le francais

on our way to sweden and france...you would think, at almost 31 years old, i would have taken some time to learn a bit of either language..but non, i did not.
here are some phrases i found that might be useful though...i plan to use them often:

"are you drunk?"
Est-ce que vous etes ivre?

"as a child, was your cradle rocked too close to the wall?"
On t'a berce trop pres du mur?

"my god, you're children are ugly!"
Mon Dieu, que vos enfants sont laids!

"how many of your customers have died?"
combien de vos clients sont morts?

"your frog has eaten my lunch!"
Votre grenouille a mange mon dejeuner!

"would you stop spitting on me while you're talking!?"
Voulez-vous cesser de me cracher dessus pendant que vous parlez!?

i'm sure i'll do just fine with the french...i mean, what are they going to do, riot in the streets??...
um...

god rest...1929-2006

museum of science, boston

another science museum exhibit...apparently, this is what ernie and i look like when our faces are perfectly blended together. i'm holding out some hope for our children. 

a saturday at the science museum, watching lightening exhibits and trying to figure out the universe (and why people continue to try and get mobius strip tattoos, when they just look end up looking flat)... 

bought it for a friend...

i have a close friend who will be visiting the great country of africa this summer for a few months to study. i decided that i would buy her a tiny little present to get her in the mood for the trip, so off to the music store i went to look for the perfect african music compilation. as many know, the music of mali is all the rage these days, being constantly played on npr and the like...which is no suprise, because most of it is just wonderful. like most music stores, the selection of world music at the particular music shop that i chose was, 'slim' to say the least. but, only being a 'world music novice', myself, i suppose it wasn't really so bad. i had found the appropriate comp on the appropriate (and respected) world music label, then i noticed this quote written on the back of one of the cd's i had picked up: "The Motherland's modern day answer to John Lee Hooker." of course, i had to buy it, sound unheard.
it was the album "niafunke" by ali farka toure.
somehow, in my music travels, i had missed this amazing artist. i had no idea how amazing he was until i listened to the album when i got home (yes, it was a gift, and i opened it, shame on me...but i figured i would buy it myself if it was any good...and, how could i, in good conscience, give an album without first listening to it).
'african blues'...that's the label they've given it (the collective, musical 'they'). it's something all together different than what you might imagine that sounding like though. it's dark, and light, exotic and so heated and emotional...after i listen to the album, i almost feel like i should shower the desert dirt out of my hair.

when i went up to pay for the album, the lady at the counter told me that he had just passed away, the day before. what an odd time for me to discover his music, i thought. i would recommend that everyone take a listen to him at some point in your life, if you're not one of the many who already knew who he was. maybe you're not so much in the mood for malian blues at this point, but at some point, you really should. really.