Viking chess

Today, my wife and I went to the local May Fayre with her friend, her friend's daughter (Buffy's owner) and her friend's daughter's friend. As I often mentioned them and I need to find them a nickname to make things easier, I will call them from now on the trio of Valkyries. Even by reading the title of this post, you can guess why I had this inspiration for this name...

Because there was at the May Fayre a Viking display, with people reenacting Viking fights and so on. As my wife and her friend were having Pimm's (their first of the year), the two girls wandered around the fayre with me the responsible adult (hum, hum!) and they ended up at the Viking display. Various artifacts were The girls were fascinated by the drinking horn and the small dice and many trivial things, but I was fascinated by this board. The woman at the display explained that it was a Viking chess board, also called Tafl. There is a king in the middle, surrounded by his guards. When you play the pieces on the edge, your aim is to capture/attack the king, if you play the pieces at the center it is to protect the king. From the researches I made, there seems to be no clear rules we kept from the time it was played. Oh and there is a dragon on the board, although I wonder how authentic this is. In any case, the dragon adds to the coolness. The woman told me that you can still buy Tafl boards. It is now one of my new projects: find one, buy it, play it.

Le Tricolore et l'Union Jack

Photo prise lorsque le marché français était en ville. On le voit mal, mais il y a un drapeau français juste à côté de l'Union Jack. Et puis? Et puis rien. Ca me fait toujours plaisir de voir un drapeau républicain, pour ne pas dire un drapeau révolutionnaire, dans un pays qui est encore une monarchie. Avec l'église en arrière-plan, je trouve ça encore plus charmant, ça fait comme un pied de nez. Ni Dieu, ni maître et tout ça.

Low-flying red kites

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago, waiting for the train to go home after a day of work. You can see there is a bird on the picture: it is a red kite. I tried to take a better picture, I failed miserably. It was flying very low above the station, then turned to fly over the neighbourhood. Better luck next time I guess. I need to learn to use the camera on my phone better. Red kites are the avian neighbours in this part of England, as I mentioned last year. And they often fly low enough to be seen very well. It is always surreal, once you notice them, to have birds of prey just flying so near humans. We were going to see some friends last weekend and we saw a whole flock of them circling above a roundabout, all very low. If we had not been in a car in motion, I would have tried to take a few snapshots. So it is one of my aims for the upcoming months and weeks: take a good picture of a red kite.

Une rage de gâteau maison

Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais j'ai comme une rage de gâteau au chocolat ce soir. De gâteau au chocolat maison pour être plus précis. En fait, du gâteau de ma grand-mère du côté de ma mère. J'ai pris cette photo parmi les albums Facebook de mon frère PJ. Parce que dans mon souvenir, c'est comme ça qu'il est, le gâteau au chocolat. Je vais peut-être me laisser tenter à en faire un en fin de semaine.

The fruit baskets at work

I blogged before about the baskets of fruits we receive at work. I said back then that the fruit baskets were there some Tuesdays. Well, apparently it can be any day of the week: they were there Wednesday this week. The fruits go really quickly. Yesterday, I took the time to take this picture before my scavenging colleagues and myself emptied the baskets. This is actually a still life. You see bananas, satsumas (I think it's satsumas), apples and pears. The pears were green, but surprisingly they were ripe. And juicy. It was a nice contrast from last time, when the pears were kind of raw and I crunched them like an apple. I have usually a banana and a pear. I love the days of the fruit baskets, but I wish they could be delivered weekly, on a specific day.

"3 héros grecs"

Je reviens brièvement sur ce billet, parce que j'ai une anecdote concernant Dieux & Héros grecs. C'est PJ qui me l'a rappelée dans son commentaire d'alors: en déballant le bouquin, j'ai vu le "&" et au lieu de lire "et" j'ai lu "3". J'ai donc crié avec enthousiasme: "Dieux, trois héros grecs!" pensant que c'était le titre. Ma tante Lise a corrigé mon erreur. En fait, il y avait bien des héros mentionnés: Héraclès, Thésée, Jason, Ulysses, Achille, pour ne nommer que ceux-là. Mais bon, même à l'époque, je n'ai pas commis la faute impardonnable de mon cousin Sam: dire que Poséidon sur la couverture était Neptune. Parce que ça, même à l'époque, je savais que c'était profondément inexact.

Rediscovering pain

As I mentioned two days ago, I had tonight my first class of Krav Maga. And what to say? The first thing that came to my mind afterwards: the pain, the pain! Not during the exercises, but afterwards. And it is not the moves, attacks and defenses themselves that truly hurt: it's the darn pushups, situps and what have you near the end that did me in. We were two newbies, one young woman/teenager and me. The coach asked what was our favorite numbers. She said 7. I said 21. So he asked all to do 28 pushups, then situps, then other things. I didn't do as many. Next time, I will learn not to push my limits too much. And I will bring a bottle of water.

But the lesson itself was a great fun. The instructor was very welcoming and he encouraged me without being condescending or making me feel like a hopeless case. Which I might be, I don't know. I did learn a a lot of things in a first lesson. The class seems like a great bunch of people, all very friendly and warm. I also love the martial art itself, more than I ever thought I would. It is not falsely elegant, it is sober (which makes it elegant in itself) and straight to the point. And on every Wednesday, that breaks my week into two nicely. And break myself, I guess. Of course, it made me remember the famous line from Nietzsche: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Which is very much the case of Krav Maga. That is also what I was told by the instructor: it will make you healthy and strong. I could do with that, especially the healthy part. Until next Wednesday, I will have time to get over the pain. It is not nearly as natural to me as acting, which was my old Wednesday evening activity, but it will keep me busy and make me feel like I accomplish something.

Ai-je brûlé la photo du mois?

Je me demande si je n'ai pas fait une gaffe monumentale hier en publiant cette photo du Musée de l'histoire naturelle. Parce que la photo du mois a pour thème "le flou et la vie" et que cette image collait bien au thème: les corps sont flous et, bien que morts, embaumés par la lave du Vésuve, comme immortalisés. Donc: me suis-je fourré? J'avais comme un soupçon quand je tapais le billet, mais là je me rappelles que la date approche et j'ai vraiment pas grand-chose comme photos, rien en tout cas d'aussi bon.

Dreaming of a volcanic holiday

This picture was taken in the Natural History Museum of London. "A Londra, è vero". But it is of Italy I am thinking about. My wife and her friend (the mother of the girl who has Buffy) are planning to go on holidays and they are seriously considering Italy, maybe Naples. This is where of course Mount Vesuvius is and thus where the ruins of Pompeii are, where these remains have been taken (I think). My wife and I are planning to go on another holiday in a different place, but I have been wanting to go back to Italy in ages and I'd love to try Naples, for many reasons. Because I want to exercise my Italian and improve it, and Naples would be fitting, as I have been told at least once that I have a Neapolitan accent. But it is because of the ruins especially. Because it would be nice to go there before the Vesuvius bursts again (hey, it will happen one day). Because once in my life I want to be near a volcano. There is something beautiful about them that the aura of menace only enhances. And I think it enhances as well, or makes us more conscious of, the beauty of the place itself, of Naples and Italy itself. Even in the above picture, which my wife didn't like one bit and thought it was both scary and sad, there is something like a sinister aesthetic to it. Anyway, I'd love to spend some time near Mount Vesuvius, while it is still sleeping. So I hope they pick up another place.

Mozart raconté aux enfants

J'ai pu retrouver en ligne sur YouTube Mozart racontée aux enfants, le livre-disque du Petit Ménestrel raconté par Gérard Philippe. Enfin, pas le livre, mais la partie musique et narration de Gérard Philippe. Je ne crois pas avoir vu/entendu l'acteur dans autre chose que dans ce livre-disque. Mais pour l'avoir écouté, je l'ai écouté. Et tourné les pages, regardé les images toutes élégantes, appris à aimer Mozart alors que j'étais à l'époque vendu à Beethoven. L'histoire, grande ou petite, est placée en apparté dans la narration et c'est très souvent moralisateur et prêchiprêcha. Tout de même, je pardonne à Gérard de donner un peu trop souvent la leçon plutôt que de raconter.

Krav Maga developments

I mentioned a bit more than a month ago that I was planning to take up Krav Maga classes. It is now fairly official that I will start this week. I needed to find some gym clothes and proper sneakers (or trainers as they call it in the UK) and well, find the determination to reply to the coach "okay I'll be there next week". I am still nervous, but the reply to my email calmed a lot of my reservations: they train all sorts of people, from teenagers to 50 something men and women, and even people with disabilities. So I will not stand out too much as a beginner. We are supposed to learn at our own pace and the first lesson is free, so what do I have to lose? And I get a free t shirt with the starter pack if I sign in. So all in all, I am quite excited.

Les cornichons

Je les avais presque oubliés, mais j'y au pensé aujourd'hui: j'ai acheté au marché français des cornichons à l'aneth avec oignons dans le vinaigre. Il en restait peu, j'ai vraiment chanceux. À l'apéro accompagné de bière, c'est pas mal le paradis. J'ai pris cette photo après que j'aie fait une razia dans le contenant. Il en restera peut-être demain.

Reading through Havoc

Some of you may remember that I bought last year Creature of a Havoc, allegedly one of the most difficult Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. Well, I haven't finished the adventure yet. In fact, after reading the long but fascinating introduction (worth the price of the book itself), I went through a few numbers, but got stuck at every turn and I stopped reading. When I got back to it, I had forgotten what had happened earlier, so I stopped for good. But now I have decided that I would give it a proper go... by sort of cheating. The same way that I did when I got stuck in a maze in another gamebook: I will find the read/walk through on the internet. Lazy and shameful, I know. But I don't have the patience anymore.

La page blanche et l'écran noir

Bob ben c'est reparti: je crois que j'ai un début de panne d'inspiration pour bloguer. Ou alors je manque d'énergie. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi exactement, mais j'ai le syndrome de la page blanche. Ou, dans le cas de Vraie Fiction, le syndrome de l'écran noir. Est-ce que le terme, aussi appelé blocage de l'écrivain, s'applique également au blogueur? Je soupçonne le mois de mai d'y être en partie responsable. Je me sens souvent moins inspiré en mai, allez savoir pourquoi. Peut-être que c'est parce que je sors plus souvent.

An aria for a lazy Sunday

On a lazy Sunday, I often listen to opera. I am doing this right now and I thought I would share it with my readership. This is from Handel's Giulio Cesare. A rather modern take by Danielle de Niese, who plays/sings Cleopatra. I am always a bit skeptical about Danielle de Niese's often pop star-like  mannerism when she sings. I mentioned it the very first time I blogged about her. I know she has also been very much criticized for it. On the other hand, opera will not survive if it remains stiff and formal. And I grew rather found of Danielle de Niese. She may not be the greatest soprano ever, but she has plenty of charm and confidence. And for some reason, her rather carefree attitude reminds me of a pleasant Sunday or a pleasant weekend of far niente. I know, I trivialize the great Handel. But this performance is a delight, all the same.

Le temps des olives

J'ai acheté des olives au marché français hier. Parce que pour moi, le marché français se résume beaucoup à faire des stocks d'olives que je mange en une semaine. Il y en avait une grande variété: sans piments, avec noyau, sans noyau, grecques, à la provençale, avec anchois, avec feta, etc. Je n'ai pas acheté de celles avec feta que vous voyez sur la photo de gauche, cela dit j'ai pris une grande variété. Celles avec aïl sont incontournables, j'ai aussi un faible pour celles aux anchois, j'en prends quelques grecques ainsi que des olives à la provençale, parce que c'est difficile de faire plus français que des olives aux herbes de Provence. Vous ai-je dit que j'aimais les olives? Oh et la dame vendait de la moutarde de Dijon aussi, mais j'hésite à en acheter car j'en ai déjà ici. Et c'est pas aussi spécial que les olives.

Bond in Rome

I thought I would blog a bit more about the upcoming James Bond movie Spectre. Because there are some tidbits of news regarding the movie I am quite excited about. They have filmed a car chase in Rome between James Bond and villain Mr Hinx, played by Dave Bautista. There is a vlog about it, which I have uploaded below.

Some observation:

-Rome is beautifully atmospheric and so perfect for such a movie. Because of the rich history of the city, full of ghosts itself.
-Orange for the Jaguar is a very menacing colour.
-Mr Hinx looks like such a great villain: elegant yet brutish looking, and with something anachronistic about him, his pointy beard giving him the look of a Renaissance assassin. There is something also devilish about his beard.
-That said, Bautista seems like such a nice guy.

Le marché français de retour

Le marché français est de retour en ville. Yay! Ca veut dire: 1)que je vais pouvoir parler français dans d'autres circonstances que pour le travail, 2)que je vais pouvoir m'acheter des victuailles et 3)bien les deux premiers sont suffisants. C'est un des évènements de ce temps-ci de l'année que j'aime le plus. Bien entendu, je partagerai sur le blogue mes trouvailles.

May Day!

No, this is not a cry for help, I am not using the distress signal, which is written mayday anyway. I am only stating the obvious: we are the first of May. May Day is, however, the name given to a public holiday in Europe, on the first of this month. Not in the UK, however. Here it is is the first Monday of May. Which means that we are going to have a three days weekend. So May starts on a good note, on this aspect anyway. It has the same origins: a Pagan, primitive celebration of springtime. May is meant to be the month of blossom and when spring is in full force, or meant to be. Not so much today: it is downright gloomy. One may be tempted to cry mayday. Yes I know, I am using atrocious word plays.

En mai, fais ce qu'il te pluie...

Je publie ici pour "célébrer" le début de mai ce dessin de Jack Koch. Un calembour ironique qui détourne le fameux proverbe que j'aime détester. À regarder la température ce soir, il semblerait qu'on est pas mal parti pour ça...