"I'm originally from Detroit, but now I live in my own imagination"

Laziness has taken over me these past few days and I promise you're gonna hear - or rather read - soon about our first Bridge School Benefit experience in San Francisco.
Last week has really been intense musically-speaking! And it is kind of hard to keep you updated with all these amazing shows happening at the same time.

Whatever. Now I want to praise the talent of Sufjan Stevens, whom I just saw two nights ago at the Paramount and who amazed and moved me.
Ok, I know, I tend to be super enthusiastic each time I'm making a music review on the blog, but believe me, I've also seen some really bad shows here and I think it is more relevant for you to read something positive, eventually making you want to (re)discover the artists I'm talking about.

The soldout-show I saw two days ago was part of Sufjan Stevens' tour for his eleventh album (yes 11th, you read well), The Age of Adz, released last month on Asthmatic Kitty Records.
The record is a lot different from what Stevens has done lately. It is much more electronic and less folky. In a way, he is going back to his earlier works, in particular his second record Enjoy Your Rabbit released in 2001. Even being aware of that before the show, I've been really surprised by what I saw that night.

On stage, Stevens is accompanied by a crew of ten musicians and dancers.
Musically-speaking, the two-hours show was very good: it really got me into it.

The show was divided into two parts: the first one was dedicated to Stevens' new work- he almost played his whole new album- while the second one was more acoustic. He indeed played some old songs such as Chicago or The Dress Looks Nice On You.

Visually-speaking the whole show was crazy and it totally reflected Stevens' overflowing imagination. Behind the band was a big screen on which psychedelic and space-related drawings and pictures were projected. During some songs, an invisible screen would unroll between the audience and the band and other drawings would be projected on it, giving the impression that the band was confined in a buble. Also, at some point, a diamond-shaped spaceship came down on stage reinforcing the idea that Sufjan Stevens might indeed be from another planet as he would let us understand during the show...

On top of that, the whole band was dressed up in fluorescent colours for Halloween, which was even more entertaining for the eyes.

Althought the show was the exact opposite of what I was expecting (that is to say a melancholic-depressive folk show - I like those shows), I can easily assert that Sufjan Stevens' performance - he really is a good musician and dancer - was among the best shows I've seen so far in Seattle.



As always, if you have the opportunity, I truly advise you to go and see this man.
If not, at least check his new album out, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

A.C.

A-l'eau-oui-noeud

Rohmer Project. Part II

Second part of my Rohmer Project. I decided that I wanted to do a chronological screening of his films. I started with the Moral Tales. That's why I needed to watch the first ones!

They're actually short/medium-length films: The Bakery Girl of Monceau and Suzanne's Career. They're both set in Paris and have for main characters young law and philosophy students, both males. And what is quite interesting is that if I sometimes find it hard to know precisely where is the moral prejudice or dilemma in Rohmer's films, it's pretty clear in those two.

The first one is about a man who is in love with a woman he doesn't know but that he crosses every day on the street. When he finally talks to her, she's in a hurry but promises him that they'll meet again soon. After a week, he's kind of discouraged. While walking the streets of the neighborhood hoping to ran into her again, he goes to a bakery where the bakery girl seems to be interested in him. Here is the dilemma: should he date the girl - knowing that she's not the one he is interested in - because she is here whereas the other one disappeared?

The second one is longer and more complex. Even if there is a main character, others are also important. A young philosophy student, Bertrand, (who happens to live above "Le Luco" café) and a friend (Guillaume) meet with Suzanne, a young (but not too pretty) woman. Guillaume starts to date her. Bertrand disapproves because Suzanne is not good enough for his friend and he hates the lack of self consciousness and the rude manners of the girl.However, when Guillaume leaves Suzanne, she keeps calling Bertrand to hang out. The whole issue is about how fast you can judge someone, and how things can change, changing radically your opinion on a person.

I liked very much Rohmer's intentions in those two films, the way he shots Paris and male characters. And what stroke me is how contemporary his discourse is. TO BE SEEN !

MJ.

Lunch Time: Skillet!

Photo by Tim Schlecht (The Stranger)

11 am. 1 Inbox. D, a co-worker, tells everyone at the office that the Skillet Van is parked in front of our building. "Skillet Van"? I had never heard/ read anything about it, but as I happen to be very fond of food, I decide that I doesn't cost anything to click on the link copied in the e-mail.

And here I am, on a website with pretty pictures of an amazing van, with a very attractive menu right in front of my eyes: the burger (grass fed beef, arugula, bacon jam, cambozola), the classic poutine and a fantastic pork sandwich with aioli and caramelized onions.

Photo by Sean Flanigan

The goal of this evolved cuisine - modern American mobile diner? Go out to local office parks, events, farmers markets and provide impeccably executed and seasonably relevant bistro style food. They want to "to provide seasonally relevant, locally sourced and impeccably executed bistro style food up and down the west coast".

Of course, there was NO WAY that I would eat my poor tupperware salad with this tempting moving bistro right next to me. At 11.45 am (got to eat early when there are 1pm meetings!), there was already a great crowd in front of the van. It smelled like Heaven, and the people passing us while we were on line showed us that the food looked incredible.

And it was! The Pork Sandwich was the best lunch I had since I moved here ! So, if you ever come to Seattle, be sure to take a look at the Skillet's website and see where they are when you're in town thanks to the great Google Calendar they update every week. It is really worth it.

The website :

http://www.skilletstreetfood.com/

The calendar for this week :

http://skilletstreetfood.com/calendar.htm

MJ.

Here comes Powell Street

Even though it wasn’t my first time in Francisco, going there for a short week-end with my pal A was really different from what I had seen of the city with my mum a few years ago. Of course, the fact that I am now 21 changed some things, but I also discovered that the city was much bigger than I thought.

We flew there with a Virgin America airplane: best company ever, which actually uses some comics to explain the security rules to passengers and has many songs that you can listen to even when the plane takes off - and believe me, this is really useful and reassuring for someone who’s scared as hell like me when they fly.

We arrived in SF in the late afternoon, after taking the Bart (local subway) and walking up the highest hill of the city. And when I say high, I mean high as in “it-felt-like-walking-to-the-top-of-Mount-Everest”. After a vegetarian quick meal (Californians and A are going to convince me that I shouldn’t eat meat), we went to Haight Ashbury, the Hippie area of SF. Tons of vintage and second-hand clothes shops, small restaurants and bars. It’s a pretty nice neighborhood if you want to walk around.

It was already dark, and we experimented the one specific weather condition of the city: the fog! It looked like we were in a ghost city, which was kind of scary. Back to downtown, not far from the only “dangerous” area of the city – the Tenderloin -, we had drinks in a lounge with some live music (they played the song of Michael and Jul in “My Best Friend’s Wedding": The Way You Look Tonight) and sushi that were passing us on little boats. People are really nice in SF, even if their reputation is that they tend to be a bit snobbish.

On Saturday, we went to “The Bridge School Benefit” that Neil Young gives every year. But that’s another story, and quite an adventure because of the rain. To be continued…

MJ