adventures in oh-la-la land

Hello everyone - For quite a while now, I've been getting very tired of Livejournal. Ugly ads everywhere, and the blog just doesn't look as good on Windows as it does on my mac. 

So I've moved the blog to Typepad: http://adventures.typepad.com/blog

I won't be updating here in Livejournal anymore, and once I've migrated all my content over to Typepad, I'll be shutting down this page. 

See you in Typepad!

Just for fun : a couple of silly videos making fun of Lamb of God by the ever excellent Andy Rehfeldt





And a death metal version of "What a wonderful world" : the music isn't that great, but the syncing is so well-done, it's hilarious!

Tonight, I went to the Lamb of God show in Brussels, and really had a great time.

Lamb of God put on a seriously excellent show, and I was very impressed with their live sound - very heavy yet well-balanced - not muddy or earsplittingly painful, and technically, everything was clean, perfect with just the right amount of aggressivity. These guys are excellent musicians, and you can really hear it. The setlist was good, though a bit short - I wasn't ready for the concert to be over. They played a lot from their latest album, Wrath, but mixed in some things from earlier albums too. 

The supporting acts were interesting - Between the Buried and Me, August Burns Red, Job for a Cowboy - but I'm not completely sold on any ot them yet. The groups' sound wasn't as good as Lamb of God's, of course, and I think that has a lot to do with it. It all gets muddy so quickly if the sound isn't perfect.

The AB, the club where the show was held, is a cool place - I'd like to come to more concerts here. They have a couple bars, with a DJ in the main hall after the show! It was a clean venue, and a lot more organized than the Bataclan in Paris, for example. The concert space itself is really cool - there is a mainfloor with standing-room only, a balcony with seats and railings going all the way up around to the stage, and a third level with railings all the way around too. So you really have a lot of options, and that, along with the responsive audience, made for an excellent ambiance.

After the show was over, I got some coffee and hung out in the bar a little bit. Then I waited outside their bus for nearly 2 hours - absolutely freezing in the -2 celsius weather! I was able to talk a bit with one of the guitarists, Willie Adler, and the bassist, John Campbell. They were really friendly! Of course, they mentioned how surprised they were that I don't look like a metalhead. They were also quite surprised when they heard my American-from -Indiana accent - it was probably the last thing they were expecting. 

I mentioned to Willie, the guitarist, that I would have loved to have heard The Faded Line, and he talked about how difficult the song is and that they haven't played it live in quite a while! 

The bassist, John Campbell, was a really interesting and talkative guy - we chatted for quite a while! We discussed Gojira (he thinks they're incredible, describes them as laid-back hippies) and Mastodon (he says they're hilarious guys, especially Brent, and also, he's been listening to Crack the Skye for the longest time now). 

I asked him what he thought about European audiences compared to American audiences - and he said, well, the shows are a lot cleaner in the US! He also described the crowds as being a bit crazier, and he thinks it has to do with the fact that people live in such close proximity to one another here. I thought that was an interesting observation. 

We also talked Guitar Hero (!), about residency cards for living in Europe, and about the big 4 tour in Europe this summer (he would have loved to have been a part of that). 

I was really happy to meet these guys - talking with them a bit really added a lot to the evening. I would really have loved to meet the other guitarist, Mark, but apparently he's a bit of a recluse! Oh well.



John Campbell and I, with the requisite devil horns, of course. He was funny, because after we took the picture, he laughed about how he always does the same face / gesture for all his photos. 
 

While on a walk in my neighborhood:

Found: the number 26
(one of my favorites - I see it in a nice combination of orangey-red and deep magenta)

The end to this nightmare is in sight : my driving school is finally allowing me to take the practical driving exam here in Nice at the end of February!

As most of you know, this is pretty incredible: I've had a really difficult time with the director of the driving school I'm at. Plus, it is just so difficult to drive well enough to pass the exam here in Nice. The examiners are notoriously picky, and pass rates are at the most 65% for the best schools in Nice. Personally, I think it's all a scam, but hey, the whole system works that way. Even the proposed reforms that may soon be voted probably won't change very much.

I took the exam once already, in October 2008, and failed... for excessive slowness!! I had a hard time believing that too, don't worry.

Since I first began working towards getting the license - back in 2007 - I've spent over 2000 euros and 50 hours taking driving lessons... even though I've had my American license for over 15 years!!
I will credit my driving school with teaching me a lot of extremely useful defensive driving techniques. I do think I've learned to drive a lot better and more reactively than before... but this all seems just a little bit ridiculous.

I had to take about 20 hours of lessons with the director of my driving school, a deceptively nice lady who gets hysterical for nothing, who loves stomping on the brake for reasons apparent only to her, blocking the brake with her foot when she thinks you're braking too hard, and who gets kicks out of knocking aggressively on the windows to remind you to check blind spots. That jarring noise alone practically gave me a few heart attacks!

Luckily, I was able to switch instructors, and now I'm working with a younger girl. She's acceptibly gruff at times but is overall so much easier to drive with. I'm just hoping she'll be with me in the car when I take the exam - instead of the evil director.

So keep your fingers crossed as the big day comes up. If I can finally get this silly French driver's license, it would make life so much easier... and I could finally start thinking about getting a Smart instead of just dreaming about it!

So I really think that most of the "folk metal" out there is quite corny. The other day I came across a video by Korplikanni, a finnish folk metal group, and just could not stop laughing. At the beginning of the video, I swear the violinist pops out of an outhouse! And of course there's lots of metal posturing ("we're mean and scary") going on... with lyrics that go :

There's men underground
Who have never seen the sun
But they really know how to party

Hilarious!



I generally dislike any type of folk metal to no small degree, especially pirate metal. Yes, unfortunately it exists - there's a hilarious Scottish group called Alestorm!! I understand the appeal of singing along with these songs at a pub or whatever. But it's just not my thing.

However, I did come across this gem the other day : the Swedish Chef singing "Beer Beer" by Korplikanni, accompanied by Animal on the drums. What a PERFECT video. great syncing, great music choice, everything.
Looks like there may be a good use for Korplikanni after all.

Last night, Mastodon played a show in Phoenix, and scheduled a signing session at a Best Buy store there. Since I couldn't be there, I asked my sister R. and brother-in-law E. if they would mind going to get some autographs! I wasn't sure if they would go, with their busy schedules and not being fans and all. But they did - and even took their little girl, E.!

Here they are with with Bill (guitar) and Troy (bass, vocals) from Mastodon. So cool!!

On a walk in my neighborhood this past weekend....

Found: some great rusty textures



Found: a built-in slide






Found: cement donuts and rusty bars X 5= tasty!





Not found: 
one pair of glasses 
black and red frames with little value, 
but extremely expensive lenses...

This has become so true lately - and not just with books or other purchases. I've thought about this a lot when traveling - I choose hotels or apartments that get good reviews (on the internet or in a guide book or wherever). I plan vacations or excursions based around other peoples' suggestions and reviews - even though they may not have the same expectations I do.

Of course these comments and suggestions are always helpful, but I find myself like Kerri - checking everything out fully before making any reservation or purchase! I've found this to get tiring and stressful - just planning a short trip somehow becomes a huge, life-changing question - should I reserve a bed and breakfast that no one has commented on or has recommended? Of course, some of these comments can be very helpful, but is it necessary to verify every little detail?

I like this idea of not over-checking all the available info and taking some chances, not over-planning a trip or purchase. I'm going to keep this in mind as we start planning our next few trips... Brussels in December and Phoenix in early January (although those trips require less planning as I'm staying with friends and family), and then we are planning to go to Greece in May.

Today we visited Dolceacqua, a small mountain village in Italy. It's a really wonderful place to explore, and has a lot of charm. Judging from the number of French tourists we passed, it's a popular place to visit on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

We had lunch on the more modern side of the village (modern, meaning that the buildings date from the mid-1800's to early 1900's!). The restaurant was really good - O. had spaghetti with clams in garlic butter, and I had risotto with cepes, then coffee and tiramisu for dessert.

Then we went exploring through the medieval village, with its low arches, winding stone stairs, twisting narrow walkways through the labyrinth of tall, narrow houses. The bridge leading to the medieval village is a spectacular structure - I really loved the asymmetrical shape.



Above the medieval village, there is a castle in ruins, and several short walking paths in the hills.


Some men sitting around and chatting while watching a ball game in the medieval village square.

This is my buddy - my upstairs neighbors brought him home just a few weeks ago, but I still don't know what his name is! He spends all day alone, and hangs over the side of the terrace meowing when he gets bored - it's hilarious! Then when I pop my head over the side and look up at him, he gets all excited and tries to come as close as he can. But the way our building is made, there is no way that he could ever come down to my terrace.

I wish I knew what his name is! But I don't even really know what our neighbors look like, so it will probably be a long time before I find out.

Last week, my little Canadian friend S. and I finally met up for coffee! We ended up really hitting it off, and stayed for lunch as well. He's very interesting, and well-versed on so many different topics! And then there's his stories too, from when he first moved to Nice with his wife 40 years ago, to living in NYC back in the 60's and getting his first Vespa (he's on #13 now).

I also lent him the book Portugese Irregular Verbs... which is the first in the series that I was reading the day we met in the tram. I think he's going to like the dry sense of humor in the book and the way that it pokes fun at the stuffy academic types. 

So this was the first time S. and I met. Before we'd just talked on the phone and sent each other letters. This is why I always talk to people in the bus or the tramway - you never know who you're going to meet! 

There's a great little article in the St. Petersburg Times about Margaret Priebe, an 85-year-old grandmother who's a huge Metallica fan. She's going to the band's October 3 show in Tampa with her son. 

The article describs how while Margaret was fighting cancer - and getting chemo - she'd stay up late listening to Metallica on her MP3 player, especially the band's live recording with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. 

She says, "I like Metallica - there's nothing wrong with them. People think I'm weird. But I'm sorry, I like it loud."

What a great story! 


UPDATE : 
Turns out she's getting a backstage pass to meet the band! 

This weekend, we had some friends stay with us on their way to Corsica. J. is going for a year to Corsica as a teaching assistant in a primary school English class, and her friend M. is going along with her for a week or so to help sort out things like finding an apartment.

It was fun hanging out and talking - M. is French but she speaks incredibly fluent English, with this awesome american accent because she spent 3 years in the States. I always like the code-switching that goes on when you mix languages like that. It's interesting to see that some subjects are better to talk about in French - especially when you're talking about things relating to life in France - and other subjects are better in English.

J. brought me a nice surprise - some organic peanut butter with no additives or extra ingredients, just ground peanuts! That is one of the things I haven't been able to find here in France, and that I miss. You can get Skippy and other British brands of peanut butter, but they're just not the same.

So this afternoon, I had a nice little snack of toast and peanut butter. And as I was struggling with peanut butter stuck all over the roof of my mouth, I remembered this classic "got milk" commercial from the early 90s (I think). I've always loved this one!

The Villa Arson is a national art school located here in Nice. They have great exhibitions all year long, and many good artists have come through there. I discovered the school during my Master's degree courses, as we were lucky enough to have 3 weeks of classes there. It's located in the north of Nice, on a very unique site that's completely 70's, very calm and the ambiance is quite creative.

We went to see the latest exhibition at the Villa just this weekend, and they were having a special open house where you could visit the whole grounds. Part of the médiathèque was open, and I was able to speak a bit with one of the girls. I learned that it is open to the general public - not just to students and professors! They have a huge collection of books and audiovisual material covering the full range of art movements.

This is great news, because there is some work space and you have access to the entire collection (though non-students can't borrow books). Once the school year starts, I've decided that I'll go work in the médiathèque once or twice a week - it'll be a great way to get out and do something a bit different, perhaps meet some interesting people and also use the collection do some research for my experimental art class. Plus, there's a bus that stops in front of my place... and stops right in front of the school!