Summer Schedule

Summer Schedule

Dolmen de Coste Rouge

I am off Thrusday for 4 weeks to the South of France. First stop will be in Lodève (30mns Northwest of Montpelier) were I have been invited to the Festival Voix de la Méditerranée. The 10 days Festival hosts 80 poets/performers, 350 free readings in a 7500 people town! I have never been to Lodève and I am excited to dig into the history of the area. At around 300 B.C the town was a Volque capital, and I can’t wait to see the dolmen of Coste Rouge (see pix above).
Also interesting is the The Coat of Arms of the city of Lodève..–wink wink to poet Dave Brink & Megan Burns in New Orleans–. Once again: “Things fall where they lie”, when you will know that my next extended performance project will be the result of a -very- heuristic research project in New Orleans!

Lodeve Coats of Arms

Back to Lodève for now:
I will be performing every day at different times and different places. In case you would like to stop by, there is the detailed schedule at the link below: http://www.voixdelamediterranee.com/2008/index_poetes.html.

After that I will be going to my native grounds to perform my documentary performance on Augustus Saint Gaudens at the Théatre du Casino de Luchon with marvelous baritone Jean Ribet and pianist Carine Pérez, Sunday August 10 at 9PM. Click picture below for details.

Augustus Saint Gaudens Project

I’ll report and post pictures as often as I can, you should subscribe to the RSS Feed to get automatically updated.

Stay fresh & ADISHATZ!

9th Annual Tsatsawassa Poetry BBQ & Reading

9th Annual Tsatsawassa Poetry BBQ & Reading

Phil GoodBernadette MayerDave Brinks

Saturday, July 5, I was at the 9th annual Tsatsawassa Poetry BBQ & Reading at the home of poets Bernadette Mayer & Phil Good. The event was “ring mastered” by poet, editor of YAWP and chef Dave Brinks. The poetry, the company, the weather were perfect, one of these moment that imprints the 7 senses of the memory .

My taste memory keeps reminding me of Dave Brink’s Jambalaya. A perfect alchemy between the ingredients he brought back from New Orleans (alligator sausage, crayfish, cayenne pepper) and fresh herbs from Phil garden. According to Dave the magic ingredient was lovage. I think it was the first time Dave used lovage in his Jambalaya, but it sure was successful.

For a photo reportage of the day check out this link. Also Phil & Bernadette host monthly poetry workshop at their home. For more info contact: [email protected].

Vive Michael Pollan!

Vive Michael Pollan!

“SUVs in America are competing with eaters around the rest of the world for good food and arable land. You can imagine who is going to win.” Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan is always an inspiration. He is professor at the U.C Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, writes regularly for the New York Times Magazine, and author of many enlightening books. Recently I subscribed to his “upcoming events related to Michael Pollan” and I wanted to share the latest communication, this article makes a lot of sense to me:

“I think you’ll be interested in this interview, “Michael Pollan on What’s Wrong With Environmentalism,” from a terrific new on-line environmental magazine called e360. It’s published by Yale University and edited by Roger Cohn, the former editor of Mother Jones and Audubon –and is full of good stuff.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2031
Best,
Michael”

Below a list of webcast & videos :
Michael Pollan speak @ Google March 8 2008
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/05/explaining-food-vs-n.html

Berkeley Podcasts:

View 11/05/07 The Death of Environmentalism
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Michael Pollan – Moderator
View 3/21/07 Food Fight: A Teach-in On the 2007 Farm Bill
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Various
View 2/27/07 The Past, Present, and Future of Food
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Michael Pollan
View 4/17/06 The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Michael Pollan
View 10/26/05 Berkeley Writers at Work: Michael Pollan
Sponsored by College Writing Programs		 Michael Pollan
View 10/13/04 Bush Science: Use and Abuse of Science in Policymaking
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Various
View 12/11/03 The Pulse of Scientific Freedom in the Age of Biotech Industry
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Various
View 11/24/03 Fast Food World: Perils and Promises of the Global Food Chain
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Various
View 11/20/03 The Politics of Obesity
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Various
View 11/13/02 The Ecology of Food – Panel with M. Pollan and Others
Sponsored by UC Berkeley		 Various Pollan
View 11/12/02 Michael Pollan: Cannabis, the Importance of Forgetting, and the Botany of Desire
Sponsored by Townsend Center for the Humanities		 Michael Pollan
View 9/23/02 Factory Food: Are the Alternatives Viable?
Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism		 Various

Clich her for Michael Pollan website for a complete bliography and more info.

Asperges/Asparagus (I)

Asperges/Asparagus (I)

An extremely simple, fast and delicious dinner:
Broiled asparagus and pan fried lamb chops.
We are in the midst (here in New York State) of asparagus season and I found beautiful organic ones ($ 4.59 lb / origin New York State) at the Park Slope Food Coop. I bought 1.40 lb and that was enough for two.
I wash the asparagus and cut the stem when it becomes stringy and hard (never more than a 1/3 from the bottom) — which will depend on the quality and the freshness of the kind you purchase. I place them in an oven proof dish big enough to be able to able to toss them easily. I sprinkle them generously with a good pungent olive oil, salt, pepper, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic chopped fine. Toss it all very well and place under the BROILER for 10/20 minutes -depending on your boiler. I do toss them every 5 minutes to make sure they cook evenly.

Meanwhile I preheat my cast iron skillet and 5 minutes before removing the asparagus I pan fry my lamb chops –a great source of lamb is d’Artagnan— in a little bit of olive oil, not much is needed because the fat will give you enough grease. I like my lamb rare so about 5/6 minutes on each sides is enough for me. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The simplicity of the preparation will let you taste all the subtle flavors of these ingredients.
Next post I will give more info on asparagus. Bon Appetit!

Gardaram la lenga nosta!

Gardaram la lenga nosta!

Under the “Modernization of the Institutions of the 5th Republic” the French Assemblée Nationale voted YES to the Amendement Nº 605 . The amendment reads:

L’article 1er de la Constitution est complété par une phrase ainsi rédigée :
« Les langues régionales appartiennent à son patrimoine. »

Article 1 of the Constitution is completed by a sentenced that reads:
” Regional languages belong to the national heritage ”

Then the amendment went to The French Senate, and there June 18th, my birthday, the senators rejected it (216 against / 103 for). If you read French you can check out the article in Le Monde.

This is very sad because not only are the regional languages part of the French national heritage, but I also truly believe that strong regional culture is the best way to resist globalization and promote sustainability at many levels.

The senators reasons for rejecting the amendment are xenophobic and show a terrible lack in their own culture. Below, an example of the debate’s level.

Senator Michel Charasse (ex-PS -the socialist party- recently expelled from that party, he represents the Puy-de-Dôme):

“J’ai été surpris de voir apparaître à l’Assemblée nationale un amendement tendant à classer les langues régionales au patrimoine de la France. Pourquoi ne pas y classer aussi les monuments historiques, ou même la gastronomie, voire la potée auvergnate ?

“I was surprised to see the national Assembly propose an amendment favoring the classification of regional languages as part of the French National Heritage. Why not also include historical monuments, gastronomy like the potée from Auvergne?

Mr. Charasse, who is from Auvergne, and probably fell into a pot of potée when he was a little boy (reference to Asterix le Gaulois!), is now so self imbued that transmission of culture is not his concern or stops with him.

Anyhow, if I understand the process correctly the goose is not yet cooked. We are now starting the “navette” or a “shuttle” process. The amendment will return to the Assemblée for another round of discussions, and maybe undergo modifications before being submitted to a new vote, after which it would be sent back to the Senate. This process can happen several time and if consensus is not reached another set of procedure will be applied. To become part of the constitution, the Amendment has to be ratified by both chambers.

Affaire à suive/ To be continued!

Important links on the topic:

Petition:
http://crida.oc.free.fr/index.php

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