Eternal sunshine of spotless mind

When I was a child, I was passionate about space, the planets, aliens, the moon (according to my mum I was always on the moon at this time). The sun had first place on my list of interest.

If you think it's because, without sun, no life is possible, a realization that came to me when I was three or four, I must thank you, because obviously you recognize me as a genius… But that’s not the reason. Perhaps, it’s because it's the biggest ''object'' in our universe ? negative... Because every day they are massive explosions on the sun ? Nope, I was not violent (remember I was on the moon). It's just cool ? no, no no and no........ I loved the sun, because the sun was the father of my first enemy, my first riddle, and my first curiosity..... my shadow !!!

If you want to keep the same image of me in your head, (smart, funny, smart, curious, smart, interesting, smart, sociable, did I say smart ? and very humble ?), I suggest that you stop reading, because it's really me and you don't need to know me any better. For the rest of you, I am sure our friendship will not have any future... Psychologists, please stop reading this ! I don't want to take a vacation in a loony bin...

So one day, I discovered my shadow ! It was very disturbing. Someone was following me all day. At the beginning I was very proud. I was sure it meant I was special. Then I realized all my family had one too, and all our friends, and every single person..... No I wasn't ''special''. It was a humongous disappointment. Angry, annoyed, dejected, almost furious, I decided to divorce my shadow. I started to walk, and she (yes I am sure she was a girl) followed me. I accelerated, she did the same. I ran, she ran too. Ok I must establish a stratagem... I would walk, and pay her no attention, and suddenly I would turn sharply and run and run. Two possible outcomes; first, she might not turn, but I didn't believe that; second, and it was a plan within a plan, the same beginning but just after turning, I would jump up high,, she would pass underneath me, and I would stop and run in the other direction. For me it was the perfect plan, and I tried it ! If you are going to ask me for the result, I think you are even crazier than I was...

After many hours of reflection, I discovered something very interesting. My shadow couldn’t see me inside another shadow. So, I hid inside the shadow of a big tree, and waited.... a loooooong time. I hoped my shadow would leave. That day I discovered a another thing: my shadow was more patient than me...

My rescue came with a slide. When I climbed up the steps, my shadow stayed on the ground... victory !!!!!! But just for the time when I was on the slide...

This is my first real memory. I was three, and I remember everything. The colors, the scents , the sun...and because of this, I want to share with you some pictures of sunsets and sunrises... the moment when shadows are born and die.

PS : I don't know why, but I have the feeling than I look less smart now...

Arlington Road

No comment...

Dr Frankenstein

It's very strange, many of my friends are scientists (perhaps they are interested in me because I could be the missing link.)

I notice, when one of my friends says to a new acquaintance : " I am a scientist", I see in the person's mind, a horror movie playing in black and white with a crazy, wild haired man in a white coat, or in the best case, ''Dr Frankenstein" from the Mel Brook's movie.

Many people can't imagine a scientist as a "normal person" (and sometimes it is true...), but behind the scientist (well-hidden) is a normal human being.

I have begun a project to capture the personality of the scientist. For me a scientist is a scientist because he is a human first, with passions, wide ranging interests, a sense of humour, tattoos and many other things like.... you.

To finish I want say thank you to my first guinea pig scientists, it has been fun and / or interesting (depending on your point of view) experimenting, I mean "working" with you.

A. Husbands, PhD in Biology

M. Faleiro MD/PhD Applicant

V. Aranda, PhD in Biochemistry

X. Rocca, PhD in Molecular Biology

A. Chicas, PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology

My best friend's wedding

Question ? : when an australian marries a brasilian, where is the ceremony held ? The first who says "in the ocean" can go in with the sharks.... The correct answer is : North Carolina, Duke to be precise... Ok it's random...

For the second time, I went to this state. If you read my blog regularly, you can imagine how happy I was.... no comment...

Traveling by plane was impossible... I have too much equipment, and no stock options in American Airlines... I decided to choose "Charles Car Lines" for this journey (the pilot is nice and the cabin staff charming...) After a short drive ( 9 hours there-12 hours back), I met the future couple, and they were as happy to see me as I was to have stopped driving...

My objective for this trip was not to stop the wedding, but to photograph it. The bride doesn't look like Julia Roberts.... She looks better. I am not saying Julia Roberts could act in a horror movie without make up, ( I haven't seen her in the morning, but I am sure she looks great), no I am just saying that the bride looked better.

For a groom, imagine a tibetan monk with his zen aura of inner peace... or not ! Yes I think it's more ''or not''. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. To understand, you must know this, he asked me, when we were waiting for the bride, "Charles talk to me, it helps me to stay calm". Meaning, " your English and your accent are horrible, and I need to concentrate to understand you...'', ''I waze aapie to bi ov elpe''... He owes me big time, that was a moment...

Like all love stories, she said yes and he said.... yes too, but I am not sure because she said her vows in Serbian ( the Australian groom is originally from Serbia) and he said his vows in Portugese, so nobody understood anything... The vows could have been a shopping list, nobody would have known. All the guests and I assumed they said yes, and it's better like that.

Just to finish, I want say thank you to you both for inviting me and trusting me to be your photographer. I wish you a long life filled with happiness.

Free Willy

A few months ago I went to California. Sea, Sex and Sun sang Serge Gainsbourg. So I decided to obey his rules and have a date. Here we go, I had a date at SeaWorld with a.... killer whale...??? I admit a killer whale is not very glamorous or fashionable, except if you like to have a girl friend who is stronger than you. The reputation of the french-lover was at stake.

When I saw ''my date'', I couldn't leave because she had already see me. It would not have been very gentlemanly and you know "the French reputation..." But after one look I told myself '' French and gentleman ??? It's an oxymoron. I can go..I must go...'' but it was too late...

So in this case you must make a quick list of the good and the bad things (the first things I thought about were bad...) when you have a killer whale as a girl friend.

So if you have a killer whale as a girl friend the good thing is, you have a swimming pool ! The bad thing is, when you go swimming with her, by comparaison, your style is as graceful as a garden gnome in a wheelchair.

If you have a killer whale as a grilfriend you don't go to the mall to try on new dresses, or buy new shoes. But perhaps after few months staying with a girl always in black and white, you could have the feeling that you are living with a nun.

If you have a killer whale as a grilfriend, there are no hairdressers, no nails or pedicures, but when your girl friend asks for a massage you must book your whole weekend.

No no no, this is becoming impossible, and if she smiles showing all her teeth, you could imagine yourself as Little Red Riding Hood in front of the Big Bad Wolf...

The worst for me was when she came with differents friends and put on a show... I can say a killer whale is not the perfect girl friend for me, but the show was very cool.

I just want to finish this (stupid /funny you decide) post with a serious comment. All my thoughts go to the family of the trainer who was killed by a killer whale during a show at SeaWorld in Orlando. I, and all the people who like killer whales and wild life in general, are with you.

Eye of the tiger

A few weeks ago, the Chinese welcomed the Year of the Tiger. I went to Chinatown to see the raising of the Tiger.

When I got there I checked my chinese calendar, isn't it the year of the Sardine ? I felt more like a sardine in a can than a spectator waiting for a tiger... After thinking about it, I discovered why. Two reasons : The first is of course it was so crowded. The second is, the Chinese use many firecrackers to scare the demons...

The demons are (possibly) scared by this, and the tiger too. And if you add the firecrackers to the crowd, I am sure of one thing, when the tiger saw the people and heard the noise they made, he ignored us, and went to sleep in quiet corner.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Let me give you some advice : don't let your friend take picture of you when you are making funny faces... If you follow my blog you already know that, I frequently make funny faces. One of my friends caught me on camera wearing an embarrassing hat and used this pictureon his blog... thus to day this is a personal message to my ''not-any-more-friend'' Julien.

I will introduce him. He is very clever ! He has two PhDs, one in veterinary medicine and one in molecular biology, and also won some prizes in pharmacology when he was student. He achieved TOEFL 3 in Japanese, and is also talented in many sports. His is married with a wonderful wife, and is a father of one verrrrrrrry cute boy. At this point every body is thinking, this guy is perfect and has a beautiful life... But, I discovered the dark side of the moon regarding this guy. Like the strange doctor Jekyll, doctor Julien uses his big brain to search for subtle ways of tricking, teasing and scaring people. Don't be fooled by his pleasant face.

One day, I asked him to decorate my apartment for a party. Sometime I want to slap myself ! He brought two bigs box full of fake chips (the polystyrene stuff used to protect the fragile items inside the box), and he spread it everywhere... On the ground, inside the furniture, on the pictures frames, on my tv, under all my glasses, under and inside my bed..... I mean EVERYWHERE... After an intense clean up, I continued to find this ''snow'' for the next 3 months... I considered this a ''casus belli''...

When I lived in Lyon, all my friends had keys to each others apartments. The objective of that was simple : If someone lost their keys or went on vacation, and needed someone to give food to the plants or water to the cat. Every time you went away, your apartment was meticulously redecorated... You would find your oil and vinegar with the cleaning stuff, or the cat-food in the bathroom, the pictures-frames tuned up side down.... one day his wife stopped him, when he wanted to put my cat inside my letterbox and take a picture to send to me during my vacation. It's true my cat could fit inside without trouble, my letterbox was very big.

Here is an example of how this guy uses his brain... In France, I used a green toothpaste. One day, during my vacation, my ''friend'' arrive with a syringe, and put some wazabi, inside my toothpaste...

Last month he visited me on Long Island. He reproduced the polystyrene chips joke... But this time generously hide many caramel candies in strange places... The idea would have been sweet if he had brought the candy, but not at all, he used mine...

I arrange a photo shoot of his lovely son. During this shoot, I took some pictures of the father. I was very lucky because I got one picture of Mr Hyde....

So to finish with a good word, here are one or two picture of him and some pictures of his boy. His boy is as cute outside as the father is evil inside..... The good thing is that, I will be visiting them in three weeks, and I will bring many caramel candies....

Dr Julien

The mutation

Mr Hyde

The dark side of the moon

___________________________________

And the lovely cute boy...

Quebec

During my trip, I didn't go only to the wilderness, I also visited the city of Quebec.

When I lived in France, I talked with different French people about Quebec and the city of Quebec. I am sure you know that French Canada is the favorite destination when a Frenchman dreams about his future hypothetical life. For the French, the province of Quebec is like a symphony, where the name of the maestro is "Freedom in North America"... All the French see Quebec city as an American French city.

When I talk with an American about Quebec city, I always get the same reply, ''Ho it's so perfect, so cute, so European, you feel like you are in France''. Maybe it's me, but I hear the same symphony but with another maestro... very strange.

So, now I will be the judge... American or European ?

The language : the language is French or almost French. You must understand, some French are at war with some Canadians. Who speaks better French ? Who uses more English terms ? If you ask me what I think, I will tell you ''I don't care''. It's not a competition, and I don't think one is better than the other. (But for the score card , the point is for France.)

The food : when I lived in France, all my friends told me : "if you want something good, tell us, and we will send it by mail.'' Ok, sometimes, the TV cooking shows are a little strange (I use this word to be polite, but I think "scary" would be better...). However I have eaten in many different places in the US, and trust me I have eaten very well. Ok not everywhere. Perhaps I will lose friends, but with regard to food, North Carolina is not my best memory. New York, Boston, San Fransisco, San Diego, Key Largo, Miami, Philadelphia and New Haven did not give me an allergic reaction, I could say I ate very well and even found croissants tastier than those in France. As in the US, Quebec is a melting pot for different food civilizations. One specialty, '' la poutine'', is French fries, swimming in a brown sauce with melted cheese on top (but I am not sure the word cheese would be used in France for this)... It is "interesting" (I do not have another word). I do have a name for this : D.I.A, Directly In your Ass. Be careful with "la poutine", it could be dangerous for your health. My stomach still remembers it. So for food, the point goes to the US.

After some considerations, I realized it is strange to try something from one country in another country. Quebec is not American, it is not French, it is Canadian... just Canadian.

Like all cities, I think, it is more beautiful during the night. Enjoy...