Nov 5, 2022Eternal Mysteries of the On-line LifeEternal Mysteries of the On-line Life Medium is a great medium — there I said it. But for whatever reason, I have 17 readers here and over a thousand on Substack. (Continental Riffs). It’s all the same material, life in Paris, politics, engagements. I’m neither net- savvy enough nor sufficiently concerned to burn a midnight candle trying to figure out why or how. I just plodding on. Visit Riffs, you might like. My email is somewhere down here at the bottom of the page on Medium if you want to tell me what I should be writing about.France1 min readFrance1 min read
Nov 4, 2022Buried Treasure In Your Face(When not publishing elsewhere, my home base is continentalriffs.substack.com Most of my pieces are there. They range from daily life in Paris, single images, to arguments and debates. …Paris4 min readParis4 min read
Jun 19, 2022Mulling Over the ProgrèsCooling off during the ’37 World’s Fair, Paris. Progès : Spanish slang for our Better Brothers and Sisters, the ones who always know. Sometimes referred to as the Cathedral, or The Bearded Blob (on Twitter), they claim to ‘get things done,’ although those ‘things’ rarely get better for most people…Liberal Politics9 min readLiberal Politics9 min read
Mar 15, 2022A Very French Garden of Forking PathsYet again we plunge into electoral politics à la française. The Presidential is only a month away. Casualties of War Second Race at the Electoral Longchamps, April 24 (bets as of February 14) Favorites : Macron the 3:1 favorite vs. Le Pen, a re-run of 2017. Sleepytown. Heavily favored : Macron vs. Pécresse…France9 min readFrance9 min read
Dec 19, 2021Chronicle of an Election ForetoldFor more French poli-sci, culture and general arsing around, see Continental Riffs on Substack. “Certains lundis de la toute fin de novembre, ou du début de décembre, surtout lorsqu’on est célibataire, on a la sensation d’être dans le couloir de la mort.” Who would start a novel with lines like…France8 min readFrance8 min read
May 17, 2021The Past Is What You Make ItColumns on Continental Riffs and Counterpunch come in the immediate aftermath of manifs (demonstrations) in Paris. This one comes before. Before a demonstration that is, as of this moment, officially banned by tribunal administratif at the request of the Macron government. So it isn’t going to happen. It will, most…5 min read5 min read
Apr 19, 2021Elegance With A Dash Of DisturbanceNous on veut continuer à danser encore Voir nos pensées enlacer nos corps Passer nos vies sur une grille d’accords ° From your car to the metro to your job and coffee break You’d better justify every move you make All this nonsense about where you can’t go Woe to…Hk5 min readHk5 min read
Apr 2, 2021Try The WineTom Player is an English musician living outside what used to be called the Star Making Machine. He hangs his hat in Budapest now that the the Brexit nightmare is walking around in broad daylight in the home counties. He’s done something surprising. Something most of us didn’t think anyone…Music Business6 min readMusic Business6 min read
Mar 31, 2021Une traversée de PanameVoyage has many synonyms in French, delightful, tricky words like baguenaude (stroll), croisière (cruise), randonnée (ramble), trimard (meander), vadrouille (jaunt) but one of its definitions is être transporté, as they say of wine. Traversée is a crossing. The title here is a riff on the 1956 film, Traversée de Paris…Paris4 min readParis4 min read
Mar 31, 2021Bad ReputationImpasse Florimond in the years after WWII. The song goes by in 3 minutes and 9 seconds but feels much faster. Imagine that this was your first time hearing the singer or song, it seems impossible to conceptualize the piece as any kind of protest. You’re racing to catch up…George Brassens9 min readGeorge Brassens9 min read
