tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83889856180595151022024-03-08T04:48:34.417-08:00Retiring out of AmericaJudith said "We're only old once." So we sold/gave away everything we'd accumulated in America and moved to Paris... and overheard some years later:
P1 "Elles sont pas fraîches vos idées"
P2 ""Comment ça elles sont pas fraîches mes idées ? Je vends des idées de Lutèce, moi môssieu ! J'ai le respect du client !""Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.comBlogger295125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-49924806386749159942022-04-12T04:56:00.001-07:002022-04-12T04:56:14.827-07:00One Final Post ~ 12 April, 2022<p>Today we celebrate our 10th year of being here.</p><p>A lot has happened over the decade.</p><p>But because everything around us and in our lives is now normal I find I'm pretty much talked out. No words of wisdom. No more jokes. No humorous highlights. </p><p>Nope. Nuttin. It's sure been fun, though.<br /></p><p>I'll leave this blog on-line for the foreseeable future. </p><p>Thanks for reading.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51947211976/in/dateposted/" title="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022"><img alt="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51947211976_2fb9cac3c1.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-87759689789677044522022-04-03T01:56:00.002-07:002022-04-03T01:56:51.176-07:00Nose *boops* and all that...<p>I think this will be the second to the last blog entry I will make here before putting my rambling blabbering living in Europe comments on ice. But as I go, I'd like to share a couple things.</p><p>The subject of this post is nose *boops*.</p><p>My wife had friends over for tea, so I headed out to see the <a href="https://www.salon-agriculture.com/" target="_blank">Salon International de l'Agriculture</a>. It is held just down the street from where we live and I wanted to be away for a few hours to give Jude time to enjoy the company of her female friends.</p><p>The Salon is a farm show like only the French can put on. The animals are beautiful. The farmers seem passionate about what they do.</p><p>I started in the Pavillon dedicated to bovines. It was good to see that the animals had gotten used to the vast throngs of folk wandering around and petting the beasts that were within reach. I didn't want to add to the reaching and touching, so I let them be and just took photos and admired the living beings as they were.</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51942308775/in/album-72177720297364721/" title="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022"><img alt="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022" height="334" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51942308775_432f0b8292.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <br /></p><p>One calf took a long look at me and came over to nose *boop* my hand. It'd been a long time since I'd been *booped* by such a cute animal. The last time was when we were in Nice and we went to see a very special guard dog who's domain happens to be a classic car shop. Our guard dog is a tiny little teckel a poil dur. He melted our hearts on first sight three years ago and try to visit him, to the delight of his owner, each time we're in town.</p><p>Returning to the Salon, not long after being *booped* by the calf I saw that a parade of Charolais cattle were being returned to their pens after putting on a show in a ring nearby. </p><p>I knelt down and took photos of the passing animals when one big guy, he must've been easily 1500kilos, came ambling along. What a magnificent animal he was, too.</p><p>He pulled up just in front of me, took a look my direction, and just stood there as if to say "Hi. I'm here for my photo, thank you." After a few moments and dozens of photos I stood up. He seemed to realize the photo was "in the can" and he could move along.</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51943881840/in/album-72177720297364721/" title="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022"><img alt="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022" height="313" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51943881840_baa0ddff57.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <br /></p><p> </p><p>The young lady who was guiding him back to the stall said he knew how to "ham it up" for the camera and she, too, thanked me for taking his photo. I felt as if I'd been nose *booped* from a distance by a princely beast.<br /></p><p>Spread across several Pavillons the show can be a little difficult on tender feet. There was so much I wanted to see, but knew I couldn't take it all in. One Pavillon I wanted to see the most was where the horses were kept. I headed over to have a final look at things.</p><p>The show ring didn't seem to have much of interest going on, so I wandered the aisles and had a look at how everyone was doing.</p><p>Just as in the bovine Pavillon I happened to be on an aisle when a show let out and handlers were bringing their animals back to their resting places. The horses were parading by when one headed my direction, and *boop* went his nose against the shoulder. The young lady who was guiding him said her horse liked me.</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51945302231/in/album-72177720297364721/" title="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022"><img alt="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022" height="334" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51945302231_314c105aed.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <br /></p><p> </p><p>It would be interesting to do a study of nose *boops*, their frequencies, the reasons behind them, and what might be their effects on humans. But I will leave that for another more interested generation to sort out.<br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-79207291978007804402022-04-01T00:45:00.002-07:002022-04-01T00:45:33.942-07:00Today's Weather Forecast ~ 1 April, 2022<p>Snow.</p><p>Yes. You read it right.</p><p>No fool'n. Big. White. Fluffy. Flakes. Of. Snow. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51945377693/in/dateposted/" title="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022"><img alt="Salon International de l'Agriculture, Paris ~ 2022" height="334" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51945377693_b43cf5e6e1.jpg" width="500" /></a><i><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>No.</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>This is not snow.</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>But if you step outside and look up,<br />it kind of looks like this right now.</i><br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-35181004389044034282022-03-12T03:00:00.003-08:002022-03-12T03:00:44.900-08:00Fortune smiled, fortune frowned...<p>Living where we do, we absolutely know much how fortunate we are to live in
peace. There is mental space and physical safety to do the things we want, like write these little amount to nothing important blog entries. </p><p>Not
everyone has this
option these days. We receive daily reminders of this fact and it's
downright heartbreaking. People are being killed for a man's out-sized
sense of power, control, and entitlement. We wish peace for everyone.</p><p><a href="https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2022/03/moment-of-prayer.html" target="_blank">And the best of luck to Peter Turnley. He is in the Ukraine right now. </a> What he says about the refugees and the photographs he is making of them fleeing the war zone gives serious pause.<br /></p><p>------------------------- </p><p>The pandemic hit hard two years ago.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51795195172/in/album-72157720141571521/" title="Nice ~ 2021"><img alt="Nice ~ 2021" height="333" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51795195172_7cf5750c29.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <br /></p><p>We were in Nice when in early March 2020 <i>before</i> a nation-wide confinement had been declared when we contracted the dreaded CV19 virus. </p><p>We were laid low for two weeks. Thoughts were strange. Food took on a new and "interesting" taste. We were weak and ached all over. We had a dry cough. We dearly hoped the virus would stay out of our lungs and knew if it didn't that we were to call the doctor as soon as we could. </p><p>It was truly a scary time. Not much was known about the virus and we'd gotten caught up in the first wave of it. </p><p>The train back from Menton was filled with coughing sick people from Italy where the first wave of Covid 19 had entered Europe. A few days later, sick and coughing Italians were at a table next to us in a small cafe one morning. Sick and coughing locals were all around us during a concert at Notre Dame du Port. We didn't stand a chance.<br /></p><p>After recovering we learned that 80 percent of the people who contracted the new virus had effects similar to ours. It was the other 20 percent who got into trouble. A neighbor back in Paris contracted the virus and was in the hospital and rehabilitation for over four months. He survives, but he's not nearly what he used to be.<br /></p><p>Feeling fortunate, we wonder if dragging ourselves out to the balcony to bask under the Mediterranean sun an hour and a half a day during our illness had a positive effect on our outcome. Though, in truth, our odds were 4 to 1 that things would be OK.<br /></p><p>Due to the nation-wide lockdown we extended our stay another month. After having spent a total of 4 months on the cote d'Azur if felt strange flying back into Paris. People who did not live here were turned away. Large tour groups and many individuals were all sent back to flight re-booking desks and were blocked from passing immigration.</p><p>If there was anything that summed up the uncertainty of the time it was that our taxi driver was by his own admission Chinese. He refused to wear a mask, and he understood how the world was judging him.<br /></p><p>Come January 2021 and things around France had opened enough that we could make the TGV trip back to Nice to spend the winter there for the third year in a row. It looked like the virus was being brought under control. </p><p>Except it wasn't under control at all and due to another set of restrictions we needed to extend our stay another month. We also received our first rounds of vaccine, there.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51799289235/in/album-72157720141571521/" title="la colline ~ Nice 2021"><img alt="la colline ~ Nice 2021" height="333" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51799289235_2170827728.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <br /></p><p>Toward the end of our 2021 winter stay my family blew up and I scrambled to get things re-aligned so my father could return to living a healthy, happy, stress-free life. To put balm to our wounds from family troubles we decided it was worth returning to Nice for a fourth time to just "chill."</p><p>This meant that during the 2 year Covid Crisis (which at this point seems nearly over, what with the virus becoming endemic, finally) we spent 11 months out of 24 down south. We were practically locals around Port Lympia and la place Garibaldi.<br /></p><p>I realize it's not a bad way to spend a pandemic. Nice and the surrounding region is beautiful. No complaints there. Absolutely none at all. Fortune smiled.<br /></p><p>OK. We might grouse in an increasingly French way over the details and some of the unevenness of restrictions as they were applied, and the idiocy we saw first hand (ie: protests against vaccinations and mask), but we are still alive. </p><p>Two people in our immediate and extended families died from Covid 19. Fortune frowned.<br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-54191108257472908512022-03-09T04:37:00.000-08:002022-03-09T04:37:03.625-08:00Free to move about...<p></p><p>I recently groused to a friend in England that we were suffering so much from a "bunker mentality" that we didn't know how to behave now that things were opening up. He kindly offered to talk on a regular basis.</p><p>Before we could take he and his wife up on their offer it was as if the doors were flung wide open and our Dance Card was suddenly full. </p><p>Lunches out with friends. Salons down at la porte de Versailles. Photography exhibitions. Art exhibitions. More lunches with friends. Long walks through our city. Invitations to events and visits to more places that we could've ever imagined.</p><p>The need to show our <i>passes sanitaire</i> ends in 5 days. Mask restrictions are loosening up as well.<br /></p><p>It's as if someone told us over the intercom that "you are now free to move about the cabin." </p><p>I'm sure we'll remember how to live openly and freely. I just wonder who long it'll take for us to get over the constant looking back over the shoulder to make sure we're not being stalked by viral death.</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51924559182/in/dateposted/" title="15c. Italian Tarot Cards ~ Mairie d'Issy 2022"><img alt="15c. Italian Tarot Cards ~ Mairie d'Issy 2022" height="250" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51924559182_aaeebe4521.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-34797995026526761772022-03-07T09:38:00.004-08:002022-03-07T09:38:53.801-08:00Humans acting poorly...<p>Living where I do, I _know_ very much how fortunate I am to live in
peace. There is mental space and physical safety to do the things I
want. Like write these little blog entries. Not everyone has this
option these days. </p><p>I wish peace for everyone.</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51922392942/in/dateposted/" title="Musee d'Orsay, Paris ~ 2022"><img alt="Musee d'Orsay, Paris ~ 2022" height="500" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51922392942_3728fdfb6f.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <br /></p><br />Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-24673587211206558182022-01-10T01:44:00.000-08:002022-01-10T01:44:37.848-08:00Enjoying French sensibilities...<p> "<i>Aujourd'hui la culture de l'immediatete a tout prix me fait chier.</i>" <br />- Didier Bourdon, Gueuleton #5</p><p>I had to stop and think about it, but I feel M.Bourdon is correct.</p><p>As we enter the third year of this pandemic I've had a lot of time to sit and look and consider and ponder. These LCD computer and cell-phone displays filled with all manner of gunk and stuff and crap add nothing to life, do they?</p><p>This trend of disconnecting from the things that <i>me fait chier</i> started when I realized that Facebook was not some passive platform where I could meet old and make new friends. Rather, Facebook allowed lies to be published unchallenged as the basis of creating conflict that keeps users engaged through the social media platform.</p><p>I opt'd out over four years ago and the silence took some getting used to.</p><p>Then I shut down my Instagram and Tumbler accounts.</p><p>The lack of online "engagement" created space and time in my life. </p><p>I figured that if things went "sideways" and there were suddenly tanks in the streets that I'd know what to do. Until then why not go out and live and enjoy and "engage" life unfiltered, unmanaged, un-commented on, and as life really is.<br /></p><p>It feels so much better to go out and sit on the balcony that is lit under a winter Niçois sun and experience the Mediterranean sea... all the while looking forward to our return home and the promises and continued experiences of our simple, small lives.<br /></p><p> </p><p></p><center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51810797492/in/dateposted/" title="Nice Port ~ 2021"><img alt="Nice Port ~ 2021" height="167" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51810797492_9d597dfc4f.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></center><br /><p></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-3041317544290986432021-12-31T11:04:00.006-08:002021-12-31T11:04:47.448-08:00Happy New Year!<p> I very much enjoy Terry Pratchett's way of thinking and expressing things -<br /></p><p>“<i>It's amazing how good governments are, given their track records
in almost every other field, at hushing up things like alien encounters.
One reason may be that the aliens themselves are too embarrassed to
talk about it.<br /><br /> It's not known why most of the space-going races
of the universe want to undertake rummaging in Earthling underwear as a
prelude to formal contact. But representatives of several hundred races
have taken to hanging out, unsuspected by one another, in rural corners
of the planet and, as a result of this, keep on abducting other would-be
abductees. Some have been in fact abducted while waiting to carry out
an abduction on a couple of aliens trying to abduct the aliens who were,
as a result of misunderstood instructions, trying to form cattle into
circles and mutilate crops.<br /><br /> The planet Earth is now banned to
all alien races until they can compare notes and find out how many, if
any, real humans they have actually got. It is gloomily suspected that
there is only one - who is big, hairy, and has very large feet.<br /><br /> <b>The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head.</b></i>” </p><p><b><br /> ―
<span class="authorOrTitle">
Terry Pratchett,
</span>
<span id="quote_book_link_34532">
<i> Hogfather</i></span></b></p><p><span id="quote_book_link_34532"> </span></p><p><span id="quote_book_link_34532"> </span></p><p><span id="quote_book_link_34532"></span></p><center><span id="quote_book_link_34532"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51789688989/in/dateposted/" title="Nice Port ~ 2021"><img alt="Nice Port ~ 2021" height="334" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51789688989_67f3d00091.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></span></center><span id="quote_book_link_34532"> <br /></span><p></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-10709883495879535732021-11-21T00:30:00.005-08:002021-11-21T00:30:49.214-08:00French Poop ~ another adventure<p>We were getting all gussied up to go visit something owned by the Prince of Monaco. While not exactly trying to look our Sunday Best, we were trying to appear somewhat acceptable.</p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nWSjScBq2Qo/YZoDL0hiqfI/AAAAAAAALNw/xyst74QHwtk6wjnYtAm2ZfIwf-mmnuL5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1366/IMG_20211119_092939178-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="1366" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nWSjScBq2Qo/YZoDL0hiqfI/AAAAAAAALNw/xyst74QHwtk6wjnYtAm2ZfIwf-mmnuL5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20211119_092939178-01.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Checking to make sure everything was in order we headed downstairs and out the front door to get into the car.</p><p>Except... there was something interesting that had taken place... very interesting, in fact...</p><p>The Bird God had blessed us. Mightily. <br /></p><p>The Starlings that Murmur over Nice Port in late Fall, early Winter had done something very special for us. Or to us, depending on ones perspective. </p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gNxXwBi3p7k/YZoDXRZ1pHI/AAAAAAAALOA/aased86EUQ0zhqJJddsdeAvqJLdsurJAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1366/IMG_20211119_093134859_HDR-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="1366" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gNxXwBi3p7k/YZoDXRZ1pHI/AAAAAAAALOA/aased86EUQ0zhqJJddsdeAvqJLdsurJAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20211119_093134859_HDR-01.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Our car had been carpet bombed nearly to oblivion in Starling Poop.</p>Every side of the car except the bottom was covered in Bird Doo. And I mean every side. It had been a massive explosion.<p>The cars in front and behind us were covered, too. The ground was neatly covered in a circle of Starling Carpet Bombing Loveliness. It was a Ripe Mess, and our car had been the epicenter of that Mess.<br /></p><p>We'd never seen anything like it. One had to admire the accuracy and precision that is normally left to the Dreams of Military Generals. It was insane how completely the area had been saturated.</p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-97qArqYsJh0/YZoDfzSIj9I/AAAAAAAALOQ/auAMuDZXuZEsVq1TmsThD2Des-OmPC7DwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1366/IMG_20211119_093156053_HDR-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="1366" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-97qArqYsJh0/YZoDfzSIj9I/AAAAAAAALOQ/auAMuDZXuZEsVq1TmsThD2Des-OmPC7DwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20211119_093156053_HDR-01.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>There was nothing for it but to go visit the Place of the Prince as we were. Covered in Bird Sh*t. </p><p>There wasn't time to stop for a wash. That would happen the next morning at a gas station up around the corner from us where they had an automated car wash named Christ. </p><p>You can't make this stuff up. <br /></p><p>Until then the Monegasque Peoples would need to suffer the site of us for the day.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m-5b4yLaLjM/YZoDmYltHYI/AAAAAAAALOU/lOi3A8mYVdwIwUUS1a_9gOdQ42QBq9QiQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1366/IMG_20211119_093553684_HDR-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="1366" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m-5b4yLaLjM/YZoDmYltHYI/AAAAAAAALOU/lOi3A8mYVdwIwUUS1a_9gOdQ42QBq9QiQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20211119_093553684_HDR-01.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-1385243783642249972021-11-03T09:09:00.001-07:002021-11-03T09:09:08.193-07:00Brush up on your French!<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/M4-vAGKjeKk" frameborder="0"></iframe>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-28622924896292313272021-10-05T02:51:00.001-07:002021-10-05T02:51:39.905-07:00Les Bourguignons - Gueuleton<p>L'autoroute A6 passes right through the exact center of paradise. I'm talking about Beaune. OK? Just saying.</p><p> </p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/C2sfx2vcavQ" style="background-image: url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C2sfx2vcavQ/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"></iframe></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-56739672516003083542021-10-05T02:37:00.002-07:002021-10-05T02:37:26.676-07:00Cépage Sorcier ~ La Syrah<p></p><p></p><p>This should clear a few things up. Any questions?</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/xStSmsIn9mM" style="background-image: url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xStSmsIn9mM/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"></iframe></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-61224060982945369782021-10-04T07:18:00.000-07:002021-10-04T07:18:08.800-07:00The Last Laugh...<p> Yes. Some Europeans find <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/LeopardsAteMyFace/comments/q046nx/the_eu_has_the_last_laugh/" target="_blank">this hilariously funny</a>.<br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-90410656803821107522021-09-29T04:56:00.005-07:002021-09-29T04:56:51.479-07:00"Je te jure que je ne faisais pas l'accent belge !"<p></p><p></p><p>Non, je faisais l'accent bizarre et dur. Je parle le français comme un basque espagnol, moi.</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/1FzKgL-mL_g" width="480"></iframe></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-14252281524923531342021-09-21T02:21:00.006-07:002021-09-21T07:50:19.858-07:00French Poop ~ An Adventure<p>The French are more than a little grumpy these days.</p><p>Australia was happily and willingly strong-armed by the Brits and Americans into buying their submarines instead of seeing out a multi-billion dollar contract for French made <i>sou-marins</i>. Ambassadors have been recalled. Shouting has ensued. Reactions have been registered. Realizations have been realized. The contract was blown up and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/france/comments/prxhab/a_helpful_i_hope_guide_of_the_french_pov_on_the/" target="_blank">France finds itself deep in <i>la merde</i></a>. Europe is now unofficially on it's own.<br /></p><p>Since we've moved into our current apartment over nine years ago, the room where our shower is has smelled from time to time like, well, there's no other way to put it, shit.</p><p>We thought that its just how things are in Paris. Submarine contracts not withstanding.<br /></p><p>None of the pipes were over flowing nor backing up. All the plumbing in the cabinet where <i>le tuyau descende</i> and <i>le</i> <i>chauffe-eau</i> lives have always been dry and seemingly in good condition.</p><p>It smelled like shit. That's all. Not always, but often enough we could complain about "that special Paris perfume."</p><p>A year or so ago our old neighbors upstairs moved out and a young man who works in <i>informatique</i> bought the place and moved in. He loves to talk. His French is clipped and fast. One has to be well on their Foreign Language Translation Toes to keep up with him. And forget about getting a mal-formed poorly-accented <i>mot</i> in edge-wise.</p><p>Across the hall from <i>M.Iformatique</i> lives a very kindly gentleman. Our neighbor also happens to be one of three <i>coproprietaire</i> representatives to the <i>syndic</i> in our building. So it can be useful to wave to him and share a few words from time to time. He worked in aerospace and has a beautifully honed wonderfully refined sense of French humor.</p><p>One day someone <i>frappait la porte</i> and we found <i>M.Iformatique</i> at our doorstep. Long story short, it took us 30 minutes to get to the point, his place smelled like shit.</p><p>What happened next was a series of meetings to talk about the problem. This was followed by a series of inspections of the cabinets where <i>le tuyau descende</i> and <i>le</i> <i>chauffe-eau</i> live in the two apartments in question. Which was followed by a series of SMS that indicated time and date of smelling <i>des odeurs</i>. Then followed by an unannounced pre-09h00 visit from a <i>plombier</i> and <i>M.Iformatique.</i></p><p>An inspection was made and a judgement rendered. There was nothing to do but to suffer <i>l<i>es odeurs nauseabande. </i></i>Or so we were told. <i>Merde</i> happens, right?<br /><i><i></i></i></p><p>None of us were very happy with the pronouncement.</p><p>We decided that it would be helpful to have someone confirm or deny the initial prognosis. It was a bit like visiting a <i>medecine</i> and wanting to get a second opinion. So, in a very Gallic Manner, that is to say with careful planning, forethought, and precise execution a second <i>plombier</i> was summoned.</p><p>Just this morning we received a second unannounced pre-09h00 visit from a <i>plombier </i>and<i> M.Iformatique. </i>I was in the shower and<i> la madame de la maison </i>told them to come back in a few minutes. By the time they returned I was dry and dressed. This time <i>M.Representive</i> accompanied the two who originally knocked on the door.<br /></p><p>A re-inspection was made. A lot of conversation was shared. <i>M.Informatique</i> had more than a few things to say. I did my best to keep up and stopped the flow of Gallic words to ask <i>M.Plombier</i> for <i>une petite precision</i> concerning the exact nature of his thoughts on the matter. The Gallic flow of words soon restarted and we circled and swirled around the subject to the point I was nearly drained.</p><p><i>M.Representive </i>and I started a side-conversation where we considered the <i>Sou-Marin Affaire</i>. We agreed the French had been treated badly by the Anglo-countries. How could everything have fallen apart so? It was clear to us the real winners in all this would be the Chinese, and, indirectly, the Russians.<br /></p><p>Coming back to the central sh*tty point of this missive, the<i> Syndic </i>will generate the necessary documents<i>. Devis</i> will be prepared by <i>M.Plombier</i>. <i>Proprietaires</i> will be contacted. Work will be considered. More Gallic words will be expressed and shared. We will see what happens.</p><p>After everyone left, it occurred to me that I should send <i>M.Representative</i> a short SMS explaining (attended by the proper humor emojis, of course) that if he was interested I had a spare submarine to sell.</p><p>His reply - <i>Je m'en doutais</i>!!! Just as I expected.</p><p>In the meantime, there is nothing to do but to suffer <i>l<i>es odeurs nauseabande. </i></i><i> </i></p><p><i>Merde</i> happens. </p><p> </p><p></p><center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51406644757/in/album-72157719731512151/" title="Château de Fontainebleau ~ 2021"><img alt="Château de Fontainebleau ~ 2021" height="334" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51406644757_fb9d703df3.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></center> <br /><p></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-31117439067815695052021-09-09T07:49:00.003-07:002021-09-09T07:49:39.250-07:00Did the Romans laugh?<p>I <a href="https://antigonejournal.com/2021/08/what-romans-found-funny/" target="_blank">found this an interesting read</a>. The Romans, it appears, laughed at many of the things we still find funny today.</p><p> </p><p></p><center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51415814878/in/dateposted/" title="Château de Fontainebleau ~ 2021"><img alt="Château de Fontainebleau ~ 2021" height="202" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51415814878_4959a28aba.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></center><br /><p></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-34739518889059072602021-08-25T09:18:00.002-07:002021-08-25T09:18:18.793-07:00La Poste...<p> I <a href="https://youtu.be/1cNzUBR4Mto" target="_blank">love this stuff</a>. It's so silly and well thought out.</p><p>Someday I may return to more lengthy topics. But until then, enjoy the last of summer.</p><p> </p><p></p><center></center><center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51402111310/in/dateposted/" title="Château de Fontainebleau ~ 2021"><img alt="Château de Fontainebleau ~ 2021" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51402111310_56aa26b0e3.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> </center><center><i>A view from inside</i></center><center><i>le chateau de Fontainebleau</i><br /></center><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-48825770257087596362021-08-19T03:23:00.003-07:002021-08-19T03:23:51.318-07:00Something interesting about wealth and talent...<p>Many people in America believe that being near the top of the heap in a meritocracy equates to being wealthy. It's how we justify the 80-20 Rule, where 80 percent of the people have only 20 percent of the wealth, and vice versa. </p><p> We tend to tell ourselves and firmly believe the bottom 80 percent aren't as talented as the top 20 percent.</p><p>Is this really the case? Or is this just another thing we like to tell ourselves that helps us explain why we're at the various levels of wealth where we find ourselves?</p><p class="body">"... <i><span>When the team rank individuals by wealth, the
distribution is exactly like that seen in real-world societies. “The
‘80-20’ rule is respected, since 80 percent of the population owns only
20 percent of the total capital, while the remaining 20 percent owns 80
percent of the same capital,” report Pluchino and co.</span></i></p><p class="body"><span><i>That
may not be surprising or unfair if the wealthiest 20 percent turn out
to be the most talented. But that isn’t what happens. <b>The wealthiest
individuals are typically not the most talented or anywhere near it.
“The maximum success never coincides with the maximum talent, and
vice-versa,”</b> say the researchers</i>..." </span></p><p class="body"><span>This is from an <a href="https://getpocket.com/explore/item/if-you-re-so-smart-why-aren-t-you-rich-turns-out-it-s-just-chance" target="_blank">article</a> on wealth and luck. I added the <i><b>bold</b></i> to the sentences I found most interesting.</span></p><p class="body"><span>It gives a radically different perspective, doesn't it? <br /></span></p><p class="body"><span> </span></p><p class="body"><span></span></p><center><span><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51388742624/in/dateposted/" title="Louvre ~ Paris, France ~ 2021"><img alt="Louvre ~ Paris, France ~ 2021" height="334" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51388742624_4a63d7dd55.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></span></center><span><br /></span><p></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-73035064820578595492021-08-19T01:03:00.004-07:002021-08-19T01:05:36.882-07:00Le Vol de la Tour Eiffel<p></p><p>I find these videos extraordinarily fun - https://youtu.be/i5XjvNBcQV4</p><p> </p><p><center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51383937403/in/dateposted/" title="la Chapelle Rablais ~ 2021"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51383937403_d4866213de.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="la Chapelle Rablais ~ 2021"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script></center> <br /></p><p><br /></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-66344337001588455462021-08-13T02:41:00.004-07:002021-08-13T02:41:51.502-07:00In a world filled with lies and wishful thinking...<p>How do we know what is true and what is not?</p><p>I ask this in the relation to the lies and half truths that too many people believe and tell each other.</p><p><a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/03/baloney-detection-kit-carl-sagan/" target="_blank">Carl Sagan had a few thoughts on the matter and I think they can be helpful</a>. Hence his Baloney Detection Kit.<br /></p><p>I particularly like the following quote of his.</p><p>"<i>...In addition to teaching us what to do when evaluating a claim to
knowledge, any good baloney detection kit must also teach us what not to
do. It helps us recognize the most common and perilous fallacies of
logic and rhetoric. Many good examples can be found in religion and
politics, because their practitioners are so often obliged to justify
two contradictory propositions...</i>"</p><p> </p><p></p><center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51333082372/in/dateposted/" title="Senlis ~ 2021"><img alt="Senlis ~ 2021" height="334" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51333082372_3ce4e86f89.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></center> <br /><p></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-44158557746939969092021-08-05T10:25:00.001-07:002021-08-05T10:25:13.799-07:00Delete Facebook...<p>Without going into details, I've not been on Facebook for years, now. So it was only with passing interest that I came across the following comment.<br /></p><p>"... <i>Facebook makes election interference easy, and that unless such
activity hurts the company’s business interests, it can’t be bothered to
fix the problem</i>..." - <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/29/1030260/facebook-whistleblower-sophie-zhang-global-political-manipulation/" target="_blank">from Technology Review</a></p><p>I'm very happy I'm no longer letting Zuckerberg & Co. sell my private information.</p><p>If the company can't be bothered to do the "right things", why participate in the active demise of democracy? </p><p> </p><center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51340639148/in/dateposted/" title="Senlis ~ 2021"><img alt="Senlis ~ 2021" height="500" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51340639148_b9bd1e6411.jpg" width="334" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></center> <br /><p></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-21812064116729793702021-08-04T00:39:00.002-07:002021-08-04T00:39:29.285-07:00Rome...<div><p>From: <a href="https://getpocket.com/explore/item/lessons-in-the-decline-of-democracy-from-the-ruined-roman-republic " target="_blank">https://getpocket.com/explore/item/lessons-in-the-decline-of-democracy-from-the-ruined-roman-republic </a><br /></p><p>"...While life in Rome, with gladiator battles, crucifixions and endless war
was violent, for centuries Romans took pride in their republican system
and political violence was taboo...</p><p>...Despite periods where the U.S. political system and established
political norms have been tested and stretched—the McCarthy hearings,
Vietnam, Watergate, the Iraq War—partisan violence or attempts to
subvert the system have been rare. But recent events, like changes to
filibuster rules and other procedures in Congress as well as
increasingly heated political rhetoric give Watts pause...</p><p>...“No republic is eternal,” Watts writes. “It lives only as long as its
citizens want it. And, <b>in both the 21stcentury A.D. and the first
century B.C., when a republic fails to work as intended, its citizens
are capable of choosing the stability of autocratic rule over the chaos
of a broken republic.</b>" </p><p>And there it is. Enough Americans, however they have come to it, believe that the Republic not longer works. Jobs to China. Lack of employment. "Socialism" is destroying the country. Mexicans are taking jobs and importing violence. Putin is really a friend. "They" are coming to take your guns away. Vaccines against CV19 make you magnetic. "They" are putting micro-chips in CV19 vaccines to control you.<br /></p><p>Choose one insane lie or choose all of them. </p><p>It seems to boil down to the same thing. Just enough people want the apparent stability of autocratic rule to actively vote it into power. </p><p>In the USA last election cycle just three million people tipped the balance away from continued autocratic rule. Yet the model for this kind of rule is now in place. Who will exploit that to their advantage?</p><p> </p><p>
</p><center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51351128727/in/dateposted/" title="la traversee de Paris estivale ~ 2021"><img alt="la traversee de Paris estivale ~ 2021" height="334" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51351128727_51093b155d.jpg" width="500" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></center></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Meanwhile, in the civilized world...</i><br /></div><br /><div><p></p></div>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-86527951445772523502021-08-02T00:13:00.004-07:002021-08-02T00:13:50.729-07:00Carl Sagan said...<p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Back to politics. The following quote is verified (see Snopes).</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">“<i>I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or
grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and
information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have
slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are
in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest
can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set
their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when,
clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our
critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels
good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into
superstition and darkness...</i></span></span><br /></p><h1 class="quoteText"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The dumbing down of American[s] is most
evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously
influential media, the 30 second sound bites... lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on
pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of
ignorance</i>”
</span></span></h1><p><span style="font-size: small;">
<br /> ―
<span class="authorOrTitle">
Carl Sagan,
</span>
<span id="quote_book_link_17349">
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="quote_book_link_17349"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="quote_book_link_17349"></span></span></p><center><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="quote_book_link_17349">
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophersoddsandsods/51341155869/in/dateposted/" title="Senlis ~ 2021"><img alt="Senlis ~ 2021" height="500" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51341155869_eae2c35e70.jpg" width="357" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></span></span></center><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="quote_book_link_17349">
<br /></span></span><p></p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-57889133291619103672021-07-27T08:08:00.001-07:002021-07-27T08:08:10.432-07:00You asked for it ~ more Marmottes!!!<p>I can't help myself. I love watching these little guys and gals from France3</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/H3L-ynrknqI" width="480"></iframe> </p><p style="text-align: center;">Compilation Marmottes France 3 hiver été 2019</p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8388985618059515102.post-88368995496738124132021-07-24T02:13:00.004-07:002021-07-24T02:13:46.150-07:00Other animial friends in France...<p>... and it's not just Marmottes. It's all manner of interesting animals that can show up on France3.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/6mRIQj1YzWo" width="480"></iframe> </p><p style="text-align: center;">Bel été sur France 3 (TV spots publicitaires)</p>Christopher Mark Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03547095949481024502noreply@blogger.com0