Another busy weekend

I can can see Christmas is coming because my usually already rather busy social agenda is about to burst. Last two weekends were already intense (one in Belgium, visiting good old friends, and last one with some several get-togethers, a dancing jam, a birthday party, even helping in the recording of a short film!!).

This Thursday I already had to choose between Pub Quiz and the Christmas dinner of the Lindy Hop people from the Orfeo de Gracia.

Friday evening was devoted to a Goblin Birthday celebration, with a horror dinner show at the Posada Maldita and a drawing contest.

Saturday things got hectic: laundry in the morning, quick lunch and then, in quick succession the presentation of a new (and free) Scientific Divulgation newspaper, Satelite, meeting an old friend to go to the cinema ("Cell 211") and to discuss the life of exilee Engineers, and finally another show dinner, cabaret this time, at KYVIC.

Today, Sunday, after sleeping (finally) 7h, the day has started with Lindy Hop dancing at the Placa de la Sedeta, and after having a late lunch, resting a bit and writing this entry, cinema again ("New York, I love you").

As I like to say, to be able to work hard you need to play (or party) hard as well!!

1st Ancient Egypt Banquet (5th promo)

The first Ancient Egypt Banquet organised by people from the 5th promotion of Egyptology Studies in BCN was held today in Sabadell with outstanding success.



(papyrus-billboard thanks to Rosalin)

The menu (in Catalan) included:

Starters:

TAHINA
HUMMUS
AMANIDA DE LLENTIES
TORRADETES AMB POUTARGUE
EMPANADES DE FORMATGE
CARBASSES A LA MODA D'ALEXANDRIA
OUS DAURATS

Main Courses:

PEIX FARCIT DE PANSES I PINYONS
PEIX AL FORN AMB PANSES I AMETLLES
EMPANADES DE CARN
POLLASTRE FARCIT

Desserts:

GALETES SHAYT
FRUITA DEL TEMPS

Drinks:

VI, CAVA, HENEKET, AIGUA

CAFÉ DE CATEGORIA SUPERIOR

The banquet was followed by a two team competition of an Egyptian board game (Senet).

Pictures will follow soon.

Swinging under the BCN sun!!

MacCurdy Dinner at Corpus Christi College

3rd Vietnamese Dinner

Still planning to go to Vietnam some time (the sooner the better), Vietnamese (or just Asian) dinners are still on.

Maria pars chez les bretons!!

While some people settle back in Barcelona, others leave Barcelona to go and live among the French in the city of lights, royal palaces and gardens and, of course, music!! (Paris reputedly having more Jazz Caves than NYC)

Have lots of fun!! (and lots of patience with 'greves', 'fonctionaires', and the interaction of the two)

Bon courage, et amuse-toi bien, Maria!!

Tuesday evening: Barley diet!

Once in a while, it's good to have a meal based mostly on very healthy stuff, like barley juice of various sorts. And it's so much better in good friends' company! The fact that this time it was Tuesday evening, ment a slightly reduced efficiency next day, but... It was truly worth it!!

... Looking forward next time!!

Dublin fair city...

Why not? One weekend in Dublin. It was about time to go, after 15 years since I visited this fair city (where the girls are so pretty, as the song goes). But mainly the chance to meet old friends and make new ones, attend two brilliant Spanish house parties, have lots of Guinness, meet Molly Malone again, and of course, stock myself of real tea (in authentic pyramidal bags) before catching the plain back!!

Jazz fusion at the Harlem Jazz Club

Carles Benavent and Jordi Bonell at the Harlem Jazz Club in Barcelona. One of those concerts to remember. Thanks Jordi for suggesting it!!

Jazz at the Jamboree

Back in Barcelona, and back in old traditions... starting with a Jazzy concert at the Jamboree, in the Plac,a Reial.

Bye Goblin King Tour

Have you seen this guy? You better hurry up then, he is getting married on Friday (23rd of May). To try to cheer him up, and to brighten his last days as a single man (or as a single Goblin), we took him for a trip, and a party, and the journey and the party went on till he begged us to take him home again...

He was woken up at dawn, and toured in Barcelona. Then he was taken to Girona and and then to the UK!!



He was getting used to the Islands, and then we took him again on a train...



... onto another plane... and to Berlin!!

And here he was starting to feel a bit tired...



...and confused...



... but after some light snack, we were in the mood for travelling and partying again!!



So we travelled some more...



And had some more snacks...




... and some refreshments to go...



... and took a tram to explore the city!!



From the tram we could see everything in the city very quickly...



...and from the speed everything was getting blurry...



... but in any case, we all hope The Gobling King had a good time!!

Back in Cambridge!!

I had been back in Cambridge several times since I finished my PhD here, but it had always been just to visit some friends (and attend some of those friends weddings!!), or do a bit of tourism, and even shopping. This time, I won't only be doing a bit of that, but I'm coming to stay for a few months, and best of all, during that time I'll be working in my old lab!!

It was a fantastic feeling to land in Dover on an incredibly sunny day of April, and drive back to this beautiful city again, listening to BBC on he car radio, etc. Today the weather is a bit more 'versatile', and we've had sunny but windy weather in the morning, sunny weather later on, and a few minutes ago there has been a thunderstorm.

In any case, Cambridge has, and has not changed at all. Obviously, Colleges are all there, as far as I can tell, as well as all of the sights, but I've found that a whole new shopping mall has just appeared in the very city center, and I am told that a new bridge has been built across the Cam.

Definitely, I need to keep exploring and rediscovering the city...

droit de greve???

after almost a month abroad, his morning i was suposedto fly home, to barcelona, from paris.

but here i am... still... and i'll still be here for a while.... as expected there was no RER today, there was Orlyval to get to Orly, although it was not easy to get there... and once you get to-the airport you find that several flight have been cancelled, including the one to barcelona.

"fortunatelly", i've managed to get a seat for the same flight tomorrow, but who knows if that one will fly or not.

and all that, because of a strike to protect the excessive rihts and privileges of a few union members which are paid for  by the rest of people working and living in france. a strike that is NOT supported by the majority of french people, according to the journal Metro.

great... and this is suposed to be a first world country? what a joke....

Concerts, cinema, promenades, departs...

Salut a tous!!

 

Que'est-ce que on va faire avec cette temps d'été? Peut être organiser une grève pour demander du bon temps? Bon, on en parlera...

 

;-)

 

Cependant, on s'approche au weekend (on y est déjà!!), et on peut pas rester au devant la télé! Alors, je ne sais pas si il a des autres propositions, mais je vais en transmettre quelques unes pour commencer le debat... (SVP, confirmer votre intérêt a chaque activité, pour que tout le monde puisse savoir si il aura du monde intéressé ou pas)

 

Vendredi: Est-ce que quelqu'un veux aller aux concerts de Paris Plage? Ou alternativement on peut aller a diner et au Diablitho pour danser la Salsa :-)

 

http://www.blog-festivalfnac.com/index.php?programmation

 

Samedi: Mmmhh.... no, je vais proposer quelque chose diffèrent cette semaine... vraiment... Ok, vous avais raison: C'est le dernier weekend, et on doit en profiter: Festival de Jazz au Parc Floral!! Dernier weekend. A ne pas manquer. Après le festival, qu'est ce que vous en pensez d'aller a dîner et au Cinema en plein air au Parc de la Vilette? (prenez des habilles chauds!!). Un film de Roman Polanski nous y attends ("Tess").

 

http://www.parisjazzfestival2007.com/

 

http://www.villette.com/manif/manif.aspx?id=1052

 

Dimanche:

 

Oui, on peut continuer avec le jazz, mais pas sans avoir le plaisir d'une belle promenade pour y aller. RDV a les escaliers de la Opera Bastille a 12h00  :-)

 

Finalement:

 

Comme plusieurs d'entre vous savez, ça c'est un des derniers 'spams' culturel-festives que je vais envoyer depuis la France, car je vais partir dans deux ou trois semaines. En fait je n'aime pas de faire des soirées de départ ou des choses comme ça, et alors je n'en vais pas organiser aucune (entre d'autres raisons, parce il ne sera pas vraiment un départ, car je vais revenir plusieurs fois, même pour visiter, comme touriste, pour des concerts, et on va essayer de rester en contacte et organiser des rencontres a un coin du monde ou a un autre). ;-) De toute façon, il sera sympa de vous voire tous (tous qui soyez encore ici), en partageant une activité ou une autre, pendant ces dernières semaines que je serai encore 'officiellement' habitant d'île de France. :-)

Paris Jazz Festival 2007

Another year, and as the summer starts (or should be starting, climate change permitting) and another Paris Jazz Festival at the Parc Floral also starts (the Parc Floral is the Botanic Garden in Paris).

So far the weather has not great, but the music was amazing, and the concerts each weekend better than the previous ones!! (I'm starting to be afraid that the ones towards the end of July will be too good even to survive the pleasure of listening to them life!!)

;-)


Of course, we were not the only ones at the Parc Floral...

Activites, activites, activites... pas de pause jusqu'a Juliet

Salut a tous/es!!

Voici qu'on va avoir mal a suivre toutes les activités possibles pour les prochains jours et semaines...

Alors, tout le monde est prêt?

On y va!!

Paris Jazz Festival 2007
Fête de la musique
Fêtes a CitéU
Cours de Danses
Fête Médiéval
Couleur Café
Diners cuisines internationales
Picnics
Rencontres
Voyages
Bière & Chocolat
...et beaucoup de plus!!


Ce weekend:

Le Paris Jazz Festival au Parc Floral continue ce weekend avec le thème: "Esprit Django". Probablement je vais y aller les deux jours (comme le w-e dernier), mais au moins on va y aller sure demain (Samedi). Les concerts sont de 15h a 18h, mais a 15h toutes les places sont déjà prises, alors est vraiment meilleur de se rencontrer au parc Floral vers 13h30 si on veux prendre de bonnes places. De toute façon il y a des animations, une expo sur le jazz, de cours d'initiation a la danse, et naturellement la beauté du parc a profiter pendant qu'on attends le concert.

http://www.parisjazzfestival2007.com/

On a aussi des propositions de complémenter le journée jazzistique avec un dîner a un resto Créole typiquement Louissianne pour continuer avec l'humeur du jazz, et pour ceux qui veulent faire de la fête jusqu'à tard, j'ai entendu quelques rumeurs sur une merveilleuse fête a la Fondation Hellénique (Maison de la Grece), a la Cite Universitaire aussi ce Samedi. Finalement, mémé si le temps peut n'être le meilleur pour faire des picnics, on a propose d'apporter quelque chose pour grignoter et du vin et autres boissons pour les concerts au Festival dimanche.

La semaine prochaine:

Fête de la musique: 21 Juin (Jeudi?)

http://fetedelamusique.culture.fr/

Des centaines des activités, concerts partout paris et la France (et mémé ailleurs!! :-o ) ;-) a profiter des le matin, jusqu'à le matin d'après...

Le w-e prochaine:

Oui, le festival de Jazz au Parc Floral continue... Vous ferez bien de vous faire la carte abonnement du Parc Floral cette année (20Euro + une photo, c'est tout, valide pour tout un année).

Mais il y a encore des choses en plus!!! Les festivités du w-e médiéval a Provins. Un w-e au moyen âge, avec des joutes, de la musique, de la nourriture, jongleries, histoires, animations... a ne pas manquer!!

http://www.provins-medieval.com/index.htm


Encore un autre w-e (29/06-01/07)

Ouip, le Festival de Jazz au Parc Floral...

Mais si vous voulez changer de type de musique ou voyager un peu, ou bien visiter le paradis de la bière (un d'eux), et la partie du meilleur chocolat du monde, ou bien tout ça dans le mémé w-e....

Voila: Le Festival Couleur Café a Bruxelles vous attends!!

http://www.couleurcafe.be

En cependant, on a des vieux amis qui reviennent a Paris, des soirées Latino au Diablitho, et tout que vous pouvais imaginer, suggérer, avez envie de faire... (peut être l'unique exception sera qu'on n'aura pas bcp de temps a se reposer, j'ai l'impression...)

On va bien s'amuser cet mois de Juin!!!

A tantôt!!




------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Vous trouverez cette info aussi avec bcp des
autres choses a mon site: http://nuvol.sdf-eu.org/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Groove will get you thorugh times of no money,
but money won't get you though time of no groove"
Jazz musician's saying
------------------------------------------------------------------------

A busy week of spring

It's finally spring in Paris, with its sunny and warm April days and its cold, grey, rainy and generally miserable May weekends. But spring brings more than mutable weather, but lots of cultural activities, several Jazz festivals, and plenty of long May weekends to travel a bit or enjoy the city while Parisians are in a traffic jam on the way to Normandy. 

 

All last week was one of these busy weeks. Monday was the quiet evening, planning a trip to Brittany for the 4-day weekend ahead, and starting to pack. Unfortunately, neither the weather forecast nor the traffic previsions were very encouraging, so alternative plans were put in place. Tuesday, after deciding that spending half of the weekend in a traffic jam was not my dream of holidays, I went down to St. Germain des Pres, to get last minute tickets for one of the last concerts of the Jazz Festival. Marcel Solal, great piano improviser, playing in the church of St. Germain des Pres.

 

(a picture is coming here, eventually, and more info on the Festival elsewhere in this blog)

 

Wednesday was the day of our usual Salsa course. I had already danced salsa and other Afro-Caribbean rhythms while in the UK, but when I arrived to Paris I was surprised how seriously people take to have a 'good' style. You cannot just "dance", but you need to know the precise small routines that people get used to in the courses in the city, so, back to beginners courses. Which is lots of fun nevertheless, and good exercise in this otherwise sedentary urbanite life.

 

Thursday was still grey and rainy, so the perfect day to meet a friend for dinner and to go to the 'cinematheque' for an Antonioni film ("L'eclipse"). Friday I had a 'grosse matinee', and in the afternoon I drove to Chartres to visit the Cathedral in depth (I even took the audio-guide with the 'full tour'). A funny experience was that with the laberynth and possibly that "sheep gene" we all have. When I arrived, noone was paying much attention to the medieval laberynth drawn on the floor of the main nave of the Cathedral. Even though I knew I would not get lost (medieval labyrinths are some sort of initiatic symbol, not a puzzle), i decided to 'walk it' to the center. That was already interesting, as you don't realise the complexity of the path till you actually follow it and keep getting closer and farther away from the center till, all of a sudden yo find yourself in the last 'corridor' leading to it (more symbology there). Anyway, as I started asking people to move aside so that I could walk the labyrinth, more and more people started following it, and even a couple of hours later, when I finally left the Cathedral, half a dozen people were still at it. I guess many people felt like walking it, but noone dares to be the first one (or only one) to start behaving in a weird way, and only when people saw that someone else was already doing it, that they could make their minds.

 

Anyway, a short walk in Chartes, and drive back home, getting lost in the way (the road and highway network around Paris is worse that a plate of spaguetti). As I arrived home I met online a good friend who is coming back to Paris soon and we started planning a weekend in London.

 

Saturday was the day of the "Nuit des Musees", that evening a year when many museums and cultural societies open their doors for free and sometimes even organise special exhibitions that you can enjoy from mid afternoon till midnight. Of course the usual 'large' museums get really packed, and moreover, it's a good idea to take advantage of this 'soire' to discover those venues and exhibitions that you might not be able to visit some other time. In our case, while some friends went to the Louvre, Centre Pompidou or the Musee Picasso, we went to the small Espace Dali, in Montmatre, to the Museum and Association of French Franc-masons (Le Grand Orient), that included a visit to one of the oldest Franc-mason Temples in Paris, and finally, not being able to visit the Musee du Moyen Age (too many people queuing), we ended up in the Musee de la Police, where the guided visit took us through centuries of the history of Paris, of the police, with anecdotes from the times of the French Revolution, Napoleon times, and the start of the scientific police.

 

Finally, Sunday was the day to get up late, go to the market to get some fresh greens and fruit, read, watch some DVD, and basically try to recover from this extra active week and get ready for the coming one, which will include a new dance course, may be a trip to visit some of the Chateaus in the Val de Loire... who knows?.

 

Programme Siecleversaire -- Samedi 24

Salut un autre fois!!

 

Les details de derniere minute pour demain.

 

*) Pour ceux qui vienent au Petit Palais a l'apres-midi, peut etre qu'on peut se rencontrer directement cela vers 15h45-16h, ou bien a l'interieur si on arrive plus tard (j'espere qu'il fera meilleur que maintenant). Apres le musee, on peut, si il fait bon, se promenet tranquilement vers le resto, ou si il y a de la pluie, on va aller a prendre quelque chose a proximite du resto. 

 

*) Pour cex qui vienen directement au dinner. Rdv au resto a 19h15, ou bien si vous arrivez plus tot, vous pouvez m'appelller sur mon portable pour demander ou est qu'on se trouve. L'addresse du resto est:

 

10, rue Saint Agustin (Paris 2eme Arr.)

 

http://www.lintillac-paris.com/

 

*) Finalement, apres dinner on va aller au Jokomo, 41 rue St. Maur (Metro St. Maur), a deguster la biere belge et si on est chanceux, ecouter quelque petit concert de blues.

 

:-)

 

Merci a tous!!

 

A demain!!

 

Daniel 
 

Activites culturelles pour le w-e: art religieux et musique laique

 

Salut a tous et toutes!!

 

Voici le bulletin des activites socio-cultureles proposes pour ce weekend!!

 

Ce semaine la prevision meteo n'est pas precisement pour aller a se promener par des parcs et jardins, et alors on a bcp des activites 'indoors'. ;-)

 

Vendredi 2: ---- Soire Expo: Armenia Sacra au Louvre

Samedi 3: ------ Concert Chancon francaise avec "3 bouts de ficelle"

Dimanche 4: ----- Concert Klezmer avec "A Tickle in the Heart" & Shura Lipovsky

 

          ***************************************************************** 

 

Vendredi 2: ---- Soire Expo: Armenia Sacra au Louvre

 

(Tres grand merci Seda!!)

 

 

Vendredi soir le Musee du Louvre ouvre ses portes jusqu'a 22h et il y a des interessantes reductions au prix des places (gratuit pour <26 et ~30% pour les "jeunes avec de la experience").

 

On peut visiter tout le musee, mais j'ai especial interes a la expo d'art sacre armenien. Cette eposition a ete especialement recomande par une bonne amie qui travaille au Institut Matenadaran a Yerevan, l'origin des objets a la exposition:

 

  http://www.louvre.fr/llv/exposition/detail_exposition.jsp?CONTENT<>cnt_id=10134198673469645&CURRENT_LLV_EXPO<>cnt_id=10134198673469645&bmUID=1170841788389

 

Ma amie Seda m'a dit:

 

(...) I really want you to see the collection
from Matenadaran (name of institute i work at), as even in
Matenadaran it's impossible to see them. There are about 40-50
manuscript books from Matenadaran, and these are the best ones among
the 17.500 manuscript books we have in book-depository  (best with
illustrations/quality/importance/being old and famous, etc, etc,
etc). (...) about 50
manuscripts are in Louvre now, 30 manuscripts will be taken to
Marseille and 30ish to another city (don't remember which one) in
April. So it's a big quantity of such treasure going out for
exhibition. (...) I keep my fingers crossed not to happen anything,
as i know what Matenadaran sent to Louvre.So it's really worth
seeing. (...) I cannot list all of them, just remember "Etchmiadzin
Gospel" (10th century, with ivory binding from 6th century) and
remember Toros Roslin's name (one of the best armenian illustrator of
13th-14th century, Sargis Pitsak and much more... (...)

 

 

 

A quelle heure est-ce que vous veulez q'on s'y rencontre? Peut etre on peut se rencontrer directement au RER?

 

             **********************************************************************

 

Samedi 3: ------ Concert Chancon francaise avec "3 bouts de ficelle"

 

Pour lesquelles n'ont pas ete capables de les voir la semaine derniere, ou pour qui veut bien repeter ...

 

Sam 3 mars, 20h00              Jokomo Bar
41 rue St Maur, 11e              Bar Blues
M° St-Maur                          1ère partie surprise
 

Trois bouts de ficelle
Chanson franco-acoustique

le petit       Chant/Batterie
le moyen   Guitare/Choeurs
le grand     Piano/Choeurs

www.troisboutsdeficelle.com

                 **************************************************************************************

Dimanche 4: ----- Concert Klezmer avec "A Tickle in the Heart" & Shura Lipovsky

(Merci Christine pour ta proposition)

 Dimanche 4 mars 2007

17h00

A Tickle in the Heart & Shura Lipovsky

« Yiddish Storyteller from NY »

Bernd Spehl (clarinette, chant) - Andreas Schmitges (guitare, danse, chant)Thomas Fritze (contrebasse, guitare, percussions, chant)

L'ère du swing des années 30 marque le dernier grand essor de la musique Klezmer aux Etats-Unis avant un silence qui devait durer presque une quarantaine d'années. Le tube Bay mir bistu sheyn, des « Andrew Sisters », reprise d'une chanson du théâtre juif, signe le début de toute une série de « Swing-meets-Klezmer-Arrangements ». Benny Goodman, Ziggy Elman, Artie Shaw et même Cab Calloway jouaient alors des « Yiddish Melodies in Swing ».

Shura Lipovsky (Pays-Bas) est une des interprètes les plus connues du chant yiddish. Après des études de chant à Rotterdam et de yiddish chez Mira Rafalowicz et à la Oxford Summer University, elle s'intéressa patriculièrement à la mystique juive et à la danse. En 2005/2006 l'artiste fréquenta l'Ecole Internationale de Theatre de Jacques Lecoq à Paris. Shura Lipovsky enseigne à des masterclasses pour le chant yiddish et organise des workshops sur le thème « danse, chant et histoire dans le chassidisme ». Elle chante et enseigne en Europe, en Russie, aux Etats-Unis et au Canada. Elle est membre actif de « Musiciens sans frontières » (Pays-Bas), une organisation qui travaille pour la paix dans des régions en crise. Shura vient de donner  un concert avec un orchestre de Mostar et travailla à Sarajewo avec la chorale interréligieuse Pontamina. Elle donne régulièrement des cours à la Maison de la Culture Yiddish à Paris. Shura Lipovsky peut être considéré à juste titre comme la perle des chanteurs et chanteuses yiddish.

CDs de Shura Lipovsky : Moments of Jewish Life, Jews and Christians: Music in Mediaeval Spain, Heroes and Poets/Giboyrim un Poetn

Tarif spécial   10 € (plein tarif)/7 € (tarif réduit)

Lieu :

Maison Heinrich Heine, Fondation de l'Allemagne, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris

27c, bd Jourdan, 75014 Paris

Tél. 01 44 16 13 00 – Fax 01 44 16 13 01

info@maison-heinrich-heine.org – www.maison-heinrich-heine.org

           ********************************************************************************

Voila!

Ca c'est tout!! On va se contacter pour s'organiser, se retrouver etc?

A tantot!!

 

Daniel 

 

Film: The Lives of Others

No, I have not stopped going to the cinema... I just didn't have the time to write anything about the films I had seen, or not much to say about them, or didn't know what to think about them.

But for this film I'll make an effort, because I do want to recomend it. The film "Das Leben der Anderen" is not a spy film, as someone had told me before watching it. Although it is a film about a time and about a place where spying was the norm, and not the exception.

The action takes place in Eastern Germany a few years before the fall of the Iron Courtain. It is the life of a playwriter and of the Stasi officer in charge of surveying him. The film is not an action film, all the contrary. It explores the relationship between the observer and the unaware observed one. This relationship becomes more complex when the officer in charge of the surveillance starts covering for the activities of his target. It is also about the different types of people and their reactions and attitudes towards a police state like that one.

An excellent film. If you like it, or if you are interested in that place, that time, the Stasi, etc, I would also recommend you a book. "The Man without a Face" are the memoires of Marcus Wolf, who was the director of the Stasi in its most active years. Very enlightening... ;-)