thoughts on the ups and downs of life

Director: Jim Jarmusch
Genre: Romance, Drama
Country: France / USA
Release Date: August 5, 2005
Rating:

As the devoutly single Don Johnston is dumped by his latest girlfriend, he receives an anonymous pink letter informing him that he has a son who may be looking for him. The situation causes Don to examine his relationships with women instead of moving on to the next one, and he embarks on a cross-country search for his old flames who might possess clues to the mystery at hand.

I watched Broken Flowers yesterday and I quite enjoyed it. I am a fan of the films about loneliness and existential angst. Broken Flowers deals with some of the same concepts (regret, longing, loneliness) as Lost in Translation, and the character he plays is terribly similar to his characters in this film. Actually, a big part of the reason why I liked this movie is Bill Murray. I feel like I could watch Murray for hours, just sitting on the living room couch as he often does in this film. It’s hard to describe the persona Murray has evolved in his recent work for Sofia Coppola, and now Jarmusch. He’s moody and melancholic, in contrast to the comedy that first made him famous in the mid 1990s. Here, Murray plays Don Johnston who finds himself alone in midlife. Early in the film Johnston receives an unsigned letter from an ex-lover with news that he may have a nineteen year old son. Unwilling to admit that he is affected by this, Johnston allows his neighbor to encourage him on a search for the sender and possibly his son. Johnston comes up with five potential candidates and leaves. This straight forward idea becomes an adventure where Johnston will meet his exes after more than 20 years without any contacts. Overall, I liked the movie. I didn’t enjoy this film as much as Lost in Translation but for me, even if it can be very slow-moving, this is one of the best kind of film. Like Lost in Translation or Virgin Suicides, I find it very “ambient.” Not a lot happens but the atmosphere created around the characters is very charming. The dialogues and situations are smart, funny and sincere. I was quite disappointed with the ending though. It generates lots of questions that I wish were answered, when in Lost in Translation I did not really need or want to know what was next. Anyway, Broken Flowers is a slow-burner, but a pretty good movie. I think if you enjoyed Lost in Translation or Bill Murray, you will enjoy this one.

I love podcasts. I usually listen to them at home or in bed at night. They changed my life. Instead of needing to listen at exactly 10:00am -which I usually can’t do- to catch my favorite show, I have a free subscription through iTunes and download every show so I can listen to it when I’ve got the time. A few weeks ago, I heard about a show called Radiolab. I put it on the download list, gave it a try and was blown away. When I listen to RadioLab I feel like my skull has opened up and my mind is as large as a star-filled sky. I experience moments of revelation for every single episode. And I mean hair-rising, eyes opening wide, moments of stillness and silence in my mind. I learn something new every time. Radiolab is a radio show on WNYC that discusses a wide range of scientific topics in a unique form. Each episode explores one big idea through research, anecdotes, science, humor, and lots of beautiful sound design. The audio of the show is amazing, integrating interviews, sound effects, music and narration in a really innovative way. They use sounds and soundscapes to play with their ideas to create an immersive experience. I have learned a lot listening to their archives for the past few weeks, some of which has forever changed the way I look at the world. This is a great radio show, one of the best I have ever listened to. It’s deep, insightful and always entertaining. Each and every episode hits you with this crazy insider scientific knowledge that you didn’t even know that you wanted to know. I highly recommend everyone to check it out. Here is one of the beautiful videos they produce to introduce their shows.

No matter how many people warn you not to go near the fire, you’ll still approach it. And why wouldn’t you? Have you seen the fire? With blazing red and yellow flames rising up for a spell-binding dance, it’s so beautiful that you can’t help but jump in. And then you burn, torn between pain and desire.

I just discovered this band and listened to their last album titled “Í Annan Heim” (To Another World). I love it. A mixture of eerie rock sounds, bright indie pop melodies and classical strings, topped with high pitched female voice singing in Icelandic. It really sounds like a fusion between Múm and Sigur Rós. They have been making music since 2006 and just release their new album. They released their first LP, Það kólnar í kvöld (It Gets Colder Tonight) in Iceland 2007 and in Europe and Japan the year after. After the release, Rökkurró got offered to support Ólafur Arnalds and Múm on tours abroad.

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This is my 100th post. It might not seem a lot of blog post but I’m actually rather proud of myself to have had the motivation to keep posting regularly on here for a year, especially in English which is not my native language as you can easily tell. And this is also the oldest blog I have ever had. To be honest, my previous blogs lasted from 1 week to 1 month. A lot has certainly happened in a year, but in many ways I feel like I’m just getting started. I feel more and more confortable with my writing. A week ago, I installed Google Analytics and was pretty surprised to see the number of visitors. I only created this blog to practice my English writing and share stuff with my friends. So, it makes me very happy to see that people I do not know read it as well.

I recently switched from Safari to Google Chrome and was quite disappointed with the look of the homepage on Google Chrome. I found a solution: myfav.es, a site that allows you to pick the websites that you go to often and put the links to those sites on one web page. It’s pretty customizable too. Here’s mine with: Facebook, WordPress, MySpace, Google Reader, Google France, RememberTheMilk, Mobile Me, YouTube, Wikipedia, Craigslist, Twitter, Reddit, Last.FM, JeuxOnline Forums, GoodReads, Hardware.FR forums, TheHypeMachine, Mint.

My friends and I have been having a BBQ on the rooftop pretty much once a week for the last weeks now. I discovered in myself a passion for cooking. I guess it’s my French genes. More than just the act of cooking, I think it’s the simple pleasure of seeing people smiling and enjoying the food I made with my own hands. I also love going to the farmer’s market to get the ingredients I need, smell the perfume of fresh fruits and vegetables, meet and talk with the local producers and watch people interact with each other. It reminds me of France where farmer’s market are very common and I would say, part of the French culture. Unfortunately, when you live in the US it’s pretty much the only place where you can buy good quality food but it’s pretty expensive. Here’s what I made the other night:

Roasted Red Peppers with Olive Oil and Garlic on Fresh Mozzarella,
Garlic and Herbs de Provence pan fried Potatoes,
Pike Place Market’s King Crab legs with Lemon,
Grilled Lime Scallops,
Beef Kabob (for the unlucky one who doesn’t like seafood),
A La Mode Pies’ Key Lime Pie,

and of course, some French wines. It was a great dinner.

Release: May 3, 1982
Country: London, UK
Label: Elektra / Wea
Genre: Rock
Sounds like: -

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member. The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with their debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979); this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and New Wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s, the band’s increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre. The Cure have released thirteen studio albums and over thirty singles during the course of their career.

Pornography is my favorite album from The Cure, and is one of my favorite records of all time. In my opinion, there are three albums that Robert Smith calls the trilogy that best expresses the true feelings of The Cure. Those albums are Disintegration, Bloodflowers, and Pornography. For sure, this was Robert Smith’s darkest hours. Throughout “Pornography,” Robert Smith moans about death, war, sickness, loss, and the general degradation and perversion of society. A lot of critics have described the early Cure music as depressing. Especially when the first words heard on the album are “It doesn’t matter if we all die.” And then there’s lines like “I’ll watch you drown in the shower.” Recorded during a time when Robert Smith was victim of depression, drug addict and when the band was on the brink of collapse, the results are pretty haunting. It seems like the music perfectly reflects the health of the band and its members in 1982. There’s no album in existence that really comes close to the sound of this one, except maybe “Disintegration.” The entire album is like suffocating in despair. This album is heavy and slow. Gothic keyboards, tribal sounding drums, and Robert’s even darker than usual vocals work to make this a totally unique experience. I personally love Cold, The Figurehead and Pornography. As an album, the songs flow perfectly. The Cure is one of my favorite bands of all time, and Pornography is a testament to their genius. A true masterpiece.

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