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Monday, June 30, 2008
A HUGGGGGEEEEEEE THANKS to Antipodesse from Sheer Naughtiness
Here's my email to her:
Hi Christine,
WOWWWW!!! I can't believe I found you!! My friend, Helen (a Kiwi) told
me about this website and I found you right away... It's been soooo many
years! How are you all doing? I am sure the kids are all grown by now!!
I still have a letter you sent to me years ago and tried writing to the address
but never heard back so I figured you moved... I hope you are all doing well..
I live in France now.. Outside of Paris... I got married a little over two years
ago to a very wonderful French man and I moved from California here to France
and now it's home for me!!
Take care and I really hope to hear from you again... I have thought
about you over all these years so I will be happy to regain contact..
Take good care,
Leesa the American girl who lived with you in July 1985!!
me about this website and I found you right away... It's been soooo many
years! How are you all doing? I am sure the kids are all grown by now!!
I still have a letter you sent to me years ago and tried writing to the address
but never heard back so I figured you moved... I hope you are all doing well..
I live in France now.. Outside of Paris... I got married a little over two years
ago to a very wonderful French man and I moved from California here to France
and now it's home for me!!
Take care and I really hope to hear from you again... I have thought
about you over all these years so I will be happy to regain contact..
Take good care,
Leesa the American girl who lived with you in July 1985!!
Here's what she wrote back to me later on that day:
Hello Leesa,
What a SHOCK!!!! But a fantastic one. Would you thank Helen from me? I have had your photo on the fridge in the kitchen for years wondering where you were, but knowing we would be in contact one day. I've also been looking for you. I wrote to you as well but never had a reply, so I thought the letter may have got lost or you had moved on. I meet some American people through a friend and asked them if they could find you for me when they went back home, but they couldn't. What was the website?We live in Hamilton, just down the road a bit, south of Auckland.
The girls have grown up some what. You rang me just after Rachael was born, that was nineteen years ago. She has left school and working. Colette is seventeen and still at school.
Congratulations on your marriage, and have a great life together. Wouldn't it be great to have a second honeymoon here in New Zealand??
Take care of yourself. Great to hear from you at last, after all this time. JUST FANTASTIC.
Luv,
Christine
I am not ashamed to admit that I watched Ice Princess yesterday. I am not ashamed because it was on the Disney channel, and I was straightening my hair so it’s not like that was my purpose.
I do like Michelle Trachtenberg as I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and she played the only series late comer in TV history that I actually forget is not in the first few seasons of the show, and I enjoyed her in Euro Trip, so I was interested in seeing what she’d do in another harmless kids movie.
This is a very odd movie in concept. Casey (Trachtenberg) is a high school senior interested in getting into the physics program at Harvard and with some encouragement from her uber-feminist, college professor mom begins a scholarship project where she’ll break down the physics of figure skating. In a desire to make what she’s learning personal Casey begins to take classes herself only to uncover a hidden talent that she must hide from her mother who thinks that figure skating is an affront to feminism.
Perhaps the oddest thing to me in this movie is Tina Harwood, the ice rink owner, former figure skater turned coach played by Kim Cattrall. This character is Casey’s encourager until she nearly bumps her daughter out of regional’s so she sabotages her by tricking her into wearing new boots on the ice and mangles her feet causing her to take a spill mid-program. Then after Harwood’s daughter drops out of figure skating out of disgust with her mother and desire to pursue something she actually likes Casey asks Harwood to coach her.
All in all, I know this is a movie I would have loved if I were a kid still. It would have filled my head with fantasies and I would have thought about it every time I managed to go ice skating. Despite the oddness of the story, it isn’t a bad movie, it’s just not that entertaining if you’re over the age of 11 – or a boy.
Director: Tim Fywell
Writer: Hadley Davis
Casey Carlyle: Michelle Trachtenberg
Joan Carlyle: Joan Cusack
Gen Harwood: Hayden Panettiere
Tina Harwood: Kim Cattrall
Teddy Harwood: Trevor Blumas
Tina Harwood: Look, I'm sorry, but when the CIA wants to learn new dirty tricks they observe figure skaters and their moms.
I do like Michelle Trachtenberg as I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and she played the only series late comer in TV history that I actually forget is not in the first few seasons of the show, and I enjoyed her in Euro Trip, so I was interested in seeing what she’d do in another harmless kids movie.
This is a very odd movie in concept. Casey (Trachtenberg) is a high school senior interested in getting into the physics program at Harvard and with some encouragement from her uber-feminist, college professor mom begins a scholarship project where she’ll break down the physics of figure skating. In a desire to make what she’s learning personal Casey begins to take classes herself only to uncover a hidden talent that she must hide from her mother who thinks that figure skating is an affront to feminism.
Perhaps the oddest thing to me in this movie is Tina Harwood, the ice rink owner, former figure skater turned coach played by Kim Cattrall. This character is Casey’s encourager until she nearly bumps her daughter out of regional’s so she sabotages her by tricking her into wearing new boots on the ice and mangles her feet causing her to take a spill mid-program. Then after Harwood’s daughter drops out of figure skating out of disgust with her mother and desire to pursue something she actually likes Casey asks Harwood to coach her.
All in all, I know this is a movie I would have loved if I were a kid still. It would have filled my head with fantasies and I would have thought about it every time I managed to go ice skating. Despite the oddness of the story, it isn’t a bad movie, it’s just not that entertaining if you’re over the age of 11 – or a boy.
Director: Tim Fywell
Writer: Hadley Davis
Casey Carlyle: Michelle Trachtenberg
Joan Carlyle: Joan Cusack
Gen Harwood: Hayden Panettiere
Tina Harwood: Kim Cattrall
Teddy Harwood: Trevor Blumas
Tina Harwood: Look, I'm sorry, but when the CIA wants to learn new dirty tricks they observe figure skaters and their moms.
For anyone who hasn't decided yet whether or not to attend the 4th of July/14 juillet Pot Luck Picnic at the Parc de Sceaux (Paris banlieu) hosted by yours truly... please take a look at my long list of home baked goodies -- it may make you decide to come, after all... : )
White chocolate oatmeal cookies
Peanut butter cookies
Ohio buck eyes (peanut butter balls)
dulche de leche brownies
walnut brownies
rice krispie treats
magic bars (7 layer bars)
butterscotch haystacks...
and maybe chocolate chip cupcakes!
I will also make some potato salad
and corn bread...
Hope you can make it... See you there!
Who didn't love George Carlin??? Rest in Peace, Man!!
The world of stand-up was rocked today with news that long-time fan favorite George Carlin died of heart failure at the age of 71. He will forever be remembered as the comic who made “The List“, which was the 7 dirty words you can’t say on television.
We're watching a program on tv right now about these costly things!! What do you guys think about this extra luxury item??
Feel free to make fun of me, I saw Iron Man yet again. No matter how much I see this film it entertains me.
However, this was the first time I’ve seen Iron Man knowing that Stan Winston is gone from filmmaking forever and that made me pay even more attention to the effects in the film.
I am still amazed that most of the Iron Man suit was practical (meaning a piece on set that actually worked, not CGI). Winston and his team found a way to make Iron Man mobile and present, and still look completely real and blend with CGI when necessary. It’s true that money solves most problems in movies, but that being said very few people in the effects industry would have even opted for making a working Iron Man suit as well as using CGI.
What grows on me more as well is Robert Downey Jr.’s performance. This is a flawed character that grows a conscience and it never once feels forced or fake. Downey makes a fantastic character feel believable and real, and I would rank his performance as Tony Stark up with Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne – both actors bring a much needed sense of depth and reality to what most people would write-off as “comic book characters”.
This may be the last time I see Iron Man on the big screen, but you can rest assured there will be another review or two once the film is out on DVD.
Agent Phil Coulson: I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: That's quite a mouthful.
Agent Phil Coulson: I know. We're working on it.
However, this was the first time I’ve seen Iron Man knowing that Stan Winston is gone from filmmaking forever and that made me pay even more attention to the effects in the film.
I am still amazed that most of the Iron Man suit was practical (meaning a piece on set that actually worked, not CGI). Winston and his team found a way to make Iron Man mobile and present, and still look completely real and blend with CGI when necessary. It’s true that money solves most problems in movies, but that being said very few people in the effects industry would have even opted for making a working Iron Man suit as well as using CGI.
What grows on me more as well is Robert Downey Jr.’s performance. This is a flawed character that grows a conscience and it never once feels forced or fake. Downey makes a fantastic character feel believable and real, and I would rank his performance as Tony Stark up with Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne – both actors bring a much needed sense of depth and reality to what most people would write-off as “comic book characters”.
This may be the last time I see Iron Man on the big screen, but you can rest assured there will be another review or two once the film is out on DVD.
Agent Phil Coulson: I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
Virginia 'Pepper' Potts: That's quite a mouthful.
Agent Phil Coulson: I know. We're working on it.
I have an irrational fear of large bodies of water & sharks; for this reason (among others) Jaws terrified me as a child. In fact I’ve completely blocked the first time I saw the film out of my memory. The second time I watched the film I was a teen and my brothers sat on either side of me, holding me down so I had to watch. Even then, I disliked the film because it scared me. I don’t remember quite when it happened, but somewhere between that viewing and film school I grew to appreciate Jaws as a well made movie, this led to me being able to view the film more and eventually buy it on DVD.
Now I genuinely think that Jaws is a filmmaking masterpiece; a film that shows what a genius like Spielberg can do, and how to make a truly terrifying picture. The film still works on my irrational fears, but I know that this is not why the film scares me, it scares me because it is masterfully crafted and executed.
The story of Jaws is simple. Chief Brody has just moved with his family to small Amity Island in search of a more peaceful existence than New York where he felt that he could never make a difference as part of the police force; Amity is a small town that relies on its summer tourist season, and the majority of the residents need profitable summers to exist the rest of the year. All is good on the island until right before the peak of the summer season a girl is killed in a shark attack, and rather than admit that the people of the island are in danger the town mayor refuses to let Brody close the beaches and hunt the shark which of course leads to more deaths before the town goes insane with greed trying to hunt the shark for money and finally Brody is allowed to do what he was attempting all along and hunt the shark without interference.
When Jaws was released in 1975 critic Roger Ebert wrote that Jaws is “a sensationally effective action picture, a scary thriller that works all the better because it’s populated with characters that have been developed into human beings”; this is probably the best description of why Jaws works that I have ever read, and it truly gets to the core of the remarkable talent of the filmmaker behind the movie.
No one can deny that the actors are amazing; there is no bad performance in the film no matter how large or how small. An entire essay could be written on the scene in the belly of the Orca where Hooper, Quint & Brody discuss their scars. However, I will save that topic for another viewing and instead move on to what no one expected from Jaws - Steven Spielberg.
Until Jaws Spielberg was only known for directing tv episodes, Duel, and Sugarland Express. People in the industry thought he was competent, but no one saw him as a directing force to be reckoned with. Spielberg did what so many filmmakers would not have the patience for; he made a film on the water, not in a tank like Cameron did with Titanic, but in the water at Martha’s Vineyard. The entire cast and crew were on separate boats for a majority of the film trying to tame mother nature, a mechanical shark and lighting conditions to get a good shot. Then the opening sequence of Jaws came on screen and by the end of the film people knew the name of Steven Spielberg.
Jaws is a classic. It’s over 30 years old now and I would not replace the rubberized mechanical shark with CGI any day.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Peter Benchley & Carl Gottlieb
Chief Bordy: Roy Scheider
Matt Hooper: Richard Dreyfuss
Quint: Robert Shaw
Brody: I'm tellin' ya, the crime rate in New York'll kill you. There's so many problems, you never feel like you're accomplishing anything. Violence, rip-offs, muggings... kids can't leave the house - you gotta walk them to school. But in Amity one man can make a difference. In twenty-five years, there's never been a shooting or a murder in this town.
Now I genuinely think that Jaws is a filmmaking masterpiece; a film that shows what a genius like Spielberg can do, and how to make a truly terrifying picture. The film still works on my irrational fears, but I know that this is not why the film scares me, it scares me because it is masterfully crafted and executed.
The story of Jaws is simple. Chief Brody has just moved with his family to small Amity Island in search of a more peaceful existence than New York where he felt that he could never make a difference as part of the police force; Amity is a small town that relies on its summer tourist season, and the majority of the residents need profitable summers to exist the rest of the year. All is good on the island until right before the peak of the summer season a girl is killed in a shark attack, and rather than admit that the people of the island are in danger the town mayor refuses to let Brody close the beaches and hunt the shark which of course leads to more deaths before the town goes insane with greed trying to hunt the shark for money and finally Brody is allowed to do what he was attempting all along and hunt the shark without interference.
When Jaws was released in 1975 critic Roger Ebert wrote that Jaws is “a sensationally effective action picture, a scary thriller that works all the better because it’s populated with characters that have been developed into human beings”; this is probably the best description of why Jaws works that I have ever read, and it truly gets to the core of the remarkable talent of the filmmaker behind the movie.
No one can deny that the actors are amazing; there is no bad performance in the film no matter how large or how small. An entire essay could be written on the scene in the belly of the Orca where Hooper, Quint & Brody discuss their scars. However, I will save that topic for another viewing and instead move on to what no one expected from Jaws - Steven Spielberg.
Until Jaws Spielberg was only known for directing tv episodes, Duel, and Sugarland Express. People in the industry thought he was competent, but no one saw him as a directing force to be reckoned with. Spielberg did what so many filmmakers would not have the patience for; he made a film on the water, not in a tank like Cameron did with Titanic, but in the water at Martha’s Vineyard. The entire cast and crew were on separate boats for a majority of the film trying to tame mother nature, a mechanical shark and lighting conditions to get a good shot. Then the opening sequence of Jaws came on screen and by the end of the film people knew the name of Steven Spielberg.
Jaws is a classic. It’s over 30 years old now and I would not replace the rubberized mechanical shark with CGI any day.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Peter Benchley & Carl Gottlieb
Chief Bordy: Roy Scheider
Matt Hooper: Richard Dreyfuss
Quint: Robert Shaw
Brody: I'm tellin' ya, the crime rate in New York'll kill you. There's so many problems, you never feel like you're accomplishing anything. Violence, rip-offs, muggings... kids can't leave the house - you gotta walk them to school. But in Amity one man can make a difference. In twenty-five years, there's never been a shooting or a murder in this town.
Let me start by saying that I know nothing about the comic book Wanted is based on. I couldn’t tell if it was a faithful adaptation, or a incredibly loose one.
That being said I enjoyed Wanted when I was in the theatre; the action is fun, James MCavoy is entertaining and I didn’t hate Angelina Jolie. However, the more I think about the film the more I dislike it.
What completely pulls me out of the film the more I think about it is the very premise. A few thousand years ago a group of weavers formed a society of assassins called “The Fraternity”. This is literal shuttle and loom weavers, not the name of some cool, covert group that calls themselves “weavers”. I was a bit confused, and later found out that this is not in the comic book at all.
On top of this it is explained that the assassins are not assassins for hire, but get their orders from “the loom of fate” – a giant weaving loom and when threads are examined it gives a code that translates into names and this orders a hit. I’m sorry, does this mean if I were to examine my carpet I’d find a hidden code that could spell doom for the fate of the world? I don’t get it, I think it’s dumb and again, I found out that this is not in the comic book.
Wanted is the typical tale of an average Joe who wants to be more and finds out that he is, it’s buried in his lineage. What follows is an entertaining if typical tale of intrigue, double crosses and mindless action. It’s not that it’s not enjoyable – it’s just a little thin.
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Writers: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas& Chris Morgan
Wesley Gibson: James McAvoy
Sloan: Morgan Freeman
Fox: Angelina Jolie
Pekwarsky: Terence Stamp
Cross: Thomas Kretschmann
Gunsmith: Common
The Repairman: Marc Warren
The Exterminator: Konstantin Khabensky
The Butcher: Dato Bakhtadze
Janice: Lorna Scott
That being said I enjoyed Wanted when I was in the theatre; the action is fun, James MCavoy is entertaining and I didn’t hate Angelina Jolie. However, the more I think about the film the more I dislike it.
What completely pulls me out of the film the more I think about it is the very premise. A few thousand years ago a group of weavers formed a society of assassins called “The Fraternity”. This is literal shuttle and loom weavers, not the name of some cool, covert group that calls themselves “weavers”. I was a bit confused, and later found out that this is not in the comic book at all.
On top of this it is explained that the assassins are not assassins for hire, but get their orders from “the loom of fate” – a giant weaving loom and when threads are examined it gives a code that translates into names and this orders a hit. I’m sorry, does this mean if I were to examine my carpet I’d find a hidden code that could spell doom for the fate of the world? I don’t get it, I think it’s dumb and again, I found out that this is not in the comic book.
Wanted is the typical tale of an average Joe who wants to be more and finds out that he is, it’s buried in his lineage. What follows is an entertaining if typical tale of intrigue, double crosses and mindless action. It’s not that it’s not enjoyable – it’s just a little thin.
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Writers: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas& Chris Morgan
Wesley Gibson: James McAvoy
Sloan: Morgan Freeman
Fox: Angelina Jolie
Pekwarsky: Terence Stamp
Cross: Thomas Kretschmann
Gunsmith: Common
The Repairman: Marc Warren
The Exterminator: Konstantin Khabensky
The Butcher: Dato Bakhtadze
Janice: Lorna Scott
Pixar has the market on making some of the best films that come out every year, not just the best animated films, but the best films. Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and every other Pixar film raise the bar for what is expected out of an animated film in terms of story and advancement of technology. Wall*E is no exception to Pixars standard of excellence.
The film centers on Wall*E, the last working clean-up robot on an Earth that has been abandoned by its inhabitants hundreds of years ago. Being alone for so long has evolved Wall*E from just a robot into a robot with a personality; he has a pet cockroach, he’s created a home in an abandoned truck which he has decorated with Christmas lights, and odds and ends that he’s found and he collects things that fascinate him from the rubbish he cleans and organizes including rubber duckies, spoons, forks and replacement pieces for him in case he is damaged. However, Wall*E is lonely and longs for companionship. Finally a robot probe named Eve is sent to Earth for a mission and Wall*E falls in love, and follows her back into space and discovers the human survivors.
Wall*E had some of the most spectacular animation I’ve seen yet from Pixar. There were times I could have sworn Wall*E was a miniature and not animation he looked so real. Unlike Happy Feet, Wall*E manages to blend moments of live action film into the film seamlessly so they do not stand out as glaringly outside the animated realm. I may not be sure why they chose to do so, but it worked visually.
The funny thing about my response to Wall*E is that my favorite part of the film is actually the end credits. I’m not saying that I didn’t like the film and was glad to leave. The end credits sequence was one of the most creative I’ve seen in a long time as they both continue the story of what happens after the “end” of the film and do so by showing the evolution of art from cave drawings to drawing with pixels.
My only problem with Wall*E is that it is essentially a message movie about the environment. However, the message is not slapped in the audiences face the way it is in a movie like The Happening so it is easier to swallow.
Director & Writer: Andrew Stanton
Wall*E, M-O: Ben Burtt
Eve: Elissa Knight
Captain: Jeff Garlin
Shelby Forthright: Fred Willard
Ship’s Computer: Sigourney Weaver
The film centers on Wall*E, the last working clean-up robot on an Earth that has been abandoned by its inhabitants hundreds of years ago. Being alone for so long has evolved Wall*E from just a robot into a robot with a personality; he has a pet cockroach, he’s created a home in an abandoned truck which he has decorated with Christmas lights, and odds and ends that he’s found and he collects things that fascinate him from the rubbish he cleans and organizes including rubber duckies, spoons, forks and replacement pieces for him in case he is damaged. However, Wall*E is lonely and longs for companionship. Finally a robot probe named Eve is sent to Earth for a mission and Wall*E falls in love, and follows her back into space and discovers the human survivors.
Wall*E had some of the most spectacular animation I’ve seen yet from Pixar. There were times I could have sworn Wall*E was a miniature and not animation he looked so real. Unlike Happy Feet, Wall*E manages to blend moments of live action film into the film seamlessly so they do not stand out as glaringly outside the animated realm. I may not be sure why they chose to do so, but it worked visually.
The funny thing about my response to Wall*E is that my favorite part of the film is actually the end credits. I’m not saying that I didn’t like the film and was glad to leave. The end credits sequence was one of the most creative I’ve seen in a long time as they both continue the story of what happens after the “end” of the film and do so by showing the evolution of art from cave drawings to drawing with pixels.
My only problem with Wall*E is that it is essentially a message movie about the environment. However, the message is not slapped in the audiences face the way it is in a movie like The Happening so it is easier to swallow.
Director & Writer: Andrew Stanton
Wall*E, M-O: Ben Burtt
Eve: Elissa Knight
Captain: Jeff Garlin
Shelby Forthright: Fred Willard
Ship’s Computer: Sigourney Weaver
I can't remember when I last painted macarons..?
It felt like time to get out the watercolors again...
#143B Cup of Hot Chocolate and Macarons, original watercolor, 9" x 11"
And get cracking!
Don't the brightly colored macarons look alot llike watercolor pans or is it my over-active imagination at it again..? Seeing macarons everywhere I look..
Now here is the REAL thing at Dalloyau. A plate 'o four...sigh
No-name macarons.. But who's to say these aren't just as good and the price is right! 
And they still look pretty even without a couture label.
Macs from PAUL...
Macarons from Gerard Mulot! YUMMERS 
Pierre Herme's lovelies...the big monster size too..a meal in itself.
Wouldn't we all like to be in her shoes..stepping out with her macarons in hand...
Wouldn't it be nice if you could buy macaron stamps that tasted like Pistachio? Does anyone lick stamps anymore? Did they stop all that after the Seinfeld show disaster (the wedding stamps that did in one of the characters fatally - what was her name)?Now who didn't finish their macarons? No crumbs left on the plate PLEASE.
BONJOUR PARIS
BONJOUR PARIS
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Through others... (blogs, that is)!!! Hey... I am just tooo busy at the moment to blog so my apologies! But, I have been managing to "LIVE VACAIROUSLY" through my fellow bloggers (special thanks to Sam)... it's been really nice just catching up on my blog reading and hearing what's going on this summer..
Ohhhh.. I missed PRIDE in Paris.. which I am bummed about, since I don't have ANY gay guy friends here in Paris... and about 80% of guy friends in Cali. are gay.... I always used to go to San Diego Pride every year to look see all the very buff and bare torso-ed really hot gay guys.. So, I am sad I missed the one in Paris.. Oh.. and yeah... in case any of you are going.. hmmm.. yeh.. I'm a "fruit fly" which is a term that I coined for a girl who always hangs out with gay guys... I can give you about a million and two reasons why they make a girls best friend.. but we all know why, so I don't have to explain...
Take care and bon dimance to everyone!!
Can't wait for Paris Plage to start this year as summer's already off to a very good start and France is back on my "A LIST" again!!!
Toodles......
Friday, June 27, 2008
I’m pretty darn sure that the first Robert Rodriguez film I ever saw was Desperado - and I watched it on VHS in full frame. But it didn’t matter. I was hooked. There is something about Rodriguez to this day that remains fresh, original and unlike anything you see coming out of Hollywood. His films are invigorating. Once I got older and stopped pretending film wasn’t my life I realized how truly remarkable Desperado was.
Desperado is Rodriguez’s second feature film, but his first made in Hollywood with a budget. In one rapid move Rodriguez went from El Mariachi where he used friends and favors to make the film, to having Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek as his stars in the sequel. The film, and the back story of how it was made, are simply amazing.
Desperado picks up a few years after El Mariachi and is the second part of Rodriguez’s Mexico trilogy – which Quentin Tarantino has called Rodriguez’s Man With No Name trilogy.
The film itself picks up an undisclosed amount of years after the events in El Mariachi, but just enough time to allow the legend of the Mariachi’s vendetta against the crime lords in Mexico to spread and ruminate, creating a sense of terror when his name is mentioned. Everyone is on the lookout for a mariachi dressed in all black carrying a guitar case, terrified that they’ll be his next target.
Our mariachi has gained several teammates or allies so to speak in the second installment including a sidekick played by Steve Buscemi who has my favorite scene in the film; his job is to lay down the mariachi lore in each town Mariachi goes to and he enjoys his embellishment. This is how the film is opened to audiences as so many people did not have the opportunity to view El Mariachi before the release of Desperado; Buscemi enters a scummy bar operated by Cheech Marin and Buscemi delivers an over-exaggerated firsthand account of having to survive the Mariachi’s attack at his last bar. A tremendous scene.
Mariachi’s other allies are Campa & Quino: two other trouble makers with guitar cases as well. Campa is played by Carlos Gallardo who was the actory that portrayed Mariachi in El Mariachi. These two show up just in time to help Mariachi destroy the town and the criminals in it.
The final sidekick that Mariachi is given in Desperado is Carolina played by Salma Hayek. At the beginning of the film she is a bystander while Mariachi is being attacked and he saves her life; Carolina reciprocates the favor as Mariachi is wounded in the exchange and she doctors him up. Banderas and Hayek are delightful to watch in the film; their chemistry is palpable and they bring almost an aura of Grant & Hepburn from The Philadelphia Story to the film.
For those of you that have never heard him sing, there is a musical number in the film and yes Antonio Banderas can sing.
Like him or not there is one thing that you have to admit about Robert Rodriguez: the man is the stuff of Hollywood legend. He will be remembered for decades after he stops making films because of how he got his career and went about making his films. He is a revolutionary individual.
Director & Writer: Robert Rodriguez
El Mariachi: Antonio Banderas
Carolina: Salma Hayek
Bucho: Joaquim de Almeida
Short Bartender: Cheech Marin
Buscemi: Steve Buscemi
Pick-Up Guy: Quentin Tarantino
Navajas: Danny Trejo
Campa: Carols Gallardo
Quino: Albert Michael Jr.
Buscemi: So, I'm sitting there. And in walks the biggest Mexican I have ever seen. Big as shit. Just walks right in like he owns the place. And nobody knew quite what to make of him... or quite what to think. There he was and in he walked. He was dark too. I don't mean dark-skinned. No, this was different. It was if he was always walking in a shadow. I mean every step he took toward the light, just when you thought his face was about to be revealed... it wasn't. It was as if the lights dimmed, just for him.
Desperado is Rodriguez’s second feature film, but his first made in Hollywood with a budget. In one rapid move Rodriguez went from El Mariachi where he used friends and favors to make the film, to having Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek as his stars in the sequel. The film, and the back story of how it was made, are simply amazing.
Desperado picks up a few years after El Mariachi and is the second part of Rodriguez’s Mexico trilogy – which Quentin Tarantino has called Rodriguez’s Man With No Name trilogy.
The film itself picks up an undisclosed amount of years after the events in El Mariachi, but just enough time to allow the legend of the Mariachi’s vendetta against the crime lords in Mexico to spread and ruminate, creating a sense of terror when his name is mentioned. Everyone is on the lookout for a mariachi dressed in all black carrying a guitar case, terrified that they’ll be his next target.
Our mariachi has gained several teammates or allies so to speak in the second installment including a sidekick played by Steve Buscemi who has my favorite scene in the film; his job is to lay down the mariachi lore in each town Mariachi goes to and he enjoys his embellishment. This is how the film is opened to audiences as so many people did not have the opportunity to view El Mariachi before the release of Desperado; Buscemi enters a scummy bar operated by Cheech Marin and Buscemi delivers an over-exaggerated firsthand account of having to survive the Mariachi’s attack at his last bar. A tremendous scene.
Mariachi’s other allies are Campa & Quino: two other trouble makers with guitar cases as well. Campa is played by Carlos Gallardo who was the actory that portrayed Mariachi in El Mariachi. These two show up just in time to help Mariachi destroy the town and the criminals in it.
The final sidekick that Mariachi is given in Desperado is Carolina played by Salma Hayek. At the beginning of the film she is a bystander while Mariachi is being attacked and he saves her life; Carolina reciprocates the favor as Mariachi is wounded in the exchange and she doctors him up. Banderas and Hayek are delightful to watch in the film; their chemistry is palpable and they bring almost an aura of Grant & Hepburn from The Philadelphia Story to the film.
For those of you that have never heard him sing, there is a musical number in the film and yes Antonio Banderas can sing.
Like him or not there is one thing that you have to admit about Robert Rodriguez: the man is the stuff of Hollywood legend. He will be remembered for decades after he stops making films because of how he got his career and went about making his films. He is a revolutionary individual.
Director & Writer: Robert Rodriguez
El Mariachi: Antonio Banderas
Carolina: Salma Hayek
Bucho: Joaquim de Almeida
Short Bartender: Cheech Marin
Buscemi: Steve Buscemi
Pick-Up Guy: Quentin Tarantino
Navajas: Danny Trejo
Campa: Carols Gallardo
Quino: Albert Michael Jr.
Buscemi: So, I'm sitting there. And in walks the biggest Mexican I have ever seen. Big as shit. Just walks right in like he owns the place. And nobody knew quite what to make of him... or quite what to think. There he was and in he walked. He was dark too. I don't mean dark-skinned. No, this was different. It was if he was always walking in a shadow. I mean every step he took toward the light, just when you thought his face was about to be revealed... it wasn't. It was as if the lights dimmed, just for him.
Dear ex-pat Suzanne in Paris sent me this exquisite Limoge miniature dolls tea set this week. I tried to paint it but...forgettabout it! Not a snowball's chance in Hell I could paint this gold set :(
But doesn't it look like Marie-Antoinette's daughter could have played with it?
From the show at the Grand Palais, here is M-A's adult-sized gold tea set...
And you could buy this travel tea set in the museum gift boutique...for a gazillion euros...
LOOK at this romantic transfer on the blue tray above...
Doesn't it look just a bit like this en famille portrait of Marie-Antoinette?
I love this portrait of M-A at her drawing lesson - in those days you had to draw! It was de rigeur, bien sur.
Portrait heads of Marie-Antoinettes hair dos...
AH HA! And her famous diamond necklace. Excuse the blur...
Back to the gift boutique, you could buy a version of her diamonds...
They did not have anything like this gold embossed, enameled armoire (at least I think it's an armoire..please correct me) in the gift shop... Quelle domage! Now this I would have bought!
Marie-Antoinette's travel chest or hope chest or something or other...You can see just how dark it was inside the exhibit...
BiscuitBear bought this adorable period dress for her daughter and you can see her wearing it on Flickr. Charmant!
Why didn't I get this mignon T-shirt???
You know I did get these Laduree macarons at the end of the show bien sur! BONJOUR PARIS!
My friend, Johnny now lives in an apt. with a great view in Waikiki! He's living his dream!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
HOLY COW!! I am "planning" on going to Dubai in Dec/Jan. It's an amazing place.... This is proof!!
This weekend I watched a pivotal independent film for the first time - El Mariachi. This is the film that put Robert Rodriguez on the map, that she shot across the border on money he raised from being the test subject in medical experiments, and shot with luck, friends, and no crew.
Knowing just the pieces, and the basic back story (Rodriguez was a 23 year old film student when he made this film) any sane human being would have believed that what Rodriguez was going was a giant waste of time and money instead of the industry revolution that it was. Rodriguez used real people, not actors. He wasn’t able to record synchronous sound, but recorded most of it later. He didn’t have the time, money or resources to pad his squibs so when his actors were “shot” the pain on their faces was real. Anyone would have told Rodriguez (and did tell him) that this project was doomed to failure, but Rodriguez managed to prove everyone wrong.
For those of you that haven’t seen the film here’s the concept.
A young Mariachi comes to a small Mexican town looking to find work as a Mariachi and follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he goes door to door from café to restaurant looking for work with his guitar case in hand. The problem is that this small town is home to Moco, a drug dealer & criminal who is being hunted down by Azul, his former partner who he ratted on and got sent to prison – and tried to kill. Azul is out for revenge on Moco and has just landed in this small town; he too goes place to place exterminating Moco’s men.
The only one that has ever seen Azul is Moco and he describes him as wearing all black, and carrying a guitar case loaded with weapons. Unfortunately, this is the same description for our Mariachi only his guitar case carries a guitar. A case of mistake identity ensues that leads our mild mannered Mariachi into a world of criminals and corruption and takes his guitar playing dreams from him.
The concept his pretty far out, but just grounded enough by performance, location and action that it works. This movie is very real, which is probably attributed to the fact that most of the scenes were shot in one, maybe two takes, giving the actors little chance to over analyze and rethink they’re reactions. And it’s original enough to attract attention. Everything that is Robert Rodriguez is present in El Mariachi.
I had the privilege of hearing Tarantino and Rodriguez speak prior to the release of Grindhouse. One of the things Tarantino said is that Rodriguez has succeeded at creating what was Francis Ford Coppola’s original vision for his company American Zoetrope; Rodriguez has managed to form a filmmaking system separate from Hollywood where the artist reigns supreme and creativity is not diminished. This all started with a little ambition, $7,000 and El Mariachi.
Director, Writer, DP, Editor & Producer: Robert Rodriguez
Mariachi: Carlos Gallardo
Domino: Consuelo Gomez
Moco: Peter Marquardt
Azul: Reinol Martinez
Every Paris visit I try to stop by Au Nom De La Rose...
Yesterday Lynn reminded me of an old watercolor I'd done on Au Nom...
Time to look at roses again, especially now that they are out there everywhere you look...
And who does roses better than Au Nom de la Rose in Paris?
Maybe they're the best rose sellers on the planet..?
Where else can you feel like you're invited into someone's private garden while still standing in the street?
And their prices aren't extra-terrestial either..
Oh THE ROSES!!! 
Multi-colored bouquets...
Are these peonies mixed in..?
Breathe in the scent...YUMBONJOUR PARIS!
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