Instantanés

Stay in bed

I hung last night and the tomato soup started to stick at the bottom of the pan. It was not that bad but I needed to add some water so in the end, the taste was flat. The main course seemed to be ok but I did not taste it. But I completely missed the dessert, stupidly, though It was very simple. I finished to prepare the meal for the next day at 23:30 and of course I went out after that because a friend of mine was celebrating the fact that he’s leaving the city for a few months. But I was not alone and a drink after another, we went easily drunk. And the morning after, go to work but check the dessert first. Can’t serve that at the dining table, sorry. What should I do ? chocolate mousse ? no eggs ; apple tarte ? no fruits and don’t forget here is a bank holiday so everything is closed. But I had to go to work and I made myself sandwiches, like almost everyday. And of course, the only day I should not forget them, well, I did. So I have nothing to eat and I am (obviously) hungry. I must work until late, no dessert for the dinner, house not cleaned, so if you see what I mean, sometimes, really, you should just stay in bed !

Baby I'm a fool

Blindness

Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles (CITY OF GOD) brings Jose Saramago's much-loved novel Blindness to the screen with this ambitious adaptation. Like Saramago's book, Meirelles chooses to forfeit names for his characters, instead spinning Blindness around the plight of a doctor and his wife (respectively played by Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore). A Blindness epidemic strikes an unnamed city, forcing the government to put many citizens in quarantine, including Ruffalo's doctor. Unable to conceive of life without him, Moore's character feigns blindness and joins him in the grimy high-security institution where visually impaired citizens are kept. Their attempt to survive in the rotting facility, which quickly falls into disrepair and chaos, forms the backbone of Meirelles's movie. There's a twist in the tale as Ruffalo and Moore's characters struggle to lead the blind to a place where they can come to terms with their condition, and Meirelles makes the journey deeply unsettling. An impressive cast ably backs Ruffalo and Moore, including Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Alice Braga. Their performances give a palpable feeling of what it's like to be blind, and even provide a few moments of dark comedy as they stumble through the institution in which they're imprisoned. Meirelles's movie, which essentially functions as an allegory for societal collapse, is an alarming and often distressing look at the dark side of human nature. The director often saturates the film with milky white color, reflecting the bright light the blind see when the condition besets them. This glare often makes it difficult to look at the screen, inflicting Meirelles's audience with a feeling of momentary Blindness. An atmosphere of tangible dread manifests itself as Blindness progresses, and the ugly scenes of rape and brawling, largely caused by the meager food rationing among the blind, makes for emotional viewing. I can’t tell I didn’t like the movie. I did. The thing is, I was disturbed by it and there are things I didn’t really understand. For example, why the character played by (excellent) Julianne Moore, is the only one not to be blind ? Is it because we need a witness to help us visualize reality ? or to show you that, even if you’re the only one not condemned, you don’t really have a choice and life can be miserable as well ? I never stopped asking me those questions, not really sure where the director wanted to bring us. I didn’t read the book, so I can’t tell if my sense of this would be different. Nevertheless, It shows how bad can the human be, against himself. From one case, It goes to hundreds and thousands and then all human behaviors turn to beasts. Interesting and I truly think, this is the way It could happen as soon as human does not have any rules to obey anymore. Actually, scary. Strangely, the least thing you care of in this film, is the Blindness by itself. It’s not that we need some explanations, It just that people seem to accept their fate and adapt as quick as they can. And only one character plays a real blind. I guess there are too many feelings in this movie and the director had to make a choice at some point. And then, when everything seems to get worse, they find a way and build a new home and they will see again, as strangely as they became blind at the first place. I was disappointed by the end but It had to have one. Worth seeing anyway.

Instantanés

The wall's fresco

Berlin makes itself a present with a new dye, meaning that the authors of the pictorial fresco that covers one side of the post-fall of The wall, ode to the reunification of both Germany, have to work again. They paint a new time their work which should be finished by the 9th, November 2009. Decorated in 1990 by 118 artists, came from 20 countries, this fresco, named “East side gallery” is 1,3 kilometer long on the river Spree. Please do not forget sandwiches and something to drink. It is situated on the East face of the “anti-fascist protection wall”, virgin of any inscriptions before the opening of the frontiers, It became the support of the works carrying messages of peace and hope. During those 20 years, time and lack of maintenance contributed to its degradation and It is sometimes even difficult to distinguish graffiti that hide the paintings. 86 painters answered positively to the invitation of the association while others always refuse to come to Berlin to restore their ancient “work” if they are not paid 15.000 € instead of the 3.000 € planned. Needless to say, forget about the artistic production for “free” peace in 2009.

Armida Premiere 5.4.2009

Armida

"That lovers have to overcome horrible obstacles in the opera and that the power of love prevails against all reason sounds familiar to us. But what happens, when the heart's enemy consists of the own fear, the fear to lose control and the fear of one's own abysms? Beautiful Armida, blessed with infernal magic powers, has immobilised the armada of the enemy crusaders. Only Rinaldo, the keenest Christian hero has resisted. Torn between fascination and fury, Armida vows vengeance. However, when she finally captures Rinaldo, she cannot kill him. Blinded by shame for her own weakness, she calls her demons to send Rinaldo to »the end of the world«. Armida appeals deeply that hate, liberates her from her love but finally she has to surrender to the strange feelings. After a short period of common happiness the curse of hate comes true: Rinaldo, gripped by ambition, leaves Armida to devote himself again to typically male duties". Gluck presents love as a feeling between self-abandonment and self-fulfilment, embedded in a psychological drama. "I admit that I would love to finish my career with this opera", wrote Gluck. I was invited at the Première (happy me) at the Komische Oper but frankly said, I never been a fan of the composer and I confirm my choice. Though I admit the singers are good, I didn’t like the scenery, the naked men (beautiful ones but nothing to do in the opera except attracting voyeurs), the constant change of decoration sets, and non-senses during the play. Though the people of Berlin likes very much those alternative interpretation, I truly think the choreographer has to do something agains his sexual traumas instead of bringing them in public. It’s not that I am against some provocation but if there is too much, you just don’t pay attention anymore to the opera, you get confused, you’re not interested anymore, you want to leave as quick as you can because you have something better to do, like having a drink round the corner. Just to be nice, I guess, most of the conservative part of the public applauded while another part booed. But they all met at the bar to eat the free butter pretzel (I was there too !) and (I’ve been told later) dance all night emptying the bar.

Instantanés

Snax

True, I didn't talk to you about the Snax party I went to the last saturday. I didn't tell you there was a Snax party this year but It's like Christmas, every year is the same at the same time of the year. So this year was the same ... and a bit more. Like every year at the same time of the year, It is also the birthday of a good friend of mine here. Tradition makes it that as a birthday present, I buy the entry ticket for him. Other friends of mine were coming from different places and I was happy to go there in the hope of meeting nice people around. We went a group of 4 to berghain around 11:00 p.m., opening of the doors. Well, actually, It was already full. There was 3 entrances, one with pre-paid tickets (us), normal entrance and the public party at the Panorama bar but both not connected. I wore for the occasion (and probably the only time of the year) my leather trousers, very uncomfy needless to say, and very warm as well for such a party. But I came in the first one of the group, thinking that everyone will follow. But I ended up alone at the vestiaire because two of my friends were not allowed to enter the room because of the wrong dress code they had (actually they had nothing fetish, that was the mistake). I remember last year, It was not that strict. The choice was 1) you go back home to change "clothes" or 2) you get your ticket reimbursed. I had no mobile, I didn't know what happened, I spent most of the evening alone, meeting people I didn't want to meet, not meeting people I wanted to meet, drinking shitty warm G&T, smoking too much, looking at this cattle market, too warm, too dusty, too sweaty, too stinky, sad sex everywhere (like the pig party last september), forget, no point, I'm leaving. And finally downstairs, I met one friend and his man from Austria. And finally I see my other friends coming. We shared a drink (or two maybe) but I had enough, the mood was not there, the energy neither, It was time to go back home. I'm rather sure next year I will not go, meaning I have to find some other birthday present.

Instantanés

Never ending discusses

Are you pro or contra the intimate removal of hair ? For centuries, this subject is in the middle of the storm. We have the pro-hairy, who wants strong values, and the pro-hairless, who want freedom. Nowadays, majority of occidental women think that It is necessary to shave in parts or totally the genitals. A lot of them (45%) think men should do the same. But, only 10 years ago, those practices were considered with such a mistrust that some beautician refused to take care of men and some even refused to take care of women asking to shave the anus. This mistrust regarding hair’s removal still exists. In 2007, reactions were big when some razors to use intimately by men went on the market … when they all almost do. You have to understand that this actions of men, shaving their parts, is seen as a threat to masculinity. Simply because men should be hairy and women hairless. You will lose the anthropological and cultural marks and It is seen as a negative abnormality, sign of a drift of the customs and on the contrary, sometimes positively, sign of an aspiration of a freedom for the body. Opinions about removal of hair are very stereotyped. Pro or contra. Which sounds funny because I don’t quite understand who can tell me something about my personal choice related to my individual taste. First reaction : “there is too much money in our country and we don’t know what to do with it”. Second possible reaction : “I recommend the total removal of hair. You feel good and fresh”. Third reaction, cynical : “we are so bored in our cities that we have nothing else to do than to shave our pubic hairs”. Fourth reaction , with nostalgia (and a bit of homophobic feeling) : “I do not wish this drift to androgyny, our society does not have any marks anymore”. Fifth reaction , a bit like the fourth but less stinky, the one which sees in removal of hair a level to virile aesthetic from the porn movies : “these are the consequences that boys look too much porn since they are children”. So, to make it short a bit brutally : virility, and hairs to straight men – the real, hard ones – and the hairless bodies – to gays. It seems that the debate about hairs focuses on the opposition between feminine-masculine. The worse is that It lasts for centuries. Pline, during Antiquity, said that what perverts the Empire is those feminine removal of hairs and other things. Cesar was pointed many times because he liked to be strictly shaved. The satiric poet Martial wrote a poem about depilation. “When you depilate your chest, when you shave your legs and arms and the hairs around your dick, sure you think of your girlfriend. But who are you thinking of when you depilate your asshole ?” Martial, by any means, seems to forget that a lot of girls like to lick this part of male intimacy as well. So we see, intimate depilation is never well seen through History. It’s repetitive and virulent. And It’s not because you will depilate your pubic hairs that It will make your dick bigger.

Instantanés

Eiffel Tower

Today 120 years old, the Eiffel Tower, one of the most visited monument of the world (in 2008, 6.390.000 visitors), will recover a beauty but as usual, with a brown colour. Some of the tourists, interrogated last week, It’s about time to change : blue, green, gold or pink salmon … A team of 25 painters, all unsensitive to vertigo, will apply the 60 tons of paint, « totally ecological », on the 250.000 square meters of the surface of the Parisian tower, high of 324 meters (with antennas). « Our challenge is to repaint the Eiffel Tower and to maintain it permanently without never closing it to the visitors of the entire world” says the president of the tower. The « iron lady » is opened 365 days a year, paint campaign or not, elevators being repaired or not, work or not. The tower is built is material, quasi eternal, for it is painted frequently. Since 1899, the paint is done every 7 years. So this is the 19th campaign. Since 1968 the colour is « Eiffel Tower brown », chosen because of its harmony with the parisian landscape. This colour is made in 3 tons, from the darkest for the base, to the brightest for the top, so from the ground, it looks homogeneous. « It’s the colour that suits the best to the Eiffel Tower, maybe its most beautiful dress, at least, that’s what say the directors, the photographs, the lovers of Paris, the Parisians, all of those who like the Eiffel Tower, since now 40 years. That’s why we decided to definitely keep the brown” says president. In the past, the tower has been brown-red, brown-ochre, varied yellow, brown yellow and red-brown. The painters, often climbers, don’t take any risks. They are equipped to work on the structure and use systematically “life lines” cables so they can move having a point of attach. And brushes are attached to their arms to avoid any fall on visitors (who would have thought of that ?). And, as it was from the time of Gustave Eiffel, there is no pistol paint, only traditional methods. They start by the top of the tower and finish by the base (what a good logic), following rigorous processes. Rust is taken care of and then comes steam cleaning (high pressure), cleaning of defects and then two layers of paint. They say the paint is the essential element to help preserving a metal work and the cares given to it are the only guarantee of its duration. Because the tower undergoes rust, birds excretions. One day, It will have to be cleaned, completely. Meaning cleaning 200 tons of the previous works, which is nothing compared to the total weight of 10.000 tons. In order to celebrate its 120 years of its opening to the public, 2 months after the universal exposition in 1889, there will be in May an exhibition, before a firework in July, concerts, and 120 school classes invited : many events to help passing on the tower to the future generations.

Instantanés

Get bigger

Not a single day wihtout receiving in your email spams promising of a huge body change. Almost all men dream to increase the size of their penis. Please find hereunder the list of surgeries, gadgets, creams and magical formulas to make it bigger. In Thailand, some make silicone injections to have a bigger sex. Those injections cost 2,50 USD per cubic centimeter of silicone. And they are highly toxic. The government already alarm people and threaten butcher-doctors but in vain. Hundreds of fashion victims sacrifice each year their sex only for the appearance. Some of them died. The penis expanders, they say, give after only one week of use a “a horse penis”, “a sex bigger than the Jeff Striker’s one” or “a penis equal of the one of a rutting bull”. In reality, thanks to depressurization, those are only pumps, which give a blood influx and an erection … rather average. Some gay porn movies use the penis expander as the ultimate erotic gadget : cold, disinfected, medical, the image is more related to the metal hardcore fetishists. Plastic surgeons make goretex implants under the skin of the penis or inject fat of your own body. This is called the lipo-filling technique and it is taken by lipo-aspiration, tempered and filtered in nutritive environment and then injected under the skin of the penis to make it bigger. This technique is today recognized to be the most reliable. This fat is liquid, so only a part of it will be fixed by your body (about 60%) and the rest will be absorbed. Advantage : we can correct in the future the form of the dick with a second injection. It can make your penis increase of 3-4 cm of cir(cum)ference (sorry, could not help it), rest or erected. You can find in every sex shop of the XXIth century, some developing cream with magical properties, and sold with big names such as Develop Sex, Mega Penis, Kolossal, Maaxi Male or Giga Man and so on. How to become prince charming ? “daily massage your sex with our cream will increase its volume and develop the diameter of your penis” say the instructions. “External applications, morning and evening, you will get an impressive dick, vivified and new”. Those products are of course totally useless. But see the good side : your sex is not getting better but It encourages you (if you’re a man who read those lines of course) to masturbate. You can also wear a small armor for penis. You put it like you would do it with a condom and it covers completely your dick. Sometimes it is decorated with warrior piquots or brilliant folds. Sometimes, It’s only a tip for your penis’ head or It can also be a dildo-belt for man, which allows you to have sex with more volume : the prosthesis is 21 cm long. Sometimes, It’s also delivered with a pump. You have to inflate the toy so you manage to put your dick inside in a narrow conduit. “Put in this soft interior of this dildo, your penis drives then the Rolls of the fuck. The flexibility of its body allows you every position and when you try its vibrating power …”. Sometimes you have to put it around your hips with a rubber. In India, following the ancestral methods, we rub the dick with a decoction of urticant herbs and juice of liana, the whole thing mixed with butter. Effect : It hurts. Irritated, your penis has double volume and it lasts several weeks. Advantage : It’s red and swollen. Inconvenient : even when you have sex, you don’t feel anything but pain. To increase the length of your penis of about 2-3 cm (mostly visible resting), surgeons suggest a surgery, but it is relatively delicate : they cut the ligament suspensor of the dick, the one which is fixed at the pubic bone, the part, hidden behind the balls. Sometimes, they even suggest to cut a part of the skin, at the level of the scrotum, which connects the dick and the balls. Those parts are then apparently separated. “The quality of the erection, the angle of the erection, the ejaculation, the sensibility, are not modified”, they say. This surgeon needs to be hospitalized 2 to 4 days, and It is not allowed any sexual activity at least for a month.