Even if it’s sometimes hard to find the time and motivation to keep writing here, I’m trying to stick to it. Firstly, because I like to compile all the cool stuff I've seen/read/heard to show it to as many people as possible I'm a bit like the kids who absolutely want to show you the pebble or feather they've just picked up on a walk, there's no point in trying to run away, you won't escape the full inventory of the treasures in their pockets!
But also because it gives me the impression that I'm doing my bit to maintain the kind of Internet I like, one that is made by people for people, with no commercial interests behind it. Vincent talked about it very well recently on his blog (which I invite you to visit if you are interested in HTML/CSS integration and accessibility).
Let's start with my ‘top 10’, the gems you shouldn't miss if you don't have the time to read everything!
#1
Tattoo – I recently went under the needles of Luna Minoris. I already knew she was very talented, but on top of that she’s super nice, listens, and we had a great session. I can’t wait for the next sessions to finish the round !
Let me introduce you to Sophie Ellis Raptor and her friend Jean-Jaurex. 💚
There is a guided tour every day (except Sunday) from 2.30pm, led by a passionate and very funny guide. It's great for children too (but be warned, it lasts about two and a half hours and requires a bit of concentration). The full price is €8.
#3
Engraving – Rockwell Kent's engravings are absolutely magnificent (via Wrack).
#4
AI – I stumbled across Garbage In, Garbage out, a short article that hits the nail on the head :
« Hype aside, large language models aren’t sentient. They are machines that are trying to guess the next word to say based on statistical probability—that’s it. The fact that this ever results in coherent answers to questions is staggering. »
#5
Guitar – Lost in the maze of the YT algo, I came across this video:
Well, the kid's not bad.
(says the girl who still can’t get her bloody D minor to sound right)
So I've been listening to a bit of what he does, and I really like his version of Ain’t no Sunshine for example :
But the ultimate 🤯 is this video :
The Kashmir part around 1:45, I just can't.
To quote a YT comment: how am i supposed to look my guitar in the eyes after this
« I wonder what the world and our lives would be like if we all had time to explore such possibilities. Just one day a week to dedicate to art, sport, community. We wouldn't have to undertake these kinds of projects in apnea, cutting into our sleep, but with the space, time and security to carry them out. We could achieve a lot of beautiful and good things together. »
#7
3,14 – Have you ever wondered what a non-Euclidean version of Doom would be like? Well, someone has done it for you!
#8
Rennes – I took advantage of my visit to the tattoo convention in Rennes to have a look around, and I loved it - it's a really pretty town!
Podcast – For podcasts afficionados, I highly recommend Pagaille, produced by Alexandre Héraud and Vincent Decque for Blast.
It's a monthly podcast, and each time it's about a place in France, far from Paris, where something happened that was either disturbing, disturbing or unacceptable, or something that was salutary, unique or promising.
From the specific story to the more general reflection, I think the tone is just right, and it’s very well done.
Music – I don’t usually like dainty little voices, and I’m sick and tired of mushy guitar-vocals covers of energetic songs, but this cover of Dancing Queen is fabulous (and the Just the two of us one is also very cool) :
Science – I spent one hour fascinated by a video on superconduction. It's a presentation full of experiments and a very educational mediator (Clémentine Bouyé), it was at the Palais de la Découverte, and it confirms once again that physics can be a lot of fun when it's well presented 😊
« All journalists are activists. It’s just that neutral journalists are activists for the status quo. »
Illustration – I absolutly love Johanna Forster's work, and I found it hard to resist buying all her prints… It's worth noting that she regularly sells mystery bags containing a selection of « b-grade » prints, i.e. imperfect (off-set, badly calibrated colours, badly centred prints, etc.), at an unbeatable price. I bought one, and only managed to spot the so-called imperfections on one of the prints (fortunately, it was on the only illustration I don't really like 😅).
Anyway, check out his shop, but I can't be held responsible if you buy a giga-ton of prints from him. 👀
Oof. – This one hurts.
Illustration – During my short stay in Rennes, I met the fabulous Kiwii Pastek, who makes beautifull illustrations. Go admire their work!
Geocaching – For those of you in the Rhône region, I've discovered the game les Gnolus, which looks really cool. It's a free app that offers treasure hunts (53 different routes so far) throughout the Rhône department, in search of imaginary creatures. (via Turbnok)
Enigma – If you like investigative games, go for The Roottrees are Dead ! It's free to play in your browser, and the aim is to solve the Roottrees family tree. Don't forget something to take notes on - believe me, you're going to need them!
CSS –
« New trolling idea: add random tailwind classes to your code base but never add tailwind. Then when someone tries to copy your style, it turns into garbage. Thanks tailwind! »
Knitting – JI’ve started a knitting project that should keep me busy all year, I think : the « beekeeper’s quilt » 🐝
It’s a blanket made from « hexipuff » i.e. little hexagons filled with stuffing and tied together at the corners. They're perfect for knitting in front of a film or on the move 😊
I'm planning to make mine in rainbow. It takes me about 45 minutes per hexipuff, so if I want to do 500, it should take me about 375 hours. See you in 5 years…
Cinema – My favorites since the beginning of the year:
How to have sex (2023) : This is the very ordinary story of 3 teenage girls who go on holiday together. We see the seduction, the lack of self-confidence, the jealousy and the low blows and then we see the boy who pretends not to understand the lack of consent, we see the one who suspects but prefers to ignore his friend's behaviour.
It’s quite ordinary, and it’s chilling. The lead actress is terrific.
Adolescentes (2019) : This two and a half hour documentary follows 2 teenagers from Brive-la-Gaillarde from the age of 13 to 18. The two girls are very different and come from 2 very different families (one rather middle-class, the other not at all, with quite a few family problems), but they are very good friends.
I saw a lot of people make a comparison with Boyhood, as the director followed the girls for 5 years, and it made me want to see it again. It's rather different of course because fiction vs. documentary, but there's the same proximity that a very long filming period allows, we can see the girls change (or not), and it's quite crazy to be able to follow them for so long. It's also a bit like the documentary Les Bonnes Conditions. In any case, I'm impressed by the way the crew managed to make themselves invisible, to pick up so many things, while remaining discreet when necessary. It's very good.
I just want to warn you, because it was completely unexpected: the movie was shot in between 2013 and 2018, and at the time of the Charlie Hebdo and the Hyper Casher terrorist attack, and later during the Bataclan, there's images from the TV news. It doesn't last long, but it's very sudden and the images are very graphic.
Civil War (2024) : Very nice surprise. I really liked the fact that we are directly in the film, we don't start with a black screen and a text like 'USA, 20xx, this, this and that happened'. We understand the situation as the film progresses without it being explained to us and without being taken by the hand. The whole cast is very good, I was kept in suspense throughout the film, it really makes me want to watch the rest of Alex Garland's work.
All of us strangers (2023) : I went to see this film without really knowing what to expect, attracted by the cast (Andrew Scott 👀), and by the fact that it was from the same director as Weekend and the series Looking that I really liked when it came out. I was quite afraid of being disappointed, because Fantastique is really not my thing in general ("Fantastique" being fantasy in the sense of the intrusion of supernatural elements into the realistic framework of a story), but I was really blown away. Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal are extraordinary, Claire Foy is very good too. I don't want to say too much so as not to spoil the film, but I really recommend it.
Joyland (2022) : I (finally) took the time to watch Joyland, and it was very, very good. I think it's the first Pakistani film I've seen, and on the one hand, I want to list the objective criteria that make it a good film, such as the fact that the actors are very good, especially the three main ones, it's very beautiful, there are beautiful colors, and shots that I won't forget for a while. But in truth, Joyland really turned my guts upside down. A review on Letterbox says Joyland is a devastating tale where almost everyone is guilty, but no one, in particular, is to blame. and I couldn't sum it up better. It's not easy at all, but I really recommend it.
Àma Gloria (2023) : LOVEIT/10. This is the story of Cléo, 6 years old, and Gloria, her nanny since she was little, when Gloria has to return to Cape Verde, and they have to separate. It's sweet, it's sad, it was very good. It's Cléo from 5 to 7 🤓
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024) : Nice, cheesy documentary about the recording of We Are the World. Just to see Bob Dylan regret all his life choices for one and a half hour, it's worth it. And for Lionel Ritchie's face when Stevie Wonder suggests (at 2am) adding a verse in Swahili, which makes a country singer whose name I don't remember ragequit, before someone explains to Stevie Wonder that Swahili isn't spoken in Ethiopia. 😂
Honestly, it was cool to watch, it's really improbable to see all those people in the same room. And I had no idea that they wrote the song in less than a week and recorded the whole thing in one night (after presenting/attending the VMAs, so already with a good day's work under their belts).
And I'll end with two special mentions, the first for Virginie Effira, whom I've seen recently in films of varying quality (Rien à perdre (2023), not bad, L’Amour et les forêts (2023), abysmally bad), and who is always impeccable. I must admit that I didn't see the timeline where she is one of the best French-speaking dramatic actresses coming. And the other special mention is for Julien de Saint Jean that I discovered by chance on the movies on the same day, Le Paradis (touching, but won't make a lasting impression, mainly worth the watch for the two main actors) and Arrête avec tes mensonges (I loved the book a few years ago, the movie isn't up to par). He's a steal in both, he has incredible potential, I hope he has the career to match. He's in the adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo coming out at the end of the year, I'm totally going to go see that.
Animation – And we end with this Hungarian animated short film from 1974, two minutes of absolute virtuosity :
Funny pics
Small pleasures
My new tattoo ♥ Tom McRae in concert ♥ cherry season ♥ Sophie Ellis Raptor ♥ reading with a cup of tea ♥ the Eagles' live at the Capital Centre in march 77 ♥ Jean-Jaurex ♥ MK ♥ My long weekend in London with my best friends ♥ Did I tell you about my new tattoo? ♥ My rewatch of The Americans ♥ grenadine ♥ Visiting museums ♥ Goodbye Lucille #1 ♥
