jacampie

Sarah Vaughan's Green Dolphin Street

2010-01-10T07:20:00.001-08:00

the snow

2009-02-19T13:08:00.001-08:00

My motto from now on

2009-02-09T05:41:00.001-08:00

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain

Norman Connors

2009-02-09T05:30:00.001-08:00

Dindi

I'm leaving, I'm leaving, I'm leaving, hurrahhhhh

2009-02-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

I simply adored this 2009 superbowl ad. It struck a bell..It is plain and simple -I am just leaving educ nat to visit the world at large. The lady is not for turning.
Yet what an obscene relief now the decision has been taken! 38 years checking my feelings, repressing my anger and unhappiness : free at last. Thank you Charly.

A vendre: the most romantic property in Quimperle

2008-10-09T02:28:00.000-07:00

La maison de la Belle au Bois Dormant est à vendre!Réveillez-la.
If you buy Sleeping Beauty's home, it will recover from its deadly slumber.

Vous mariez pas les filles, Boris Vian

2008-10-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.deezer.com/track/237709 ce n'est pas ma version préférée car j'aime mieux Béatrice Moulin. Mais quel humour dans cette chanson!

2008-09-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

The 3 R's

2008-06-12T12:03:00.001-07:00

REduce, reuse, recycle in music

l'absent

2008-02-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

I don't want to forget you Charly.
Here is to you on the eve of your final disappearance from this earth,
forever parted.
With my love, sadness all around.

thanksgiving by Tex Avery

2007-10-28T04:02:00.000-07:00

LikeTelevision Embed Movies and TV Shows

Shakespeare in love

2007-10-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

It all started with Hobbes the tiger

2007-09-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

As I was working on a Calvin and Hobbes strip for my pupils, I got strayed as usual -isn't the Internet a witch, or a wizard, whichever you choose? In an article about Hobbes, the eponymous philosopher not the beloved tiger, BINGO, there was a link to a song by the Monty Python. I already saw myself using it in class, blablabla. Well I won't actually, but usefully wasted a few minutes of my precious and forever shrinking time-all the Internet's fault- as you-Monty Pythons and Calvin and Hobbes' lovers, surely will, if you follow the trail as I did.
Read the lyrics and listen to the song.

Tax 'wasteful' plasma TVs?

2007-05-21T03:28:00.000-07:00

Tax plasma TVs ?

Excerpt from BBC news: :
"Plasma televisions, which are 50% bigger than their cathode-ray tube equivalents, consume about four times more energy, according to the government-funded Energy Saving Trust.
A cathode-ray tube TV costs about £25 per year to run and accounts for 100kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, whereas a plasma TV costs about £100 per year and accounts for 400kg of CO2. "

I can't believe plasma-tv designers have not thought about the impact on our planet! Do they live on another planet?

Slim Gaillard

2007-03-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

If you are tired, depressed or fed up watch this! The cure!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlQ-CxoxQnM

Here is an interesting comment -in French- on the scene:
"Scene de Helzapoppin 1941, le film culte. Scene stéréotypée de comédie américaine classique, mettant en jeu les stéréotypes condescendants, la même chez les Marx Brothers un jour aux courses (all god's chillun got rhythm): on épie chez les (domestiques,livreurs, laveurs...) noirs. Ils se croient seuls, alors on le voit bien que ces bons sauvages Afro Américains, innocents et heureux, ont le rythme dans la peau. Donc, d'innocents livreurs en uniforme découvrent au début du film qu'ils livrent des instruments musicaux. C'est la 1e fois qu'ils en voient...D'abord Slim (piano puis guitare et chanting) et Slam (basse) rejoints par Rex Stewart au cornet. On dirait bien: they really hit that jive, sauf que je crois que l'expression est un peu ultérieure. Les maîtres observent en riant, bonaces. Les maids arrivent court-vêtues pour un lindy-hop (surnommé parfois jitterbug, l'ancêtre du rock et du hip-hop) qui swingue à en rester scotché. S'apercevant qu'on les regarde, les noirs reprendront vite leur place de serviteurs invisibles."

Also a very moving 're-enctment' of a scene from Jack Kerouac's '"On the Road" with Slim Gaillard and Van Morrison. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1byHzUBrWi4

A glass bridge on the rim of the grand canyon

2007-03-26T03:08:00.000-07:00

How incredible! I can't believe they did this to the grand canyon.
http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/home.html

'Desperate Housewives' Credits Unveiled

2007-03-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

Want to confirm your theories about the art works used in the credits of your favourite series?
I had guessed some-Cranach, Van Eyck, Woods, Warhol, Liechstenstein- but not all the artists hinted at, the most recent in fact. Strange, isn't it? The site is in French by the way.
Another artistic quizz made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the treaty of Rome : European artists of the 20th century.

Holidays indeed but work nonetheless

2007-03-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

I don't look stressed, do I? I wish I could always mark my students' tests under a coconut tree... Please note however that this was supposed to be a break.
When you are a teacher you never disconnect completely or am I abnormal? Two hours a day for ten days and red graffiti on about 80 tests.

Holidays at last

2007-02-23T10:21:00.000-08:00

Another fantastic clip for Monty Python's lovers
">

I do hope the subtitles make sense though!

Sport and Philosophy

2007-02-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

I love the Monty Pythons and I am glad to try for the first time to embed this hilarious video. Please bear in mind that I work in Auxerre, which boasts one of the best football team in .. France. Unfortunately I am not a football buff to say the least and enjoy seeing it made fun of.
My sport is windsurfing and although some treacherous Germans have booked all the boards on Tobago, I do hope there will be an old one left for us to have fun.

2007-02-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

Everything you ever wanted to know about Valentine day!

Super Bowl ads

2007-02-08T06:09:00.000-08:00

In an article published on February 8, 2007 in the New York Times,STUART ELLIOTT summed up his appraisal of the situations depicted in the ads in the headline: "Super Bowl Ads of Cartoonish Violence, Perhaps Reflecting Toll of War"
Here is an excerpt from this thought-provoking article:

-No commercial that appeared last night during Super Bowl XLI directly addressed Iraq, unlike a patriotic spot for Budweiser beer that ran during the game two years ago. But the ongoing war seemed to linger just below the surface of many of this year’s commercials.

More than a dozen spots celebrated violence in an exaggerated, cartoonlike vein that was intended to be humorous, but often came across as cruel or callous.

For instance, in a commercial for Bud Light beer, sold by Anheuser-Busch, one man beat the other at a game of rock, paper, scissors by throwing a rock at his opponent’s head.

In another Bud Light spot, face-slapping replaced fist-bumping as the cool way for people to show affection for one another. In a FedEx commercial, set on the moon, an astronaut was wiped out by a meteor. In a spot for Snickers candy, sold by Mars, two co-workers sought to prove their masculinity by tearing off patches of chest hair.

There was also a bank robbery (E*Trade Financial), fierce battles among office workers trapped in a jungle (CareerBuilder), menacing hitchhikers (Bud Light again) and a clash between a monster and a superhero reminiscent of a horror movie (Garmin).

My favourites: Snickers, the ones about work and the Bud light "hitchhikers", that reminds me of a Capote short story.

International philosophy

2007-01-28T11:45:00.000-08:00

Wonderful nonsense ! Watch this: International Philosophy on youtube by the Monty Pythons.
Greece vs Germany. Guess which game! Guess who wins!

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Dorset | Birds under threat from ship oil

2007-01-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

BBC NEWS UK England Dorset Birds under threat from ship oil
Another environmental tragedy?

Shock treatment

2007-01-22T06:48:00.000-08:00

The British anti-smoking campaign is really striking. Will it be effective?

EVOvideo07 and Blogging for beginners

2007-01-15T08:39:00.000-08:00

Hurrah!EVOvideo07 has just started as well as Blogging for Beginners. I hope to learn loads from both of these EFL sessions. However I feel very shy when I read the credentials of all those that log in at the EVOvideo07 site.

2007-01-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

Happy new year! Are you a Gary?
I'm afraid I am not...since I never take new resolutions. Crafty, ain't I?

2006-11-28T12:39:00.000-08:00

Today an article about how we shower developing countries with our toxic waste. what a shame really!

Then here are two videos of protest songs I think particularly thought-provoking.
Mr President by Pink on Youtube
and above all "Let's impeach the president" by Neil Young
Enjoy and remember Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

the foretold demise of the fish

2006-11-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

According to some scientists, in fifty years' time, fish will have disappeared as a result of overfishing, plain human greed and sheer stupidity. I can't bear that idea. There is nothing I enjoy more than snorkelling in the warm seas of the Caribbean, at one with nature and animals, swimming in their midst. What ineffable pleasure!The fish I meet there are different from the ones that are fished on an industrial scale, obviously. Yet isn't it a sustainable resource in the same way as renewable energies? To think that most of them die to feed other animals? It is a crazy world, isn't it?

Protest songs

2006-11-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this fabulous document: the Dixie Chicks
http://creative.myspace.com/groups/_sj/shut_up/videos/clip1xx.html
It is hard to believe that this can happen in a democracy, or can it?

Ennio Morricone suite

2006-10-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

Certaines de mes amies dans la salle ont été très décues par le son du concert: de la musique en boîte, trafiquée par le preneur de sons, n'ayant plus rien de naturel. Finalement cette impression correspond assez bien à la froideur ressentie en face de Morricone aussi. c'est du collage, pas de la musique vivante.

Thank You Ennio Morricone

2006-10-23T02:30:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe it happened! Last Saturday, I sang at the concert that Ennio Morricone conducted at Auxerre, Yonne, France, his "Sergio Leone Suite", bits from "Torquemada", "Mission", "Casualties of War". Just the idea of being conducted by the composer himself was and is overwhelming.
A few bars from Mission hold the fort at the back of my mind, day or ..night. I feel obsessed : "poena, poena nostra" relentlessly comes up, like a scratched vinyl record. And I didn't sing that part! Alternately, Susanna Rigacci's splendidly mellow voice squats my brain.

Well Mr Morricone was awesome, very nice and quiet as a person, very professional of course. He kindly signed his name on my "Leone Suite" score. Yesterday morning I placed it right before one of Mozart's masses in my library...superb alphabetical surprise.
His way of conducting was unusual to me who am used to some sort of fusion with the choir masters I sing for -or with or to. Not that it was mechanical actually but I felt like a cog in a machine, like a device programmed to convey emotions to the audience, like a piano key, not like a human being under his -rare- gaze.There was no feeling flowing between him and me- me out of a hundred singers of course-, no spark of complicity, the obvious goal being the best rendering of what was written on the score I was holding in my hands.Is it because it is his own music that he is conducting? Would it be different if he were conducting Mozart or Bach?
Anyway, thank you Stefano, for the work you did with us at the 2 rehearsals, before leaving us into the hands of the Master.

Singing with the "Roma Sinfonietta" orchestra was a marvellously unforgettable experience. I was just behind the percussion instruments. It was so primal and exhilarating.Thank you all.

It was THE experience of a lifetime for a modest alto choir singer. I may have sung music of a higher spiritual level in the past, Monteverdi, Bach's Passions especially, but singing "Abolisson", "On earth as it is in heaven" conducted by the composer himself can't be matched.

I'll be forever grateful to those who made this possible, the organisers of the "Festival Musique et Cinéma" of Auxerre, France and their sponsors.
Thanks to Patrick Bacot, directeur de l'Ecole nationale de Musique d'Auxerre without whom nothing would have happened.

Fleur de vigne 2

2006-05-22T03:17:00.000-07:00

Départ des barriques vers Paris sur les bois flottés comme au bon vieux temps: Cela a l'air précaire..

fleur de vigne

2006-05-22T03:01:00.000-07:00

For you, Thomas, enjoying life in Santa Barbara...
A few photos of the "fleur de vigne" festival in Auxerre, May 21, 2006.

Heidy is home!

2006-03-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

Heidy has arrived at her French home and the saga can be read at the site Sylvie has made for her.
She is even prettier than the photo I posted a few weeks ago.
She looks like a determined little girl.

Lucas will be an ideal big brother.

Creationism to be in GCSE papers !!!!!!!

2006-03-12T02:16:00.000-08:00

Here is an excerpt from an article posted on the BBC website:
"Creationist theories about how the world was made are to be debated in GCSE science lessons in mainstream secondary schools in England.
The subject has been included in a new syllabus for biology produced by the OCR exam board, due out in September.
Critics say the matter should only be discussed in R.E. because there is a danger of elevating religious theories to the status of scientific ones.
The government insists creationism is not being taught as a subject.
The exam board says students need to understand the background to theories. "

In England!!!! I can't believe it.

bienvenue à Heidy

2006-02-11T05:43:00.000-08:00

Mes neveux partent avec leur petit Lucas retrouver leur petite fille et moi, je ne serai pas très loin profitant du soleil de Curacao...
Bienvenue, Heidy, dans la grande famille Berrod.

oxymoron

2006-02-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

Muslim humour, an oxymoron. And, no, it is not a swearword.

Bathos

2005-11-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

An interesting site to make you realise how little you have actually seen of the WORLD even though you get the feeling you have travelled extensively!

Don't let's allow the French government down that slippery slope

2005-11-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

Worried sick about pensions in the not-so distant future,Read in the Economist:
America's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation reported a deficit of $22.8 billion for the year ending September 30th. However, the federal agency, which insures private pensions, said its outlook had worsened due to recent “events” and now estimates it is exposed to $108 billion in pension losses. The Senate attempted to address the deficit by passing a bill that, among other things, requires employers to pay higher premiums to the agency.

puns

2005-11-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

I just loved it..

Intelligent Design :Why do teachers keep a low profile?

2005-11-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

How come science teachers in Kansas have not massively handed out their resignation? They are scientists, aren't they, with a code of ethics?Will they really be forced to "teach" this "scientific" theory or will it just be condoned with if they forget to teach it?
Deepest sympathies.

scum or rabble-rousers

2005-11-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

Pendant que le blog du Guardian discute de l'usage du mot "scum" pour traduire "racaille", une jolie photo qui montre que certains gardent de l'humour...

wind energy

2005-11-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

Read about this thought-provoking topic

An excerpt:
"There's always going to be some collateral damage (studies at Altamont seem to suggest around 10 raptors per year per turbine); but then there's a lot of collateral damage from nonwind power generation plants, as well, such as air pollution and climate change. By focusing so heavily on the not-astronomical wildlife losses, environmentalists risk coming across as nothing-is-good-enough whiners."

The perfect is the enemy of the good
Voltaire

2005-10-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

A fantastic site about Guy Fawkes

Terrorism then, terrorism now,
Torture then, torture now,
Religion, the source of evil?

2005-10-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

China's Shenzhou VI spacecraft has safely returned to Earth, after five days in orbit.
The craft, carrying two astronauts, landed at 0432 on Monday (2032 GMT on Sunday) in the remote grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

It is the second manned spaceflight for China - only the third country to successfully put a man into space.

China first sent up a manned mission in 2003, following the United States and Russia into space.

The capsule is reported to have landed by parachute only 1km (0.6 miles) from its target.

Beijing has attached great importance to its space programme, viewing it as a source of national pride and international prestige.

China hopes to set up a space station within five years and eventually it wants to put an astronaut on the Moon.

My comment:

Why spend so much money on this?
Aren't there more urgent problems on earth, in science?
It is no secret that the experiments carried out on the ISS for instance did not yield as much as was expected. So why start plans for another white elephant, another piece of rubbish orbiting the earth and turning the sky into a dump?

Non Nasa use of NASA's facilities

2005-10-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

Parts of a message received from NASA
10.07.05
NASA AND ZERO-G TEST SPACE SHUTTLE RUNWAY PROGRAM

NASA and Zero Gravity Corporation, known as ZERO-G, of Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., have announced the firm's participation in a pilot
program. It will demonstrate expanded access to and use of the space
shuttle's runway and landing facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,
Fla., for non-NASA activities.

ZERO-G will conduct weightless flights from the facility using its
Boeing 727-200 aircraft, called G-Force One, the weekend of Nov. 5-6.
The passengers, called "Flyers," will predominantly be teachers who
will perform simple microgravity experiments they can share with
their students back in the classroom.

The provider of weightless flights will be the first in a series of
demonstration projects invited to use the landing facility to help
NASA develop policy, management and operational approaches to opening
the 15,000-foot runway to non-NASA use. The pathfinder project was
proposed by ZERO-G in response to NASA's recent solicitation of
interest in non-NASA uses for the facility.

"We're excited to have ZERO-G come to the Shuttle Landing Facility as
the first demonstration project in this effort to broaden the
facility's use," said Kennedy Space Center Director Jim Kennedy.
"Their activities to help share the experience of spaceflight with
the general public, especially those educators who are developing our
next generation of explorers, offer a strong synergy with NASA's own
outreach and educational activities," he said.

In addition to giving passengers a brief exposure to the zero gravity
experience astronauts have while orbiting earth, the parabolic
flights also offer a simulation of the gravity a person would feel on
the moon and on Mars, providing a glimpse of what future NASA crews
will encounter.

Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of ZERO-G explained, "Our
flyers train just like astronauts and live their dream of being
weightless. More than 1,250 customers in the last year have been able
to fly with ZERO-G and company officials are excited to be part of
the effort to expand use of the historic Shuttle Landing Facility."

ZERO-G and NASA also are discussing future potential flight activity
that will support scientists and their experiments, using Kennedy
Space Center experiment-processing capabilities, as well as the
availability of nearby airspace.

Other potential projects proposed to NASA in response to the Request
for Information are in the discussion stage with their respective
organizations and are expected to be announced jointly in the near
future.

The pilot program is being sponsored by the Kennedy Space Center,
Center Operations Directorate, and is supported by NASA's Office of
Space Operations for the purpose of helping NASA implement U.S. Space
Transportation Policy and the President's Management Agenda.

For more information about ZERO-G, please visit
http://www.GoZeroG.com or call (800) ZERO-G-800.

For information about NASA missions and projects, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-

appalling

2005-09-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

"Classroom purge on failing teachers" (The Guardian)

Martin Bentham and Amelia Hill

Sunday September 11, 2005

Shivers down the spine

2005-01-31T02:52:00.000-08:00

Sixty years ago, Auschwitz was liberated from the Nazis. Let’s never forget the awful acts committed by human beings like you and me. How can such barbarity towards fellow human beings develop? Mon semblable, mon frère! I weep in agony as if I were somehow infected, tainted by what occurred then.

A hundred years ago Einstein published some of his seminal work and the face of the world was forever changed.

Shivers down my spine
On January 19th, Schwarzenegger’s ‘enlightened’ California murdered an inmate on death row by injections of lethal drugs

And now other reasons to get concerned:read the links..

Mad Cow Disease found in goat
Bird flu passed between humans

Are we doomed?

volunteering

2005-01-27T02:22:00.000-08:00

Interesting new means to help people.
What would you be prepared to do among the following suggstions from the teachers' letter?
COMMUNITIES AND NEEDS:
(Note: These are fictional scenarios inspired by real-life situations.)
-talented Ukrainian young adult hockey teams need skates, other equipment, training and advice on competing internationally
-South African children's AIDS home needs art supplies, volunteers and pen pals
-Jordanian farmers request help starting a craft market
-Colombian medical personnel seek professional advice on how to start a drug rehabilitation program
-former child soldiers in Uganda require funds and training to develop a community-building program featuring an online radio station
-Vietnamese mothers need advice to solicit the government to pass a stricter helmet law
-Armenian village asks for help marketing and advertising its traditional rug designs
-Pakistani and Indian educators would like counsel on how to establish and run a summer camp that unites Muslim and Hindu youth
-American soldiers in Iraq would like to create a virtual network so they can communicate with Iraqi and other Middle Eastern civilians

news

2005-01-24T05:19:00.000-08:00

visit http://jacampie.tripod.com/ampie

learning alone

2005-01-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

Five years before I retire: I have to get e-literate before leaving. Still a lot to do as I can't access this site from the "address" part in my window.... I'm determined to succeed.

here we go

2005-01-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

A giant leap for ... an ordinary teacher: my first lines as a blogger. I'm elated