Better Velib It

Each morning I climb boulevard Pasteur to Place de Catalogne, my Velib vanquishing all others, leaving young and old alike in its wake. Then comes the realization: it is- technically speaking- a "girl's bike," bereft of a top tube. With this boyhood recollection comes the overwhelming urge to clothes-pin some baseball cards onto the seat stay to pluck the spokes.

Culinary Delicacies of France #231: Ass Chicken

May Day, May Day, May Day

Search Deeply Your Soul

"Die" Zu (大豆)

Over the holidays we had friends visit from Japan. Among the culinary delights they brought with them were several types of miso paste impossible to find here in France. Actually, at the moment all miso paste found in the supermarkets here are from outside Japan (predominantly USA) due to the Fukushima nuclear accident. The French don't mess around when it comes to regulating food quality/safety. We just finished our guest's favorite variety of miso paste in a soup tonight when my wife noticed a promotional sticker on the lid of the container, reading: "Made with soybeans and rice from Fukushima prefecture." Bon Appetite! This kind of "promotional" sticker represents an aspect of Japan I really don't care for, the jingoistic, right-wing sentiment that you should all take a bullet for your country or, in this case, eat some radioactive miso... Ever since the Fukushima crisis people have been encouraged to eat products from the area which logic tells them are probably not safe; doing it for the sake of Japan (日本のために) is what's important. No thank you, I do remember how Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Gamera and the gang came into existence.

Down For The Holidays

Recent graffiti, rue de Lourmel, Paris 15ème

Inappropriate Body Language

Note the pronounced pelvic thrusting on this illustration from the paper sac of a Parisian boulangerie/patisserie. Depravity! Would you expect any less...?