Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:35:55 PM
music, "tag you're it"
Amy wrote about "10 cover songs I prefer to the original". Max, Amy and I were chatting about it on IRC last night. I was a rather lame player, considering I only found 2 cover songs I think are far greater than the original (what I mean is that I dislike the original songs):
1- "Mad World" by Gary Jules (vs. Tears for Fears)
2- "Sweet Jane" by the Cowboy Junkies (vs. Lou Reed)
Seeing how much work Amy put into her blog entry, I feel I have to "deliver" more than 2 great covers. What follows is a list of covers I really enjoy (while I like the original songs too):
1- "Rosie" by Francis Cabrel (French adaptation of "Rosie" by Jackson Browne)
2- "Piece of my heart" by Janis Joplin (vs. Erma Franklin)
3- "Day-O" by Shaggy (vs. Harry Bellafonte's "Banana Boat Song")
4- "It ain't me babe" by Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon (vs. Johnny Cash & June Carter)
(I was absolutely amazed by how well Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon sang in the Walk the line movie.)
5- "Song to the Siren" by This Mortal Coil (vs. Tim Buckley)
6- "Surface to Air" by the Chemical Brothers (a variation on "Across the Universe" by the Beatles)
And since I'm on a Chemical Brothers kick right now, here are the 5 pieces I like best. Plug your in-ear buds and play them loud:
1- "Asleep from Day"
2- "Otter Rock"
3- "Loops of Fury"
4- "Galvanize"
5- "Delik" [no "delik" on the fr.youtube.com website, sadly.]
Sunday, August 24, 2008 11:42:33 AM
speed, musings, bad habit
I drive fast, probably in response to my dad's unbearably slow driving habit. Or simply perhaps because I like it. I feel I have to say I'm prudent and I've never been in an accident. I've been driving for 13 years.
Last week there was a Gendarmerie unmarked car parked on the side of the road, with a small radar attached at the back of it, to measure I was above the speed limit. The flash shone just as I was realizing what the suspicious protuberance at the back of the car might me. I had no idea how fast I was driving, and there was no other car in front or behind to give me some perspective on speed. I felt I was driving at a reasonable speed :)
A week later I received by post the "avis de contravention au code de la route". 97 km/h (60 mph). That is 7 km/h (4 mph) above the limit. The fine is EUr 68 but only EUR 45 if I pay within 2 weeks. If I don't pay within 45 days, then it's EUR 180.
So I've been thinking about speed, speed limit, common good sense and that kind of things.
My denial of responsibility didn't last long, but my first reaction was to find somebody to blame for the flash. And that was the person I had been stuck behind for too long, right before I was able to pass them and speed up a bit. This guy was driving well below the speed limit. I've always been pretty annoyed with people driving below the speed limit, now they *upset* me.
I thought also that I was disappointed (ashamed, even) to enter the public record for such an unremarkable performance! It's possible that my speedometer indicated I was driving as fast as 110 km/h. But still. I was reminded of the French comics "Joe Barr Team". One of the bikers brings his ticket to the police, visibly unhappy, telling them their friggin' radar is borken. He was driving way faster in that curve :) No, really, it's disappointing. Especially considering I could have driven up to 20 km/h above the limit for the same fine!
Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:45:03 PM
musings, baby, life
An ambitious title for such a small consideration, really.
A while ago, a colleague of mine and I were reflecting on the numerous things we forget about our babies and how these moments, as they happen, seem unforgettable.
I am glad I log many facts on Adrien's life (among which, his blog), and there are the photos I take and the videos too.
Thursday, June 12, 2008 9:51:14 PM
"home life", introvert, MBTI
I found a French version of the MBTI test and all those who can speak ;) in this house took the test:
Vlad: INTJ (I 50, N 30, T 30, J 10) [Mastermind]
Renaud: ESTJ (E 10, S 10, T 20, J 10) [Supervisor]
Coralie: ISTJ (I 70, S 70, T 10, J 60) [Inspector]
That makes an absolute majority of TJs, a majority of Is and Ss, and an absolute minority of E.
I wonder what Amy would say about our results ;) (I hold Amy to be *the* MBTI specialist, although she would humbly deny it).
Saturday, May 31, 2008 3:09:41 PM
musings, language
Sometimes yardworking is no bed of Roses. And sometimes, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. What kind of yarkworker are you? The kind to
Beat around the bush?
Shake like a leaf?
Hold out an olive branch?
Nip in the bud?
Go the whole nine yards?
Dig the dirt?
Not let the grass grow under your feet?
Be out of your tree?
Not see the wood for the trees?
And when you're done, do you come out smelling of roses?
Thursday, May 29, 2008 9:14:43 AM
funny, silly, musings, language
Many years ago I remember someone often said "E pericoloso sposersi" and laughed. I asked what it meant and was told it was a pun in Italian and that it meant that it was dangerous to get married.
I didn't understand why it was dangerous to get married, nor did I understand what was laughable about it. But nevermind, as the adult world was still very foreign to me.
Years later I was in an Italian train and spotted a notice by a window: "E pericoloso sporgersi" which meant it was dangerous to lean out of the window. Aha. Now it made sense!
However the mystery remains ; what made this person often say "E pericoloso sposersi" and laugh? Perhaps he had an omnipresent wife...
Saturday, May 10, 2008 11:42:34 AM
musings
I am attached to smells for the memories they bring.
The smell of fig trees reminds me of my first time in Corsica, as a child, as I was visiting my aunt. Her house is in the mountains, in a small village. The sweet and powdery smell of fig trees was everywhere on the path around the village. I was 10 years old and I hadn't smelled fig trees before. It's unrelated to smells but I hadn't seen donkeys before either and I "met" them during this holiday. One even stepped on my toe and I thought the animal was heavy but I would have imagined the resulting pain to be bigger.
The yellow Dop shampoo brings me back to a summer in the late 80s or possibly in the early 90s. I was around 15 years old. I was at my grand-parents' house in the country (Bévenais, Isère). The fresh smell reminds me of counting goldfish in the little pond and petting the neighbour's kittehs. Madame Guidy had named one of them "Kitty" after my suggestion. Thinking about this moment brings back memories of being impressed by the powerful car of my grand-father and enjoying how fast he was driving, compared to my father. I'm also reminded of hanging my towel to dry out the window and being lectured by my grand-father that this was not Italy and to please, bring that towel back in the bathroom immediately. How peculiar that was considering there was no neighbour or passer-by to see that towel hanging. Of "inside the house", I have few memories. Oddly enough the clearest is that of the water closet. A fantastic and interesting hiding place. It had windows on all three sides of the room and although there wasn't much happening in the garden I remember I liked to stay there and watch, and think. Also the little room was home to the collection of Readers' Digest. I was reading them for hours as we had no magazines at home. I was very often ordered to vacate the facility ;) I also remember helping my grand-mother with some chores, like doing the dishes. We were to clean them before putting them in the dish-washer (go figure), and we were to dry them thoroughly afterwards.
The fragrance of Pleasures, by Estée Lauder, makes me travel back to Edinburgh in Scotland, some 12 years ago. I was wearing that perfume when I was studying there. A whiff of Pleasures and I find myself walking down Lothian Road, turning toward the restaurant Fat Sam and waiting at the bus stop to go to college. The wind was cold, so cold it was biting my ears. But the smell of the perfume was around me because of the wind. I returned to Edinburgh several times, since then, and made sure to bring the perfume with me.
The smell of the henna hair conditioner by Timotei turns instantly my bathroom into one of the shower cabins I was using in March 2005 when I was vacationing in New Zealand. For example, I often find myself in the shower block at the awesome and original Napier Prison Backpackers. One thing leading to another, at least for the duration of the hair care, I can revisit any part of New Zealand that I know from the fabulous 3-week holiday.
Of the numerous perfumes I wear, there is another one that brings me memories. L'Eau d'Issey (it sounds like "l'Odyssée") by Issey Miyake reminds me of Roslindale, of Boston, of Amy and our huge collection of good moments. I had it when I was living in the US and A and I had several others, one of which (the Rose Essentielle by Bulgari) made Amy a little nauseous (sorry!). I took L'Eau d'Issey with me to the hospital where I gave birth to Adrien, because a colleague of mine had advised me to bring a perfume that I like. Her theory being that a familiar and pleasant smell fosters wellness and good spirits. Now, the smell of this fragrance reminds me of Adrien, of his godmother Amy and of the places I was when he was growing inside me.
Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:15:34 AM
funny, work, w3c, IRC
Dom nous fournit une excellente explication du concept de datespace, sur IRC, suite à la question d'un de nos stagiaires:2008-04-10T07:55:05Z <seb> c'est quoi un datespace ?
2008-04-10T07:56:27Z <dom> c'est un logement qui, au lieu d'avoir
une cuisine, un salon, une salle de bain, a plein de petits placards
au milieu desquels tu tombe par hasard sur un pommeau de douche, une
cuisinière, un coussin, etc
2008-04-10T07:56:41Z <dom> l'avantage, c'est que tu n'as jamais de
problème pour ranger quelque chose de nouveau
2008-04-10T07:56:55Z <dom> l'inconvénient, c'est que tu ne sais jamais
où est ton lit quand tu en as besoin
2008-04-10T07:56:59Z <dom> mais bon, on peut pas tout avoir
2008-04-10T08:00:00Z <seb> hum ok
2008-04-10T08:01:17Z <dom> (moins métaphoriquement, c'est une méthode
d'organisation d'un site web utilisée sur le site du W3C où les
ressources sont organisées dans des répertoires du type /2008/04/ )
2008-04-10T08:03:54Z <seb> aaaaaaaaaaah
Friday, December 21, 2007 9:59:38 AM
adrien, dream, baby
I had a rough night as the baby was fussy. After hours of holding and cuddling he fell asleep in my arms and I didn't dare take him to his bed.
I fell asleep with him and I had this dream that we were grocery shopping and that strangers around me were nannies.
I was riding the bus to the grocery store. As soon as I was out of the house I had forgotten what I needed from the store. But I stayed on the bus and then went in the store. I picked stuff from the shelves, selected fruits and vegetables, wondering what it was I had meant to get, and not remembering.
Then I noticed a woman was holding and gently rocking a baby next to me, and it was my baby. I thanked her for holding him for me and took him from her. We took the bus to go back home. I looked in my bags and realised I had forgotten to get some basic items. As the bus route was a short one, we would be back to the store pretty soon. I waited.
A baby sound caught my attention in my back and I turned to see a man was smiling at me, holding my baby. I smiled back, thanked him for his kindness and took the baby back with me.
The dream carried on, much like what it had been so far. We were back in the store, I noticed a new person was holding Adrien while I was quickly shopping. Then back on the bus where a new nanny was suddenly sitting next to me and handing me the baby, just as I had realised I had forgotten to get stuff. And I woke up to the sound of Adrien crying (and warming up to wail...). Just like now, in fact.
Nobody talked in this dream, but me. And there was no other sound other than my voice and that of Adrien.
Friday, December 7, 2007 1:48:00 AM
baby, life, home life
Nine months ago, I had no idea that the words meconium, vernix or colostrum existed. I knew about labour, epidural, delivery, but the notions were very abstract.
My son is now fast asleep. We've been back home for a week. The hospital kept us for 6 long days ; Adrien had lost more than the usual 10% of his birth weight. He was born on 23 November at 7:37 p.m., 13 days ago. That was less than a half hour after they took me to the delivery room and an hour after we arrived at the hospital. There was no time for an epidural, as I made it all the way to 9 centimeters by the time I got there. I thought I might have the baby in the car! We left home in a hurry. It was time to go, suddenly, as the contractions were happening every two minutes. All day I had had them, every 10 or 15 minutes, sometimes every 5 minutes, but not for two hours. I had had them the night before too. In fact, they started in the afternoon the day before. I was attending the last birth preparation class and I started to experience contractions in the middle of it.
I had a wonderful and easy pregnancy. I was hardly tired and the only nuisance, really, was having to go to the doctor's every month. Only three weeks before the end did I start to walk at a slower pace. I was still at work 2 weeks before the end (only I thought I would have three weeks).
Adrien arrived a week in advance, on 23 November 2007, at 7:37 pm. He weighed 2,990 kg and was 49,5 cm tall. His father held my hand and encouraged me through it all. And since then, he's been as fantastic as ever, helping me and supporting me with the baby.
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