and/or a small desert to finish.<span style=""> </span>There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a glass of wine with lunch with colleagues and colleagues eat together during the lunch break (the main meal) and talk during the hour.<span style=""> </span>Then, they have an espresso.<span style=""> </span>There are things you must know, a certain “connaissance” and “culture” that one should have, that makes French people feel very guilty because it’s impossibly high to live up to.<span style=""> </span>The rules and rigidity around education and culture go back to the French tradition of grandeur:<span style=""> </span>their sincere belief that they are in some ways the most civilized people ever (those that have written the greatest literature, have built the most beautiful architecture, designed beautiful clothes, taught the world about food, etc… this is <i style="">la grandeur française </i>dating back to Louis XIV whose court all countries wanted to imitate).<span style=""> </span>This is why in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place> people vandalized McDonald’s all over the country, believing that they were protecting French culture, against what they called “mal’bouf” (gross grub), a literal and figurative imposition of American culture.<span style=""> </span>The French believe in making their cities and villages beautiful; Parisian buildings cannot surpass a certain height (no matter how much money developers and the city would make from it).<span style=""> </span>Flower beds are planted in center squares and well-kept each season.<span style=""> </span>Every day, pastry is made according to strict guidelines and laid out for the pleasure of the customers to view.<span style=""> </span>New sculptures by acclaimed architects/artists are erected, and keeping the city beautiful is always a big part of any mayor’s platform.<span style=""> </span>The French care about urban planning decisions (A huge debate, in the late 1980s/ early 1990s, which divided families erupted over whether Pres. Mitterand should erect I.M. Pei’s pyramid in the famous Louvre Pavilion).<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, this is why the French just cannot accept so many ways of American life.<span style=""> </span>They cannot believe that school children do not recite poetry in elementary school, that they do not learn philosophy in high school, that they eat meals alone in a bedroom (a table is the only place where one should eat) rather than together with family/friends, that they would decide to build a building in a city based on how expensive the building is, not whether it is beautiful or symmetrical with the city’s proportions.<span style=""> </span>They have very high standards and rigid beliefs about what “counts” as cheese (cheddar will not pass!), wine, a sauce to accompany a platter, what is a beautiful city, a well-designed building or well-decorated home.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Frenchman idolizes the intellectual, not the businessman.<span style=""> </span>The vast vast majority of French presidents have been public intellectuals (great writers, people who attended crème de la crème institutions and had vast knowledge of poetry, history, etc).<span style=""> </span>The French are uncomfortable with money.<span style=""> </span>They are not particularly interested in making a lot of it, and mock those who flaunt it.<span style=""> </span>They’re not, in general, very materialistic, not into buying fancy cars, or showing off flashy symbols of wealth (They think this is tacky.)<span style=""> </span>In general, they’re not entrepreneurial (a recent survey of French youth said a majority aspires to work as bureaucrats in some capacity in the French government)—This also has to do with the security that this type of job provides in an unsteady economy.<span style=""> </span>But in general, culture is very important to the French, reading novels, talking about history.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Heavy emphasis is placed on diplomas and where people graduate from dictates their future to a large extent.<span style=""> </span>At 18, you’ve made it; you’re life is complete and you really don’t need to do much more to prove yourself if you are accepted to the bastion of French intellectualism (<i style="">L’Ecole Normale Superieure, </i>where Sartre, de Beauvoir and many others went)… There are equivalents in government and science, again getting back to the rigidity aspect.<span style=""> </span>If at 26 you come into your own, and begin showing great talent or spirit in a certain domain but lack the proper diploma, you will be hard-pressed to find a job in that arena.<span style=""> </span>That is where American life differs tremendously:<span style=""> </span>Americans judge people by their results, their product, their drive, their ambition, and give them a chance even if they don’t have the “right” diploma.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That being said, the French love life’s pleasures: low and high—sexual pleasure, the pleasure of the company of others, of intellectual discussion, of wine, food, travel, music, theater, art, laughter, wit, family, reading, political conversation, hiking, exploring nature.<span style=""> </span>As clichéd as it sounds, they always make time to live, to “take the time to smell the roses.”<span style=""> </span>In <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>, people say that the Germans live to work, while the French work to live.<span style=""> </span>The French will tell you “<i style="">Ici, en <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>, la vie est douce.</i>”<span style=""> </span>They think of living as an art which must be learned, practiced and mastered.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Also, the French are known for being romantics for a reason.<span style=""> </span>It has been a tradition since the middle ages to court a woman (beginning with the “Roman de la Rose”), with poetry, flowers, little gifts, compliments, to treat her beauty as sacred, to honor the female, to persuade her to feel emotion and sentiment.<span style=""> </span>The French say “L’homme propose; la femme dispose” [The man proposes; the woman agrees].<span style=""> </span>Romance, love between two people (whether married or not) is for the French the best that life has to offer, and life to their thinking is poor without it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">To go along with this, the French don’t like moral restrictions.<span style=""> </span>Infidelity isn’t particularly frowned upon (“<i style="">Ça fait partie de la vie</i>” [It’s a part of life] would probably be the response).<span style=""> </span>They don’t want to be told that cigarettes are bad for their health, or that drinking causes liver cancer (My great uncle, who just passed away at 87, who enjoyed his pastis/ win/ gin used to say “We have to die of something, it might as well be of something we enjoy.”<span style=""> </span>And President de Gaulle said “Americans commit the same sins we do, but at least we enjoy them.”<span style=""> </span>That said, they are not very excessive drinkers, eaters, partiers… At 4 a.m., <st1:city st="on">Paris</st1:city>, unlike <st1:state st="on">Madrid</st1:state> or even <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place>, is asleep.<span style=""> </span>There is alcoholism like everywhere else, but drinking is hardly ever the goal of a party.<span style=""> </span>Typical socializing happens in small groups of friends around dinner, and involves conversations for many hours.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The French are very opinionated and independent.<span style=""> </span>Where an Italian might say “Ah! Uguale!” (It doesn’t matter, either way, whatever…)<span style=""> </span>A French person will debate to the hills, argue a point, political, literary, what have you, he will have something to say.<span style=""> </span>With that comes a bit of a contrarian spirit, so if the whole world is Americanizing, it’s probably not something they’re going to support.<span style=""> </span>They have very clear, strong opinions on most any subject you put before them.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They are contemplative, curious—It is said that “The French are thinkers; the Americans doers.”<span style=""> </span>They travel often, to exotic places, and bring detailed guides to learn about the place’s history and traditions, commenting on the people, the architecture, and appreciating the visit to other parts of the world, but, of course, complaining about the food<span style="font-family:Wingdings;"><span style="">J</span></span>.<span style=""> </span>They are pessimistic (no “can do!” “Go for it!” “You’re the best!” mentality/ more of a glass half-empty mentality).<span style=""> </span>They are doubters, questioners, and this makes them anxious, depressed, lacking inner peace and complacency as a people.<span style=""> </span>(That’s probably why Woody Allen has always been hugely popular in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place> while Americans find him annoying).<span style=""> </span>Again, President de Gaulle once said “Le bonheur c’est pour les cons [Happiness is for stupid people]” while <st1:place st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> wrote in our Declaration of Independence that our national goal would be to pursue happiness.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They look more towards the past than to the future, to regrets, missed opportunities (lost or impossible love between lovers or even between parent and child is a common theme in French song).<span style=""> </span>If you tell them you are sad about something, they will indulge you in your nostalgia or your melancholy, allowing you the right to be sad (An American would probably try to lift your spirits, or give advice on how to improve your situation); Simone de Beauvoir said Americans had almost made sadness illegal or taboo!<span style=""> </span>The French are very analytical and critical (what they call “l’esprit critique”) of everything, for example, government services, so for example, they are considered to have the best health care system in the world, but you’ll regularly hear French people complain that they have to pay even a miniscule co-pay.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They depend heavily on the government, and expect the government to serve them, to protect them, almost like children.<span style=""> </span>This, I think, distinguishes them the most from Americans.<span style=""> </span>Rather than a situation being an individual’s fault, taking personal responsibility, that American tradition of personal accountability, of the yeoman farmer, doesn’t exist in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<span style=""> </span>Like teenagers would if parents take away allowance, they rebel in the streets in throngs if the government tries to make even a minute change in social protection like raising the price of higher education from 400€ yearly to 450€ (a small sum). <span style=""> </span>A very strange relationship to authority indeed.<span style=""> </span>They mistrust their bosses, always demanding more union protection.<span style=""> </span>Ironically by demanding more protection from the state, they make themselves victims, with no power, which gives them less liberty than Americans, in my opinion (Tho’ a sick person in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> would never die because he didn’t have health insurance, so the American in that case doesn’t have much liberty either…).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So that’s my take.<span style=""> </span>Much more to say, but this is enough for now.<span style=""> </span>Needless to say, in the end, it’s a country I love deeply and which never fails to entrance, enchant and seduce.<span style=""> </span></p>CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-46919865612607400062008-09-29T13:25:00.001-07:002008-09-29T13:28:43.191-07:00Quotes from "La Gouvernante francaise" by Henri Troyat (Academie Francaise)I'm too lazy to translate them for now, so you will have to do the work.<br /><br />Novel about a French woman who is a governess in a bourgeois Russian family at the start of the Revolution (1917).<br /><br />"Sans doute ai-je une trop haute opinion de l'harmonie dans un couple pour accepter l'a-peu-pres conjugal."<br /><br />"Plus on sait de vers par coeur, plus on est heureux dans la vie. C'est une musique qui vous accompagne dans la solitude, une consolation de tous les instants..."CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-6422544435486899852008-09-25T15:19:00.000-07:002008-09-27T12:05:15.662-07:00"La Gitane" Restaurant in 15eme is da bomb!Seared liver, stewed kidneys, and escargots all in typical small (no elbow room) type restaurant wins my gold star:)! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.la-gitane.com/">La Gitane</a> restaurant in the 15th arr. in Paris.CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202175796682273718.post-57844297772286728412008-09-23T15:47:00.001-07:002008-09-23T15:48:49.062-07:00A Democrat (Obama, of course) Pulls Punches Against Republicans (Finally!)<a href="http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9lcZ6EToyQ">http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9lcZ6EToyQ</a><br /><br />In this clip, Obama uses a winning strategy: strongly slamming McCain on the economy.CGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300344116627509473noreply@blogger.com0