busy for 7 Saturdays from now on

Or how to live again wonderful moments, stareing at a TV screen for hours and hours.

Pro Cinema, the only Romanian movie channel ( except for HBO, Hallmark, Romantica and others, that came here from abroad) is keeping our Saturdays busy with 7 marvelous movies, all involving Nikita Mihalkov, the Russian cinema Tzar.

An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano , A Few Days in the Life of I.I. Oblomov , Five Evenings Without Witness , Stranger at Home, Slave of Love and A Cruel Romance /Girl without dowry( with a special mention here, as I saw this movie probably in 1985, all I remember, besides a scene where everyone was feeling miserable- I can hardly wait to see again the movie, with an adult eyes!-the cinema was so crowded people were sitting on the stairs, and I felt a terrible need to go to the toilet and I was so afraid not to loose anything from the action. Can't recall if I went or waited the movie to end...)

Don't count on me next Saturdays, as I don't have a VCR to get those movies on a tape and the DVD player is, DOH, a player.

A black Russian tea, some biscuits or even cernoslivs* and here is Monica spending her winter nights at home. Who wants to join me?

more about this here, in [RO]

pics found here

*or a Roiboos tea, some baked apples and dry plums, for me, in fact

nuit vs. jour

According to Evenimentul zilei, a mysterious Romanian woman reveals her sexual fantasies in an erotic diary signed Belle de Nuit. Yes, Belle de Jour lives in London, the night corespondent here, in Romania.
The publishing house, Editura Trei, is the same that brought in Romania The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, so the recipe is easy to follow:
In October 2006, the editors got some excerpts of a diary called Intimate Adventures of a Bucharest Call Girl , from an author that preferred to remain anonymous.

Lily Flower, as she called herself, the author says Belle de Jour inspired her. Her identity is still a mystery for the editors, who negotiated the contract with a lawyer. In fact, the editors were the ones that proposed the Belle de nuit nickname, predictable , huh?
The speculations around Belle de Nuit began, then: porno stars, journalists, female writers and even male ones, who is behind Belle de Nuit? Dan Sociu, who signs the introduction says the book is well written and the fact a lawyer was sent to discuss the publishing conditions proves he/she is not far from this world.
But, of course, the editing house could know very well who Belle de Nuit is, after all this is a game involving money, isn't it?

Belle de Nuit- Exile, for you

Another thing: Belle de Nuit is not blogging, as Belle de Jour is.

full article here, in [Ro]
picture found here

...

yeast free bread toasted on a grill, almost freshly squeezed olive oil, blackcurrants, almond&rice milk, Siberian pine seeds, chicory coffee sweetened with honey, orange+grapefruit juice squeezed, of course, by Monica herself...

I eat a lot, almost all the time, to answer Dan's questions, but I quited a long time ago the live to eat slogan for the eat to live one*. Eat to live better, if possible. And it is, if you take into consideration some simple rules I realise Jews or even Ayurveda medicine applied thousands years ago. Not mixing food categories, knowing when you could afford to eat something( don't do like other unhappy creatures that squeeze lemons all day long, for example) and mind the quantity. The organism knows when to stop, do you?

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants...for more details, see Michael Pollan's article in today's International Herald Tribune.

Another news that comes today from the same IHT is that yoga is more and more encouraged in India public schools. If you knew how classes used to start, in Romanian schools, 18 years ago, with all the children singing the national anthem (a very long and dull one!) you could imagine the difference: classes in India begin with the Sun salutation.
But even if this is the country where you could find the most important religions in the world, people still don't want school and religion mixed. Of course they haven't arrived, yet, to something like The French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols (or even the Orthodox icons in the Romanian classes scandal, last year) but this is only because the Hindu nationalists are governing many of the Indian states.

Namaste!

* That doesn't mean I don't crave for other stuff, especially for chocolate, but believe me, a proper diet "ruins" the tastebuds, even bananas seem too sweet to me, what to do with a cup of creamy, thick hot chocolate?

no, you're not!

see here

this is show, people!

You should see Romanian artists' concerts, to realise why we crave for events, not happenings:)

obsessed, remember?

Henri fed my Munch obsession with another link. Merci, Henri!

The author is Placide . Take a look at his site, if you really want to have some smart fun!

I give you my heart

as my heart belongs to them, right now:)
I didn't go to the Hommage a Michel Petrucciani* show this night, I wasn't in the mood.
But Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli managed to keep me company.
J'attendrai- Django Reinhardt and his Quintet of the Hot Club of France
Aren't they fabulous?


*I wanted to go, as I feel guilty about Mr. Petrucciani. He died 2 weeks after a concert he had in Bucharest that I attended. I had the flu, that time. Didn't cough or sneeze, to spread some Fluegge drops into the hall atmosphere, but he died of some pulmonary infection.

I've been tagged!

the most interesting thing about having two blogs is that you get tagged twice, by people who probably don't know that you are bipolar;)
Pam Pas asked me to tell five things people don't know about me.
Since I am quite new in the blogosphere, I imagine I can tell almost everything, pretending it's something hidden about me.

1. I wanted to be a piano player, I studied piano and I had big concerts with the philharmonic orchestra in my native town. Then everybody told me I could end poor if I don't do something else in life, so I quit. I studied Law and then Foreign Affairs, was on the verge of a PhD in Global Economy but stopped, busy with other plans, see point 4. I still have the piano, though
2. Even if you see me chocoholic, here, I don't eat too much chocolate. Hope to do it again, sometimes.
3. I'm the laziest person you've ever met. I enjoy staying in the house for days ( Thanks, God! my job allows me to do that) reading and surfing the web. So lazy I can't find things in the indoors mess. Being bipolar, at job I am the tidiest person they've ever met:)
4. I've seen death two times, so I am quite used to the idea the Dark Lady might come anytime.
5. I knit ( made my first money knitting pullovers and selling them. Now I knit booties for my friends' babies.) Yeah, cast the stones:)

Departe and Gorgeoux, what don't I know about you?

where to find an orange borsalino hat?

OK, synchronicity beats me, sometimes.
I spoke with a friend about an orange hat to match his purple suit...
I searched the web and, instead of what I was looking for, I bumped into caps, kid hats, chapeaux etc
Now, after a week of not thinking about them, here they are.

Not real Humphie borsalinos but at least very close to... the one near SJP (left) is one to laugh at, but the other one...a thing to admire, my opinion...I bet that guy is playing a guitar...

By the way: do you happen to know a place where my friend could find a men orange borsalino hat?

before bars

Yesterday I bumped into an incarcerated guy letter. Perfect grammar, coherent message, 15 years conviction for a certain Penal Code article mentioned there. Scanned my Penal Law brain drawer realised he killed somebody.
Some hours after, saw some prisoners telling poems. Embarrassing moments for them, I presume, and for those who were listening. I guess it mattered for their files.
TV, some other hours later, prisoners on the screen. Checked my stats, a visit from somebody coming from a 2pac_amaru blog. OK, two times, a coincidence, three, four times what? Was it my prison day? What about you? Are you obsessed by the incarcerated, detention centers and whatever else linked to the society darkest side? visit Prison Flicks, the premier web site devoted to reviewing and discussing prison movies set in or centered around prisons. High seas adventures, action, even love stories. What can you find here: classics like The Great Escape and The Shawshank redemption, other stuff like Jakie Chan's The Prisoner, Sean Connery's The Rock, Chicago the musical, Clooney's O Brother, Where Art Thou? etc.

What, don't we all love seeing inmates as heroes?
song to listen: Stand by your man, the Heike Makatsch version, not the crying Tammy Wynette one:)

hands behind bars pic found here

longtime no see sweaty palms and racing heart

What do you do when two men you adored ( * sigh) in your French stormy youth sing together? Publish the song, of course!

picture this!

"Please forgive me if, in the heat of the battle, I sometimes forget which side I am on."

I got a text message saying this, some days ago..

I've always imagined the rugby piles are like this..You never know who's pushing you...it could be your teamster, can you prove?

pic found here

the chocolate day

chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner...
who could resist such a challenge?

A whole book for chocoholic kids and parents!
well, chocoholism needs time to develop, huh?
A Sarea in bucate[ro tale] in different words: the story of a kid who wished he ate only chocolate, and his wish came true: he had a chocolate day.

Well, as I read Yday, "have a chocolate day" I didn't see this reverse at all! I can't right now, but plan one ASAP! Only chocolate, OK?
And then 3 days of Lent...pleasure demands sacrifice:( before and after
pic found here

should I feel cruel?

when I saw my inbox, today, I just pressed delete all messages. Including that desperate cry for help.

Who is she? What does she want from me? How could I have been of any help?

I'll light a candle for her, when I go to church...

Should it be for the alive ones or for those who already passed?

OMG, I could have done something!

why cry over the not drunk milk

I remember all those days when I used to spill the milk into the sink, to avoid drinking it, since we were told we have to eat everything in the plate (do yo know children in Africa die of hunger and even here in Romania they would give anything to eat/drink this?) but I could never stand milk. Imagine that nasty liquid with a nastier even film that it developed, when hot...Yeah the legends with milk= 100% calcium and we couldn't get calcium elsewhere ruined some of my mornings...well, years passed, I managed to avoid the warm viscid cups and here I am, happy I was right: studies show most of the adult organisms have no tolerance to lactose an I quote one of the studies: "Since in most persons the body does not continue to secrete large amounts of lactase enzyme after weaning, milk is indigestible by a large majority of the world's population. The term "primary adult lactase deficiency" refers to the NORMAL condition for most people in whom lactase production has practically ceased. The decline begins in youth and continues to decline, but the onset of symptoms varies as to age. "

Then here comes the IHT claiming genetic mutation helps now peoples in the East Africa tolerate again lactose. "A research team led by Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Maryland has now solved much of the puzzle. After testing for lactose tolerance and genetic makeup among 43 ethnic groups in East Africa, she and her colleagues have found three new mutations, all independent of one another and of the European mutation, that keep the lactase gene permanently switched on....The mutations have created one of the strongest genetic signatures of natural selection yet reported in humans, the researchers write."

Now here comes a letter to editors mentioned above, saying "In short, evidence does not support the evolutionary hypothesis of lactase persistence in human adults as a consequence of selection. A founder effect could be a more suitable explanation to justify this trait, and this mechanism does not need the cooperation of natural selection. "

milk bottles found here

Until the reply comes, all I have to say is: drink milk, if you feel like but don't force others to. It seems that the organism knows how to protect itself and gives enough signals if milk is not tolerated. And you can find enough Calcium in almonds, pistachio, walnuts and other food.

you've got to screaaaaaaaam!

and when I tell you I see Munch's Scream everywhere....

Thanks to Andrei, I have the pleasure to introduce you Homer, in a not too happy attitude. I presume Lisa announced him she quitted playing the sax, who knows.

Next Munch I put my eyes on, thanks to Henri, Raffarin...Screaming, of course.

Nanny, watch out!

Well, now that I read this, I can afford going on with my life:)
An American mother of two set up an extremely useful Web site for parents who doubt their kids nanny is a fairy or, on the contrary, want the world to know how astonishing their brats are brought up.

Exactly as some companies display signs on their vehicles asking the other drivers to report unsafe drivers, parents can now put license plates on their baby strollers to get feedback on their nannies behaviour. Adults pay 50 dollars for the plate and receive, if the case, a report which they access on the Web site using a password.

If you search deeper, you might find out who's the web site owner: nobody else but a lawyer who prosecutes child abuse and sex crimes, Jill Starishevsky. She came up with the idea after she saw a nanny in a park who, for at least an hour, ignored the two little girls she was looking for. She says the plates aren't a tool against the nannies but how would you feel if some naughty brats reported you on the web for not letting them play with that cute baby you are walking, Mary Poppins, Maria, Nanny Fine, Nanny MCPhee and especially the NY Nanny with the diaries?

Lilys- Nanny in Manhattan

packing

since spring seems to come, I am packing my retro stuff and plan a trip to Cherbourg...or Bath? which side of the Channel is more and more attractive?



pic found here
Movies to watch: Les Dames de la côte ( for young Fanny Ardant, among others)
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg ( the same, for young Deneuve, among others)

limericks

There was a Young Man from Kent
Whose Rod was so long it bent.
So to save himself trouble
He bent it in double,
And instead of coming, he went!

I am, now, into limericks...of course the easier ones are the dirtier...
please excuse meeeeeeeee



The Bloody Irish Boys - Drunk Tonight

guess what

if you type these three key words on google, the first result is this blog

Referrer
http://www.google.ro/search?hl=ro&q=i+want+to+be+an+anorexic+girl&btnG=Caut%C4%83&meta=lr%3Dlang_ro
Search Engine Google
Keywords : want, anorexic, girl

well, I am not only discouraging anorexia but I strongly advise any girl to eat 5-6 times a day, healthy stuff, drink 2-4 l liquids, no sugar, chocolate or coffee and especially no animal fat. all these, if you want a lean body and a long life.

Dear girl from Baia Mare [RO] who typed I WANT TO BE AN ANOREXIC GIRL, do you know people even die of complications caused by anorexia? keep that in mind!

a special dedication, for the moments you loose your temper when your size 0 jeans don't fit you:

what a year!

Romania takes Europa, the cow, at a richer grass; some thousand km far, Slovenia joins the Eurozone and adopts euro as its currency. Crossing the Atlantic, Lula da Silva, in Brasil, begins his second four-year term in office; Russia takes over presidency of the U.N. Security Council; Germany takes over G8 presidency from Russia.

As video killed the radio star, internet killed newspapers print version and here we are: the world's oldest newspaper "The Post Och Inrikes Tidningar", in Sweden goes out of print and from today will only be published on the Internet. ( Reuters says three copies of the paper will be printed and stored in university libraries to keep the tradition alive.)

Since I am a Le grand bleu fan, I couldn't let this out: 2007 is the Year of the Dolphin. Go here and adopt one... imagine you could take it home, but let it leave into the warm waters, since the planet needs such cute inhabitants...