Man with a glove by Titien

L'homme au gant, par Titien, est un exemple de l'élégance masculine au XVIeme siècle. Paris, musée du Louvre.

Man with a glove, by Titien, is an example of masculine elegance in the XVIth century. Paris, Louvre museum.

Alexandra Fau, Histoire des tissus en France, Editions Ouest-France, 2010

Il cinema neorealista ricordiamo Rosselini e De Sica

Roma citta apperta is playing at the MK2 quai de loire in Paris on Sunday 28th November at 11 am.




Even if you don't really understand Italian, I'm sure you must enjoy reading it!

La dolce vita è finita: Cinquant'anni di cinema italiano

... Tra gli autori più famosi del cinema neorealista ricordiamo Roberto Rosselini, regista di Roma città aperta (1945), un dramma-documento delle ultime tragiche fasi di liberazione del fascismo, e di Paià (1946), che tratta dello sbarco delle truppe alleate in Sicilia. Ma il film forse più amato e imitato dai registi successivi è Ladri di biciclette (1948), di Vittorio De Sica. Questo film racconta la vicenda di una famiglia che vive ai margini della società; una famiglia coinvolta in una lotta disperata per sopravivere in un mondo in cui la solidarietà umana sembra soffocata...

Lettura from my Italian text book: Habekovic and Mazzola, Insieme, an intermediate italian course, McGraw Hill, 1998.

Giving a new life to my books ***the journey begins***

I look at my books every day, letting them rock me, guide me, educate me, influence me, inspire me, uplift me, depress me... They surround me and keep me company.
Some I have read, even reread, but many have never been opened. I just enjoy their presence.
Most of these beautiful words and photos console me on difficult days. Bring me up and keep me up. Send me off on wild journeys. Give me new ideas and keep my imagination alive.
This evening, I thought about it and came up with the idea of writing a post about each of them, to have them feed me more regularly. I will then be able to say, at least, that they have all been opened. Maybe not all read but opened and having something of interest, to me, extracted from them.

The first three books will be:
- Histoire des tissus en France by Alexandra Fau (History of fabrics in France) - PARTLY READ
- Boutons by Loïc Allio (Buttons)- BROWSED

There will be interruptions here and there when I can't stop my hands from writing about an exquisite embroidery designer, a delicate florist or a catapulting dancer.

"...révérer l'infiniment grand..." Dostoïevsky

“Ce dont l’homme a bien plus besoin que de son bonheur personnel, c’est de savoir, ainsi que de croire à tout instant, qu’il existe déjà quelque part, pour tous et pour le tout, un bonheur parfait et serein… La loi entière de l’existence humaine se résume à ce que l’homme puisse toujours révérer l’infiniment grand. Si l’on enlève aux hommes ce qui est infiniment grand, ils cesseront de vivre et mourront désespérés. L’homme a besoin de l’illimité et de l’infini tout aussi bien que de la petite planète où il habite.”


Les Possédés Fédor DOSTOÏEVSKI

wisteria to wish you a happy week!!

photo from the blog an apple a day

not quite the right season but I like the colour, it's representative of my mood today.

who wants to make garlands?

These garlands are made in San Francisco by the ladies at Studio Choo. It reminds me of being in India. When will I go back to India? I do miss it.
It's Halloween, a perfect opportunity to make garlands, is it not? Have fun!!

Festival d'Automne rhymes with Merce Cunningham

For some reason I always end up choosing a choreography by Merce Cunningham during the Festival d'Automne in Paris. Is it the element of chance?
This year I get to see three in one evening: Pond Way (1998) with the decor by Roy Lichtenstein and the music by Brian Eno, Second Hand (1970) with the music by John Cage and Antic Meet (1958) with the decor by Robert Rauschenberg and the music by John Cage .
Merce Cunningham must be the most celebrated contemporary choreographer to this day.
He was known for continuously expanding the boundaries of dance through his experimental methods, such as injecting an element of chance to his performance and elaborating a computer software to help with the asymmetrical patterns and the spatial structure.
Could I be lucky enough to see the Roaratorio (1983) inspired by Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake'? It will be showing at the Théâtre de la Ville mid-November.
second photo courtesy of Anna Finke