Blog Masonry
French comic busks in street after anti-Semitism row
Surrounded by hundreds of police, French comedian Dieudonne took his act out onto the streets of Paris on Friday after his show at a top theatre was cancelled due to an anti-Semitism row.
Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala appeared in a television sketch in December dressed as an Orthodox rabbi and gave a Nazi salute. The Olympia theatre cancelled Friday’s planned show due to security fears after protests marred previous performances.
“Tonight is a battle for freedom of expression,” Dieudonne told an audience of around 300, flanked by as many police officers, gathered outside the Olympia in central Paris.
“Don’t gag me — I am one of the few black performers on the French stage,” added Dieudonne, whose father is Senegalese.
Barbarian Invasions' Wins French Award
Director Denys Arcand’s “The Barbarian Invasions,” the story of a professor whose friends rally around him as he dies of cancer, won best picture award at France’s version of the Oscars on Saturday.
Arcand, a Canadian, also took the honors for best director and best screenplay at the 2004 Cesar Awards.
The movie has also been nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture, and it had critics laughing and crying at the Cannes Film Festival this spring.
Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood won the best foreign film award for “Mystic River,” a dark drama about friends haunted by a tragedy from their childhoods. Omar Sharif captured the best actor prize for his performance in “Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Quran.” He played Parisian grocer who befriends a young French boy.
Hotel de Saint-Germain
Has anyone stayed at the Hotel de Saint-Germain at 50 rue de Four? (it is a less expensive sister hotel to Hotel Fleurie)
18 yrs old fun living American Girl seeking for penpals
What’s up everyone this is Coko i am American and I love to have fun like going to the movies,talking on the phone and playing basketball. I am not that good talking in french so if you speak french really well I would like you to help me out alittle. thank you
France's economic growth picks up
National statistics office INSEE said on Friday the French economy, the euro zone’s second largest after Germany, grew 0.5 percent in the October-December period. This confirmed a “flash estimate” released last week and met market expectations.
Over the full year, the economy grew a just 0.2 percent in 2003, the lowest since a contraction in 1993, INSEE confirmed. The fourth quarter growth rate was in line with the mid-range forecast given by economists polled by Reuters.
“This growth is due to the world rebound, which in turn is driving investment in France, and imports,” said J.P. Morgan economist Maryse Pogodzinski.
Looking for a Fench Penpal to exchange language lessons!
Bonjour tout le monde,
Je parle un peu français, mais je cherche un ami français qui peut m’enseigner le français plus conversationnel et je vous enseignerai l’anglais. J’espère transférer à la France cette année autour du septembre et j’aimerais faire des amis et rencontre des gens avant que je viens à la France. J’espère vous rencontrer!
Contacte-moi à SexyTaurus77@aol.com.
Merci,
Sam