By wink of water

I saw The Antlers last night at Nouveau Casino with Jan. It was a fantastic show. They played their entire album, Hospice, which is essentially the story of watching a loved one die in a hospital. It’s very beautiful and very sad, and the lead singer is amazing at conveying pain in his voice and face. Nouveau Casino is another one of these small, intimate Parisian venues that I so adore. We were very close to the band, and I told them after how much I enjoyed their music (bravery due to Molly’s excellent example). Here is a fan video for “Kettering”, the first real song on the album, and lyrics below.

I wish that I had known in that first minute we met, the unpayable debt that I owed you
‘Cause you’d been abused by the bone that refused you and you hired me to make up for that
And walking in that room when you had tubes in your arms, those singing morphine alarms out of tune
They had you sleeping and eating and I didn’t believe them when they called you a hurricane thunder cloud
When I was checking vitals, I suggested a smile; you didn’t talk for a while, you were freezing

You said you hated my tone, it made you feel so alone, so you told me I had to be leaving
But something kept me standing by that hospital bed. I should have quit but instead I took care of you
You made me sleep and uneven and I didn’t believe them when they told me that there was no saving you.

J’ai découvert un truc très marrant aujourd’hui. J’adore utiliser l’expression “le sigh” qui n’est pas vraiment français, mais qui vient du dessin animé “Pepe Le Pew”. Aujourd’hui, j’ai vu des videos (elles sont drôles mais je ne me suis jamais rendu compte que le but des blagues était de se moquer des français) et je les ai montrés à Guillaume. Il m’a dit que cela existe en français aussi mais que Pepe est italien. On les a regardés et c’est vrai! Il y a aussi beaucoup du monde qui parle avec un accent (de sud ou Belge). Vous pouvez les regarder ici:

Version française
Version originale (mais pas la même video)
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I love using the phrase “le sigh”, which is of course not really French but comes from the Pepe Le Pew cartoons. I was showing them to my friend Guillaume today (they are funny, though I never realized that the whole point of the cartoon is to make fun of French people) and he told me that there’s a French version, only Pepe is Italian (!!!) We watched one and it’s pretty funny – there are little French puns, and lots of people with funny French accents (Southern, Belgian). The best is Pepe himself, who says “mon petit farfalle” instead of “ma chérie” (which is funny in and of itself – he’s saying “my little butterfly”, and the French do use butterfly as a term of endearment, along with bunny rabbit). Above you can watch a French version of Pepe Le Pew and the American one.

I’m a terrible person whose updates are less and less frequent. Work has been consuming the vast majority of my time (though there have been some very fun soirées, like the one pictured). But fear not, friends. Once I get my camera back (from Jess? in NYC after Christmas?), I’ll take some photos of Paris in the winter, and also have more time to write about life these days.

We’re getting to the end of the year, and of the decade, so I have all kinds of lists/mixes I’m constructing. This will be my last mix before the best of 2009 and thus includes some new songs that just barely missed the cut. And some pop. Frankly, I think pop music this year has been pretty terrible (just witness the ubiquity of Black Eyed Peas), but my heart holds a special place for Lady GaGa. And you must listen to the two covers, especially Sia’s cover of Britney Spears. She makes the song unbelievably sexy. The Runaway will be on the (theoretical) new National album next year, very excited for it. Finally, there are two French songs: one by Carla Bruni, now the first lady of France, and one political song written in the 70s essentially denouncing the complacency of the French. Mix linked on facebook as usual.

A la prochaine…

1. No One Sleeps When I’m Awake by The Sounds
2. 22 by Lily Allen
3. Gifted (feat. Kanye West, Santogold, & Lykke Li) by N.A.S.A.
4. Ring Ring by Sleigh Bells
5. Quelqu’un M’a Dit by Carla Bruni
6. Gimme More (Britney Spears Cover) by Sia
7. Dance In the Dark by Lady GaGa
8. The Sun Ain’t Shining No More by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
9. Presents by Via Audio
10. 11th Dimension by Julian Casablancas
11. Velvet by The Big Pink
12. Hexagone by Renaud
13. Change of Heart by El Perro del Mar
14. Don’t Stop the Music (Rihanna Cover) by The Bird and The Bee
15. Runaway by The National