If anyone still reads this thing, I come home in 2 weeks, see ya!

Midsummer's Night

As it always is with summer, I usually don’t know what day it is. I finally looked at a calendar to find out the day and turns out, yesterday was the day after the American Father’s day, but not only that, it was the summer solstice. In France, all the cities take advantage of the longest day of the year and have a grande fête de musique. Local bands play in every corner of the city, all different types of music- jazz, blues, metal, techno, rock, or chanson just hangin out together from one medieval street to the next. And if that wasn’t already dizzying enough, there’s capoeira and African dancers moving bodies like acrobats to huge African drums, and even some shirtless men spewing lighter fluid up into the air, playing with fire and scaring old ladies.

One band played “I shot the sheriff” and even though their next line was a little off, “but I did not shot the deputy,” I thought they were definitely the best show. But words, especially properly conjugated verbs don’t always matter in music. Trying to interpret French accented English through put-on accents is just another level of entertainment for an English teacher. An impersonation of a southerner or a black man by a five-foot-three, balding Frenchmen who thinks of foie gras as a standard appetizer, is amusing to me. But I was happy to drink cheap beer in plastic cups and listen to live music again just like the old Sewanee days. Plus there was the joyful scene of adorable little children hand-in-hand dancin and runnin around just in front of the band, right there with the drunken uncoordinated hippie youths and the smell of splifs in the air. Good night.

still procrastinating

While trying to piece together an exam for my literature students tomorrow I came across this poem by Wallace Stevens and I feel like he wrote it about me sitting here just exactly as I am, even though it's a Monday night. (oh and "peignoir" is like robe)

Sunday Morning

Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.
She dreams a little, and she feels the dark
Encroachment of that old catastrophe,

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And in the isolation of the sky,
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
Downward to darkness, on extended wings

Eurovision

Eurovision happened on June 3rd and you may be asking yourself, what's that, a 3-D amusement park ride in EuroDisney? No. It's Europe's annual light-hearted and flamboyant, yet highly nationalist song contest. Unlike like American idol, several groups opt for a style that really displays national pride with traditional costumes, folk music, and dance while others really go for more Eurotrash-friendly pop sound. But honestly these are like the C and D list musical groups of Europe, most don't hit every note or dance completely in step, and usually the commentators even make sarcastic remarks about what's going on, which adds to it's sheer silliness. Of course France was one in a handful who didn't sing in English. Each country cannot vote for itself, but it does tend to vote for geographically and culturally similar countries, especially all the former Soviet, Eastern block countries. Points are pretty much fixed from years of alliances, irregardless of actual talent, though this year the most points went to Germany's winning song, which wasn't hilarious enough and could pass for a typical pop song on the radio.

My personal favorites were Maldova and Greece. (Watch them below, they'll probably make your day) though a Kate Nash/Kristin Stewart impersonator from Germany won the thing.

Maldova


Greece


Germany-winner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMnizConyVI

Can't stop listening to this song today. It's French and from 2008 and to warn you the rest of this band's music sounds like the Offspring to me, but I think this one song is awfully redeeming.