Bourg d’Oueil & Show

Bourg d’Oueil & Show

Time flies in the Pyrenees. I have been here for a week and quite busy getting ready for our Sunday performance (see poster below). Still, I took the time to hike to my favorite spot: my name sake “la peira hitta” or the raised stone and by extension Peyrafitte!

We also had a excellent family lunch. We had great fun “collecting” our food. Pierre and I got up early to be at the market place before the rush. I wanted to make a kind of trout ceviche, from the best trout farm I know of. The farm is owned by long time friends, but the truck wasn’t at the market, so I convinced Pierre that we should take the trip to the fish farm. The shop was closed until later but the dad was there; he calls himself the trout keeper and doesn’t handle any financial matter but that didn’t prevent him to quickly knock out a 2 pound trout and send us home with it. I still haven’t paid my trout! But I will see his son on the market on Saturday. The recipe was simple. I fileted the trout, sliced it really thin, marinated it in lemon, olive oil, salt, piment d’espelette, chives, dill, a little lovage, a few borage flowers and a gorgeous edible iris.

Then we went to get some lamb at the neighbor and grilled it in the fire place. Pierre made a delicious ratatouille. We had some ewe cheese from the Village of Poubeau and a Croustade aux pommes from Luchon. Voilà for now, I must run to rehearsal but I wanted to share the joy! A léu

Viva Lodève!

Viva Lodève!

didier cajella
Didier Calleja place de la Halle Dardé, Lodève

I had hope to post more often but I had NO time. The 10 days at the “Voix de la Mediterranées” in the small town of Lodève were really intense, brilliant and inspirering. I performed everyday and sometimes twice, and the rest of the time I went to see/hear readings and performances from 10 am until 1 am.
Yes! a POETRYLAND it was!
I have uploaded a first batch of pictures that can be viewed at:
https://www.nicolepeyrafitte.com/imagesblog/lodeve/LODEVE.html

More pix and postings from the Pyrenees where we are preparing for our show on Augustus Saint Gaudens August 10th.

Meanwhile ADISHATZ!

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!

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.

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