Lazy Summer

      As you all know from my previous posts I was on vacation for a few weeks and I am just starting to get back into the routine. This is my third week back and it is still rough going. I have not been writing much lately so this morning I have decided to do a wrap-up post of the things that have caught my attention in the last month or so. 

      Let me start with the primaries in the United States where Mr Obama won, he will be the Democratic candidate, it was bye bye Hilary after all. It is definitely a good thing that the Democrats have settled on a candidate, but can they win the election that is the real question. The Republicans may steal the election again as they did with Al Gore, and recount and recount the votes. 

     The Democrats also need to be concerned about their own supporters. Some of them need to be controlled so that they stop saying negative remarks about the candidate when the journalists are listening. I really hope that the Democrats can pull it off, but we will have to wait till the fall for the outcome of all this.

     What else has been going on lately; there was a G8 meeting this week. In my opinion these meetings do not lead to a whole lot. The leaders all get together, they have a good time and they make a bunch of promises that do not really get honoured. It is just a lot of posing for pictures for the medias.

       Sometimes they even invite the poorer countries of the world, like the African nations to come to the G8 meeting and they make a bunch of empty promises to them as well. How nice of them ?? 

     In other news, Ingrid Betancourt and fourteen others were rescued from the FARC last week, in what was an amazing operation led by the Colombian army. Bravo Senor Uribe! I want to take a moment here as well to mention the courage of these hostages and the strength of spirit that they represent. Mrs Betancourt was held by  the FARC for six and a half years and some of the others were there five and a half years, incredible that they survived.

     Hopefully all this will lead to more negociations or rescues and all the hostages will be freed. The FARC may be holding as many as one thousand people in the jungle.  

      Here at home not much is going on, it is a lazy July and we are not seeing many politicians. The only political infighting is in Quebec City, that is holding celebrations for its four hundredth year anniversary. As always in Quebec, the fights are about who is sitting where, who is getting in the spotlight, and who said what. What makes all this complicated is the fact that Quebec City is still a part of Canada.

     This causes a problem especially for the Quebec separatists because they see the federal government as taking a role that is too large in the celebrations. The only problem I see with this arguement is that no one really complained when Canada gave them millions of dollars to help with the celebrations. 

      One more thing before I wrap up here, the new Coldplay CD has also caught my attention lately. I have not picked it up yet but I have heard a few tracks and they sound very good. Coldplay has been around for about ten years and this is their fourth studio CD. Coldplay’s style can best be described as alternative rock or as BritPop. They have been influenced by numerous bands I think and their music has influenced others as well.

      It will be a good summer CD I think. I invite you to take a look and listen on their Youtube channel.  The first video that plays is their new single ” Violet Hill “. It is a very good song and a pretty funny video as well. 

    Well that is all for now, this has been a rather long post, I will try to get back to a regular writing schedule soon.

La Musique

     Music is everywhere in France, you can always hear music playing somewhere in the background. They even have a day dedicated to the celebration of music, called La Fête de la Musique that is an event across France. It is on June 21st, the same day as the start of summer.  It is a great way to celebrate music and summer at the same time. 

     France has a great musical traditional, with so many great artists, and songs. I could mention hundreds of artists here and as many songs, but I will just choose one that was popular while I was there. 

    He is an artist named Calogero who is a singer/songwriter and who has a very successful single called ” Danser Encore ” these days. This song is a single from his fifth album(Pomme C) that came out about a year ago.

    Monsieur Calogero has been involved in the music business for over fifteen years, first with a band called Les Charts and as a solo artist for about eight years now. He has been successful with both careers and also as a songwriter he has written hits for other artists. 

     For more information on Calogero please follow this link and to view for the video for ” Danser Encore ” , please click here.

Monumental Paris

     One of the things that is very striking in Paris is that everything is grandiose. It is the city of monuments of all types and they are all large.

     There are so many, I would say that the most impressive are the Eiffel Tower and the Arche de Triomphe. If I were to choose between the two, I say the Arche is more grandiose.

     I pick the Arche because it is just older and not as modern as the Eiffel tower, it represents an older period of Paris. It just sits there at the end of the boulevard Champs-Élysées and beckons you to walk over to see it. I was just as awestruck by the Arche this visit as I was the first time I saw it, twenty years ago.

     There are definitely many more monuments in Paris, I am mentioning just a few here. There are all the museums, the churches, the bridges, the statues, and the numerous war monuments of recents wars and older victories.

     Paris is an old city with a very rich history. When you compare Paris with North America, our history over here is so young.

     To see more Paris monuments as usual the link on the right.

Cafe Life

     Well as I promised, here is the first post about France, but more specifically about Paris. One of the things that I observed about Paris is the cafe life that exists at every street corner it seems. 

      Every neighborhood has numerous cafes/bars that are lively and busy most of the times. These cafes are a place for people to get out and socialize, something that we seem to do less of in North America. 

     People are there to get a coffee, have a beer, get a glass of wine, even get a bite to eat and of course to socialize and converse. These cafes make Paris what it is. Some of the cafes are more famous and well known than others, but they are all a part of the Paris cafe life.

    To see more cafe photos please follow the My Photos link on the right sidebar.

Pebble Beach

 

      Well I am still jetlagged so I am not sure what time it really is, so I have been working on organizing our pictures. I just finished posting the pictures from Paris and Nice.

     If you are interested in seeing them, please follow the My Photos link on the right sidebar or you can just watch this short beach video from Nice. 

     I may write posts about the trip tomorrow, or is it really tomorrow now. I think I am going to go to bed. What time is it ?