Bailey Alexander: The Europhile

Sorry Darling, Davos is for Mandy...

Long after Turkey has dissed Israel and Friedman has hyped along, finally! we're pleasantly refreshed by Branson's hair and optimistic flair as he suggests recessions are great for entrepreneurs.

Brown is around, but Darling is no one to be found. Schadenfreude, nicht wahr, n'est pas?  The UK may have to replace the place where they illegally seized bank assets by citing terrorism laws; Iceland.

These are tough, fucking tough times, indeed.

Erotic writing and may the rabbit requiescat in pace...

Libby Brooks argument for erotic writing feels lackluster, but maybe that's just me...when I peruse my library I reach for Dawn Powell rather than Anais NIn. 

So sorry to hear of John Updike, I hope his passing was uninterrupted and peaceful, but neither adultery nor suburbia are topics I find remotely interesting.

But I did purchase one of his books long ago, his memoirs, "Self Consciousness".  I find it and re-read, if only to honour such a literary career.  He does write such lovely, careful sentences, that reflect such a culture, yes, especially one of the last...,"...I 'present' to others, as an amiable, reasonable, interested, generally healthy, sexually normal, dependable, hopeful, fortunate human being.  Which goes to show what a vexed thing even a fortunate human being is. "

R.I.P......

Paris Fashion Week; An isolated, luscious gasp of luxury and style.

Mis en scene...George v hotel....

My least favorite sensation; anticipation, is suddenly the opposite; even the soft hush rushing through the plush environs of this hotel feels highly stylized.

Posing occurs, quick glances collide and abide, women and men so gorgeously gay kisskiss while the ambiance of divas and drama queens is dutifully diluted by fur that fills and spills throughout the room. Fur is everywhere.  

As are such elegant efforts of milliners; hats askew, just so and below, dramatic face paint highlights Gallic features that follow the wafer thin mannequins gliding their narrow frames through our midst, rushing in from their last show.

Al Jazeera's graphic response to CNN's bloodless war journalism

An article written by an American explains away his perception of the argument against Al Jazeera. 
"Al-Jazeera's graphic response to CNN-style "bloodless war journalism" is a stinging rebuke to the way we now see and talk about war in the United States. It suggests that bloodless coverage of war is the privilege of a country far from conflict."

C'est vrai...

Sex Trafficking and The New Abolitionists

I've been educated about local sex trafficking in Eastern Europe, ironically via the sardonic and somewhat lightweight fictional hero, Commissario Guido Brunetti in Donna Leon's detective series set in Venice. 

i've read Nicholas Kristoff's moving stories written to the masses @ NYT about Asia and African sex trafficking, but does he go local about how one can actually buy a child’s sexual “services” online, and collect them in a house in New Jersey

Jennifer Cody Epstein has a great article in my favorite blog, 3quarksdaily.

Beckett & Death; Paris provides perfect mis en scène.

Anniversary's are rough, especially the first.

Last year was all about grieving; a proper death tour through Auschwitz and Eastern Europe, emancipatory efforts, embracing grief, then a reprieve was provided, assimilation could begin, and did. Grateful. Always.

But that was then, this is now.  There's nothing quite like the sensation of knowing one is exactly at the right place at the right time.

Paris is perfect, I could cry all day long at my local Auture Bistro with barely a glance my way. They are forgiving when malaise sets in, they grant a wide swath of empathy, expectations arise, their emotional climes give such license it practically kills off the fun of taking self-pity to new heights for this was the plan for this most auspicious day.

My Beloved Muv: 1932-2008

Gracefully making an entrance at her home in St. Francis Wood, San Fran, at her wedding, circa '52.

Gracefully marking her exit, drawing her own birthday card for her 76th birthday. 

Politics; local or merely emotional; the relationship is re-visited.

David Seaton suggests Israel is one big Ponzi scheme, Naomi Klein recommends a boycott.

Views from Chez Bay...

Generally the sunsets captivate but purples penetrated our flat in the 5th at 8am...

Bienvenue L'hiver; From snow capped French Alps to the Pantheon in Paris..

Winter views from Chez Bay today...Le Pantheon and Notre Dame.

Trains, planes, ferries, fine. Sailing to Sicily senza Calypso, not so...

It all began innocently enough; Maltese friends kindly drive us to the marina, help deposit provisions, tidy up the lines, bid 'buon viaggio'.

As we four float away, I feel quite psychic, silly, and prescient.  I wearily suggest aloud, 'this is as good as it gets''...

We exit Manoel Bay, gracefully gliding by colorful spinnakers, three at least, teasing, as they safely make their entry...mais oui, we are moving in the wrong direction, n'est pas? 

Two hours later, Malta is but a softly lit sandcastle at sunset.