Going to the trail
February 28, 2009
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Posted by hurricon
The squatties of Greece (female users guide)
February 27, 2009The Greeks now provide loos with pans in most of the tourist areas. However, I have learned, through various emergencies, to cope with “squatties”, so for the benefit of other desperate travellers (female type) let me give a crash course:
1. Door – if there is one – should be firmly locked.
2. Shorts or skirt should be removed and clutched firmly in the teeth (occasionally there is a nail thoughtfully knocked into the wall for this purpose).
3. Pants should likewise be removed and tucked into the bra, if wearing one. If not, these may be tastefully worn on the head for this brief period, remembering of course, to replace them on the appropriate part of the body later.
4. The purpose for which one entered the cubicle may now commence.
5. Body parts should be matched to the aperture in the porcelain.
6. On completion, replace clothes, unlock door, assume a Le Mans starting position, flush, and run like hell !
7. This should cover most emergencies. For anything more urgent, take refuge in the nearest oleander bush.
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Posted by hurricon
Saint Etienne
February 26, 2009Brit electro-popsters Saint Etienne are back with a vengeance, whizzing around the globe in between studio sessions for their next album, due out in the year 2000. The only band in the world who could come up with a song titled ‘Kofi Annan’ (no wonder their ‘Like a Motorway’ is the call sign for the news on Yugoslavia’s rebellious B-92 radio station, closed down by Slobodan Milosevic) are releasing their single ‘Lover Plays the Bass’ all over the place, in between a US album and a fan-club release. And In the middle of all of that, they’ve even managed a New York date to keep the college crowd sweet on them.
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Posted by hurricon
Noites do Brasil
February 18, 2009Brazilian music and culture is all the rage in Paris right now, and the Latin spirit takes over the Divan du Monde every Thursday, Friday and Saturday during this summer. The hot nights start early with a live concert, followed by DJs spinning samba or batucada, as well as traditional and modern Latin pop. A summer treat to hold you over until the city repopulates after the August heat.
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Posted by hurricon
Corneille
February 17, 2009As a founder of COBRA, the late-1940s movement involving artists based in Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam, Liège-born Corneille (real name: Guillaume van Beverloo) became identified with bold experimentalism. Featuring 35 of his works in several media, this exhibition shows him using garish colours to engage in a bizarre exploration of the links between sex and nature. Most of the paintings here date from the 1990s, proving that the 77-year-old has a creative vigour that many younger artists would envy.
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Posted by hurricon
Naive Art Museum
February 15, 2009A brand new gallery/leisure centre has just opened near the town of Figueres, about two hours’ drive from Barcelona. The Museu d’Art Naïf, as the name suggests, specialises exclusively in naive and popular art, of which it has a huge collection which is rotated on a regular basis. Located in a country house with its own grounds, the museum boasts a bar with terrace, a cafeteria and a specialised bookshop. A strange and colourful mix of works is on display, including some African as well as European art.
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Posted by hurricon
Tout Truffaut
February 13, 2009François Truffaut digested four decades of cinema history, and then with his brilliant 1959 opus on childhood, ‘The 400 Blows’, began a film-making odyssey that changed the way we look at film. The Film Forum’s comprehensive retrospective explores all of Truffaut’s finest work via brand new 35mm prints, capturing both the self-awareness and transgressive energy of the ‘nouvelle vague’ and the deep humanity of the men, women and particularly children who populate his films. This two-month festival revisits everything from Truffaut’s radical appraisal of relationships in ‘Jules et Jim’ to his hilarious meditation on cinema as a medium in ‘Day for Night’.
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Posted by hurricon
The Greek pyramid of Nafplion
February 11, 2009An unusual sight to visit in the area around Nafplion, not known to many visitors, is the Greek pyramid dated about 4 AD. It is at a village called Helenekion which is a bit further inland from Kefalari, where there is the church of the Water Madonna (lake and fountains) and usually a street market or a fete. There is a lot of speculation about this pyramid, usually in the Greek ‘fringe’ magazines. One theory is that the pyramidal form was really a Greek idea which was exported to Egypt.
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Posted by hurricon
Fly over the city
February 8, 2009
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Passau University
February 6, 2009For a youthful atmosphere, wander over to the University of Passau, on the edge of the city. The liveliness supplied by the university spills over into the nearby beer garden and riverside restaurants. The university?s presence also has encouraged a collection of admirable theaters, shops, and parks, as well as cultural exhibits and summer festivals.
Offering a calming yet vibrant city full of history and culture, Passau is the perfect destination for lovers of nature, art, and quiet, tasteful restaurants and hotels. Affording serene river walks and sparkling river boat rides, this city provides a relaxing vacation center.
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Posted by hurricon
