Nothing, nothing, nothing.

I'm so busy with work that I don't have the time to do anything else, therefore nothing to write about. I didn't even go to the Jazz Fest.
I'm updating the Playlist though.

The Free Jazz Festival

Who can afford the tickets for the Jazz Festival anyway? Fortunately, the festival has some free shows, and some good ones. Here's a little selection.

June 28
21h: Carlinhos Brown - Scène General Motors
22h: Nomadic Massive - Scène Bell

June 29
22h: Pawa Up First - Scène Bell

July 1
20h and 22h: Emilie Claire Barlow - Scène Alcan

July 4
20h: Emily King - Scène Alcan

July 6
21h and 23h: Esperanza Spalding - Scène CBC/Radio-Canada/Best Buy

July 7
20h and 22h: Room Eleven - Scène Alcan

Julie se fait couper les cheveux dans la cuisine

2880 Film Blitz

Hi guys,

This is how student newspapers fuck up with your articles. Because the Blitz lasts 48 hours, and not 68. Cause 2880 minutes makes 48 hours. AND I GOT TO WRITE ABOUT SUONI PER IL POPOLO FIRST!!!

A film in 68 hours

The Blitz is back and the heat is on

The Link, June 12

One short film. 2,880 minutes to make it. $10,000 to win. These are the guidelines for the 14 teams participating in 2880 Film Blitz from June 15-17.

“Everyone can do it, but whether everyone can do it well under the pressure is a big difference,” explains John Christou.

The young filmmaker knows what he is talking about. He participated—successfully—in the first two editions of the competition. Christou then became a member of the jury before to get on the board of Doc-Quebec, the organization that is putting “the Blitz” together.

What started as an original fundraising event quickly became an important platform of recognition for young Montreal filmmakers.

Doc-Quebec is an organization that brings together documentary filmmakers on a national scale. Like most film companies, it operates on a tight budget. Five years ago, its board decided to create an event that would become one of their main sources of revenue.

For them, fundraising didn’t have to be dull or formal. They wanted to have fun and other people to have fun with them. And to give filmmakers the opportunity to accomplish something unique: make a film in three days.

“What’s great about the Blitz is that it forces you to make a movie in a week-end, whereas people take months and months to make even a short film,” says Christou. “To be motivated to do it is such a daunting task.”

The only rules of the competition are to stick to the theme given during the launching of the event and to keep the film within five minutes. This year, the limits have been pushed forward: the only “theme” to respect will be a five-second video-clip to insert in the film. For the first time, there will be no limitation concerning the format: film, video, even a cell-phone camera will do, a freedom that promises to tickle the creativity of the participants.

“Usually in short films, especially shot on video, if you try to follow more the Hollywood type of formula, which a lot of people try to do, it just never comes across as good as what you were imagining in your head,” warns Christou. “The ones that end up winning are the ones where people take risks and they use the fact that they don’t have a lot of time.”

Being creative with the Blitz pays. The winners not only obtain generous prizes, they also get to present their work to a crowd of professionals, making it a great opportunity to boost an incipient career, especially since the event grew in popularity over the years. There were so many subscriptions this year that the participants had to be selected by a raffle. More participants mean tighter competition.

“The quality of the films has actually gone up every year. I think people are more prepared now, and having seen what other teams have done in the past, have taken it more seriously,” says Christou. “It would be harder to win now if I would enter again this year!”

The projects from the 2880 Film Blitz will be presented on June 17 at La Tulipe (1220 Ste-Catherine E.) at 7 p.m.

Henri Chopin is in da house

Henri Chopin is a poet, and also a painter, and a traveller, and many other things that I don't know of. Henri Chopin is a survivor of the Holocaust, and by looking at him you wonder how such a frail man could have the strength to resist. Henri Chopin was performing last night at the Sala Rossa for the festival Suoni Per Il Popolo, and Henri Choping is staying at my house while he's in Montreal.

Plein de trucs bien dans la radio

Pour les francophones, et les autres qui savent parler français, et les anglophones qui savent parler français et qui aiment écouter des interviews en anglais traduites en français, deux informations concernant des émissions disponibles en réécoute sur Internet:

- Une série d'entretiens avec Noam Chomsky dans Là-Bas Si J'y Suis, que je n'ai moi-même pas encore écoutée mais que je sais qu'elle est très bien quand même parce que Là-Bas Si J'y Suis c'est toujours très bien. On peut écouter les entretiens sur le site internet de l'émission.

- Patti Smith était le sujet principal d'Eclectik samedi dernier. Avec une longue interview très intéressante. L'émission est disponible ici.

- Petite update aussi pour parler de la nouvelle émission de Julie, Dans Ta Bulle, sur la bande dessinée, qui parle de pleins de trucs de bande dessinée. Puisque c'est une émission de BD. Et Julie elle s'y connaît vraiment en BD alors ça vaut le coup si vous aussi vous aimez la BD. Dans Ta Bulle s'écoute sur CHOQ fm en direct ou sur leur site internet.

Housekeeping

I just added a link to Freakonomics' blog, which displays all kind of news related to the book.
Another link worth mentionning is the archive page of the articles published by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, the authors, in the New York Times. Those act like little extensions of the book.
The whole website is pretty good by the way. It features a student guide and an instructor's guide to the book, for use in class.

I also wanted to say that I'm seriously getting bored cause no good music is coming out lately. Plenty of nice trendy stuff, yes, but real good true soul-reaching music, no. So I stay with my Johnny Cash and Charles Mingus and Nina Simone, which is not bad at all anyway.

Two books. Two bestsellers. Not new at all!

The Tipping Point is an interesting book. Not fundamental, but interesting. Through a drawn-out exposé, Malcolm Gladwell explains his theory that little things can transform movements into mass movements. It links social psychology to marketing techniques and statistics, in the same spirit as Freakonomics. Though Gladwell sometimes theorizes too much (lots of categories, sub-categories, examples with no apparent link between one another,) he presents facts that are worth just knowing.

A Short History of Progress is a compilation of lives and deaths of some of the biggest civilizations on earth. It doesn't say anything new, it's not complicated to read, but its message will never be said too many times. History shows that those brilliant civilizations - Sumer, Easter Island, Maya... - have all done mistakes that led to their disappearance. And History proves that this will happen again, to us. Because nobody is able to remember History, it seems.

Agenda

Two quick things concerning the music agenda:
- Some very good groups were added to list of Osgeaga, and I'm sure they won't be the last ones: Damien Rice, M.I.A., Explosions In The Sky, Editors, Interpol, Martha Wainwright, Au Revoir Simone...

- Tomorrow starts the festival Suoni Per Il Popolo at La Sala Rossa and La Casa Del Popolo. A lot of strange things, but all very interesting. My roommates and I have special ties to this festival, very very special ties. Just come by our place during the Grand Prix week-end and you'll see...

Un peu d'Air

A new post after a long absence. I just didn't have anything to write about. Or I didn't feel like it. Cause there was indeed plenty of stuff to mention, like this weird thing that happened to all French citizens at the end of last month. I was just struggling with my journalistic objectivity there.

One thing that I still want to talk about is the concert of Air, which happened on May 6 at Metropolis. I'll be brief: it was like staring at a picture of them while listening to the album. No talk, no improvisation, no emotion. I was almost bored.

Un commentaire?

Vu et entendu sur Canal+ le soir du premier tour:

Un journaliste à Marine Le Pen - "C'est la fin de Jean-Marie Le Pen ce soir?"
- "Je ne crois pas, non. En tout cas c'est la victoire de ses idées."

I was watching some videos on Internet of the soccer world cups in 1998 and 2006 and it made me remember that sometimes the French can be happy and tolerant.

Joan As Police Woman

It's quite funny cause I've known Joan Wasser's name for a long time but I never listened to what she was doing. Joan was dating Jeff Buckley when he died, that's why. I remember this picture of them taken by Merri Cyr, who published it in her book A Wished-For Song. And now she's having her first album released and it's really good...

Pour les lecteurs Français

Une barre de Galak pour qui saura répondre à mes questions:

- Le projet de construction d'une grande mosquée à Marseille vient d'être freiné après que le tribunal administratif ait ordonné à la ville de résilier le bail qu'elle avait signé avec l'association La Mosquée de Marseille. L'association disposait d'un terrain de 8600 m2 pour un loyer annuel de 300 euros. Le tribunal a jugé que le prix du loyer était "anormalement bas" comparé au prix du marché et que "le projet violait l'article 2 de la loi du 9 décembre 1905 selon lequel la République ne reconnaît ni ne subventionne aucun culte." (Le Monde)
Mais à qui appartiennent les églises? (C'est une vraie question, je sais vraiment pas à qui elles appartiennent, les églises.)

- Qu'est-ce que Jean-Paul II vient foutre dans la campagne présidentielle?

- Mais que fait la police?

Quelle coïncidence!

En plein débat sur le dernier clip de Ace Norton, Michel Gondry est l'invité de Rebecca Manzoni dans Eclectik cette semaine!
Podcast disponible sur le site de France Inter.

Aux armes.

Battles played last night at la Sala Rossa. In spite of my extended tiredness, I thought it was something big (this is incomprehensible I know, but I'm still tired) and I nominate "Atlas" in the category "Tunes to take with your breakfast during the exam period" for the Big Lady Music Awards (which ceremony is gonna take place whenever I will decide. Please send in your suggestions as to the categories you wish to be represented.)

Battles the website
Battles on MySpace

Scoop

Osheaga will be back next September! Same place, same dates.
The first names are being announced, hold your breath:
The Smashing Pumpkins, Placebo (héhéhé,) Amy Winehouse, Stars, the Sam Roberts Band, Xavier Caféine, Paolo Nutini, Au Revoir Simone, Adam Kesher, Peter Von Poehl.

And I shouldn't be telling you that but you already can buy your tickets online...

Podcasts

A new section in Big Lady's sidebar: a selection of my favourite podcasts. I rediscovered radio with them.
My preference goes to CPR's This American Life, APM's American RadioWorks and The Story, and... eh... No, I love them all.
Please send your suggestions!

Les Fatals Picards

Voilà la chanson qui nous représentera à l'Eurovision. Les Wampas, c'était bien, mais les Fatals Picards, c'est mieux!

Une autre chanson des Fatals Picards pour tous les profs de Picardie et d'ailleurs (hein, Sèv et Gilles!)

Truc de ouf

Eh vous avez vu? C'est pas un agenda musique de malade ça? Comment y va être trop bien le mois de mai! Et le mois d'avril? Il est pas beau le mois d'avril? (Mais comment je vais réussir à me payer tout ça, moi?...)

Translation:
A good concert season we are going to have!

Sinon demain je vais voir Screamers, un documentaire sur le génocide avec System Of A Down sur lequel le Cinéma du Parc ne tarit pas d'éloges.

Tomorrow: press screening of Screamers, a documentary on genocides with System Of A Down.

Marie-Antoinette

I saw Marie-Antoinette yesterday and I really liked it. I was actually thinking that when I decide to go back to the hairdresser, maybe I'll think about a 18th century-style haircut, looks comfortable.