May them be native English speakers, or people having spent some time in the UK/Ireland, or just lovers of the language, the accents or the countries ;  when in France Anglophiles suffer. They suffer from a terrible disease which can strike at any moment: the Englishnessdom deficiency!

Thus, to deal with these Carentia Anglicus (medical terminology) outbreaks, each of the aforesaid drug addicts has his miracle remedy: some start some Bird’s Custard or Marmite import-export business, some repaint phone boxes in red, some repeat “Tesco, Every little helps!” all day long, others venture into the left lane at 150mph filled with nostalgia, and some others suddenly become… polite and hospitable, and so on and on.

But there are also those who aspire to the delights of English drama. And I’ve got a solution for the latter:

The students of the English speaking theatre ATTH workshops will perform the legendary Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at the Comédie de la Passerelle on Monday the 16th of May and Monday the 30th of May! This will certainly delight those poor souls in need of English drama in Paris!

Play: The Importance of Being Earnest (in English)
Author: Oscar Wilde
Directed by: Delphine Lanson
Location: Comédie de la Passerelle, Paris 20th arrondissement (more information)
Date and Time: Monday the 16th of May at 9pm and Monday the 30th of May at 7pm

For patients with Carentia Anglicus and living in Mayenne, the BNF recommends the performance of The Importance of Being Earnest on the 16th of May 2011 at the Manoir des Loges…

Photo credits: ADELAP – adelap@free.fr

Finding English speaking plays in France is quite a tough task, and it gets even worse if you are taking a bucolic stroll in the wonders of Mayenne’s countryside…

And yet, if luck is on your side, you may come across some random atypical and stubborn individuals whose culinary culture consists merely of some cucumber sandwiches, tea, muffins or of the very basic bread and butter. But those so-called “random individuals” are also naïve and fool enough to think they could tame the lines of Sir Oscar Wilde!

Well yes! As unlikely as it may seem, these people exist: the students of the ATTH English-speaking theatre workshops, a small group of theater lovers, English language aficionados willing to play the most comic and spiritual drama of the English literature: The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde.

Misunderstandings, bitter criticism of the Victorian society, sharp British humour, there’s something for everyone! So if you feel like it, come and join them in the Manoir des Loges (Mayenne, France) on Sunday the 15th of May at 3pm!

Play: The Importance of Being Earnest (in English)
Author: Oscar Wilde
Directed by: Delphine Lanson
Location: Manoir des Loges, Mayenne (more info)
Date and Time: Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 4pm
Information: +33 6 70 17 46 82 or contact@manoirdesloges.fr

And if you are in Paris, come and enjoy the performances of the 16th and 30th of May!

Here are two exclusive pictures for two highly awaited 2011 movies, Sherlock Holmes 2 and the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Sherlock Holmes 2

While several images of the shooting have already been released, a new picture has pointed the tip of his nose this week. Holmes and Watson are back in a relaxed and colourful environment, just like in the first movie. And this is just great!

New photo:

Previous snapshot:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2)

The first picture of the latest Harry Potter has escaped on the internet a few days ago. We do not really know where it comes from nor what it represents. You can see a highly fashionable Neville Longbottom , and Bellatrix Lestrange in the background. Not the most attractive picture in the world, but… the first one.

It’s not possible to walk for more than 30 seconds without being harassed by some Tangled poster! After all, it’s pretty normal.: although it does not inspire me anything, it’s still a Walt Disney movie. And not just any! This is indeed the 50th of the long series of animated films created by Disney Studios.

For the occasion, Disney has compiled excerpts from each of these films in a short video lasting around two minutes. The 50 masterpieces march in the chronological order of their theatrical release dates, enough to make all of us nostalgic … Or at least, it could have been the case if the music was not so aggressive, grrrrr … Anyway… This is just my opinion …

By the way, out of 50, how many of them have you seen?… Let’s have a look!

This is not a scoop, the blog has been put in brackets for a few weeks! Times are hard and the survival instinct is back! For a few weeks (and only a few weeks) priorities are no longer about writing eBooblog but rather about writing my bloody Master’s thesis, and even more about finding small jobs (extras on the Bateaux Parisiens (see picture) which give me blisters) to bail out or about looking for a studio apartment in a more than hostile French capital! All of which must of course be punctuated with a few silly games with Gularu so that I do not go crazy or suicidal.

But be patient, within about two weeks, the blog should be revived (and so will I and my feet!). I can not wait to get back!

In the meantime, le bonjour chez vous !

While The Social Network, the movie about the creation and evolution of Facebook, will be released in October, producers Michael London and John Morris are planning to devote a film to another giant of the web: Google!

According to the website Deadline, they are trying to acquire the rights to Googled: The End Of The World As We Know It, the Ken Auletta’s book on Google’s success story.

The film will show how Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded and developed search engines’ star with principles such as “You can make money without doing evil” or “You can be serious without a suit”.

Let’s hope that the project will actually come true!

As I mentioned earlier in this blog, I am a great admirer of the work of Sylvain Chomet, draughtsman and director of Belleville Rendez-Vous and The Illusionist. I have not yet had the chance to see it the latter… :’(

But you must know that Sylvain Chomet has also directed and designed several short films, having a go at both animation and real footage. Here are two short films made by the great Sylvain Chomet.

Eiffel tower

This short movie is full of Chomet’s style: it’s beautiful, it smells Paris, I just love it! The short film was part of the film Paris, je t’aime, released in 2006. There are no dialogues in the movie except quickly at the beginning and at the end, but the only thing you have to know is that the young boy is telling the story of how his parents met.

Paris je t’aime – tour Eiffel

The Old Lady and the Pigeons

This short animation film is a good example to illustrate the talents of Sylvain for those of you who do not know him. The hand of the draughtsman is omnipresent (pigeons, bicycles, music, elderly people, etc.), and apart from a few hilarious dialogues (in English) as an introduction and conclusion, all of the story is silent, which is a particularity of Sylvain Chomet’s style. Enjoy!

La vieille dame et les pigeons

The soundtrack of a movie we loved is usually engraved in our memories and each note of it carries images which have thrilled us. But the particularity of Inception’s soundtrack is that it already sounded great before I had seen the movie!

Hans Zimmer, one of the greatest soundtrack composers of our century, performed a live concert on a premiere of Inception and the latter was recorded. So, here is the machinery behind the melodies of the movie which gave me a big headache!

One of the numerous steps in learning the violin is the mastery of shifting. Technically complex but essential, it involves a combination of muscle, tactile, auditory, and even visual memories.

Here is a list of 10 tips that can help you improve your technique:

1 – Move the whole arm as a single piece: fingers, hand, wrist, forearm and elbow.

2 – Consider the elbow as the initiator of the shift. Indeed, the distance traveled by the fingers on the fingerboard is greater than the one traveled by the elbow. It is therefore easier for the brain to memorize the movement of your arm than your fingers’.

3 – Relax your fingers. The movement of your elbow should naturally lead the movement of your left hand, which is to say of your fingers. But if your fingers are clutched to the fingerboard, they will remain anchored to their initial positions or randomly move with difficulty.

4 - Relax all your fingers. Do not forget your thumb! Avoid as much friction as possible between your thumb and the neck. Some even recommend no contact at all.

5 – Loosen the pressure in the moving finger while shifting. The finger should touch the string without being in contact with the fingerboard. The three steps are: (a) lift, (b) shift to change position, (c) drop to play the note.

6 – Make sure the violin is not supported by your left hand. It should stay in place without using it, allowing the latter to move freely along the neck.

7 – Maintain a fluid motion. Do not go too fast at first. The first step is to reach the desired notes. Speed will then gradually come, along with confidence.

8 – Decrease bow pressure and speed when shifting.

9 – Use your ear. As finger pressure is applied on the string while shifting, it still emits sound. So use your ear to guide your decision and improve your accuracy.

10 – Persevere! Learning shifting is a long, repetitive, frustrating and sometimes painful (my poor fingers…) process. But it is important not to skip steps to acquire a serious and precise technique.

Good luck!

The snooker player Alex Higgins died yesterday evening at the age of 61, after a long battle against throat cancer.

Alex Higgins was not really your average snooker player. Loved or hated, he left no one indifferent. His love for snooker was unfortunately as pronounced as the one he vowed to alcohol, smoke, games and women. No, he really does not leave indifferent.

Around the table, his habits were not really different and he had, incident after incident, won the title of the most capricious, most unpredictable and most arrogant snooker player. The number of quarrels with other players were as numerous as the acid and vulgar arguments with referees. In short, the show was assured with every game.

Despite his unsavory looks and his not advantageous reputation, the man was in fact… a genius. Higgins has truly revolutionized the game of snooker. He is the father of the “new snooker”, the one we know today. His style was aggressive, fast, linking centuries (break of 100 points or above) with ease (which earned him the nickname Hurricane) ; and all this while provoking the aristocratic, boring and pompous aftertaste of the game. He had turned a game into a sport.

With Jimmy White, he won several international titles and his record grew impressively quickly. His victory at the world championships in 1972 also allowed him to be able to find a decent accommodation, in contrast to the abandoned houses (and awaiting destruction) where he used to live up to then.

The end of his life was polluted by the disease (throat cancer, pneumonia, dental problems), depression but he had a strong desire to play again. In 2010, while he had not played a single game in 16 years, he was still ranked 124th worldwide. He was still very gifted and talented, despite his advanced age.

Although he looked very weak in his last interview in February 2010, he had kept his huge lack of modesty, describing himself as follows:

“I think I was the most natural, charismatic player who ever lifted a cue. I think my presence around the table was mesmerising at times. It captured people.”

Here is the video of this interview, his last interview:

R.I.P. Alex!