Philosophy Cafe, Assemblee Nationale and Read After Burning

This week I attended a "Cafe Philo", or Philosophy Cafe event at the famous Cafe de Flore in Saint Germain de Pres. The idea of the Cafe Philo is to have organized debate in a public place, establishing a philosophical exchange, and quite democratically giving the right to speak (and the microphone) to anyone who wants it.


These public philosophy debates in cafes have been taking place here officially since the early 90's but unofficially for much longer. But more recently, at the Cafe de Flore, these debates have been happening in English, hence my participation - if you can call sitting there and trying to figure out what some people are talking about participating. There were some very lively and entertaining moments. You can read more about these debates HERE.

I covered an unlikely event this week. Five mayors of American cities came to Paris as the first officials to visit since Obama's election.


The delegation included mayors from Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, West Palm Beach, Albuquerque, and Hialeah, Florida. They met with the president of the National Assembly and the son of a former French President (Louis Giscard D'Estaing). The most interesting part was seeing inside the private residence of the president of the National Assembly.


I'm guessing it is quite different than the official residence of the mayor of Oklahoma City.


On the entertainment front, I shot the French premiere of the Coen Brother's film "Burn After Reading". Unfortunately, neither Brad Pitt nor George Clooney were there but only Frances Mcdormond and Joel Coen. Catherine Deneuve made an unannounced appearance.


One of the more fascinating websites I've found in recent times is this one: www.midomi.com
This is a site where all you have to do is hum a few bars of a song you like and it will tell you what song it is. Even pretty obscure songs. I didn't believe it but I tried it and it really works. It's a great way to find out the names of songs you know but don't know the title of. The only disconcerting part is that you have to give them the right to record you, both with your webcam and microphone. I've never seen my webcam light turn on so I know they're not recording video. And I didn't care if they recorded me humming songs.

If you find yourself feeling a bit down, take 5 minutes and watch this old video of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. I think it's more stunning that someone who not only did a soft porn movie (yes, he actually did) and starred in this clip could become governor of California than it is that a black man could become president.



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Peculiar flavor ...