Archive for January, 2011
The Fable of an Out-foxed Crow Posted by Hichem on Jan 31, 2011
Combien de leçons peut-on tirer de cette fable? (How many lessons can one draw from this fable?) Jean de La Fontaine’s Le corbeau et le renard (The Crow and the Fox) tells the story of a literally -and even “literaturely”- “outfoxed” corbeau (crow), who was duped by the –shall we say- “cheesy lines” of a Master Fox—A…
Tribute to a Celtic Tune: “La tribu de Dana” by Manau Posted by Hichem on Jan 30, 2011
With a tune hailing all the way from the proud shores of Bretagne (Brittany),Celtic group Manau sang this immensely successful chanson (song) in France: “La tribu de Dana” (“The tribe of Dana”)—about thirteen years ago already! “La tribu de Dana” is actually inspired from an old traditional Breton song called “Tri Martolod“, which means “The Three…
Like Coffee, I like my Humour Noir! Posted by Hichem on Jan 27, 2011
Garçon! French Dark Sense of Humor, S’il vous plait. Take a tad bit of unbridled cynisme (cynicism), a little dose of the desperately tragique, mix up with un soupçon (a hint)of the morbidly discomforting, preferablyverging onthe edge of the macabre, or any social “taboo” flavor that tickles your fancy, and you may very well end up with what…
MDR/LOL! Blagues (jokes) françaises Part 2 Posted by Hichem on Jan 27, 2011
MDR = “Mort De Rire!” = LOL * Quand j’étais plus jeune, je détestais aller aux mariages (When I was younger, I used to hate going to weddings) parce que mes vieilles tantes et mes grands parents venaient près de moi (because my old aunts and grandparents used to come towards me), me donnaient une grande…
Blagues (Jokes) à la Française Part1 Posted by Hichem on Jan 26, 2011
To each his own bouc émissaire (“scapegoat”, literally, meaning “the butt of a joke”): For a long time,les Anglais (the English) picked on les Irlandais (the Irish), the Americans on their “Southerner” Rednecks, the Egyptians on their own version of “Southerners”, so to speak, the Sa’idis (From la Haute-Égypte, or Upper Egypt), les Canadiens ontheir Newfies (referring to…
French poem: Sous le pont Mirabeau Posted by Hichem on Jan 22, 2011
““Sous le pont Mirabeau”: The poem dedicated to the mythical pont parisien (Parisian bridge) which has fascinated generations after generations of Frenchmen: From Guillaume Apollinaire, l’auteur du poème (the author of the poem) to Marc Lavoine, en passant par Léo Ferré! Le pont Mirabeau (The Mirabeau Bridge) * * * * * * Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine Under the…
The Mini-story of NRJ Posted by Hichem on Jan 20, 2011
Launched by Jean-Paul Baudecroux, the proud son of the Frenchman who brought to you, mesdames (ladies), the very first rouge à lèvres indélébile (indelible lipstick) in the history of mankind, “Rouge Baiser” (or “Red Kiss”), this station de radio with a name that deliberately spells “ENERGIE” (The three letters N-R-J convey the English word “energy” as well) comes today en deuxième position…